Gabriel and Fiona Poole’s flowers are grown on their property just out of Wingham, on Gloucester Road where they have 11 acres.
Two of those acres are under plastic igloos. The covers help the Pooles to control quality. Keeping them out of the rain helps with disease management, and keeping them out of the extreme heat and cold allows them to avoid weather damage and keep growing year round.
Another thing which they have started over the past year to improve quality is to apply Island in the Stream Vermiculture’s Biocast+, which has made a noticeable difference in how strongly the plants grow and how well they kee and they have been able to cut chemical use by half.
Customers regularly say their cut flowers last for two weeks, even up to four weeks in some cases.
Gabriel says he has been in this business for six and a half years, prior to which he was a beef and sheep farmer.
“I’m not a trained horticulturalist so I’m still winging it a bit and learning as I go” says Gabriel. “I love having more control over the marketing and supply chain with flowers, and working for myself.”
Gabriel and Fiona have set themselves up as a business which markets direct to florists, now supplying mixed boxes of flowers to florists up and down the mid-north coast.
They have 12 varieties including gerberas, carnations, lisianthus, and ornamental kale. This sets them apart from many larger growers who focus on one or two varieties and supply Sydney markets.