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Jennie Love
Guest
A teacher I know recently said to reassure her students stuck at home, “We get to do something that has never been done before. How cool is that?!” Now that’s a master of silver linings right there, a skill I deeply admire! I’ve been trying to spot silver lining moments whenever possible at the farm as we weather this COVID-19 challenge. The impact to our small business and team has been heavy hitting. Some days it is really hard to even fathom how to move forward. It helps to know this isn’t an insular experience, even as we all hang tight in isolation.
Spring continues, despite our human attempt to stop time to stop the spread of a virus. On this last day of March, the farm is fully awake in the most verdant and pulsing way. It’s an early Spring by recent measures, perhaps three weeks ahead of last season. As such, there are plenty of blooms already to help with all the gloom and doom. Because our sales have plummeted while restrictions on gatherings are in place, I’ve had more time to be present at the farm. To actually FARM! Usually my days are very divided between a cornucopia of diverse tasks that include getting my hands in the soil much less frequently than I would like. Instead my small but mighty (and dedicated) team do most of the heavy lifting in the field. But now, thanks to COVID-19, I’m out there solo most every day, knees covered in mud, fingernails full of dirt. I do love this!
And another silver lining has been seeing the flowers come in to full bloom in the field. It’s counterintuitive, but a flower farmer usually rarely gets to see many flowers in full bloom if they’re doing their job right. My job, as a flower farmer, is to grow lots of blooms just to the point where they are plump buds just starting to unfurl and then to pick those buds and sell them as soon as possible so customers can enjoy the full bloom in their home or event. So, I rarely see wide-open flowers at the farm. But now that sales have slowed way down, each new Spring crop is a treat to watch as it splashes its color around with wild abandon. Truly, this is a farm full of hope!
Be well, dear friends of the farm. Look for the silver linings to get you through. If you’re curious to see more about life as a flower farmer or want to look at more pretty pictures of flowers and the farm, click around some of the old blog posts. Plenty of content there! And if you want more flower-related fun, check out our friends at Local Color Flowers who just posted a flower-focused crossword to keep you entertained!
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