814-Lancasler Fanning, Saturday, October 10, 1987
BY LOU ANN GOOD
LITITZ—Four years ago when
avian flu wiped out John Miller’s
10,000 chickens, he was hesitant to
risk repopulating his poultry oper
ation. To continue supporting his
family on their 60-acre farm, John
needed a new income-producing
product
As he contemplated various job
opportunities, Linda, his wife,
envisioned launching their own
dried flower business on their
Little Valley Farm in Lititz. John
was not convinced. Drying flowers
seemed like a far-out business ven
ture to him.
Linda persisted. Dubiously,
John planted an acre of flowers
like statice and globe amarantha.
“We rented outside space at Root’s
Country Market in Manheim,”
Linda recalled. “And,” she paused
as she exchanged a laughing
glance with her husband, “we’ll
never forget that first day. All
morning, we sat in the house and
watched it rain. But in the after
noon the sky cleared. For awhile,
we debated whether or not we
should bother to go, but finally we
packed up the flower arrangements
and went to the market”
John said, “Within four hours,
everything was sold! That first day
at Root’s convinced me that Linda
was right We should go into the
dried flower business.”
The booming success of their
business continued, but not with
With a baby and three other children, Linda often
arranges flowers while “mothering.”
jmmer and-fall seast find the Millers picking blooms from their five acres of
flowers. Left to right, Nancy Stoltzfus, full-time employee, John and Linda Miller.
Little Valley Farm Blooms Profits
out hard work, long hours and
planning. Through trial and error
the Millers learned the maturity
flowers need to be picked for dry
ing. They dry all their flowers by
hanging them upside down in a
dark, dry area. John emphasized,
“They must be kept dry because
mold changes the color.”
Weekly, for VA years, the Mill
ers continued to take their product
to Roots. They moved from an out
side stand to an inside one. By
then, the Millers had branched out
into other methods of selling both
retail and wholesale. Linda said,
“We soon learned the dried flow
ers sell even better at arts and craft
shows.” So they dropped their
weekly excursions to Root’s
Market and concentrated on
choosing shows that produced the
most profit.
“Every year,” Linda said, “The
shows get better and better.” She
added, “We prefer to enter juried
shows that require slides and pic
tures to screen registrants.” Those
shows produce more buyers.
This year the Millers partici
pated in 16 shows which took them
to Maryland, Virginia, Delaware,
New Jersey and throughout
Pennsylvania.
“Although we’d like to go to
more shows, that’s all we have
time to do,” John explained,
“because it takes a lot of
preparation.”
“We love the shows,” Linda
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Within four years, John and Linda Miller have watched their dried flower service
bloom into a booming business.
said. “We enjoy meeting the peo
ple. It takes a lot of work and we
come home dead tired on our feet,
but it is worth it.”
Behind the glamour of success
ful shows, looms much hard work
and planning. John said that they
need to plan three years in advance
for perennials since they seldom
produce blooms before that time.
Then, there are the weeds to
contend with. John, Linda, one
full-time and several part-time
employees find that they work best
by doing everything together. So
together they tackle the weeds by
hoeing.
The second year, the Millers
planted eight acres of flower seeds,
but they couldn’t keep after the
required work and they found local
labor was too high to make it pro
fitable. Since then they plant five
acres of flowers annually, and to
increase their stock, they import
roses and statice fresh from South
American and then dry it. They
also buy direct from a New Jersey
grower.
For the Millers, it is a family
business. Their three oldest child
ren Chad, 9; Nita, 7; Katy, 3, help
pick and weed the flowers. Linda
said, “Actually, they do a better job
picking then most of our employ
ees. Because they grew up with it,
they just seem to know how mature
a bloom should be for picking.”
The children like to assist their
parents when they attend shows.
They help fill the stands with flow
ers that have been transported by
the three trailers their parents own.
Their older children help enter
tain the baby and Linda said, “I
couldn’t do it without John’s help.
He pitches in with the cooking and
cleaning.”
“But,” John interjected, “I only
* ?
do the basic steps in flower arrang
ing, Linda adds the final touch to
flower arrangements.”
Linda’s parents own Kreider’s
Mum Farm which retails to flower
shops and businesses. On the side
they also grow flowers to dry.
Although Linda had studied flori
culture in school and then worked
several years as a floral arranger,
she said her unique flower arrang
ing ideas “come from God.”
She admits that she is very parti
cular with her designing. She said,
“It’s hard to find someone who is
really good at flower arranging.”
For containers, they buy baskets
and pottery in bulk. In addition to
designing arrangements that Linda
said are all unique, the Millers put
together eight varieties of mixed
bouquets which they repeatedly
use. “They’re something everyone
can afford to buy,” Linda
explained.
It is a year-round operation. And
Linda said, “I like the variety it
offers. In the spring there is the
excitement of anticipating a good
year. I’m eager to try new things
and curious to see how the flowers
will dry.”
The summer season dictates
picking and hoeing the colorful
blooms. “It’s more of an incentive
to keep the flower beds clean when
you can actually see the results,”
John said. During the winter
months, they arrange flowers from
their stock.
The arts and crafts shows are
interspersed throughout the year.
Some of the bouquets are not as
easy to make, “but,” Linda said,
“when you see the customers’
Old Sewing Machine
Are you in the market for a new
sewing machine? If so, don’t toss
your old machine, if it’s in fairly
good working condition. Especial
ly needed are machines with zig
zag and button hole capabilities.
Thp Montgomery County 4-H
Clubs are always looking for good
used machines for 4-H members to
use at their sewing club meetings.
Your donation is tax deductible, of
Don’t Toss That
faces light up when they buy them,
it makes all the hard work
worthwhile.”
Depending where the show is
located, the Millers adjust the type
of arrangements they show. “The
wealthier areas like the newer col
or trends,” Linda said. Regardless
of where they sell, “We don’t hear
people complain that our prices are
too high.
People often remarked, ‘Do you
know how much I’d need to pay
for this if I bought it in flower
shop?”’
The Millers admit that to keep
on top of everything they spent
“too many hours” in the business.
Every aspect of the work requires
hand labor. Linda said, “When
we’re tired, we work anyway.”
And sometimes that means from 7
a.m. to 11 p.m.
John said, “The business has
actually outgrown us.” They do
not desire to get bigger since they
feel there are too many negative
aspects to operating a larger busi
ness.
It is a lot of hard work, but the
Millers now have a prospering
wholesale and retail business. “It
offers us a nice living,” John
admitted.
Linda added, “Everything hap
pened by word-of-mouth. We nev
er did any advertising.”
Little Valley Farm keeps
blooming profits. Its entrepreneur
owners aren’t complaining. They
believe the avian flu turned ot to be
a blessing in disquise for them.
“It’s more money than chickens
and we like it better,” they both
claim.
course, and you can be sure that it
will be used with much pleasure.
If you would like to donate a
sewing machine to 4-H, call
* Hclaine Brown, 4-H Agent, at
489-4315. Or, feel free to drop it
off at the Montgomery County 4-H
Center, located on Route 113,
between Routes 73 and 29, near
Skippack.