Get a whiff of this: Local flower farmers Evan Pitstick and Larissa Duprey recently started a new, 11-acre farm on Yellow Springs-Fairfield Road — Butter Flower Farm. The farmers are pictured here with their dog, Slug, atop their 1972 International Harvester tractor. (Photo by El Mele)
Butter Flower Farm blooms on Fairfield
- Published: December 6, 2024
By El Mele
A new flower farm is blooming on Yellow Springs-Fairfield Road.
Butter Flower Farm, or BFF, is an 11-acre sustainable farm currently specializing in dried flowers. The farm is owned and operated by local farmers Evan Pitstick and Larissa Duprey and florist Brenn Busker, who bought it last March from Pitstick’s father.
Duprey and Pitstick told the News in a recent interview that BFF currently offers workshops and limited direct sale and wholesale of dried flowers, but plans to sell fresh flowers in the future.
Because both Pitstick and Duprey currently have full-time jobs outside of their work with BFF, and Busker — who currently lives in Charlotte, North Carolina — is looking to relocate to Ohio next spring, the three don’t have time to sell fresh flowers during their peak season. Instead, they harvest flowers in the evening and dry them.
The drying process is simple: The flowers are harvested in bouquets, hung upside down from the ceiling of the “Butter Pad” — the farm’s insulated, refrigerated shipping container — and dried using a fan and a dehumidifier. After drying, the flowers are boxed and stored.
The aroma of dried flowers in the Butter Pad is matched by their vibrant, bright colors.
“I think it’s assumed that dried flowers are just brown and gray, but they do keep their color,” Duprey said. “It’s funny, people think they’re fake flowers because they have color.”
If kept out of sunlight and away from moisture, dried flowers and their colors will keep indefinitely. They can also be sprayed with shellac to prevent UV damage. If stored in direct sunlight, such as in a window, they will last one to two years — compared to the seven- to 10-day shelf life of fresh flowers.
BFF has also incorporated dried nonflower components into their bouquets, including peppers, garlic, beans, corn and tomatillos. The farmers hope to expand this practice in fresh bouquets as well, including such fresh elements as eggplant and tomatoes.
“If it hasn’t been done, we’re willing to try it!” Duprey said.
Besides the sustainable benefits for customers, the farmers said, it’s also a sustainable business model. Dried flowers can be sold year-round, and when the transition to fresh flowers is made, whatever isn’t sold fresh can be dried.
“We just try everything and find that a lot of things dry really well,” Duprey said. “It’s so cool that you can go so many different ways, and flowers aren’t just the one dimension of selling fresh.”
It’s also easy to save and sell seeds from dried flowers; BFF makes and sells a wildflower seed mix “just from sweeping [the] floors,” Pitstick said.
“Our goal with the farm is to go a lot of different directions and see what takes,” he said, adding that, as small-scale farmers, flowers were a good route for the farm to begin to support itself financially. “They’re a high-margin product, and you can go so many different ways with them.”
Pitstick and Duprey both bring farming backgrounds to their work at BFF: Pitstick grew up on the land where BFF is now sited, and his grandfather still owns the farm next door. He currently works seasonally for Patchwork Gardens and Bayer’s Melon Farm in Trotwood, in addition to general contracting and finish carpentry in the off-season. Duprey, originally from Rapid City, South Dakota, moved to Ohio in 2018, when she began working at Mission of Mary Farm in Dayton, followed by several years as farm manager at Patchwork Gardens. This fall, she began working as store manager at Peifer Orchards.
Despite their collective experience giving them a good running start, Pitstick and Duprey said they’ve met with some challenges. They have to continuously work to rebuild the soil’s health in order to make their farm sustainable and farmable year after year. The soil at BFF was previously farmed conventionally for crops, and was thus compacted, creating issues with drainage.
“As a farmer, you’re at the will of the environment and climate change,” Pitstick said. “The bed we prepared and planted this past season ended up being really soggy and damp, even through the drier months. It works alright for corn and soy, but when you get into a specialty product, they’re more sensitive, so the soil just isn’t ready for them.”
BFF is combating soil compaction via subsoiling, a technique in which a machine cracks open the soil so it can breathe and water can soak through. The farmers are also planting cover crops with long roots that break up the soil and improve its texture so transplants can grow better root systems.
The soil has also been deprived of organic matter from years of conventional farming, so Pitstick and Duprey are working to build it back up by mulching, fertilizing with pelletized chicken manure and composting. They have also cover-cropped five of BFF’s 11 acres for two seasons. They’re handling weeds, such as morning glories, through manual weeding and use of weed barriers.
“For us to get where we want to be, we have to be in this spot of growing in less than ideal circumstances,” Pitstick said. “That’s the only way forward. It will probably take five to 10 years.”
Taking the difficulties in stride, Pitstick and Duprey just sowed their fall cover crop using their 1972 International Harvester tractor, which is part of their collection of vintage farming equipment.
“We like our vintage equipment here on the farm,” Pitstick said with a smile.
In addition to his interest in vintage farm equipment, Pitstick also builds and maintains vintage motorcycles. He has a 1976 Harley, with which he said he’s “terrorized” Yellow Springs for about six years.
The farmers said they hope to expand their current services and offer new ones as the farm grows, including U-pick, floral designs for events, additional workshops and a bouquet CSA. With the planned expansion comes new infrastructure at the farm, including a two-story barn built by Pitstick himself, with the help of a designer. They also plan to hire Mennonite farmers to install a greenhouse that will be used to start their own plants and host future workshops; previously, BFF grew starts in a friend’s greenhouse.
“Greenhouse space is great when you’re feeling the winter blues,” Duprey said.
It’s also a great space to grow year-round, which is another aspect of the farm’s environmental sustainability: 80% of fresh cut flowers are imported to the U.S., mostly from South America, Africa and Europe. BFF aims to wholesale to local florists, in addition to direct sales and a CSA program.
Currently, the farm has sold wholesale at Yellow Springs Hardware, Tom’s Market and Gem City Ceramics in Dayton, and are looking for business partners; the farmers hope to sell online in the future. They’ve also hosted wreath and broom-making workshops at Yellow Springs Hardware, Gem City Ceramics and Made in Dayton.
When asked about their name, the farmers stated simply that they’re three best friends who really like butter.
“The abbreviation for Butter Flower Farm is BFF,” Duprey said, referring to the popular meaning of the acronym: best friends forever.
“We’re all butter buds,” Pitstick said.
Butter Flower Farm will host a wreath-making and decorating workshop at YS Hardware on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2–4 p.m.; the cost is $60 per participant, and those interested may sign up at YS Hardware. For more information on Butter Flower Farm, go to http://www.butterflowerfarm.com, or the farm’s Facebook and Instagram pages.
*The author is a student at Antioch College and a freelance reporter for the News.
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