#127 What My Flower Farm Really Looks Like in August🌸

Okay, I actually have some peaches and cream dahlia Not not a lot I'm still just cutting most of them off and throwing them on the ground because there has been so much bug Damage in my dahlia some but I don't know I could be wrong I think we are turning the corner this week Last week almost all my peaches and cream were just like chopped off like some sort of caterpillar was coming at night and just Eating the petals. So it had this flat face to the each bloom. So Besides the different bugs that were eating at the back. The caterpillars were a new addition to to my dahlia field So since it's the middle of August actually, we're past the middle of August I thought this week I would give you a little field update tour of some of the main things I'm growing and let you know how they are doing and Yeah starting with my dahlia, so I did spray them again not with pesticides It's just a mixture of the more molasses I use some Lactic acid bacteria and some other good stuff just to try and give them a boost to make them healthier because yeah They're definitely still having some bug damage, but I I honestly I do think that that is on its way out Especially with the nights getting cooler and I think maybe the bug life cycle or there's enough good bugs have moved in But yeah, I did have a ton of leafhopper damage this year, especially on all the dahlias that overwintered so that wasn't very cool But I think we're outgrown that so so very green patch They are growing like crazy now, and I think I'm going to be swimming in dahlias But probably not for a couple more weeks So I am so So thankful Pauline could come this week and help me get that chicken fencing out of the lawn That was a little bit of an oops I kind of wasn't really thinking about it in the grass with all the rain we've had and beautiful weather it It was kind of growing and so yeah It's out. It's all put together so that I can set it up in a new place Yeah, everything is really growing so nicely right now with this great weather We've had and with that rain we had a couple weeks ago I did water this whole bed at the beginning of the week, and then we did get more rain last night So I think the plants like especially the zinnia plants are super healthy Which is what I want because this really is my August bloom And I'm very happy with the zinnias I planted this year And I'm not so much thinking about the dahlias because I really want them to shine in September And then I will be happy with my zinnias this month, so I've only planted six rows of Zinnias this year which is pretty low for me Compared to what I used to do a couple years ago last year I didn't have very many either and they are mainly the Oklahoma variety which is the smaller bloom size I just think they're so cute, and I I don't know it could be in my head but I really think I get better vase life out of the Oklahoma variety compared to some of the fancier varieties and the binary the bigger kind, but I do have Three different bigger kinds out there two of them are in the seed trial I'm doing so I have Johnny's linen, and I'm comparing it to the binary white So I do have those and I'm also trying a pale Yellow variety because that this this yellow is pretty bright and the designers really want a softer Yellow, and I'm very happy with it. It works for the designers, and I haven't sent it to market yet So maybe we'll do that in a week or two, but I think I have plenty of these smaller Zinnias for this week at market Okay, this is ten This is 20 stems I need 30 for next week And yeah, I'm jumping the gun on cutting because I'm worried. It's supposed to rain tomorrow And Sunday, and I'm gone tomorrow, so otherwise I would leave this one more day, but This variety this is Corelli light pink Which is a really nice blush, but it really rips when we have hard rain And that's what happened Wednesday afternoon I was not expecting it these looked amazing, and I was super excited and then all of a sudden this downpour Hit them, but they're still good. I'm maybe I'll risk it and leave the last ten For early next week and hopefully Yeah, they look okay, then So we have been enjoying some amazing August weather like this this is gorgeous and yesterday at market was like I think the best weather you can have at a farmer's market, and so I actually brought more stuff I thought how the weather is just like perfect I'm gonna bring extra flowers compared to what I brought the last few weeks and what I sold So yeah, it was it was still a good market day, but I actually sold less flowers I think all the vendors found the market actually to be quieter than normal So I'm not sure if people just were out doing other fun summer activities because the weather was so nice But yeah, I was surprised by that, but it was still a good day, and I have no complaints I will take that kind of market weather Every week until the end. I think there's seven Yeah, seven weeks left to go, but I'm also loving the weather for the flowers I talked about that already that things are really growing and I am getting a little anxious with Lisianthus That's probably my last main crop Zinnias Dahlias and Lizzies are really what I tried to focus on this year as I kind of shrunk my farm, so I grew Far less of everything else like I have the perennial still and I am not going to Talk too much about them because they are a disaster this year that is something. I'm going to need to Improve on next year. I weeded them once once and a half But they still with the mulch they have gotten away on me But I should say though we did I have been taking care of my Delphinium. They looked pretty nasty This is the third time. I'm weeding them, but Pauline and I attacked them and YouTube magic They're all cleaned up, and then the annuals I usually grow quite a few sunflowers So Pauline and I put our second last Planting in the ground when she was here, and I have just a couple more trees to plant and then that's it I only did like five rows of it, which is a Fraction of what I normally do, but yeah sunflowers are everywhere They're everyone's growing them, and they're just not as popular as they were like I think 15 10 15 years ago, so I'm happy with the amount. I have I'm actually really thankful I didn't put more in and in terms of the other annuals It's like straw flower and snapdragons, and I do have a batch of miracles coming for next month, so Hardly anything, but that means I need the lisianthus crop to really get crack in here and start Blooming okay, so these are the first three rows of lisianthus. I planted and it's mixed reviews here Some are great like the ones I was just cutting some are like medium and some are small I have fusarium in this first tray here And I think some just maybe we're stressed from their trays Or I actually it kind of looks like they're in the area where it gets too wet So maybe they were bothered by that, but it's some kind of spotted Success out here. Okay. These are my other six Six and a half rows of lisianthus plus a bit of snapdragons, so I think I think overall I'm happy with what's happening out here Sometimes I just need to be patient and they will keep getting bigger because right now they look a little small to me But they're putting out their first blooms Some are actually still green so this really is my hopefully my September Flowers that should time out good for the collective because right now There's a lot of lisianthus in the collective store right now, so that gives a chance for the other growers to sell Hopefully they'll sell out and then hopefully these can go in the store in September Okay, so I could probably talk about lisianthus all day, but I'm going to keep this short and sweet I'm just gonna say though this half row is the trial seeds from the Association Especially cut flowers and there is some very pretty colors in this row. I'm very happy with some of the new varieties I'm trialing so Otherwise, I maybe I'll just do another video in the future where I can show you some of the other kinds that I grew this year So I was pretty pumped I forgot to say this about market But I sold my first two bunches of peaches and cream dahlia so whatever was eating this row Last week has vacated the row They're not their leaves are not getting chomped on so I don't know if it was a caterpillar or like do grasshoppers eat Dahlia petals, I don't know. This is really the first time I've had anyone eat the bloom off like that so super happy They're gone super happy to finally have some stems because it's been a long time growing these so hopefully this Continues in the next few weeks and I can get lots But yeah, that's my like August progress report for the Louisiana's dahlias and zinnias I think the only other thing I'm working on this month besides weeding is Trying to get my ducks to come farther into the field So I did move their water at the beginning of the week and a little bit of a success of them coming in this direction and then I Think yeah, it's still the YouTube. I Spend a lot of time on my YouTube videos which I think is why things are still getting away from me in the field here like With the weeding and some and just less crops. That's why I planted less crops, but Progress report for YouTube the last two videos did very well, so I want to thank you for watching Those of you I had lots of likes Comments like all of that I think was super helpful to get my video in front of other eyes So thank you so much for hyping and subscribing and everything. I really appreciate it It's fun to see that part that crop grow as well. So anyways, that's it for this week Thank you so much for being here, and I'll see you again next time