How amazing is September? Golden dreams, shiny days, there never was a cloudy day. Just the best, you know?
I want to start right off the bat this month and say the hugest THANK YOU to everyone who came out to the Old Town General Store this month for our very first designing class in the courtyard! We had the time of our life drinking tea, being silly, and talking seriously about floral design and the importance and difference that local blooms can make. Everyone did a wonderful job on the arrangements, and we couldn’t have asked for a nicer day to enjoy locally grown flowers and good company. We are looking forward to a holiday class and many more learning opportunities in the future!
Another big thanks goes out to friend of the farm Cassie, who came out to pick up some flowers, enjoy some company, and take some gorgeous pictures of our space. She has an incredible perspective for flowers and photography, and both are highly appreciated here!
In more personal news, we saw a niece born, a sister married, and had a quiet celebration of our tenth anniversary. We loaded up the delivery cars for an out of town wedding in the woods and danced all night long after working hard all day (don’t worry, we requested some Whitney and some Earth, Wind & Fire). Surrounding all of that was the chaos that the farm life provides. A cow got loose (and put back, twice), I cut my finger deeply on my harvest knife (fine now, and I know better), and the stove needed replacing (never fun but so important). And woven through it all was the constant harvest, processing, and arranging of our flowers. Flowers to send to mom and baby, flowers to commemorate a special day, or a union of two families. Flowers that are intricately tied to this very exact moment in September. Like sunnies that we specifically planted to bloom a certain week that arrived early, got cut, went into the fridge, and were happily rehydrated when thir time came around. These “White Lite” sunflowers were spurred on by the high temps and clear, sunny skies to come out a little early. Suns are great at being stored in the fridge, if you cut them early enough and give them a large fresh cut and flower food when you rehydrate. These babies were happily dancing at the wedding with us!
This time last year we were already receiving frosts, and the garden was down for the count. We are lucky to see another week or so of good forecasts before everything is wrapped up again for the season. With another wedding under our belt this month, we have one last big one lied up for our event season, filled with the most gorgeous local dahlias. Then it’s on to the lovely intimate orders of Autumn and Winter holidays. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it a million times more- September is THE month for local flowers here. Every bloom we get from our local farmers, like Michelle down the road at Shell Gardens in Morrice, has been of such a ridiculously high quality. Like these double lisianthus she grew, which we used for a woodsy wedding! You just can’t order in that kind of beauty. But you can order in a couple “Quicksand” roses, which are a pretty dreamy compliment!
I know deep down that Fall is really here. Pumpkin spice is back on the menu, I’m craving a good chili, and I’ve had to pull out my favorite old cardigan from under the bed. Our next wedding is full of rusty reds and oranges and all kinds of dried grasses. I know I need to disconnect the hoses, take down the greenhouse, and cut spent sunflower stalks. But I am just never ready to let gardening season go. Once the frost hits, I’ll hustle and wrap everything up in a whirlwind of activity that makes me feel like a squirrel storing nuts (which reminds me, we need to harvest the hazel nuts...), but until then, I intend to soak up every bit of sun.
Happy Fall, friends.
Jamie
FMFE
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