What’s summer without the sweet smell of flowers? Our urban living can sometimes make it difficult to truly enjoy nature this time of year – but it’s so fleeting here in the Pacific Northwest that we should all try and make the most of it. One of the best ways to do that is with outdoor activities with the kids in Thurston County! Cedar Flats Farm offers u-pick flowers in Olympia. It’s an experience the whole family will enjoy. Get ready for opening day, July 9, 2024, at 9 a.m. because they do sell out!
Cultivating a U-Pick Flower Farm in Olympia
The Gerrits family is passionate about flowers and sustainable farming. They moved to their farm in 2019 and knew they wanted a larger garden. “I knew I would want to plant more flowers now that we had the room for a larger garden, but I had no idea where it would lead,” shares Valerie Gerrits. “When 2020 hit, I was home from work with my two young boys, so we decided to spend a lot of time outdoors planting lots of flowers. We shared with neighbors and locals, and the support and demand for more flowers kept growing!”
On July 9, head to Cedar Flats Farm for their u-pick flower season. They warn that flowers sell out quickly! The half-acre flower field will be open every Tuesday and Saturday from 9 a.m. until they sell out or 7 p.m. each day. This month, they will have sweet peas and yarrow. Dahlias, sunflowers and zinnias will be blooming in early August. They will put a sign up if they are sold out. It’s just $10 for 7 stems or $30 to fill a provided cup. You can pay at the station via cash, Venmo or Paypay, or pay online before you go.
Why you pick? Because the Gerrit family understands the need for everyone to get back to nature and enjoy the summer weather. Plus, it helps her with time management. “I wanted to create a space to share with the community, where people could come enjoy the flowers themselves,” Valerie explains. “Letting folks cut their own flowers actually gave me back more time to spend with my family, since I’m not having to be out there harvesting and arranging bouquets for everyone!”
The farm is a family affair, with their two boys often helping out. “The boys love to help!” says Valerie. “They are 6 and 8 years old, they enjoy feeding the chickens and gathering eggs, planting seeds, harvesting flowers and pumpkins and eating any produce from our personal garden.”
New this year is a Kid’s Garden in their u-pick flower space, where children can explore nature in a safe space.
Olympia Flower Bouquets
The beauty of local, fresh flowers goes beyond their incredible looks. Flowers that aren’t imported from far off places will most likely last longer in your vase. And a lot of those commercial flowers are sprayed with harsh chemicals. At Cedar Flats Farm, the Gerrits family works hard at sustainability on their farm. “We try to limit plastic, limit buying new items, we use no-till methods whenever possible, we have several pollinator patches that are left alone for the pollinators to enjoy and we don’t spray our flowers with any pesticides,” shares Valerie.
Cedar Flats Farm does some custom bouquet for weddings and other events, contact them directly about availability.
For those looking to have fresh bouquets throughout the summer, they have a bouquet subscription! “I only use locally grown flowers, either from my own field or other Olympia growers,” explains Valerie. The subscriptions range from two to six bouquets for pick-up at the farm.
Fancy growing your own sweet peas? Look for sweet pea seeds early spring from Cedar Flats Farm! “I save a mix of sweet peas seeds from our field each year and they cross pollinate and create new and amazing colors!” shares Valerie. “It is so fun to see what everyone ends up with in their garden!
The u-pick farm in Olympia also has pumpkins come October, and then close for the rest of fall/winter.
When she isn’t putting her green thumb to good use, Valerie is a speech language pathologist. In fact, she is opening her own private practice next month, Olympia Speech and Language.
To learn more, visit the Cedar Flats Farm website. Get updates on flower availability on the Cedar Flats Farm Facebook page.
Cedar Flats Flower Farm
5611 Cedar Flats Road SW, Olympia
