Four Boys Flower Farm

Between a porch gift of my new favourite mug and our BRAND NEW GREENHOUSE, I am so thankful today for friends & family & community. Love and hope abound in times like these, showing up when we most need them. (Or perhaps it’s that we really do find what we’re looking for. ) It’a not an easy week, but somehow I feel the togetherness of all of usfor possibly the first timeactually having the same experience at once. Isn’t it crazy that at the moment of separation, we have more in common than ever? Think of the stories we’ll have to tell; the remember when...s; all of us at once, checking into each other’s homes through these little squares, reaching across porches and networks to touch hearts for even a moment and say don’t worry, I’ll still be here when we all emerge again.

It’s fitting that the 2021 Pantone Colours of the Year are made for narcissus in the snow; for spring; for sunshine after the grey days of winter. Oh, how welcome this will be in just a few months!

This is today, in the field, in November. In fact, flowering kale only turns this colour when the frost comes and the leaves drop. Once again, the metaphors are endless. I planted this row too late to harvest, but it was completely worth it.

I used to wish we lived somewhere warmer. I mean, why did our grandparents choose to immigrate to chilly Canada, of all places? Couldn’t they have at least settled an hour south where the climate is a whole zone ahead of us?! But since I started making friends with flower farmers online all over the world, I’ve realized that growers in warm climates actually envy our ability to grow tulips, or peonies, or so many of the gorgeous flowers that NEED the cold to bloom. Plus, our ...zone 5a is relatively mild compared to those in the prairies or further up north. I’m still giddy over the 3500 tulip bulbs tucked in their beds, ready for their pre-bloom deep freeze. Bring on winter!

Dennis & I finally figured out a communication-saver after twelve years of marriage: we now clarify if I’m talking in dreaming mode or actual expectation. Apparently I start a lot of conversations with You know what we should do, ... which, to me, means that the IDEA ITSELF is worth exploring. I hadn’t realized that other people could interpret it as an actual plan to add to the to-do pile... which now seems rather obvious, now that he’s pointed it out. Where are my ...fellow daydreamers? I’m snowed under a pile of plant & seed catalogues, which is an idea-dreamer’s paradise of possibility. No insect pests or leaf blight or mildew appear in the 2021 of my mind. Everything grows to the full height listed in the catalogue description. I never forget to water, not once. Oh, it’s going to be a great year! *work with me here* See more