Reclaiming Valentine’s Day: love that grows locally
Valentine’s Day often arrives wrapped in plastic, with a feeling of obligation or a last minute grab through the grocery store, imported roses flown thousands of kilometres to make a brief appearance before wilting. It’s easy to feel cynical — another date on the calendar designed to encourage more consumption.
But what if we reclaimed 14 February?
What if Valentine’s Day became a moment to honour love, special people, and connection — not only between those close to us, but also between communities, growers, and the earth that grows our food, flowers and fibre?
Below are four simple ways to celebrate Valentine’s Day while supporting sustainability, local growers, and the Slow Flower movement’s guiding principle: grown, not flown.
1. Gift seeds — a season of promise
Seeds are a quiet, hopeful gift. They invite patience, care, and anticipation.
For the gardener in your life, seeds offer something far richer than a single bouquet: a whole season of beauty, flavour, and enjoyment. You might choose a curated seed gift collection , or create a handmade card paired with a gift voucher to be used later — perhaps for seeds of their choosing, or for dahlia tubers when they become available in winter.
A gift that grows carries love forward, day by day.
2. Choose locally grown, sustainably produced flowers
Flowers grown close to home tell a different story. They’re fresher, last longer, and carry a far lighter environmental footprint.
Our dahlia blooms are collected weekly and combined with other locally grown flowers by BEC at The Rye Nursery & Produce Store, where fresh bunches are available later in the week. Every stem reflects care, seasonality, and community collaboration.
If you don’t live nearby, a simple online search or question on social media will often reveal small-scale, sustainable flower growers in your area. Seeking them out can introduce you to varieties you’ve never seen before — while directly supporting people who grow with intention.
3. Create a local produce gift basket
Flowers aren’t everyone’s love language — and that’s okay.
A thoughtfully assembled basket of locally and sustainably grown food can be just as meaningful. We’re fortunate to live within a rich food bowl, surrounded by growers and value-add producers: organic sourdough from Flinders, goat’s cheese from Main Ridge, biodynamic vegetables in Rye, and berries and apples from Red Hill, to name just a few.
A gift like this is filled with flavour, nourishment, and a strong sense of place. And for us, we love seeing the linked community - us as bio-dynamic seed growers, sustainable growers using our seeds and growing nutrient dense food, and our community eating and enjoying the fruits of all of our labour!
4. Share a farm-to-plate experience
Sometimes the most memorable gifts aren’t things at all.
Our region is home to exceptional farm-to-plate restaurants that grow biodynamic and organic produce for their kitchens and are recognised for both quality and ingenuity. Dining in these spaces connects us directly to the growers, the seasons, and the land beneath our feet. Two restaurants that use our seed are Barragunda in Cape Schanck and Tedesca Osteria in Red Hill.
Wherever you live, there’s likely a restaurant or café quietly doing this work. Dig a little, try somewhere new, and let the meal become part of the story you share.
Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be loud, rushed, or disposable. When we slow down and choose gifts and experiences rooted in care, place, and seasonality, love becomes something deeper — and far more enduring.
P.S. Gift vouchers can be redeemed later in the year for sweet pea new releases, dahlia tubers or seeds of choice.