I'm Katie Lila I make art displays out of fresh cut flowers.

Wow, this is looking so fabulous.

Flowers really are nature's art, and I love using them as my medium.

So fun.

Like these little fantasy flower worlds that people can interact with.

Oh my gosh, this is stunning.

I want this for my bedroom wall.

It's hard to be around flowers without smiling.

Wait, that is crazy.

I love looking at something and being like, oh, how can we make that into something that could be in a flower installation?

This is out of control.

I love it.

Oh my goodness.

A lot of variables.

A lot of question marks.

How's it going to go?

How's it going to play out?

Oh, you did it.

My install team is amazing.

They just jump in action and fill in all the weird requests.

So come follow the balloons with us.

You never know where the adventure's headed.

(acoustic guitar strums) Follow the Blooms on KSPS PBS is proudly supported by Skyline Flowers Wholesale.

Today we're here at Spokane Falls Community College.

They're getting ready for their 50 year gala.

We've been invited to collaborate with the students to make something fabulous for this event.

Got to the first meeting.

And discovered it was in October.

And, was thinking, oh, bummer, because I like to create with, local in-season stuff and, they're like, what's blooming in October?

I'm like, having this coming in October.

And then Alyssa, chimed in, oh, wheat is growing in October.

And then snowballed into let's create something with wheat.

So that was cool and fun and very unexpected.

We're so excited to go visit the farm today.

the wheat goes on and on.

It's, time to harvest.

So we've got to get out there and see what's happening in before.

they're flattened.

guys.

How's it going?

Good.

Thank you.

And this is for you.

Beautiful!

Pics from my little cutting garden.

Beautiful.

Good to meet you.

You too.

Thanks for coming out.

Yeah.

Cool.

Well, thanks for having me.

Yeah.

We're glad you could join us out here today.

Oh, usually we do flowers, but today it's wheat.

When we get to the farm, immediately, I see the wheat as one big, beautiful vista.

And then as you get closer, it's beautiful.

Even when you're up close individually.

the texture is just so interesting and stunning with all of its movement Hard crunchy.

It's a really yummy flavor.

Yeah.

Yeah I can taste a cookie in there.

Yeah.

See how that could make a really delicious flour?

I'm Alicia Johnson, and this is my husband, Mark Johnson.

And we are wheat farmers out in Latah, Washington.

We have three kids, two boys and a girl, We have known each other for most of our lives.

We went to the same school, and we're actually high school sweethearts.

We got married and went to college and afterwards decided that farming was a life for us.

my grandma and grandpa had purchased this farm in the 50s eventually it went to my dad, he farmed it for a while.

And then, when we graduated college, he decided he was ready to retire.

And so that was my opportunity to take the reins and start farming.

It was, kind of a tough decision, but we kind of just went with it and so far, so good.

Yeah, all the doors kind of open that direction.

It just seemed like the right way for us to go.

So we did We primarily do dry land.

Winter wheat around here.

That's what this crop is out here.

That means it's seated in the fall time.

In October.

The places like the Midwest usually average around 40 bushels an acre.

And up up here in the Palouse we should we usually average about 80 bushels an acre.

Well, Katie, are you ready to hit the combine?

Yes.

Let's do it.

Riding in the combine.

Super fun.

Jumping up there like Farmer Jane, Watching that blade.

something I never thought I could do.

Mark.

That was so fun.

Thank you.

I've always wanted to ride a combine.

Now I can check that one off my bucket list.

But I know it's not all glamor around here.

Right.

There's got to be some hard things.

Tell us some of the highs and lows.

Yeah.

So some of the good things is, just being able to work out here on this land.

And just to get to see the beauty throughout the year, the different seasons and, to see it, in the spring.

The green little seedlings grow up all summer into the the beautiful golden crop that you see today.

Some of the bad things are, trying to mitigate some of the the uncontrollable factors out there, such as weather or commodity prices Thank you so much for having me out here.

But I know there's a whole other part to your life.

We want to meet those kiddos.

All right?

So they should be coming off the bus, right?

Yes, yes.

Okay.

Let's go meet them.

All right.

Perfect.

Future wheat farmers of America.

That's right.

Or at the very least, our future farmhands.

Henry?

Got a good handshake.

Lucy.

I'm Jack.

Jack.

Jack.

You're the, the shrimp of the group.

I'm good to meet you guys.

I'm Katie Lila, and, just excited to work with your mom.

We were out cruising on the combine today with your dad.

We're here at Alison Mark's house.

And, it's fun to kind of see their big farm and then go to their house meeting their kiddos, each with their different fun personalities.

heading out to the garden, picking some veggies and just getting a real, perspective of the life of this great couple.

I enrolled at SFCC about two years ago.

I just graduated in June they asked the interior design students if we would help kind of create a design idea for the gala.

So I created a vision board.

They loved it.

And we're kind of moving forward with designing the decorations and the feel of the gala around that.

that was so fun when I figured out that, you know, you mentioned your farmer and your husband was a wheat farmer, and we wanted to keep it local.

Yeah.

Tober, there's not much blooming in Spokane, right?

So the idea of having something local.

Yeah, that celebrates the harvest here.

And just celebrates that community.

Yeah.

Is, really going to be.

Yeah.

And I love that we're doing something with the wheat.

Because the wheat is such a big part of eastern Washington.

And the culture here with agriculture.

Small communities, you know, that's what the college is, was about, was creating a place where local people could come and get a quality education and, it's it's really neat that I got to be a part of the college.

And it's fun to be a part of this and to give back a little bit.

I always think it's fun when you meet someone and they, Wow.

You being even cooler than you Than you could have imagined.

So, Mark and Alyssa, it's kind of like the more you get to know them, the more you want to hang out with them, right?

I'm like, wait, can we hang out after this?

A few weeks later, my boys and I are back at the farm to harvest the end of the wheat for our project.

My friend Sunshine Keesler and her boys come along to.

She is an interior design teacher at the college and was the initial connection for this project.

we're here.

Hedge trimming down the wheat.

everyone is waist deep in it.

Learning that we need to be wearing long pants and socks.

get to work?

Mom, stop taking pictures.

Yes.

Get you up.

we wanted to get as much as we can into this car.

And I'm hoping that we have enough wheat.

it was, very prickly.

A very fun and beautiful but itchy affair.

It's finally design day.

This project has been a long time coming.

I'm used to, like, one,two month projects.

This one's been a long time coming.

So how long has this wheat been, like sitting in the room for?

Three weeks.

We made the frame.

We're figuring out how to battle this wheat into something stunning.

It's a new, medium, right?

I've never worked with wheat.

It's really different.

The wheat is prickly and brittle, and, it's just a lot different than flowers.

two thirds design one third in the middle.

So over the open space you'll be able to see through.

Okay.

And this is going to hang from the ceiling.

And it will be six feet.

We had a lot of thoughts with the wheat.

You know, I've been interesting and researching and everything under the sun trying to find anything I can get my eyes on that has to do with wheat.

Turns out there's not that much wheat design going on.

one of the students on the design team brought the invitation, and it had this gorgeous kind of 1920s esque, burst on the invitation.

And immediately I was like, there it is.

This is the event space.

It's what we have to work with.

It's bland.

It's not doing much.

we're coming from our last installation was at the library, which was this architectural wonder.

The lighting was beautiful.

Everything was beautiful.

And now it's just a conference room with bare walls and not that great of lighting and, you know, kind of lower ceilings.

And so how do we.

make it look chic and elevated in design and, somewhere you want to be.

Hey, guys.

Oh!

Hey, girl.

Good to see you.

Excuse me.

Yeah I know.

Can you see the vision?

Yes.

Yeah.

You okay?

If not, you can look at my.

Really awesome.

Yeah.

It's coming together.

Oh, I'm excited to see the students.

We've been sitting at the meetings and chatting and visualizing for months.

It's fun to see them here ready to work.

going to have you girls, start, the week reign over in the little shadow box stage?

Yes, And they're super excited.

It's always fun to work with students because they're just so, they have so much willingness, right?

And energy and, just joy around the project.

what I'm thinking is what we estimated was, like, 80 strands of wheat.

And I was looking at these grids and thinking to do, like, six strands per square.

So if you can kind of think of that.

So you want space between them.

So they're doing their own thing and you don't want anything on the same level, right.

So you don't want anything the same height or the same plane.

This way.

My name is Addie.

I am an SFC interior design student.

We're here to help create the weave sculpture for the gala that's happening.

It's really fun to be involved.

It makes me feel like I'm doing more of a part in the school and, you know, contributing more.

And it's just really great to see as students that our work is really already getting out there.

(music) Every time I come in here to see their design, they're just, rocking it and working together and making their own little systems, and, on the ladder.

I was like, please don't anybody fall off the ladder.

But, they spent, you know, 4 or 5, five hours on that ladder.

I need something behind that wheat to make it pop out.

And so I'm.

I'm trying to get with Event Rents and see if they can get us some rod and curtain to put behind the wheat.

That middle section of the stage.

I just need a black drape and back there.

So we could do we have 7ft to 12ft high just.

That would probably work.

The backdrop was a necessity.

The wheat started going up, and it just looked blasé It faded into the background.

Once we got the curtain up, it made all the difference.

You can see the wheat now!

I see the wheat.

you know,whats the point if you cant see it.

And now now we can see, the sculptural elements of the wheat, (music) We've had a lot of, new instruments come in and a lot of new tech, and, the students actually get to do a lot of hands on work with the newer stuff that they're seeing amongst the city of Spokane already.

And, it's actually a pretty, pretty proud moment because, a lot of the theaters around Spokane, actually, about half of the crews are from SFCC.

what do you think?

Do you think two lights going like this is enough, or do you think you want 4 lights?

Four might be too much, but I've got plenty.

And let's play around with them, you know?

Sure.

Creating shadows, creating something dynamic to assist the structure itself.

lighting guys here, we're going to light the weeds.

You know, we're we're catching up on the wheat burst.

Want to get that hung so we can light it?

And then I think everything is in place.

I just went to the hardware store and got the board.

They cut it in half for me.

Four foot square.

And then my friend had a jigsaw, and, that was my first time with a jigsaw.

So cool.

Found these d-rings at the hardware store also.

You know, just throw those in.

Getting fancy with my power tools.

And, I can reuse this frame for so many things, (music) We're stapling these bunches on.

And every as the design grows, I know we're not going to be able to do the other side.

The other side.

There's lots of logistical reasons why that's going to be a big flop.

So what I realized was it took so much product, so much wheat to build this thing you know, we filled up my entire car with wheat, and it made this, And so, thankfully, we have enough.

So we just need to stick with the one side, put all of our energy there and really, you know, make that that side the showstopper.

And I think it's really working without doing anything else to it.

Just letting the wheat speak for itself.

I'm happy with it.

Thank you.

Okay.

I think I'm just going to lift.

Okay.

On this side.

Right.

I think, I know you were talking about how this is going to be 15 pounds.

I was like, okay.

Okay.

That's pretty heavy.

Okay.

Let's see.

It's okay.

Just don't put it down We're just moving now.

Just going.

No turning back.

Anyways, ceiling doors.

Okay.

Yes.

you up.

Okay.

Oh.

Oh, look.

Yeah.

No, no I don't.

Yeah.

Oh, no.

All right.

Oh!

It's not going that well.

Oh!

Oh, okay.

Okay.

Oh, Carrying this thing in the rain through doorways and into the convention hall.

With my arms are cringing.

It was a big disaster.

Thankfully, this giant cheerio doesn't crash to the ground and fall apart.

We're only losing one bundle.

That's not too bad.

We've got, I don't know, like 100 and something bundles on there.

So one bundle down.

We are plugging away with this thing.

You okay?

Oh.

That's.

Harder than I thought.

You.

so we'll put it through the D-ring.

I'll put it through here.

Okay.

And then I'll just slide it in.

Perfect.

And I'll go over there and do the same.

And then we can pull these to any length okay.

Okay.

Hold on.

I've got a list of the.

Okay.

it's heavy.

It's heavy.

That is unexpected.

I didn't expect it to be so heavy.

And it's floppy.

You know, everyone's just muscling it up.

What what I think will be simple is is not simple.

Wheat is flopping into everyone's hair and eyes, and I'm just like, hold it up, but close your eyes.

holding it.

Oh, yeah.

whew!

it's beautiful.

I feel like we're going to call it and not going to be paralyzed with perfection.

And we're going to call it.

we're here at SFC.

We get to get a little sneak peek at the amazing piece of art that Katie has been creating out of our wheat and we are so excited to see it.

Yeah, we took the opportunity today, with the rain to, get out of the field and off the tractor for a bit to come check out what she's created, Hey, guys.

Hi.

Hey, guys.

Hi.

Hello.

Oh, you got.

Get the.

You're a hand shaker.

I appreciate that.

Courtney, you brought some friends?

Fun.

What are your friends names?

Syd Sydney.

Sydney, good to meet you.

Kenneth.

Nice to meet you.

Thanks for being here.

Yeah.

You guys want to see?

Courtneys been working all day.

We both.

We like sweating.

And we.

Yeah, Ive wheat in my pockets.

I know, I know, right?

I'm, like, picking it out of my sock.

No.

Yeah.

Come and check it out.

Oh my gosh, That is awesome.

You grew that!

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, wow.

That's the best our wheat has ever looked!

(laughter) (music) The guests at the gala are in for a treat.

This is amazing.

It really is like you don't get stuff like this ever.

Can I take it home?

Hang on my front door?

The trick would be how to get it.

Move it!

Mark is genuinely just delighted and surprised with the outcome of his work that has become this beautiful art piece.

something I don't think he ever expected on.

So fun.

Just a little curve of all the little head shapes they made.

I love the lighting in here, too.

That really just adds another.

Layer of coolness.

Yeah, totally.

Thank you.

Is this such a cool collaboration with students?

It really.

And the lighting students.

And, I mean, we've been working on this for, like, four months.

Yeah, I guess, how long has the wheat been growing.

Oh it's been planted a year.

Yeah a year ago.

Oh yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

A year in the making.

Yeah.

That's pretty impressive.

he shared a little bit with, our team that he never gets to see the end result of his work.

And how fun to see something so unexpected.

Maybe not flour at the grocery store, but, you know, a big piece for everyone to enjoy.

This is incredible.

It turned out way cooler than anything I did here.

It's just so fun to see.

Please create a vision.

Come to life.

Yeah.

The guests for the gala are in for such a surprise.

Our wheat is beautiful in the field But here.

Was taken to another level.

Oh, I brought you some flowers.

You brought me flowers the first time you came out.

I'm returning the favor.

Katie's a genius.

She's awesome.

Woo!

Okay.

What a day.

Going from flowers to wheat was a big adjustment.

We had a lot of fun.

We had to get innovative.

But I would say we knocked it out of the park.

So thanks for flowering with us.

See you next time on Follow the Blooms.

(music) (acoustic guitar strums) Follow the Blooms on KSPS PBS is proudly supported by Skyline Flowers Wholesale.