Quotable Sunday 09/22/2013

First Day of Autumn

Today is the first day of Autumn, wow, where as the year gone.  It seems that we were just planting seeds for this season and now the harvest is slowing down.  Light levels are shortening and the shadows from the occasional sun are lengthening.  The rain is falling and the fields are turning back to green.  Very soon the leaves will start turning golden and brown and the flower season will be over.  But the work will not be done yet....

 

 A box of anemone and ranunculus corms have arrived and the anemones are already in the pre-sprout stage with the ranunculus up next.  We rinse them in a slow drip bucket of water till they puff up, hang them to dry a bit and then pack them up for a pre-sprout. By the first of October they will go into a hoop house for the winter.  Hoping for anemones by Valentine's Day and ranunculus in March.

We have been busy bumping up seedlings of perennials and biennials to go into the hoop houses and low tunnels for early flowers next season.

We have been cover cropping and amending the soil as flowers decline and rows of flowers are removed. Mineralizing the soil is going to be very important this fall and next year to increase productivity of our flowers.  Demand for flowers is really requiring us to step up and produce more.

Tony is working on another project to help improve our soil.  Not all the parts are here yet, but when he has it up and running, we will talk all about the gizmo.

For now it is all about harvesting and selling at the market and to designers. 

The pace of work will slow just slightly but the work is not over. Folks at the market always say "you are almost done and then you will have a nice long vacation."  Our answer is our vacation is at Christmas for about a couple of weeks.  But before and after there are still so many things to do.  

That old September feeling... of summer passing, vacation nearly done, obligations gathering, books and football in the air.... Another Fall, another turned page: there was something of jubilee in that annual autumnal beginning, as if last year's mistakes and failures had been wiped clean by summer. ~Wallace Stegner

Flowers in the House

I almost always have flowers in the house after a market day, especially in the late summer.  Most of our customers are able to grow flowers too and although we ask them to leave their landscape alone and buy from us, we still end up with leftover flowers.  If every room has a large bouquet in it, it was not a good day.  But a few bouquets in and around are nice and enjoyed.  

I made a few little vases of flowers because we have lots of short stems right now and I hate to see cute stuff go to waste.  We suggested that these were for Grandparents' Day which was yesterday.

                                         Cute and colorful little vases for your kitchen table.

Well, as with the way the season moves sometimes, they all did not sell.  So I have two little vases for my windowsill.  Sweet and colorful and really not leftover flowers, but something special.  Flowers for my house.

Check out Jane's Flowers in the House today at smallbutcharming.blogspot.com  The best part is that you will see beautiful flowers from around the world.