Farm Update 4/26
Our first spring was one full of blooms, successes, and some failures. My goal in this space is to be open and honest with you all and that means sharing all of our successes as well as our inevitable failures. We are not perfect and I am grateful for that because it makes this journey much more exciting and unpredictable. One thing that has been made abundantly clear thus far is that farming is about learning and growing along with the things you put in the ground. There are so many life lessons to be learned through the experience of growing that I think it should be a requirement in every classroom. The things I have learned out in the field in just the short while we have been on this journey have become more valuable to me than anything I acquired while pursuing my degree. It is not only the lessons you learn while working with mother nature but also the feeling and sense of connection, recognizing and acknowledging that you are a part of everything around you. My favorite part of everyday is getting outside and having my hands in the soil, filling my lungs with fresh air and feeling the warmth of the sun and the swiftness of the breeze. I could so easily go off on a tangent about our relationship with nature, but I will save that for another time. Right now I am here to share our experience in the fields for the past few weeks with you.
The highlight of our spring season and our biggest success hands down has been our ranunculus. They have brought such abundant beauty to our field and happiness in your home as well as our own. They are definitely a favorite here at Poppy Leigh for obvious reasons. They are a flower that definitely ages like a fine wine. Their delicate petals open and get fluffier everyday and start to look as though they could simply flutter away with the slightest breeze. If there was ever a flower capable of transforming into an elegant ballerina, I believe the ranunculus would be it. They are a flower we will be focusing on more earnestly next spring and making it our goal to have more of these beauties to offer to all of you. We will be starting them in the fall this year rather than late winter/early spring to extend their season and harvesting window. The goal is to have earlier, larger, and more abundant blooms for a longer period of time, and we think making this one change could be the key to exactly that. These beauties are also one of the main reasons we will be putting low tunnels in the field among other blooms we hope to have in early spring.
With all the success we had with our ranunculus, we also had some failures. Our poppies did not go quite as we had planned, but were not a complete failure. While we did not have the abundance of blooms that we had hoped for, they did slowly and sporadicly put up a few stems here and there later in the season. Even now, with the days getting hotter and the sun noticeably beating down, they are shooting up more and more. They are more than likely on their way out, but we are enjoying them for as long as we can. The most productive for us were our ‘Pandora’ and ‘Amazing Grey’ shirley poppies(pictured above). While our breadseed, California, and Icelandic poppies put up some amazing and hearty foliage, they did not produce anywhere near as many blooms as the shirley’s. However, as I was checking up on things a few days ago, I finally saw the Icelandic poppies producing huge buds! While they weren’t a huge success, I still got so excited to see that they were at least producing something. Through all of my research on these amazing flowers, I know that they can sometimes be a little finicky and hard to the hang of. But once you do, they are so worth the effort. Much like our plans for our ranunculus, we are planning on starting our poppies in the fall and putting them in low tunnels to provide more protection and a longer season since they take close to 4 months to mature.
Failures are to be expected and will continue to occur, and that is okay! I would never expect this journey to be perfect and I honestly wouldn’t want it to be. Without the uh-oh’s and whoopsies, we would have nothing to learn from. So instead of viewing these failures as a dreaded occurrence, we are filing them under opportunities for growth. We may have experienced our first few setbacks, but they definitely won’t be the last. So even though some things didn’t go as planned, there is always next year where we can put what we learned to work and try for a better outcome.
Although we encountered some opportunities for growth, there are many other things that have turned out just as we had hoped. Our dahlias for example, are growing at a rate that I didn’t even know was possible and I can’t wait to see their rows full of color. We have three different rows of dahlias planted, both tubers and from seed. I have a feeling that the dahlias, other than the cosmos, will be our most productive and longest harvest. Don’t worry, I will be sharing plenty of images with you guys as soon as they start producing!
As I mentioned above, our cosmos are already proving to be quite productive and just as beautiful. We have quite a few different varieties planted including some double clicks with the most fluffy petals. Some varieties include Xanthos, Cranberry, Bi-color Rose and many more. I love how floaty these guys are and how they add a delicate and dainty touch to any arrangement or bouquet.
Another flower that we have planted a plethora of are zinnias. We have a ton of different varieties planted and they are all so beautiful in their own way. The ones that I am the most excited about are the Queen Lime series, which come in red, orange, lime and blush. You can bet that as soon as they start to bloom I will be sharing them with you guys non-stop, their colors are amazing!
Autumn Beauty Sunflowers
Our sunflowers are another one that are making their presence known. We have several varieties that we are planting of these as well, but the first to bloom was a mix called Autumn Beauty which is a branching sunflower. I love that each plant has multiple stems, because when space is a precious commodity, it’s amazing to have a plant that blooms continuously. We also have some single stem sunflowers as well, including the Super Ted Hybrid that I am really looking forward to. It is unlike any sunflower I have ever seen and I know you guys are going to love it!
I could go on and on about all the things we have growing in the field right now, but I would be writing a short story instead of a blog post, and I know your time is valuable. With all of the work we have been doing getting ready for summer time, which will be our most productive season, it has been hard to find the time, energy, and mental strength to sit down and document everything to share with you guys. But I hope this has given you a good glimpse of what we have in the works and some of the beautiful things to come in the very near future! I’m still as excited as I was on day one of this adventure and cannot wait for what the future holds!
Until next time my friends….