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I seem to have come out of last week’s Sadie disaster OK. Almost all of the rescued seedlings are not only surviving but growing. A big phew for Miss Sadie. As I had suspected, not all the seedlings are where they are supposed to be, but as they get bigger they will all be sorted out. As mixed varieties of course. None of the baby eucalyptus survived, they were just too small but everything else is doing well, although not in the numbers I was expecting, but it was really just a practice run anyway I tell myself. The real big first seed sowing begins tomorrow. I will be sowing seeds for spring and it will be snowing that night. Poor man’s fertilizer.

The sweet pea seedlings are growing nicely, will be getting their first pinch, ouch! Then they will being going outside into the high tunnel to harden off. I am hoping by the first week of April they will be getting planted into the cutting garden. The anemones and ranunculus are looking really good. They would be looking so much better if I could see flower buds. Patience.

Out in the cutting garden the fragrant heirloom narcissus are starting to emerge from the soil but no sign of the stunning tulips that I have planted. I know, it is early for tulips but it is just so exciting.

As soon as I get enough flowers to start to sell I will send out a newsletter, so make sure that you are on the mailing list and have your gift cards ready. This way you can shop with ease when you get the notice that we are rolling.

In light of the current world-wide disruption of normal life, we need to focus on the simple things that give us joy. After yesterday’s mini-disaster, the ability of plants to recover from literal earth-shattering events is astounding! Now who knows what flower will be next to a totally different flower, but at least they will grow and thrive together.

Of course, we have to watch these plants very carefully. Allie has been doing that for a very long time!

Disaster! Little miss ‘innocent’ Sadie was rummaging around in the dirty room and knocked over my seed germination contraption. Drat! Everything came tumbling down on her, she panicked, and got caught in it. All the seeds that were just germinating, or flats that had just been seeded all came crashing down into piles of pro mix. Drat. Needless to say, Sadie went into her room and Steve and I then spent a a good half hour trying to salvage what we could.

I then spent the next hour sifting through the piles of dirt, looking for seedlings that could be transplanted. I did salvage quite a few, at this point they are just cotyledons so I really won’t know what they are until they get their true leaves. The flats that were just seeded. Well, I am just going to keep my fingers crossed at this point. I have another big seeding at the end of the month so I just might have to bump up the numbers then.

On the good side, the grow lamps didn’t break, it was a trial of cold hardy plants, to see how early they could be planted out and I can always plant out the rescued ones when they are ready. Should still be early in the growing season.

Other exciting news on the flower front. The sweet peas are germinating and I have a very small flower bud on one of the anemones. These are exciting times!

The first round of flower seeding has begun. It is so exciting! The sweet peas have been soaked and are planted for germination, the stock, the first of the snaps and rudbeckia have also been sown. On deck are the larkspur seed that need just a few more days in the fridge, pretending that it is winter and then they can be sown. Oh this is just so exciting!

So last week I talked about the low tunnel inside the high tunnel, well here it is, and yes, building it was a learning curve. By the end of the season, we should have it all figured out to fit our space. No, we won’t be having 100 foot long low tunnels. not enough space between the rocks. Twenty foot rows are more like it here at Lottarock.

So the low tunnel in the high tunnel has already been planted with the third batch of ranuncs and second batch of anemones. As soon as the cover was on, which was right after we had hooked up the water, the plantlets were planted. Next week? More seeding. Stay tuned for more excitement!

Many, many, many years ago when I was a little girl, I was entranced with flowers. They surrounded my home, they filled the fields across the street, and they were inside our home as well.

Now I get to play with flowers all over again and they make me just as happy as when I was a kid. Thankfully, I don’t have to get all dressed up to enjoy them.

PS. This was posted by Steve, a.k.a. the cheeky bugger

Here we are at March first. The day might be full of bright sunshine but the temperature has not gotten above freezing. Nor has it for the last three days, nor tomorrow. Hopefully by Wednesday we will be above freezing. Fingers crossed. I have found some daffodils up against the house foundation, facing south. Looks as though we have a ways to go yet.

Meanwhile, inside, the third batch of ranunculus have been soaked and are sprouting. Look closely and you will see little bits of green

These will stay inside for another day or two then will be planted out into the low tunnel that will be inside the high tunnel. Even though they need to be grown cool, our nights are still too cold so I am going to play it safe. This will also be our first adventure on constructing a low tunnel. This will be interesting. Stay tuned.

We are fine tuning our bouquet subscription and farm gate sales details and hope to have the details out by mid March. Oh all of this is just so exciting. ‘Til next time.

It is hard to believe that looking at the above image that this space will be undergoing a huge transformation. Rocks will hopefully be moved, stumps removed, and the surrounding shrubs will be replanted into a new garden space. All timing is dependent on getting the machinery in as soon as the roads are no longer posted for heavyweight trucks. Then between the red flags, flowers will be planted. Yay! I can hardly wait. I must be pacing the areas about three times a day planning, planning, planning.

And here is a bit of free form ice art in the donkey pasture.

Here it is February 16, slightly more than half way through the month, and halfway to spring. But who is counting the days to the spring equinox? Two sure sign of spring here at the farm is the Witch Hazel in full bloom, despite wicked cold evening temperatures, and the baby ranunculus that are being coddled in the little greenhouse. My first trial, can I grow them here with little effort? They are looking good, but time will tell.

Well, we are currently being inundated by some of the sloppiest weather possible with rain, sleet, and sometimes snow so what is there to do for our gardens? Sitting by the warm wood stove and dream, of course.

We have met with our friendly heavy equipment guy, Garth, and have some really mind-blowing ideas of how to improve our garden space. In a nutshell, come May we hope to essentially double what flower garden beds we have and erect a new hoop house right next to the gardens. This will require massive boulder moving and fence relocation along with site work. On the plus side, we have a pond close by for irrigation and we’ve already cleared out trees so there is plenty of light. Fingers crossed.

As we are in the depths of winter, there is nothing going on in the flower garden. That being said, we have done a fair bit of preparation last year and we plan on doing some garden bed extension once the season permits. It has been a long time in coming and the flower bed layout still needs fine tuning.

Still, seeds have been purchased and I am so excited to make this all happen!

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