And so it begins...

Since we don't yet have beautiful flowers to show you, we thought you might like to share in our view (until they build homes behind our house) and our gorgeous sunsets... perhaps next year we will have dahlias in these colors...

It may not look like much, but our little seedlings are starting to sprout.  It's been 2 weeks and we've had some near-freezing weather overnight and I thought all was lost.... but... there is life under those row covers!  The Love-in-a-Mist is starting to sprout, as is the Dill, the Larkspur, the Bupleurum... no Poppies and no Rudbeckia yet.

We also finally got the second bed amended and planted with clover... I'll check on that tomorrow but it was already looking promising just a couple of days in.  We are also supposed to have some pretty warm temperatures this week so as long we can keep everything watered, I think we have a chance of having some plants come early spring!

Right now our watering system consists of my watering can (first Mother's Day gift a few years ago) filled by one of our two rain barrels.  This may not be the most sustainable system going forward so we are going to look into installing irrigation drip tape hooked up to our rain barrels at least by Spring.

We also have sent in our first soil samples and should get results by the end of the week.  Then we'll know what we need to do now and/or in the Spring to make sure we grow the best flowers we possibly can.

In the interim, I've been drooling over the Floret website and have been especially inspired by the stories of urban flower farming on tiny little plots of land:  http://www.floretflowers.com/2015/04/small-space-flower-farming-part-1/

It makes me think that we can do so much more on our 1/3 acre (which also includes the house).  Now I just need time at home to dig more beds... good news on that front is that my work location is moving closer to home so I will get about an hour back a day!  So excited!

Meanwhile, my perennial beds are expanding even more.  My aunt and uncle brought out some more plants and I'm hopeful that we will see them come back next year.  And so it begins...

First Hardy Annual Bed Planted... and Other Tasks Accomplished in 15 Minute Increments

I should mention that we've also read The Flower Farmer's Year by Georgie Newberry.  In this book she mentions that flower farming CAN be done in 15 minute increments and while you have children at home - 15 minutes to weed a 3'x10' bed, 15 minutes to plant a few perennials, 15 minutes to bring in your first harvest.  I'm taking this to heart and am already starting to see that it is true.

It sounds obvious (or too good to be true), that just tackling a little bit at a time WILL add up.... especially when trying to dig a new flower bed and I get three shovelfuls in and have to take off my boots and go inside because the kids didn't actually stay down for their nap... but.... look at what all we've done.

Mike got the first 3'x10' annual bed dug out ...

and I topped it with compost and fertilizer, planted seeds directly in the ground and covered with a row cover.  We've been watering every evening and are hopeful we'll see something other than weed seeds pop up in the next week or so.

Also, I finally got the first tiny perennial bed dug and planted with transplants from my Aunt Barbara's garden.  So excited to see these come back next year - peonies, russian sage, lilies, echinacea, artemesia, and iris!  In digging the perennial bed, I uncovered a water problem... too much water.

So I dug a trench all the way to the fenceline to drain the water out.  I then mounded the bed with at least 5 layers of compost and horse manure and hopefully have it raised and amended well-enough that those peonies won't have wet feet.... only time will tell.

We still have a lot of work to do:  finish the trench, cart away the sod and dig two more 3'x10' annual beds and plant with clover, plant spring bulbs... slowly but surely we will get it all done.