Let’s Catch Up!
Hello Everyone!
It is 8pm on Saturday and I am just getting back into the house after an evening harvest. All the kids are asleep, I just made a cup of tea and I’m excited to take a moment to sit down and catch up with you on all sorts of farm things.
First of all - I have to start with the BIGGEST thank you. Do you know why I was out harvesting this evening? It’s because the Flower Stand has been just humming along.
Last weekend, we sold out every single day and I had to make new bouquets multiple times to restock it. This weekend has been the same - today I restocked the stand midday and by 6pm, we were nearly sold out. Phew!
John and I are both truly floored by the number of people who make the drive out to our little Flower Stand. Those of you who make it part of every weekend, those who come when you need a gift or a little extra self care - whatever it may be - your support means the world. To everyone visits our farm and purchases flowers from the stand THANK YOU!
P.S. - The Flower Stand is open Friday, Saturday & Sunday 8am-6pm until frost! We are 10 minutes from Woodstock, 20 from Quechee and 30 minutes from Norwich!
Speaking of the Flower Stand, we got a new sign! Cue the happiest happy dance! Have you driven by and seen it? We are thrilled to have a real, true-blue sign for our farm. It is beautiful! A local artist, Alice Michele, created it for us and we could not be happier. It’s worth a trip to the Flower Stand just to see the sign!
In other exciting news, John picked up our next high tunnel this week! We are going to be putting up another high tunnel this fall. High tunnels allow us to grow more flowers in the shoulder seasons (spring & fall) and provide extra protection for all the flowers we grow. Inside this Ryder truck are all the pieces and parts we (ahem … John … ) will need to put together the high tunnel. Stay tuned!
Last month, we started hundreds of seeds that are now looking healthy and happy (see above) These seedlings are all cold-hardy flowers that we will be planting out in a few weeks. They will overwinter in our fields or in a tunnel and bloom next year. These flowers are super important on our farm, and getting the timing right is key. We need to seed them, harden them off and plant them at the right time so they have time to establish before frost and survive a long Vermont winter.
As flower farmers, we are always thinking months, or even a year, ahead! I am especially excited about this overwintered line-up because we are filling Helen (one of our tunnels) with an overwintered crop that we have never ever grown before. I am taking a little gamble and trialing a whole lot of this one special flower … but I am going to keep what it is under wraps for now! Any guesses?
If you were to walk around the farm right now, you would see this crop (above) everywhere. This is buckwheat and it’s John’s favorite late summer cover crop. We cover crop beds for SO many reasons!
Cover crops:
Add organic matter to the soil when the plants die back and decompose
Keep bare soil from eroding
Feed soil microbes
Keeps living roots in the soil
Suppresses weeds
Makes more nutrients available in the soil for other plants
Flowers are great for bees & other pollinators
This cover crop will get mowed down and incorporated in the next week. Soon after, we will add compost and prepare the beds for planting some of those sweet seedlings I mentioned above.
The dahlias are starting to bloom in earnest and I could not be more excited! We have had multiple tragedies with our dahlia crop in years past, so to have beautiful flowers in abundance is just a joy. People become obsessed over growing dahlias, and I can absolutely see why. I already am noting colors I wish I had and scanning my 2027 field plans for more dahlia growing space! Could there be a better flower to enter the final stretch of the growing season with? I think not.
Thanks for hanging out with me for a news-filled, chatty newsletter! I so appreciate you following along with the day-to-day, week-to-week story of life on our flower farm.
I hope all is well in your corner of the world. That you really did grab a cup of coffee or tea, that something made you smile already today and that you have plans to go outside and do something - anything! - today! I’m debating one final trip with the kids to a favorite summer swimming spot. Should we do it? 😬🌞🍂
Sending so much gratitude your way -
Heather
