Milli Proust
Milli Proust is a Sussex, UK based flower farmer, florist, and author of From Seed to Bloom: A year of growing and designing with seasonal flowers. Over the past seven years, Milli has developed her unique style of romantic and playful creations that reflect the seasons, growing everything with organic practices in an effort to protect the surrounding wildlife. Here we speak to Milli about her journey from city to countryside, learning to adapt to nature’s joys and frustrations, and the benefit of an organic, no till, thoughtful approach to gardening, growing, and living.
Photo Credit Éva Németh
WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO START GARDENING? WAS IT WHILE YOU WERE STILL LIVING IN LONDON?
“My grandmother loved gardening, she always kept a garden and had such respect and love for the plants and for the work of tending to a plot of land.”
She still tended to her garden in her 90’s and made growing feel like a joyful thing to do in life. I didn’t have the luxury of a garden for most of my adult life – I had a collection of pots that I dragged from flat share to flat share and I really thought I didn’t have much skill at growing, but it turns out that I find growing in pots much harder than growing in the ground! I interned at a florist shop for a bit and had always been totally enamoured with visiting the flower markets and creating designs, I dreamt of being able to grow the ingredients to design with when I was still living in London, but it always felt like a pipe-dream without access to a growing space, and waiting lists for allotments in the city being years long.
I grew tulips and pansies in window-boxes and would snip a couple of stems for the table. They always felt so precious. There’s now a handful of flower farms up and running in London set up by some brilliant people so I think things could be different for urban dwelling, flower dreaming growers there. My friend Ross showed me how to sow things from seed a year or two before the move, and we grew a little vegetable garden on a balcony.
Then my boyfriend moved out of the city, and I made the decision to follow him- suddenly I had access to a place to grow and got stuck in immediately with much enthusiasm and ambition despite having no horticultural training or really having a clue about what I was doing or how to do it. It’s been a steep learning curve and I’ve loved the process of it so much. What I love the most is that each season you get the chance to have another go, tweak things, experiment, learn methods from others.
“There’s always more to learn and every year brings such different challenges.”
WHEN YOU MOVED TO THE COUNTRYSIDE, DID YOU ANTICIPATE HOW YOUR GARDEN WOULD BECOME SUCH A FOCAL PART OF YOUR LIFE?
I didn’t anticipate it at all, it’s really been the best surprise. It was about 6 months into to living in Sussex and I was still commuting back to the city, when I found myself weeding the beds at 7 am, already late for the commuter train, having the best time and wishing I could stay and look after the plot, and wondered how people could make a living from working with the land in this day and age. Growing up in the middle of London meant that working outside with plants had never seemed like a career option. It wasn’t on any school curriculum and I didn’t know any small-scale growers personally – what I knew of farming was huge farms and even bigger tractors.
When it came to wanting to grow and make that my living, I used social networks and the flower farming union here Flowers From The Farm to start meeting people who were doing it already and to learn from them what it would take.
“I made it my focus to build a flower business with the goal for it to become my full time career.”
I had to continue juggling freelance office work and, when I could get it, acting work. It took about 3 years to be able to fully sustain a living off the land.
HOW DID YOU APPROACH THE LAYOUT OF YOUR GARDEN?
Beds have been crammed into corners and tacked onto existing borders to increase the growing space as I went. It wasn’t laid out in a planned way, it came about organically and it’s highly inefficient for cropping from. I’m moving the crops to a rented field 15 minutes away this winter, and the layout there has been created with efficiency in mind. The crops that will need the most amount of tending too – like the annuals, will be kept close to the entrance and the perennials and shrubs will be further down the field. The beds will all be the same width and so will the paths making it easier to maintain.
The plot back at home will be kept for the seed crop instead of a constant harvesting of stems from it. That was one of the least time efficient jobs growing crops here – the harvesting of fresh flowers. Everything is laid out on different levels and crammed in that to harvest for 20 bouquets or for a wedding would involve walking buckets and buckets all over the place – it would take forever.
“I can’t wait to have long, flat paths wide enough to pull a trolley for buckets!”
The inefficient layout has its benefits too – it’s always made the plot here at home feel very much like a garden, and the constant need for more growing space has given it the feeling of being crammed full of beauty and abundance.
Photo Credit Éva Németh
WHAT MADE YOU INTERESTED IN THE NO TILL PROCESS? CAN YOU SHARE A BIT ABOUT THE BENEFITS AND HOW IT WORKS?
The first year of growing commercially I was still working pretty much full time elsewhere, so the plot was managed on evenings and weekends. I could barely keep up with the weeding, feeding, and the watering, and found there was almost no time left to harvest, create and sell the designs. I knew there had to be a better way! After listening to Charles Dowding – the king of No Dig (or No Till) here in the UK, talk about how it could help with all the things I was struggling with, I booked myself in on a course with him to learn more. It was an absolute game-changer. I grow on heavy clay, so digging every year was a mammoth, back-breaking task in itself, with no-dig suddenly Winter was easier, then spring came and I hoed, then Summer came and I hand picked a few weeds every week or so, it was so different. I barely watered even though it hadn’t rained much, I only fed my roses and yet all the crops were abundant and healthy. It was brilliant, and I’ve never looked back.:
“The concept is simple: you mulch every Autumn/Winter and don’t dig, which leaves the soil structure and ecosystem of microorganisms, fungi and worms intact.”
I’m on heavy clay and no-dig really helps with drainage. The mycorrhizal fungi network is left intact and that helps the plants transfer water and nutrients. The worms spend the season taking down the mulch and in turn fertilising the soil. And the mulch also acts as a weed barrier, excluding light so the seeds below won’t germinate. When you create a bed you simply lay down a layer of cardboard and a thick layer of mulch you can plant directly into this. I’ve found it to be a much easier way to grow!
TALK TO US ABOUT YOUR COMPOST PALACE!
“Nothing goes to waste here.”
Any designs that return to the studio after an event are composted, any crop that doesn’t sell and I can’t dry or save seed from gets composted – it all has a purpose of going back into the cycle.
I fondly refer to it as the compost palace but it’s really just 4 compost bays made out of wood. It generates about half the compost we need here and is one of the most satisfying and vital elements in the work we do here. Soil health is vital and tending to the soil is the key to tending to the crops.
YOUR WINDOWSILL WEDNESDAY POSTS ARE ALWAYS SO INSPIRING. WHERE DID YOU LEARN FLORAL ARRANGING OR ARE YOU SELF TAUGHT?
Ah thank you for saying that! I love that project – it’s the one time I get to create floral designs that don’t have a client brief or a customer in mind so I can really experiment and challenge.
“I’m mostly self-taught and the Windowsill project has been a designated practice space each week, where I can keep testing techniques, colour combinations and shapes.”
Early on in the business I didn’t have enough income to take floristry courses, but through connections online I had some florists who were keen to swap some of my growing skills and flowers for their floristry knowledge. Since the business has grown I’ve taken a couple of courses, and I’d like to aim for taking a course or workshop a year to keep learning, adapting and adding to my toolkit. I really want to be able to do a better job than the last with each wedding and event I take on.
ONE EXCITING PART OF YOUR BUSINESS IS YOUR SEED PACKETS. CAN YOU SHARE A BIT HOW THE SEED COLLECTION PROCESS WORKS?
“Seed saving is a really wonderful thing to do – you get the freshest seed possible with seeds that have already adapted to thrive in your conditions.”
I really think everyone should give it a go and it’s not too hard to do. Each plant has a slightly different technique of retrieving the seeds, but you generally know they’re ready to collect when they’re about to drop from the plant. I collect them into a paper bag on a dry day and take them inside to dry out for another week – this helps them from going mouldy in storage. Once I’m sure they’re completely dry I will winnow them, which is the process of cleaning the seed from the plant detritus using air. I pour the seeds from one clean, dry bucket to another, allowing the wind to remove the plant bits, and the seeds are heavy enough to drop down into the bucket. You can also use a fan to help on a less windy day. Then I store them in big paper bags in air-locked containers in a place that has a cool, stable temperature to ensure the seeds I sell keep their freshness and their germination rates high.
YOU RECENTLY HAD A BABY! HOW HAS YOUR TIME IN THE GARDEN CHANGED SINCE THEN?
Time in the garden has changed dramatically over the last year. I was seriously ill for my pregnancy, and was bed-bound for the first 20 weeks. I missed the garden so much and I had to cancel a lot of my work which I found painful and difficult – a lot of my sense of self is wrapped up in my ability to work. It was winter so the neglect luckily didn’t affect the late spring weddings I had left booked in and had help from my freelance team to execute them. That was followed by a very challenging post-partum with sepsis, and I spent a lot of time really unwell in hospital hooked up to machines.
We got home about a month into Rex being with us and my strength is returning slowly but surely. I’ve tried to do a little more outside work each day, sometimes with Rex strapped to me. I’ve done just two weddings since Rex has arrived and a few full days on the plot when my partner can hold the baby, but I’m still having to take it easy with my own recovery. A lot of my work has been at the computer – planning, ordering plants, and writing this Autumn, and on days like that I can juggle looking after Rex too.
“It can often feel like I’m working on the garden instead of in the garden these days. I trust in my body's ability to heal and cannot wait for the time I can do full physical weeks again.”
HOW DO YOU MANAGE YOUR DAY? DO YOU HAVE A CREATIVE PROCESS THAT HELPS YOU?
It’s a real juggle. The processes that help me are a lot more logistical and less creative – I really have to compartmentalise, schedule and write lists to get things done. It’s a constant thinking ahead to what needs to be achieved, and then writing a list working backwards from that step-by-step. Then I do each step until the thing is done. There's been a lot less creativity in my life since the baby arrived too but I’m hoping as he gets a little older and starts nursery or school there will be more time for that again.
YOU'VE DEVELOPED A DEDICATED FOLLOWING ON SOCIAL MEDIA. HOW HAS THAT IMPACTED OR INFLUENCED YOUR WORK?
I try not to let it influence or impact my work, I still post the work I want to share and not things that I think people will want to see. What a following has allowed is for people to find my work, connect with it and commission me for weddings, events, bouquets and workshops.
“It’s really enabled what is a very small, rural business to thrive so I’m very grateful for all the people who follow along.”
HOW DO YOU APPROACH THE CHANGE OF SEASONS?
Working with a crop and with event work, I’m generally working two seasons at once – the season we’re in and usually 2 or 3 seasons ahead too. In Summer I’m planning for the following Spring, ordering Spring bulbs. In Autumn I’m sowing hardy annuals for Summer Crops, in Summer I’m cutting and drying things for Winter.
“I love when the seasons finally change too! I love the in-between bits the most and the new ingredients or pace of life they bring.”
Photo Credit Éva Németh
WHAT DO YOU THINK PEOPLE CAN DO TO BE MORE IN TOUCH WITH NATURE IN THEIR DAILY LIFE?
I think noticing the little things can make a big impact on the everyday. Getting to know what the names of the plants you pass on a daily basis, what they look like in each season, and how they change is a lovely way to connect with the natural world wherever you are.
WHAT KIND OF SUSTAINABILITY PRACTICES DO YOU LIVE BY?
There are many little choices made in the way I run my business and life that drive towards being more sustainable, and I know there’s always more I can do too. Around 80% of the flowers in the UK are imported and grown with chemicals and many in heated greenhouses, so by growing without chemicals and serving customers locally, the business, at its heart, is trying to offer a more sustainable alternative for flowers. We harvest rainwater, encourage wildlife and biodiversity to keep the crops healthy, we don’t use heated greenhouses – which means we can only offer flowers that are truly in season.
“When it comes to the products, all of my packaging is completely plastic free, we have a zero floral foam policy, instead we re-use all of our floral mechanics again and again.”
WHAT ARE SOME LESSONS THAT NATURE HAS TAUGHT YOU?
So many. Acceptance and patience are two that come to mind first. No matter how much we like to think of ourselves in control, we are not. We are a small cog in the vastness of nature, we are simply part of the never-ending compost cycle. Learning to accept that has helped me accept to take the many little blows that happen every season less seriously. I’ve also found that turning to nature when the challenging moments of life come to pass, has helped me to accept them and softened the blows.
Patience is such a huge part of growing too. I’ve always liked things to happen quickly and efficiently and with nature you really have to slow down and not force things to get the best results.
“so many beautiful things take a long time to grow.”
WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU?
I’ve teamed up with another local grower Paris Alma this Winter and we’ll be amalgamating our business’ to be Alma Proust and working the new rented field together. Working together feels a lot more sustainable for the long run and we both couldn’t be more excited about what we’ll be able to achieve with the two of us! It can often be a lonely job, and we’ve already found so much joy in working side by side.
