So I got kicked out……  

  Starting this farm on a budget 13 years ago meant building every structure and repairing everything myself.  After the first 3 big projects I got so tired of inefficiently having to dig through a pile of tools to find what I needed and drag it out, only to have to put it back in a tight pile in the barn, that I decided to build myself a workshop. I had been wasting half of my time just finding tools.

   I did the design, the grading, forming, concrete, framing, roofing, sheathing, trim work, electrical, and finally had a place to both store and easily find all my tools as well as a convenient space to use them for all my future projects (7 greenhouses, 4 buildings, 5 solar installations, countless vehicle/tractor/equipment repairs, and endless little projects).  It served me well for years and I loved that shop. But when shipping flowers got big, the endless stacks of boxes took over the back third of the shop and when we recently took on the chrysanthemum project, we needed a convenient weatherproof space for processing and packing, and suddenly that took over the rest of the shop.  

  I found myself crawling under work tables constantly, just trying to get to a drill bit, or a bracket.  Not convenient for me, or the folks trying to work there.  Now that we are doubling our mum production, we need even more space and it became clear that I needed to move out entirely.  I got kicked outta my own clubhouse.

  So, I’m building a new workshop, and the old one will completely become a processing and packing space for the expanded chrysanthemum production.  We’re all very excited for the clarity of purpose in that space and at the prospect of once again, having a shop fully dedicated to tools and projects. 

It’s interesting observing the attachment to an idea of a space and how it lingers even when that idea no longer fits reality.  We are fortunately getting much faster at adapting and changing, but the mental inertia still exists on some level. “This is my shop.”   Took a few minutes longer than it should’ve to change to…”This used to be my shop.”

  I’m having fun building the new one, but I’m more aware than ever of the GA heat and of my waning youth.  As my knowledge and skillset get deeper and more nuanced, my strength, flexibility, and endurance are flipping me the bird as they head off toward the horizon.  It’s a great irony that by the time you get really good at something, you are no longer physically able to do it the way you could back when you didn’t really understand how to do it.  At least that’s my experience…perhaps because I didn’t start working with tools until I was 30.  Anywho…. A shop cometh.

The mum plants are looking great and we’re excited both for Fall flowers and for Spring cuttings!  We are trialing a lot of new varieties, so hopefully we’ll find some winners to share.

  The first dahlias have begun to flower.  Peaches N Cream. It’s just a handful of blooms, so we aren’t shipping yet, but they are nice to see.

  For all of you gardeners, our Fall plant sale goes Live next Saturday online for pick ups beginning on the 7th!

  Mandy’s been working every day for a few hours at the farm store, trying to get it ready for your visits and its starting to come along.  She planted some Hyssop in the landscape out front and it is filled with Great Golden Digger Wasps at the moment that have been fascinating her.

  These wasps are solitary nesters, so aren’t aggressive to people.  Communal nesters like Yellowjackets are more aggressive due to a need to protect the hive.  

The Golden Diggers aren’t cool though if you are a grasshopper or cricket.  Effective hunters, they’ll grab an insect (often larger than themselves) with their mandibles, sting and paralyze it, then drag it into their hole in the ground only to fill it with eggs that hatch inside it and use it as a food source to grow up on.  Very similar to what the tarantula wasp does to tarantulas.  Wild how nature can be simultaneously helpful and horrifying.  Excellent pollinators beneficial in innumerable ways to plants and humans, that just happen to inflict a brutally torturous death on their prey. It’s a crazy world.

  I’ve been rambling today, so it’s time to wrap it up.  Farm fans, here’s a reminder to find your CSA and get you some healthy veggies.  We were lucky enough to get into Woodland Gardens CSA awhile back and they’ve treated us amazingly. They tend to sell out fast, but you can also try Diamond Hill Farm.

Atlanta folks, check out:

-Love is Love Farm

-Riverview Farm

That’s it amigos.  I hope you have a wonderful weekend!