A few of the seeds we saved from our favorites this year.
Bulb season on the hill, how to plant yours before the ground freezes, and straight answers to the Flower Share questions we hear most.
FROM THE FIELD
We’re just about finished installing the high tunnel, just after a windy night blew down the end wall framing that cost us a few hundred dollars in new lumber. Soon, we’ll be preparing the ground and planting the corms and bulbs. Everything we plant in the next few weeks is what you will see on the table in May.
Winter generally brings a slower pace but the work doesn’t stop. Instead of early morning harvests, we’re bundling up and putting on layers to go out and finish the fall chores. We’re trying to save our drip tape irrigation against (nearly) universal advice to replace it annually, as the emitters tend to clog up from hard or iron-rich water. I guess the plants will let us know next spring if they’re dying of thirst!
One to circle: our Flower Share gift guide lands in two weeks. The Flex Share is a physical punch card we mail, so earlier is better if you are giving one.
Everything we plant this fall is a promise to May.
🌱 Plant now, cut in spring: fall bulbs, step by step
Tulips, daffodils and hyacinths need a long cold spell, somewhere between 35 and 50°F, before they will make shoots and flowers. That’s why they go in the ground in fall. Here is how to give them a good start.
1. Wait for the soil to cool
UNH Extension says to plant once the soil drops below 60°F. A cheap soil thermometer settles it.
2. Go deeper than you think
Plant bulbs two and a half to three times as deep as they are tall. A 2-inch tulip bulb goes 5 to 6 inches down, pointed end up, root end down.
3. Pick a spot that drains
Bulbs like full sun and hate sitting wet. Good drainage is what keeps them from rotting while they wait out the winter.
4. Water, then mulch
Water them in if the soil is dry, then cover with 2 to 3 inches of mulch to even out the freeze and thaw.
Want to go a layer deeper? Keep reading the longer web version of this issue.
WEB-ONLY DEEP DIVE
🔬 Bulbs, one layer deeper
This part didn't make it into the email. It's here for the readers who want to go a layer deeper.
Missed the window? Pot them up instead
If the ground freezes before your bulbs go in, UNH Extension suggests forcing them in pots. Use containers with a drainage hole, at least 8 inches deep for larger bulbs, filled with a soilless potting mix. Bulbs can go much closer together than in the ground, with their tops just below the rim.
Then chill them somewhere dark that holds 35 to 50°F: a cool basement, a root cellar, or an unheated garage that stays above freezing. After 14 to 15 weeks, move them to a sunny windowsill. When the buds show color, pull them back out of direct light so the flowers last longer.
Why bulbs come up in February
Bulbs along a south or west foundation are the most likely to sprout early, because the house and the reflected sun warm the soil. UNH Extension says it is usually no cause for concern: as long as the flower buds are still underground, the bulb will most likely still bloom. A thick layer of mulch once the soil cools to about 40°F helps keep them asleep through a warm spell.
Buying and soil
Penn State Extension says good bulbs are firm, free of cuts and gashes, and usually larger. Bulbs prefer a soil pH between 6 and 7, and a little compost helps the roots. Plant in drifts of one kind and color rather than a scattered mix, tall varieties at the back.
After they bloom
Leave the green leaves on until they fade. They are feeding the bulb for next year.
End of the deep dive. Back to the field.
A FEW FROM THIS SEASON
Dried bouquets with celosia and statice
A bucket of blush-toned cosmos
Meadow Cool bouquets at the market
Shock-o-lat sunflowers
Why no July?
Because there is a real gap. The spring flowers are done, and the dahlias and zinnias aren't ready yet. We would rather skip four weeks than hand you a thin bouquet.
Where do I pick up?
At one of our weekend markets, at the farm in Roxbury, or by local delivery if you live within 12 miles of the farm. You choose at checkout, and you can switch with a week's notice by email.
What if I am away one week?
Give us 48 hours' notice by email and we will credit you a bouquet at the end of the season, or double up a later week. A skip with no notice forfeits that week, because by pickup morning your flowers are already cut. Each member gets two skips a season. If you travel a lot, Flex is built for you: six bouquets on a punch card, used any weeks from May 15 to September 29, skipping July.
Why pay now for flowers in May?
Our spring order goes in February 1, and it is sized to the shares that are reserved by then. Spring flowers get paid for in winter, which is why most flower farms run their shares this way.
Do they really last?
"My wife was just changing out the water from a bouquet, and I asked, 'Honey, where did you get the flowers?' And she told me these are the same ones you got from Hardy Hill almost two weeks ago! Can't believe how long they've lasted!"
Flowers cut the morning of pickup and kept cold last longer than flowers that spent a week getting to a store.
Can I add flowers for a wedding or party?
Yes. Members get 10% off Weddings and Events bucket orders. Just mention you are a shareholder when you ask.
Can I give it as a gift?
Yes. More on that in two weeks.
8 Half Season and 7 Flex shares left.
And come say hi on Instagram (@hardyhillfarms).
From the hill,
the Hardy Hill Farms family
