July on the Farm: Sunshine, Sweatshirts & a New Tractor!
Early morning harvest.
I blinked and somehow…it’s July. How are we halfway through the year already? The last time I checked, it felt like May. But I guess that’s what happens when things are busy — in the best way.
After last week’s heat wave, this week’s weather felt like a gift. One morning, a few of us even reached for sweatshirts (and yes, we immediately laughed at how good it felt to feel cozy again, even if it didn’t last long). With the sunshine back and a few surprise thunderstorms mixed in, it was a perfect week to get caught planting and harvesting in the rain — a classic flower farming moment.
Farming = Watching the Weather. Constantly.
I know I talk about the weather a lot in these updates, but that’s because it runs our entire schedule. What we plant, when we harvest, how we dress, how much we can get done each day — all of it depends on what the forecast says (or doesn’t say).
Let’s just say… I check the radar a lot. Growing up, I remember The Weather Channel playing on repeat at our house. It’s basically a core part of farming life.
A new type of Statice we are growing this season and we love it.
The Fields Are Blooming!
This week, we saw a huge flush of blooms from the field. Our spring crops in the tunnels are wrapping up, and it’s always exciting when the field flowers step in to fill the gap.
Here’s what we harvested this week:
Snapdragons
Rudbeckia
Statice
Gooseneck loosestrife
Bachelor Buttons
Forget-me-nots
Sweet William
Ammi
Yarrow
Asters
Scabiosa
The bouquets were gorgeous. It’s a good feeling seeing all our hard work come together in armfuls of flowers.
Big Farm News: We Got a New Tractor!
We have some very exciting news — we got a new tractor!
After a few failed attempts to repair our current one (and a 4-week wait time at the dealership), we made the decision to move forward with purchasing a new one. The relief I felt when my mom told me it was officially happening… I cried happy tears.
Not having a working tractor put everything on pause. Our farm is built around being able to prep beds quickly, and doing it all by hand just isn’t feasible. Now, we’ll be able to keep planting for our fall crops — and once the old tractor is fixed, we’ll have two working machines. I’m already excited about the time that’s going to save us.
The Weeds Are Winning… For Now
With all the rain we’ve had lately, the weeds are growing fast. Every moment we’re not harvesting or planting, we’re weeding. Canada thistle is everywhere right now — it’s one of the toughest weeds to manage and this season it’s really gone wild.
We joke that if we could somehow sell thistle bouquets, we’d be rich!
Our next big weeding project? The dahlias. They're growing strong — and so are those pesky weeds around them. But soon the plants will take off and start shading the ground, which will help.
The bouquets look beautiful.
Looking Ahead
This week we also started removing spring crops from our tunnels to make room for our heirloom chrysanthemums and fall plantings. It’s always a little bittersweet to say goodbye to spring, but exciting to prep for the next big season.
Here's to a long weekend of sunshine, celebration, and maybe even a nap.
As always, thanks for following along on our flower-filled farming journey. ❤️
