Farm Tour Friday 2/18/2022
It's Friday! For last two weeks the weather has been up and down. Spring is trying to push it’s way into our region but winter is not giving up so easily. We have had two days above freezing with loads of rain which helped melt the snow and ice pack but also created messy mud and flooding on the farm. Everything froze right back up when the temperatures went back down into the single digits over night, making getting around the farm difficult once again. Sitting by the fire inside dividing dahlias is much better than sliding my way down to the greenhouses on the ice.
The farm covered in a blanket of snow before the rain started to melt it away.
A beautiful winter sunset.
Even though the winter weather hasn’t been on our side most days the past two weeks we have been able to accomplish a good amount. We have all of our anemones planted in our gutter connect greenhouse and started planting the first round of ranunculus. The anemones and ranunculus like to grow in cool soil so this is the perfect time for us to get them started for the season. They will develop a strong root system while the soil is cool and the once the temperatures start to rise they will start to put on foliage. So it may look like the plants aren’t going above the ground but below in the soil that is where the magic is happening right now. The stronger the root system is the more blooms we will get from each plant.
Freshly planted anemones.
Ranunculus and anemones planted in the gutter connect house.
When we weren’t transplanting we were busy starting lots of seeds. Our propagation house is packed full with trays of newly sprouted seedlings right now. To get the big seeding job done fast we use a vacuum seeder which allows us to seed over 100 trays in a day. The vacuum seeder is a really neat piece of equipment. It has tiny little holes on a metal tray that the vacuum creates a suction and holds the seed in place that matches the size tray we use to start the seeds, 128 count tray. Then once the seeds are in the right spot on the metal plate I will flip it over on to the tray that I’m seeding and release the vacuum seal and the seed drop all at once into the cells of the tray. The whole process takes about 30 seconds to seed a tray. This seeder has been a game changer for our business. A task that used to take many people for many hours now take two people a few hours. Smarter not harder! The vacuum seeder we use is from Berry Seeder Company. Now I have to get creative and make more room in our propagation house for more seedling trays as it is currently full.
Our propagation house full of freshly seeded trays.
Stock seedlings sprouting.
There are more signs of spring each day from birds singing, the snow melting, the days are getting longer, and plants are starting to arrive that we ordered last year. We order seedling starts that we find difficult to start on our own, snapdragons, dusty miller, and lisianthus being the main ones. The snapdragons arrived this week and the dusty miller arrived a week ago. We like to grow the Chantilly snapdragons as they are different from he run of the mill snaps that can be found most anywhere flowers are sold. This variety have an open throat which makes it look completely different from traditional closed throat types. They also come is a wide range of vibrant colors that are perfect for spring bouquets. As a small grower we have to grow different type of flowers to stand out in the crowd.
Freshly unpacked snapdragon seedlings.
Chantilly snapdragon in bloom last June.
The dahlia dividing has continued and we now have over 4000 tubers divided. This task has taken longer than I had anticipated but its getting done and I am chipping away at the mountain of crates full of tubers. We are so excited for our dahlia tuber sale in a few weeks. We have been working with our Pa Ag Department to make sure we are able to sell our tubers to all of the lower 48 states and if the stars align we will be good to go soon.
Sweet Nathalie dahlia tubers divided.
Sweet Nathalie, a great light pink/ blush dahlia for event work.
Even though our work load is increasing each week my parents were able to get away for a little vacation which they needed and where able to visit with some old college friends. I enjoyed some family time with my kids and hubby making homemade pizza while my parents were away. Sometimes I have to remind myself why I have chosen the life style that farming lends it self to. I wanted to be able to be creative and grow beautiful flowers to share with people all while having my 4 girls with me. If I don’t remind myself to slow down sometimes I get too wrapped up in the business side of farming and forget why I started this journey in the first place. Spending time in the kitchen making pizzas, laughing, and telling jokes was loads of fun and delicious too.
Pink Sylvia, one of our favorite pink dahlias.
Blizzard, a great white dahlia.
