Prepping for a photo shoot while getting on with an ordinary day's work on the flower farm

It's a great compliment when a magazine rings and asks if they can send a photographer to the flower farm - and a huge opportunity to gain valuable press coverage for the flowers we grow. However, naturally, the farm looks its best in summer when we are busiest.

Luckily photographers like to arrive early in the morning to make the most of the light (in this case I needed to be up and ready for 5.30 am,) which means that once they've left (9.30 am) the rest of the day can be spent doing the every day job.

I allow myself to skip hair and makeup on account of at 56 years old I think I've earned my face and makeup just makes me look like a clown (and my eyes stream, my skin itch, my upper lip sweats etc...) So join me as I get on with the day job and prep for the shoot, get up early and then get on with the day job. It's all in a day's work here at Common Farm Flowers in sunny Somerset.

This particular photo shoot was focused on sweet peas. Sweet peas are very much where we started out at Common Farm Flowers, so they are a flower I am very fond of and we grow several crops a year. We've an online demo later in the year where I share all my tips, tricks, knowledge and experience about growing sweet peas - the best way to prepare the ground, how many to sow, how often to sow, how many flowers per plant you can expect, how to achieve long stems, and how long can you expect the plants to go on flowering. The demo isn't until September but you can book your place now if you're interested - more details here.