It is hard to believe but here it is only Feb. 19 and the available space in the dirty room is non existent. The seed rack is full of ranunculus that I am waiting to sprout, transplanted seedlings, seedlings waiting to be transplanted, anemones waiting to sprout, then 12 crates of tulips at various stages to growing on, and tomorrow, another 4 crates come in so you, my flower lovers will have a constant supply of Hancock grown tulips. I guess stacking the trays of ranunculus will have to get stacked somewhere….
The seeding is going really well and I am on schedule, amazingly enough. All the cool flowers seeds have germinated, or most of them have and as soon as the second batch of ranunculus sprout, everything will be planted out into the high tunnel, my target date is March 1. Hopefully on that date, all the cool flower seedlings, the ranunculus and the few anemone will be planted out. At night everything gets covered with frost cloth, and during the days, especially if the sun is out, everything gets uncovered, only to be covered up again at night. And if the weather is going to be really ornery, then two layers of frost protection goes on at night. Gotta protect those babies. At the moment, in the greenhouse, there are only 100 ranunculus planted out in crates, and they too get winter pajamas on every evening. None of the outdoor structures are heated, so they are just being used as season extenders so I can have flowers earlier than many. There is plenty of stress involved with this process, but oh so worth it.
Thank you to everyone who is coming out to Flag Leaf bakery to pick up flowers. I know it is all about the goodies that Melanie creates, but I am glad you are also picking up tulips and I thank them profusely for letting me use them as an outlet. Just to clarify, they are running those tulips through their sales, so if you are a flower club member, your card won’t work. Cranberry Meadow seems to be working for people as well. If you have a card balance just write your name on a Post it Note that are in the cash box letting me know what you took and I will deduct it accordingly. Then, the majority of the most amazing tulips will be here at the farm. Yay, and I must say, it is so nice to see you all again. For all of you new people the farm is at 76 Stoddard Rd Hancock. There will be a sign out at the end of the driveway when we are open.
The tulips on offer this Friday will be the next batch. Week 15 if you really want to know, so they are going to be totally different than the last two weeks. One of the varieties is Columbus which is one that I had last year. It is a stunner.
This is enough of me rabbiting on for tonight. I look forward to seeing you on Fridays. Stay tuned to the newsletter that will be posted on Thursday for details. You guys are the best and I can’t say how much I appreciate your support.
Till next week, Allie