First off, it's October 9th! Happy birthday, Dad!! And holy cow we are heading into the thick of October. The weather is quickly turning here in New England, with orange trees popping up outside my window and rainy days helping the leaves begin their fall.
Last week, the farm was buzzing with harvests. The mornings were cool, crisp, and hazy, and by midday we were taking off our layers and baking in the warm, autumn sun. Is this what they call an Indian Summer?
Every morning we had large orders from designers to fulfill for the weddings on the weekend. A lot of chocolate ammi, scabiosa, zinnias, celosia, and strawflower were making their way from the fields to the hands of local designers. It's a lot of work, but as I pick each stem, I can't help but wonder what type of arrangement this particular stem will be in, and who will get to enjoy it's beauty at a wedding this weekend.
We even took a trip to the local dahlia farm, Pleasant Valley Glads and Dahlias, once again to get 200 whites, and handfuls of peaches, burgundy's, and pinks to fulfill orders. This place is truly a little piece of heaven, with rows and rows of large, blooming dahlias in every color you can imagine. It's hard to get right to work and harvest quickly when surrounded by so much beauty. Maybe as we continue to make more trips out there, the majesty with wear off, but I doubt it.
Even though our CSA is over with (sad!), we are still making bouquets for the farm stand, or for orders as well. Below is a beauty I made on Wednesday.
On Thursday, after another big harvest, we started a project that Haley and I talked about in a meeting the previous week. In order to help our designers know what we have available for them, we've started taking professional-looking pictures of each flower and their different varieties. We started with what's in season now - ammi, strawflower, sweet william, and scabiosa. Here's a sneak peek...
Our week ended with the Heirloom Market Fall Festival on Saturday. Haley and I had a Make-Your-Own-Flower-Arrangement bar and we sold mixed bouquets. It's always nice getting out and seeing people's reactions to our flowers. Most don't even believe they are real!
After the market, Haley and I headed to a Slow Flowers Meetup at Trout Lily Farm for an afternoon/evening of flower-loving with other farmers, designers, photographers, and writers! There will be a post all about that magical day coming soon!
Happy Harvesting!
xx,
Angie