MARFA — Marfa High School students played cupid this week by selling vibrant flower arrangements to the local community for Valentine’s Day, part of a new class called “Marfa Blooms,” designed to introduce students to the agribusiness field.
The 10-student class is a partnership between the district and conservation and youth organization the Alamito Foundation, which operates a ranch south of town where students are experimenting with their own greenhouse. “They’ve just tried to grow different things, and this is what they have put their heart and soul into,” Alamito Foundation Programs Director Caroline Travis said.
The pilot program began this fall, with sophomores, juniors and seniors under the supervision of Travis as well as science teacher Elizabeth Donaldson. Students visit the class greenhouse two to three times a week, and initially experimented with growing pumpkins and other vegetables and selling them at the Alpine Farmer’s Market.
The student team — which appointed a chief executive officer as well as sales, operations and marketing leads based on online tests that determined their strengths — recently decided to pursue a flower farm and floral arrangement business and held the Valentine’s Day sale to generate local buzz.
“We were throwing around a whole bunch of stuff for a while,” senior and Head of Sales Jaiden Villa said. “We landed on the floral arrangements. It was a lot of brainstorming.”
“We need to get out there,” sophomore and Head of Marketing Piper Donaldson added. “We need to do something. We need to have people recognize us to support our class.”
Villa and senior Joel Martinez, who was elected as the group’s CEO by a unanimous vote, gave presentations to Marfa National Bank President Chip Love in order to secure a $3,000 loan that has helped get Marfa Bloom off the ground. Thanks to the salesmanship of Martinez and others, the Valentine’s Day sale earned the class around $1,400, about half of which was profit after the cost of the flowers.
“We almost hit 80 total bouquets. We were really successful,” Martinez said. “I mean, adults, a lot of people here at the school have bought some, people reaching out through email.”
“It seemed stressful in the beginning, but now you look at the numbers, and it’s going pretty good,” Villa added.
While the red, pink and purple carnations, baby’s breath and ferns that made up the Valentine’s Day bouquets were purchased from an outside company, a lot of thought went into what type of flowers that were chosen. “Valentine’s Day isn’t just about romance,” Donaldson said. “I was one who brought up the idea of carnations because carnations mean more than one thing instead of just love. Red ones mean love, purple and pink mean friendship.”
At the greenhouse, the students are cultivating iris, African daisies, ranunculus (buttercup), lilies, geraniums and more which they intend to harvest and sell in the future. They are learning how to adjust their crop’s water levels through irrigation and how to compost and pull weeds. Alamito Garden Manager Juan Celaya is also on site to assist students and keep things running smoothly.
Marfa Blooms students have met with local gardeners Bob Schwab and Faith Gay and discussed the idea of a flower subscription program with local restaurants. Donaldson said the group is planning to expand its operations with bee hives this spring to offer local honey for sale in addition to floral arrangements. “Whatever opportunities there are, we’re not afraid to branch out,” Martinez said.
Once the loan is paid off, the students plan to donate 80% of their proceeds, pay themselves and leave money for next year’s class. Villa and Martinez said the agribusiness class offered more hands-on experience compared to traditional classes, and they were looking forward to using the skills they are gaining in the future.
“It’s different,” Villa said. “It’s not just sitting there and figuring out math problems. It’s fun and challenging.”
“You are actually doing something, actually getting something done, seeing results,” Martinez added.
Travis said the class will likely continue next year and underclassmen who are participating may be able to retake the course. Incoming cohorts may opt to continue the already established floral business, or could go their own route under the Marfa Blooms name, she said.
“If a kid comes in and is like, ‘I really want to grow cucumbers, because Marfa needs a pickle company,’ at this point it could morph into a lot of different things,” Travis said.
Keep up with Marfa Blooms students on Instagram @marfa.blooms
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