Author: Allie

Welcome to the flower shed.

So here we are in April, finally. I can now pace the gardens and see things happening for real, rather than in my impatient imagination. So much is happening, where do I begin?

The high tunnel is almost completely planted with a wide array of cool flower seedlings. This is just a trial, but if I can grow cool flowers, (these are cool, but what cool flowers really mean is that they are flowers that actually do much better in the cooler temperatures, than the summer flowers). The plan is, get the rest of the ranunculus planted (these are the ones that I saved from last year) as well as the stock seedlings while I am waiting for the vet to come and do the donkeys’ teeth. By the end of Tuesday the high tunnel will be filled to the brim.

The sweet peas that I wan’t going to grow are geminating quite nicely and will hopefully be planted out by the middle of the month.

The in-ground tulips are really emerging from their winter nap, which is good because I am nearly our of the forced tulips. Yes, I will have some for the flower shed on Friday for sure, but there just might be a lull for a week or two, so stay tuned.

The anemones are starting to produce flowers, but only enough for my enjoyment at this point. However in a few weeks, fingers crossed, there will be enough for all to enjoy. The ranunculus are taking their sweet time but all things flower when they are ready, NOT when I am ready for them.

So while we wait….I hope you aren’t bored of tulips yet because I have 35 varieties of absolutely stunning tulips that are coming along. Doubles, parrots, magnificently colored singles. I for one can hardly wait. Speaking of tulips, I have already put the order in for next year. I know. I know. So to keep you filled in, the forced tulips that you have all been enjoying were pre-cooled bulbs, that were planted on December 23rd. They had already had their cold treatment onboard the ship on the way over. The problem is/was I could only order in lots of 500, which is why there were only four varieties to choose from when you came to get tulips. I have learned much this last year and will continue to learn this forcing tulip thing. I can’t say thank you enough for your patience and understanding, especially while I try to navigate Stem Topple. The bane of forced tulip growers, especially this one, but what I have learned is to really look at each bulb before planting for disease which seems to be part of the problem. This next order that I have just placed is going to be different. No pre-cooled, so I can have a much wider variety to offer. They will come in early October (fingers crossed), they will be crated up, and placed in the cooler for their cooling season. So, Week 14 I will have 4 varieties of 500. Week 15, the same but different’ varieties. Week 16 eight varieties of tulips so on and so forth. This way, none of us will be bored with the selection. So I have 3000 to force, and another 3500 in the ground. It will be beautiful, that is for sure. Timing and patience is everything. For now, it is exciting to see the bulb room empty of crates, but not of tulips.

There you have it. My flower filled life. I just love it, and love even more bringing beauty to as many as I can. Until next week, I will be dreaming tulips. Allie

Welcome to the flower shed

As I sit at the kitchen bench typing this and looking out the window there is white stuff coming out of the sky. Argh. Yes, I know that it is still March, but oh this time of year gets really hard to bear. So many beautiful days interspersed with some not so lovely days, like what is in our forecast. They have been saying for a few days now that a winter chill is coming our way, like two nights being down around 12F, and tomorrow is not even to get above freezing. Argh, no, double Argh. I have taken every precaution I can, the babies are all safely tucked in as best I can, and now I just have to keep my fingers crossed. Everything planted outside is supposed to be cold hardy, but this will be the test on just how cold hardy they will be.

Today was exciting because today I hauled out the last four crates of tulips out of the bulb room into the dirty room. So now timing and the weather is everything. The tulips in the ground are starting to emerge. Will we have warm enough weather for them to bloom by the time the last of the forced tulips are done? Only time will tell. To be honest, I am so ready to have a wider selection of tulips to have for you. Next year will be better with variety selection, it is quite the learning curve. Good thing I am not a control freak because some things like weather which dictates all is unpredictable. Thank you all for your patience while I learn this forcing thing.

The anemones are starting to flower. My guess is that it will be a few weeks yet before I will have enough for you all, and no matter how many times I check the progress of the ranunculus, I have yet to se any buds, but the plants look good and healthy so patience Kerwin, patience. These too will bloom.

Seeding is really starting to pick up, so once the tulips move out, the dirty room shuffle begins. Seeds on the heat mats, to off the heat mats but under lights to transplanting still under lights to…that all depends on space, weather and time. A true juggling act.

So I will leave you not of sugar plums dancing in your head but tulips in a champagne bucket because really, what could be better?

Until next time. Allie

So here we are at the first day of spring and it was beautiful. And now, the pace picks up for this flower farmer. Onward flowers.

It has been a busy busy week and this is still the slow time, or was the slow time, but things are starting to happen quickly now. The first batch of cool flower seedlings have been planted in the high tunnel, with another batch to follow in another week or two, and the second batch of anemones and ranunculus have been planted out, these in the high tunnel as well.

And a big surprise here, look at this everyone….

That bud is still a bit off from harvesting, seeing that it is only about two inches tall, but I hope within a few weeks I will be doing some serious harvesting.

The tulips that are planted out in the garden are starting to poke through, phew, because I have pulled my last full crates of bulbs this morning to go into the grow/dirty room. Hopefully, there will be continuous blooms, but with farming, timing is never a guarantee. I still have about 250 tulip bulbs in the bulb room yet to go, but they are only half crates. Also today Steve installed the air conditioner in the bulb room to keep the temperatures down. With the latest heat wave it was getting a little too hot in there for our comfort. (mine and the tulips).

I will keep it short tonight, but want to leave you with this photo of last Friday’s flower haul. I must say, I think it is beautiful.

Until next week. Allie

Here we are at Mid March and flower mode is ramping up. My winter break is over. Deep sigh. But things are a happe’n here at Lottarock. Yes, I still have tulips, many, many tulips, and yes, I should have flowers now all the way through till Frostmas in October, give or take a week or two. I was asked today when the ranunculus were going to come in…well, they are growing, I hope by early April? but it all depends on the weather. Does that mean you are tired of tulips? I sure hope not, I have many, many more coming on. Yes, the colors are getting boring, but in another month there will be tons of varieties. I am still learning the growing system, but I think I am getting there.

Over all, things are growing well. This week some of the remaining ranucnulus and anemones are going to be planted in the high tunnel. I am waiting for a slightly warmer week since I have to water the beds well before planting. They will be joined with some of the cool flowering plants, and then, in another two weeks I reckon the high tunnel will be completely planted out. This is all experimentation mind you, but if I can produce flowers early, by crappy I will.

I am gathering my tulip order for next year, but I probably said that last week, and I have figured out how to force a larger quantity next spring. The funny thing about gardening is that you are always planning the next crop nine to twelve months before the crop is ready to harvest. It is a bit different from vegetable gardening in that manner, the far in advance planning, and vegetables have far more succession plantings, but one thing is for sure, we are all at the mercy of the weather and light levels.

It has been working out for me to do the flower shed here now at Lottarock. The temperatures are better, the driveway is open and I can get so many more things done here at the farm during the open hours than I could when we were at Main St Cheese, so for the rest of the season, flowers will be available here at the farm. At the moment we will just have the flower shed open on Fridays and the hours will be from 9-2. Stay tuned to the newsletter for when the hours will change and Tuesday will be added.

So. Until next week. I think and dream flowers. All flowers, but especially tulips. Allie

Can one have enough of tulips? I know I certainly can’t, especially when it is cold, gray, muddy, and everything else that March brings with it. Even today, with the sun going full bore, and the snow melting, the color and brightness of the flowers can’t be beat.

You fabulous flower people are taking every tulip I can produce and I love it. It makes me so excited, believe you me. So now that I nearly have a year of forcing tulips under my belt, (I will have forced tulips into April, then the in ground tulips will take over) I am making plans for next year. I have figured out where I can do another 1000 bulbs, and I am planning to have far more varieties. It is all in that leaning curve.

The ranunculus and anemones have all now been planted in crates, with the last ones going into the high tunnel in the ground during our thaw this week. They will be joined with some cool season flowers. Yes, they will need protection from our most bitter nights but I honestly hope that the single digit nights are behind us now.

The next big batch of seeding will start, and the plant shuffle begins. One never has enough room for tulips and seedling this time of year, and it is only going to get worse.

I have had a couple of questions about tulip growing so, if you are interested, here goes. The ones that you are getting now are what is called pre-cooled, they have had their “winter” coming over on the ship. I plant them up, get the roots going, which takes about 4-5 weeks, then bring them into the growing space. There are also the tulips that are planted in the ground that are treated just like any other in ground spring plant. At harvest time, I pull the tulip bulb and all out of the ground, keep the tulip and toss the bulb. Ahhh, I hear a collective gasp. Yes. All of their energy has been used up being forced and I treat them as annuals. And when one does the math, they are about the same price of a six pac of annuals that you put in the garden in the summer, and those get tossed don’t they?

There is one main issue that I am having, along with all other tulip growers and that is stem topple. I know a few of you have mentioned it so I will do my best to explain it. It can be caused by fusarium, which tulips are very, very prone to, but it is also linked to high humidity. If the crates in the bulb room get too dry, and then given a lot of water when they are in the grow room, the water causes the cells to burst, hence the topple. It also happens to a lot of growers in the spring when they can’t vet the grow spaces enough and the temperatures and the humidity build up. I think the underlying problem is the fusarium, then the humidity just adds to it. The flowers themselves are fine, so I just cut them above the necrosis and put them in a bud vase.

I will still be dreaming tulips, so until nest week. Allie

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

You might think that celebrating the arrival of February might not mean much, but to this flower grower it is everything. The two most important things are for my psyche is the days will really start to get longer, yay! and hopefully the temperatures will start to moderate because my dirty room is really starting to get kinda full.

The seed racks at the moment are filled with ranunculus sproutings and the first batch of seedlings, the crates in the middle are transplanted ranunculus and to the left which you can’t see yet are the tulip crates.

Patience isn’t one of my virtues, and am I worrying over these babies. Exciting to be sure, but omg, worrying. I just need the temperatures to moderate so I can get them in the greenhouse and out of the dirty room. I am going to need the space for all the flower seedling babies.

So you are asking, I can hear it cause my ears are burning, “When am I going to have flowers?” I am trying my hardest. At this point, I would like to say before the end of February, but all I can say is, “Stay tuned.” When it happens believe you I will be yelling it form the rooftops because I will be so damn excited. But until then, Patience. I am told it is a virtue.

So. When the flowers happen, know that your flowers are being grown responsibly, have almost zero carbon miles, have been nurtured with love and will last so much longer than flowers that aren’t being grown locally.

So until next time. Allie

To tulip time. Ok I will be honest, I check the bulbs almost hourly, and no, that doesn’t speed up the blooming process anymore than getting a tea kettle to boil. It yields complete frustration, but also so much joy of what is to come.

So this is where we are now. The first three crates were pulled into the dirty room last Tuesday, Have a look at where we are….

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As you can see, we are making progress. Four more crates come out of the bulb room this Tuesday. The dirty room is going to be very very full if the temperatures don’t calm down a bit. I can’t put them into the greenhouse because the nights are just too cold for them. Even with frost cloth, it will be too cold at night. Can you hear me sigh very deeply?

The ranunculus are also really stating to sprout like crazy, so in another week or two they will be potted up in crates and they will go into the unheated greenhouse with frost protection, and into the very open ended high tunnel. The anemones on the other hand are taking their sweet time, but I’m not stressing, much, because they are putting on good root growth.

I am trying to find a solution for my flower club people for flower pick up this February and March. I have a thought but haven’t checked it out yet, but we have a couple weeks yet. I think. I will keep you posted. At the moment our driveway is a giant glacier, and we look like Antrim Lumber South with all the pile of lumber for the still ongoing garage build. Enter another deep sigh. I will certainly let everyone know what transpires. Fingers crossed please.

I know that everyone is as excited about the tulips and the other early spring flowers that will be available this spring. So. Here we go.

To be a member to the Flowers of Lottarock, It is a cost of $100. It acts as a gift card, your purchase is deducted from your balance. Your card is good for two years from the date purchased. If you empty your card it is easily refillable. Flowers from the flower club can be picked up at the farm on Tuesday afternoons and Friday mornings. You can buy either by the stem, or I will make a bunch up for you, also priced by the stem. If, and that is a big if, I am organized, I will also have bunches pre-made for you to just grab and go. Organization isn’t my best skill, but I am improving. But I like you flower people to show your creativeness and build your own.

If you would like to purchase a card, a check can be sent to Flowers at Lottarock, PO box 35, Hancock NH 03449, please also send along your address so I can send you your card. You don’t need your card when you come because I do keep track for you but sometimes you might like to know what your balance is.

Stay tuned to the blog for details….very important. I will also post on Instagram if you follow me there…..

I leave you of a photo of two years ago of field grow tulips…oh the joy of what is to come.

Till next time. Allie