Did you know there is a picture-perfect flower farm hidden away in an East Islip backyard?

Six years ago, Erin Dengeles Fielbig created Long Island Flower Farm, a cut flower garden and seed company that follows organic practices.

“The garden itself started because I wanted to grow enough flowers to give my friends and family bouquets on their birthdays, and bring them into work,” said Dengeles Fielbig. “Then it just got so large that I had more flowers than I knew what to do with.” 

Long Island Flower Farm has now grown into a 65-by-30-square-foot flower farm with 12 garden beds and a greenhouse, conveniently located in Dengeles Fielbig’s backyard.

So, what does the gardener do with so many flowers? Dengeles Fielbig harvests seeds from her flowers during the winter and curates seed packs to sell in the spring, posting her available yield daily to the Long Island Flower Farm Facebook page. Additionally, she sells her flowers to the Country Village Florist in East Islip.

A vast variety of seedlings are currently growing in their germination trays, and will be ready by mid-late April, with new seeds being planted every week.

Yet, her newest venture has been the biggest hit within the greater Islip community; Dengeles Fielbig has teamed up with longtime friend Kandice Rodgers—owner of Growin’ Shade—to teach flower pressing workshops at the Islip plant shop.

Dengeles Fielbig and Rodgers met years ago through a Long Island plant group and remained in touch. After Rodgers opened Growin’ Shade last summer, located at 566 Main Street in Islip, the two teamed up to begin a new workshop series centered around the art of flower pressing.

“Kandice always says, ‘Creative people just find each other,’” Dengeles Fielbig said.

The creative duo now helps people to embrace their own creativity as they teach several methods of preserving flowers and flower creations, hosted at Growin’ Shade. During the first workshop in December, attendees learned how to create pressed flower ornaments using flowers from Dengeles Fielbig’s Long Island Flower Farm. In a recent class, attendees even learned how to construct and decorate their own flower presses.

“It always amazes me because every workshop, someone comes up with something completely different,” said Rodgers. “You do not have to be an artist to do the workshop, and everyone is going to make something gorgeous regardless.”

During the workshops, all materials are provided for you, and refreshments and drinks are served. The flower pressing workshops have been incredibly popular, quickly selling out after they are posted to the Growin’ Shade website.

In addition to flower pressing workshops, Dengeles Fielbig and Rodgers will be hosting a workshop to create Mother’s Day greeting cards, and a flower arranging class with Dengeles Fielbig’s flowers sometime in June.

To keep up with what seeds are available for purchase from the Long Island Flower Farm, follow the Facebook page titled Long Island Flower Farm, or message Dengeles Fielbig by emailing Longislandflowerfarm@gmail.com. See what workshops are available at Growin’ Shade by visiting www.growinshade.com/collections/events.