Tell me, what is it you plan to do
With your one wild and precious life?
--Mary Oliver, "The Summer Day"
I mentioned in my last post that I would soon have news. I had anticipated delivering it sooner than this, but there are always glitches in the plans we make, and I have seen quite a few of them in the last month. I'm learning, though, that every time an obstacle appears, as long as I keep my mind set on what I mean to achieve, I can get over it. Maybe I'm not learning that, after all, just remembering.
I have, for some time, been imagining a life more connected to my passion for gardening. As I've laid out and executed the plans for creating the vegetable garden and overhauling the neglected spaces on our land, I've always done so with the vague idea of a business. Last year I read a book that finally gave shape to those nebulous plans. And then I discovered a podcast, Slow Flowers with Debra Prinzing, that began answering so many of the questions that sprang up from my reading and research. As I drive to and from school each day, I've been receiving a valuable education.
The title of the book will make the announcement for me, I suppose. It's called The Flower Farmer: An Organic Grower's Guide to Raising and Selling Cut Flowers by Lynn Byczynski. Since last October I've been working night and day to bring the plans for my own cut flower farm to fruition. It's been pretty difficult to manage the demands of my day job and the new farm, so I've been giving up a whole lot of sleep to maintain my standards at school and to get things going here. I'm desperate for the end of the semester so that I can return to a blissful 8 hours of sleep each night. More than anything else, I'm looking forward to handing over bouquets of beautiful flowers I've grown here and seeing the pleasure that they bring to others.
So, why don't I introduce you to the farm? Thanks to a fabulous graphic artist I hired, I have a lot to show you. Just click on the logo to take a little tour.
