Month: February 2022

In case you didn’t know from all my excitement, right now it is all about tulips and I am loving it despite all the angst. What better flower is there that will get us though these remaining winter weeks? Brightly colored, vibrant and locally grown tulips!

I have been harvesting tulips for a few weeks now and each batch seems to be getting better. Each week I find I have about 4 crates worth of tulips ready for the flower club. That can range from 100-120 tulips a week, and you lovely people are wanting them all. Thank you. So four crates go into the very dirty dirty room each week. When the flowering crates are finished. I am certainly getting a workout between shifting crates back and forth from the bulb cooler to the dirty room and then back to the dirty room if I need to hold the blossoms. Good weight lifting with stairs.

If you think that all I am doing is tulips you are oh so wrong. I have crated up the last of the ranunculus and they are now in the greenhouse growing on. Seeds that have germinated and are ready to be bumped up are going into the next size soil block. More seeding will commence by the middle of the month, then we will really be busy.

At the moment, we will only be having the flower shed day 1 day a week. It worked out really well last week changing the date to Thursday because of Friday’s snow storm. The best I can say is for the time being, pay attention to the newsletter so you know what, when and where the flower shed will be. I want to thank you for your patience on this. We could still be at Main Street Cheese where it is much warmer, but it is awfully nice to be here at the farm so I can get some things done. So. Stay tuned.

I will leave you with one more tulip image for the week, then I have to go out and cover up the babies in the greenhouse to protect them from the cold.

Until next week, dream and think tulips. Allie

February 13, Valentines Day eve. Oh St. Valentine, do you know what you stir in people? It’s the day that everyone rushes out and buys a box of chocolates for their darling and a bunch of roses. Who decided that Valentines day had to be in February when local, farm fresh flowers are but a figment of our imagination? Why couldn’t you be celebrated in April even, but no, February. Are you and that groundhog in cahoots leading us all astray?

Seriously though. Do you know where those very expensive flowers come from at this time of year? Probably not your local grower. They are shipped from South America, Israel, the Netherlands, possibly California. Do you know how those flowers are grown? Are they grown with a multitude of chemicals to give you the perfect bloom? How many days are they harvested before they reach you? Hmmmm. Interesting.

I had my first batch of tulips in time for Valentines Day, and I am so sorry but they went like hotcakes. But….you can always tell your sweetie that the perfect gift would be a subscription to Flowers At Lottarock and you can have fresh, one mile traveled if that, sustainably grown flowers for at least 10 months out of the year.

The good news is. I should have plenty of tulips now until the end of the tulip season in early June. I always cross my fingers saying things like that because it’s farming and there are just some things, actually a lot of things I have no control over.

I figure, again, fingers crossed that I should have about 100 tulips if not more, available for your pleasure on Friday. They are starting to come in fast and furious now, well, for my first year doing this it seems that way. So. Come get your fresh, just harvested, locally grown, chemically free tulips.

This is what the first harvest looked like last week.

Beside the tulips, the ranunculus in the greenhouse are happy to have more space to grow and they will soon be joined with the anemones. The cool crops have been seeded and some have already started to germinate. I checked on the dahlias that are in storage in the basement and they are looking good. The days are getting longer and the plants in the dirty room are taking notice.

For the time being, the flowers will be on offer on at MAIN STREET CHEESE, in Hancock, on Friday mornings from 9-12. Sarah has been gracious to let me use her warmer space than my flower shed that is still put away for winter. If your card has expired, or used up, don’t worry, you can always get a new one. Remember, you can use the card when you want (during flower club days) and it is good for two years.

I look forward to seeing you on Friday morning, at Main St Cheese, 9-12. Wear your grippies for the ice. Until next time. Think tulips….Allie

You might be wondering at the title, well we are six weeks into the new year. Holy Moley. Normally I wouldn’t know this but I have been doing spread sheets for the seed sowing and crop planning and this is an easier way to keep track of the timing,(so they say) so, I am learning weeks. But can you imagine me doing spreed sheets? I didn’t think so.

My big news of the week! Week 5? Ta Da. I have a crate up bulbs blooming!

The first bulb bloomed on my birthday, I couldn’t have had a better gift. Sorry Steve. Talk about psyched. This last week the rest of the crate has bloomed, so they are going back into the bulb cooler to hold until the next crate blooms, and I can see buds….

So. You know what this means….I WILL HAVE TULIPS FOR YOU FLOWER LOVERS! I am shouting it from the roof tops! I won’t have tons just yet but I will have tulips. If you let me know you are interested I will package them accordingly. If three of you show interest, then you will get good bunches. If sixty of you are interested, well them you all might get one or two each to make everyone happy. But know that there are plenty more on the way.

This week the temperatures seem to be getting more moderate, so the ranunculus and the next batch of tulips are going to be going into the greenhouse, with lots of protection. The tulips need more light, as do the ranunculus, and I need the space for seeding. That and our dog Jager thinks that the ranunculus corms are great things to play with, so we have taken a gate from the barn to block off the door to the dirty room to keep him out, but that makes life here more interesting because everything I need to do is on the other side of the gate Argh. So they have to go into the greenhouse, and all will be happier because it will be cooler and we will be warmer. I won’t have to open the door to vent the dirty room to keep it cool.

The days are getting longer, and the action is picking up. Still have lots of classes that I am doing, get the learning in while I have the time, but things are certainly picking up.

I leave you with a picture of moving the flowering crate into cool storage to hold it for you all on Friday.

So remember, if you are interested in tulips on Friday, make sure you let me know. The pick up area will be different, probably Main Street Cheese, but details will follow on Thursday.

I am looking forward to seeing you all, believe you me. Until then think flowers. Allie