U-Pick Tulips

When you visit a U-pick tulip field, you’re stepping into the most direct, freshest version of the flower supply chain:

You → Field → Flowers → Home.

No middle steps. No delays. No added handling.

You pick at peak freshness. That means longer vase life, more vibrant blooms, and a little magic in watching them unfurl in your kitchen over the next seven to fourteen days. You choose every stem based on what speaks to you—not what was bundled for you.

There’s also no need for trucks, refrigeration, or packaging. Because you’re bringing them home yourself.

Wicker basket in hand, you walk the field. You feel the season. You take what’s blooming and learn what isn’t yet. And in that moment, you’re not just buying flowers—you’re part of something.

So what changes?

The tulips don’t stop blooming just because the town of Barrington Hills has barred the farm from inviting visitors and things get a lot more complicated when it comes to getting the flowers to you.

Harvesting

Every stem has to be picked at the exact right time to ensure they can be stored. With tulips, that window is measured in hours, not days. This is often before the buds crack. Add in spring weather that warms unpredictably—and the fact that there are only two of us, both with full-time jobs—and it becomes clear why most flower farmers don’t grow tulips for retail sale. Those who do often call them “loss leaders”—a labor of love to signal the start of spring, not a farmer-sustaining crop.

Cold storage & Infrastructure

Tulips need to be cooled to hold their shape so they look the best for you. But we aren’t set up for that. Floral coolers are expensive, energy-intensive, and were never part of our original model—because we never imagined needing them.

Transport & Handling

Every stem has to be picked, cleaned, bundled, labeled, stored, reprocessed, arranged, and delivered. Carefully. Flowers are fragile.

Consignment & Commissions

Most small shops take a cut for shelf space, and rightly so. But that means higher prices just to stay afloat. It’s not greed—it’s the reality of retail.

What’s lost?

When we shift from a direct, circular model to a traditional supply chain, we lose more than simplicity—we lose local resilience.

A field that once invited connection becomes just another stop in the process. A flower that could’ve been picked in joy now is harvested in haste, processed to meet shelf life expectations.

And the community—the one that benefits from direct access to fresh, local, seasonal flowers—loses access to something rare: a farm experience rooted in openness, care, and abundance.

Why does it matter?

We talk a lot about sustainability, and few things are more sustainable than walking a field and harvesting something yourself. It doesn’t stop at flowers. The same holds true for fruits, vegetables, herbs. When communities have direct access to what’s grown nearby, everyone benefits.

It keeps costs lower.

It reduces waste.

It builds trust—you know the people who worked the field, and you hear about how things are grown directly from the source.

In the case of U-Pick tulips, it shortens the distance between joy and bloom.

Retail has its place. And we’re grateful to the small shops who are offering to partner with us when we need to adapt. But given the choice, we’ll always prefer to see you out there with your basket, following what’s in season and what’s in bloom.

If you're hoping to bring tulips home this spring, we’re doing our best to make that possible. It won’t be the same, but we’re working through the logistics of bouquet pickups, pop-ups, and other ways to get blooms into your hands.

In the meantime, we’d love to hear from you

What do you imagine having access to in your community?

What would it look like if farms, food, and flowers were closer to home—and part of everyday life?

You can follow along on Instagram @littleduckyflowerfarm, Facebook, or through our newsletter. But more than that—we’d love for you to be part of imagining what’s possible.

Because community isn’t something we sell. It’s something we build.