Farm Update: Officially Putting Roots Down
This seems a silly topic for a flower farmer, I mean- isn’t my entire business based on putting roots down?
It is! Ironically though, this is a new way of life for me. I don’t mean flower farming but to make plans and put things in motion that will require years of wait.
I come from a “broken” home. Parents divorced in not the prettiest of ways. This is nothing novel, many have a story like this. Sadly, it is too common. Having multiple homes, inconsistent holiday traditions lead to me not appreciating traditions. Being in one place too long made me squirrelly. I was not used to being in the same home for more than a couple weeks at a time. Planning out past a few months was not something I willingly did or was accustomed to. Planning too far in advance lead to inevitable disappointment.
Gladly, I can say that is not the way life turned out. Now I live in the throes of planning out months, a year and now years in advance. At least when it comes to flowers…
It wasn’t until after Graham and I got married that I began to feel comfortable. To feel I officially had a home. Still, the first couple homes we saw as “temporary.”
Even once I started flower farming, planting perennials was pretty much out of the question. Not only was there limited space but we felt in our hearts that we were quickly outgrowing our home and tiny property.
Well… today is the day!
We are officially putting some roots down!
Peony roots that is!
It may not seem like much but we are looking at a minimum three year wait in return on these beauties. That’s a lot of waiting. Man, we’re going to have a kid in double digits by then! Honestly, this crop is the most planned out we’ve done yet.
With so many delicious varieties such as blushing princess to pillow talk to classics such as duchesse de nemours and coral charm… its going to be quite the wait!
Little unknown fact: Graham swooned me with Sarah Bernhardt peonies plucked from his parent’s front yard. Okay… he tried. Also, I totally didn’t even know what peonies were back then. He stuck a bouquet of them on my driver seat in the early morning hours as an “endearing” surprise. I was running late for work… and sat on them!
In my youth, I was too honest.
Where I should have never told him that I sat on them, even if it was unknowingly. I should have just gushed how wonderful the peonies were and how amazing he was (let’s be honest that’s what he wanted). This butt-flower-squashing moment has given him ample fuel over the years as to why he need not buy me flowers. I have come to the conclusion that Graham will never let me live that incident down. I mean, it has been like fifteen years now.
The joke is on him these days. Now he buys me more flowers than he could have ever imagined and helps to grow them to boot!
If only we can get him out there to cut me a bouquet once in a while that’d be great… and no, me doing a “better job at putting bouquets together” is not an excuse…
In all seriousness though, planting those bare roots hit me hard. It made my heart swell in excitement. Something incredibly simple in life became incredibly pivotal. To be planting a flower that out of all the flowers on earth has incredible meaning to Graham and I is a great way to let go of fall and prepare for winter. To plant a crop that won’t reward us for a few years, to know we’re invested to be here at this property for a minimum three years (which is huge to this girl who grew up bouncing around). To spend the last warm fall day planting bare roots- that’s romance people.
We have always wanted to plant peonies, we did not imagine tucking in over a hundred of them in one swoop. Over 100 peony bare roots can be a ton to some or nothing to others. For us, it is just the beginning but it seems like a ton to us! It is a huge investment, not only into the roots themselves but time.
This investment brought a new level of pressure: did we amend the soil good enough? Did we plant them right? Are the eyes planted too deep? Too shallow? Holy cow, these roots are huge!!!
Knowing that these guys are tucked into their beds for the long haul makes you question all the more. They will not just be ripped out in a handful of weeks or months… there’s such finality. Even deciding which varieties we want in what location, in thinking of the grand scheme of outbuildings and design studios. Whew.
It is both enthralling and terrifying.
Just a few days later after tucking those guys in, the preview of the winter to come is here and has shoved us indoors. Of course I do what any sane person would do and tore up the entire house to make space in the spare room for wreath making!
Now boxes with no home sit in the hallway.
The upside?! I will not be taking over the kitchen table this holiday season. This is great news, we can eat dinner like normal people. Not that we’re normal but we can pretend we are… at least for dinner…
Every year, while everyone is getting in the holiday cheer I feel lost. Who is a flower farmer without flowers? It is a bittersweet time. A time where you get the space to plot and dream but also a place where you miss your field full of blooms and the chaos of never-ending work. Fortunately, spring will be here before we know it and the field will be full of colors once again.
We are looking forward to handing you blooms soon!
- Jessica & Graham