So close I can smell it!

My to-do list is increasing day by day.  I walk outside and I swear I smell hints of spring.  I'm not sure how that can be when it's still so cold and there are about 4 inches of snow on the ground, but somewhere, somehow, the scent of spring is there.  I have the itch to get outside, soak in the sun & work, work, work!  Plugs are ordered for the plants that are just too difficult & time consuming for us to grow from seed -- although, I promise to give a few of these another shot next season!  Seeds will all be here this week and there are just a few more bulbs, tubers & perennials to order.  The high tunnel is waiting to have good soil brought in and then be covered.  Hopefully we can get that project tackled within the next month so that we can get plants in!  SO EXCITED!

We're busier than we've ever been with weddings!  It's a great feeling, but golly...it comes with A LOT of "paper" work.  It will all be worth it.  It's so much fun to work with so many fun, neat people and to see the final products come together so beautifully on their wedding dates!

On today's agenda: finish up wedding quotes, go through the dahlias to see which ones are still viable for sprouting and work out the details of our planting schedule for this season.  Better get busy!

Back in the groove!

It's been forever since I've posted (what's new, right?!)!  We are kept insanely busy (& sometimes sleep deprived) with our sweet, little Celia!  She is so much fun & is growing so quickly!  It will be fun to have her toddling through the flower field with us this year!  

I'm busy getting ordering completed today.  Very, very soon, we will be getting all of our seeds started!  This time of the year is still so cold & dreary, but it's also so exciting because I feel like we're finally over the darkest part of the year and we really have something to look forward to.  We really do have a great season planned already!  We'll be growing many new varieties this season...and really up-ing our flower quantities.  There are so many beautiful weddings planned for 2013!

Oh, & I really need to get outside to take some photos of our great news...THE HIGH TUNNEL IS UP!  We don't have the end walls or the plastic on, but as soon as the weather allows, we'll have it ready to go for this season!  It is going to be so wonderful to have the covered growing space!  It will allow us to grow some more exciting flowers and really extend our growing season by providing the extra protection from the unpredictable Iowa weather.  Travis, my stepdad & some friends really worked hard to get it all constructed!  I'm so thankful!

Well...I should get back to ordering flower seeds & supplies!  Really looking forward to our 2013 season!

Don't forget!!  

The Jaycees Bridal Fair is on Saturday, January 26th from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. at The River Center in Davenport, Iowa.  

Here's the link:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Davenport-Jaycees-Bridal-Expo/182583911760066?ref=ts&fref=ts  

We'd love to see you there! 

Excited. *Very* Excited!

Early last fall, I applied for a high tunnel grant.  It really didn't sound likely that we would get one for 2012...especially since there was only one awarded in Muscatine county for 2011!  Well, I kept hoping...and bugging the guy in charge about once a month.  About three weeks ago, I received a phone call saying that we ranked high enough for grants for a windbreak & high tunnel!...we would definitely get funding for the windbreak ($1,010), but would have to wait to find out about the high tunnel.  The good news came a couple days later...we are getting high tunnel funding, too (somewhere close to the tune of $8,000!!)!!  I have been over the moon excited since getting the news!  With me quitting my full-time job at John Deere (7 days left!) in order to grow Seeded Earth & stay home with our little baby that is on the way, the budget will be tight.  It probably would have taken us at least 2 years...maybe 3, until we could afford to put up a high tunnel of this size ourselves.  This will be so great for Seeded Earth!  We'll be able to add a couple of months to our flower production & be able to grow some things that just don't do well for us outdoors.  It's going to be so, so wonderful! 

What else?!  Spring is here!...or maybe it's summer already.  Whatever it is, it's beautiful!  It does have me a teeny bit worried, though.  If it's this warm already, what will we get for summer & fall??  I'm hoping that we cool down a bit, don't get a hard freeze that damages everything that is already leafing out & blooming, get a bit of spring rain and then ease into a nice, mild summer with an even amount of moisture.  I'll keep my fingers crossed that the weather doesn't get too wacky!