August Journal
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July has been an absolute whirlwind.
I spent the first part of July locked in my shed dividing dahlia clumps.
This year I made the decision to wash the clumps just before dividing and so far it seems to have been the right choice.
In the past I didn’t wash the clumps because I thought it helped with storage, and also because using so much extra water felt like a bad idea.
However, I washed the clumps over a drainage ditch that runs into the dam where I pumped the water from, which meant very little water was waster but also that I didn’t create a separate muddy patch on the easily waterlogged farm.
Washing the clumps made it so much easier to divide because I didn’t have to excavate any soil away from the crown before getting stuck in. It also meant I could empty my compost bucket much less frequently, and had fewer trips down to the compost pile, because I didn’t have a heap of extra dirt in the shed.
I’ve been keeping a careful eye on the stored tubers and they don’t seem to have been impacted by washing at all.
They are stored in a mix of rice hulls, vermiculite, and coco coir. Next year I think I could probably drop the vermiculite entirely, but I’ll wait and see how the mix holds up when I dampen it to wake the tubers up in September (I can’t believe that’s only a month away!)
In the midst of my dividing frenzy I did take a day out to move the peonies.
I wrote about that earlier so won’t go into too much detail. In short, mum had noticed some of the peonies were starting to break the surface so if we were going to move them to a new home we had to get a wriggle on. They couldn’t stay where they were because it was an unmaintainable mess, and also because they will be the new home of the dahlias.
The first round of my tuber sale happened on 10 July after I’d finished dividing and it seemed to go without a hitch. Of course, numbers were limited so some missed out on unicorns but luckily no cranky messages!
Side note: does anyone else find it amusing that we always say ‘numbers are limited’ because of course they are? I can’t just manufacture extra tubers out of nothing if they sell out. I always say this too, and it always amuses me.
After the sale mum and I whipped down to Hobart to attend the National Dahlia Conference. It was a really great weekend full of passionate dahlia people. I felt so lucky to be able to talk to great dahlia growers, breeders, and exhibitors from all over. Some I had never met, and aren’t on social media so not as easily befriendable. Some I count among my flower and internet friends and it was so lovely to put an actual face to a name and chat in person.
After I came home it was time to start some seeds for the next cold hardy annual succession. I’m currently pricking out and potting those up.
I also travelled down to Denison to help my friend Kara of Denison Green dig out some roses. She is going travelling for a while so decided to part with flower farming and her rose collection for the time being.
I came home with some gifted Claire roses. Claire is a gorgeous David Austin in a perfect shade of blushy pink. These roses have a lot of history having been originally grown at Soho Rose Farm before going to Kara and now me.
That meant I had to find space for them and so they have been temporarily planted into a bed in the annual flower field. They can stay there for the time being.
Gippsland growers were also invited to a meetup lunch in July and I attended that. It was just a casual lunch to get to know each other a little better and put some faces to some instagram handles (am I the only one who seems incapable of putting names to faces to businesses?) and hopefully is something we can do again in the not-so-distant future.
I rounded out the month by finally putting in the sweet pea trellis and starting to prune the roses.
The rose pruning, tidying, and mulching will likely continue for the rest of the month in-between more seed starting, planting, and weeding in the annual field.
I also hosted the very first ‘Office Hours’ for the Grown Not Flown GYM program. This is designed to be a casual hour to chat about flower farms and ask any questions, as well as meeting some other flower farmers.
It was so lovely to hear what others are up to and to work through some problems. The more I talk to other farmers the more I realise that, while we might approach our farms differently and with different goals, there is so much value to sharing our knowledge and experiences, and building community. It is so wonderful to be able to talk flowers with others in the proverbial trenches.
What’s Going On in August
Events
Nothing planned so far! Looking forward to being able to get stuck into some field work if the weather holds out.
Greenhouse
Potting up and babying the next round of cold hardies. Phlox, larkspur, strawflower, statice, queen anne’s lace, chocolate lace, nasturtiums, snapdragons, and some antique shade violas (but those are probably just for fun).
Towards the end of this month it will also be time to start the tender annuals. I try not to start them too early because some of them grow so fast (like the cosmos and the zinnias) and I don’t want them to be stunted, but things like celosia might benefit from the slightly earlier start - especially because my glasshouse can be very warm on sunny days. The catch, always, with the summer annuals is that an unseasonably late frost can ruin all the hard work, and cold soil will hurt them also. If in doubt, and if you can’t put them in a protective tunnel, it’s better to err on the side of caution and start a little later rather than too early.
Field
Weeding, mowing, and maintenance (always)
The roses will continue to be pruned, weeded, and mulched
The sweetpeas will be tied to their new trellis for support until they figure it out for themselves.
I have 500 roses to relocate. Dahlia bed prep will begin once this is done. (Side note but I need to set up the space for these roses before I can move them).
Summer annual bed prep will probably need to wait until September.
Shed
Dahlia Seeds need to be put into individual packets and listed for sale. Unfortunately when I first ordered seed packets I was sent the wrong ones which delayed my dahlia seed sale. Unfortunately because I missed that first window other tasks have taken priority so the seeds have had to wait. I am still hoping to do this, and now that I have the right packets I just need to count out the seeds and get them listed on the website.
Dahlia tubers are routinely checked for any issues.
Listening To
Flowers: The Dirt on Flowers “Our Favourite Online Tools”. It can be so easy to overlook how many tools exist to help make our lives easier. While doing some work for Grown Not Flown I was recently introduced to Trello and now use it to help me track and manage a range of farm projects. This podcast episode has a whole host of recommendations to help with everything from time management to email newsletters.
Reading
Flowers: Cultivated: The elements of Floral Style by Christin Geall This is a book I return to when I am looking for creative inspiration. Geall writes so beautifully and this book makes me think more creatively about life and not just flowers. You can also find her on instagram here [The book link is an affiliate link]
Not Flowers: Murdle. I don’t know if this counts as reading, but it is a lot of fun. It’s a murder mystery logic puzzle game that you can do online daily or buy one of the books for extra puzzles & different levels of difficulty.
Watching
Not Flowers: The Olympics on Stan. I am one of those people that only watch sport when it’s the Olympics. So far I have loved the equestrian, skateboarding, and gymnastics. The freestyle BMX was also very cool.
What’s going on in your patch of the world?