April & May 2025—Months in review

So here it is, the end of June, and I am just now getting around to the month in review for April and May. Late April through late June is probably the busiest time on the farm. Flowers are blooming and customers WANT them. And we absolutely want to sell them after a long winter with little income. 

In addition to harvesting and selling, there is so much more to plant. We have not really had a break in the activity at all since mid-April . Even on the rainy days we are in the barn starting more seeds so that we can have high quality and plentiful blooms all the way through the end of the season and into next year. Yes, planning and planting for next year has already begun.

So let's just get right to the highlights:

Weather: Kinda chilly and rainy. With a couple of really cold nights in April. Not enough to really set us back a lot. But it has been a challenge to get stuff planted on time. Many things were/are about a week behind.

Tulips: the outdoor tulips bloomed and were great. The indoor, forced tulips sucked and basically made our tulip program for the year unprofitable. 

Ranunculus, snapdragon, sweet peas: All from the high tunnel and they did great this year. We are putting up another one this fall. It is one of the best ways to have reliable blooms in May and June. And we can't seem to have enough. 

Woody cuts: We planted a ton of shrubs (over a thousand). Some larger bare roots, which should be ready next year. And some smaller potted plants that will be ready in 3-5 years. For flowers, foliage, and berries. This is another really good way to boost our inventory early in the year.