Starting flower seeds and ranunculus

starting seeds

The time has come to start flower seeds. I am starting about twice as many seeds this year as I did last year…..as I was doing my seed starting calendar….yes i feel super professional, ha ha, I am thinking….space, I need space to plant all of these babies.

I do have my garden spots for this year planned but I think I might need to do a little shuffling around to fit all the plants in. I plan to squeeze most of the plants a bit closer together then I had them last year.

Starting seeds indoors

starting seeds

I washed all my seed trays in bleach water to kill any left over bad stuff from last year. These trays worked great for me, but next year I would like a soil block maker.

moist potting soil

The potting soil should be moist, not soaking wet.

seed starting

After I filled the trays I went over all the holes with my fingers and pressed slightly down to pack the soil. I then added more soil to fill the holes. This helps keep the plug firm for transplanting. After adding the seeds according to the directions on the package, I watered from the bottom and put the plastic dome on the trays.

seed trays in windows

Here the seeds are in front of a sunny window. Some seeds like warmer soil so those ones are on a heat mat.

Starting Ranunculus

starting ranunculus combs

Ranunculus flowers are so beautiful. They are an early bloom and do not like hot weather.

I did not grow these pictured here, but am crossing my fingers that I can!

They came looking like tiny dried little octopus. I soaked them in water for 6 hours and then put them in a tray of vermiculite and covered them with potting soil. Now I am waiting for them to sprout roots so I can plant them. I will keep you posted on the progress.

Flower Farmer inspiration

flower farming sources — Would love this farm setting

Here is a little of where I got my flower farmer inspiration. I do get some weird looks and questions from people when they find out I am growing flowers to sell. ” Sooo you like sell plants for people to buy….so what do you mean cut flowers? You must have a massive garden, wow I would love to see your yard. Where did you come up with that? That is interesting?” My answers though can be a little on the boring side. “No I don’t sell plants”, cut flowers, you know like the bouquets you can buy at the store….No I don’t have a massive garden and my yard is questionable. Although I do agree with the interesting part. It is also satisfying, addicting, and it takes work.

Books and Blogs

A few years ago I borrowed a book from the library called The flower farmer by Lynn Byczynski. I loved it. It was chalked full of information and inspiration. I did not really think about people actually ” farming flowers”. She had a small scale cut flower garden, that I copied on paper and was going to plant the following spring. I had no intention at that point to grow to sell. I bought the book!

I am not sure how I stumbled on floret. However this was the second batch of kindling that fueled my cut flower obsession. Erin Benzakein and her husband Chris have this amazing flower farming story. You should take the time to read a little about it. I also bought her book Cut Flower Garden . Amazing. Did I already say amazing..Erin also has a blog and sells seeds and tubers.

So one thing led to another and I decided to jump in. In the spring of 2017 I bought my first seeds from floret and Johnnys Seeds and got to work.

Another one of my sources of information has been from Curtis Stone ,he is an urban farmer from Kelowna British Columbia. I have learned a lot about soil management and crop rotation etc. Interesting stuff…

Continuing Education

I am convinced after my first year that I will be in constant learning mode. I hope to attend a few workshops in the coming year. It will be nice to learn “in real life mode”. I will keep you posted!

What’s happening in 2018

Hello! Happy 2018. I hope your Christmas and New Years holidays went well. Ours did. It is always so nice to take the time to reflect on what is truly important. I thought I would give you a quick peek at what happening here at Midwest Cut Flowers for 2018! Like always I have a hundred and fifty things I would like to do, but will probably only accomplish a few. Oh well, I am who I am right?

Branding

I finally had a professional logo made! I was so excited with the outcome!! Check it out.

The logo combines my flowers and my Etsy shop. I had Liz from just artin around design it. She was awesome to work with. I would recommend her! I can’t wait to order my business cards, stickers and tags.

Etsy shop

Speaking of my Etsy shop…. I have been lacking in keeping it updated and stocked with wonderful new and exciting items…..That however is supposed to change here in 2018! My plan is to add market bags, aprons and pot holders as I get them finished. My hope is to have a lot of inventory so I can be ready for the fall outdoor market at Mama’s Happy. This was such a great event that I am already in planning stages for it!

Cut Flowers

I have just ordered my flower seeds and dahlia bulbs. Most of my seeds are from Johnnys Seeds and this year I ordered bulbs from Swan Island Dahlias. Here are a few of the new dahlias and seeds that I ordered this year.

September Morn

Amber Queen

Queen Lime Orange Zinnia

Costa Mix Snapdragons

I am still hoping to get an order into Floret for some seeds. This is such a great website. It has been fun to follow them as their business has grown. Very inspiring.

Venues

I have another place that I am going to bringing my fresh cut flowers. It is right here in our small town of Delano. Red Rooster Soaps is an occasional shop that just opened in December. Exciting stuff. Stop by and check it out next time you are in town.

Blog

As for my blog, I am going to try hard and post at least once a week. If I don’t have time to ramble I will just post pictures of what is going on around here.

Little video

Sometimes things just take you by surprise. My oldest daughter sent this to me yesterday! I was so surprised to get it. What a fun gift. Thanks Erica.

It is such a good recap of my first year. I am looking forward to next year. I hope she will do another video for me.

5 Reason to give your Mom flowers

Every year I wonder what I should get my mom and mom in law for Mothers Day. Every year I think flowers. It feels like it goes hand in hand doesn’t it? I put together a little note on 5 reasons to give your mom flowers. There is a lot of history in flowers! Interesting. Who knew?

LANGUAGE

Flowers speak their own language. Certain flowers mean certain things. Example, a rose means love and lilies are said to mean purity and grace. Here is a list of other flower meanings. It has been found that flowers have been dug up in ancient graves. They have a ceremonial meaning. They are also a way of communicating without saying anything out loud. Mother’s Day makes up for about 24% of the cut flowers sold in the USA. That is quite a number of flowers!!

THERAPUTIC

Flowers make you feel good and lift your spirits. According to a study done by Rutgers University, people who received flowers felt good almost immeditly. In every case, the recipients responded to the flowers with a heartfelt smile.

MEMORIES

Flowers bring back memories. Remember handing Mom a beautiful bouquet of freshly picked dandilions from the backyard. If you were to ask most women they would be able to tell you when they last received flowers from someone. Who they were from and why.

BEAUTY

Cut flowers are beautiful. When you have a bouquet sitting on your table or desk you take a moment however brief to stop and reflect the color and shape. They scent of the cut flowers is also another reason for flowers beauty.

EMOTIONS

Flowers are a gift that expresses feelings. They communicate human emotion. If for some reason you are feeling down and your loved one brings you a bouquet of sweet smelling flowers you feel that persons love. When I am the one giving the flowers I feel like I am giving love.

I have loved flowers since I was a little girl. I remember being about 10 yrs old and trying to dig up the weeds in the back corner of our yard for my flower bed. I think about that and smile. So when I think about what to give for Mother’s Day, I smile and think “flowers”