Late summer at the markets.
Frost on the hill, dried flowers and seed on the market table, how to keep your dahlias through the winter, and the plain math on a Flower Share.
FROM THE FIELD
Frost reached the hill on Oct 6th. It’s funny to grow dahlias in this climate zone. To see the dahlias continuously pushing out new buds with no concept that the frost is about to crush them is a bittersweet notion.
With the field winding down, the work moves inside and under plastic. The flowers we hung to dry came down and were tied into bouquets, and the seed we saved went into envelopes. The high tunnel hoops are up (we only hit one rock while driving the posts in), and we’re building the end walls and hip beams now.
This year's seed: calendula, black-eyed Susan, foxglove, sulphur cinquefoil and snapdragon, all from our own plants.
Frost doesn't end the season. It just moves the work indoors.
🌱 Digging dahlias: how to keep your tubers through a New Hampshire winter
Dahlias don't survive our winters in the ground. If you grew them this year and want them back, the tubers need to come inside. Here is the method UNH Extension recommends.
1. Let frost do its job
Wait until the first hard frost blackens the tops, or until they die back on their own. The tubers keep developing for a while even after the leaves are gone.
2. Cut the stalk on digging day, not before
Dahlia stems are hollow. Cut them early and they collect water, which can rot the crown. Leave them standing until you are ready to dig.
3. Lift, rinse, and cure
Dig wide around the clump and lift it from underneath. Hose off the soil, then let the tubers cure for a few days somewhere airy and out of the sun, at about 60 to 70°F.
4. Pack them and keep them cold, not frozen
Bed them in barely damp vermiculite, wood shavings or sand, in a box or bag, and store them below 50°F but above freezing. The packing should hold a little moisture and still breathe. Too wet and they rot.
5. Check on them through the winter
Every few weeks, pull out anything soft or moldy before it spreads to the rest.
One more tip: don't divide them yet. Illinois Extension recommends storing the clump whole and dividing at planting time in spring, when the eyes are easier to see.
Want to go a layer deeper? Keep reading the longer web version of this issue.
WEB-ONLY DEEP DIVE
🔬 Dahlia storage, 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.
Timing in our zone
A Penn State Extension Master Gardener in Zone 5b waits until after frost to enjoy every last bloom, which usually lands between the second and third week of October. You don't have to wait for frost to dig, but the tubers do keep sizing up while the plant is alive.
Label before you dig
Once the tops are cut, every clump looks the same. Write the variety on a tag or on the tuber itself with a permanent marker before it comes out of the ground.
Reading your tubers in January
Wrinkled and shrinking usually means the packing is too dry, so mist it lightly. Soft, dark or moldy spots mean too wet or too warm. Cut out small spots and throw out anything mushy so it doesn't spread.
Storage temperature
Penn State suggests 40 to 50°F in paper bags, boxes or mesh bags. UNH puts it simply: below 50°F, above freezing. An unheated room that never freezes is the target.
Sources: UNH Extension, Penn State Extension on dahlia storage, Penn State Extension on summer bulbs, Illinois Extension.
End of the deep dive. Back to the field.
A FEW FROM THIS SEASON
A summer bouquet, cut the morning of pickup
Zinnias and dahlias from the final weeks
Dusty miller, which shrugs off a light frost
Calendula
At market, a bouquet is $35 for 15 stems. A member bouquet is the same bouquet with three extra premium focal stems, the showpiece flowers that make a bouquet, for 18 stems in all.
A Full Season share is $595 for 17 weeks. That is the same $35 a week as market, for a bigger bouquet. Full Season also comes with two extra bouquets and a hat, which brings it to 19 bouquets, or about $31 each.
Full Season
$595
17 weeks + 2 extra bouquets
About $31 a bouquet
Half Season
$304
8 weeks, August and September
$38 a bouquet
Full Season is the best value because it is the easiest for us to plan around. You commit to the season, we know exactly what to plant, and we pass that certainty back to you.
Picture mid-May: the first pickup of the year, cut that morning, with your name on it. It is waiting at one of our weekend markets, at the farm in Roxbury, or at your door if you live within 12 miles of the farm. No line, and no hoping we didn't sell out before you got there.
7 Full Season shares left.
Already a member? Thank you. You are the reason we can plan the tunnel.
Not sure which tier fits? Reply with how often you want flowers and we will tell you honestly which one makes sense.
And come say hi on Instagram (@hardyhillfarms).
From the hill,
the Hardy Hill Farms family