Blog

What a week this past week it has been. No rain, more wind, and June like temperatures. Not good for this flower farmer. Or any farmer for that matter. No matter what I did, it just wasn’t going to end well.

Let me prove my point. My magnolia behind the house normally blooms the end of April. Now look at this photo, taken tonight. April 11th.

With the high April temperatures, things are popping like there is no tomorrow. The tulips, are not blasting, but close. I was berating myself because seedlings were burning out and the tulips, oh, my tulips. I am watering them and keeping my fingers crossed, praying for cooler temperatures, not freezing temperatures, but cooler temps, and of course, rain. Oh we so desperately need rain.

Let’s just say that this past week has been a challenge, frustrating, and any other adjective you want to add in. Argh!

On the positive note, the daffodils are budding up nicely and are starting to bloom, the rest up the bulbs are really starting to emerge, and when I started to poke around the peonies, I am seeing buds, which means that with the dry I will have to start watering them as well. I hope that this summer will not be spent dragging hoses and water buckets, but if I must I must.

Seeding is continuing. Learning is continuing. Watering is continuing. What else can I say.

I know, flowers will be happening any week now, and as soon as I have enough to bunch I will send out the newsletter to let you know and post it on Instagram. Wipe the dust off your cards and get them ready. You do’t have a card yet? You can purchase them on any open flower day, whenever that begins, you can buy one by by sending a check along and I will mail you a card, and if you happen to still have credit on your card from last year, bring that along. It is all very easy, just old fashioned. Checks can be sent to Flowers at Lottarock, PO Box 35, Hancock, NH 03449

On that note, I will leave you paused with anticipation and I promise, I will be more cheerful next week. Looking forward to seeing you all soon. Allie

Here it is the first week of April and not a rain cloud in sight. Great for making energy with my solar panels, not so good for the gardens. We need rain, and not just a little bit of rain but a nice gentle rain, say an inch a day for about a week. That will green up the grass for the animals and give the bulbs a good push the perennials and bulbs a decent push in the right direction.

Seeding is coming along. I think I am getting the hang of these new soil blocks. Talk about a learning curve. Hopefully by the end of the sowing season I will have figured out all the nuances, but maybe not. Only time and practice will tell. With last week’s bitter cold morning temperatures some of my seedling took a hit. The experimental cool ones that were planted in the bed seem to have weathered the cold better than the baby seedlings that were just too young. I should have brought them in for the two nights but I thought the double layer of remay would have helped. Well maybe it did, but not enough it seems. Need to sow some more tomorrow to catch up. What did do really well was the dusty miller and the Icelandic poppies, snapdragons, bachelor buttons flax and stock.

The spring bulbs are springing forth. The daffodils are slowly emerging, and the tulips seem to really like where they are because they are really growing. It would be really strange to have fresh local tulips before the daffodils. The other spring bulbs are also emerging and every walk around the gardens I see more exciting things happening.

Between seeding, pacing the gardens, learning on Zoom and webinars, I have been getting the beds ready for planting. Today Steve helped me get the sweet pea fencing up, I have reworked the newer flower beds, getting them straight and where they should be. Irrigations is getting laid out because in another five to six weeks I will be planting out and things do tend to get chaotic here at the farm.

I look forward to seeing you all later this spring when the blooms are a bloom’n. Don’t forget to sign up for the Lottarock Flower Club membership. Checks and be mailed to PO Box 35, Hancock NH 03449, or you can come on the first day you want flowers as well. Until next time, I leave you a photo of what is to come. Soon. I hope. I am ready.

Here it is Sunday again, and I sit in front of the computer listening to the rain fall, oh such a well needed rain. I haven’t looked at the rain gauge yet but I am hoping for at least 1 inch, 1 1/2 inches would be sweet though. That would certainly fill the rain tanks that we have set up, take away some of the mud and give the plants in the garden a good boost to grow. Okay, as of 5:45 we are at .65 inches, not nearly what I wanted. Between my every few hour garden tour circuits I can almost watch spring happen.

So. You are asking what is happening in the gardens at Lottarock. Plenty, believe me. The daffodils are emerging from their winter hibernation, the tulips, OMG they are popping up like crazy. This is last year’s photo and I would say they are further along than the photo, and maybe we are a week later.

In the perennial beds the asters are looking good, as are the chrysanthemums, sedum, kniphofia, and today I saw little itty bitty bits of the delphinium emerging, along with the alliums. Oh yes. Things are getting exciting.

In the annual department my trial bed of cool annuals are actually growing! The bells of Ireland, stock and bachelor buttons that the resident mice didn’t basal prune are looking good. Anemones and ranunculas are putting on growth as well now. I am spraying all seedlings in the little greenhouse and high tunnel with a solution of castor oil, dish soap and water. If it works to keep the rodents away from the bulbs when they are planted why not mice nibbling on the foliage? Knock on wood. It seems to be working. Must be applied after each watering though which is a bummer, but what the heck.

Sweet peas are germinating and should be in the ground the first week of April, or maybe the second week since the first week is this week. Where does the time go?

Now is the time that we are opening up Lottarock flower memberships. Yay! We are still doing it the old fashioned way. Cash or check made out to Flowers at Lottarock. Price is still $100. It still works like a gift card so your “purchase” is deducted from your balance. As soon as flowers start, the newsletters will begin keeping you informed of what is being harvested for each open hours. The hours have changed slightly this year. Now it will be Tuesdays from 3-6 and Fridays 9-12. Hopefully these times will be good for everyone. I need to limit the time open because I have to lock up the dogs during the open hours so they don’t greet everyone. What have I missed? There will be plenty of flowers so bring a flower loving friend along and get them hooked on our beautiful, responsibly grown, farm fresh local flowers.

I leave you till next week with this photo of last year. Allie

It has been quite a week here at the flower farm. Spring rocked in and I am sooo happy about that. I know, it is still March, and we still have to go through April, but things are a happen’en in the garden and I am loving it.

I am now on a weekly seeding schedule, which means that every Monday is seeding day. We started out slowly with the cool flowers but now we are ramping it up a bit and we are starting to rock and roll. Am I ready? As ready as I will be I reckon. I have seeds, compost, Pro-mix, heat mats, grow lights all lined up so I have been practicing with my soil block making so here we go.

I had moved out all the trial cool seedlings into the little greenhouse to cool off. The are keeping the ranunculas and the anemones company, but yesterday I got them into the actual garden beds. All of the Icelandic poppies are in the high tunnel, the stock, snaps, flax and bachelor buttons have been planted into the bed. I had to. I have what I think is a mouse feasting on all the greens. I have lost half the stock, the bachelor buttons have been well pinched so they should have excellent branching thank you. We have tried trapping, but it is wily so tonight we will try spinach and sprouts as bait. The creature seems to be craving greens so we will go that route and see what happens. Argh! I couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t counting as many ranunculas as I had been. They are still there cause I checked, but the critter has eaten all the tops. Sooo frustrating let me tell you.

While I was out in the garden checking on things as I do at least 12 times a day, because you never know, something might emerge from the earth this hour, I heard a buzzing, and if this works, I have a video of the witch hazel in full bloom absolutely covered with happy honey bees. This will be my first uploaded video so we will see how this goes. Didn’t work. I will try to post it to Instagram tonight. Try. The operative word. Instagram acct is Flowers at Lottarock.

In two weeks membership to Lottarock Flowers will be opening for the season. Many of you have a balance left, many of you don’t. If you have any questions email me at flowersatlottarock@gmail.com and I will fill you in. The membership is $100, and is good for two years. It works like a gift card, so when you come to get your flowers, that total is deducted from your balance. This is so exciting, and I look forward to seeing you when the flowers start, stay tuned.

Until next time. Allie

It has been a whirlwind week here at Lottarock. Emphasis on wind. It has been crazy windy this week, gust up to 45 mph, blowing over trees, blowing around anything that isn’t fastened down. And with today’s wind it is ushering in low temperatures of 12 degrees, and that isn’t including the windchill factor. So here is a quick look at my beautiful witch hazel that is in full bloom and looking just oh so nice, because tomorrow morning my guess is that it will be pretty toasted. Those lovely flowers do withstand the cold, just not 12 degree cold.

Between gale force winds, we have had some amazingly warm days that have melted lots of snow. The flower beds are still covered in snow, but the edges of the garden areas, where the daffodils and tulips have been planted are all open, and if you look closely, you will see green daffodil shoots poking through the mulch. No action on the tulip beds, but I have only just taken off the Christmas wreaths that I had put on when we had that warm spell back in January.

In the little greenhouse in cool seedlings are hardening off, (I need to cover them tonight), and the anemones and ranunculas are all hanging in. If you look closely, you will see the little ranuncs poking through. I have counted about 25 at the moment, not bad I reckon. I was thinking that they were going to be a total bust. At least I have growth so far. But as usual, time will tell. It is very exciting to see all this growth happening though.

This week will be spent getting ready for the first big seed push that happens in two weeks, but I need to sit down with the plot plan and figure amounts and where they are going. No, I haven’t done that yet. Hopefully those seedlings will be getting in the ground, and we will measure up for deer fencing because during the winter they nibbled off the flower buds of the lilacs. I certainly don’t need they noshing on my beautiful flowers when they start to come into production. You would think that I wouldn’t have deer with two dogs, and maybe they wee just doing walk through grazing but better be prepared.

I leave you with what is to come. Tulips from last May. Until next week. Allie

Like the swallows of Capistrano coming back in spring, the rocks at Lottarock are also coming back. Finally the rocks are reemerging from underneath all the snow. Having the rocks reemerge and mud. I can’t think of a better thing, outside of the color green and flowers of course.

I only have a few more weeks of slow time before things really start to rock and roll here at the farm. I made a map of the actual annual flower space and have figured out that I have 1700 square feet of growing space just for the annuals. That is not including all the spring bulbs and the perennials that have been planted so fingers crossed, I should have plenty of flowers this spring. I always say fingers crossed because when one deals with Mother Nature one just never knows.

I have bumped up the experimental cool crop seeds that I planted at the beginning of February and man dear they are looking good. Once I got them transplanted it was like they have grown overnight. I am still learning about soil blocks, but they are certainly easier to transplant into cell pacs and into larger soil blocks than any other method that I have used before. I am hoping to get them planted into the high tunnel by the end of this week. That is the plan anyway. I still have to get irrigation out there to get the beds watered before planting. The water line to the barn is still frozen, so I will have to run a hose out of the dirty room, through the garden to the high tunnel to get the beds and later seedlings watered, then at the end of watering, drain all the hoses and take them inside so they don’t freeze so I can use them again. A good way to get my steps in. At the moment, the seedlings on deck to be planted are snapdragons, stock, bachelor buttons, Icelandic poppies and some dianthus. Not large numbers of anything, just wanting to see how this goes. I am certainly looking forward to this though.

The next batch of cold tolerant crops gets seeded tomorrow, then around the 20th of March the big seeding starts to commence. That is when things start to get really exciting.

I still am not sure about how the anemones and ranunculas are doing in the little greenhouse. I am seeing growth, and this is where patience is vital. Tomorrow because it will be above freezing all day, fingers crossed I will drag out the hose and water the beds. Only time will tell, and believe you me, you guys will be the first to know if I see good things happening. This is what I am waiting for so impatiently.

Until next week, I leave you a lonely flower bud. Allie

Tomorrow is the first day of meteorological spring. Yippee! or, bloody well about time. Looking outside it seems as though the snow will never melt, but it is because the rocks are slowly emerging and the mud season is certainly here. I don’t go outside without my barn boots on. it is getting yucky.

So what is happening here at the Rock you might be asking. Well, I have just finished a week long virtual flower growers school. I did learn lots so that is good, my head was normally spinning at the end of each session but that might have been two fold. All the new information and being on the computer but it was worth while and that is good. Tomorrow there is a zoom with a flower grower in New Zealand so not only will I be able to glean things but I can armchair travel as well. Won’t that be exciting? I think so anyway.

Besides me being behind my laptop, I have been busy talking to my first batch of flower seedlings. I gathered a bunch of rain water yesterday for future waterings because I think my tap water might be just a bit rough. I seem to be getting a salt buildup on the soil blocks so I will see if the rain water makes a difference. The first batch of seedlings are really getting big and strong so they will be planted out on Wednesday after Tuesday’s deep freeze so what happened to the ranuncs won’t happen to them.

The second batch of seedlings that were started 1 1/2 weeks later will be planted into the high tunnel. Unless, and this is a big unless, all the snow melts and I can find a garden bed to plant them into.

The ranunculas and anemones that were planted out last week with such hope are not looking their best. Oh this is so sad. That wicked cold night that got down to 12 degrees wasn’t good. They were just too soft, or rather hadn’t been hardened off sufficiently. The anemones are holding their own at the moment, but I am keeping my fingers crossed for the ranuncs. The trials of flower farming, and no matter how much experience you might have, Mother Nature will always have the upper hand. I can only work with her and mitigate what I can. All ten fingers are crossed that they will come through.

I leave you with an image from May 27th last year. This is what I am hoping and keeping my fingers crossed for.

Until next week. Allie

You do know she was at this flower gardening gig from an early age, don’t you? Steve

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