Wintertime
The white landscape is both beautiful and harsh right now. Inches of snow have drifted into several feet on the southern sides of farm structures. I love the quiet that snow creates. Animal prints show me how many tenacious neighbors I’m sharing this land with. A few weeks back I found a particularly fascinating set of wing prints in the snow that led to a dead pigeon. The pattern captivated me and had me puzzled by what could have happened. Nature so often insulates grief with a sense of awe.
Usually winters are a quiet time for me, as I have less demanding work, and no staff to manage. This winter has had some restful times. I have taken a few short trips to visit family. Recently, I took a very packed trip to New Mexico for the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers National Conference. With 300+ flower farmers in one hotel there was so much noise! Really- it’s good to catch up with people who want to talk flowers (crop planning, varieties, growing tips, greenhouse brands, etc.) and business management all day and night! We couldn’t stop talking and didn’t want to!
My favorite presentation was about bookkeeping and measuring farm metrics year over year. It’s nerdy, I know! But it felt so relevant for me right now. With a shift in some of the DFF crew makeup this year, I’ve been thinking about what changes I want to make on the farm, and analyzing the numbers is one way to assess what’s working and what isn’t. I’ve also been spending time each morning writing in my journal to note how I feel about some of the transition ideas I have.
Delight Flower Farm is pretty unique for a flower farm business in that we do SO MANY THINGS. Many other farmers I know just do one or two sales channels for example- a CSA and a farmers market, a farmstand and they sell wholesale to florists, or they sell grocery bouquets, DIY buckets and on-farm events. But here at Delight Flower Farm we do all of those things! Although I love each one for different reasons, doing them all together has a way of dispersing my attention and draining my energy, and it makes it challenging to train new staff. I’m asking myself what can we let go of? (Feel free to share what you think with me via email.)
Some of the other things I’ve been busy with lately are seed ordering, crop planning, tax prep, and lots of apartment hunting for this year’s H2A housing. Fingers crossed I found a good spot and can start moving that process along ASAP.
Because spring will be here soon! Let that cyclical rhythm bring you some hope on these cold dark days. Take care of yourselves, my friends.
