May, well May flew by in a blink of an eye. I am happy to report that is was a month full of sunshine and productivity.
The beginning of May started with unusually hot temperatures, in the heat of the day we started planting the annuals out into the field. Slowly the field started to fill up and the greenhouse emptied out. It felt so good to start getting these babies into the ground.
The main item of the agenda for May was the dahlia field. Last year the weed situation in the dahlia field was soul destroying, I am not ashamed to admit that last summer I cried a couple of times out there whilst fighting the loosing battle with weeds. This year I have decided to try something different. I am using weed barrier (landscape fabric), I have always been hesitant to use it for dahlias but with the guidance of another local farmer who uses it for her dahlia field I decided to make the leap. Before anything could be planted we had to cut 2,500 large X’s into the landscape fabric so the dahlia tubers could be planted into them. My husband helped me with this lovely little project, creating a job template so everything was spaced correctly - I am sure that was love in his eyes that I could see when was doing this project with me - well I am going to pretend that is was! If you ever meet him, just don’t bring up the subject for your own safety! Anyway, we persevered and got the job done. Compost, irrigation and said landscape fabric was laid out in the field.
Next came the planting of the dahlia tubers. Field plan in hand, well on my phone we got to it….amongst all this my brother came over to stay with me from England….you never come over to our farm for a true holiday…less than 24 hours after arriving he was planting dahlia tubers! We took a four day break in the tuber planting frenzy to fly to LA for my youngest son’s graduation from University - it was hotter in Washington than LA…strange times! I am very happy to say that all the dahlia tubers are now planted and some are already appearing up through the landscape fabric. I will admit that with the stop, starting of planting some of my rainbow plan of planting dahlia tubers went awry..a few of my pinks did not go into the correct place, but as I learnt last month there are way worse things that can happen in life than some pinks being in the wrong place!
Mother’s Day weekend saw Kelly from Ciderpress Lane & myself host a Spring Tea and Market. Again another glorious weekend weather wise and the event was a huge success with so many people from the local community and further afield stopping by the farm. We are both so grateful for the continued support we receive for our events that we host.
Everything is starting to bloom. Beautiful peonies and David Austin Roses are in full swing at the moment. The scent from lilacs has been replaced in the orchard by the sweet smell of honeysuckle bursting through. The first of my cold hardy annuals are now flowering. So much to look forward to this summer.
If you have got this far in reading my monthly musings, thank you so much for taking an interest in my flower farm, it means the world to me.
I hope that you are starting to enjoy your gardens this summer, whether it be in some container pots on the deck or a large piece of land you tend to, I hope you gain much enjoyment from them.
Until next month.
With much love,