A Flower Farmer’s Journal: Winter Rest, in October
Journal snippets from an anthophilous flower farmer, living a flower-inspired life in Napa, California.
Anthophilous: adjective, attracted by or living among flowers (merriam-webster)
The last of the fall blooms: dahlias, zinnias, asters, cress
We are spoiled flower farmers here in Zone 9B in Napa, California. I fully recognize this, honor this and try my hardest to refrain from too much complaining about the weather during the year. Sometimes I wonder if I could possibly grow as beautiful blooms as we do on our flower farm if you plopped me into Zone 4 up north. Oof. That would be much harder farming.
Our flower farming friends in Michigan for example, have to squeeze an entire year of blooms between June and September. My mind is always spinning when I see their locally made bouquets of dahlias + ranunculus + sweet peas, all coinciding at the same time. (We get all 3 of those at distinctly different times here.) It must be incredibly intense! I don’t envy so much work being crammed into only 4 months of blooming weather, while at the same time, I do envy their winter rest.
I call flower farming in California ‘easy farming’ sometimes. That’s by no means to say it’s physically easy. This is quite literally back wrenching work to bring these beauties from field to vase for you. But our weather here in Napa is a saving grace and that’s why I refer to it as easy sometimes. In return for living under the daily threat of wildfires, earthquakes and constant drought, we are gifted mild fall frosts that don’t occur until December and an early warm up to spring starting in February. We have one month where the Persephone period is in full effect and to be honest, you can still get away with planting during this time as long as you watch frost and pests. Spring frost can happen as late as April 15, but really, mid to late March is a safe bet to start planting your mid-season crops, as long as you keep the frost cloth nearby, just in case.
Rudbeckias love the shorter days and cooler weather.
All this means that our growing season is LONG. Without actual freezes, we can overwinter dahlias in the ground without risk of freeze/thaw/rot and many years we make due with utilizing frost cloth only a handful of nights each season, since the weather rarely dips below 30 degrees here. Most hardy annuals that are planted in the field during that time such as sweet peas, ranunculus and other cool weather loving crops actually love that temperature range and won’t be damaged unless it goes below 25 degrees, which almost never happens here in Napa.
But allow me to illuminate the dark side to flower farming in such an ‘easy’ mild climate…
IT NEVER ENDS!!
It’s both a gift and a curse. Our chrysanthemum and ornamental kale harvests will easily take us into December. At Flower Thief Farms, there is only one month where we aren’t actively harvesting something fresh from the fields (December), but there is never a month where something isn’t growing, sprouting or being planted. I type this on December 10 and thousands of ranunculus for next spring are already sprouting their little leaves in the field. Hellebores are opening their gorgeous drooping heads. Camelias are budding up all over the valley. Sweet peas are poking up proudly and making their vertical ascent. A thousand pre-chilled tulips will be arriving this week. Spring is near - you can almost feel it - and we just had our first true frost last night.
Happy Frostmas Napa?
The flower studio filling up fast with fall flowers.
Which brings me to a very important flower farming lesson for those of us in mild climates:
YOU NEED TO CARVE OUT TIME TO REST.
Which is easier said than done here. You have to be especially intentional about it here in Napa, California Zone 9B. (See above note about how it never ends.) Whereas winter climates have a hard stop to their season and have no option but to rest while the fields sleep under blankets of snow, here in California, we can keep going and going and going if we don’t choose otherwise. Farming burnout is real and the only thing to prevent it is rest and restoration. This key part of the annual farming cycle (and any cycle for that matter) is integral to finding new focus and developing new ideas.
Enter October for Flower Thief Farms.
October 1st rolled around and I could sense the fields were tired and winding down, as was I. Dahlias were still blooming. Chrysanthemums weren’t even showing yet. Cosmos still bloomed despite my insistence at refusing to deadhead them. But instead of continuing to harvest each and every flower for the year, I quietly shut down the season and began the ever important journey of turning inward.
It was time for my winter rest, in October. Because come November, the race was back on with a fervor, so I had to take it while I could.
The night air started to cool off enough to make the dahlias pull one last homestretch of insane beauty. The garden roses agreed and made their own last push. A lone Koko Loko proudly made a final gesture and rather than clip it, I enjoyed it every time I walked out for a few more snips. The morning marine layer lingered longer, allowing powdery mildew to slowly creep plant to plant, row to row and I refused to stress about it. The weeds began to take over and I let them finally have their victory. I turned off the drip system. I snipped to my hearts content just enough to keep the counters replenished and a few close friends in flower joy. I let the bees, beetles, worms, birds and squirrels have their way with what was left to enjoy. It was their kingdom after all and after co-existing the last 11 months in as much peace as possible, it was time to let them have their way.
I even went off social media. Gasp! I know. Such a death sentence in the world of small businesses…that one month social media break turned into two months, and after that experiment I have to share this with my fellow flower farmers: make social media breaks part of your annual rest. I’d argue it might even be the most important part of your rest.
In between the spaces of family/work/sports/school/birthdays/halloween/visitors, I spent October allowing myself to dream, to wonder, to plan. I took a trip with a best friend and read two novels just for fun. I refused to open Instagram, even to scroll other accounts. I allowed the space necessary for new ideas. I tackled our business plan with renewed fervor and took an amazing small business course. I pushed myself to tease things out of my heart and my mind to answer the question of who Flower Thief Farms is and where we are headed as we begin Season 3.
The last of the strawflowers, harvested for drying
And it worked. I’m refreshed and excited. I have new ideas brimming each day. Thousands of spring crops are already in the field and the excitement builds daily with each farm walk. The to-do list grows longer each day but rather than depleting me, it brings focus and energy.
So get ready Flower Thief friends. I can’t wait to share with you the gorgeous new varieties we are trialing, the color schemes we’ve designed and the new programs we will be rolling out. Now is the perfect time to make sure you’re on the mailing list. This will be a major focus for us in 2024, so you don’t want to miss out. Sign up here. I’m off to soak the last batch of ranunculus and figure out where the heck to put those tulips showing up this week.
As always, thank you for being part of this flower ride sweet friends. We can’t wait to share Season 3 with you.
xo, Elizabeth
