Firs days of Spring (or sunshine at last!)

Wasn’t that winter relentless?

I know we’re supposed to find something in every day to cheer but frankly when February goes on and on for seemingly longer than January with grey skies so low I feel I can’t stand up straight under them, and barely enough light to see the seed packets, it’s hard to keep the creative juices flowing don’t you agree? So the past few days of glorious sunshine have felt like a gift.

Seeds are springing up into teeny seedlings all over the greenhouse - only two trays of twenty sown on 14 Feb still to germinate. The sweet peas in the tunnel look as though they need netting to grow up. I’m fighting the urge to become the scattergun gardener I can be and telling myself I’m not allowed to prick out seedlings until the mulching is finished and I’m not allowed to set dahlias to sprout until the seedlings are pricked out.

One job at a time is the only way to keep this flower farmer actually farming flowers for sale. I still, fifteen years in, have to remind myself that I’m not gardening for fun: I must be systematic or I’ll end up with lots of half sown trays, not space for seedlings, no dahlias to grow, and the land will not be ready for planting unless I do jobs one at a time and in the right order. Yes, I am waving the waggly finger of naughtiness at myself before I get out of control. I blame the weather for my manic flitting but I must control myself! Do you get overexcited by the first signs of spring? Do you have to calm yourself down? (You might appreciate our first workshop of the year at the farm if you need more support strategising as a flower farmer! Find out more about the only Career Change Flower Farming workshop we have scheduled at the farm this year, 25th March, here.)

have excused my early sowing of tender annuals like climbing morning glory and Spanish Flag because we have our Common Good Plant Sale coming up on 10th May at Charlton Musgrove Village Hall. For that we need nice fat plants to sell so I’m getting ahead with sowing for the plant sale as well as for our own customers through the summer.

Our summer customers are mostly people who like to buy mixed buckets to arrange themselves and I love to work with people who are enthusiastic to allow their own creativity freedom in arranging flowers for their wedding or event. If you have an event you’d like to arrange your own flowers for, do get in touch so we can check availability and offer advice re flowers for you.

We have lots of great demos online for those who’d like to arrange their own flowers so if you’re planning, but would like to increase your skills then our online demos are for you. For those who’d like a real immersion into flowers we have our three day floral retreat in June: whether you’re a pro florist wanting to hone your sustainable floristry skills, or learn more about working with flowers which have been field grown and treated with no chemicals, or you’re a person who just wants to give themselves three days of floral creativity, this is a great treat.

I also have great relationships with other local very high end wedding florists and event stylists, people like Caroline Redpath at Fleur Provocateur, Sara Kirkby at Sarah Kirkby Event Style, the lovely Nell at Clementine and Moss with whom we had a lovely time creating arrangements for a styled shoot recently so if you’re working with them through the coming season you may well be working with flowers and foliage grown by us too.

It’s lovely to see the sweet peas begin to clamber up their netting in the poly tunnel and know they will be cut for weddings booked into the calendar already. Planting out another succession of ranunculus I know the weddings they’ll be cut for in May. I am a person who needs reminding that if one has faith in it, the garden will provide, no matter what the weather or the slugs throw at us: oh how grateful I am for this cold sunny spell of weather, just what the garden needs before the growing season really pounces. Let the frost kill off a few pathogens and keep those slugs dormant a little longer. Let the frost chill the tulips nicely to keep the tulip fire at bay.

Right enough of this writing. The weather outside is no longer frightful. Teacake is lounging on the back doorstep worshipping the sun and the robin which lives in the back door pots is flitting in and out of the back hall unseen by sleepy Teacake playing dare with itself. I have a whole pallet load of mulch to spread before I’m allowed to prick out any seedlings and I don’t have to collect anyone from school until nearly six o’clock. I’m off out for some fresh air and exercise and I’ll call it work.

While I’m out there I’ll take a minute to harvest some wild garlic. Here’s a little recipe I highly recommend for a wild garlic pesto: at this time of year I make regular batches and eat it even just on its own by the spoonful although it’s excellent on an egg, or stirred through a salad, or pasta, or as an accompaniment to any kind of meat. It is my favourite thing each year and a sign that spring is truly on its way.

Take a handful of fresh wild garlic leaves and put in a whizzer with a handful of walnuts, a handful of really good, gritty, salty cheddar like the Keen’s cheddar made in our village. Add a pinch of salt and pepper, a good slosh of olive oil, and a smaller slosh of cider apple vinegar. We were sent some olive oil recently by a company called Nudo Adopt and it’s delicious. We also LOVE the oil made by Tuscan Farm Shop on their farm in Italy. Blitz this mix until relatively smooth. Pour into a bowl and eat. Ours will keep fresh in the fridge for several days, but seldom lasts that long as we eat it on everything. If I have scissors when I’m pulling the garlic I might also snip a few new nettle tips into the mix - they don’t sting when they’ve been blitzed and add even more goodness to this incredibly nutritious and unbelievably delicious mix.

There’s more exciting news coming up this week but I’ll end with a reminder that you can find out more about our involvement with the Farewell Flowers Collective display at the Chelsea Flower Show this year. So much planning going on to bring the most beautiful flowers to the show and share how you can choose to have only the best locally grown flowers arranged how you’d like for funerals. I’ll be making a few clips in the run up to the show, but if you haven’t seen it do check out the first piece I made last week to begin the series.

Right - I’m off out into the sunshine - see you soon!

Georgie x