After volunteering on organic farms across the country, including a hunger garden in Asheville that donated all of its produce to food banks, she went on to found the San Francisco-based garden education nonprofit Growing Together, serving as its director from 2013 to 2018.
About a year ago, she began experimenting with flowers. And what started as a small pilot quickly turned into something bigger.
“Once I started growing flowers, it became obvious,” Nair tells St. Pete Rising. “With vegetables and fruit, there’s functionality because you eat them. But flowers are pure beauty. They connect people to nature in a different way. People light up around flowers. There’s creativity in arranging them. They’re art.”
At Padme Flower Farm, everything is grown by hand, without harmful pesticides or synthetic fertilizers.
According to Nair, more than 70% of flowers sold in the U.S. are imported, often grown with heavy chemical inputs before being shipped long distances. Padme’s blooms, by contrast, are grown on-site in St. Pete.