First Year Success
It was an amazing first year of flower farming up here in the Hudson Valley! What a ride! I can't believe all the flowers I grew and harvested successfully.
This season, my flower farm provided flowers for 56 local deliveries, 17 studio pick ups, 7 weddings, 3 baby showers, 24 wholesale orders, 1 workshop, 1 pop-up, and about a dozen walk-in customers at the brand new Chester, NY space (which officially opened at the end of August!). I have one more event to flower this Saturday as the second-half of a farm tour. I made sure to harvest everything before the first frost which was Wednesday, October 16. I was a bit sad to wake up and see the ground covered in frost and my dahlia out there pretty lifeless. Then, I cried tears of joy because I'm naturally emotional and thought "Holy sh*t. I did it"! I successfully grew, harvested, and shared the most beautiful flowers for an entire season.
All in all, it was a huge success this season. I had to buy-in some flowers from other local farms for a few of the weddings. For example, I didn't grow any blue shades and I had a wedding with a blue accent. Next season, the goal is to make sure I have a vast variety of color for my couples. These are little things I need to fine tune for 2025 but it's good to know there's so many flower farms that are accessible and easy to purchase from.
I have to continue to remind myself that we (me, Kevin, Junie) just made the transition from NYC to Warwick on February 27. It hasn't even been a year yet and I accomplished so much. Saying goodbye to the city was a little difficult and I do miss it sometimes. It's been hard to make friends and connections because I am so busy with life (and mostly flowers). It's been a long 8 months of settling in, starting the field, growing seedlings, harvesting flowers, starting a new lease, gut-renovating a new studio space, learning my way around the area, and being the best mother I can be to my baby Mo.
So, while it was a success, my body is screaming at me. I need to rest. I plan to take some time off during the winter to recoup after such a whirlwind of a year, both physically and mentally. When I say I'm tired, I AM TIRED. Next season will bring more cut flower varieties (snapdragon!), more events up here in the Hudson Valley, more colors, less dahlia varieties, and maybe even garden parties/workshops on the farm. For now, time to put the farm to sleep for the next few months! Stay blessed.
<3 Jenny