In Denmark, we have an incredible number of beautiful flower varieties and plenty of opportunities to grow and pick flowers for our bouquets. Nevertheless, for decades we have bought and had flowers delivered from abroad without thinking about the CO2 footprint, climate or environment. We at Studio About want to help focus on the Danish flower farmer and all the beautiful flowers and bouquets you can get in Denmark with Danish flowers.
We have therefore visited Louise and her flower farm Blomstergården Øster Bisholt to get a look into her inspiring world of flowers. Read part 1 of the article and get an insight into the life of a Danish flower farmer; a flourishing story about starting a business and how a love of Danish flowers can grow into something beautiful.
THE FLOWER GARDEN'S FLOWER STRING
Blomstergården Øster Bisholt is a small natural gem between Horsens and Juelsminde. Here, Louise produces beautiful seasonal flowers with a view to growing them in a gentle and natural way.
Louise has always been an inspiring, creative zealot and had speed over the field. She has been travelling, in the Armed Forces, has been a teaching assistant, substitute and she has a bachelor's degree in Sociology. She has always struggled to find out what she should do with her life, but also struggled with society's thoughts about what she 'should', and never understood why she couldn't settle into this.
In 2019, Louise quit her temporary job and spent a year finding and spending time on herself, and just being. During that time, she created the coziest garden in their then detached house garden, and among the flowers she could quietly begin to abstract from all the 'should' thoughts and feel herself again.
In January 2020, it struck her that she should spend her life growing flowers. Through her own garden project, she had gotten to know a lot of breathtaking and inspiring foreign and Danish flower farmers, which gave her the motivation and courage to try. On the in-laws' farm land, which she was allowed to borrow, Louise, with the help of family and friends, was able to establish last year's flower field of approximately 1000 square meters. Beds had to be milled, animal fences knocked up, gutters and irrigation systems installed, and the many flowers had to be sown, planted, looked after and nurtured. This year she expanded with another flower field of approximately 1000 square meters.
“I cannot explain how grateful I am and how blessed I feel to be given such a great opportunity by my parents-in-law. It is also a huge driving force for me: I want so badly to succeed with this business and make it the best it can be, so that I can honor such a great gift.” - Louise
FLOWER VISIONS AND LOVE OF FLOWERS
With her flower farm business, Louise hopes to make the Danes aware of all the untapped potential that Danish flower farmers have. She dreams that more people will want to decorate with flowers, which you can really feel:
"I really think that my cells are activated in a completely different way when I am near and touch and smell locally and spray-free grown flowers. And I think that this is what many of us need in our otherwise busy everyday life, where we drive a bit on autopilot: we need to activate our cells a little, and just to create a connection with ourselves and our world around us again . This is what I think flowers are and can be: they are connections to nature, to ourselves and to others.” - Louise
Unlike local seasonal flowers, imported flowers are often grown in monoculture in greenhouses and treated with pesticides that make them appear better than they are. They are too perfect and too ideal. Louise thinks that the imported flowers actually get a rubbery surface, so that they lose their crispness and authenticity. She sees it more as a sign of quality if her flowers don't last abnormally long, don't have perfectly straight stems and if there are insects in them. Because if the insects want to be near them, so does she. There is a beauty in the home-grown and natural, and Louise dreams that we open our eyes to this beauty and utilize the resources we are so enriched with in Denmark.
LOCAL AND SUSTAINABLE FLOWERS
When we buy foreign flowers, they are most often sprayed with pesticides and imported from abroad, which among other things releases an incredible amount of CO2, which is bad for the environment. If you pick or buy flowers locally, you bypass this process and go in a more sustainable and gentle direction.
Louise sells to local customers who live within a radius of approximately 30 km from Blomstergården. In addition, she uses plants and flowers that are in season, and does not use heated greenhouses, pesticides or artificial fertilizers, which are a nuisance to the groundwater and the insects. When the season for fresh flowers is over, she uses dried flowers that she harvests for drying over the summer. Through this, she consciously takes into account both the plants and the animals, her customers and herself for a more responsible and sustainable business.
But for Louise, it is an unattainable goal, an ideal, to be sustainable throughout, as you always want to leave a mark on the earth when you live in a civilized society. Therefore, she also sees sustainability more closely as a special awareness and a decision for a better alternative to something that already exists. It is not something that can be transformed from one to the other overnight, but a process. For Louise, it is a balance of which resources she must prioritize at the moment, which in the future will lead to becoming organically certified, having the capacity to process all the compost herself, and only using the seeds she harvests herself, instead of buying new. A beautiful and burgeoning destination that she is only growing further and further towards.
THE FACTS
Louise Hjerrild Severinsen is 30 years old and has a bachelor's degree in sociology. She is married to Kristian and together they live at Blomstergården with their two cats, Charles and Otto.
See more of Louise's flower universe on her website https://www.blomstergaarden-oesterbisholt.dk/ and @blomstergaarden_oester_bisholt
Read the 2nd part of the article here , which is about Blomstergården's daily life, Louise's flower growing process and tips and tricks for your own bouquets.
