Good morning everyone! What a chilly week we are having here in the Berkshires. I thought that I would be excited to have a taste of real winter, but turns out what I really wanted was some snow. I guess we will take what we can get, perhaps some ice skating is in order!
Most of the farm is still very frozen, but we do have a couple of exciting updates: we started the first seeds of the season! Eucalyptus takes 150 days from seed to maturity, so we start it now in order to harvest it for bouquets and weddings in August. We also have our ranunculus and anemones started! These spring favorites start out as corms, which are similar to a tuber or a bulb but smaller. Because corms are not frost hardy, we can't overwinter them even in the hoophouse. Instead, we pre-sprout the ranunculus and anemones inside and plant them in the hoophouse after a few weeks, and then cover them with frost protection as an added layer of protection. By early May we should be rolling in blooms!
In addition to starting seeds, we have also been using the last of our dried flower materials to make some sweet Valentine's Day treats for folks who want to plan a date night at home! On our online store you can now find a selection of everlasting boutonnieres and bowties to make your date night feel fancy, even if you're at home. Pictured above is one of our bowties on Meg, and to the right is a set of our boutonnieres.
We also have a couple of very special vases available for sale from friend of the farm John Kildahl from Williamstown. Each vase is hand thrown and comes with a dried flower arrangement from materials grown on the farm. Proceeds from the sale of the vases is donated to the Stockbridge-Munsee Language Program. Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Stay warm!
