With Summer around the corner, my husband and I have been busy at work expanding our micro farm and preparing for the 2025 flower season. I know I said this last year, but I'm so excited for what's to come from our little operation this year. I know so much more now than I did going into our season last year, and I can't wait to see how it all plays out.
Last year, I made a few mistakes around not knowing what to grow, when to plant or how much of each flower to plant. We were also just getting started, which meant that we were simultaneously building out the farm and raised beds, while also trying to learn about the actual process of growing. This year, we already have our beds in place, so the next step was to install a drip system to conserve water and ensure that all beds are getting watered evenly and efficiently.
If you're interested in starting a garden or small farm, a drip system is truly your best friend. It has been a total game changer to not have to worry about walking around with my hose to every single section of our farm, just hoping that my seeds are getting enough water. With the drip system installed, I've been able to put my focus more on the fun things - what flowers we want to grow this year.
I'm also exploring different ideas around what I want to add or take away from my business model, and I'm excited to see how it goes! One thing about being a small business owner, there's always room to try new things and curate your business to be exactly the way you want it to be.
For me, this means focusing more on the things that I love about the floral industry - growing and designing.
I have a lot of great ideas for how I'd like to expand this year, but let's start by talking about exactly what we've planted and when we expect to see blooms (yay!).
Ranunculus
I have to give this one to my husband. He soaked the ranunculus corms in water for hours before storing them in old containers we found lying around that he filled with soil, and left them in our garage for two weeks before we planted them out in the garden. Now, we have these gorgeous, bushy rosettes that I can't wait to see bloom. Hopefully in another 4-6 weeks.
Tulips
I'm unsure how lucrative the tulips will be this year because I didn't grow them or sell them last year. Tulips are an interesting choice of flower to grow because the bulbs are quite expensive and they don't yield many flowers. Each bulb only yields one flower. And for a flower that you can buy for $9.99 at Trader Joes, there's really not much reason to buy them from a local grower for $20. But my hope is to have them bloom by Mother's Day, in time for a Mother's Day pop up event of some kind!
Zinnia
Oh Zinnia. My absolute favorite flower to grow for the simple fact that they're just so easy. Honestly, you can throw zinnia seeds down in almost any soil and they will find a way to thrive and produce flowers for you. This year, we're growing a gorgeous variety of Zinnias from Johnny's called Ballerina and it's the most gorgeous blend of light pinks and peaches. We didn't have anything like this in the farm last year so I am SO excited to see how well they do.
If you're interested in growing flowers and getting started, start with Zinnias. They are little effort with a lot of reward and they're the most beautiful Spring/Summer bloom.
Calendula
The flower that started it all! If you haven't read my post about how I got started gardening, I'll leave that for you to read here. But Calendulas were the first flowers I ever grew and they sparked my love for all things green. They're another very easy flower to grow and they also produce a lot of stems. I put down the calendula seeds about a week ago, and I already see little green buds popping up to say hello. The variety we purchased this year is called Ivory Princess. It's a gorgeous light yellow that we didn't have last year. So this is another one I'm very excited about!
Cornflower
My cornflower crop last year was the first thing in the farm to really grow and thrive. I love these flowers because they provide a gorgeous deep blue contrast to the bright colors I am usually drawn to. And they're also very easy to grow. They're also very fluffy, so they provide a fun, whimsical touch to every bouquet.
Nigella
Nigella is a bit tricky to me because the seeds are so teeny tiny, I can barely tell if I've put them in the right spot. I'm sure there's a more efficient way to plant them but at this point I'm kind of sprinkling them around the bed and hoping for the best. These flowers have the most beautiful baby blue hue and such a fun, sharp shape that they add the perfect amount of balance to otherwise very soft and round bouquets. I grew these last year but not for very long, and honestly I think I just got lucky. We'll see if we get lucky again this year.
Bupleurum
This is a filler flower that last year I wished I'd had way more of. It's easy to get carried away with all of the beautiful flowers that you're planting and forget about the filler flower! Greenery is so important because it creates the base for your arrangement. Whether you're arranging in a vase, or wrapping a bouquet in craft paper, the greenery is what creates the stage for the focal flowers to shine. I planted way more filler this year than I did last year, so I'm hoping it will pay off.
Larkspur
Another filler flower I'm excited about! Larkspur is another stunning, whimsical filler flower that helps beef up your bouquets and also provides fun movement and texture. I've never grown it before, so I really hope it works out because I would absolutely love to include these beauties in my arrangements this season.
Ammi
My 2 year old niece has this adorable habit of saying, "On me" when she wants you to put something on. Like a hat or sunglasses. She hasn't quite figured out the difference between "me" and "you". So when I saw the name of this filler, I knew I had to plant some in her honor. Ammi is a light and airy, white filler that I'm hoping will make the arrangements look a bit more filled out this year. I only planted about half a bed, so it will be worthwhile to plant more later on in the season.
Cosmos
While I haven't planted them yet, Cosmos are next on my list of seeds to put down before the end of the month. They were so successful last year and they continued to bloom throughout the entire season. I hadn't even planted that many seeds, and yet they produced SO many flowers that I was able to use all season long. We have a few different varieties to put down, but the ones I'm most excited for are the Double Click Cranberries, which will look so beautiful in all of the bouquets.
That's what we have going so far this year! I can't wait for the weather to warm up and to spend my nights prepping for farmers markets and nurseries every weekend. I truly love this work and I am so grateful that I found this path.
One big goal that I have in 2025, is to start shipping out arrangements to any of you who'd like a piece of the farm at your home. So be sure to sign up for the newsletter so that you don't miss news and updates about how it's going, and when we plan to launch the overnight shipping service.
For more information on what's going on at the farm, check out my latest video on Patreon where we talk all about my 2025 business plan and I give you all a full garden tour!
You can watch that here. Or click the thumbnail below!
Thanks for reading!
F.