Farm update: August and September

HELLO FALL! I don't know about you but I LOVE fall. The crisp mornings and warm days, the smell in the air, and the changing from overly active summer to a slower pace and prep for the coming winter rest. Don't get me wrong there is still a lot to do and get done for winter, but it feels different. Less anxiety of what needs to be done in the field and for the markets and more ok lets close this chapter and move on.

The past few months have been a little different here on the farm. I spent the month of August making and stocking up on my value-added products for the Ozark Homesteading Expo the first weekend in September, so I didn't do a lot outside on the farm it's self. The Expo was great and I can't wait to do it again next year and I hope to bring you even more and better stuff.

After the Expo I was able to get back to the business of working in the fields. This is the first year that I have/will be planting lavender plants in the fall. I would have liked to have them in the ground about a month ago, but weather and life got in the way. But we took this section of the field and got it ready for the plants.

There is enough room here for 12 rows that are 150' long, which will hold over 400 lavender plants. This is the section that I hope to open up to the public some next year, so getting them in the ground and growing is a must. I got 74 plants planted into these two rows and I have 3 more prepped and ready for planting as I am writing this post. In the next post I'll show you what it all looks like completely planted and prepped and ready for winter.

As I am working on my lavender I am also working on my "little side project" with dahlias. I mention this before, and I wanted to explain more on what I am working on. While I LOVE lavender and lavender will continue to be my "bread and butter" of the farm, I want also diversify a little bit too. That was where the cut flowers came in. While I have enjoyed growing the cut flowers over the past couple years, it just became too much for me. So next year I will be majorly cutting back my cut flower plans (dad wants sunflowers so I will grow some for him, and the lady's at church have missed my flower bouquets so I will get some cut flowers for them), but my new main focus will be on dahlias. I don't know what it is about these flowers but they have grabbed ahold of me. While I will sell the flowers at the markets/farm, my main focus is going to be seeing if I can breed new dahlias varieties that will perform well in our summer heat. Most dahlias will survive during out summer heat, but they don't really thrive until the fall cool down. I want to see if I can change that.

This is one of the seeds that I started last year that has done well this year, and she is beautiful. If she continues to meet my requirements I already have a couple options for names for her when I am ready to send her out into the world. I know that this is a process that will take me years to see any results, but I can't wait to see where this takes me.

Stay tuned for the post for October and November!