March 2024 on the Farm – “In like a lion, out like a lamb”

March is the most precarious month of the year at the flower farm. The days are getting longer, flowers planted in the fall are starting to grow again and temperatures fluctuate between 32 to 80. Weather watching is critical to protecting the plants until the temperatures smooth out in April.

This year, our winter has been relatively mild. We have not experienced the kind of cold snaps that can wipe out early spring crops. So tender young growth can be seen on most of the crops. This past week, we had temperatures up to 80, unusually high for this time of year. We had to cover our cool season plants with shade cloth so they don’t get the idea it is time for them to go dormant. Monday night, we are supposed to have a low of 32 degrees, which is cold enough to damage new growth if left unprotected. So, on Monday, the shade cloth comes off and the frost cloth goes back on. This is the dance of early season flower farming.  It is a challenge, but one I wouldn’t trade for anything. We need these spring flowers to kick our endorphins back into gear after the long nights and short days of winter!

Despite the challenges of March weather, we’re enjoying good harvests so far. Early Spring subscriptions have started up and are filled with tulips, daffodils, anemone, hellebore, hyacinth, amaryllis and poppies. Next week, ranunculus will also be included.  

Next Up, Peonies!

 Looking out a few weeks, the next big crop is peonies. Some are just coming out of the ground, but Coral Sunset is up and in bud! The coral peonies are the earliest to bloom on our farm.

Coral Sunset and Kansas are two varieties that are three years old now, so this is the first year we can cut any blooms from them. Peony roots need two full years of no blooms in order to establish a healthy root system that can support a plant that can live 30 years or more. Even this year, the quantities will be small. We will not cut all of the blooms produced. Instead, we will deadhead about half of them so continue to get large root systems established. Peonies are a long game plant. Their rewards increase over time.

Spring Gardening?

Are you sprucing up your spring garden? We have a lot of Muscari ready to go. Grown in sterile soil, these can be used indoors or outside. $2/ 2inch pot of three bulbs. Fun to add these to pots or in the front of the garden border. They come back every year and are one of the earliest bloomers. Contact us if you would like some. Farm pickup can be scheduled or if you have a flower subscription, we can drop these off at your door with your next delivery.

Looking for Inspiration?

The Art Blossoms Event at the Columbia Museum of Art is a community event full of flowers. This year the event is being held March 21-24.  Garden Clubs from around the state are assigned an art work and they create an arrangement inspired by the work. Creativity at its best. General admission is $10 and so worth it! There are lots of other special events that you can sign up for too.

We wish you a flower-filled spring,

Linda

This Blueberry Season Make Some Blueberry Basil Sorbet

We grow blueberries at the farm, though not enough to sell. Some years, when the late freeze hits while the bushes are blooming, we get very few berries. Other years, like this one, the bushes are full of berries.  When we have a good year and the berries are plentiful, I like to make Blueberry Basil Sorbet.

Years ago, I first tasted this delicious desert at Ristorante Divino in Columbia. (The restaurant has since closed). While this is not their recipe, it tastes very much like the refreshing end to the meal I had there.

If you don’t have your own blueberries to harvest, the season was good here in Columbia and there are many available to purchase.  You may even want to visit Dolce Vita Farms in Eastover to harvest your own.

(https://www.facebook.com/dolcevitafarm/)

If all else fails, or blueberries are out of season, you can use frozen blueberries.

 Ingredients (makes about 1 quart)

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup water

Pinch of Kosher salt

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

½ cup fresh basil leaves (be sure that the stems have not started to bloom, as this can make the basil taste bitter)

¼ cup prosecco

1 teaspoon lemon juice

3 pints fresh blueberries (frozen berries will also work)

Step 1

Combine water, sugar, salt and vinegar in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat, add the basil leaves and simmer for 1 minute. Remove from heat and let syrup steep for 30 minutes. Pour the syrup through a sieve to remove the basil solids.

Step 2

Puree the blueberries in a food processor. (Pour them through a sieve to remove any solids if you prefer a smooth texture). Add the syrup, prosecco, lemon juice to the berries and blend everything together.

 Step 3

Pour the final solution into an ice cream maker and churn until solid.

Behind the Scenes at Columbia Art Museum’s Art Blossoms Event

Note: This article will be easier to read in a browser due to the number of photos. See link at the bottom of the email.

Before the Art Blossoms event, I had never experienced building a large floral installation. It was a construction project that turned buckets of fresh flowers and greenery into a sculptural art form. Since the elements are perishable, it could not be started too early.  The result had to be ready for a reception on Wednesday evening and keep looking fresh through Sunday, Mother’s Day.

Planning had been underway for months before the event. Ann Holtschlag, museum docent and coordinator of all garden club exhibits for Art Blossoms, invited me to discuss the possibilities with Joelle Ryan-Cook, CMA Deputy Director. After some brainstorming, we agreed that I would do a talk on Cutting Gardens. Joelle was also going to follow up with Julianne Sojourner, Floral Designer and Event Planner, about using our flowers for her installation. Julianne agreed, so we were on. Julianne also did a large arrangement demonstration after my talk on Cutting Gardens

Julianne Sojourner

Wilson Bame

For the installation, construction began on Tuesday. All elements had to be brought in from the loading dock. As you can imagine, security is high, but we were expected and helping hands came to greet us. Wilson Bame, CMA Manager of Engagement was there to help and to ensure that we had what we needed.

Julianne, center, and her team, Lizzie(l) and Lynn(r)

Julianne and her team got to work on the structural support for the display.  In the background the CMA team was getting the stage ready for our presentations.  Chicken wire was wrapped around the beam and held in place with bungee cords. Julianne attached the top end of the chicken wire to a light fixture using zip ties so it would not slide as flowers were added.

With the foundation in place, some of the greenery and branches were added.  These are items that don’t need a lot of water to stay fresh.  Set up for the table arrangements and bud vases was also done. This was all the preparation we could do on Tuesday.

On Wednesday morning, Julianne’s team continued to work while I went to the farm to work with the farm crew there and to get more flowers. When I got back around noon, much progress had been made. Tammy had joined Julianne’s team and had most of the table arrangements ready.  Bud vases were also done.

The large display was really taking shape, but there was still work to be done. Oasis in Lomey bowls was used to provide water for the items on the floor and work continued.  Julianne invited me to add flowers to the display too. This was fun but I could see that I need more practice to work at the speed others could already do, so for the remainder I prepared flowers and put them into water picks (tubes of water for each stem) so the experts could work as quickly as possible.

From left to right – Julianne, Tammy, me, Lizzie and Lynn.

At last, we were done and the room really looked great. Such a fun experience for me, and a great team to work with.

One final note : This was just one of many exhibits that were set up and on display for Art Blossoms. Kudos to the CMA team and all those who contributed to the event. If you have never been, I hope this will encourage you to go next year and see the results of all the creative energy that goes into this event.

For the community and by the community, it helps provide funds for the programs at the museum. General admission tickets were $15 this year, $5 for museum members. Extra events were also offered and priced separately.  

Update on Our Fall Plantings

I am happy to report that the fall plantings are coming along very well. Everything has recovered from the December deep freeze and we’re seeing the first buds and blooms on the earliest varieties. March is only 34 days away and by then we should be cutting ranunculus, tulips, narcissus, poppies and anemone for our early spring bouquets.

Here are a few examples of how things look now and how they will look soon (based on last year’s activity). I hope this brightens your day! Linda

The anemones have started to bloom! They start with very short stems but after cutting a couple of times they get long enough to use in bouquets. The left photo is from last week. The other two are from last year, after they get further along.

This is a poppy in bud in our hoop house this year (left). Poppies are one of the earliest things to bloom at the farm. We grow an Italian variety that has extra-long stems and larger flowers. We plant pastel colors that we like to have in Spring.

Our crate-grown tulips are really coming along. Most of these will bloom in March but some in April too. The one shown is Apricot Impression from last year. It is among the first to bloom. We’re growing some new varieties this year, so I don’t have pictures of everything.

The delphinium is also coming along well. The left photo is the hoop house this January. The two on the right are from last year and show where we are headed! This usually starts to bloom in the second half of March.

The campanula looks great this year. It likes cold weather. This one will bloom in April, and what a show! The left photo is this year. The 2 blooms photos are from last year. Campanula is best grown under cover. The bell shaped flowers capture all the rain and it can be damaging to the blooms.

Come on Spring!

Final Fall Notes and A Holiday Event!

The dahlias ended their bloom period with an early frost in the middle of October. It is always a bittersweet time because the flowers are so beautiful that we hate to see them go, but their end means that we can shift our focus to our bulb sale and the work needed to prepare for spring.

Once we shift gears and begin this work in earnest, we make a lot of progress on tasks that have to wait until this time of year. Soil tests are done in the fall and beds are amended accordingly before planting begins.

Most of our early season blooms are either direct seeded or planted as small plants, aka plugs, that grow into their space. We are actively working in 78 4x8 beds and working on adding a few more.  

Irrigation is also checked for needed repairs while the beds are empty or contain seedlings. It is much easier to see any issues now.

Nigella aka Love in a Mist

As of today, we have gotten all of the cold hardy annuals in place. These are things like Larkspur, Nigella, Bachelor Buttons, Orlaya and Saponaria. The rain we have been getting has really helped with seed germination so things are shaping up nicely so far.

Tuberose

Perennials that have been in place for three years typically need to be divided. You can tell if they stop or slow down producing blooms. Yarrow and Echinacea were done last week.  Phlox and Tuberose are on the list for early spring.

Fall is also a great time to plant shrubs and trees. We planted a new hydrangea hedge that I am thrilled to finally have in place. We also planted a pussy willow which was rooted from some of our early spring bouquet material.

The spring bulbs are also in progress. Narcissus has all been planted. The anemone and ranunculus are being soaked and rooted for planting in early December.

So, these last four weeks have been very busy. Our early spring subscription season looks very promising.

Next, we are going to be on vacation for a couple of weeks. This time to see friends and family is something we have really been looking forward to.

A New Event at the Farm

After vacation, it will be great to focus on the current holiday season!

On December 1st from 10:00am – 1:00 pm, we are going to host a holiday market at the farm and you are invited!

We will be doing demonstrations on how to grow Paperwhites and Amaryllis.

We will have amaryllis and paperwhites available for sale as bulbs, forcing kits and ready to go decorations. These make great gifts too.  If you have a container that you want to use, bring it and we can help you get it planted.

We will also have Angel Wing Begonia, which is a wonderful houseplant, yarrow for planting in your garden and a few other surprises.

Mary Ann Adams from One Hubcap farm will also be there with her beautiful fresh wreaths.

So take a break and come on out to the farm for your holiday greenery. We would love to see you!

Updates From The Farm

Since it has been awhile since I posted anything, I wanted to let you know what we have been up to!

I hope that you have enjoyed the long cool spring as much as I did! In addition to delivering our spring subscriptions, we’ve been taking advantage of the cool weather all season to get extra projects done at the farm.

Spring Subscriptions

This year we were able to start the spring subscriptions in March, earlier than in years past. Everyone is tired of winter by then and it has been our goal to get flowers to people as early in the year as possible. We added some new flowers to our bouquets, including several new specialty tulips and ranunculus in several colors.

Masks and hand sanitizer were de rigeur on subscription delivery days!

We are wrapping up the final deliveries this week. With Covid in our midst, we all seemed to appreciate the beauty of fresh flowers a little bit more this year. Since we had to be extra careful with the drop offs, I still haven’t seen some of our new subscription holders in person! I hope to be able to meet you as conditions improve.  

Thanks to all of you for a wonderful spring season!

The new barn/studio

On-Farm Projects

As you may know, we are transforming the old barn into a new barn/studio. We will have a walk-in cooler for the flowers along with a large work area. There should be room for small gatherings inside, but there is also a large covered porch on the front where we can gather when the weather is agreeable. We’re looking forward to holding some classes/workshops there in the future. I expect that we will have this ready before the summer is over.

The salvage tarp is used to kill the grass where the new beds will go without using pesticides. Darkness and heat can do the job.

We added a shade bed for plants that require little sun. Hellebores and ferns have been planted there and a few other things will be added in the fall. These will be ready for use late winter of 2021.

We are also working on some new beds that will be covered by a new hoop house in the fall. A hoop house is an unheated green house. This will allow us to grow flowering plants over the winter in conditions that will make them bloom over the winter. We’re hoping to have flowers ready by Valentine’s Day 2020.

Hello Summer!

First real warm-season harvest.

Summer temperatures and humidity have arrived! We have been turning the beds and planting more heat-loving summer flowers and foliage.  Our warm season favorites are finally getting the conditions they need to thrive.  Zinnias, celosia, cosmos, dahlias, rudbeckia, sunflowers and lisianthus are some of what is coming on now.

We are also trying some new warm season growers – alstroemeria, lavatera, bee balm, jewels of opar and Greek oregano. We will see how they do in our heat and humidity!

Where to Find us This Summer

1.   You can pick up our flowers at the Lake Carolina Farmers Market or contact us through the website www.purpletuteur.com or through our facebook page to place a special order.

2.   I am also working with one of my classmates from Clemson’s New and Beginning Farmer Program to make flowers available at the Soda City Market when it opens again. Once I have the specifics on this booth location, I will send an update out.

3.   We also offer bouquets at B79 in Blythewood as flower capacity allows. Follow us on Instagram for announcement of pop-up sales at B79.

4.   A few other discussions are underway in an effort to make farm fresh flowers available to you, so stay tuned!

What’s Next?

We have had several requests for a fall subscription offering. We are looking at this now. Certainly, with the prospect of a second wave of Covid 19 in the fall, this may be the best way to get flowers to everyone safely. We will be looking at the feasibility for this over the summer.

Finally, I want to thank you all for your continued interest and support in our small farm. It is our pleasure to bring you fresh blooms and to make you smile. In these challenging times, everyone can use a little joy.

Linda

Transitioning From Fall to Winter

Fall can be a very busy time on a flower farm and ours is no exception.

This year, we had a long, warm fall that let us keep cutting dahlias and zinnias into November.

Behind the scenes, we were busy turning the existing beds, adding new beds, sowing seeds and planting bulbs for the spring crops. It is really important to get this done so that we can bring you flowers as early as possible in the new year.  All the beds have been covered with frost cloth to protect the plants through the winter.  We have added new varieties and colors to our offerings and are excited to share them with you next spring!

In addition to getting those flowers to market, we offered holiday amaryllis and paperwhites for the first time. Hopefully, some of you are seeing yours in bloom about now!

As we are now officially in winter, we have wrapped all that up and can turn our attention to family and friends! We are happily taking a break while the cold weather sets in and will be unavailable until January 6th.

This has been a great year on the farm and we are so very grateful for all of your support. We could not do it without you!

Wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday season and the happiest new year!

Linda