Winter is for Planning

Everything is cold, soft, and quiet. It's time for warm snuggles with kitties, soft blankets, coffee, books, and maybe (definitely) some Netflix binging. 

It's also time for season planning, buying supplies, creating spreadsheets, and realizing dreams for the season to come. 

I hope your winter is restful and full of inspiration. 

Whirlwind

Last week was the busiest week of my life but in a good way! The tulip tulip harvest was in full swing, deliveries everyday, meetung new clients, planting the fields, sowing seeds, hosting my brother's and his girlfriend's graduation party; they are doctors now! All in all it was a wild and fun week.

I'm finally feeling like a real flower farmer.

We put our new mulch layer to work last week too. That thing is magic! It makes the most perfect planting beds complete with drip irrigation tubing and biodegradable plastic mulch on top. All I have to do is put the plants in! Which is enough work to keep me busy forever. Thank goodness I have a few helpers.

We are also starting our walk in cooler project. We have all the supplies now so it's a matter of putting it together. Once that is in we can organize my workshop and storage area. Soon I'll be so organized I won't know what to do with myself.

Narcissus aka Daffodils

They smell so good!

Tulip Time

The 3,000 tulips I planted last fall are blooming their heads off.   It's a full time job picking and packing them but I'm enjoying every minute of it!

Sowing Time

I sowed a few thousand seeds over the last few days including snapdragons, poppies, stock, foxglove, dusty miller, sweet william, eucalyptus, and a few others.
Thank goodness for soil blocks because they allow me to fit 3,840 seedlings on one 4' wide wire shelving unit.   The longer I can put off turning the greenhouse heat on the better! I do think it will be an early snow melt this year and am planning to plant out cold hardy crops by early April.

Cheers to spring!

Seeds are here!

My Geoseed order arrived today. I got carried away as usual. In my defense, these are all awesome flowers. Game on!

Winter

The snow may have only started falling a few weeks ago but it's making up for lost time. Last Sunday we received over 12 inches and Monday another 6 inches. It's getting to be pretty deep of there. Time to finally get some snow shoes!

Warm Weather

I'm astounded by the unseasonably warm weather have had so far. Yesterday, December 10th, it was nearly 60 degrees! That is pretty crazy for Northern lower Michigan. Normally we are buried under a couple feet of snow this time of year, though last year was also unseasonably warm.

All this warm weather has been great for getting fall chores taken care of. A few more shrubs, bulbs and perennials to plant and I'll be done. I can't wait!

It's been awhile!

Wow, time flies when you are having fun.  Well, working, farming, working, and more farming.  I suppose I should share some photos of the action!  My brother Chris got married last month to his wonderful fiance Tonimaree.  I had the honor and pleasure of making her bridal bouquet.  It was my very first!  I went big on it as you can see.

 I filled it with lisianthus, tuberose, dahlias, pokeberry, eucalyptus, salvia leucantha, chasmanthium, and mint.

 I had to take bathroom shots as they had the best lighting in the house, ha ha!

 This is a centerpiece I made for a wedding last Sunday.

This is a bridal bouquet for last Sunday's wedding.  I never met or spoke with the bride, yikes!  I hope she was happy!

I have thousands of bulbs coming in a few weeks.  2000 tulips, hundreds of daffodils, allium, fritillaria, leucojum, brodiea, camassia, etc.  Plus, over 100 peonies, and a bunch of astilbe and white dicentra.  I'll be planting until it snows!

We are in the process of filling the front yard with hydrangea.  I didn't realize how many I had, wowza!  Around 12 varieties and easily over 100 shrubs.  They are worth the investment though as they are very commonly used in wedding work.  We also put in over 50 clematis vines in the backyard.

We just got a light frost last week but it didn't hurt much.  The next frost will be coming soon. I'm looking forward to clean up and getting back to planning for next year.  

It hasn't been the season I hoped or planned for but luckily every failure is a huge lesson.  I'll be an expert in no time!

Busy as a Bee

It's been a busy year, as it always is for a farmer. Things have not gone as planned and there are some sad days filled with disappointment but I snap out of it and forge ahead.

I have planted 650 dahlias, 2300 lisianthus, ornamental corn, sorghum, zinnias, snapdragons, ageratum, verbena, sunflowers, tomatoes, tomatillos, eggplant, peppers. Still more to plant! Weeds to pull. Irrigation to set up. A walk in cooler to build. And on and on.

Life's a garden, dig it! - Joe Dirt

Our Indiegogo Fundraiser for a New Cooler

Hello Everyone,

I just went live with our Indiegogo fundraiser.  We are in desperate need of a walk in cooler.  With our business expanding this season, we fear that not having a cooler would result in lots of waste in flowers and hard work.  Harvesting flowers is a lot of work and to watch it wither away is heartbreaking.  That can all be solved with a nice and chilly cooler for all of our beautiful blooms.

If you can donate, we will love you forever!  Plus, there are perks to being a donor.  Just follow this link, Walk-in Cooler Fundraiser.

Thank you so much for taking the time to check out our fundraiser!  We appreciate you whether you can donate or not.  Also, please share the link to our campaign, if you can.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Michelle and Andrew Shackelford
Perbellus Flower Farm

We are on Instagram

Hi folks!

If you are on Instagram come follow us!  @perbellusflowerfarm.  We are on facebook too facebook.com/perbellusflowerfarm.

Stay warm!

Michelle

Before the Snow Came

Some shots of the backyard just before the snow started flying. I miss it already.

Winter has arrived!

I wasn't expecting it yet! I thought I had more time for planting. Clearly, that is not the case. Looks like I'll be doing lots of potting in the greenhouse for the things that didn't get in the ground.

We are adding eight feet onto the greenhouse this weekend. Plus, putting on the new plastic. Then we'll be getting the new propane tank and heater all set up. Can't wait!

A Spectacular Fall

Fall colors are nearly gone but they were magical while they were here.

We are busily finishing up planting, weeding, and cleanup before the snow comes.   We've had some great weather lately! My mom has been in town helping me with all the field prep.   I'd be really scrambling workout her.   Thousands of perennials, peonies, roses, shrubs,  bulbs, and seeds have been going in the ground. We are in the home stretch! Whew!

Summer

Summer has been cool.  We rarely made it into the 80's.  I wasn't complaining aside from the fact that flowers and vegetables prefer the warmth.  Plus, we didn't get rain for two months.  

This summer I realized that I don't want to grow vegetables commercially anymore.  My heart just isn't in them.  It is the flowers that captivate me!  I'm looking forward to streamlining.  Vegetables are a whole other animal and it was just too time consuming and annoying.  I'll still grow veggies for ourselves and I'll likely still grow way too many, especially, garlic, tomatoes and peppers, and I think I will actually eat more of them too.

I grew lisianthus for the first time ever and I'm smitten!  Such a dreamy, romantic flower.  I'll be putting in around 2 to 4 thousand next year.  I'm posting in a photo with an arm full below.

I am going to the ASCFG national conference this October and couldn't be more excited.  I'm also attending their Growers School.  I know I will learn so much and have a refreshed outlook on flower farming.  I need all the help I can get!  My organizational skills are lacking.  I'm a right brainer with A.D.D., go figure.

I'm giddy with excitement at all the new plants I acquired this year.  The perennial beds will be impressive next year.  I'm putting in hundreds of varieties of goodies, many of which I started from seed.  My greenhouse is stuffed with plants ready to get into the field.  Not that the veggies are gone I will have lots more space for flowers.

From here on out I plan to be more involved with this blog.  I really slacked this summer.  I worked over 40 ours a week and then with the farming I just didn't have time.  Next summer, I am only working three days a week.  I will have so much more time for weeding, and tending the flowers.  I'm really looking forward to being able to focus on the flower field and do more writing about it.

I'm on Instagram now too.  Check me out @perbellusflowerfarm.