Hello from the other side! While I’ve had some presence on social media, I’m sure most of you are wondering what the heck happened to me. Flower farming is all consuming, mentally and physically. I’ve barely had the energy to think of what to say. But I’m taking today off, because I’ve participated in 3 markets in the last 4 days. I’m EXHAUSTED. I wish I could say that business is booming. The truth of the matter is that this summer’s markets have been a whole lot of work with minimal payoff. I’ve been told that the “summer sales slump” is normal and that things will pick up again around Labor Day. Farming itself has been challenging. Some of my dahlias are finally starting to set buds, but I’ve lost lots of the others due to rot; at least a couple hundred. I ordered many last minute replacements that were planted rather late. Those dahlias are only a few inches tall. Hopefully there’s still time to get some blooms from those before frost. I feel like I experience the full range of emotions every single day. “Look at the beautiful flowers I grew! I can’t believe this is my job now! Life is great! Tra la la…” “Groundhogs, chipmunks, cucumber beetles, powdery mildew, 110º heat index…I HATE NATURE!” “Why aren’t my arrangements selling? How did these weeds get so out of control? When will I finally make a profit? Why am I even doing this? I’m going to cry in the shower then drink wine straight from the bottle.” The battle in my head is constant.

But, there have also been some wonderful things happening. I booked a wedding! It’s in October with a fall/jewel tone color palette. Fall is one of my favorite seasons, and the dahlias will be gorgeous by then. I’m super excited! Also, I taught my first workshop a couple of weekends ago. It was completely nerve-wracking, but also lots of fun. I hope to do more in the next few weeks. Lastly, I’ve joined the newly-formed Nashville Cut Flower Collective. The collective is made up of 7 farms in the Middle TN area. We upload our products to a website for florists to shop wholesale, and we come together with our flowers to sell at our own little market in Gallatin every Sunday during the growing season. It is just getting off the ground, so sales are a little slow at the moment. But we’re working on outreach and hope to gain more notoriety in the coming months. The best part of this collective, though, is the camaraderie. As stated above, farming is HARD. And you can only talk about flowers with your non-farming friends and family for so long before their eyes start to glaze over. In this group we can commiserate, celebrate our wins, encourage each other, and share growing/sales/marketing advice. Joining the NCFC gives me the same feeling I got when I started working at Bates Nursery 10 years ago: I’ve found my people. 

In news unrelated to flowers, I’m finally singing with Metro Nashville Chorus again! Being back on those risers and singing with friends old and new has filled the MNC-shaped hole that was in my heart for over 7 years. The pipes are rusty; it will take some work and time to get back to that 7th-in-the-Sweet-Adelines-world level of singing where I once was (and MNC has upped their game quite a lot in the years I was away!). 

I’m sure I could bore you with lots more farm stories and life in general, but I’ll stop here before you lose interest. Instead, I’ll end with some pictures. I can’t promise when I’ll be up to writing another post, but hopefully you’ll hear from me sooner than this last 4-month hiatus. 

…and no, I don’t have a book release date. I’m starting to think that publishing contract I signed was just a fever dream.

Picnic Table Centerpiece workshop participants with their creations

The centerpiece I created in the workshop

 

Nashville Cut Flower Collective