We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kristen Ehringer a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Kristen, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

Our farm started as a backyard cut flower business in an urban city. My husband Michael and I had bought our first home; a tiny house that had a postage stamp lot. At the time I was working as a freelance gardener, so it was a place we could grow our own garden.

I built a garden that I could cut flowers from, and eventually the idea of starting a flower farm business formed along with it in 2019. We started doing wedding floristry, and selling flowers at the farmer’s market in mason jar bouquets — before the pandemic required us to pivot the very next season.

We began selling direct-to-consumer with contactless porch deliveries, and our business grew as a way to give people hope and beauty during an otherwise dark and lonely time. People sent bouquets to friends on their birthdays, or bought for themselves for some joy. All the while, our cut flower garden expanded in our limited space to meet demands. We wanted to offer unique varieties that other flower farmers weren’t offering, and to an earth-friendly and sustainable standard. We did not spray pesticides on our plants to promote flowers that were healthy for pollinators and humans, and our flowers were arranged in compostable packaging. We quickly outgrew our little house and garden, and began looking for land.

By chance, I checked Zillow one day to see a listing for a place that was familiar to me.. a home and farm that belonged to my best friend in high school. The listing had been on the website for 30 minutes. During the housing market craze of 2021, I quickly moved every piece in place to put in an offer. And that evening, our offer was accepted. Shortly after that, we moved and began Daily Farm.

Daily Farm still has its roots in our little garden farm business. We grew from 100 square feet to 1 acre of production. We have accomplished much in just 2 years, and we look forward to being a community staple for years to come.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Daily Farm is a husband and wife farm located in Southern Indiana (New Albany) committed to building community by providing high quality grown goods with earth-friendly and sustainable practices to our community. On one acre of production, we grow nearly 500 garden and florist roses (our primary crop) along with peonies, flowering shrubs, climbers, annuals and perennials and a produce farm that mostly includes leafy greens, herbs, root vegetables, and vining fruits. We are powered by solar energy, and currently irrigate crops with our pond. We promote pollinator habitat by providing pollinator shelters, and maintaining a native wildflower field. Our products are thoughtfully packaged in biodegradable or compostable packaging. We offer community events, event floristry, and sell locally direct-to-consumer.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

My husband Michael and I met when we were about 18 years old. Michael is a talented musician and a passionate hobbyist. He is someone who is introspective and loves to have all the details and a plan before going into a project. We balance each other out in that way, as I am a dreamer and don’t hesitate to take a leap of faith. Michael and I got married in October of 2020, after nearly 10 years of dating and starting our small backyard cut flower business. At our wedding, Michael brewed beer with hops from our garden, and I grew and arranged the flowers.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

Michael and I both work full-time, and this farm is our side hustle. Every dollar we earn through the business has been put back into the business to grow it to the scale it is now. Our full-time jobs also helps fund our business. It’s not necessarily a glamorous or enviable part of the process, but the story of many start-up businesses. We are fully in the grinding years.. working long hours in hopes it will lead us to the milestone of it being our full-time job. We fight burnout with short trips away and time with friends and family.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://dailyfarmindiana.com
• Instagram: @dailyfarm.in
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dailyfarmindiana

Image Credits

Primary Image: Audrey Cecil Photography (https://www.audreycecilfilms.com/)