Good morning friends, well February went by in a blink of any eye. To be honest with you it might have been that I was in Sweden for 10 days, more on that later.
The first thing on the agenda for February was sowing sweet pea seeds. I was not only sowing seeds for my sweet pea patch but also I sell sweet pea starts which was incredibly successful. People love sweet peas, I can’t tell you how many people say that they remind them of their grandma or their father and how they used to grow them. That being said my greenhouse is full to the brim with sweet peas which are all growing very nicely. Most of them are ready to be moved outside in the next week or so. They are best grown slow and cold - you want to create rugby players and not athletes. If you grow them too warm they with bolt and become long, skinny athletes.
In previous years I have had terribly problems with birds nibbling on them when they have been put outside and I have had to jerry-rig bird netting over them. This year my husband is constructing a “tunnel” with EMT conduit covered in heavy duty bird netting. This tunnel will have shelves placed in it and a door so I can walk into it…..I will show you pictures next month, but needless to say I am very excited about this and very grateful that my husband is willing to build this for me.
Sweet peas growing nicely in the greenhouse.
I was also able to take a little time to be creative, which was one of my goals for 2024. I spent some time creating a couple of everlasting wreaths. I love using dried flowers from my field and being able be able to get lost in the creative process, blocking out all distracting chatter of the outside world.
Everlasting wreath created with flowers from my field
February also included a wonderful trip to Sweden. My friend’s daughter is working in Northern Sweden for a few months so we decided to go and visit her. We started in Stockholm which is such a beautiful city. We then headed north to a town called Arvidsjaur. It is a very small town up near the arctic circle. It was minus 27f when we arrived - the hairs in your nostrils froze! Dressed in many layers we explored the area and fell in love with it. The main industry there is tourism in the form ofGerman men coming and driving fast cars on frozen lakes -who knew that was a thing but it keeps the town going in the long dark winter days. We even went dog sledding which was so fun. I truly fell in love with Sweden and of course would like to go back. For now I am happy to be home. My husband asked me if I wanted to join him when he goes to England this summer - I have decided that two trips to Europe already this year is enough for me and we are heading home for Christmas. I just need to stay on the farm for a while!
Arvidsjaur, Sweden
The first seeds have been sown in the greenhouse, they are the ones that can survive cold temperatures - it is too cold in the Pacific Northwest to start all your heat loving flowers - hold off on those for several weeks. I have sown several different varieties of violas this year. They are so versatile, they are pretty dotted around your garden, but you can also include them in a salad or add them to a cocktail.
The remainder of February was spent preparing for my dahlia tuber sale. So much work goes into the tuber sale. Obviously the physical side of digging and dividing etc., but there is also inventory, the photography of all the dahlias and then the website work which also includes all the descriptions. Many, many hours on the lap top, but it was completed in time and I am happy to report it was a very successful sale - if you purchased some dahlia tubers from me, I do appreciate it so much.
Slow mornings with coffee in Arvidsjaur, Sweden
March will be a busy month, seed sowing will really kick into gear, all the dahlia tubers that I have sold will need to be packaged up ready to be shipped out and I am also hosting a couple of workshops on the farm. Welcoming people from the community onto my farm and sharing with them the things I love to do is one of my favorite parts of my job. I continue to dream up more ideas of how I can share this love as I think people now what experiences more that they want “things”. If you have any requests of an event you might like me to host on the farm do let me know.
Let’s hope that spring is just around the corner. Longer days are slowly edging their way in, now I just need to feel the warmth of the sun on my face as I look upwards.
Stay happy and safe, until next month.