Fewer Members, Better Flowers: Our 2026 Shift
I've been avoiding writing this post, if I'm honest. For months, I've been wrestling with a hard truth: I can't keep trying to grow for everyone, be at every market, say yes to every event, and still grow the flowers I actually want to grow. The flowers that made me start this farm in the first place. So something had to change and one part of that change is our CSA pricing.
The Why
At the end of last season, I took a hard look at how things went—where I would have changed things, where I felt burned out, and what made me feel energized. I also did some math. To fill 50 bouquets with the abundance I envisioned—the kind that makes you stop and go “wow” — I'd need triple the Ranunculus. Double the Anemones. Peonies that take three years to mature. The numbers didn't add up, not if I wanted to maintain the soil health and regenerative practices that make this farm what it is.
So I made a choice as I got into planning my 2026 season: Fewer members. Fewer events. More curated. Less scattered. Better flowers.
The Details
Here in the Gallatin Valley, we're working with a short growing season and soil that we're still actively building. This year, I've continued to invest heavily in specialty bulbs — Anemones that look like they were watercolored, Ranunculus so full they don't look real, and Peonies that cost more than I’d like to admit (and won't be ready for at least three years). These aren't your standard cut flowers. They're tricky and they require specific soil amendments, careful timing, and more attention than I could give them when I was stretched thin.
Our 2026 bouquets will be about 30% larger than what we've done before. And they'll be design-focused. I'm not just bundling whatever stems I can grab into a rubber band, this year's field plan has a lot of intention behind it — I made it while thinking through color combinations, adding elements for movement and texture, and keeping all the favorites I know you already love. So you’re getting high-end florist-grade flowers, but grown right here in Gallatin Gateway using the same regenerative methods we've always practiced.
The Logistics
We're all busy. You travel in the summer, you love dahlias but don't care about tulips, and life happens. So we're trying to give you what you want, when you want it.
There's a natural "slump" in flowers after peonies finish but before the full-heat lovers like zinnias start blooming. In other places they call it the June flower slump, but here it's more like early July. I'm taking those weeks off to give the summer flowers room to grow and shine.
This year, we're offering seasonal five-week blocks:
Spring Share: Anemones, tulips, daffodils, poppies, and violas at their peak.
Peak Summer Share: The full explosion of color. Ranunculus—which love our cool Montana nights and thrive here when they'd be struggling in hotter climates—plus zinnias, cosmos, delphinium, and herby additions like mint and basil.
Late Summer/Fall Share: Dahlias, zinnias, broom corn, pincushion flower. And lisianthus—if you haven't experienced it yet, you must. It's like a rose but without thorns, and it lasts forever in a vase.
Choose one session. Choose all three. The Full Summer Share combines Spring and Summer, which is closest to how we've always done our CSA. This gives you flexibility while allowing me to plan plantings precisely and waste less.
The Pricing
You'll notice our prices have shifted this year. We were underpriced. And not by a small amount.
A single Peony bulb can run $15-45. Add in the labor-intensive nature of regenerative farming and the economics of running a micro-farm in the Gallatin Valley, and our previous pricing wasn't sustainable. But it was the price of learning farming, and even four years in, I'm still learning. That probably won't ever stop.
This year's pricing is what these blooms actually cost to grow well — from building soil, supporting pollinators, never using pesticides or synthetic fertilizers, paying fair wages (even when that wage is my own, plus some intermittent part-time help). These are flowers you can't get at a grocery store, grown using methods that actively restore the local ecosystem.
Good Natured was built on creating a landscape that acts as an environmental rest stop for pollinators, rebuilding soil health, and creating opportunities for connection within the community. The work I do on the farm lets me give back—through school gardens, free gardening consultations, and creating spaces where people can learn about regenerative agriculture firsthand.
I'd rather grow fewer bouquets that knock your socks off than burn myself out producing volume that compromises quality or forces me to cut corners on the practices that matter.
What This Means for You
If you've been a member before, you already know what we do: fresh, local, sustainably grown flowers from a farm that gives a damn about soil health and biodiversity. That hasn't changed.
What has changed is that we're doing things a bit differently: more connected, and less frenetic.
Membership this year means supporting a farm choosing quality and sustainability over scale. You're getting bouquets designed with care and design principles learned in all of my “free” time. You're part of a smaller community of people who value where their flowers come from and how they're grown.
And I'm excited to give you my best work.
Limited Spots Available
Because we're growing for fewer people, membership spots are limited. If this resonates with you — if you value the kind of thoughtful, regenerative flower farming we're committed to here at Good Natured Flower Farm — I'd love to have you as part of our 2026 season.
We'll be closing registration in late April, but spots may fill up before then.
Cheers to a wonderful season ahead of us
— JVM
Have questions about our 2026 shift? Reach out through our contact page. We're here to talk.