Growing with Joy
A little secret: When I decided to be a stay-at-home mom, I began making wreaths as a creative outlet. I won’t divulge the old business name, but I did OK for myself, packing up a couple dozen wreaths at a time and selling them online and at local art shows. I was drawn to modern designs and had so much fun creating them.
During my quest for inspiration, I came across the organic flower farmer @heirloomsoulflorals on Instagram. To my surprise, she was based in my hometown on a lavender farm. I was immediately spellbound. I pressed “follow” and indulged in her newsfeed. I noticed she was not only creating bouquets and centerpieces, but also growing magnificent flowers from bulb to bloom on the Niagara escarpment.
Her arrangements were unlike anything I had ever seen: whimsical greens, dusty pink roses, voluptuous arbors with bursts of warm dahlias and playful zinnias. Cascading amaranth dangling from foraged twigs and twisted barks. Anise hyssops poking out behind unkempt flowering bee balm. Bright sunflowers entangled in textured foliage and aromatic herbs. Her arrangements were rustic, wild and risky.
When I found out I would officially be writing about Heirloom Soul Florals for Edible Western NY, I contacted Fran Parrish… She and her husband, Jesse, immediately invited me to their home for dinner and an interview. Over homemade enchiladas, ripe avocados and fresh cilantro, the three of us talked about their journey to Lockport. In between bites, I learned that Fran hailed from Detroit, Michigan, and earned her bachelor’s degree in architecture from Lawrence Technical University. After working a desk job, she applied her knowledge of sustainability to a Detroit-based urban farming company in 2012.
When we were finished with our meal, I followed Fran into her kitchen with my empty plate. I was confused when I saw Fran tossing her tiny scraps of peels and rinds into what I thought was an eccentric arrangement. The untamed cornucopia was so beautiful and vibrant, I thought she was testing out a new display. Fran laughed and corrected me. It was a compost pile.
We migrated to the living room where she told me about her next adventure as a manager for an edible landscaping company in Chicago. Fran farmed on more than 150 properties which included schools, estates and corporate clients. Needing a new creative outlet, she branched out and added flowers to her crafted plots. Fran admits, “I never liked flowers before. I didn’t even care to receive them.”
The new floral designs inspired her to start changing her career trajectory as she fell more in love with the blossoms. “What if I grew and designed flowers? What if I could produce sustainably grown flowers for large events?” Fran wondered. By October 2017, she answered her questions with action when she and Jesse moved to Western New York.
After settling in, Fran put an ad on Craigslist for a plot of land to keep growing. Serendipitously, Alex Plante—yes, Plante, of Kin Loch Farmstead—responded to Fran’s ad. The two met and were quick friends. By springtime of 2018, Fran and the Kin Loch crew were planting lavender and erecting a barn to be used as an event space. Now a destination for U-pick and lavender selfies in July, Kin Loch Farmstead has become a popular stop on Niagara’s agri-tourism circuit. Across the driveway from the lavender lies Fran’s supremely gorgeous plant kingdom.
As 2019 drew to a close, Fran looked back at her first year in business as Heirloom Soul Florals. She provided services for 20 weddings (including her own), flowered several editorial shoots and taught a few workshops including wreath making and flower arranging. Her garden sported almost 100 varieties of perennial and annual flowers including a medley of herbs and shrubs. As the 2020 flower season started ramping up, Fran secured her wedding and workshop schedules. Then, a few weeks later, the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
Fran’s ability to adapt was proven during her moves around the U.S. But one of her biggest achievements is undoubtedly the ability to keep going and keep growing through the pandemic.
“It’s been a challenging time,” Fran says. “All of our events, including workshops and full-service weddings, have been canceled or rescheduled for 2021. This has forced me to rethink my business model. I am now offering direct-to-consumer sales rather than exclusively designing event florals. We now offer take out wedding flowers to suit all wedding budgets and we are providing flower and herb bouquet community supported agriculture (CSA) shares for the very first time! I am so happy to share our abundance with more people. The response from our community has been incredibly supportive and I’m excited to see where it takes us.”
In addition to her artistic eye and resilience, what makes Fran’s work so remarkable is that she is intentionally growing her product in a sustainable manner. She explains, “To me, ‘sustainability’ means maintaining what you have and taking it a step further to regenerate. Each year on the farm, there’s been an increase in the soil’s activity. We are creating habitats for birds, caterpillars, toads, butterflies, praying mantises and bugs that I’ve never seen before. I love that the animals feel safe here. I don’t need to have the upper hand. I set up a system, and the earth does the rest.”
What’s more, the global flower industry is ironically and notoriously harmful to our environment. With the use of pesticides, preservatives, bleaches and paints, “they’re turning a compostable product into waste,” explains Fran. “I can’t have a business that contributes to that system.” Heirloom Soul Florals is providing an earth-friendly option to consumers. Her business is part of a new generation of flower farmers who know the issues and are coming up with better ways to supply and design.
Some of her solutions to the global problem include “encouragement and permaculture techniques to let nature do nature.” The Heirloom Soul Florals website states, “We practice no-till, cover cropping, deep mulching, soil food web awareness, natural habitat creation, and we are completely herbicide- and pesticide-free!”
In addition, Fran composts plant scraps that are produced at Heirloom Soul Florals and returns them to the land within Kin Loch Farmstead’s lavender fields. Fran’s flowers are harvested at peak freshness on the day of or day before each event and delivery, so her bounty does not require harsh preservatives. Fran has also curated her own system of reusable vases, containers and installation material, which customers can choose from for their big event.
Can this business get even better? It can. The outdoor seeding operation is solar powered.
As our interview stretched us from acquaintances to friends, I couldn’t help but feel inspired not only by her art, but by her spirit. The thoughtfulness that encapsulates Fran spills into her business. She shares, “We plant seeds of hope and joy to be grown through the season. I’m living my most authentic self in this garden, enjoying the gratification of all our hard work bursting into bloom. My motto has always been, ‘Plant a seed, water it, give it sun, it’ll grow.’ It’s that simple and that’s all this needs to be.”
