2012 is a new year and I hope to make it a good one. I have two wonderful new employees who started with me towards the end of 2011 and so happy to have them and they are both very excited about all the new flowers and vegetables. With their help, we should be able to offer more and more consistant supply of both flowers and vegetables.

We have been booking weddings for the 2012 year and very excited about that also. If you are thinking about using local flowers, let us provide flowers for your wonderful day. I post alot of pictures on my facebook page, Cuts of Colors. Check those out and give me a call and we can set up a visit for your special day.

Here's to a happy new year and happy growing,

Rita

Our Fall crop of tomatoes are planted and some are flowering but without temps going below 70, I don't think we will have any tomatoes anytime soon. Hoping for tomatoes sometime in November. Our Arugula, lettuce mix and spicy green mix are putting out lots of salad mix and our cucumbers are finally starting to produce fruit.  Our basi is still going crazy even in the heat. Peppers have all ceased to exist in the extreme heat. Just couldn't keep up watering them. We've planted spinach but havn't had alot of luck yet getting it to sprout because of the heat. Broccoli, cauliflower and lettuce plants are growing and waiting for them to size up to be transplanted out into the gardens. 

Our biggest obstacle at the moment is keeping the deer from eating everything we plant. The birds are coming in and pecking at the ground and eating the seed in the trays. The armadillos invade the freshly watered beds at night and squirels are eating our pecans from the trees.  We are having a new deer proof fence put in sometime starting this week and that will keep out the biggest nemice.

Some of the flowers are still growing in this heat like the zinnias, sunflowers and celosia.  Dahlias are in their new beds for the fall and winter and hoping for a boutiful harvest of beautiful stems. We have started sowing seed for several of our early spring flowers and our ranuculus and anemone bulbs are due to arrive at the first of October. It seems like their arrival is like our new start for the next year because they are usually the first thing to start blooming in late December to early January. 

After a summer like we've had this year, I have never looked forward to winter more than this year. I vow I will never complain about the cold again. Weather forcasters are saying it will be a warmer than normal winter and not much rain till next spring.  I hope they are wrong but only time will tell.

Despite the weather, I am very optimistic about a good fall and winter crop. As long as my wells keep working, We will keep growing. I'm also very excited about 2 new employees to the farm and look forward to their imput to this next growing season.

From our farm to yours, Rita

I am using my couch time to reserch, order seeds and do a whole lot of planning for next year.  On the night of Dec. 4th, we had a hard freeze of 19 degrees, the first of the season and it was a surprise . All of our annual flowers  including the house of zinnias that were suppose to take us to Christmas with flowers, froze and left me with no flowers till the early spring flowers like ranunculus and anemones start blooming.

We were very busy the month of November planting all of our greens and lettuces. Amazingly the tomatoes did not freeze. The days have consisted of clouds, rain and cool temps as of late and the tomatoes are not growing .  We have decuded this year not to purchase propane and heat the greenhouse and if they freeze, we will just replant in the early spring.

In preparation for spring, we have all of our ranunculus, anemones, delphiniums, dianthus, bells of ireland, campanula, snap dragons, freesia up and growing. Normally we are able to start picking some of the flowers before Valentine's days,

I can't wait to be able to go out in the garden and get my hands dirty and back to work.  I'm excited about 2010 and have alot of ideas to implement to bring new and exciting products to my customers.

I'm just itching to start some of the fall crops but with temps being so high, I'm a little hesitant. Most of our crops are making it through the summer thanks to alot of drip irrigation. Two saturdays ago when we were coming home from market in Houston, I saw what I thought was a huge flock of birds ahead and as we got closer, realized it was a huge heat twister. We slowed down to let it go in front of us because it took up all four lanes of the interstate and was as high as you could see and what I thought were birds, were actually corn leaves and other debris. I remarked to my husband, I hope we don't get one of those through our greenhouses. The next afternoon as we werre taking a nap, we heard a loud noise and went out to see what the rucus was. Well it was another one of those huge heat twisters and it took the plastic off one of my greenhouses and ripped a shade cloth off another. It was the same greenhouse that was damaged in April and was going to be repaired anyway and it just did some of the work for us by taking the plastic off. I had a beautiful crop of celosi in the house and when the plastic came off it was hit by some high winds and knocked and broke alot of the celosia down and then the high heat burned some of the plants that wern't use too the heat. It always something and keeps life interesting.

Next week we will start transplanting our fall crop of tomatoes into our beds and the start to alot of work. We also will be transplanting another fall crop of zinnias and as always lots of sunflowers. Our youngest son who is home from college for a couple of weeks between semesters is doing alot of repairs and some new construction for us so we can concentrate on growing. One of his biggest projects is building a cooler for keeping flowers and maybe vegetables also at different times of the year.

Erin our daughter and her husband Jeff are anxiously awaitiing the birth of their 3rd child in late October which will be welcomed at home by  Avery who is 3 and Chase who is almost 5 and will be attending pre k . Our oldest son Jim and his wife, Nikki are pregnant and expecting their first born in March. We are anxiously awaiting the births of more grandchildren.

Here is a site that I wanted to share on flower care.

Enjoy