Happy Friday!
The first of the daffodils have bloomed! We made a decision last year that instead of cutting and selling them all, the daffodils growing in the yard would be left for the collective appreciation of everyone who spends their days here. So, now we are graced with pops of yellow and white adorableness throughout our day as a constant reminder towards gratitude. It makes us feel wealthy to not absolutely have to cut them anymore. The state of self deprivation gets programmed in, so it's a therapeutic act to release that grip and it feels so liberating.
Earlier stages than the daffs, but still noteworthy, there's little red fingers poking their way up through the earth and testing out what's happening above ground to see if it's worth showing up and leafing out completely. The Coral Charm peonies are always the first to come through out here. It's a mixed blessing. We love to see them, but the early bird catches the frost, or something like that and it's always the most vulnerable to having all of its early flower buds nipped off by the cold.
Some years we get a ton of beautiful early peonies. Some years the frost gets a ton of beautiful early peonies.
If it was easy, we wouldn't appreciate em as much.
One crop that is doing exceptionally well this year is the butterfly ranunculus. Oh my goodness, those shimmering beauties that delight by continuing to open new flower upon new flower while already in the vase are the tallest, bushiest, floweriest they've ever been and they seem a bit early as well. We're looking forward to getting them out into some vases sooner than we expected and hopefully turning some people on to their charms as well. Unlike the more well known regular ranunculus, the butterfly ranunculus blooms don't reveal all at first blush, but have more of a dynamic appeal in that they, like the unfurling of a poppy pod, or daily expansion and contraction of an anemone, take the observer on a journey of movement and evolution as multiple unassumingly small buds one day, open up to be beautiful flowers the next, and this process continues for a week and a half. We love them.
Mum customers, the first cuttings were taken last week. We put them into trays then set them under a regular misting regimen and we saw the first couple of roots yesterday! So exciting! They have more maturing to undergo and we are cutting the second round of plants right now:).
Hellebore people.. If you're on the hellebore waitlist and you missed all the warnings….the advanced sale started at 9 this morning, so check your spam or promotions folder and click that link. For everyone else not on the list, we'll open up the sale to the general public on Sunday at 8am! You can preview what plants we are offering here!
The team has all been working incredibly hard lately and getting some overtime hours to try and keep up with all that's happening. Mandy and I have been working 15-16 hour days for the last few weeks and in that frantic context you don't see much that's not work related. So fortunately we had to film an informational video on hellebores for our customers, because it forced us out into the woods at sunset Wednesday eve and it was a pleasure to be out in the trees amongst all the pretty flowering hellebores for the first time this season.
Interesting to note that all of our hellebores of every variety that we have in the woods (tons upon tons) are smaller this year than in years past. Sometimes watching nature from year to year is like watching a loved one breathing. Chest expanding and contracting. Sometimes larger, sometimes smaller. Some years bring bumper crops, some years bring nary a plum to be found. It's hard to say with certainty what all the factors are that contribute to these fluctuations and rhythms or overlapping polyrhythms, but it sure is interesting to get a broader and broader view of a piece of land and all of its fruiting organisms as more and more time passes and more and more patterns reveal themselves.
Anyways, musings aside, these hellebore plants that we've never irrigated, fertilized, or even watered in upon planting are still providing us endless beauty in the woods and bountiful flowers for our customers, even if some years are bigger than others. And apart from the initial expense, they cost us nothing. So many of our flowers require constant attention and maintenance to the point that we are caring for them multiple times every day for up to half a year. Yet, the hellebores, we put in the ground once and never tend to them again. I'm a fan of an investment that requires initial input and then almost nothing further from me, ever, except enjoyment. The fact that we provide no maintenance to these plants ever, yet they still keep providing us with flowers every year is pure joy. Younger us did the work. Older us gets the rewards. A form of self love in both directions.
Today's shared gem…..local CSA's. You'd think that as long time organic farmers, we'd have the best home garden possible with all the homegrown produce and we'd be eating like kings and queens. Never seems to happen for us. We put so much of ourselves into our flowers and plants that our food gardens are really low on the long list of priorities, so they often struggle or fail outright, if ever even planted.
This season, Mandy went ahead and joined a CSA. If you aren't familiar it's basically a food subscription to a local farm, where you get a box of veggies every week and they get dependable sales regardless of whether the farmers market weather is good. It's the freshest produce possible, so it's a win win for all parties. Our friend Celia Barss has been running Woodland Gardens for the better part of the last 20 years and is widely respected as one of the very best farmers in Georgia. She's got a great crew and their produce is incredible and we are super grateful for the opportunity to finally be eating healthy and delicious produce regularly that's grown right down the road by people we know. They are sold out at the moment, but you can join their waitlist here, or find another local farmer's CSA to join. Diamond Hill is another great farm in the Athens area and their CSA still has some availability, so check it out, or search your local area for one to join. It's a great way to connect more meaningfully to your community and your health.
Comer Coffee shop is back open Saturday mornings and last week's reopening was a testament to how much they've been missed. The line was out the door and the housemade donuts kept selling out as soon as fast as they were replenished. The vibe in town is always vibrating at a higher frequency when that place is open, so if you find yourself grabbing a cuppa, we may bump into you there.
Have a great weekend!
Steve