We first came across Nikki Davey when we saw her on the news for winning a 2023 AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award for her rural tech business Grown Not Flown.
Grown Not Flown is a digital platform and app connecting small-scale flower farmers and to consumers. The aim is to reduce “flower miles” (i.e. the carbon footprint of transportation) and to celebrate seasonal flowers rather than chemically treated imports.
We were so excited by this amazing initiative that we got in touch with Nikki to ask her all about Grown Not Flown so we could share it with our community of ethical and sustainable wedding florists and couples.
How did you become flower farmers?
There are two farms behind Grown Not Flown, myself and my partner Sam from Duck Duck Pig and my cousin Jayde and her husband Hayden from Gnarwarre Flower Farm.
Jayde and Hayden often joke that they’re the accidental flower farmers because they bought a farm in 2019 that just so happened to have an established but very neglected perennial wildflower and native cut flower farm on it and were only days away from bulldozing the flower field to make more room for stock when they noticed that the flowers were blooming and decided to get a flower consultant in to take a look at them.
At the same time this was happening, we were in the process of succession planning our family farm in Glenmore and had decided to take the farm in a completely new direction, being truffles. As part of this process, we engaged with a truffle consultant, and were going through the process of getting the truffiere established, which included soil tests and starting to prep the land ready to put the truffle inoculated trees in the ground.
During this time, Jayde & Hayden had learned that their flower farm had previously been a really successful and viable business and so with a little love and a lot of hard work were able to bring the flower field back to its former glory and have been expanding ever since.
From here, Jayde managed to convince us to do a trial patch of proteas and natives because they like similar soil to the truffle trees, and so we did a trial patch of 95 proteas, leucadendrons and pin cushions, they all did really well, and so we’ve been expanding and planting ever since also. And so, we joke that Jayde & Hayden are the accidental flower farmers, and we’re the accidental flower farmers by proxy.
Where did the idea come from to start Grown Not Flown?
There were a few things that happened in parallel that really kicked off Grown Not Flown. As relatively new flower farmers, but both at very different stages of our growing journey – Jayde & Hayden having an established flower farm, us having a brand new flower farm, we found that we were facing different problems, but things that were impacting the industry as a whole.
For Jayde & Hayden, they were contacted by a bride asking for King Proteas in March, which was completely out of season; they had someone from interstate contact them as they were planning an event local to Gnarwarre and wanted to use local flowers; and then they had someone who was going to be visiting the region and wanted to take some flowers home with them, but also wanted to know who else was in their local area that they could visit.
At the same time this was happening, as new flower farmers we were starting to think about building our own website, social media following and then the conundrum of knowing that we would have an inconsistent supply of flowers for the first few years, so do you try and find potential customers knowing that you may overpromise and underdeliver, or do you wait until you have the flowers to start looking for customers knowing that you may end up with a lot of waste.
And so we were chatting about the different challenges we were having, plus through conversation with other farmers and florists, and thought, there has to be a better way. From there, we were thinking about what we wished was available when we first started our flower farming journey and the idea of Grown Not Flown was born.
What do you want couples to know about choosing locally grown flowers?
More than anything we want couples to be able to make an informed decision when choosing their flowers, and that means understanding where your flowers have come from and the conditions that they were grown in. The same way we have fast food and fast fashion, we also have fast flowers and so it’s important to know that not all flowers are grown equal. We want flower consumers to celebrate the provenance of flowers the same way we do with food, and when you’re buying seasonal locally grown flowers, especially if they’re from a micro or small-scale grower, then they’ve likely been grown using chemical free, regenerative and sustainable practices and so it’s not only better for the environment, but you’re also supporting a small-business and local economies.
What’s the benefit of locally grown flowers?
By supporting local, you’re helping to reduce the carbon footprint associated with imported cut flowers as well as having more seasonal variety that is otherwise lost when flowers are mass produced or grown in monocultures which helps to preserve biodiversity and local ecosystems, and is generally better for the environment. You’re also getting a greater connection with the growers and a freshness that you cannot get naturally when flowers have been transported long distances. In addition to this, many local growers are also small-businesses, and so you’re supporting local communities and economies to blossom.
What do you wish you’d see more of in wedding flowers?
We love the idea of wedding flowers being based on a vibe or colour scheme as opposed to wanting a particular flower such as peonies or roses, that are quite often requested outside of their local season, and so if you have a colour scheme or vibe that you’re designing to, then you’re able to get creative using seasonal flowers as opposed to relying solely on imported flowers for your wedding flowers.
Can couples buy flowers directly from the website if they’re going DIY?
Yes, we have a lot of DIY wedding couples that use Grown Not Flown to source seasonal locally grown flowers from growers for their weddings. Grown Not Flown provides flower farmers with a lot of flexibility with how they list and sell their flowers and so if you’re DIY-ing your wedding flowers, it’s a great resource to be able to search, source and connect with local growers.
What’s your favourite flower?
It’s so hard to choose just one, but at the moment I’m loving the king proteas, button bush and dryandra banksia. I also have a real soft spot for dahlias, although we only grow these for ourselves, as well as kangaroo paw and billy buttons. I’m forever changing my mind on what my favourite flower is though because with each new season brings a new wave of flowers and new favourites, but I do love the Australian natives, banksias in particular.
With wedding flowers being one of the top four ways to reduce your wedding carbon footprint (by sourcing and using local, seasonally grown flowers), we’re super stoked to discover Grown Not Flown and hope that all our florist friends and DIY couples connect with the app! You can check it out here: Grown Not Flown.
Images by Chloe Smith Photography.
