Happy 2021 to you! We have been enjoying some down time over the past few weeks and it has been a wonderful respite. We hope that you and yours have enjoyed some safe and healthy time with your loved ones too.
January is one of my favorite months. I love the quiet time after the holidays. The decorations are put away and there is a clean slate to work with.
For the farm, it is a month for planning for the year ahead. While the early spring blooms are already in process, the summer and fall are wide open at the moment. Most summer annuals take 90 days to mature, so dreams and concepts have to become solid plans by March but it is great to luxuriate in considering the possibilities for now.
The planning process involves a lot of reading and reflection. Here are a few of my favorite books on various subjects related to growing and using fresh cut flowers. I hope you see something that inspires you.
1. Floret Farm's Cut Flower Garden: Grow, Harvest, and Arrange Stunning Seasonal Blooms
If you are a beginning flower gardener and want to start with just one book, this first book by Erin Benzakein at Floret Farm has a little bit of everything.
2. Floret Farm's A Year in Flowers: Designing Gorgeous Arrangements for Every Season
If you want to see ideas on how to use flowers in more natural styles, Erin’s second book is a great reference. This book gives examples of arrangements by season and shows the elements used in great detail.
3. Cultivated: The Elements of Floral Style by Christin Gaell
For beautiful examples of floral design in pictures and some essays on the creative process I haven’t found a better book than Cultivated.
4. Dirt To Soil: One Family's Journey Into Regenerative Agriculture by Gabe Brown
This is a very readable book about how one family transformed their farm practices from working against nature to working with nature for a healthier successful outcome.
5. The Lean Farm: How to Minimize Waste, Increase Efficiency, and Maximize Value and Profits with Less Work by Ben Hartman
I read this every year. This is essentially a book on process improvement. Based on the principals of the Japanese auto industry, Ben shows how he has applied the concepts to his small farm.
Do you have any favorite cut flower related books? I’d love to hear about them!
May You Be Blessed with a Happy and Healthy 2021,
Linda
P.S. Since some of you have asked, we will be opening the subscription shop by the end of the month. Stay tuned for more updates!