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!

2012.05.10 ~ Busy, busy!

Life is busy, hectic, crazy, non-stop.  We are knee deep in our flower season with continuous seeding, bumping seedlings up, planting, cutting, arranging, covering our hoophouse, getting fabric prepared for planting and So.  Much.  More.  I missed last week's blog post because I didn't want to skip or delay taking Celia's 11 month photos...especially since the weather was going to be crummy for the next couple days.  They turned out so great!  I can't believe she's going to be 1 year old in just a few short weeks.  How time flies! 

Right now, all of the perennials are really starting to pop.  Bleeding heart, pulmonaria, brunnera.  So pretty!  And...good news, next weekend's brides will most likely still have lilacs for their bouquets (thanks to some very generous, kind friends who are willing to share stems from their plants) and lily-of-the-valley!  Next week is going to be rockin' with two large weddings and one small wedding.  Keep an eye on Facebook for photos!

My bouquet for this week's Seasonal Bouquet Project will be finished up and posted on Facebook tonight after Celia goes to sleep around 7 p.m.  Lots of pretty happening around here!