Ep. 96: Growing Regenerative Cut Flowers in a Vineyard with Jocelyn Bentley-Prestwich of Cluster Flock Farms

Jocelyn Bentley-Prestwich plants peonies, daffodils, and alliums underneath her grape vines, and she has quadrupled the value of every linear foot of her vineyard by doing it. She runs Cluster Flock Farms and Vineyard on twenty-five acres in Husum, Washington, where she grows wine grapes for some of the best winemakers in the Columbia Gorge, raises chickens and ducks and geese, runs flower subscriptions and a flower stand on Highway 141, and books a la carte wedding florals. She is also a queer female farmer who walked into a male-dominated wine industry that did not make room for her, and refused to leave. In this episode: * What it looks like to be a female farmer in a male-dominated industry, and the moment Jocelyn started saying "tell me I can't and I'll show you I can" * The regenerative companion planting strategy that increased the value of every linear foot of her vineyard by four times * The day she stopped calling her farm Blue Elk Farms and renamed it Cluster Flock, and how naming the mess set her free * "Side of the road mode," the lesson Jocelyn's mother taught her about letting go of what you cannot control * What she would tell the version of herself from ten years ago who did not yet know if she belonged If you have ever felt behind, or like you do not quite belong, or like you are barely holding it together this season, this is your episode. Share it with another farmer who needs to hear it. Guest Bio Jocelyn Bentley-Prestwich is the owner of Cluster Flock Farms and Vineyard in Husum, Washington. She has been stewarding twenty-five acres in the Columbia Gorge since 2014 alongside her wife Lacy. Raised by a botanist mother and an organic chemist father, Jocelyn has been in plants her entire professional life. She started in horticulture as a teenager, worked in garden design and at-risk-youth education in the San Francisco Bay Area, and made her way to the Pacific Northwest with a long list of land requirements and a dream of building something diverse and regenerative. Today she grows Tempranillo, Gewurztraminer, Muscat, and Syrah grapes for Gorge winemakers, runs flower subscriptions, an a la carte wedding florals business, and a flower stand on Highway 141. She is a queer farmer, a mother, and a self-described nerd who believes everything is connected. Connect With Jocelyn * Website: https://clusterflockfarms.com [https://clusterflockfarms.com/] * Instagram: @clusterflockflowers [https://www.instagram.com/clusterflockflowers/] For Show Notes And More Podcast Details: https://thefloweringfarmhouse.com/the-backyard-bouquet-podcast/ Sign up for our newsletter: https://thefloweringfarmhouse.myflodesk.com/backyardbouquetpodcast Save the Date: The Dahlia Design Summit is coming September 13-18. Join the waitlist now for early-bird ticket access: https://thefloweringfarmhouse.myflodesk.com/dahliadesignsummitwaitlist