July of 2015? That was the last post, really? You can definitely tell we are more farmers than techies. We'll try to keep our website more up to date.
2015 was a great first year. We dove in head first, learned a lot and met some pretty great people.
2016, we downsized, but specialized in a few varieties, as we were anticipating the arrival of LeeAnn's 2nd future flower farmer, Luke! He arrived in late August, during the heart of our season and a few weeks prior to Kate's wedding.
Weather was a challenge this season. One of the wettest springs to memory. We got 100 tubers in the ground followed by 3 weeks of soaking wet weather. I (Kate) was having some serious downs about potentially loosing 1/3 of our crop because of my negligence to study the predicted weather forecast. However, not by design, I planted them on the high side of my garden and they had adequate drainage to pull them through. Note taken for next season. That was followed up by a dry, mild summer with very little rainfall and a warmer then usual fall. A killer frost hit around October 16th, then followed up with warm and wet into November. A goofy growing season for sure, but we managed well and have a much better design for irrigation for next season.
We had a local greenhouse start plants for us and boy did that spoil us. It is so much more gratifying to plant an actual plant, as opposed to a seed. Not that its not beautiful to see the progression from seed to a producing plant, but when you work off the farm full time, time is precious and it feels like you accomplish more in the amount of time that is given. In addition, we had a much better germination/livability rate this way, in turn saving us money. Those seed packs are expensive.
Three quarters through the season, I broke under the pressure of my replicating weeds and purchased a roll of black fabric to run a trial. It was largely a huge success, keeping the garden neat and having the correct spacing for each plant was such a relief, not to mention a big weight off me. This was such valuable lesson to learn. I find the cost of the fabric will greatly pay off in terms of time for the future. Burning holes and laying the fabric does take more time, but the amount of time it saves in the growing season from not having to weed is invaluable. Sign me up for laying fabric in my whole garden!
All in all, we had a successful season with an abundance of blooms. One of our main goals was to provide all the flowers for Kate's September wedding, as they were the main staple of her decor. What better way to highlight our flowers then fill her reception area with color? We fell in love with feverfew, dreadlock style amaranth, broom corn and growing pumpkins. And provided Lillian all of the pink flowers she should possibly desire.
Which moving forward into 2017's plan, We'll have even more varieties started for us and are looking at ways to lengthen our market into the fall. It seems like we both have more available time come fall and there's room for growth in our area for fall holiday design.
On a final note, we welcome you to contact us for your flower needs in 2017. We offer a array of color from late July until frost (usually early to mid October). At this point in time, we are not offering design work, but encourage you to try your own hand at arranging flowers by purchasing buckets from us. Its truly a relaxing and refreshing way to express yourself and maybe you'll find a love for it!
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