Setting My Sights On 2025

As we kick off the new year, I am focusing in on finalizing the crop plans for 2025. I've done about 75% of the planning so far, but that last 25% is the most important, but also the most mentally draining, so I've been avoiding it. lol

So, much like the 2024 Recap, I thought it'd be fun to look ahead at 2025 and see what I have planned... so far anyway!

Winter

The biggest goal for the rest of the winter is to complete the high tunnel project. We have all the pieces joined together and laid out, we just have to stand the whole thing up. No small feat, but I am looking forward to getting planted earlier thanks to the season extension of the high tunnel. Earlier planting = earlier blooms for you!

Another task planned for the winter is dividing all the dahlia tuber clumps. It's a pretty big undertaking and can be a bit messy, but thankfully I can do it indoors on those cold winter days. Spoiler alert: I am tentatively planning the dahlia sale for early March! And I believe this will all be run through the website so you can just "add to cart" and checkout - easy peasy!

In February I will start planting again. I'll start sowing those cold hardy seeds and planting out my second round of ranunculus and anemone. I'm also planning to move my crate-grown tulips from the field, into the high tunnel - the goal being to get them growing faster for earlier blooming!

Phase 1 of High Tunnel is complete!

Spring

Spring, ahhh, so close and yet, so far away. Spring will be busy busy, in a good way, of course. I'll start planting the field grown cool flowers about the 2nd week of March, if Mother Nature agrees.

Tulip season will be in full force come April. I have about 15 different varieties this year, in just about every color they come in. I am excited for some salmon colored ones, a giant pink one, and a couple types of yellow ones. After the winter blues, I will be ready for some BRIGHT flowers.

After our last frost, typically April 22nd-ish, I'll start planting out the summer annuals and dahlia tubers. I'll also be uncovering the over-wintered dahlias to see if they survived or not (more on that later).

Spring Subscription bouquets will begin in late April or early May.... in case you can't tell, Spring flowers are SO dependent on Mother Nature's schedule. But I have never been as excited for them as I am this year. Primarily because the high tunnel will allow me to have more flowers EARLIER and catch more of the Spring Subscriptions. The Spring Subs bouquets will be based with my favorite, peonies! But will include many other Spring favorites, such as snapdragons, ranunculus, and lace flowers.

I'd be remiss if I didn't acknowledge the 2 big flower holidays in the Spring - Easter and Mother's Day. I fully intend to have flowers available for purchase those weekends as well!

Summer

Sweet Summertime! To be quite honest, Summer '25 is kind of a wildcard for me this year. I shifted the subscription program to match the customer wishes and better align with the flower abundance on Rudy Lane - of peonies in the Spring and Dahlias in the late Summer-Fall. But that means, for the first time since 2020, I won't have subscriptions going out each week June-Aug.

But that doesn't mean there will BE NO FLOWERS. Rather, I will still be supplying my wholesale markets and hosting the farmstand as the flowers are available.

The other upside to not having bouquet deliveries each week in those months is I can put more focus into maintaining the crops that have otherwise taken a backburner. As a one-woman show in the flower production side of things (not to mention working a full time job and being a mom to 3 youngsters), I really have to prioritize the must-do tasks first. Which means other things, primarily weeding, get pushed to the bottom. Unfortunately, letting weeds grow for a couple weeks makes them way less manageable than if I got to them right away. And subsequently, I'd end up with a flower field I wasn't particularly proud of showing - even though it was producing hundreds of gorgeous flower each week.

With a more aesthetically pleasing field, I look forward to hosting on-farm workshops. You all have loved the seed starting, flower arranging, and wreath workshops, and it's always been my goal to have you out to the farm to experience the full beauty of a Missouri morning, in a flower field, overlooking the Gasconade River Valley!

PLUS, I am working with some other talented ladies to bring additional workshop topics too. I seriously CAN NOT WAIT for this!!!

Fall

Fall, or really, late summer and into Fall, will see our Dahlia Subscription bouquets beginning in August! These bouquets will also include all those warm summer favorites like celosia, cosmos, and the giant zinnias. The farmstand will, no doubt, be in full swing again, and it's also a great time to get a DIY bucket for your Fall wedding needs (be sure to message me in advance).

And then it will be the usual hustle and bustle of planting Fall bulbs and seedlings, digging and storing dahlias, prepping for winter and wreath workshops and subscription sales. Oof! It sounds so far away, but I am sure I'll be there before I know it!

The quintessential fall bouquet!

On a Personal Note...

On a personal note, I am looking forward to all that 2025 has in store for our family. We are going on a family vacation in early March (just before flower madness), to Disney World - send thoughts and prayers lol jk! I've been to Disney several times and even though it's more of a working vacation than a relaxing vacation, I've always had such a memorable experience and look forward to that with the kids.

This summer I am setting intentions to spend more time on the water. We love hanging at the Lake with my cousins and kayaking on the Gasconade right in front our farm. But, I'm ashamed to say we didn't kayak one single time in 2024 and I told myself to do better in '25.

Ridley and Greta are still in 4H and their club has lots of cool projects planned for them this year. Ridley is planning to do meat chickens for her animal project... this seemed like a nice, progressive step up from the country cured ham, and am looking forward to the lessons she will learn from being solely responsible for these animals leading up to the fair.

This Fall I am going on another "girls trip" with a group of girls I have been friends with for over 30 years (yikes, that makes me sound old, lol!). The same group I went to Sedona with in April - this time we are heading to the Pacific Northwest - most likely Olympic National Park area, so send me any recs if you've been there before.

Other than that, you know, just the usual goals of eating less carbs, drinking more water and enjoying the simple things on our little piece of heaven here on Rudy Lane.

I hope you have a great 2025 and join me in enjoying the flowers...

Sincerely,

Megan

Here's to more time spent having fun with flowers!