SPRING WEEK 4

BOUQUET INGREDIENTS

calendula, dianthus, snapdragon, dill, poppy pod

These just may be the most vibrant bouquets I've ever made. I tend to prefer more pastel and antique color palettes, but these tones reminiscent of peach rings and cantaloupe and tequila sunrise -- plus the fragrance of the dill -- feel right for the transition into early summer.

This week's bouquets are made from the first trickle of our field crops. We've been harvesting from the high tunnel for the past seven weeks, and yesterday we mowed down our spring crops and covered the ground with tarps. This will smother any weeds and prevent regrowth from the crops we've harvested out. We plan to sow a round of cover crop in a few weeks to replenish the soil, tarp again, and then prepare the tunnel for planting this autumn. Since we've put the tunnel to bed for now, I thought I'd share some photos of the space in peak production that our friend Bekah Stewart Kibler captured last month. Check them out below and you can visit her instagram to see more of her photography. (She also has a show up at the Lawrence Public Library this month featuring photos she's taken of Historic Oak Hill Cemetery through the seasons. I haven't had the chance to see it up yet but she did show me a sneak peak. You won't want to miss it!)

I'm grateful for last week's harvest break because it allowed me to catch up on the farm work that often gets pushed aside with the urgency of harvest -- weeding, transplanting, seeding, making beds. I also feel it was essential for me to have this break after pushing hard since April -- attending farmers market every Saturday, filling record florist orders, and surviving an ecstatic and exhausting Mother's Day week. But now I am ready to be inundated with blooms again, and we have so many good things coming for you in the field. With any luck (and a bit of sunshine) they will be bursting into color next week!

Enjoy these saturated, summery bouquets and thanks for letting us be your farmers!