Monday May 13th 2024: It has been busy and I have got totally lost in the blogging, no idea where I am at 😬
The last week has seen some fabulous weather, lots of sunshine which we really needed, a bit too hot for me to work in at times but I am not complaining as it was nice to feel warm. We had some amazing photos of the Northern lights after a G5 sun spot thrust magnetic forces out into the atmosphere, I did take a phot early in the evening but it was t as very good one and then I went to bed and missed the real show 😂
I spent a lot of time gardening as you can imagine, early mornings and then some evenings, missing out the afternoons on the hottest days. This weekend just gone John has been helping on the garden, tidying and weeding areas that I just never manage to get too and he has made an amazing transformation, just a couple more areas to go 🤪
With the sunshine came the flowers, they are coming out everywhere and I am cutting daily, flower sales are steady but with as many as I am cutting could do with a few more. Not that they get wasted because I either dry them or use them for practice work (which is always a delightful distraction)
This morning the weather has cooled a little, a welcome break for me because it means I do not have to be careful and can just plough on with outside jobs. I have a workshop coming up at the weekend and so really wanted to have an organised looking garden for the show around, nobody wants to see weeds and debris everywhere although in a working garden there are plenty of both. My first job this morning after the usual jobs was to cut some herbs for drying. Mint and oregano are both in the dryer as I want plenty of dried herbs for the winter this year. It is not so urgent for herbs like rosemary, bay and thyme because they are evergreen and can be harvested as required but I will do a small amount of each just in case we have deep snow or very cold weather and it’s easier to grab a pot than go out and cut them.
Then mid morning I am off to another Flowers from the Farm meet up in Minster Lovell at Abi’s flower farm, Ivydene 🥰 Love a flowery get together where no one is bored of talking about flowers 😂
I will try to be a little more on the ball with the blog this week 🤭
I had a fabulous couple of hours talking all things flower related and Abi’s flower farm is particularly amazing, she is a fabulous grower and very neat and tidy with it 😊
Tuesday: Oscar day, all the usual activities took place, reading, playing, sleeping (Oscar not me) eating, crying, more playing.
Wednesday: The weather is partly cloudy at the minute so I had ample opportunity to get out and do some outside work, plenty of clearing and weeding to be done at this time of year.
Thursday: An early start with the cutting this morning, I have lots to cut and lots to get ready for the weekend, orders, Friday flowers and a workshop on Saturday morning. It was an absolute pleasure spending about two hours cutting everything that was ready to be cut. I got lots of hoeing done and even some planting.
This is the time of the year to begin thinking about next years spring bulbs, yep if you don’t pre order them now then you run the risk of not getting the type you want. It is also the time to think about ordering any seeds that will need sowing in June and July (biennials) and any seeds you might want for an autumn sowing. There is no time to rest lol and we also have an exciting thing happening in the UK this week. You may or may not know of Floret in the USA, well for many years growers in the UK have admired from afar the range of zinnia available over there 🥰 This week for the first time they have arrived for sale in the UK and I imagine it will be a mad scramble to get them, it will be a bit like waiting to get those sort after tickets 😂 I for one will be in the queue trying very hard to purchase a packet or two or three or maybe four!
Then a delivery 🙄 now I did say I had got to the stage where I can’t really fit any more plants in unless I extend, well this was a delivery of dahlia tubers 😂 The reason being that they were on sale and who can resist a bargain, so I now how to find a place to plant 10 more dahlia tubers 🤪
Friday: Busy day today, well I say busy but the first couple of hours was getting my hair done then a quick coffee and lunch with Shelley who picked me up.
But it has been a busy few days with the flowers, everything seems to come all at once lol, I had a random person in the area looking for flowers and found me on the internet, a chap who phoned and asked if I could do a buttonhole for later that day and then a phone call from the states to order a celebration bouquet for a local couple, I have my regular orders to get ready and also get ready for the workshop ladies as well as Friday flowers which sold out and so I need to find time to cut and condition some more to go out 🤪 I love it 🥰
frieslandfarm (flowers) 