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.

A Quick Recap of Spring

Last spring was a late and cool one but it was one of the best for prolonging spring blooms.  The cooler weather kept flowers in the orchards for weeks and it was magic!  

The crab apple in our backyard was out of this world.  The fragrance wafted into our living room which is about 100 feet away.  The crab is now loaded with tiny red crap apples.  Our three apple trees are loaded with tasty apples too.   

We tilled up the entire front yard this spring to make room for peonies, annuals and shrubs.  I have yet to plant anything in there but I have the stuff.  I now have over 100 new peony plants, dozens of shrubs and trees, tons of bulbs and thousands of perennials.  Next year will be beatiful!

Lisianthus

This is the first year that I have grown lisianthus.   It's safe to say that I will be growing three times as many next year!

It's June and There is Much to do!

Hello!

We are in the thick of it! I'm planting like a mad woman.  Everything is going in this weekend.  Thousands of flowers and vegetables.  It can be very overwhelming at times.  I work off the farm four days a week and those four days are long days, plus, they are outdoors so when I get home it is hard for me to go back outside.  Luckily I have three day weekends now that are dedicated solely to the garden right.  I've also had the pleasure of some volunteer help which makes a huge difference.  I work best with others.

I'd list everything that we are planting but that would take awhile.  I grew just about everything this year, again.

I'll be sharing pictures soon!

Michelle

Sowing Time

The snow is gone, almost, and we are getting ready to work the field and plant some seeds!  We have a greenhouse full of transplants to set out too.  In a few weeks the sweet peas, dianthus, broccoli, lettuce, onion, cauliflower, kale, chinese cabbage, pac choi, and cabbage transplants will be ready for the field.

We will be direct sowing mustard greens, peas, kale, beets, carrots, shallots, bunching onions, spinach, arugala, asian greens, larkspur, bupleurum, nigella, and a bunch of other goodies over the next week.

Daffodils are poking there heads out of the soil now.  We have some allium bulbs to plant this week and lots of potting up of last years perennials.  200 asiatic lilies are growing in the greenhouse.  We also have six types of willow and cranberry viburnum cuttings, taking root.  They will make wonderful additions to our seasonal arrangements.

I'm expecting a large delivery of David Austin roses and over 100 trees and shrubs, this week.  In a few years the threes and shrubs will provide us with ample cutting material for arrangements and to help us with sales into the the fall and also early spring.  I will be taking extra precautions against rabbits and mice.  I look around the county and see more damage to the bark of shrubs and trees than I have ever seen.  Have you noticed?

We finally invested in new hand tools this year.  Last year, I made due with old junk.  Now I have four different pairs of clippers including some Felco pruners, three harvest knives, a collinear hoe, stirrup hoe, cultivator, and a really nice bed prep rake.

 Plus, new watering equipment and OMRI approved fish fertilizer and a few gentle, OMRI approved fungicides and pest management treatments.  Last year we had issues with worms in the broccoli, squash bugs were rampant on the zucchini, and powdery mildew attacked a few things.

 I have also purchased 1,500 feet of insect barrier fabric.  I will use it to protect all of the brassica varieties from insects this year.  Also, it will provide a controlled environment for a few delicate flower varieties.

We are also getting over 40 yards of compost this spring.  The first 7 yard load is arriving this week.  Yippee!  The health of the soil makes a huge difference in the health of the plant so it is a worth while investment.

We still have flower shares available this spring.  It is a 12 week bouquet share that begins in June, we hope.  Mother nature has to cooperate.

Happy Spring!

Michelle
Perbellus Flower Farm
www.facebook.com/perbellusflowerfarm