Notes From the Farm
A weekly check-in of all things happening on the Farm from the mind of Steve O'Shea
Dahlias and Biscuits 6/2/23
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Hi all, Our employees were all excited to take today off as we slow down for summer and Mandy and I saw a slow down as an opportunity to replace some cabinets, but as soon as we pealed back one layer of the onion, we of course decided to tear apart our whole kitchen. I think I had too much caffeine that day and the mood was high and the momentum was strong. An exterior wall came down in the process. So, without an exterior wall (there was rot), we are exposed to wildlife, i.e. Biscuit, who keeps sneaking in and meowing all night to our great chagrin. So I need to finish rebuilding that wall today so we can...
Farmy Stuff 5/26/23
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Farmy Stuff Happy Friday y’all! It’ll be brief this week. Long day’s got me tired (it’s Thursday night) and I’m re-watching “Growing Floret” Season 1, before I watch the new release of Season 2. Anyone who likes flower farming enough to read this every week, would love her show. It’s like going from stick figure farm stories to virtual reality. It’s beautiful, inspiring, and possibly more importantly, very honest. So much of the project/business based shows you see are almost like a montage in an 80’s hero movie. Everything goes smoothly, gets done in a week, and looks seamless and beautiful at the end. It’s mostly b.s. Life rarely works like that. It’s so much more compelling to see the...
Inspired 5/19/23
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Just before midnight on Wednesday, I took the old truck and picked up my brother and sister in law at the Airporter in Athens and we made the rainy drive back out to the farm. We were all exhausted. Mandy and I in the prior evenings, had gutted the two bedrooms, pulled off the molding, the doors, removed ceiling fans, ripped out carpet, rotted sub flooring, scraped ceilings, re-framed the joists, installed new sub flooring, and painted the walls and ceilings just in time for the wool carpet installer, who showed up late and finished at 7 p.m. on Wednesday. We hurriedly hung doors, reinstalled ceiling fans, re-installed moldings, re-furnished both bedrooms, and caught a shower just in time to...
Mum's The Word 5/12/23
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Okay, that title only works if your British, but I’m writing this near midnight and I’m bad at titles, so let's just get into it. A year’s worth of planning and over half a year’s worth of work has all culminated this week into 5 Fedex vans full of bouquets and flower bundles heading off to Moms and loved ones around the country over the last 3 days. One of the best parts of this job is to be a conduit for expressions of love, gratitude, or even sympathy from one person to another. It truly is a fortunate place to be. A real honor and it definitely fills our hearts. This week is always intense for us and there...
Smell the Roses 5/5/23
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Hello hello. It appears that the last glorious days of true spring are upon us here in North Georgia and the great southern calvary of mosquitos riding on the backs of cicadas will be here in short order. It has been a fabulous run and despite almost being in the 90’s back in March, it’s been surprisingly cool through April into early May and actually hit 38 yesterday. We’ve appreciated every minute of it, but I guess an El Niño summer is a coming, so maybe send a fruit basket to your HVAC guy just in case. The honeysuckle that’s been generating deep heartfelt smiles are just about done blooming, and the roses are becoming my go to fix...
Reaping the Benefits of Interplanting
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Happy almost weekend y’all! A little rainy lately, but the cooler temps have been delightful. I for one am happy to work in a light rain in April with temps in the 60’s and 70’s even if it means heavy jeans and soggy socks. It feels like a gift to have a real shoulder season, unencumbered by immediate and persistent heat and mosquitos. I’ve been spending part of each morning and evening harvesting the peonies in what is the most gardeny portion of our farm. You can see a bit of it from the window of our farm store. This section of the farm slopes down almost in the shape of a bowl, down towards the woods and if you...
Things to Come 4/21/23
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Good afternoon! Has the pecan pollen been messing with you Georgians as much as it has with us? Everyone here is all sorts of allergic to it. Mandy and I are rushing out the door to bring the tractor and a van load of plants over to her folks place to move their garden from an over-shaded area into the sun and into raised boxes, so I’ll be a bit brief as we need to harvest and prep the team before we head out. We’ve started doing garden party bouquets for delivery to your door, so if you have an event that needs a big burst of colorful cheer, we’ve got you covered! Order Here! Mother’s day bouquets will go...
And So It Goes 4/14/23
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And so it goes. The maples have all turned green. The lunaria’s purple flowers have turned into silver dollars studded with partially formed seeds. The viburnums’ snowballs have melted. The ranunculus are breathing their last. Butterfly Ranunculus too. (Speaking of which, I saw our first monarch the other day. Always a treat.) The carpenter bees are attempting to undo 13 years of my efforts, rafter by rafter. The dogs and cats are adorable as ever. The guinea that found itself tangled in bailing twine from the neighbor’s field is doing quite well. I guess I should tell that story. Last week, Kali saw a guinea that looked like its shoelaces were tied together. Being expert biologists, Mandy and I knew...
Another Busy Week 4/7/23
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I’m late to this, so it’ll be brief. Busy week. Thank y’all for celebrating Easter, Passover, and Ramadan with our Spring flowers! We sent out a ton of beautiful flowers this week, but we’ve still got more beauty to share, so we’ll be having a flower sale in the store tomorrow. It’s gonna be stormy, but if you wanna pick up some last minute flowers for the holiday meals, we’ll be doing a buy 2, get 1 free sale in the store this Saturday only! Ranunculus are almost done for the year, so if you want those beautiful cheery flowers in your home brightening spirits, come get 'em now! Speaking of the store, the plant sale was a...
Humming Along 3/31/23
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Flowers are back! The poppy plants are looking happy again and are producing beautiful flowers, so we have you covered with gift boxes and poppy bundles for Easter and Passover next week!! We’ve also got a ton of beautiful ranunculus and we’re expecting a bunch of the Potomac Snapdragons to be ready for harvest next week too! All 3 flowers are bright and festive for your holiday table and you can grab some here before they sell out: Click Here! Easter/Passover is the 2nd biggest week for flowers each year and things do tend to sell out quickly, so if you want flowers, head over there now and read this later. We won’t be doing bouquets this year. ...
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135 Francis Hill Road
Comer, GA 30629
Rachel@3porchfarm.com
3porchfarm@gmail.com