SUMMER WEEK 5

BOUQUET INGREDIENTS

zinnias, amaranth, cosmos, celosia

Hi friends,

I hope you had a restful Labor Day weekend. Fall is just around the corner (we've been loving these cool mornings!) and while it feels like our growing season is starting to wind down, the work of tending and planting carries on.

In July I started seeds for some of next year's blooms—hardy varieties like feverfew, rudbeckia, and sweet william—and we transplanted those seedlings into our field this week. They'll spend the next six to eight weeks rooting themselves before going dormant for winter. Rather than killing these plants, the freeze will ready them. When spring returns, they’ll grow up stronger and sooner with established root systems. Later this fall we’ll plant another round of slightly less hardy varieties in the high tunnel for more early spring blooms.

Every time I sow seeds, I’m reminded that so much of farming is really an act of hope. We trust the winter to pass, trust these tiny plants to weather the cold, and trust that people will still want flowers, with all their softness, in whatever kind of world comes next.

Enjoy the blooms and the weather this week!