So, as some of y’all may know, I’m starting a flower farm. This year will be my first “official” year as a micro flower farmer. So, I’m going to be taking y’all along on my journey as I learn all the things about flowers and all the things that come with them.
We live on an acre and a half, which to me is amazing… I never thought I’d be on any land at all haha. One day, my husband and I both dream of having a farm with a lot of land. For now, we will make do on our one-and-a-half acres! Our front yard gets full sun, every day. The only time it doesn’t see the sun is in the mornings during sunrise, sunset, and cloudy days. Which makes it the perfect plot for gardening & small-scale (“micro”) farming.
The plan
My plan for this flower farm this year is to have four 4×20 beds. Although I may add a couple more if I’m feeling frisky and I have an overload of seeds. This year, I’m really trying to only grow a certain amount of different types of flowers. So, as much as I’d love to grow every single flower of every single kind, I don’t want to get a major burnout. This year for flowers, I’m focusing on zinnias, cosmos, sunflowers, dahlias, ranunculus, marigolds, and a few other varieties. I will have a bed mainly for veggies but I am focusing on my flower farm process in this post!
There have been a few different processes I’ve been thinking about planning out. None of them quite stuck out to me like the “no-till gardening method”. As much as I would love to go out there and dig up the ground, I opted for the no-till option. This method is super easy, I actually did it in my raised garden bed last year, and it kept the weeds out nicely.
Also, I’m thinking about adding a separate bed in the back of our yard for growing specialty flowers. I want to experiment with different types of zinnia breeds and higher-scale flowers. Think about the types of flowers that florists use for bouquets. I’ve been tossing around the idea of breeding different types of zinnias to get the colors I truly want out of a zinnia. There is so much creativity going on in my brain at all times, sometimes it’s a lot to keep up with haha.
The first steps we have completed in our flower farm
Obtained the seeds I’d like. (Although I’m still shopping and my husband says I don’t need more new seeds. I’m still getting new seeds LOL.)
Getting the cardboard – so far we have 250ft worth of cardboard.
Getting compost/topsoil trucked in.
Measuring out the beds and cardboard.
The steps we’re working on now:
Filling the beds
Letting the cardboard decompose
Planting the seeds
Right now, we’re in the hard-working stage of wheeling all of the dirt from point A to point B. It’s a lot of tough work, but I know it will be worth it in the end. I am spreading the dirt out evenly and it will be about 4 inches high. I obtained some local compost/topsoil for the “no-till” garden method. This year is a trial and error year, basically to see what works and what doesn’t work. I learned a lot last year with my small-scale flowers, so, I’m hoping to put some of that knowledge toward my larger-scale flowers this year.
We recently moved onto 1.5 acres which is super great! It’s a good plot of land for me to get homestead practice on before we move to a whole bunch of acreage. God has blessed us with what we have now so I will bring glory to Him through the beauty of His flower creation. I can’t wait to see what all will be in store for my upcoming micro flower farm.
While you’re waiting for more flower farm content, check out my other homestead content!
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