Federal’s Flower Duende
14.02.2024 Scarlett Rogers photography Jemma Enright
Growing up on the east coast of Aotearoa in a rural community with avid gardeners for parents, I enjoyed a free-range childhood. I spent my days playing with my younger brother building huts, climbing trees, and collecting fox-glove petals for the fairies, all the while watching Mum and Dad garden from afar.
I wasn’t much help in the beds and was only interested when flowers were involved, always requesting them during a visit to the local nursery. This was never entertained, but I still dream of having a field of wildflowers in front of my home one day.
The landscape that I call home carved my psyche
I am one with the ebb and flow of the inlet I continue to swim in as I grow
The trees and I have a language of our own
I know when I grip the grass beneath my toes Mother Earth will hold me
Just as she did when I lay in her arms rolling with the paddocks that know every inch of my palms
The sand from Pūrākaunui Beach lives in my hair, in summer I feel naked without the soft grain somewhere in my bed
The bond between people and place is integral to our wellbeing and that of the planet, and I’ve always been passionate about exploring it. Knowing the soil in which you stand intimately can be gained in a myriad of ways, one of which is gardening or farming.
About two years ago I returned home, completely adrift. After six months abroad, I was hungry for inspiration and purpose. I found myself gardening, untangling my mind with each buttercup I uprooted from the soil. The art of gardening rekindled the fire within me.
Once back in our region, during an evening at Bruns’ Saint Maries, I was introduced to Luen. A delight to speak with, I quickly discovered she ran a flower farm. A flower farm! I attended Luen’s next volunteer day and was greeted with rows of rainbow sprinkled at the base of a little gully just out of Federal.
On one of the hottest days of summer, friend and photographer Jem and I went on a mission to capture the essence of Luen’s farm. We discussed the intrinsic link between gardening and well-being, connection to source, sisterhood, solitude, music, fairies, future dreams, and of course, flowers.
Luen and I have connected over many things but have had wildly different journeys. For Luen, her gateway into farming all started on a permaculture farm in South America. I asked Luen how this all came about.
“I worked on a farm in Colombia in South America and stayed there. I rocked up not knowing what I was doing but told them I was fit and could run around and do whatever. This was before I learnt to garden, I was touring, full muso. They rescued animals and used homemade salve from cannabis to treat animal wounds. Here I learnt how to make compost. When I got home I started making compost and continued to work on permaculture farms.”
So you started with DJing and now you’ve moved to flower farming. Those are polar opposite lifestyles - how has this shift impacted your daily life?
“With DJing, you're always busy on the weekend, then when it comes to the week everyone else is working. So you’re exceptionally lonely. You have these massive highs on the weekend and the rest of the week feels mundane. When I started gardening it gave me purpose during the week. Through gardening, I was able to calm my nervous system, which in turn, improved my music career. But by that stage, I was tapping out of music and more interested in gardening so I moved to the Byron Shire and started a market garden.”
How did it evolve into flowers?
“I saw a website selling Dahlia tubers and they looked amazing. I think I spent one hundred dollars for six tubers, so I had six little bushes and someone asked to buy the flowers. I was selling bunches of kale hand-tied with marigolds for eight dollars. Then someone offered two dollars for one flower and I sold ten flowers for twenty dollars, and I was like alright this is it.”
What’s the future vision for the farm?
“I have different ideas at different times. I think it would be hard but fulfilling to move into education. If you google how to garden, there are a million ways you could do it. If I taught people my method, it would cut out the guesswork. I also love being a cheerleader for people. I think education is a mixture of sharing information and giving people confidence and I think I’m quite good at that.”
The wider community–how do you see yourself and the farm within that?
“Everyone here is obsessed with nature and wants to see beautiful fairy flowers. Everyone loves flowers, they make me feel so happy. I saw on my Instagram last night that 93% of people who watch my content are women. I was like that makes sense, we’re all just fangin' for the flowers. In terms of how I fit into that, there are a few flower farms here and we are all working together to learn and grow. I’m just happy to be part of the community and interact with all the people who love nature and flowers.”
What do you think it is about flowers? What gets people hooked? What got you hooked?
“Cosmos dancing in the wind two metres above the rest of the garden like butterflies. It’s cool to grow and harvest your own salad greens, they don’t have chemicals and it's something you can do to encourage more fresh food in your diet. Growing your food sounds so idyllic so I never really thought about growing flowers besides for pollination. I planted some cosmos for pollination and was like, holy shit, this is feeding my soul not just my stomach.”
Let's talk about the soil. Direct contact with it makes you feel so good, what’s that all about?
“I was just thinking about how I was walking through Byron last night and there was this big screen of trees and I just wanted to be near it. Even just the visual of a tree makes me want to get close to it. I don’t know the science behind it but you just want to be outside all the time. The feeling and smell of soil is grounding, it’s been there forever and you’re just a part of it. Because we will be soil one day and everything that’s ever lived will be soil.”
It’s direct contact with the source.
“When you’re digging in the soil and the particles float up and get in contact with your nervous system, whatever reaction occurs can help with depression. So you have this reaction that makes you feel happier and it’s proven.”
What sets your soul on fire?
“I like to think of this beautiful garden full of flowers and humans and we’re all just having the best time ever. I’ve got this future drive that suits gardening because there is always something to look forward to. You’re in the present but also moving towards this future goal.”
Her response, her reality.
In my short five months of moving to and exploring the Northern Rivers I’ve been dipping my toes into as many micro-communities as possible. Luen has created a space for women to connect with people and the planet. Volunteer Hannah and I discussed that sharing ideas, passions, and dreams with like-minded women while working towards something larger is unparalleled.
Ultimately I think we’re all looking for a sense of belonging. Florists, employees, and volunteers all comment on how Luen’s approach makes their experience with her so meaningful.
Our interview was followed by a dip in the creek at the bottom of the farm. I noticed Luen had a tattoo on her ankle that read ‘Duende’, Spanish for a mischievous elf or fairy, which Luen embodies to a tee. She is Federal’s Flower Duende.