Carly Jenkins

Killing Frost Farm

Killing Frost Farm is owned and operated by Carly Jenkins and Jamie Rogers in the Potomac Valley of Western Montana. Over our short 6 years of farming, we’ve pared our business model to growing and selling cut flowers for Montana’s wholesale market. In 2016, we opened the Westside Flower Market, which caters exclusively to Missoula-area florists and event planners. There we also sell flowers grown by other farmers in our region. In 2018, we added a bucket truck route, bringing those same blooms to Butte, Bozeman and Helena.

As our business has morphed over the years, some constants have remained. A love for working with other flower farmers in a mutually beneficial way. A love for working in the dirt, and doing our best to create a relationship with nature that is also mutually beneficial. And maybe most of all, an appreciation for the relationships we’ve formed with our customers. It can feel lonely being a flower farmer in the middle of a growing season; it really helps if you consider your customers your pals.

Carly Jenkins with her husband Jamie operate Killing Frost Farm in the Potomac Valley of Western Montana. Besides growing flowers and opening Westside Flower Market, she is passionate about responsible foraging. Realizing the impact on the environment and our native species, she is an advocate for educating yourself before cutting.

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Killing Frost Farm

Show Notes

1. Be sure to consider the use of growing and foraging dried products to help extend your sales season.

2. Realize the importance of responsible foraging. Don’t cut something that you’re not familiar with, you don’t want to forage something endangered, protected, or maybe even poisonous.

3. Make sure you check on- line for local permitting or licensing before you forage especially from national or state parks.

4. I love the idea of reforesting or restoring the land.

5. If you’re in an area from out of town, ask local businesses about local foragers or suppliers so you don’t forage in areas that might cause harm to a local ecosystem.

6. When cutting woodies, Carly cuts up the stem to split it after cutting or recutting the original branch to help it drink better.

7. Be aware of the human culture and how it impacts our natural world and environment.

8. When foraging be mindful of the service you’re providing during the process and pay it forward to nature. Like picking up litter, weeds, or being mindful of how you prune.