Farm Update: Chasing winter blues with spring dreaming
It’s quite chilly outside with the dusting of snow today but I am still holding onto the memory of the spring-like day we were gifted a couple days ago. This winter has been completely different from last year. It is amazing how much can shift each year. Last year the girls were sledding off the back porch and we were eagerly waiting to be able to pick up our little Finley puppy. This year, we’re playing bubbles, working in the dirt and Finley is bullying the chickens for delicious butt nuggets. Last year, the soil in the field felt foreign to me. Anyone who gardens understands what I mean. The consistency of the soil felt wrong and it was completely different from the soil of the last property. I felt it. Then we had our challenges… my intuition was right. This year, the soil feels like home. Volunteer orach, calendula, larkspur, saponaria, sweet peas and nigella are popping up all over the place. The soil feels light, airy and perfectly moist. Not dry or super soggy. Last year I wasn’t confident this place would feel like home but now that the field does, it all feels like home.
In between the bouts of winter, Graham and I have been tackling prepping beds. Quickly, we are realizing how full the field it going to be this spring!
After incredibly high winds and a ferocious storm literally the day after we planted out the first batch of ranunculus we were left a little concerned. The fifty plus mile per hour winds made our low tunnel a giant kite where I was left holding it down, calling Graham from his grown up job to help me take it down. This is one of the not-so glamorous parts of flower farming! After we took it down, freezing rain followed by snow and more rain ensued. Once the storm passed, we got the tunnels back up but days had gone by at that point. We could be facing some crop failure. What a great start to the 2020 season!
A couple months went by and the ranunculus started coming up a little here and a little there. The thing is… we sure were seeing huge gaps! Weeks went by. The sinking dread came from the memory of that storm. Doubt and concern began to creep in. I soaked double the amount of corms I had planned for the second succession to make up for the loss. Right when I was convinced those first corms rotted from that storm: they are popping up all over! It truly is amazing how resilient these crops can be. Theoretically, the ranunculus should have been wiped out. Fortunately, they didn’t. We really have been working on that particular bed, adding lots of gypsum to break down the clay and improve drainage. With a mix of a lot of upfront work and a little luck, those ranunculus are merrily on their way and should be rewarding us with lots of fluffy stems come April! With the huge second batch of ranunculus getting tucked in this coming weekend, I cannot wait for spring!
With the mild winter, we have also been bumping up our crop plans by a couple weeks. Our tiny greenhouse will be bursting at the seams in no time! We’ve also been experimenting taking cuttings from our heirloom mums. This is something that is supposed to be pretty simple. Well, I reached out to a good friend who is a propagating guru just to be sure! Hopefully in the next week or two we’re going to have lots of little mum babies. I love heirloom mums, and without having a high tunnel we have not gotten a successful crop from them as of yet. This year, high tunnel or no high tunnel I am determined to problem solve and figure out how to get a good harvest from these fall beauties.
Soon, it’ll be time to wake up some of our favorite dahlia varieties to begin propagating cuttings off them too, such as Peaches n’ Cream and Jowey Winnie. Living where you are constantly straddling three seasons at a time is a wild mental space to be in but also completely wonderful. Many folks are just gearing up and dividing their overwintered dahlia tubers. We were able to push through and do it last fall and even film it! Graham is busy editing our dahlia dividing video that will be coming soon.
The biggest day of the year for cut flower sales is right around the corner. This is the time of year that is a love/hate for American flower farmers. The biggest holiday for cut flowers and most of us domestic growers are left on the sidelines. It is in the dead of winter when a majority of small domestic flower farms simply don’t have cut flowers. A vast majority of cut flowers need conditions that February does not naturally fulfill their needs.
The cost to purchase and force tulips, other bulbs, anemones, or ranunculus in time for Valentine’s Day takes a significant investment, with some finger crossing, that they will bloom within that narrow window. A week or two too soon or too late and that investment is lost. There’s hope winter will play nice and everything goes perfectly smooth. From on time planting to ideal temperatures to zero infrastructure failure. Attempting to get a crop for the one day of the year where a majority of Americans are seeking to purchase cut flowers is a high risk endeavor at best for most domestic flower farmers. Outside of it being high risk, it is also tough to compete with the prices of imported cut flowers.
My mother in law loves to tell me the stories of the years of her childhood where her father would bring her a posy of violas for Valentine’s Day. I have been researching the particular variety of violas that would have been gifted to her along with experimenting with growing various pansies and violas. I hope to bring that sweet little tradition to our local community, for my husband to be able to give our girls their own little posy of violas for Valentine’s Day. Hopefully next year that will be an option! In the meantime, if you are looking for a gift for your flower loving significant other or friend try a bouquet subscription or even a flower arranging class. This year, I gifted myself a girls date where a friend and I are taking a jewelry making class at Studio Meraki. There are so many creative ideas and options in our community to gift your Valentine, it really is easy to ditch those imported blooms!
Even though there is ugliness in the big business of the global cut flower industry I see incredible amounts of hope in our own backyard. Here in the United States but to narrow it down even further: the ladies flower farming here in Northern Nevada.
A majority of flower farmers here in the U.S. are… women.
Strong, independent, brilliant women who full heartedly believe in nurturing the flowers, the environment and the human spirit. From seed to vase our hands and heart are in it. Here in Northern Nevada, there are many of us who are committed to sustainable, regenerative practices in growing our flowers. Where we want to heal our little patch of dirt despite a world where people are destroying their patches. To hand blooms over that are safe to sniff, that are safe for children to sniff. That perform the dance of life and death right before your eyes. Flowers that have character and scents that will become cemented in your soul. Northern Nevada is not the most hospitable growing environment for growing cut flowers. Yet, we are each determined to conquer and puzzle through the challenges to grow beautiful blooms that look effortless. I know I am very proud to be part of this community of remarkable women!
Now, it’s time to get back to seed sowing. I cannot believe we are already coming to the end of sowing so many varieties of spring blooms and will be quickly sowing summer varieties! We have a lot of work to do in the coming months, the calmness of the winter months is quickly approaching the end. We will be handing you blooms soon.
We are looking forward to handing you blooms soon!
Jessica & Graham
New Video Alert!
In the beginning of my flower farming journey, understanding the information given on seed packets was definitely a hurdle. If you are stumped, check out our “Demystifying when to seed start” on our YouTube channel! Also, be sure to subscribe to our channel to not miss out on our latest videos!