A Full Heart & A Changing Season
Hello friends,
Last week was full—in all the best ways.
We hosted a vase workshop and a private garden party, harvested market bouquets for the Town of Kenton Farmers Market, filled bloom buckets for a wedding, created special-order bouquets, gave an impromptu flower tour to a sweet family growing flowers for their daughter's wedding and welcomed new are old friends to the field for two Open Field Harvest events.
And tucked into all of that was something especially meaningful.
One of our friends wanted to share and honor her mother's love of flowers with others, so she gifted three Field Harvest Experiences. She generously gave three opportunities to complete strangers, bonded under the familiarity of flowers, creating everlasting memories around blooms and they were joyful in their harvest! I was blessed with meeting each of the recipients as they came to the field, humbled how God is using this space to bring people to our property and share His goodness, my heart is full.
photo credit Emily Troutman Photography photo credit Emily Troutman Photography
I can feel the season changing...
The humidity lifted a little last week, the sun wasn't as brutal, the monarchs are more prevalent in the field, and every now and then there is just a hint that fall is one its way. Maybe it's because we're growers and we're planning what's coming in the next season, but maybe you feel it too? While the summer flowers are still blooming, I'm anticipating packages of fall seeds in the mail and finalizing our fall plug order. In just a few weeks, we'll begin planting many of the flowers that will bloom next spring!
Chris built the spring rows a few weeks ago and the pumpkin plants on the left side of this photo are hardly recognizable, as the baby pumpkins are growing and vining right along.
And speaking of planting... there's still time for sunflowers!
Our sunflower seedlings have sprouted, and we'll be looking forward to another round of blooms by October.
Dahlias are also ready and blooming in the field, and will be included in this week's pre-ordered bouquet. Dahlias are a little fussier than the rest of our cut and come again flowers in our field. So to mitigate common problems with dahlias, during our open harvest events we plan to have pre-harvest stems available.
This week will feel a little different.
On Tuesday, I head back to the classroom. Yes... this Tuesday..like tomorrow.
I'm not upset about this, I genuinely look forward to the beginning of a new school year—I am excited to plan for another year, even when it's year 21! New students, fresh pencils, a clean classroom and another opportunity to learn and grow together.
However, returning to the classroom will mean our field schedule may be spontaneous during the final weeks of August. It's more than just saying "Come, We're Open!". The rows need to be irrigated, pathways mowed, and the flowers pruned to allow the field to be "guest ready", but if we can open the field for a few hours... we will! So in the next few weeks, we simply ask for a little extra patience as we navigate on and off the property work. Our family also squeezed a little adventure into the mix this weekend, so this week and weekend will certainly be a balancing act.
If you don't want to miss a spontaneous field opening from our social media post at just the right time, we'd by happy to send you a message when we open, just, fill out this form: HERE
Flowers this week
Even with our changing schedule, we're happy to provide flowers for you Monday - Friday this week!
If you'd like a fresh wrapped bouquet this week, simply reply to this email and let us know what day you'd like to pick up. Please allow at least 24 hours' notice so we have time to harvest, process and create your bouquet. We'll have it wrapped and ready for an easy porch pickup.
The field is giving us beautiful summer blooms, and we plan to enjoy them through October. Thank you for continuing to show up, share our flowers, bring your people to the field and allow this little place to be part of your story.