Hi! I'm Natalie Geehr, farmer and florist of The Farmer Florist. 2020 was a year of beginnings for me: I became a first time mother, moved back to my hometown of Fresno, California, and started taking courses in flower farming out of a desire to build something tangible and uplifting for my family during such uncertain times. After outgrowing the space in my own backyard, I expanded to a leased 1/4 acre about twenty minutes from my home (footnote: it's an old, unused horse arena in my parents' backyard, and it took a lot of convincing to make it happen!). While growing on leased land has led me to feel imposter syndrome in the past in such an agriculturally powerful region, I'm embracing the slow journey to farm ownership and hope I can inspire others to do the same. I currently specialize in growing specialty varieties for florists, selling subscriptions for flower lovers in my area, and designing for events in the Central Valley and the Central Coast. My design events are always foam free and only use locally grown flowers. For me, the magic in designing is seeing what is blooming the week of the event and bringing ingredients that might not have been considered otherwise into the picture. Community has been an important part of my journey and I wouldn't still be smiling and growing without my close farmer friends of the San Joaquin Flower Collective -- a group we founded in 2022 to streamline the process of selling our flowers to local florists and retail shoppers. With hard work and some luck, I hope that the local flower scene in my region will be thriving for years to come.