July 2, 2008
Fairfield, Iowa
Dahlia grower Alexander Gabis is announcing a new source of organic, locally grown flowers for southeast Iowa. Beginning the last week of July, 2008 he will be offering floral arrangements of dahlias and wildflowers in basket bouquets.
There are more than 150 varieties of dahlias growing in Gabis's Fairfield plot. He uses only organic methods of pest and weed control, with no synthetic pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers. The cut flowers are not dipped, sprayed or even refrigerated. Remarkably, he arranges and delivers them the day they are harvested. It's a unique operation that provides customers with flowers in peak form, with an incomparable, fresh-from-the-garden radiance. The dahlias are arranged in baskets with water absorbant foam that keeps them fresh for about a week.
Community Supported Agriculture – Nine Weeks of Bliss
Bouquets are sold individually to customers who order for special occasions. In addition there are a limited number of CSA shares available for people who want to secure a weekly basket for the entire season. CSA shareholders can contract for either five (half-share) or nine (full-share) weeks of medium or large arrangements. Full-shares come with free delivery in Fairfield, and discounted delivery to nearby cities (half-share delivery is also discounted). Flower availability varies from day to day – Gabis sells them as he grows them – but CSA customers get first priority on the harvest. The weekly CSA orders are always filled before any individual orders that come in. The first CSA deliveries are scheduled for the week of July 28th.
A CSA contract establishes a partnership between the grower and the consumer. It gives the farmer some security in the event there is a bad harvest, but also provides shareholders with bonus product if the season is good. In this case, shareholders get extra baskets if the season extends to ten or eleven weeks. On the other hand, they may receive only eight deliveries (four for half-shares) instead of nine if the season is cut short.
Dahlias are very much a hands-on crop, calling for lots of individual care from start to finish. In addition to the usual maintenance for an organic crop – weeding, mulching, watering – the plants require pruning, disbudding, staking and tying in order to maximize flower production and keep the top-heavy blooms from snapping off in the prairie wind. The Dahlias Organic CSA contract requires the grower to do his best to produce as many flowers as he can for the duration of the season, and to take reasonable measures to extend the season if low temperatures threaten the plants. Dahlias are extremely frost sensitive. Even a light frost can wipe out the crop. Gabis does not have greenhouses, so he must use other techinques (such as water misting) to keep the cold air at bay. As you might imagine, he pays close attention to weather forecasts from late September on.
A Rainbow of Forms and Colors
Gabis uses native wildflowers, grasses and ferns for fillers. Some he grows himself, and some are collected from areas that he knows have not been sprayed. Arranged into bouquets containing from 15 to as many as 35 dahlias, the result is a rainbow of Iowa garden bliss. Dahlias come in a myriad of shapes and forms, from two-inch pom pons to ten-inch dinner plates; formal, informal, cactus petal, and even waterlily and peony style, in every color except blue. With 150 dahlia varieties in Gabis's plot, no two baskets look alike. It's like having a different Renoir still life on your table each week, but better, because it's the real thing!
Most of Southeast Iowa Served
Gabis is doing his best to make these spectacular bouquets available to the entire region. In addition to his home location of Fairfield, the list of cities he is willing to deliver to includes Ottumwa, Oskaloosa, Fort Madison, Iowa City, Burlington, Mount Pleasant and Washington. There is of course a requisite delivery charge based on the distance he has to drive to get the flowers to you. The fee is roughly 80 cents-per-mile, with some cities a bit more and some a bit less. A complete list of delivery locations and fees is on the website: www.DahliasOrganic.com
Contact information
Al Gabis
Phone: 641-469-5208
Email: Info "at" DahliasOrganic [dot] com
Address: 52 S. Fifth Street
Fairfield, IA 52556
