We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Max Lagasse a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Max, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?
My mother and I started the Little Otter Flower Farm in the spring of 2020 to help people with autism develop job skills and look for and obtain employment around the community. Unfortunately, the unemployment rate among people with autism is around 85%. I am proud to demonstrate to the world what people with autism are capable of achieving. It is important to me because I feel happy to help people with autism out. I also feel proud to have a career as a person with autism.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
The Little Otter Flower Farm is a small, family-owned specialty cut flower farm. We grow over 40 different types of flowers using regenerative farming practices. For example, we brew our own micro-organisms and lactic acid bacteria, and we use cardboard to feed the worms instead of tilling the soil. We sell bunches and arrangements — particularly my “Riots of Color” which I am known for — in weekly subscriptions and at the Bedford Farmers Market. We also do Random Acts of Kindness, which are small/medium Riots of Color that we deliver around Bedford County. This year we are doing a “Season of Kindness” with a goal of delivering 500 Random Acts of Kindness. Last year I also started doing more weddings and events. Bryan Swann from Karen’s Florist in Northern Virginia has helped me learn the wedding craft.
I grew up in Montclair, NJ where I graduated from Montclair High School in 2019, and I moved to Bedford VA to start the farm in 2020. I am currently learning how to drive and hope to return to college to study math and science.
I am particularly proud of taking on new responsibilities on the farm each year including driving, managing the Random Acts of Kindness, managing the financial books and records and recording our farm observations including when we plant, transplant and harvest different flowers.
The parts of my job I love the most are going to the Bedford Farmers Market and making people happy around Bedford County with Random Acts of Kindness. Some of my favorite flowers include zinnias, snapdragons, sunflowers and cosmos.
Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?
We did not know anything about flower farming when we started! We took the Floret flower farming class in 2019 and continue to learn from their learning community. We have also read a lot of books. Some of our favorites are the “Teaming With” series (microbes, nutrients and fungi, all written by Jeff Lowenfels). And we watch a lot of videos and listen to podcasts. One thing we have learned is that each farm is different, and we need to figure out what works for us rather than just copy what other farms do. We experiment with different strategies each year. For example, this year we are using bamboo to support some of our flowers like cosmos. We have perfected our techniques for securing the frost cloth in the heavy wind by using bungie cords and paracord. Farming is hard work! I’ve increased my stamina a lot since we started.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
I think being honest and real has helped build our reputation. Our motto is that we grow flowers, people and community. We spend a lot of time helping our interns, and we contribute a lot to our community. In addition to delivering Random Acts of Kindness, we often support other organizations by donating flowers. Some of the other organiations wer participate with are the Bedford Area Family YMCA, The National D-Day Memorial, The Bower Center for the Arts, and the Bedford Urban Gardens (BUG). Our social media includes the good, the bad and the ugly of farming including both beautiful flowers as well as fungus and bugs. We always try to maintain our sense of humor when farming gets hard.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.littleotterflowerfarm.com
- Instagram: @littleotterflowers
- Facebook: @littleotterflowers
