The daffodils are blooming in speckled spots of cream and gold throughout the landscape, their delicate scent inviting you closer and giving you incentive to pause.  Mandy declared that this year, these flowers would be for all of us on the farm crew to enjoy.  They are always the first to bloom and always the first to be cut, but this year they’ll get to spend their whole time blooming exactly where they were born.  Filling our senses with their charms, instead of filling buckets for processing.  It may seem an obvious choice at a glance, but it’s an existential question every small farmer makes.  Do I deserve the fruits of my own labor?  Can I afford the fruits of my own labor?

  Soon enough, the daffodils planted in rows amidst the gently waking peonies will begin to bloom and those will be harvested and processed and shared with the world.  So too, will the hellebores nestled in the rolling woodland surrounding our little cabin.  They are all late to the party this year, kept dormant longer than normal due to the extreme cold of December.  More dramatically affected by the cold was our row of eucalyptus. Sadly, they were devastated.  These were the main ingredients intended to be in our Valentine’s bouquets and their collective current absence prevents us from making them this year unfortunately.  We held out hopes, but the writing is on the wall now.

  If you don’t know Winter Honeysuckle and you have space in your yard for a large bush that gives life with every exhale of its magnificent petals, I highly recommend finding one and taking it home with you.  Ours has been breathing life into our souls for well over a month now.  The slightly lemony (to me) scent catches a breeze and permeates the yard, forcing it’s way between items on my to-do list and capturing enough of my awareness to remind me that it’s all okay and that it's important to take in my surroundings and feel gratitude in the midst of the madness of constant motion.

  Poppies are flowing in at an ever increasing rate and the tunnels are full of nascent stems just waiting to fully realize themselves.  A few warm days and our buckets will begin to fill in earnest.  If you miss out on Friday’s noon listings (they sell out quickly), note that we always add a few more on Tuesday and again Thursday.  Occasionally we’ll mention that on Instagram/Facebook.

Meanwhile, seed orders are being packed by the hundreds.  Ms. Marilyn has caught fire and found herself in every corner of this country and we couldn’t be more pleased.  Her husband Tom is over the moon and says “she’s dancing with joy” and that all of y’all who are planting these seeds are “broadening her dance floor.”  We really appreciate y’all spreading her name and her undeniable goodness throughout the land in the form of beautiful dancing flowers. And I know we couldn’t get them to all of you and had run out, but the good news is that after filling all of last week’s orders, we found that we indeed have more to spare and they are going live on our website right now!  Order here!

  I know a bunch of you are waiting on heirloom chrysanthemum cuttings and thought you’d like to know that Mandy spent hours yesterday taking the first cuttings and starting the rooting process to make little plant babies that we’ll soon be shipping to new homes.  And Eh, Wah and Hsut are working on more cuttings today. It has officially begun!  More updates to come for those on the mum wait list.  If you are interested in joining that list, you can sign up here!

  Our new team members are awesome and are starting to get into the swing of things out here.  We’ll get y’all some photos and intros soon.

  Thanks again for being a part of our community.  We truly are incredibly fortunate to have the nicest and most considerate customers I can imagine anyone to have.  It really does provide an uplifting atmosphere.  It’s kind of the backdrop to all that we strive to do and it really does help to carry us through the tougher times.  So, thanks again and we wish you all a great weekend!

-Steve