Kalvy....our special helper :)

Time for Allium!!!!

Allium Flowers are ready.....

Loading for Portland

So our next load for Portland is on its way. This is how we load the truck and this also gives you an idea of how big the bins are and how the flowers look in the bin. Much better and easier than buckets like we used to use. We take 6 bins at a time. Allan(Clints brother) is the one in the truck and Clint is driving the tractor. Allan will be driving the load to Portland with his wife Coreen. Corey loves to be a part of the action....riding on the fork lift...using the palot jack...just anything as long as he is in the middle of the action...he is going to be an amazing farmer!!!!

Eremurus picking....

So Friday we picked Eremurus. We have already sent one load to Portland so this will be our second load. Thursday we picked 2 bins and Thursday we picked 4 bins. This was all in between also picking peonies. Yes we are running ragged but realize that this only last for about 3 weeks and we can handle it that long. My back is totally good now..thanks goodness I was wondering...it survived the conditioning. We will load the truck Sunday afternoon so it can be sitting in Portland Monday morning. I will take pictures of that whole process and post tomorrow so you can see..it is pretty cool and you can see how big he bins are. Friday was really fun though even though we did a ton of work. We had a great crew and just worked fast!!

Patrick, Teresa's son is a great carrier...he always has the stems straight which makes my job incredibly easy!!! I told him he needed to hold a seminar during lunch and teach everyone how to do it. He is a great sport even though I give him a bad time (he gives me a bad time too...so don't feel sorry for him). I really enjoy joking with him and he makes work fun. He had a great time riding in the bin to hold the flowers in place when we moved the tractor a long ways in the field. It was so incredibly hot that he loved sitting in the water. I couldn't pass up the photo opp though!! Patrick we appreciate your hard work and your example in keeping the flowers straight...I do think it was rubbing off on some(KEVY BABY) by the end of the day.

Our great crew that worked hard all day. Clint promised everyone a BBQ if we could fill 4 bins. I didn't take pictures because I was so tired I didn't even think about it actually....but the BBQ was a lot of fun and great food. Working is great fun and it is fun to work with fun people. Thanks everyone for your excellent work!!

Let the PEONIES begin!!!!!

So our busiest, craziest time of the year has started. We begin by debbuding the peonies. I have been busy the last two weeks doing that. I think that it is pretty much done.....now we just wait for them to start popping. I have decided that my height is a great advantage for this job but I could almost be a few inches shorter(oh dear - did I actually say that!!!!) Anyway I think my back is in condition now to start the picking which should begin by maybe middle of next week-then I really will be busy...I will try to take pictures and post them as I go but peonies are the most intense season and I(well my family) just try to stay sane!! :) It is all good...the whole time I just tell myself it only last about 6 weeks and there is an end!! We will probably pick somewhere between 20,00-40,00 peonies---depending on how they sell this year...should be interesting with this economy...flowers are a luxury in my opinion and I wouldn't buy them....we will see:) The crop looks great anyway!!

This is what the peonies looks like before debudding. See all the little buds around the edge...we take all of them off therefore giving all the energy of the plant to the main bud...it gets bigger and stronger. For those of you that have them in your yard it also helps with them falling over..some varities are worse than others at that but this help...It make the plant heathier and I think look prettier.

Here is the finished product..yes it has to be done by hand totally to every plant...some plants have upwards of 25-40 flowers on them. It is worth it though and has to be done to sell wholesale.


The fields really do look great and they have grown so much even since I have taken these pictures. I think we are ready to roll!!!!!!

FLOWER POWER

The flower fields are coming right along. It will not be long before we are in the full swing of things if this weather keeps up. Hard to believe another year is almost upon us. Here is a view of the fields today at the start of the season. pretty dang good...amazingly within a month we will be picking the peonies. The Allium harvest is around Memorial Day.

This is the Peony field..we will be debudding(which means to take off all the little side shoots and leave the strongest bud) within two weeks and then picking within a month..amazingly you can almost sit and watch these grow. These are incredible flowers :) (Heathers favorite by the way :)

This is the Allium field. It looks real good other than our numbers are low. We are working on that though - we are coming along. These will be harvested Memorial Day weekend along with the Eremurus(foxtail lily)
Stay posted.....more to come over the next couple of months :)