A Charmin’ Solution to the Bounty of Blooms
Hello!
I must admit I started this week with a bit of a personal pity party. Everywhere I turned, there seemed to be either weeds, admin or bug bites. Relentless. Daunting. Irritating. Where to start? Poor me.
There is no point debating with an inner Eeyore midseason on a flower farm. I pulled myself out of my Hundred Acre wallow and set off for my half-acre of reality. Good thing, too. Because the snapdragons, stock, and lavender had all started blooming. Harvesting beckoned.
Really, how can anyone’s stress persist when she is carrying armfuls of freshly cut lavender?
I’m thankful for those fragrant deep breaths. Because the snapdragons and stock—and foxgloves, too, for that matter—bring yet another challenge: geotropism. (Try saying that quickly three times.)
Geotropism is the way some plants respond to gravity. Once certain flowers are cut, their growing tips continue trying to point upward. Lay a snapdragon or foxglove on its side, or just let it slouch briefly in a bucket, and the stem begins to curve. It may be reaching for the sky, but the result is anything but upstanding. An awkward bend, curl, twist or hook develops at the top. Not at all helpful for the “line flowers” of the bouquet.
We humans can be reminded to “stand up straight!”, but in the plant world there is no such remedy for bad posture. Preventive measures are essential: tall buckets, narrow buckets, chicken wire, pots nestled inside buckets. I do just about anything I can devise to keep the stems upright.
I’m finding my latest hack is surprisingly effective: cardboard tubes from toilet paper and paper towels. I gather a portion of stems, like a bundle of spaghetti, slide them into a TP tube, and stand as many bundles that can fit in upright buckets of water for rehydration and storage. Voila, support!
Eventually, the soggy tubes unfurl into long brown cardboard strips resembling rather drab pappardelle. Those go into the compost. A virtuous circle and a rather charmin’ solution, if I do say so myself.
Now that the bounty of the harvest is here, my stash is dwindling, and I need your help. Please bring me your TP and paper towel tubes! I’ll set up collection points at my market stands where you can drop them off while you pick up your bouquet. It’s another way you can “Support Local Flowers”—quite literally!
I’m pleased to report that the Flower Season Pass pilot I mooted last week is underway. The inaugural passholders signed up for bouquets over the next three weeks and are helping me test a more flexible way to enjoy flowers.
The basic idea is straightforward: purchase a set number of bouquets, then choose week by week when to enjoy them. The less straightforward part—and the reason for the pilot—is building a system around that flexibility. We’re testing Wednesday text reminders, pickup choices, requests for extra or gift bouquets, and a simple way to keep track of it all.
I’ll use what I learn from the pilot to refine the details, then offer full Season Passes for the August and September blooms. More updates on this in the coming weeks.
But no need to wait for August—there are beautiful blooms to enjoy right now!
Let there be flowers!
Lizz
PS – This weekend’s Points of Sale are:
• Friday - Sunday, bud vases at Blackwater Galley in Thomas (delicious breakfasts and baked goods from 7 am - 2 pm)
• Fridays, 4:30 - 7:30 pm, Davis Farmers and Artisans Market, next to Davis Riverside Park, across from Shop’n’Save supermarket
• Friday evenings - Mondays (or until sold out) - bouquets at Stumptown Ales, Davis
• Saturdays, Canaan Valley Pop-Up, 9 am - noon, on Route 32/Appalachian Highway (by the Canaan Valley Garage)
• For custom orders or just because – contact me! hello@canaanvalleyflowerco.com