In 2020 I began to think about the stress my job was causing. I began to think about what I would do next. Did I want to go out and get my teaching license renewed and go back to teaching? That didn’t seem like the right fit at that time. Then, one evening we were watching Floret on the Discovery Network and, after growing plants, gardening, and knowing how much I loved it, I thought I’d like to try growing flowers for cutting and selling. I decided to stay home and garden and farm.
I took Floret’s online workshop, gave notice at my job, and purchased some seeds. I got books and read, planned, and started those seeds in my basement. I bought grow lights and heat mats so my plants could be happy indoors. After a few attempts at getting watering just right, which plants wanted heat mats and which didn’t, and getting my succession plan in place, I got little seedlings/sprouts! I watered and tended all winter.
When spring arrived, I put the trays of seedlings outside on our patio to “harden” or to get used to the weather, without being in it directly. After they had been out for two weeks, I planted them in their “forever home”. The next day I came out to check on them and there were goose footprints in the soil. The seedlings were either strewn about or completely missing. The Canadian geese had taste-tested my seedlings! They ate the ones they liked and dropped the others to die on the ground. I was so frustrated!
Next, I ordered “antique mums”. I thought they were lovely and they came as settled seedlings/plants. I ordered ten and planted them. A week later we had the worst spring rains we had experienced up to that point. It rained almost every day for two weeks. My mums were in standing water. They were not thrilled and all died.
Dahlias were the next to be planted. They grew wonderfully! Those tubers worked so hard, until one day, we had buds and early blooms! Dahlias and Zinnias do not continue to open once cut, unlike a rose, for example, which will continue to open and bloom in the vase, so you have to cut them at just the right time. One day we had several blooms that were just about right. I set out the next day to cut them, quite excited! However, I got to the patch of dahlias and found that our deer neighbors found them just right, as well, and ate the blooms of all of them.
Our first year did not feel like a success. It felt like failure after failure. I was down and frustrated and thought I had made a terrible choice. I sulked and watched the social media of successful flower growers. I rewatched my Floret online workshop and noted that the proprietor, Erin, said that she, too, had lost plants- hundreds if not thousands over the years, and it was all part of the learning process. That helped take some of the sting off. I resolved to make notes and plan changes for the next growing season!
Dragonfly Farm 