Floramama: The Book

I never thought I would one day write a book.

I still remember when I was working at the Jardins de la Grelinette in 2011 and Jean-Martin was writing his first book , Le Jardinier-Maraîcher. He was perched day after day, alone, in the mezzanine from where we could see him emerge, a little disheveled, once in a while with his earmuffs on his head. In my imagination, Jean Martin had become a caricature, a kind of Gollum on a literary quest haha!

More seriously, I also remember realizing that it takes incredible dedication and rigor to write a book while a whole team is working outside, cheerful and laughing under the most beautiful summer days. A team that celebrates the tasks accomplished daily and that shares a connection and a common strength that we are deprived of, alone in front of the keyboard and the screen.
No agricultural tanning for the authors!

The very first time the idea for a book was launched was during a farm visit we organized at Floramama, in 2015 or 2016, it's vague. It was in the very beginnings of Floramama.
A man, Fabien, came up to me at the end of the visit and asked me if I had thought about writing a book. His question surprised me as much as it froze me! This idea had never crossed my mind, and even the simple validation that accompanied his question made me completely turned the brain upside down.

- “You have a great story to tell,” he said to me before handing me his business card, without realizing the impact of the words he had just placed in my ears.

He, the sales director of a book distributor and broadcaster, said that my story, that of Floramama, was worth telling. The power of words!

And since then, this idea has never left me.
But running a growing flower farm, it's a difficult project to fit into a schedule of several months of production.

Then, this window of time finally came together in 2022. Everything aligned. The team, led by Lena, could do without me most of the time for an entire season. Floramama was strong enough to continue paying me a salary while I was writing. Cardinal Editions was excited about the project and ready to publish me. My friend Tania had agreed to do the art direction and graphic design, and finally, my partner at the time, Stéphane, who agreed to be my accomplice and the poetic eye behind the hundreds of magnificent photos to be taken to share the beauty of this book.

A dream team!

But one detail still made me insecure: I had never written in my life!

I really felt like I had to invent myself.

Jean-Martin told me, the first step is to structure your thoughts and create a table of contents. From there, you can expand your knowledge later.

That's always good advice.

So that's what I did. I wrote down everything I knew, as best I could, in a set order.

My focus was on making the information as digestible as possible. I wanted it to be as accessible and comprehensive as possible.

I really wanted to create an ultra-complete technical guide with professional tips, but also a beautiful book , easy to read and understand for beginners. It is therefore aimed as much at someone who would like to create a very small flower garden in their yard, as at the person who dreams of a more complex flower farm project. It's all there! It's a matter of selecting the information you need and putting it to work.

Thanks to the help of the fabulous women at Editions Cardinal, I made my way and gained confidence in my writing process. Their “Keep going! It’s going well!” were like little pats on the back, reassuring me and inviting me to let my instincts guide me, once again.

Often, all we need is someone to tell us, "Go for it! You can do it!"

Ultimately, I loved writing.
And who knows, maybe there will be a volume 2!