The Plan.

It has been months since I've posted on here. Flowers, weddings & life have consumed my time.  Life. Is. Busy.

In case you haven't heard, Celia has a sibling on the way!!...which has made for an interesting start to the flower season.  Guess what nauseated me the most in the first trimester??  Flowers (sight & smell) and bouquet photos...especially bouquet photos! Can you believe it?! I had to change my Facebook cover photo because looking at the bouquet I had posted made me beyond queasy!

Being a flower farmer & designer with a 14 month old and one on the way is interesting.  Travis and I have had some serious talks about how to adjust Seeded Earth to fit our lives. Babies are only babies/children for so long. Before we know it, they'll be flying the coop and we'll look back wondering where the time went. We want to savor our time with our sweet, silly little ones.  After many flip floppy "decisions", we've finally come to one...

We are scaling back.  Flower farming is A TON of work.  To really do it well, I should be putting in *at least* 40 hours (& likely more) in the field each week -- this doesn't include design time.  Well, 40 hours doesn't happen.  My mom helps a lot & watches Celia when she can, but she's busy, too.  And...honestly, I don't want to spend less time with my little girl.  She brings so much joy to my days.

So, the plan is this:

1.) We will only be doing three weddings each month and only one per weekend.

2.) We are adjusting our crops.  Less labor intensive crops, more direct seeded annuals (these are much more self-sufficient requiring less planting and weeding labor), more bulbs & more perennials.

3.) Our large high tunnel still sits empty. We have been waiting to have good, fertile soil brought in. The river flooding four times this season has made our soil source inaccessible. We will get the high tunnel completed this fall so that it is available for next season. Any labor intensive crops that we grow will go into the high tunnel.  It is close enough to our home that I can work in there while our babies nap.

4.) We will likely no longer sell at the farmers' market.  We love seeing customers & friends every week, but the market is very time consuming.  Travis has his full-time job with Arthur J. Gallagher during the week, so weekend family time is very important to us.  BUT...when we do have an abundance of flowers, you may still be able to pick them up from the farmers' market. We are working on the details of this and will let you know as soon as it is all finalized.

I think that covers it.

We are so thankful for all of the support that you continue to show us as our family grows!

3 Weeks Out...babies are goin' in!

Alright...I really tried posting this last night, but our internet didn't want me to do anything.  So, here it is...just a smidge late...


It's official.  I am declaring Wednesdays blog update days.  This will hold me accountable...and hopefully end the slim {to none} postings.  I'll put a reminder on every device I own!  Pinkie swear.

The weather has been pitiful lately.  Cold, rainy, dreary.  When I say rainy, I mean RAINY.  Our creek was *way* out of its banks last week...although, nothing like the nearby Mississippi...

Photo from Quad City Times - Davenport, Iowa

Our creek - WAY out of its banks!

 In other news, we managed to get our smallest hoophouse almost completely enclosed!  We pulled the plastic last weekend.  Saturday was a fairly calm day.  Travis & I got it all fastened down except for the bottom sides.  Sunday morning came along and was extremely windy.  As soon as I made it home from a wedding consultation, we booked it outside to get the sides secured before the wind beat them up even more.  Blood, sweat & tears that day -- blood from me, sweat from Travis & tears from little miss Celia (our supervisor who was bundled up in her stroller).

 The projected forecast seems to be going in the right direction.  Next week is supposed to be beautiful!  We're about 3 weeks out from our official/unofficial (who knows what's official these days?!) frost-free date.  So, today's the day.  Some of the more cold tolerant seedlings are going in the ground!  Fingers & toes crossed that Mother Nature is kind to us these next few weeks!

 

In case you missed it on Facebook, here are the photos from this week's seasonal bouquet: 

Click Here to See Them! 

Be sure to hop on over to The Seasonal Bouquet Project to see more gorgeous bouquets from Love 'n Fresh Flowers & Floret Flowers!  Also, be sure to link up & share some of your own!  

Now, out to the field!  Loads of seeds to be sown & work to get done!

See you next Wednesday!...pinkie swear.

Catching Up!

I'm a bit behind, AGAIN.  As usual, things have been busy & exciting around our neck of the woods!  During the first week of November, my mom & I (Travis couldn't get away from work) made the trip to Reston, Virginia for the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers' National Conference.  We had a great time & I came home with many great ideas!  Here are some photos from the trip!

Lynnvale Studios is gorgeous!

I'm in love with dahlias...as I'm sure you'll figure out with the coming season!  :)

Yes, those are ALL lilies!!

Gorgeous callas!

I would LOVE to have this many growing houses!

My arrangement for the conference...a little sad by the end of the week...loved those orange dahlias, though!

A great winter foliage for wreaths!  Loved Bob Wollam of Wollam Gardens!...what a neat guy!

It's so much fun getting to meet and learn from so many people who share the same passion & enthusiasm for locally-grown flowers!  I left the conference with such a feeling of excitement to get jumping into the 2012 season! 

Thankful.

Travis & I have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.  We have accomplished a lot (A LOT!) within the past year! 

We...

...went to Houston, TX in January as my {warm!} surprise 30th birthday present from Travis!

...made the trip to Seattle with my mom for Cut Flower Growers' School {& to visit our friend, Lacey!}!

...participated in an awesome event, The Handmade City Spring Art & Craft Fair!

...ran the Boston Marathon!



...got married!

...bought a house with 10 acres of land!

...had a very successful season at The Freight House Farmers' Market thanks to our wonderful customers!

...had a very successful season of wedding work!

...bought our first tractor & tiller!

...got chickens!

...and Travis built them a coop!  

...planted rows of perennials!

...made an appearnace on Paula Sands Live!



...planted 1,000's of spring bulbs!

...planted 50+ flowering shrubs!

...planted about 100 peony roots!

...brought home a new rescue puppy, Kevin!

...still have a very happy, healthy little Olive!  ;)



...bought our first little hoophouse!

                                          Okay...no photo yet...

we still have to get it put together!  :)

...made the trip to Reston, Virginia for the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers' National Conference! (sorry...better photos to come soon!!).

...have many wonderful weddings booked for next season!

...are expecting our first baby this spring!!!

As you can see, we have so much to be thankful for!...and I'm sure there is so much more that I have left out!  In between all of this busyness, we found time to hangout with friends & family...for which we are always thankful!

 

Wishing all of our friends & family a very Happy & Safe Thanksgiving! 

Prioritize.

For about the past 15 years...since my fresh/soph year of high school {I'm getting old!!}, I have been planting & growing flowers on my parents' land...and for the past two years, about an acre of my grandfather's land.  I have been very thankful for this, but haven't felt like I could really set permanent roots for Seeded Earth.

Now, having 10 acres of *our own* land available to grow on gives me a great feeling of permanence & an actual beginning! 

Starting a flower farm takes a lot of work...and like most new businesses, a lot of money.  We know what we need to prioritize when it comes to equipment.......

But when it comes to plants, prioritizing gets tricky {especially for a plant addict!}.  Of course, we'll have a huge selection of annuals -- most of which I begin seeding in January/February.  The hard part comes in deciding which shrubs, bulbs & perennial plants to invest in first.  We have a good start on many perennials & I think we have a good plan in place for continuing to add new plants each year.  If you have any suggestions on what you'd like to see, let us know!  In the meantime, I'll do my best to stick to the plan.

Here are a few of the plants that I'm excited to get growing this fall!