Flower farming next step for farming dynasty in East Maitland

But adding flowers to the mix hasn't been all roses. In fact, growing them isn't as easy as it looks and has demanded a lot of extra work amongst an already busy traditional farming mix.

Nevertheless, the hardiest varieties have shone bright and withstood the recent rain. Now those ones are set to become a staple at the family's Slow Food Earth Market Maitland stall and their customers couldn't be happier.

"We're doing sunflowers and zinnias mainly and we'll have them over the coming weeks at the markets in the lead up to Christmas and over the summer," Matthew Dennis said.

"There are some flowers that are too soft and they are just too much work, but we'll stick with the hardier ones when they are in season.

"The sunflowers and zinnias have been popular at the market so far."

Matthew's wife Sue was the instigator of this move and put the idea of flower farming on the table. Matthew and their son Liam jumped at it.

Matthew says it's important to keep the farm evolving.

"You can't stay the same, you have to keep changing and moving forward," he said.

This is the second big change the family has made in the past few years. The first was expanding their traditional range of vegetables to include heirloom and lesser-known varieties.

That went down so well with shoppers it has become a regular plot.

The branch into flowers is incubating a new industry in Maitland, according to Slow Food Earth Market chairwoman Amorelle Dempster.

She said the venture opened the door to new markets, provided an added boost to pollination and increased the farm's beneficial insect population.

It has also provided shoppers with another product that doesn't carry the transport miles associated with cut flowers imported from overseas.

"Farmers have realised that between seasons they could grow flowers as another income source. That diversification has led to new supply chains and a whole new market for the earth market," Ms Dempster said.

"It's giving shoppers another reason to come to the market - getting locally grown flowers that are not sprayed is a big thing and they can smell them and touch them and have a sensory experience with these flowers.

"These flowers haven't travelled from overseas and they are very fresh and will last longer as well."

Ms Dempster said the venture could also create a new outlet for local florists.

The Slow Food Earth Market is on in The Levee, in central Maitland, on Thursday November 19 from 8.30am until 1.30pm.

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