The Elderflower Farm, Scenic Rim
Brooksy and I have been working on some concepts and subject matter for our new collection and I had been feeling hesitant about starting work on it. While the new theme and colour palette was there and we both felt excited about it, I still wasn’t letting my head wander far enough to get into my full creative mode. That’s when I decided it was time to immerse myself in some nature, coffee and good old fashioned farming.
I headed to the scenic rim and more specifically, Elderflower Farm which sits within the stunning grounds of the Scenic Rim Farm Shop and Café in Kalbar. The first thing I noticed when I arrived is the gorgeous rustic tin barn that welcomes you onto the property followed by the giant jacarandas that cool the beautiful picnic lawns. Even though this blog post is not about coffee and cake I feel it’s really necessary that I mention that they have really good coffee and cake. So do be sure to drop into the café if you get a chance to visit.
The reason I wanted to visit Elderflower farm is because I had been following them on Instagram for a while and knew that they supplied some of the local businesses in my area with their cut flowers. I had started to see that their passion lay not only in flowers and farming them but also in sharing that love and passion with others. They do this through allowing visitors to stroll through their boutique flower farm, and through their onsite custom floristry and garden shop. They also do this through offering some wonderful workshops in wreath making, crown making and in flower arranging.
While I didn’t get to participate in a workshop I did get to immerse myself in the flower farm and even speak to some of the passionate folk that work there. I can’t name all of the flowers that were in bloom during my visit but my favourites were the poppies, snapdragons, foxgloves, sweet peas and a new favourite I learnt on the day, ranunculus. On top of this visual feast was the beautiful fragrance of the flowers filling the air and the sound of bees hard at work. I can’t explain in words how well this environment worked for me as a reset button but it was like all of my feelings of procrastination just lifted and were gone.
I think seeing someone else’s passion up close is a great motivator as well. This is the first time I have been to a flower farm and the whole process of planting seeds and raising them to beautiful blooms is no doubt as complex as it is rewarding. You can feel the love the Elderflower Farm has for their product when you are there. You can feel that they want to share that love with everyone who walks through the gates and to be honest I think they succeed. I certainly will be daydreaming about my next visit until that time comes. In the meantime I will be channelling some of their passion for flowers into my own work.
Oh and one more thing… Did I mention that they make floral lollipops? Well they do and you can buy them in the garden shop ;)
Kerrin