Soil Blocking 101

Happy March, gardening friends!  

Here in central NJ (zone 6b), signs of life are popping up everywhere...

especially in my dining room!

The majority of cold hardy annuals I planted in September/October
have been decimated by voles/moles...a problem I've never had before!
So, needless to say, I'm playing catch up and trying to crank out
a few thousand new baby plants.

The method that works best for me is called soil blocking.

If you've never heard of it...here's a quick How-To:

 You'll need a good seed starting mix, a soil block form, 

and some sort of tray that houses the seedlings and can hold water.
I use these styrofoam (meat) trays that friends recycle for me.  

They work great!

 Add water to potting mix until it's evenly moist but not too soggy!  

The form is then pressed firmly into the mix to fill in the 3/4" block molds.  

This model makes 20 mini 3/4" soil blocks per press.

 Position in place and pump the handle to release the blocks.  

These small trays will hold 40 seedlings. 

 I tend to seed 80/120 of each variety so that'll give me plenty of blooms to harvest.  

Succession seeding every two/three weeks throughout the season is a must

unless I'm buying in plugs from a nursery.  

You can't harvest flowers if you don't plant them!

 Plant names and dates are written right on the tray.  

The trays are then placed on heat mats.
Keeping the potting mix moist is key to good germination. 

 And always use freshest seeds possible.

Once I see germination, the tray then go under grow lights. 

Some seeds germinate in 2 days, others take a week or longer!

This is my 4th season of flower farming so

I've learned much through trial and error. 

 My grow room (read dining room) set up is just
a 6ft. tall/4ft. wide/5-shelf  rack from Home Depot 

with a few hanging shop lights....easy peasy, right?!

It's super important to water daily and not let the soil blocks dry out.
Weekly dose of fertilizer keeps these babies healthy and happy.

Amazingly, what you see above is about 1,800 seedlings 

in various stages of growth from the past 2 weeks.
The two bottom shelves hold 4ft heat mats and I actually have room

to add a 3rd light rack.

These more mature plants (that I bumped up into #50 trays) are hardening

 off on the deck.   They will be planted in their permanent home soon.  

Because they are winter hardy annuals, they'll be fine if

night temps dip in the low 30's.  

This bumping up step isn't necessary...I must've been bored..ha!

 

If you want to try soil blocking yourself, find info and products here!
https://www.thegardenersworkshop.com/ 

Lisa has been a great mentor since I started this flower farming journey

and if I can do it, you can too!  Have a great weekend!

And That's a Wrap!

Is it just me or does the sand escape faster

and faster through the hourglass as we get older?
Oh good...I'm not alone..ha!

2019 was filled with so many treasures for the photo album.
Hubby and I were lucky to enjoy not just one, but 2 major vacations!

February had us soaking up sun from the Big Island, Hawaii.
Days were filled with guided tours, luaus, and ocean front relaxation...it was heaven!

Then from late March to mid August, I was on auto pilot from sun-up to dusk,
seven days a week.  Down time was time behind the wheel...
driving from one field to the next...
planting, nurturing, weeding, harvesting.
And, yes, I do love it, but my body went on strike!

Weekly bouquets went out to CSA members, event designers,
two small grocery stores, not to mention the 3 farmers markets
I vended at each week.

It was a killer schedule.  One that I learned from and will be
making major changes this coming season.

There were new plants trialed and a few taken off the grow list.

These dahlias were grown by good friend and fellow farmer,
Katherine from  https://www.dahliatemptations.com/
Aren't they gorgeous!

 At peak bloom (in July), I was harvesting enough
stems for 120 bouquets a week...it was pretty crazy!

Hence the mid season burn out! 
It was time for a bit of R&R

We ended up here, in the historical district of Charleston, SC
what a quaint and beautiful place!  Such friendly people...and great BBQ!

 Then it was off to Hilton Head, SC.

 A sunset dolphin cruise is a must if you're ever in the area.

Last night of our stay, we had this view from our patio...sigh...
Thankfully, I was rejuvenated and ready to
tackle the last 2 months of hard labor.

With such a crazy growing and market schedule,
I did not have time to take on wedding designs except for one small
intimate party.  But I did get to free-lance with a few stellar local designers.
This was a wonderful learning day spent with
Deneise's team from https://botanicalbox.com/
Perfect backdrop to say "I do"

The growing season finished by the end of October and I was truly ready.
A few weeks of catching up on household chores, paperwork and SLEEEEP,
I was finally able to tackle bulb planting...

so we could start this flower-filled life all over again come April!

Happy Belated New Year, friends!

Year in Review

I seriously had good intentions on keeping the blog more active this past year,
but, as you can see, it takes a lot more than good intentions, my friends.

When the record-breaking wet spring finally came to an end,
every waking moment was spent in the fields...planting, planting, planting. 
This beautiful orchard was a brand new growing space for me and the best part is
it's just 10 minutes from home...yeah!
I bought (and seeded) thousands of plants...every square inch of this plot was filled. 
Notice there's hardly any room in the pathways...a process I'm still learning!

With said weather delays, the first round of blooms were not harvested until late April,
which was 2-3 weeks behind last year's schedule.  Of course once the bulbs started blooming, it as difficult to keep up...sometimes harvesting daffs/tulips twice a day.  How fortunate I was to enter into a great partnership with a local organic grocery chain, and was able to offer their customers weekly bouquets throughout the season.  If you're local, (Hunterdon County, NJ), come find my pretties at the Basil Bandwagon stores.

It was fun trialing many new varieties of plants.
A few favorites were celosias,

Mountain Mint...

 Veronicas...
and pink sunflowers...
aren't they pretty?

Lilies are still a top favorite crop of mine. 
Succession plantings every 3 weeks (150 bulbs) provided enough
stems for farmers' markets, gorcery store bouquets and local designers. 
I plan to double the count this year.  They are super easy to grow and so beautiful!

However, they must be harvested in bud stage,

otherwise opened blooms bruise very easily...a lesson learned the hard way.

In midst of farming madness, I was honored to design wedding flowers
for two very special couples...in two very different styles.

 Farmers' markets remain a favorite outlet as I get to meet new flower lovers
every week and receive such great feedback from regular customers.

Seeing familiar faces every week was the best!  That's flower power for ya!

 End of summer's bounty!

By November, I was ready for a much needed break.
The last 4 months have been busy with on-line classes (on farming, of course),
design workshops, and some fun travels.
Now it's all about indoor seeding and getting
ready for the upcoming season.

Hope you all enjoyed the colorful photos in this post and maybe
it won't be another full year before you hear from me again!

Yours truly~Lynn

My humble beginnings...

...as a flower farmer, that is.

 Planning what to grow that will provide blooms for cutting in spring, starts in
August/Sept. There are hardy annuals that will handle my Zone 6a winters no
problem. Bachelor Buttons is one of them.

Seeds direct-sown in the garden looked great just a few weeks later.
I also started many other easy to grow hardy annuals.
Such as sweet peas, nigellas, poppies and larkspurs
(images from google).

New raised beds were created all around the garden.
This is a front yard island bed I extended by 3'.
Brick edgings were removed, sod cut and dug up in 12" sections, soil
loosened with hand picks and added back to new bed.
Supervisor Tilly approves!

Don't forget the bulb food!

Many bags of soil and compost later, I was ready to plant!

Since the front yard is pretty much deer country, my plantings were mostly

daffodils and alliums...all 600 of 'em!

And in the backyard, hubby built 6 new raised beds...wahoo!
5' x 10' and 6" deep.

I use a weed barrier to prevent nearby tree roots growing through,

and layers of newspapers break down fast so a good way to recycle, as well.

 

  These tulips will be treated as annuals at harvest time...

meaning I will pull up the whole bulb (to get longer stem length),
and discard the bulbs..making room to grow the next batch of plants.

Leaf mulching is a great way to add nutrients to your beds...though
be mindful that breakdown of said leaves will affect your soil's PH level.

And here I go...expanding another bed...

...for more tulips!

I can't wait to see the explosion of 3,000 bulbs!

It's going to be beautiful spring!

Have a great week!