Archive: Business & Technology

How do you expand a seasonal business to one that can be sustained year 'round?  Linda VanApeldoorn was at Cayuga Radio Group's 2011 Create Your Day Wedding Expo last weekend at the Shops at Ithaca Mall doing just that.  VanApeldoorn opened Take your Pick Flower Farm in Ludlowville five years ago, but recently has found ways to extend the summertime business by offering subscriptions and reaching out to new markets.  At the expo VanApeldoorn gave out packages in the shape of a flower filled with sunflower seeds.

"I'm here because I'm trying to get into the wedding market," she said Saturday.  "A lot of brides are looking for a way to save money on their weddings.  Coming to the gardens and picking their own is a great way to save money.  A lot of people want to help you with your wedding, so it's a good way for people to help the bride by putting bouquets together, table arrangements, and things like that.  They can all come and help pick.  If the bride doesn't want to take it that far I will pick the flowers and deliver them for them to arrange.  Or they can come pick them up.  Or I will do table arrangements for them."

Originally the farm offered flowers that customers could pick themselves, and while VanApeldoorn loves interacting with customers it was set up to be self-service, including leaving payment at times when she is not there.  That provided a 24/7 opportunity for local customers to buy flowers on their own schedules.  Since then she has built the business to include pre-picked bouquets, delivery, and seasonal subscriptions.  Subscriptions are for a different bouquet delivered each week for ten weeks starting in late June.


While the disastrous economy hurt all businesses, VanApeldoorn says the flower business began to pick up last year, and she expects an even better year in 2011.  Her farm was selected as one of the top ten U-Pick gardens of 2010 in the USA in Birds and Blooms Magazine, a national magazine.  And she has become more aggressive about getting the word out about the business year 'round to jump-start the summer flower season.

Since opening the farm she has become a local gardening expert, and has been working with the Lansing Library to develop their gardens, a major project that she hopes will be completed this spring.  VanApeldoorn grows many of the flowers from seeds and augments them with locally grown plants for her gardens.  She grows organically, only using organically certified pesticides.  While she has had other jobs along the way, she now works on her flower business full time.

"I love it.  It's my passion so I've very lucky that I'm blessed with being able to do that," she says.  "I really enjoy meeting people and helping to educate them about the different types of flowers, or how to pick.  A lot of people come to me now with gardening questions, which is a lot of fun."

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