Emergency room nurse Sarah Schultz has hung up her scrubs — and picked up a garden apron and a trowel.
“About six years ago, I happened across a flower farm on Instagram — I had never seen a dahlia before,” said Schultz, who lives on a grain operation near Strathmore with husband Jay and their three sons.
“I was instantly hooked and captivated by these amazing and unique flowers.”
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It was a modest infatuation at first — she only set aside a small part of her vegetable garden to plant a variety of flowers.
“At first it felt really weird to cut a flower,” she said. “It just felt so foreign to me to cut a flower from my garden and put it in a vase. I did and I was hooked. The next summer, I carved out about 25 per cent of my garden.”
She no longer grows any vegetables, but has about three-quarters of an acre of flowers.
That’s a lot of flowers — and a hefty gardening bill would eventually lead to the creation of Sarah’s Cut Flowers.
“Growing flowers can be expensive,” said Schultz. “That was actually a big factor in me wanting to start selling them, so I could afford this hobby, that had become, quite frankly something of an addiction.”
The first year she grew a large number of flowers, she didn’t sell any, but had friends come over for a U-pick afternoon. She began selling flowers in 2020, while she was still working sporadically as a nurse, taking night shifts in the emergency room.
“Most flowers I grow are annuals in the form of seeds — that cost isn’t terrible,” she said. “Where you are going to run into a lot of cost for your inputs are dahlia tubers. That is my main crop.
“Tubers can get quite pricey, but now that I order enough and sell my extras, I can order wholesale and it’s a lot more affordable that way.”
Schultz first started selling flowers online as she had a strong social media presence and a well-known (but now defunct) blog, ‘Nurse Loves Farmer.’ She is active on Facebook and Instagram and relied heavily on word of mouth. In addition to selling at the Strathmore Farmers’ Market, she had a “bouquet subscription,” which included delivery in the local area.
“I kind of did a little bit of everything just to see what would work best,” she said.
The short growing season (from the end of May until fall frost) prompted her to find other ways to make money. She sells dahlia tubers in April, which is a big source of income for her and in 2020, began buying flowers from a Calgary wholesaler for both flower arrangements and wreathes for fall and winter.
“It’s been very well received, and I love making them. It’s a really good pick-me-up in the wintertime, to be able to work with fresh flowers and Christmas greens, even if they aren’t my own.”
And then last year, she decided to become a full-time flower farmer.
“It was about happiness and fulfilment,” she said. “It wasn’t a decision made lightly or quickly. This was years and years in the making.”
Schultz has shifted her business to sell wholesale to florists in Calgary, although she does still offer some bouquet subscriptions.
“I got to know some florists and designers last year,” she said. “There is a big need and they’re so supportive and encouraging and they want to buy local. With COVID, there was an imported flower shortage and a lot of flower farms in South America and other places they import from had to shut down due to the pandemic.”
A lot of her flowers are ones that can’t be imported. She grows specialty varieties of sunflowers, zinnias, as well as tulips, ranunculuses (a cool-season flower sometimes called ‘the rose of spring’) and anemones (a wide variety of perennials also known as windflowers).
“I grow a little bit of everything. I’m still honing my growing plans and seeing what works best for me, for our climate here and what florists really want from me,” she said.
“I’m finding my niche with flowers and finding what works and doesn’t work and finding ways I can find income in the off-season.”
She is also raising chickens, and selling their eggs.
“I feel grateful to have a husband and family who really supports me following this dream and passion of mine,” she said.
“I can be outside for 16 hours a day with my flowers and my chickens and my kids. I didn’t know what a dahlia was six years ago, and now I’m obsessed. Cut flowers bring so much joy and happiness. Being outside and in the dirt, I’ve never been happier in my life.”
Her website is sarahscutflowers.com.
