LOCAL

Life in coronavirus: A flower farmer innovates; a farmers market opens with caution

Mackensy Lunsford
Asheville Citizen Times

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ASHEVILLE - This is the time of tulips. 

This is the time of coronavirus, and Emily Copus, the grower behind Carolina Flowers, has a crop of about 8,000 tulips she needs to sell.

Tulips are hardier than you might think, said Copus. They have a personality.

"They feel substantial — they have a presence among flowers that is more like an animal almost," she said.

More:Coronavirus: Buncombe releases some jail inmates to reduce risk of virus transmission

Based on recommendations from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, the Asheville City Market, a primary outlet for Copus, closed March 14.

Emily Copus with a spray of tulips from Carolina Flowers.

An interim market will open March 21 in the A-B Tech parking lot with a new flow to mitigate virus transmission points and accommodate social distancing. Copus will sell flowers there. 

There will be no mingling. Shoppers must stay 6 feet apart. They must wait in their cars until they are told to enter the market.

In the field, tulips crowd together. Shoulder to shoulder, they push up through the winter mud, turning the field into a tapestry of green spikes, which make Copus think of Pointillism.

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Each tulip bulb costs 40 cents, which means she has thousands of dollars tied up in the field.

When the blooms begin to blush, she pries the flowers out of the soil with a pitchfork so the bulb stays intact. They give the bloom a source of food and delight customers anxious to see the riot of colors the spring market brings.

Flowers remind us spring is here, and nothing will stop it — not even a pandemic.

"You can't hide what is impressive about the tulip harvest," Copus said.

'We didn't plan on a global pandemic'

Copus had huge plans for 2020.

She and her husband, the well-known potter Josh Copus, had sights set on triple-digit growth this year. 

"We got close last year, which is crazy for a farm, and we had every reason to believe it was a good idea to go big," Emily Copus said. 

More:See how Earth Fare's closure impacts local farmers and food producers

They invested heavily in the fall. March 21 was going to be the grand opening of their Marshall brick-and-mortar flower and mercantile shop.

The grand opening has been delayed, like many things. The shop is open, but coronavirus has squashed retail sales for many.

Tulips from Carolina Flowers on their way to Asheville City Market-Winter.

"Of course we didn't plan on a global pandemic," Copus said. "Statistically, what's the probability of that happening?"

But taking risks is part of running a business, she said. That won't change.

"Living in fear as a business owner doesn't get you anywhere, and I still believe that — and those ideas are driving our response to this crisis."

A canceled market. A plan.

Less than 24 hours before the Asheville City Market canceled its March 14 market, a substantial harvest of spring flowers waited in Copus' cooler. 

At the news, she decided to deliver everything she could to customers, even the $12 bouquets. 

"Why are we doing this?" she wrote on social media. "Because three of us work here full time, and we’re all on salary. I have to make our sales numbers, folks, and that means tomorrow we’re going to try to do at least $500 in 'farmers market' sales so we can maintain our cash flow and pay these salaries. Can you help us make it happen?"

Spring anemones are blooming now at Carolina Flowers' farm in the Walnut community.

They did, with some products selling out almost immediately.

Delivery logistics are tricky. Instead of thinking about soil and sunshine, you've got to worry about loose dogs and absent customers.

But everything came together. 

"It was the best day at the farmers market we've ever had, saleswise," Copus said. 

She made enough to pay one employee's salary for a month. "And no one here makes less than $15 an hour, except for me," Copus laughed. 

She'll continue the model, and is offering flower subscriptions for regular deliveries. 

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In the time of coronavirus, flowers make sense, even if they don't understand social distancing.

Even if they pop up incomprehensibly bright in a dark and uncertain time. 

Perhaps it's that irrepressible cheerfulness that makes them particularly apropos. 

"People want to show support via flowers, and I feel lucky that what we do is relevant," Copus said. "That's a bright spot."

Figuring out how to save the world

Like business in general, keeping farmers like Copus financially solvent during a pandemic carries risk. 

“We know this is a challenging and uncertain time for farmers and for the community,” said Charlie Jackson, the executive director of the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project, the farm-focused nonprofit that manages Asheville City Market.

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"ASAP has been working to try to establish new systems for farmers and local food vendors to sell their products that comply with public health requirements," he said. 

“Now, more than ever, we need to come together over food and take care of ourselves and our community.”

The Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project has set up an interim market at A-B Tech with safety in mind. 

The number of shoppers allowed in the market area will be tightly controlled, with staff directing customers to queue inside their vehicles until they can enter the retail space.

A sign at Asheville City Market

Vendors will remain at least 6 feet from shoppers, with customers selecting clearly priced prepackaged items, while not being allowed to handle any other products.

No haggling is allowed, and people with cold or flu symptoms will be asked to leave. 

To minimize potential virus transmission points, customers will pay online after shopping, based on an honor system. 

ASAP will cover farmers, who will be fully paid no matter what.

It's a risk, but a calculated one.

More:Coronavirus: From grocery store chains to co-op, how grocers are handling outbreak

“We’ve got hundreds of farmers and vendors and thousands of community members that rely on these markets for livelihood and healthy fresh food,” said Jackson. “We’ve got to be able to continue to produce food here, and farmers have to get paid."

"This market creates the new model that will let us continue to have a robust and sustaining food system even in the most trying of times,” Jackson said.

Copus will be at the market. She wants to pay her employees so they, in turn, can buy from others.

"And we can keep going," she said.  

"If you want to figure out how save the world, then you have to figure out how to keep people safe without creating an economic collapse that dogs us for the rest of our lives — and that's what we're up against, I think."

More about Carolina Flowers at www.flowersnc.com.

IF YOU GO

What: The ASAP Farmers Market.

When: March 21, from 9 a.m.-noon.

Where: The market will be located outdoors in A-B Tech parking lots A2, A3, and A7 with limited access from the end of Persistence Dr. off Victoria Rd. 

More: The market will operate for as long as necessary, possibly expanding to other locations and days of the week as opportunity and demand allows.

Farmers interested in participating may apply via ASAP’s website.

ASAP continues to advocate for relief and assistance to farmers, and will announce additional programs and resources as they are available.

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Mackensy Lunsford is an award-winning staff writer for the Asheville Citizen Times, former professional line cook and one-time restaurant owner.

Reach me:mlunsford@citizentimes.com.

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