Flower farm brings family together

Chrissie Hart and Mark Walton have a lot to thank lockdown for. Realising city life was not what they wanted for their family, they took a giant leap of faith into the world of flower farming. Four years on, the couple are thriving in the country while they grow their fledgling business. They talk to Alice Scott about their journey.

Moving to the countryside and starting a flower farm is great fodder for Instagram reels and Country Calendar episodes. Mark Walton says with a laugh he is still waiting for the call to feature in the latter "and our older two kids seem to be pretty savvy with social media, so we are covering our bases".

Mr Walton and his partner Chrissie Hart both agreed their decision to leave Dunedin’s city life was the stuff of dreams for many urbanites. He was working as a civil engineer and Miss Hart was an architectural draftsperson.

"We were working full time in office jobs. Our children went to after-school care. We would get them home, get some tea into them and wrangle the bedtime routine just to get up and do it all over again," Miss Hart said.

The family thrived at home together during Covid lockdown in 2020 and realised after the pandemic they couldn’t go back to their old routine.

"It was the push we needed to stop talking about our dream of living in the country and just go and do it," she said.

The couple quit their jobs, renovated and sold their Dunedin properties, found an affordable property in Waikouaiti which came with a half-acre (0.2ha) section and set about starting Frankie’s Flower Farm.

"We have both always loved gardening and I am particularly fond of dahlias but in terms of running a commercial business of this nature, we knew nothing, and it has been a steep learning curve the whole way," she said.

Starting out with a "pair of gumboots and a wheelbarrow" the first season was hard work.

"Pretty quickly we realised where a small digger might be rather useful," she said, laughing.

"We learn a lot from talking to people in the industry; some who have been growing these plant varieties for decades.

‘‘We just try and learn as much as we can from these people. One thing we have noticed is how supportive and generous others are in the industry. There is room for everyone, and people just seem so happy and willing to share everything they know."

Four years on, the couple have managed to turn their passion into a viable business. They grow flower varieties that provide an income stream through as much of the year as possible; selling either as cut flower bouquets in the warmer months or online as tubers and bulbs in the cooler months.

Last year the couple purchased an old truck which they take along to market days and other events and sell the bouquets from, they also supply wholesale to several florists as well.

As well as dahlias, the couple also sell tulips, lilies and paeonies. They quickly outgrew their piece of land and have since expanded into some nearby paddocks owned by their friends.

"Sharon and Andrew Linklater have been absolutely amazing; allowing us to use their land so we could grow our business," Mr Walton said.

They also have an arrangement with a local established paeony farm from which they cut and sell stems in the spring and share a portion of the profit with the owners.

The couple’s inspiration for the farm’s name came about when Miss Hart was pregnant with their third child.

"We knew we were having a little girl and planned to name her Frankie so we thought we would name the farm after her, but the name became quite popular and we had gone off it by the time she was born, which I think was a good thing, this business has been like tending to a baby in itself!" she said. They have since had their fourth child just seven weeks ago.

To make the business viable, the couple agreed the workload was relentless "but it has been worth it," Miss Hart said.

"We love that we are outside, getting our hands dirty and doing something that aligns with our values around sustainability."

"It’s not uncommon for us to head back outside in the evenings when the kids have gone to bed and make bouquets for the following day. It certainly still beats doing management reviews," Mr Walton added.

The couple has plans to continue scaling up the enterprise as time and funds allow.

"There is some infrastructure to come, but we are mindful that we want to really make sure we have nailed each step before we go any further. Doing each thing well and turning out quality is important to us," Miss Hart said.