Frank and Pamela Arnosky
Texas Specialty Cut Flowers and Arnosky Family Farms
How did we (The Arnosky’s) get here, where we are today, farming flowers in three locations—the Texas Hill Country, far West Texas, and in the Northwoods of Minnesota?
Frank says he always wanted to farm. He grew up as an urban kid in Detroit, working in a backyard garden with his Hungarian grandmother in Detroit. Weekends on Boy Scout camping trips and summers on his aunt’s farm in Ontario, Canada, opened the wide, natural world. He studied art and science, and came out of Michigan State University with a degree in Horticulture from Michigan State, followed by a 6-month intern experience at a large orchard in western MI. In 1982, he headed to Texas A&M in 1982, to study fruit crop genetics. Over the next few years, he gained practical experience working within pecans, peaches, grapes, and started his first greenhouse business. Once, to attend friends’ wedding in NC, Frank rode his bicycle across the South to get there.
I, Pamela, grew up in Texas, but always camped with my family, & later worked outside in the summers. I (stubbornly) bicycled just about everywhere I went. In 1978, with one of my brothers, I hiked the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada, and then bicycled back to Texas. After graduating from Texas A&M with a Geography degree from Texas A&M in 1981, I went off to Canada to study Plant Geography, attracted by the research project in Belize. Honestly, I only carried a vague idea of a formal career, and ‘settling down.’ What followed is that I traveled, married, had first child, split up, and went back to school for a teaching certificate.
Frank and I combined resources and forces in 1988. A grand sense of adventure and being undaunted by the prospect of hard work unites us. Everything we have ever experienced combines to make it possible for us “live life large.” Frank and I had been in the same social circles at Texas A&M, but we remet in 1988 at a polka dance in Austin, Texas in 1988. Dancing wildly together was something we did well together, from the first dance!
Working together just naturally followed. In 1989, we bought our 1st little farm in the Texas Hill Country, between Austin and San Antonio. It had everything: affordable, owner financed, bottomland soil along a creek, within one hour’s drive of two major metropolitan areas, and the freedom to build our house, family, and business. From one greenhouse producing bedding plants to sell to independent garden centers in 1990, we pivoted to raising specialty cut flowers in 1993, under the name Texas Specialty Cut Flowers. We branded our flowers from the beginning, and sold to grocery stores, florists, wholesalers, farmers markets, and retail at our own farm. We expanded our business as our skills grew and the market demanded. We believe strongly in sharing what we have learned, and in passing that information forward. We wrote the monthly cut flower column for Growing for Market for about 10 years, and the columns were published in two books: We’re Gonna Be Rich and Local Color: Growing Specialty Cut Flowers for Market. We participated in the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers (ascfg.org), have spoken at conferences, and served on the board, including Frank’s tenure as president. We are all in this together, and no one got here alone. To that end, we support the Certified American Grown Flowers marketing program, a grassroots, non-partisan organization to raise consumer awareness about the origin of their flowers. We believe in the power of flowers to inspire people to be the best they can be.
Today, our attention is focused on Community, and sharing the beauty of the natural world around us. We do not have it all figured out, but we are doing our best to be part of ‘doing good’ in the world. We’ve raised 4 kids, all of whom are “outstanding in their fields.” Not our fields, true, but, you never know what’s next!!
Show Notes
As a grower or even a florist, it’s vital to understand the importance of the post harvest processing of flowers. It can directly impact the longevity of each bloom for you and your clients.
Look at your community and see you how you can impact and bring people together through flowers.
If possible, try to grow year round flowers, plants, or other floral items. It’s a great way to stay in contact with your customers throughout the year.
Embrace flowers that may be native to your region or area. You might find that it’s easier to produce these family of flowers for your market.
Look for any cultural opportunity to grow flowers that may help you connect with the diversity of cultures in your area.
Lastly, It’s not too late to plant marigolds right now, unless you’re in the far north. (as of July2021)