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You know the deal. You long for the space to have your own garden or small farm. Then you actually GET that space and realize you have no idea how to actually implemen your dreams.
Been there.
As we eagerly plan for our 2023 gardens, can we acknowledge the elephant in the room?
Let’s all admit - we all have them. We all need to plan for them. Just like we plan for all other aspects of our gardens.
Well, it’s the New Year and already I’m getting ALL the questions about this year’s Peony offerings.
I get it - we miss our gardens
Many of us - we can’t even see them right now. They’re buried under snow
For the first time, we’re releasing a Fall Bare-Root Peony Catalog.
The Catalog will go live on Thurs, Sept 29 at 11 AM. The catalog will initially be open to email list members only.
Did you know investing in your peonies this Fall helps ensure better peonies next year and in years to come?
Not only is Fall the best time to plant bare-root peonies, t’s also a great time to divide and/or move them too.
Given how many questions we’re getting about this year’s catalog, we’re dedicating one post to answering the most common ones including:
First, thank you for the loads of comments, emails and messages we received on our Week 1 Tour!
Your (virtual) enthusiasm almost made up for the fact that we couldn’t do Open Farm Days this year.
Ok, so who else has had the weirdest weather this spring?
In the past month we’ve had
Frost damage on the peony buds and leaves. (usually very rare for us but quite wide-spread this year!)
The most common thing our readers tell us is, “I just wish I could visit your farm.”
But that’s just not possible given we have readers all over the continent and even some on other continents.
Who else is still figuring out their Thanksgiving menu?
Because folks, I still don’t know what I’m cooking. It’s been that kind of month….
I remember the days when I used to plan Thanksgiving weeks in advance
This happens a lot:
I’m in the grocery store with my 3 young children and an older woman wistfully says, “Your children are precious. Don’t blink. You don’t want to miss these years.”
This week, we published Lyndaker Farms' very first online catalog.
It seems simple enough - just 42 varieties of beautiful Peonies.
But folks - if this peony catalog could talk - she would tell the story of our family's last 5 years.
I've heard that author Ann Patchett, calls her ideas for her as-yet unwritten books "butterflies." That's how entrancing and delightful she finds just the IDEA of these books.
And I get that. Because my dreams for this Farm Store feel that beautiful too. Especially as I've watched them take shape.
Last week, we set up the gazebo that will house our store. We even opened for one afternoon, just to do a "dry-run".
My family - a small group of Amish-Mennonites - left France and moved to upstate New York in the mid 1800s. They were looking for a remote location where they could re-establish their farms and escape religious persecution.
By the time my grandmother - Catherine Widrick - was born, the community had been in place for 5 generations.
Not all weeks are created equal. This is true for all jobs but somehow achingly true for farming.
Some weeks things flow. Your to-do list is up to date. Your garden produces a bumper crop. Dinner is on the table on time.
Ok! We’re now inventorying the fields in preparation for our July Peony Catalog.
Which feels like a bit of a relief given the ridiculously tough bloom season we had!