This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Marisa Mender-Franklin, founder of Midtown Bramble & Bloom. It has been edited for length and clarity.
Five years ago, after working as an educator for 12 years, I started thinking about how I could create a social enterprise and flower farm that would give back to my community.
When I grew my own wedding flowers in my small front garden in 2020, I thought perhaps I could start a social entrepreneurship based on flowers. The problem was that I didn’t have the space. I looked into buying some land, but I just couldn’t find the perfect plot I could afford.
I turned to Facebook
I had seen in our local “Buy Nothing” midtown Memphis Facebook group that people were asking for items they didn’t have. The community had always been very generous and warm with their responses.
I remember once seeing a parent ask if anyone had a spare French horn, and there were multiple offers as a result. Maybe the responses would be the same if I asked about using land to grow flowers.
In January 2021, on somewhat of a whim, I typed up a message in the Facebook group, hoping to find someone who would let me grow flowers in their yard to start a flower subscription service.
I introduced myself as a teacher with a dream of becoming a flower farmer and asked if anyone would be willing to let me grow flowers to sell in their yard. I specified the benefits to them — that I would help take care of their land, provide them with periodic bouquets to enjoy, and attract pollinators to their plants. I also wrote about what I would need: full sun, a yard that I could freely access, and a water hookup and usage.
I had 40 people offering me their land
After typing the post, I took my dog for a walk, trying not to think too much about whether people would think I was crazy.
Walking, I could feel my phone vibrating over and over again. Instead of thinking I was crazy, I received so many positive responses. Within the first week of posting, I had 40 offers of land.
I couldn’t believe it — so people were willing to lend me their land for free, people I didn’t even know.
As our planting season in Memphis started in March, I had to hit the ground running with only two months to get plants in the ground. I chose five plots of land in yards to use and began planting while still working full-time as a teacher.
I left my teaching job and started a business
Sixteen months in, I gave up my teaching job to continue expanding the successful flower farming business.
Today, we are using 10 yards in our community, all without any financial exchange. We have a flower subscription service, sell at a weekend farmers market, do events, and have a storefront. We do everything a normal florist does, but with locally grown flowers.
This dream started with the aim of giving people work and giving back to our local community, and that is exactly what we are doing. We employ seven people (plus myself), have a seed library for people to access, and offer community classes, such as teaching people to grow pollinators and a vegetable garden. We have a monthly fundraiser for nonprofits in our community and have already donated thousands of dollars to them this year.
The flower farm isn’t just a little side hustle anymore — it’s a robust, growing business. But our business isn’t just about making money, and it certainly isn’t about getting rich — it’s about giving back, as we were given when we first started.
I’ve met so many people
These online groups are powerful tools for building community and meeting their members’ needs.
Before I sent that Facebook message, I wasn’t connected to people in my neighborhood. Now, I know so many people and have made countless connections.
The groups are also part of the solution to the problems of need and consumerism. Rather than buying new or going without, you can almost guarantee that someone in the community will be able to meet your need. And to make that exchange, there is a human connection, something we often miss out on in our busy lives.
The flower farm has grown more than I could have even imagined, and it all started with a message on Facebook.
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