Summer Bouquets and Lavender Shortbread: Week 3 of LoCoFlo’s Flower CSA

July is here! We are in the thick of summer and the flowers are loving the heat!

 

This week’s bouquet is filled with:

• Monarda from Talmar
• Daucus and statice from Butterbee Farm
• Lisianthus, spearmint  and viburnum from Wollam Gardens
• Calla lilies and snapdragons from Flowers by Bauers

Since this is our first week of the season for Monarda- we thought we’d tell you a little of what we learned about it.

Mondarda is also referred to as bee balm, horsemint, oswego tea, and bergamot. You can make it into a tea (it has a mildly citrus taste) as well as dry it and use it for potpourri.  Be sure to pull a stem out of your arrangement to check out the square stems!

Our friends at Butterbee Farm grew A LOT of  lavender this year so we picked some out at the farm last week and used it for some sweet tasting lavender shortbread cookies. We thought we’d share the recipe with you since they were so good!

Happy July!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 cups butter, softened
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup sifted confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh (local)
• lavender
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh (local) mint leaves
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS:

• In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, white sugar and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in the lavender, mint and lemon zest. Combine the flour, cornstarch and salt; mix into the batter until well blended. Divide dough into two balls, wrap in plastic wrap and flatten to about 1inch thick. Refrigerate until firm, about 1hour.
• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into shapes with cookie cutters. Cookie stamps will work well on these too. Place on cookie sheets.
• Bake for 18 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, just until cookies begin to brown at the edges. Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheets then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Spikey, Sticky, Sweet and Hot: LoCoFlo CSA Week 2!

It’s June 24th and it’s our 2nd CSA pick up day! While it has cooled off slightly (it’s only going to be 84 degrees today) it has been in the high 90’s for the last few days. With the heat, comes summer flowers. We’re past the transition flowers from our last pick-up like larkspur and bupluerum and we’re on to a new variety of flowers, fruit and foliage.

Today, our bunches are filled with:

• Blueberries from Greenstone Fields
• Snapdragons from Butterbee Farm
• Borage from Butterbee Farm
• Thistle from Seaberry Farm
• Hydrangea Foliage from Wollam Gardens
• Queen Anne’s Lace From Seaberry Farm
• Sunflowers from Capital Flower Growers

Since this is the first year we’re using Borage, we thought we’d tell you a little about it. If you’re looking for it in your bouquet, it looks like this!

Butterbee Farm loaded us up with a couple hundred stems in the last few weeks. Borage is also called Starflower and is actually an herb. The leaves are edible and Laura Beth from Butterbee Farm said it tastes like cucumber but Irene and I tasted it today and…it was a little gross to eat. Try it for yourself and see.

We also added thistle to our bouquets this week. We love the color but not the spikes!

Back by popular demand this week is another cold drink concocted by Eric to keep our CSA members refreshed while they pick up their flowers. This week Lemon Basil-ade! Hillen Homestead provided us with Lemon Basil this week that Eric turned into a simple syrup. He added it to lemon and water…and voilà!

In each of our blog posts on the CSA, we’ll share some things we heard people say while they were visiting. Today our best quote came from Andy: “The flowers last week were beautiful. My girlfriend just hugged the bouquet when I brought it home.

Thanks to all our CSA members, thanks to our growers and thanks to Irene for putting our bouquets together today!

Be sure to check the hashtag #locoflocsa on twitter, instagram and facebook to see more photos from the CSA. There is still time to join if you’re interested. Check out the sign-up form on our website.

Our next pick up date is Wednesday, July 8 from 4:30-7pm. See you then!

Go Local this Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day is fast approaching and Local Color Flowers is so excited! We’re gearing up for loads of fun here at the shop and out in the community.

We’ll be offering beautiful arrangements made with locally grown flowers  for delivery in Baltimore City or for pick up at our studio Saturday morning from 9am-12 during our Mother’s Day Pop Up Shop! Order early! You don’t want to end up at the grocery store on Mother’s Day morning with the other late comers!

Did I mention we’re having a Mother’s Day Pop Up Shop at the studio on Saturday, May 9 from 9am-noon? We are! We’ll have the doors open and we’ll be selling wrapped bouquets, flower themed gifts, shares to our local flower CSA and gift certificates! Best to order your flowers in advance and pick them up during the pop-up to make sure you get what you want. We’ll likely sell out! We’ve also invited some of our fave Baltimore vendors to come by and sell their goodies as well! You’ll definitely want to pick up treats from our friends at Kinderhook Snacks, plants from Butterbee Farm, pots made by Irene and beautiful artwork by Bmore Papercuts. Stay tuned for more vendor announcements soon!

Think all that sounds fun? There’s more! Irene will be out at Becket Hitch in Greenspring Station for their Mother’s Day pop-up. She’ll be selling wrapped bouquets filled with locally grown flowers that you can grab on the go. Joining her at Becket Hitch is our good friend Charm City Cook selling the BEST brownies ever made! Go check them out!

 

Whew! It’s going to be a busy, fun, Mother’s Day week! We can’t wait to see you!

Makers Alley 2015!

In just 17 days, Makers Alley will be here again! Local Color Flowers is so excited to be hosting Makers Alley for the second year in a row, and can’t wait for a wonderful day of local Makers and their products, community building, and holiday cheer!

Makers Alley will be held on Saturday, December 6^th, from 9AM-1PM at Local Color Flowers’ studio located at 3100 Brentwood Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21218. At the same time (7AM-12PM), the 32nd Street Farmer Farmers Market  will be happening at the end of our same alley, as well as Holiday Heap (10AM-5PM)  located nearby at 2640 St. Paul Street. So, Dec. 6^th will be a great day to knock out some holiday shopping at numerous vendors, all while staying in the same Charles Village neighborhood!

The four hours of Makers Alley will be packed with fun! This year, we are thrilled to have 11 local Baltimore vendors participating! Makers Alley 2014 vendors include Woot Granola, Baltimore Rat Czar, Sparkle Designs, Pure Chocolate by Jinji, Two Back Flats, Kinderhook Snacks, Red Door Studio, Haute Mess Kitchen, Rebcycle, Happy Heat, and Local Color Flowers.

From 10:30AM-11: 30AM, Makers Alley will also have live music from the talented duo of local musicians Nadia and Kristina! They’ll be playing their lively interpretations of folk tunes, and bringing some serious festive spirit to the party! What could be more fun than listening to live music while you shop?

Mark your calendars! Bring a friend (or two, or three) and meet us at Makers Alley! For updates and further information, visit https://www.facebook.com/makersalleybaltimore or #makersalley. Hope to see you there!

2014 CSA AWESOMENESS!

This year’s local flower CSA at Local Color Flowers was seriously awesome! If you aren’t familiar with our CSA, here’s how it worked. Over the course of 5 months (June through October) CSA members came over to our studio twice a month to pick up a wrapped bouquet of locally grown flowers and foliage.  Each bouquet included a tag telling members what is included in the bouquet and what farms the flowers came from. Most weeks, members were also treated to snacks incorporating locally grown flowers and produce.

Steve H. seen here with his CSA bouquet!

Sweet William Shortbread and Basil Limeade made by LoCoFlo designer Carling Elder

Loved these little friends who were always interested in learning about flowers!

We always envisioned creating a space for people to come together to chit chat, laugh, eat and learn. This season felt like we had accomplished that.

If you’d like to see more photos from the CSA, check out our Facebook page.

We’re looking ahead to 2015 already! If you’re interested in signing up for the CSA, check out the registration page on our website. This year we’re offering a HALF share for $150 and a FULL share for $300.  This is a great holiday gift for anyone who loves flowers (and who doesn’t love flowers!!)

Hope to see you next year at Local Color Flowers!

Baltimore Beards Are Here!

You’ve seen them in the Baltimore Sun and on social media, but now you can get the full story about our Baltimore Beards project.

At the beginning of the year, when we were making plans for 2014, Irene mentioned that it would be fun to do a project with floral beards. We’d seen some photos on Pinterest, but thought it would be fun to put a Baltimore spin on the idea. So, we pulled in our friends from Balance Photography and 9 of the best beards we could find and Baltimore Beards became a reality.

Since we weren’t sure what to expect (how would the material stay in? how long would each beard take? would it be weird to be up close and personal in someone’s beard?) we started with Eric.

Even though he has a short beard, the plant material stayed in pretty good without any extra support. For the heavier flowers, we used eyelash “glue” (it washed out with water).

What would you think if this guy was delivering your wedding flowers?

Once we got the basic technique down, we could really start to get creative.

Our first “round” of beards arrived right on time. Like us, I’m sure they didn’t know what to expect, but they were amazingly willing to go with the flow.

Greg was first. Greg is vegan and a military veteran.  He had an amazingly long beard that lent itself to a long, crazy, trailing design. We accented the design with a beautiful, “black” lily from Hendricks flowers. For the longer beards, we used bobby pins to attach the larger, heavier flowers that wouldn’t stay in on their own.

Stacy had just started interning with us, when we threw her into the deep end!

Not surprising, our photographer, Nathaniel Corn of Balance Photography got in on the fun too. He took a break from shooting to get his beard done by Carling.

Artist, Matt Muirhead was next. Matt’s design didn’t stop at his beard, we also included some natural eyebrow magic.

Our last “beard” of the morning was Paul Masson, lead singer of Baltimore’s Great American Canyon Band.

Obviously, Paul had a great look for our project! Paul’s lovely wife Krystal, (of the Great American Canyon Band and Esther and Harper) also got in on the fun. Now that’s some Baltimore hippie love!

Irene scoped out some great spots for our group shots including this Charles Village alley and pocket park.

The afternoon “beards” were just as much fun as the morning ones.

Jim Hickey’s beard was our most “floral” beard.  Jim, lead singer of the Solicitors, really got into the shoot.

Artist John Podles got a “green” beard. I especially loved the piers japonica down at the bottom of his beard.

Finally, our last “beards” of the day were Adam and Slippy.

Adam, also of the Great American Canyon Band, rocked his floral beard, including a gigantic orange poppy!

Slippy, one of Baltimore’s favorite bartenders, (currently at Dylan’s Oyster Cellar),  had an epic floral beard AND ivy head crown.

We ended the shoot at one of our favorite neighborhood spots: Charles Village Pub.

This was seriously one of the most fun days at LoCoFLo ever! Thanks to everyone who was a part of the shoot!

To see ALL of the Baltimore Beards photos, check out our flickr album.

Happy Summer folks!

Baltimore’s Best Local Flower CSA!

Summer is around the corner and Local Color Flowers local flower CSA will be starting in just two weeks! We’re so excited for this year’s CSA! Here’s how it works. Sign up today and pay $250 for 10 beautiful local flower bouquets over the next 5 months!

Pick-ups are at Local Color Flowers studio located in Charles Village at 3100 Brentwood Ave between 4:30-7pm.   Pick up dates are: Jun. 4, 18; Jul. 9, 23; Aug. 6, 20; Sep. 3, 17; Oct. 1, 15 2014.

This year, we’re excited to add a new feature to the CSA! Each week after you pick up your wrapped bouquet, you can check out our blog for a new post all about the flowers in your bouquet, the farmers that grew them and how to arrange them when you get home. We can’t wait to share this with you!

We’re also offering a short, one hour CSA “design” class that will give you tips about how to care for your CSA flowers when you bring them home. The class will take place Wednesday, May 28, 2014 from 6-7pom. Sign up today!

We’re so excited to see you all for the first pick up on June 4th!

Who Loves You?

Valentine’s Day stops for no snow storm!

We shoveled out way out of the house.

Then we started walking down York Road.

Our team shoveled, drove, walked…

And we made it…just in time… for our first Valentine’s Day pick up of the day!

And if this smile wasn’t enough reason to get here….he brought us treats! Seriously AMAZING CLIENTS!!!

LoCoFlo Loves you Baltimore! Happy V-day!

Tulips For Valentine’s Day!

By Irene Donnelly

Valentine's Day is a day of constant motion and excitement in the floral industry.  We happily assist droves of semi-panicked lovers trying to piece together last minute gifts… all in the name romance.  As floral designers we are eager to help everyone find the perfect gesture of love for their Valentine.  For me, I tend to like helping the inexperienced, the procrastinator and the perplexed with their orders the best.  These giddy, mostly new lovers tend to be adorably refreshing and thoughtful.

Of course, not everyone is last minute and inexperienced.  There happens to be a minority of wise, generally older, married individuals who pre-order flowers for pick up or delivery a week or so in advance.  These people seem to realize the significance of the sentiment and have learned the tricks of the trade. Many have burned by long lines, florists running out of flowers and the overall mayhem of V-day shopping.  That being said, I don't want to scare anyone away from facing a floral shop on Valentine's Day, it's really not that bad but it does help to be prepared.

The panic that sets in seems to revolve around not knowing what to buy.  Take my advice. Think about your Valentine.  Are they classic? Earthy? Modern?  Trendy?  Etc.  A good floral designer will be able to execute any adjective into flowers.  Trust the designers and if you're really smart preorder! (order here).

When in doubt…locally grown tulips are sure to please. 

A short history on Tulips:  Second behind roses as the most popular V-day bouquet, tulips are clean, fresh and classy.  They originated as a wild flower in Turkey and were often adorned in Turkish turbans, hence their name. (not because they looked like "Two Lips." )

The bulbs made their way to the Netherlands over four hundred years ago, where they became such a commodity they ended up being an extremely profitable investment opportunity and everyone wanted in.  "Tulip Mania," as it was called, had many of the Dutch buying bulbs in hopes of finding a desirable genetic mutation coupled with a big cash pay out. It was a gamble to grow tulips that had a new trait unique from existing tulips.  If a Dutchman did happen to spring up the next big thing, well…they got sticking rich.  But as we know, playing the stinking rich game doesn't pay off in the long run and usually crashes an economy. It eventually did. 

At Local Color Flowers we will have tulips from Van Dyke Brothers Farm in New Jersey.  While they are the farthest farm from the shop that we buy flowers from, they are still comparatively local when you think about the greater scheme of valentine's day flowers.   (114 miles) In addition to tulips, we'll have the usual hyper local magic we normally have this time of year including snapdragons, paperwhites, flowering branches and locally grown evergreens.

We will have bouquets of tulips (and other local goodness) ready to "grab and go" at three locations on Valentine’s Day :

The Quintessential Gentlemen located downtown at 31 South Calvert Street from 11am-2pm

Chesapeake Wine Company at the Can Company in Canton from 11 until …the sell out!

Our  shop in Charles Village all day until 7pm. We’re located at 3100 Brentwood Ave. PLEASE call before you come by to make sure we can accommodate your request!

Wondering what the most remarkable and distinguishing fact about the Tulip is? It continues to grow once it's been cut from the bulb.  

That means long after you give your tulips as a gift, your lover will be able to watch these flowers grow taller and taller and higher still.  Other flowers may open and change but no others will grow as dramatically tall.  Isn't that a nice symbolic sentiment to give to your Valentine?  That your love grows?