... only for the purpose of seeing how far you've come. I don't know about you, but I am constantly trying to learn more, especially since becoming a business owner. I listen to a ton of podcasts and the recurring theme is to look back on 2023 before you start planning 2024. To take stock of what worked, what didn't. What you could improve and what you have dialed in. What you should lean into and what you should walk away from. And so, I've been spending quite a bit of time thinking about that and before I unveil some new projects and events I have in the works for new year, I wanted to take a look back at the one past. But first, I just want to say how incredibly grateful I am to have you here. I know our email boxes are overworked and I nearly DREAD having another notification. So I genuinely try to limit my correspondence to just important deadlines or sharing the fun stuff behind the scenes! My goal for 2024 is to provide you a short note each week that you find joy or inspiration in. I'm not the greatest at it though, so bear with me!
January
We had some decent weather so we got all the seed starting supplies and area ready. We started the ranunculus corms. It was my first time growing them and by and large, they were pretty easy! They'll be coming to the Spring Subscription members come April.
February
Ridley and I went on a one-on-one trip to Chicago. I am making it a point to take each girl on a one-on-one trip when they are 7 years old. We went to the planetarium and the science museum, ate deep dish pizza, and loaded up on Fannie Mae chocolates. It was a fun few days and I can't wait for Greta's turn! When we got back, the daffodils started blooming - the earliest I've ever seen them, February 24th.
March
Two new things on Rudy Lane happened in March. We got baby chicks! Truthfully we had them before, but it had been several years and the girls LOVED raising these babies. And now we are loving the multi-color design eggs we are getting from them. I've been volunteering to bring ALLLL the breakfast casseroles, deviled eggs, and any other egg dish you can think of because we are getting about 8 eggs PER DAY!
April
April equals two things around here: tulips and morel mushrooms. And we had a good harvest year for both! Somehow, by divine intervention, we managed to have our family vacation scheduled right as tulips were finishing and before peonies were starting. It was a nice getaway before the big summer farm season.
May
We kicked off May by celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary. We enjoyed a nice dinner together that didn’t involve ordering from the kids’ menu or cutting anyone else’s food for them – moms of littles, you know what I mean! Lol The rest of May was all about peonies. We had a tremendous harvest, but we also had to WORK for it! The HOT, dry, windy days meant I needed to harvest 4x per day to catch the peonies at the ideal stage. And working a full-time off the farm job made that tough. I missed one day and in a 10 hour period, HUNDREDS of peonies blasted open, rendering them unsellable. Sigh, so it goes in farming. But I got some beautiful pictures out of it. #silverlining
June
Ahh, June, one of my favorite months on the farm. Why? Because it’s the one month where spring and summer flowers overlap. From peonies and snapdragons to sunflowers and cosmos – even the very first of the dahlias. We took the flowers on the road for a pop-up flower bar at the Lavender Rhapsody Farm which was really neat to be a part of. And took a huge leap by investing in a walk-in cooler. I had been saving up for one since we started the flower farm in 2020, but it was still a big GULP to write the check. That said, it was a FANTASTIC decision. We can now preserve our flowers, evergreens, and even the dahlia tubers so much better than anything we’ve done before. It was definitely the right move.
July
Another hot month, best spent fishing and swimming. The spring flowers were toasted, but the summer flowers were cranking right along. My sister and I took our kids on a QUICK trip to Kentucky – Mammoth Cave and Churchill Downs. Have you ever been? I would love to see a horse race at CD some day…. Not with kids. LOL
August
August means State Fair in Missouri. We took the girls up for the day and woof, it was a hot one. We spend a good hour or so watching the cowboy mounted shooting (which was awesome), but mainly because it was in the airconditioned arena! Of course, no trip is complete without cotton candy. Then it was back to farmstand flowers, the dahlias were being harvested by the armload and we were glad to share them with you!
September
September, sweet September. Or should I say Bittersweet? The flowers were stunning and plentiful, but made that much more precious by know the frost was only a few short weeks away. We held our floral arranging classes with a lot of sweet ladies making some perfect centerpieces.
October
A private pumpkin centerpiece workshop for a group of ladies who give so much to a worthy cause. I also started painting my house, I’ve only made it about half way, but I am OBSESSED! I plan to finish early Spring, while waiting (im)patiently for tulips to bloom. And lest I forget, I flowered for my first wedding. It just so happened to be for my cousin and I was honored to do it. They had a fantastic firework show over the Lake, it was a beautiful wedding for a beautiful couple.
November
The great dahlia dig. Whew. We were backed against the wall, aka I was panicking, with the impending cold front. Somehow we managed to get all 600 dahlia plants dug in about 2 days, thanks to Layne’s ingenuity. It’s a good thing dahlia digging is only once a year! I also attended my first ever Association of Specialty Cut Flower Grower’s Conference right down the road in St. Louis. It was so fun to learn from the presenters and fellow attendees. I came away with a notebook full of ideas and I can’t wait to implement some of them with you this year! I also had the honor of speaking at the Empowered Women conference, I LOVE sharing what I’ve learnt and you will see that as a theme for 2024. 😉
December
And last, but not least, December. We finished up the Wreath Season 2024 and let me just say, this was one of my favorite wreath seasons ever. I realllllly enjoyed the private wreath classes, being invited to your home with your girlfriends and family to ring in the Christmas season. Definitely look for more of those in 2024, too! And then we spend the rest of the month soaking up all the Christmas activities – from simple cookie making days to the Nutcracker ballet, and daily screenings of the Grinch (thanks Jordy). I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas season as well!
And if you made it this far, thank you, THANK YOU for your interest in our little farm. Cheers to 2023! And next week I’ll be sharing some of the things I am looking forward to bringing to you in the new year.
Sincerely,
Megan
Rudy Lane Flower Farm
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