What's Growing? Week 10

Throughout the summer you'll get a peek into what is growing on our Pennsylvania flower farm. It's the beginning of March and in our zone 5 climate we are still weeks away from anything being planted in the ground. However, I do have one little thing growing like a well nurtured flower over here!

Lillian is 9 months old this week!

I am currently re-reading The Gift of Good Land by Wendell Berry. This book of essays fits into my reading lifestyle right now. I can pick it up and have time to read an entire essay before my body forces me to sleep or a beautiful babe calls out for attention. Even though it was published in 1981 and most of the essays were penned in the 70's, it is quite amazing that many of the agriculture issues Berry wrote about are still very much present and in debate. You will most likely read more references to this book, as I rediscover points that hit home. In Berry's essay "Elmer Lapp's Place (1979)", I loved how he summarized Mr. Lapp and his farm. He writes in part that Mr. Lapp's farm does really well and he justifies how his farm thrives because of Mr. Lapp's likes. You see Mr. Lapp decides on how and what he farms based on what he likes.

Berry writes, "All the patterns of the farm are gathered into an ecological pattern; it is one "household", its various parts joined to each other and the whole joined to nature, to the world, by liking, by delighted and affectionate understanding. The ecological pattern is a pattern of pleasure."

When Kate and I decided 2015 would be the year we would start Coseytown Flowers, we made some goal. We each did our own research on what plants to grow, but at the end of the day we decided we would always grow what we liked. We never want to lose the enjoyment of why we chose to start our own business in the first place.

We are 99% finished buying our seeds for this year. (You can never be 100% done with purchasing flowers, can you?) I typed up the list of everything ordered to have available for potential customers and I noticed a few things. We are trying new things! YAY! I love experimenting. We have a few tried and trues. Success waiting to happen. And we have a few plants that I have no idea how desirable they will be, but I LIKE THEM. :) And we are growing 20 varieties of Zinnias. Crazy? Probably. But they are our favorite.

Weather today: Cloudy, 30 degrees and sprinkling rain.