THUNDER BAY -- Valentine’s Day is over, but while the shelves still remain bare in the big box stores, the work of florists who supply these beautiful arrangements and flowers is never ending.
With spring around the corner, the florists are just getting started for the next busiest season. We live in a world where it is all hustle and bustle, and we forget to pay recognition to the artists that bring out these beautiful arrangements for us and our loved ones. With the advent of ‘support local’, it is crucial to recognize the local artists who provide handcrafted flowers and arrangements to the community and their loved ones.
Karly Huitsing is one such artist. Growing up in a small dairy farm in Murillo, she was accustomed to outdoors and milking cows. When the marriage and work life took over, she took to gardening to get out and dirty. This local artist started with a small garden bed, which she since expanded to a 20x40 garden. What started as a hobby for planting tulips has become a revenue generating business for this young entrepreneur.
“I started this passion project four years ago, where I went out to grow some flowers in my small, raised bed garden. Two years ago, I started experimenting with this as a business where I can invest my time and money for my passion. It has been a win-win situation for me so far. I have since quit my full-time job, to work outside, and get my kids to go outside as well. Last year, I was working and balancing this as well, but going full time has helped me expand this business,” says Huitsing.
With spring just around the corner, garden planning and seed starting is in full swing. “My grandma has been an amazing source of knowledge and my person to call whenever I have questions that I know she can answer better than google. My grandma has always had the most amazing flower beds, and I know that she will always have the best answer for our climate.” This year, Huitsing and her grandma will be teaming up to grow a larger amount of dahlias which she is excited to be able to share with Thunder Bay and the surrounding areas.
Growing flowers in not all walk in the park. Dealing with unpredictable Northern Ontario weather and pests has been a learning curve. For a young entrepreneur like Huitsing, winter is more about purchasing flowers from the outer market and proving flower arrangements and bouquets to her faithful customer base. While summer is for providing specialty flowers, locally in her Slate River backyard. When asked about her favourite flower, Huitsing reminisces about the sentiments she holds towards tulips. “My grandparents and a lot of my family are from Holland, and all loved tulips. So, this year, I’m going to be growing 1,000 tulips to bring a little bit of Holland in my backyard and into the homes of those in Thunder Bay.”
With the Valentine’s trial run behind the All in Bloom business, finding the niche is a big step for her. The Thunder Bay Economic Development committee saw the growing potential and had awarded her with an initial grant of $5,000 for her business, which she hopes to expand her business and her workspace.
“This year I will be having a new little one join our family so keeping my garden the same size will be the plan for this year. But in the future, I am hoping to double in size so that I can provide to a larger client base, as well as experiment in seed saving and bulb and tuber sales to help inspire those around me to grow beautiful gardens in their yards.” she says about expansion plans.
