We began flower farming and designing in 2013, the same year we gave birth to our first child. Our small family farm business, relationship, parenting and just simply living the good life are inextricably interconnected. Farming is an ongoing process that has different parts and activities related to each season of the year, and our family life ebbs and flows with that process. The spring and summer planting, harvest and design season are so very intense with early mornings and late nights and working when the sun and rain allow us. The fall and winter seasons slow down a little, but hold their own essential activities and intensity. There are some truths to the beautiful idealistic farming lifestyle myth, but often the reality is that we have to try just as hard as everyone else to slow down, be present and step out of the rat race. The truth and the beauty is that we have chosen to do what we love and we get to be together as a family a lot, all day, everyday. 

This is the story of our family flower farm, week by week. This blog was available for our CSA members last season, but this year we'd like to welcome all interested readers. Thanks for being here.

Our 2015 story really began in November as we were wrapping up 2014. Good planning is an essential piece of farming and the last couple of months have been spent huddled over our computers and seed catalogs, ordering the best researched supplies, seeds, bulbs and figuring out how we'll fit ALL THESE FLOWERS in our rented two half acre fields and hoop house space. We also have detailed greenhouse, field and hoop house plans. 

December and January are also a time of respite and re-connection for our family, and we've taken a few little trip adventures and spent a lot of time doing our favorites: making and eating good food, and snuggling on the couch eating popcorn. It's been lovely. 

And now, we're back at it, my friends! Yesterday we began seeding, the symbolic and literal beginning of an exciting season of flower-growing. Seeding tiny sweet little flower seeds. 8000 of 'em to be precise.We started flowers to be planted in the hoop house and field at the end of April. We put lisianthus, snapdragon, sweet pea, sweet william, delphinium, foxglove, bells of ireland and a few other seeds in the soil. Oh it did feel good. Amanda volunteered her seeding service, and some good conversation, the greenhouse was warm and bright and the dirt smelled good.

Mostly I use the hand vibrating seeder which is speedy fast, and seed into these trays that we call 288s because they have 288 little seed cells. These pelleted (coated with a wax so you can actually see them because they're so teeny tiny) seeds are so darn slippery that we hand-seeded them. They will sit on the top of the soil until they germinate as they need light to germinate. As you can see, I'm very serious about seeding. :)

Misty mornings. We mist our seeds oh so gently so as not to wash them away until they germinate, then bottom water to prevent build up from minerals in the water and soil on the top of the seed cells. 

The soil is a balmy 80 degrees. That's vermiculite on top of the soil to hold moisture and aid drainage.

Soon to be beautiful orange snapdragons.

The fruit of our labor. Can you see the fields of flowers?

Air temp is almost 60. Not bad when it's 5 below outside. We've built mini greenhouses with hoops and plastic inside the big greenhouse over heat mats to keep soil temperature consistent.

So here we go. Humble Pie Farm flower season 3. Many great, beautiful things start really small. This little dream of ours has grown. Our flowers, our toddler, our knowledge and love of flower farming all have grown as we enter our third year. Our love and appreciation for nature and its abundance has grown. Our trust and respect for and reliance on each other has grown. Were we really married just four years ago?! 

It all begins with little seeds in fertile ground.

Thanks for joining our journey.

Jennifer, Mike and Earl
Humble Pie Farm

This is the end, my friends. Isn't that a song? Nothing ever really ends, it just rolls into something else. And in four short months we'll be hustling propane in that greenhouse while we try to keep the babies thriving. Whew. We'll just not think about that right now.

This year, this year...I can't think of all of it without a surge of emotion. So much has happened. So many doors have opened, and some have closed. So much learning. So much abundance. I guess the following story sums up my feeling.

I went to have my biannual haircut last week. My hair stylist is a young woman named Nicole who really just says it like she sees it. I appreciate that. Anyway, she asked how the season had gone and we were chatting about it a little, then she summed it all up with these words. 

"I mean, what's not to love? Not many people just get to play in their garden all day!" 

I just laughed and sighed and said, "You're totally right." 

Okay, there's more to it, certainly. But the essence is that we get to play with flowers for about thirty weeks of the year counting seeding and greenhouse work. What's not to love? 

And you, dear members, make it possible by valuing beauty and beneficial insects and healthy soil and I'll just say it, a better world, enough to invest your hard-earned money. That's something. Thanks. Also, I've received a number of little love notes, some with photos of your flowers in your homes, and boy do they make me happy. Thanks so much for sharing. It makes it so much more worth it.

Kale flowers, ornamental peppers and the lovely eucalyptus this last week. Enjoy! Have a wonderful winter. Hope to see you next year.

xoxo
Jennifer, Mike & Earl

It's the second to last week, or the last for those who receive a share biweekly, dear members. Hope you and yours are well. We are too. 

I was hoping to make you all wreaths for the last week, but my sweet annie didn't dry as I'd hoped, and I only have enough broom corn for our fall ornamental orders. So, flowers to the blessed end it is. And they are pretty. It's amazing how they've bounced back from the frost and the plants are just putting out some beautiful blooms. Maybe they know the end is near. A note about the fall ornamentals for those of you who ordered...I'd hoped to add some more fun stuff, but said fun stuff didn't grow as well as I'd hoped, so I sent you wreaths and fun specialty pumpkins and gourds. I'm pretty happy with how the wreaths have turned out, and hope you like them too.

This week's favorite is broom corn. It smells good, it's pretty, and it can be functional, you know, for making brooms. It's actually sorghum, a sweet heirloom grain. It's just so fallish.

This week's happy bouquets.

And for our friends at Tait Subler.

Now that we're slowing down a little we have more time for things like...

Papa's beautiful and delicious bread. Food tastes better when it looks good.

Throwing rocks in "da tweet" (the creek).

Enjoy these beautiful days, too!

Until next week,

J,M&E

Hello dear members! It's been another full week. I'm a few days late on the blog because well, it's been another full week. We were all feeling a little under the weather all week, and on Tuesday I decided that Earl and I needed a little getaway. We rented a cabin in William O'Brien State Park for Wednesday evening and threw a whole lot of rocks in the St. Croix River. It was just what we needed. 

This week was our last co-op delivery. Sniff. Our retail mixed bouquets have become an essential piece of our small farm business. It was hard to let go, even though we look forward to a break and reflection to plan for next year. We have delivered twice each week to the Seward Co-op, and once a week to the Wedge. The Seward will always be our first, beloved retail account. They have a beautiful, exceptional floral department under the talented care of Cindy, the floral manager. She has been a resource, guide, and new friend this season. We've learned so much during the last 16 weeks, and felt so grateful for this valued relationship supporting our growth. 

Wholefoods came to visit the farm last week, and we co-toured with Gardens of Eagan to show them what we're growing and selling down here. They were really excited, really positive and really supportive. We're working on the application process and planning to sell flowers to them next year. If you haven't been to Wholefoods and checked out their floral departments, try it sometime. They have beautifully marketed and cared for flowers. It's so awesome that they're actively looking for local farmers. We've loved our retail relationships with the Seward and Wedge Co-ops this season, and look forward to spreading the local, soon-to-be certified organic flower love! That's right, we're starting the process to certify our flowers in spring 2015. So excited to be on the cusp of a movement!

Organic certification, new accounts, next year's weddings, and field planning and seed ordering for next year! Whew. So much to be grateful for and look forward to. This is the third to last week of your share, dear members. The flowers have rallied after the frost. Even many of the zinnias that were nipped are doing their best to bloom again. Nature gives us frequent continual lessons in resiliency and making the best of what we have. In your bouquets are more lilies, celosia, and sweet annie. 

Loving the dusty miller and eucalyptus combo. The more I learn, the more I realize how much I love green. And simplicity. In life and design. :)

Hope you've had a wonderful week, dear members.

J,M&E

We had a good bit of frost last Friday. Much was damaged and some are gone. I was out of sorts all day on Friday and realized that evening that I just wasn't ready to say goodbye. I love our flowers, and have spent a lot (A LOT!) of time with them. They have been loyal, beautiful friends this summer. There is an intimacy in growing plants. You prepare a home, plant a seed, hope for germination, celebrate germination, tend the plant like the baby it is, prepare a new home, transplant, tend the transplant like the baby it is, celebrate growth. Most of all, HOPE for a bountiful, beautiful harvest, and celebrate and relish it when it comes. Mourn (and berate yourself a little) if it doesn't. The full impact of that intimacy hit me on Friday. I took a series of selfies trying to capture my feeling, and the field, and the sunset.

Really, this was the best one.

Now it's warm again. Today was possibly the most beautiful fall day ever. A touch warm, maybe, but so lovely. We have flowers for your CSA bouquets, but we're done with the co-ops next week. It's bittersweet like all good things in life. This season has been so intense for us. Early mornings, late nights, toddlerhood, powdery mildew, dahlias. I'm going to learn how to grow dahlias so help me. We are glad to slow down. Sad to let go of this season. I love making bouquets. Truth be told, I'm a little tired of harvesting flowers. But I can make flower bouquets and arrangements all day everyday. And I will miss it all.

Anyway, dear members, we have lilies and lisianthus in the caterpillar, gourds and small pumpkins curing in the greenhouse, and sweet annie, eucalyptus and broom corn drying for wreaths. I'm looking forward to trying my hand at some Thanksgivingish wreaths. If they turn out well, I'll send you all one with your last share bouquet.

We had a wedding this week. Here is a bouquet.

And a corsage.

Have a wonderful week!

Our best,

J,M&E

Brrr! We took out some winter clothes today and bundled up for our morning walk about. Windy, and very cool. The forecast says 36 on Thursday night. That's pretty cold for our flowers, and we'll see how they hold up. The lilies and the lisianthus are in the caterpillar tunnel, so they should be comfy. 

It's been a great week!

We had a visit with Tina Smith, Mark Dayton's chief of staff and Lieutenant Governor candidate, and Beth Dooley, author of many cookbooks. We talked about the needs of small farmers. It was really cool. They asked great questions, and picked many flowers of course. Some would have taken photos. Not us. Sigh.

 We harvested gourds and munchkin and casperita pumpkins, and they're curing in the greenhouse. They are so sweet. Don't you just want to pile them on your dining room table around a beautiful lily and celosia bouquet? Lilies are coming in your bouquets this week. They will open and be a beautiful deep red as seen in the first photo. They last longer when we harvest them not yet open.

The wind is blowing hard out of the north. That's a sure sign of fall. Our spring and summer winds come mostly from the southwest. I roasted cauliflower and beets today. And I'm making soup broth right now. I love fall. I love love fall. Breathe out.

I wrote this last year and it's exactly how I'm feeling today...

One of my favorite things about farming is the observance of the seasons and the structuring our days and lives within them. Fall is the season of dying and preparing for the winter. Things slow down and the days have gotten shorter quickly. When I first began farming a few years ago, I felt sad when things started to die and we began bedding down for winter. Now I look forward to it. While it's been tricky for Mike and I not to have those early morning and late evening daylight hours for work, really, I'm relieved when we're sitting on the couch at 8:30, winding down for bed. With a few full seasons under my belt, now I love the winter practice of going slower, sleeping more, reflecting on life and planning for the future. Fall brings warm, comfort food like squash soups with sage and nutmeg. During winter, we eat hearty roasts and put-up roasted and fermented vegetables and begin to look forward to fresh things. When March gives way to April and things begin the speed up, we come out of our winter cocoons, stretch our rested, plump winter limbs and begin to work again. I crave tonic, cleansing spring greens as I welcome the flurry and momentum that builds the wave that is the farming season. Summer is the bounty of it all, and flowers are the epitome of the bounty, if you ask me!

Have a wonderful week, dear members!

Our best,
J,M&E

This morning when I dropped off the flower delivery at the Seward Co-op, the young produce employee, Andrew, greeted me like other employees have any other Tuesday or Friday in the last eleven weeks. But today he said, "Oh are these your flowers?" "Yes, I'm Jennifer of Humble Pie Farm." "They're so beautiful," he said, "I'm so glad we have them, they make this a better place to work." 

Sniff. I really did tear up in the car. My little trooper in the car seat for an hour and half was making his water bottle splash and laughing uproariously in the backseat, city traffic was city traffic, and we were delivering flowers that we grew for the eleventh week in a row. So much to be thankful for. I've replayed that exchange in my head a few times today when I needed it. It's that, kind, kind, sincere words, that makes it all worth it. I've had a few in the last week. It's such a good lesson. I feel busy and scattered right now. It's easy to say I'll pay attention later when I'm rested. I want to really pay attention now. And say aloud the kind things that I think, not just think them.

We had a lovely wedding last weekend and some nice volunteer help. Here are the bouquets.

Giant bumblebees are abuzz in the field. Love them.

Fall colors are pretty.

Oh to throw rocks in puddles. Bliss.

Happy week, dear members! You are where we start from. Your upfront investment makes our success possible. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

J,M&E