Weird Weather Wonders
The flower farm plotting and planning has begun and my online courses have continued, but it’s all been slow except for the weather. I’m originally from Minnesota and now live in Wisconsin. If you’re not from the Midwest, but have ever found yourself in a conversation with one of us Midwesterners, you know how much we like to talk about the weather. We’re always more than happy to tell anyone that will listen how cold it is in the winter to how hot and humid it is in the summer, but the seasons are beautiful.
This year we skipped winter and now we’re stumped. We don’t know what to say. How do you “complain” about all the snow when we didn’t get any? Or, how do you comment on the late winter/early spring cold snap when it doesn’t happen? For people who love to talk about the weather all we got is “well, it’s another beautiful day.”
It’s March 16th and docks are starting to go out on the river, which normally happens in May. Quaking Aspen trees are dropping their tasseled catkins (flowers) and in a normal year that happens in mid-April. The Sedum and tulips are emerging and they normally don’t wake up until some time in April. It’s all just a little unnerving.
While nature is doing whatever it is doing I’ve been patiently, longingly looking at my new grow setup waiting for the right time, which is finally here. Soon I’ll be starting my seeds inside. As they’re growing warm and safe inside I’ll be outside building the small flower garden next to my house - small retaining walls, benches, gutters, screens, paths and then prep the beds for the dahlias, poppies, lavender, zinnias, figwort, bee balm and so much more. This little garden that could will be the launching pad for the eventual flower farm in the big field. It was my desire for dahlias that led me to Floret Farms which led me to their online workshop which led me to the natural conclusion that I needed to be a flower farmer. Because, why not?
Once the flower garden project is under control then I will be chipping the logs in the field that are still there from the house build and then tarping the fields to kill the current vegetation. It’s funny. I feel bad about killing the wild berries (SUPER thorny. not my friend), the Canadian Golden Rod (horrible stuff. also not a friend) and whatever else is out there, but I have to remember that for as many annual cut flowers that I plan to grow (many of which pollinators will also love) there will be twice as many native perennials to support my little ecosystem.
That dark mass in the middle of the field is two piles of tree debris that is the size of two garden sheds.
I really truly believe that if most of us ditched the typical, wasteful cut lawn and planted flowers instead - native perennials in particular - we could start to heal the planet and have fewer and fewer weird weather wonders.
Until next time. Cheers!
