A sprinkling of fairy dust
Hello!
Whoa! 11F in the morning! Did we really have the sunblock out and the back doors open last week? Yes, indeed, this is what spring is like atop the Eastern Continental Divide.
To be honest, I think we all knew or had heard it was coming. The bright, clear, starry night sky and the grass feeling a little crisp at bedtime pretty much confirmed it. (Daisy’s bedtime ritual is mine as well.) Still, sunny blue skies early in the morning can be a bit deceptive.
What gives the game away is the frosty silver sparkle and shimmer on the grasses in the wildlife refuge. I see them out the window as I sit up in bed. I love the dazzle coming from all directions. Nature’s fairy dust! Just too beautiful. As the sun and morning coffee warm things up, the twinkling gently recedes. Fleeting and enchanting, until it’s as if it was never there. My photography skills cannot do this beauty justice. (So I’ll just show off some of the daffodil harvest instead.)
Thankfully, this time I could enjoy, rather than lament, the enchantment. I had anticipated a cool spell. I harvested what was ready, then put the frost cover back on to protect the overwintered plantings and the forming daffodil blooms.
This is all part of getting through the up-and-down temperatures of an Appalachian spring – doing what I can to stretch the season a bit, aka “season extension.” It can get quite extensive and costly. But I think that by now we are all feeling the urge to get things going. For this flower farmer, in these early years, it is fairly low-tech: weather apps, frost cloth and keeping an eye on the night skies. The fancier stuff will come in its good time. Still, it is already totally worth it to have blooms and herbs!
I am happy to report that I have confirmed two sites for Canaan Valley Flower Company to set up farm stands: one in Canaan Valley, a second in Thomas. I’m headed to the Rubenstein Center next week to meet with the woodworking class about building the stands. I’m still scouting a convenient, cost-effective spot in Davis. My goal is to make it easier for you to buy fresh flowers and herbs locally. These will be self-serve stands using e-money and an honor system, open and restocked 3–4 days a week.
In the meantime, this weekend I’ll be at the Bridal Expo in Canaan Valley State Park. Thanks to some generous flash funding from Woodlands Development and Lending, my booth will be sporting a lovely new pop-up banner, as well as those season-has-begun daffodils I harvested, hellebores, and some lovely fragrant eucalyptus.
Let there be flowers!
Lizz
PS – Thanks to those of you who bought some daffodils last week. I hope they brightened your weekend!