As I mark my 11th year back at the farm, I feel I have settled, ever so slowly and sweetly, into the yearly dance of farming. I have found there is a rhythm that goes along with each season. Of course, there is the ferocity of our summers, spent with our heads down, harvesting and packing, and the forced stillness of winter where we practice patience as the rain comes and to-do lists get made. But the spring! The spring offers a chance at newness which is something I think everyone in this world craves. Even us farmers, who seem to know the change of season like the back of our weathered hands, relish in the buds as they burst forth, shooting stocks unfurling, and bleating lambs resting on green pasture.
The newness is everywhere! The first ranunculus bunch I pick – often just in time for my mother and sister’s mid-March birthdays. The first fragrant lilac that comes from the one bush that’s hidden near the pile of old tires behind the mechanic shed. There is newness even in the seeds we are growing – trials that we hope will measure up. This year that means exciting zinnias and feverfew that a friend-of-a-farmer said was their favorite. We hope that newness will emerge from the soil, and we will add a new variety to our list of favorites to grow year after year.
There is newness in roles for those of us on the flower team: me, as an author, Sonia as a grandmother, and Flor as her first full year as a flower farmer. Hannah and Rose, who both completed our internship program last year, have now stepped strongly and confidently into the big shoes of our farm manager Jan, who left at the end of last summer. They help till beds, plant flowers, and set up irrigation. Each person makes their mark on this new season and leaves their impression in the soil.
And of course, there is a newness and joy in the first bunch of flowers we get to send to you as we start our flower season for our CSA members in April! Over the last 11 years, I have watched CSA flowers orders ebb and flow, rising to an all-time high in 2020-2021 as people stayed home and needed a bit more cheer in their everyday life. This year, I wonder, if there may be a newfound appreciation for what flowers can offer us in a tumultuous political time. I watched an interview the other day from a fellow florist and author Kristen Griffith. When asked how to keep flowers from dying prematurely, the florist said this in reply: “Flowers, are not supposed to last. Their job is to help us stay in the present. They grow, they blossom, they thrive, and then they are gone.”
Each week, we hope our flower CSA can offer a way to stay present, a way to embrace the newness of each variety as it comes, and similarly embrace when it’s gone. With over 50 different flower varieties during the CSA flower season (from April 1 to September 30), you can really witness and bask in the seasonality of each bloom. Each bouquet is a glimpse into what is happening at the farm, and the natural world around you.
Hannah Muller
