Nestor Flower Farm, year two.
January 2022
Here at the farm, you would think it would be quiet this time of year. But NOoooo. I’m busy catching up on my taxes and other paperwork. I use one of the online tax programs from Quickbooks. It’s pretty slick—until it’s not. It brings in expenses from my credit card, very cool. But when I had to change one of my credit cards out (spam), it messed everything up, not cool. It took two days to straighten it out. I’m not fun to be around when I have to try to clear up technical difficulties.
I’ve also created a form on my website to make it easy for folks to sign up for the newsletter. The web hosting company tries to make it easy, but for me, it’s not. Maybe if i did it every day… But most days I my mind is on flowers.
February 2022
I mostly rest in February although I am busy trying to figure out where to plant the flowers I have ordered. Next year, I plan to plan FIRST, then order.
March 2022
In March I begin to start planting. The lisianthus came in flats with 288-350 in a flat! So they were tiny, tiny, plugs— about a quarter of an inch. Here are lisanthus plugs that I bumped up to 2″ pots. Since I had almost 2000 lisianthus, it was a big job.
April 2022
April is always crazy. Inside, we are growing almost 2000 lisianthus. It Snows. Tulips and daffodils bloom.
May 2022
In May the lisianthus are ready to plant. I sell a few pots to my flower friend in Cincinnati. After the flowers are planted, I wash hundreds of pots. The peonies bloom, and they are gorgeous. It rains, flooding the paths.
June and July 2022
More flowers.
August 2022
This month I’m mainly trying to keep things weeded, watered, and growing. The dahlias are coming in strong. A wedding to remember showcases a variety of flowers and a small cake to cut.
September 2022
Carl fills the flower beds in the soon-to-be hoop house by shovel. We add insect netting hoping to keep the Japanese beetles off the dahlias next year. We finish applying plastic to the hoop house and install a method to roll up the sides.
A fall wedding includes bouquets for the bride, the bridesmaids, and the corsages.
October 2022
In October, I begin to sort and dig the dahlias for next year. With the help of the cat, we add dirt to raised beds. We have hundreds of chrysanthemums.
November 2022
In November I take several days to divide and sort dahlia tubers, packing them safely away in the fridge. I dig up the calla lilies and store them as well. I still have hundreds of chrysanthemums.
December 2022
Praise God for snow and time to rest.
Some of the paintings of my flowers. https://gracenestor.com/
