Author: Allie

The weather outside is frightful, but inside it is so delightful….that could be said for the last couple of weeks around here. The weather, well, cold and rainy and a lot of snow days but inside the dirty room things are so delightful. Seedlings are growing, not by leaps and bounds but there is good action.

Quite the growing routine is happening. Every morning while filling filling goat buckets and feeding the dogs, the grow lights are turned on and the plants welcomed. After the dogs get their walk, the seedlings are watered and cheered on. If a batch of seedlings are ready they get moved off the heat mat to the shelving by the windows. If necessary more seeding will happen but the main thrust for the seeding really won’t happen until the middle of March. After lunch the seedlings are caressed and around 9:00 they are told good night and their lights go off.

The ranunculas and anemones are growing so fast they had to get moved to the lowest shelf of the rack to try to keep them cool. I don’t want them to get too soft for when I move them out. In preparation for their move out yesterday I dug out the little greenhouse, where I can get water to it and put snow on the planting beds to water them in. I didn’t want to drag hoses just yet so this was just to take care of some of that extra snow.

Today was such a lovely day, we hauled out the trays of sprouts to get them ready for the big plant. They had a lovely day

Most of the snow has melted, so probably Tuesday will be planting day. Right now they are hopefully safely under a double layer of remay. I will be happy when they are in the ground. I can not believe how much they have grown. If all goes to plan, and I have done my math correctly, I should start to have flowers by the middle of May? We will see.

My week of virtual growers classes have started with a three hour opener tonight, so if this seems a bit rambling, it is because I have had my head in a computer for the last 3 hours. Hopefully I will learn and more important be able to retain what I am learning. Some of it is a refresher from oh way back when, and some of it will be new. Like learning now to use social media to my advantage. Technology.

I leave you until next week of things to come. Allie

Valentine’s day. The day you gift your loved one with a sleep in, chocolate, and flowers. Whoah on the flowers. You say what!? Did you know that most of the flowers for valentines day are imported form overseas, any seas, and are laced with chemicals and preservatives? Ugh. Yes, they will last forever, but you certainly don’t want to put them up to your nose and inhale. Alas, My flowers aren’t close to ready for valentines day, but, there are plenty of New England growers that do have flowers. I know, I am a little late for telling you all this but better late than never, right? If it is always possible, purchase your flowers from a New England grower, they are fresher, usually harvested within a couple of days when you see them in the shop, they will be picked at perfection rather than at the minimal time, and you will be supporting a local farmer. I know it is hard to believe but there are flower growers in New England that are growing amazing flowers even at this time of year when there is deep snow on the ground. Please support NE flower growers!

Aside from that non-paid political announcement, things are a rock’n and a roll’n here at Lottarock. The cool flower seeds are germinating and are now off the heat mats and are now just under lights and it is amazing how fast they are growing. Well, fast to me anyway. when you look at the photos you will say really! Trust me, they are growing. All but the larkspur and nigella, so they got watered and put in a zip lock bag and put outside for a little chilling time. Next week or so they will come back inside and go back on the heat mats. Hey. It’s a learning curve and I am having fun.

You have been following the “saga” of the ranunculas and the anemones, you know, the ones that I didn’t want to think they were going to amount to anything, but what the heck, I will soak them anyways. Well what the heck, they are swollen so I will plant them and pre-sprout them. Well lookey here. Heh heh heh. They are sprouting!!!!

Next month we will be ready for new subscriptions for our members flower club. If you are new to us or can’t remember, it works like this. Each gift card is the value of $100.00. When we open, the hours at the flower shed are Tuesday from 3-6pm and Fridays from 9-12:00. Yes, I have increased the hours. You can purchase a pre-made bouquet or you can buy by the stem and create your own bouquet which is always fun. The price of what you are getting is deducted form your card value. The cards are good for 2 years, and can be topped up at anytime you are getting low. Think of it as a gif card. In fact, if you are looking for a gif for a special person, this would make a perfect gift.

Don’t worry, I will be repeating this often so you do’t have to remember the details. I look forward to seeing you all in the spring, and many new flower club members.

Until next week I leave you with a photo of things to come. Allie

I got your attention, but this post as nothing to do with the superbowl. Just about flowers, and the goings on at Lottarock.

As I sit here and write this it is snowing again. All is good in my gardening world. The plants are all tucked in the earth with a beautiful blanket of snow over them, and I am keeping my fingers crossed that the weather pattern of February will continue.

Since my last post last Sunday I have been busy, busy learning. So much I am getting brain cramps, but so many ideas, I think they are cramping my brain even more. But it is all good and this is certainly the time of year to learn. Long before the gardening season ramps up that is for sure.

The dirty room has been a flurry of action this week. If the sun is out I do my lessons in there, if not, I am hunkered down by the wood stove in the living room. But other than learning, I have been busy. The first batch of cool flowers have been sown, and this includes the dianthus, centurea, stock, snapdragons and a few other ones. Learning curve here. How wet do I make the growing medium? Wicked wet, and it certainly takes practice to fill the soil blocker evenly, but I am getting there, slowly. As soon as I start to see germination I will know that I am on the right track. At least I hope I will be, I am watching them like a hawk. Just ask Steve. But we all know a watched kettle takes forever to boil.

Last week I mentioned about the ranunculas and anemone tubers and corms that I had saved. Well I honestly didn’t think much was going to happen, but I soaked them with the bubbler going for about 5 hours and low and behold, miracles just might happen! They looked good enough for me to take the time to pre-sprout them.

As soon as I get this posted I am finally going to get the dahlia order in. Fingers crossed that there are some left. One of the podcasts I listen to was a dahlia breeder and my biggest takeaway from that was that the bigger flowers are spectacular for events and weddings which are essentially one-off events, and the smaller closed face flowers and the balls are the best for CSA’s and member-only flower people like you, so, the order has been revamped with all of us in mind, because I love flowers as much as you all do.

Spring is getting closer, the dirty room is getting dirtier and I am getting more and more excited. I hope to see you all in the spring, I would love it if you would bring a friend to join the flower club. I am still looking for a name to call all us flower lovers that are members of the Flowers at Lottarock. Maybe as an incentive, I can give everyone a rock! HMMMM.

Until next week I leave you with a photo from last spring. Allie

So here we are at the eve of February 1. The light is really starting to change, it is up earlier and now we don’t have to do barn chores so early because at 5:30 it is still light. What a blessed thing that is. Now my gardening fun begins. Seed sowing! One of my most favorite tasks, watching the smallest little seed sprout in a matter of days, and in a few months create such beauty. I have always enjoyed working with seeds, back in the days of the old Woodman’s I would be sowing seeds up in the old seed shed at the top of the hill, In CT I was in charge of all seedling production from calculating starting dates to transplanting dates to getting them on the shelves dates. In Australia I was also sowing seeds, from seasonal color to Australian native seed, so seed work and I go W-A-Y back.

I am going to try something new this spring. I have been studying and I am going to have a go at sowing a trial batch of cool flowers. I will sow them tomorrow to be planted out in the garden around March 15 and we will see how it goes. I was looking at old photos of the gardens and lot of snow is already gone. Although I have no control over the amount of snow in the gardens, I can melt a bed with black plastic, and warm the soil enough to get the seedlings in. It will be mid March so it should be doable. Wouldn’t it be really great to have early stock, snaps and larkspur to go along with the spring bulbs? Talk about a spring bouquet!

I am trying a new seeding method this year as well just to challenge myself some more. I am going to try soil blocking. Here Ivan is posing with the soil blocker.

This is supposed to speed up the whole seeding process. Each block gets one seed, and there will be no more transplanting out into 806s, the little six pac’s that you buy at the nursery. Not only is this to speed up the process but it is supposed to make stronger seedlings because the growing medium is better, but I will also be eliminating plastic which is even better. Although I do recycle the cells pacs every year it sure would be good not to have to use them at all.

Also to be started tomorrow are the ranunculas and anemone’s. They didn’t get very good care at the end of their season last spring so I am not sure how they will do, to be completely honest.

But I figure nothing ventured, nothing gained. If they don’t show any swelling after being soaked for a few hours, I more than likely won’t bother to plant them. The really sad part is when I went to order some last fall they were sold out. That would be such a real shame because they were so early and so beautiful. Follow the blog to see how thing are going. I will be more organized this year, or I will try to be more organized.

The good news? I still have some dahlias that are looking OK. I am checking them weekly now. It will be interesting how many dahlias will be sold out when I go to put my order in this week. Lots of growers that are selling their tubers are sold out in a matter of hours after going online, so I will be making my list tonight and placing it during the snow we are supposed to be getting on Tuesday.

If you know of anyone who would be interested in locally, sustainably and lovingly grown flowers have them send me their email and I will get them on the blog and newsletter list. There is always room for more flower lovers. They can send me their address at flowersatlottarock@gmail.com and I will get them on the mailing list. Spring is coming and I don’t want anyone to miss out. Anything else? Ahhh, I will leave you with this last photo to whet your appetite of beauty to come.

Until next week. Allie

What a boring title, but what else is there to say. It is bloody cold, the goats, donkeys, dogs and chickens are not happy. Especially with the wind, but I keep telling them that spring is on the way. Granted, it is still seven weeks off at best, but there is a power of positive thinking.

I have been reading the book Cool Flowers, and did a webinar, the first of many this winter I might add, so I am hoping that spring will come earlier because of my new found knowledge. I know. Spring happens when she wants to arrive, but sowing seeds and planting them outside in a bed around March 15 is nothing but gasp! Stay tuned.

So my classes are going well. I was planning to be in the background with the NE Flower Growers Conference that is virtual this year, you know, just listening in, gleaning info , but crap, I have to really participate. I even have homework. Suck it up Kerwin. You can do this. Although being a wallflower is so much easier.

But getting back to the first zoom thing I did last Wednesday, I did glean a few things. I was not the only one that had problems getting their dahlias to bloom. This also happened to seasoned growers. I sigh deeply. I wasn’t just me. And I wasn’t the only one that was hugely worried about water, or the lack of to farm my flowers. And the most important message delivered last week is that people really do want flowers, they are important and not a luxury item. Especially this last year, and probably this year hopefully. It brings life and beauty into lives and now more than ever that is needed. I will try to price my flowers to bring joy to everyone.

Seeds are rocking in, although with our lovely USPS not as fast as they used to. It is a good thing I ordered early and hopefully I will have everything by the time I start sowing seeds in early February. The kitchen cooking island is covered with sowing schedules, calendars, catalogs with growing info, post-its and everything else to get me organized for the upcoming months.

So I leave you a photo of last year of what is to come. Till next time. Allie

One would think that even on these cold and mostly cloudy days that this flower farmer would be sitting around twiddling her thumbs waiting for spring, but you would be oh so wrong. Seeds have been ordered and some have arrived and some I am still waiting for to be shipped. Dahlia tubers will be ordered this week. I am checking the remaining of last year’s tubers almost daily and I think, fingers crossed that they will be OK. What a blow that was to find a third of the stored tubers mush. Off to the compost they went. More exciting varieties will be ordered.

Speaking of exciting varieties I might have gone a bit nuts ordering flower seed. I have lots of new varieties that I am going to try and of course many of the old tried and true favorites. The seed sowing schedule has been printed and I am gathering last year’s sowing notes. I am also signed up for a webinar this week on growing cool flowers so if I can get some of that knowledge under my hat I might have a larger selection of flowers available in the spring. It is all very exciting.

I am also signed up for a virtual “Flowering in the North Series” through U. Maine, a total of 6 nights in six weeks. I hope my brain will be able to handle all of this info. Two years ago I went to the same conference and came home with my brain a buzzing. If nothing else, it will make winter zip by even faster.

In the meantime, I walk the gardens, keeping my fingers crossed. I was getting worried about all the exposed beds where the snow had melted and where I had some tender bulbs planted and this fall’s crop of peonies, so I took all the Christmas wreaths that had been dropped off for the goats to enjoy, and l placed them over the raised beds to give added protection.

I also want to thank everyone that called for me to pick up their Christmas trees for goat entertainment. As you can tell, this was taken back when there was no snow.

Until next time, Allie

Here we are. 2021. I never thought it was going to happen but Yay! A new year, new flowers and new growing experiences. Everyone knows that flower gardening is never stagnent, but always changing, for the better or the worse, we are always kept on our toes.

To get you up to date, I know you have been waiting for this. The first batch of flower seeds have been ordered and delivered.

Then I realized that I had more to order, more varieties that is, than what was in the catalog so another huge order has been placed. Two or more orders to different seed companies need to go in this week. The word out on the gardening street is that orders are extremely strong and seed is selling out fast. Chop chop. Get those orders in. Lesson learned on Jan 1. A online dahlia sale was to go live on Jan 1 at 9:00am. When I got to the computer at 11:30 am all had been sold. Chop Chop.

Speaking of dahlias, I checked on the ones I had in storage and I lost about six varieties. Damn. I don’t know if they were stored to wet but they have now been added to the compost pile. The rest of the tubers look good so far so I am keeping my eyes open and my fingers crossed. Don’t worry, I will still have plenty of dahlias come next summer. All is not lost.

I am hoping that the snow cover finally stays for the rest of the winter protecting the flower beds. All that beautiful snow we had before Christmas melted away on Christmas day. NOT a very nice present I must say. I just need to have the spring bulbs, peonies and perennials that all got planted in the fall covered. I did put leaves and bark mulch on top of everything before the ground froze, but snow cover is just an added insurance. On the good note, the pond down in the donkeys pasture is as full as I have seen it at this time of year so I should be going into spring with adequate water.

Now that the gardens are going to be as large as I think they are going to be, (Don’t laugh, that is the plan) I am going to work on making the gardens more sustainable. Lots of flowers are going to be added in the verges for pollinator’s, and lots of cover crops will be sown to build up the soils. My flower pixie is busy making potions to feed the plants with from what I have already growing on the property like comfrey, nettles and dandelions.

As you can see, I have a lot of exciting things happening on the farm already this winter so stay tuned. One thing I can say. It wont be boring.

Until next time. Allie

Here we are, siting at the kitchen counter listening to the bucketing rain. Yes, it will be a white Christmas, but only with the leftover snow from last weeks’ dumping. Am I complaining, not much, the ground isn’t frozen yet so all that rain that we are to get, all 2-2 1/2 inches will go into the ground. My Christmas present, not having a dry summer like the last one.

The seed, the largest and probably most important order has been placed and delivered. Yay! Seeding of the flowers will start shortly after after the new year. Other seeds will be ordered so the variety of flowers will hopefully be larger, bigger flowers, more colors, more space to plant beautiful flowers.

Meantime the gardens are safely under snow, and like me, and hopefully you, awaiting spring.

I wish you all a very Merry, be safe and stay healthy, and I will be back to regale you all with the goings on at Lottarock in the New Year. I miss you all, and look forward to seeing you in a few months. Hugs to you all, my favorite flower people. Allie

You might be wondering why there wasn’t a blog last week. Honestly? Just plum forgot. I didn’t think that you would mind much though. I mean, what was I going to write about? The gardens are all tucked in and I have taken a breath. That said, here I am, back with Flowers at Lottarock news.

We have been getting good rain. We are still in drought according to the state drought map, but water is flowing in the creeks again, our pond in the donkey paddock is filling, water is flowing over the dam in Peterborough, and the ground is starting to feel soft when we take the dogs for their morning walk. All good signs in this flower farmer’s eyes.

I have finally gotten all the tender bulbs safely tucked in for the winter. The dahlias are labeled and in their pine shavings, the peacock orchids are now in their storage container and now I will just have to check on them every few weeks to make sure they are not rotting or too dry. Speaking of dahlias, a flower grower in Maine is selling their excess stock starting on December 1 so I am hoping to score some interesting varieties for this coming year. Yikes! Not that far away.

The seed catalogs are starting to rock in, finally. I am madly going through this year’s notes, seeing what I can grow more of, what not to bother with and what new varieties wow me.

I am going to try to place my seed orders as quickly as possible. Last year there was such a shortage because of the pandemic, everyone was wanting seeds. Flower, vegetable and herb so in order to get the best selection I am just going to play it safe. I will top up if I have to for those last minute ahah’s but hopefully that will be kept to a minimum.

I still have to go through all the ranunculas and anemone tubers and get them sorted out. I dug them out finally a few weeks ago and there they sit in the dirty room, looking at me like why have I forgotten about them? It is to rain again tomorrow so that will be a good time to make a mess.

I leave you with a photo from my brother’s taken the other day, overlooking the valley with the Christmas trees heavy with the previous day’s rain.

So until next time. Allie

My it has been a busy week. The dahlias have finally been divided and are in storage for the winter. I always find this project worrisome. Will the tubers make it through the winter? Last year’s dahlias didn’t even make it to dividing. They were a total loss before I even got them into storage. I think, and this is only a think, that I hadn’t let them cure after digging them, then I washed them and then let them sit in the sun in the dirty room and that was a complete disaster. This year, they cured for about a week. Thankfully we had all that beautiful mild weather so they were able to hang out in the garden shed until I got to them early this past week. So here they are, all varieties individually bagged, labeled more than once by variety just in case I forget what they are, and now safe in the basement. My biggest fear is rot, but let’s keep our fingers crossed please.

All the neatly composted beds, and I must say they are a beautiful sight, especially when they are covered by a hoar frost.

They are now all covered with a layer of chopped leaves so now the beds are safely tucked into be for the winter.

The leaves will break down into a fine tilth. That is the plan anyway, the earthworms will make lots of earthworm poo and they will be pretty ready for planting in the spring. Oh that time seems fo far away right now, but really only five long dark months. not far at all. I will just keep telling myself that.

And when one thinks of it, soon I will poring over seed catalogs, putting in orders and starting seeding. Not long at all. So even if the gardens are all safely tucked in, I will still have lots to do and to get you all excited about.

Until next week. Allie