Making flower bouquets can be as easy or hard as you make it.

noun

An attractively arranged bunch of flowers, especially one presented as a gift or carried at a ceremony.

The first thing I do is cut everything that is ready to cut. I try and cut deep into the plant so it will grow another nice long stem.

The next step for me is to bring all the cut flowers inside to rest in the cool air. Some day I hope to have a cooler so I can hold flowers for a longer period of time.

Using the counter, I separate the different varieties of flowers.

Making bouquets is really messy. As I add the flowers to my bouquet, I am stripping off all the bottom leaves. You do not want leaves in your water, this causes bacteria and your flowers will die quicker.

A typical market bouquet that I make has about 15 stems. This includes flowers and foliage.

Here is a snap shot of my flower stand.

Happy me. Snapdragons are truly a favorite.

Do you have a favorite flower? Leave a comment below, I would love to know what it is!

We are in the midst of summertime madness. The flowers in the field exploded when we were on vacation, so that means that the weeds are exploding also.  With plenty of rain and the humidity high, summertime madness is truly here.

Local flowers

I have been harvesting on Tuesday mornings for the twin cities flower exchange. It is such a great venue for our locally grown, chemical free flowers. A special thanks to Christine Hoffman for all her hard work.

80% of the cut flowers here in the United States are imported. One small flower farm at a time is changing that number. Keep buying locally grown flowers. You will be blown away at the quality.

Thursdays are the day I go to the Wayzata farmers market. The market is in full swing. Stop by and check it out if you are in the area.

Succession planting

The learning curves…. they continue to happen. I have had some success with succession planting this season. What is succession planting? This is when you start and plant the same crop at different times. This ensures blooms throughout the season. The zinnias are coming along great using this planting method but….my bunny tail grass is another story. All the cute little bunny tails are arriving at once. I am going to have to harvest and dry.

As you can see in the picture above….the weeds are endless. This coming week the rain is supposed to disappear, so if you want to find me….I will be pulling weeds.

Raspberry branches are great to use as foliage.  They last for about 2 weeks after being cut. Thornless varieties are ideal but these good ol’ fashioned ones work great also.

Swamp milkweed. It grows in the ditches and fields here. When it dries and the seed pod appears, it is so cool. Scouting the ditches for the dried ones has become a regular activity.

As the summer madness progresses into August, I am once again trying to find some sort of balance.  The balance beam proceeds to lean towards chaos….and the days of summer keep flying by.

Early mornings are calling my name….so maybe that is the key.  “Early to bed, early to rise. Makes a person healthy, wealthy and wise.”  Stay tuned to see how that works!

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Stop by  here to see what also tips the balance beam!

Here is a summer recipe for you to try! Whipped cream and berries…I can taste it already.

Flower farm update. Summer is in full swing in the midwest. Here at Midwest cut flowers we are a few weeks behind from last year due to the cold spring.

Oh sweet summer time. The sun is shining in the Midwest and I am here on vacation from the pacific northwest visiting friends and family. Time for a flower farm update.  My mom has many new things in store for Midwest Cut Flowers this summer. It’s time to get to get the plants in the ground and make sure we do everything we can to get those flowers to grow! The spring here, like a lot of other places was cool and rainy. The plants did not like it. Things are growing about 2 weeks behind last year and some of the plants are too short.

Flower field

The size of the field this year is triple in size to  what we started with in 2017. That is a huge growth but still not where it needs to be.

This year we have a “u-pick” garden for people passing by to stop and pick a few stems. This is located by the flower stand, which will be open mid July with bouquets for sale; once my flowers start to bloom. So if your in the area stop by and check out the stand.

In the beds

Planted throughout 14 beds in the main field are many different types of flowers and greenery that are used in the bouquets for the season. The beds are 6” high, amended with organic compost, and covered with landscape fabric for weed control. It is crucial to keep these plants watered through the summer because they are located in an area that has sun most of the day. To help with the watering we are installing a drip line system from DripWorks . It will be excited to see this garden in full bloom!

Last year this morden blush rose was planted. There is one on each side of the driveway. The plant on the east side does not have near as many blooms as the plant on the west side. There are a few leaves getting eaten, so they will get sprayed with an organic pest control spray.

The last addition to the farm is a pumpkin patch with three different types of specialty pumpkins planted. The pumpkins will be available in the fall at the roadside stand and the Wayzata Farmers Market every Thursday along with many other things.

The peony blooms all got cut and hung upside down to dry for fall markets.

This market bag can hold all of your market finds in a fashionable, modern look. Check them out here in our Etsy shop. You can also find dried flowers and aprons there. All these will be available at the Wayzata farmers market

Here is a little flower farm update from 2017.

Hardening off your seedlings is an important step in growing your own plants from seed. You spend weeks tending to these little guys and you want to make the transition to the outdoors as easy on them as you can.

How to harden off seedlings.

There are a few different ways to do this and not one way is really better then another. The way I harden off seedlings is relatively easy. I say relatively easy because no matter how I look at it…it takes a little time.

Steps to harden off seedlings

1. Wait until your last frost.
2. Make sure your seedlings are well watered each morning.
3. Day 1. Move all your seedling out to a sheltered area for an hour or two. I move them all into my garage and open the garage door.
4. After a few hours have passed move the seedlings back indoors. I move them back into the garage and close the door.
5. Check the trays to see if you need to rewater.
6.  On days 2 and 3 repeat the steps above only add another hour for the seedlings to be outside.
7. Day 4 They should be able to handle half a day outside of the sheltered area
8.  For day 5 repeat day 4
9. Day 6 Move seedlings outside for the whole day. Feed seedlings with an organic fertilizer.
10. Day 7 they should be able to handle the whole day and overnight

I use Alaska fish fertilizer to fertilize my seedlings. It works great for me. It does smell like fish for a little bit after I spray them.

More tips…

Some people like to use a small fan to help harden off seedlings. You can place this fan on oscillating and move the air around. The moving air imitates wind so the seedlings make a stronger stem. This step is done before you move the seedlings outside.

Another tip I like to do is brush my hand over the seedlings every day. This will also help the seedlings to make a stronger stem.

Remember that your young seedlings are really tender. Do not put them out into the sun right away. They will wilt in no time.

What’s happening on the farm.

May is a crazy month. The goal is to get all the seedlings into the ground by May 31st. Usually I would try and have them in a little sooner but last night we had frost and are are delayed a couple of weeks from last year.

The seedlings went out into the garage Monday of last week.

I had issues with robins flying into the garage and stealing my seedlings!

I ended up tying a plastic grocery bag onto a tomato cage to scare them away. It worked!

Most of my dahlia tubers are sprouting in these bulb crates. I did leave some out. I am curious to see if pre-sprouting helps with earlier blooms. I will let you know.

This is my trial tulip bed, I was so excited with how the tulips bloomed in the raised bed.

Tulips. So pretty!! Love them.

I am working on getting the seedlings planted so next week I will share pictures of my field beds. They are looking good. I had to cover my rows last night because of a freeze warning. I am so glad that I did because It would have been so disappointing to have the frost kill my hard work.

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Here is a  a little recap from last years growing season.

Spring is finally here. Tulips blooming, birds are chirping and the grass is growing. Spring is finally here…or is it? Today’s forecast in calling for 60’s and tomorrow 40’s with maybe a mix of rain and snow.The weather here in Minnesota keeps us on our toes, especially when you are planning on planting out all those little seedlings you have cared for all these weeks.Having something totally mot in your control makes a person feel quite small.

The month of May

If I remember right from last year May was insanely busy. Well in this first short week it is proving to be the exact same. Crazy. I have things that need done on the flower farm but my “real life” as I like to call it, is holding me back.

Starting seeds indoors

Here is a picture of my seedlings that are upstairs waiting to be planted out. They are really doing well but I can see that some if them are not getting the light they need. Note to self for next year. I NEED MORE SHOP LIGHTS.This is my first year planting bunny tail grass. It will be so fun to what it does. So far I think it is doing good. I didn’t get as much germination as I had hoped for but I should end up with a fair amount to dry and sell .Eucalyptus is also a new one for me. The seeds germinated extremely well but I ended up with some fungus gnats so I think they did some damage to the roots. The seedlings that were planted in single 3×3 inch pots are doing the best compared to the cell tray ones.

Outside happenings

Planting in a raised bed

I put this raised bed in last fall. It is 4ft by 8ft by 6in tall.I filled it with spring flowering bulbs. Tulips and Muscari. They are coming up great.I did this bed as a trail bed. I would love to have flowers ready for mothers day some year.There is a small problem with this spot. I have to move the raised bed. The county is widening the shoulders of the road so it is in the easement. So add that and some shrub moving toy list of spring chores

In the field

I have the first row of snapdragons in the ground. I checked on them this morning and they look good. I am hoping they will handle the cold weather that is coming tomorrow. I think I will cover them tomorrow night just for peace of mind.

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Check this post out. I have come a long way…..

Starting seeds indoors is the first sign of spring. There are a few basic steps to be successful at starting your seeds indoors. Here at Midwest Cut Flowers we are deep into seed starting.

We are busy starting seeds and going over lists of supplies that still need to be bought. The busy season is upon us! In no time at all it will be planting time and watering time and harvesting time.

Seed Starting 101

Here is a quick run down on how we start seed here at Midwest Cut Flowers

1. We use a seed starting mix to start all of our seeds.
2. In a large container pour in the seed starting medium of your choice.
3. Moisten the seed starting mix. You want the medium damp, not soaking wet.
4. Make sure your seed trays or cell packs are disinfected and clean. We wash all of our cells and pots with a bleach water solution.
5. Plant the  seeds according to the package instructions. Johnny’s seeds packets have great instructions on the back of the package.

Here is  post I did about what not to do when starting seeds.

Here is one on starting seeds.

Starting Seeds

Moisten the seed starting mix. The mixture should be damp and slightly hold its form when you squeeze a handful. Not soaking wet.

Washing trays and cells packs in hot water with 1/4 cup of bleach and some dawn dish soap. I let them soak for a few minutes then wash and rinse.

Put the soil into the trays and then press down moderately to slightly pack the soil in. Then add more soil to refill the trays.

Read the back of the seed packet to see how to plant the seed. Some need light to germinate, some need to be planted at 1/4 of an inch etc.

I mostly use the 72 cell trays with the plastic domes. After the seed is planted put on the plastic dome and move to a sunny window. If you have a heat mat you can put the trays on that. Keep an eye on the germination. As soon as you see some of the seed germinating, remove the plastic cover and move the tray under grow lights. If you do not have lights that is fine. A south facing window is great. Make sure your rotate the tray daily.

If you find that your seedlings are not getting enough sunlight through the window this video shows you a little hack that actually works great! All you need are a few basic items.

What else…

This is my third year growing cut flowers from seeds. I am still learning what to do and what not to do. I am growing approx 3 times as many as last year.  Yikes! This amount of seeds requires a lot of planning and space. I am running out of space already and I still have 20 more trays to plant. “Sorry family” I am about to take over some more living space.

A small greenhouse is in the works, hopefully it can come together this summer and fall……..

I took the Online flower farming school class put on by Lisa Mason Ziegler this winter. It was awesome! I am planning on putting what I learned to use this year. Lisa has also written a few books that I am planning on buying.  Here they are.

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A year of growing has passed.

Still rewinding and looking over what happened.

Erica put together this little recap of a year of growing,

So fun to see it all in video.

Goals for next growing season

• farmers market
• triple garden space
• finish flower farming school
• have the stand open 5 days a week in the growing season
• supply some local florists

The are so many things I would like to do after this year of growing

I need to slow down and prioritize.

Enjoy each moment.

Even if I am knee deep in mud and my boot falls off.

So many opportunities.

Garden Quotes that inspired a year of growing

“In the spring at the end of the day you should smell like dirt.” Margaret Atwood

“To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow” Audrey Hepburn

“The earth laughs in flowers” Emerson

“If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere” Vincent Van Gogh

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Here is another recap 

check it out