June 1, 2025 ·

2025 Seedlings to Flowers: Our Greenhouse Setup and Garden Tour

Oh, you know me, just another I want to try that for my to-do list, and I'm talking about flower farming.

I caught the flower bug last summer after planting a butterfly garden full of zinnias and cosmos—so many butterflies! 

Then I watched Growing Floret on HBO MAX, and well... I was all in.

Right before spring kicked off, I snagged a 10x20 UV plastic-sided greenhouse on clearance for around $180—and honestly, I couldn’t be happier with it.

It’s nothing fancy, but it’s super spacious and just right for my first (very experimental) year of flower farming.


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 I got mine at Menards, but Amazon has one not on sale, but I’ve linked it HERE, so you can see I GOT A DEAL!

It’s definitely easier to set up with two people, but overall, it’s not hard—it just has a lot of parts.


Since it’s pretty windy in our area, we decided to lay out pallets and screw the legs onto them to make it more secure, instead of using the stakes to anchor it into the ground. 

We also used a black tarp on the ground for flooring.

The greenhouse is tucked near the edge of the pony pasture, which leads me to another exciting change: I’m turning part of that pasture into the cut flower garden!

Flowers and ponies—what more can a girl ask for?!

The soil is pretty good—thanks to years of natural fertilizing and grazing by my ponies and chickens. 

We can also thank the animals for the piles of compost they provide to us regularly.

Since I'll be harvesting flowers early in the morning or late in the evening, it lines up perfectly with the ponies’ pasture grazing schedule.

I have ponies with Cushing’s and EMS, so managing their grass time is a must. 

Grass sugar levels are lowest during those cooler hours, so it’s the safest time for them to be out there. 

It all feels like a happy coincidence—or maybe just really good timing.

I've read all about the no-till methods, and how a lot of flower farmers love it, but I own a tiller and decided to use it.

So, all of my rows have been tilled this year.

Sometimes we read so much that it paralyzes us from doing anything. 

People have been tilling gardens forever. 

And let’s be real—most no-till gardeners start out their story with “the first year, I tilled…” 

So, I tilled. 

Don't judge me!

I also left grass between all the flower rows since I have the space, and this makes it easy to run the mower through. 

Here’s how it’s looking so far!



I think I am planting about 1/8 - 1/4 acre.


This year’s flower garden is 100% an experiment.

I’m growing a mix of blooms—zinnias, cosmos, strawflowers, statice, celosia, dahlias from seed (!!), and more. 

I'm trying different seed-starting methods and figuring out what works best in the space.

I have DIY newspaper pots, styrofoam cups, repurposed plastic fruit cups, biodegradable peat pots, and plastic seedling trays.




These plastic seedling trays were a steal, and linked them HERE.



I wanted to try soil blocking, but I’ve heard it’s hard on the wrists—and since I already have some wrist issues, I decided to skip it this year.

Anyways, if something turns out to be too fussy or high-maintenance, it won’t be back next year.

I’ll share a full list of everything I planted once the flowers bloom, and I can report back on what was worth the effort. 

I bought about 85% of my seeds from Johnny’s and a few others online from Burpee.

Because the greenhouse isn’t heated or set up with lights, I started some seeds indoors early March.

I definitely needed more light, but like I said I am trying to find the easiest flowers to grow.


And if you see from the photos above, trust me—if I can grow flowers this way, anyone can. 

Nothing fancy. 

Just winging it and breaking the “rules” a little. 

I moved everything into the greenhouse around April 20th, once night temps were consistently hitting 40°F. 

I lost a few seedlings on a cold night or two, but I have plenty of seeds to spare, and I took notes for next year.

Inside the greenhouse, I built shelving out of pallets Paul (the hubs) scored for free. 

I also dragged in a large plastic pond I had taking up space in the barn and filled it with water to help hold heat overnight. 



There’s more to come as this little flower farm unfolds. 

It’s not about perfection. 

It’s about showing up, getting my hands dirty, learning as I go, and celebrating whatever blooms. 

I’m especially excited about growing dahlias from seed, not tubers—who knows, maybe one of them will be something totally new. 

I was mind-blown watching Growing Floret and learning how bugs and nature play a role in creating new varieties. 

Call me a weirdo, but I think that’s amazing.

Everyone keeps asking what we’ll be doing with all these blooms. 

Since this year is more of an experiment, and I’m seeing if I can earn myself a green thumb in the flower grower world, a small flower farm stand might be popping up at the end of my driveway.

Or at least let's keep our fingers crossed that I get things to grow and the butterflies, bumble bees, and hummingbirds love it!

HERE'S A LITTLE ESTIMATED PEEK OF WHAT I HAVE INVESTED IN THE FLOWERS THIS YEAR SO FAR

EXPENSES


FREEBIES
  • Tiller- We've had our Earthquake tiller for years.
  • Pallets - used for flooring and shelving in the greenhouse.
  • Black Tarp - Flooring in greenhouse. Already had this on hand.
  • Compost - Perk of owning chickens and ponies.
  • Fence Post and Twine - Perks of farm life, had on hand.
  • Water - I'll be using our garden hose to water, and we have a well.

And that’s a wrap for this post, friends! 

I’ll be sharing more about the flowers as I go. 

I still have about three to four weeks before I can plant outdoors, and I’ll keep you updated on how everything’s looking. 

You might want to follow my Instagram stories for live updates @farmdustandpaint.

I’ve also been doing some reading and learning from the pros.

I’ve got a pony poo tea I’ll be experimenting with as fertilizer, some cute ideas for flower row signs, and I’m really thankful I learned about succession planting, so everything won’t bloom all at once. 

Thank you so much for stopping by Farm Dust and Paint today.

It means the world to me and my little farm.

Don't forget to follow us on Instagram @farmdustandpaint.

XOXO

Emily


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