Preserving the harvest part 1: pressing flowers

We all know that summer won’t last forever. That’s why I’m all for figuring out how to preserve the harvest. Not only for food but for flowers too!

I’ve dried flowers in the past but am just now re-discovering the process of pressing them. This is the first season I’m really trying to press a lot of blooms, so I’m a relative newbie. But you can follow me along here as I discover what methods and varieties work best.

Since I only have a small commercially made flower press, I’m putting to use my cherished library of flower and farming texts (and some of Jason’s old college texts) to press in a very no-fuss way.

Pressing whole poppies with a small commercial press.

Here’s a few tips to follow when pressing your blooms:

1) Press flowers before they expire. This is a great way to extend the life of your bouquet subscription or market bouquet. But don’t wait till the blooms are wilted. Press while there’s still a little life still in them.

2) Press individual petals and whole blooms. Play with pressing both! Larger blooms with a thick center may not work so well but smaller flowers like forget-me-nots, poppies and cosmos (to name a few) press lovely whole. I love leaving on the stems too!

3) Use a semi absorbent blotting paper on both sides of the bloom. You can purchase a blotting paper, use water color paper or even a few sheets of newspaper.

4) Press flowers by layering between blotting paper and press either using books as a weight or a commercial flower press.

5) Change blotting paper as needed while flowers dry. If you don’t, you may get some molding.

6) Make sure flowers are completely dry before removing them from the press. Store for later use (think winter art-making) or start creating something of beauty now!

Pressing whole poppies using tissue paper as a blotting medium and books as the press. These pressed beautifully. I love pressing with the stem attached!

Garden Picture Escape

I just want to share some beauty with you! Here goes…

A few of my early dahlia varieties! Can I just say, I am loving these :)

Ready for bouquet making! My backyard gets transformed into a floral studio at least once per week.

Poppies! These are some of my favorite blooms this summer. They are bringing me SO MUCH JOY!!

A quick afternoon harvest. During the peak blooming months I’m harvesting 3 times per week.

A seasonal bridal bouquet using stock, ranunculus, peonies and ladies mantle.

5 Easy Tips for a Longer Lasting Bouquet

I want to make sure you get the most out of your flowers this summer!

Here are 5 easy tips to make your bouquet last as long as possible.

1. BUY LOCAL - When you buy our Summer Bouquet Subscription, you’ve checked this one off the list! Local flowers are often picked day of sale which means they are the freshest you can find anywhere.

2. RE-CUT STEMS - When you get your flowers home, snip the end of each stem with clean, sharp scissors then place in water. Re-cut stems every few days.

3. FRESH WATER - Place your bouquet in cool tap water. Keep vase nice and full, since flowers can really suck up the water. Replace water every 2-3 days, or daily if you can!

4. PLACEMENT - Place your flowers in a cool part of the house, out of direct sunlight and away from appliances that give off heat. Heat significantly decreases vase life. If you’re really hard-core about extending the vase life of your flowers, you can even place your flower arrangement in the fridge overnight. Take it out in the morning and enjoy!

5. REMOVE FADED BLOOMS - Not all flowers have the same vase life. Some are fleeting and ephemeral and may only last 3-4 days, others will last a solid 7-10 days! As your bouquet ages, remove tired-looking flowers but leave good looking ones in place. Re-arrange as needed!

4 Ways to Enjoy Your Bouquet Subscription

Thank you so much to all my awesome bouquet subscribers. I couldn’t do this without you!

As a farmer, I have a lot of expenses up front: seeds, soil amendments (organic of course), labor, seed starting supplies, marketing material, etc. A lot of money goes out the door before I have even one flower blooming in the garden. EEK!

Farmers around the nation have embraced this “community supported agriculture” or “CSA” model to give them a vital cash boost when they most need it - the early spring/summer. In return the farmer gives back produce or flowers ALL SUMMER LONG or as agreed upon.

It’s a big ask for customers - to come up with a bulk payment up front and I AM SO GRATEFUL TO YOU!!

So when your much anticipated bouquet subscription starts I wanted to give you a few fun ideas for how to enjoy your flowers :)

1) Display in a classic tall vase.

If you just want a no-fuss way to display our flowers, this is for you! Get your bouquet home, fill a vase with water, re-cut the stems and place in water. Enjoy :)

Cut stems and place in a tall vase.

2) Arrange in a low vase or urn.

This will be a fun, creative process for those wanting to play a little more with arranging.

If you’re doing some extra arranging, feel free to snip a few additional stems from your yard or garden. I love adding a bit of spruce (this also adds some nice structure for the other flowers in a low vessel) or a snip of aspen. If you have other perennial foliage or flowers in your garden, don’t be afraid to cut a few! Not everything does amazing in the vase, but you don’t know until you try.

I like to start with some sturdy foliage (why I love spruce), then add some flowers (be sure to cut as short as desired). Then just keep adding flower by flower, adding foliage here and there. Don’t look for perfect! Just look for done :)

3) Disassemble and place stems into individual bud vases. It’s as easy as that.

I love putting these all over the house: in the bathroom to freshen things up, on the kitchen windowsill (although keep out of direct sun), on your bedside table (if you really want to pamper yourself), etc.

Make sure to check daily for adequate water - flowers really drink big and tiny vases can go dry in no time.

Take apart your bouquet apart and place individual stems in bud vases.

4) Float larger blooms in a shallow bowl or jar.

Cut the stems short and float large and/or double bloomed flowers in water. Flowers that do well floating include peonies, dahlias, ranunculus, roses, and large double zinnias. This is by no means an exhaustive list! Experiment :)

Larger blooms float beautifully!

There you have it!

Now I want to hear from you! How do you love to display your flowers? Comment below OR send me an email at turnstonefarm@gmail.com! Include photos :) You can also tag me on facebook or instagram @turnstonefarm.

Are Flowers Essential?

All sorts of new phrases have entered our collective vocabularies in the past couple months: social distancing, hunkering down, essential business, etc.

As I write this non-essential business is back in business but I’ve been pondering this question lately: are flowers essential?! Hmm… guess it totally depends who you ask! But I’m here to convince you that YES, THEY ARE!

They deserve a place in your precious garden and a place on your table.

Here’s why:

You and I know we feel better when we have flowers to view in the garden. I’m always soothed when I look out my kitchen window and see flowers. In fact, I’m designing my gardens so I see MORE flowers out my window.

We also know there’s something almost magical about having flowers on our dining room table. But why?

Is it really beneficial to our health and well being? It seems like it is but I wanted to dive into the research to see what science has to say about all this.

In one study office workers were put in a room to view pink roses for 4 minutes each.

After the study workers that had viewed the flowers “resulted in significantly increased parasympathetic nervous activity”. And remember the parasympathetic nervous system is responsible for the “rest and digest” part of our nervous system. It helps us feel calm and relaxed, it is the opposite of our sympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for our “fight or flight” response.

So viewing flowers was demonstrated to significantly reduce the stress response. Even after only 4 minutes! And we all know decreasing stress increases our bodies natural abilities to fight disease and keep us healthy.

In addition, “ 'comfortable,’ 'relaxed’ and 'natural’ feelings were more common in subjects exposed to roses.”

Note, that the study used roses, but in fact, any flower could be substituted in here. Think Turnstone bouquet :)

In this study by researchers at Rutgers University in New Jersey, flowers were demonstrated to have “immediate impact on happiness”.

In addition, “study participants reported feeling less depressed, anxious and agitated after receiving flowers”.

Flowers were also shown to connect people. “The presence of flowers led to increased contact with family and friends.

So what to do?

I know most of us have plenty of time outdoors to bask in nature’s beauty. But if you’re heading back into the office anytime soon (or toiling away in the spare bedroom), take along some flowers. Gift to your friend, boss, spouse, or yourself! Fill your indoor space with flowers :)

If you’re still hunkering down at home, make a place in your garden for flowers - and remember, these are for you! You need to be able to see them regularly out your window - while washing dishes, folding laundry, lounging on the couch, etc. And make sure you regularly cut them and bring them inside for the dining room table :)

If you don’t have enough to cut: 1) make a note to plan a bigger flower garden next year and 2) buy fresh flowers from the farm! We’ve got you covered.

Bouquet subscriptions are for sale until July 3rd. So reserve yours here if you haven’t.

Here’s to health! Here’s to peace!

And yes, flowers are essential.

Flowers are scientifically proven to reduce stress and make us feel better!

June 15th Two Minute Garden Tour

As the days grow longer the garden is slowly coming along. Every year there is a point a few weeks after transplanting out that everything really starts to take off!

Here you can see that in the first part of the video. Most of these plants were planted over a month ago. And they’re getting huge!!

I finished planting (or at least filled all the beds) a couple weeks ago. Now I’ll just fill in as things get cut.

I had a super successful tulip harvest this year and sold every bloom through my home delivery program (and one wedding). What fun!! Thanks to EVERYONE who supported the roll out of home deliveries :) I’m planning to continue it through the summer as long as I have blooms available after my subscription customers are taken care of :)

So without further delay - here is my digital June 15th garden tour!

May 12th Two Minute Garden Tour!

This summer I’m inviting you to join my digital garden tours! I’ll walk you through the garden (2 minutes at a time) to showcase what’s up on the farm.

Here’s my first one, taken on May 12th. About half the garden is planted and irrigation is set up.

The garden always looks a little worrisome this time of year. Plants get a bit shocked going in the ground and every year I worry!

But I promise, by my next tour, things will have perked up and in no time I’ll be sharing some gorgeous blooms with you!

Enjoy :)

My 4 Favorite Garden Tools

As we begin another gardening season I wanted to share 4 of my absolute favorite and most used garden tools.

Clockwise from left: bed prep rake, broadfork, Fiskars Big Grip Garden Knife, CobraHead weeder.

Bed Prep Rake: This makes your garden bed into a lovely flat surface, just perfect for planting. The one pictured here I purchased from Johnnys Seeds. It is extra wide which makes it easier to get a level surface with less passes.

You can also purchase small plastic sleeves to place on the tines to mark your rows. These can be removed or adjusted depending on your row spacing. If you have a smaller space, or are not ready to make the investment, you could use a classic bow rake available at any hardware store.

Broadfork: If you have a large garden, eventually you must invest in one of these. With the known hazards that come with tilling, this is a tool that will loosen and aerate your soil while keeping soil microbes and beneficial soil beings happy.

Folks with smaller gardens could get by with a regular pitch fork. The key here is not to lift and flip but to insert straight down, rock the handle back about 45 degrees, then lift out and begin again about 4 inches back from the first insertion.

Once you garden has been prepped in this manner, you can easily hand weed any perennial weeds if needed, rake and plant. This makes for happy soil!

Fiskars Big Grip Garden Knife: While I haven’t tried out too many different “garden knives” I happened upon this one and haven’t bought anything superior since. It has a serrated edge that you can use to saw stubborn weeds in a pinch and a nice sharp end to easily dig holes for planting.

I prefer the straight handle to anything that looks “ergonomic”. Straight handles give me plenty of control and actually feel better on my wrists after hours in the garden.

CobraHead Weeder: This tool we bought in while living in Wisconsin. It’s designed and distributed just miles from our original farm! And it makes EASY work of deep rooted weeds and nasty invasive grass. I’m using this now as I prep my gardens for planting!

Happy gardening folks! And if YOU have a favorite garden tool please leave a comment below :)

3 Ways to Get Flowers this Summer!

With all the uncertainty surrounding the world these days I wanted to come up with some sure-fire ways to get my “flowers to the people” this spring and summer!

I don’t know if farmers markets will be open this year and if they are I’m not counting on flowers being “essential” enough to be part of them.

Read on to find out details about how to get your Turnstone Flowers this summer!

1) HOME DELIVERY

Home deliveries will start in late May (and will be the only way to purchase my amazing and unique tulips bunches! CAN I JUST SAY HOW EXCITED I AM ABOUT THESE TULIPS!!??).

You will be able to order a medium or large, lush market bouquet or a seasonal bloom arrangement through my on-line shop. These will be delivered to your home or the home of someone you love within the Anchorage bowl for no additional charge.

Each Monday I’ll input my inventory then will send a notification email (so get on my email list if you’re not already!). Each Wednesday I’ll close my shop so I can put together my orders. Each Thursday I’ll deliver!

I have prices set but know that these may change as the blooming season draws closer.

Due to the nature of our current global and community situation I will be very picky about how I deliver. Here’s the scoop:

Deliveries can be to homes or businesses but I cannot enter a building to deliver. I will also follow strict social distancing and will not deliver to you in person. I won’t even knock on your door! I will leave your bouquet in a jar or bucket (that you leave for me) outside your front door.

Make sure you (or the bouquet recipient) leaves a jar with water, or bucket with water, in a shady spot near the front entrance. I will text the recipient right after I drop the bouquet. If a jar is not available, I will leave the bouquet sitting near front door. Please grab it as soon as possible :)

2) BOUQUET SUBSCRIPTIONS

Thanks to everyone who has already purchased a 2020 Bouquet subscription!!! I’m so grateful to all my past and present subscribers.

This year I am offering 3 different options for bouquet subscriptions: 1) an “every week” option that will give you bouquets once per week for 10 weeks, 2) an “every other week” option that will give you a bouquet every other week and 3) a “once per month” option that will give you one bouquet during the months of July, August and September.

HEAD OVER HERE to see pricing for 2020 subscriptions and to sign up! I hope this makes it more affordable and convenient for everyone who wants to participate.

As of now, you have 5 different options for pick-up. I added 2 new pick up sites! Please know that I may be re-organizing pick-up options as the COVID situation progresses. I WILL LET EVRYONE KNOW BY MID-JUNE! Thanks for being flexible :)

3) ADD ON TO FIRE ISLAND OR ARCTIC HARVEST DELIVERIES

I’m super happy that this year, in lieu of my farmers market, I am partnering with 2 businesses to have my bouquets as an add-on product to their on-line shop. Although I will miss the market and I will miss seeing your face, I am so thankful to have another option to get “flowers to the people”!

Fire Island Rustic Bakeshop is doing home delivery and curbside pick up. READ MORE HERE

Arctic Harvest Delivery is also adding my flowers to their on-line ordering program. READ MORE HERE

My flowers will be available to add on to your Fire Island or Arctic Harvest order starting in June (as long as this snow melts quickly!).

And finally a note about my harvest process in regards to sanitation.

This year, more than ever I have sanitation as one of my top priorities. This is not something flower farmers have had to really think too much about in the past, but alas here we are.

1) Harvest - flowers risk very little contamination risk in the field. There is ample growing space and only myself and maybe one other helper is ever out there tending. There’s rain, sun and wind to dilute and keep tings cleanly!

All harvest is done with gloves and a mask. Flowers are bundled and put into sanitized buckets and are then left to condition overnight.

2) Arranging - Flowers are arranged on day 2, after they have had a chance to condition in a cool spot.

All arranging is done on a sanitized table while I am wearing gloves and a mask. They are then wrapped in a paper sleeve and put back in clean sanitized buckets for delivery.

3) Delivery - I deliver all bouquets out of my personal vehicle. All high touch areas are sanitized before loading.

When off-loading your bouquet, I wear gloves and a mask to deliver your bouquet to your doorstep. I won’t ring your door bell, won’t knock on your door, and won’t even touch your jar or bucket that you leave out. Once you receive your flowers you can recycle the paper sleeve and arrange your bouquet to your liking.

ENJOY IT and let it MAKE YOU HAPPY!

How I started flower farming

Want to know how all this started?! Thought it would be fun to indulge in enjoyable recollection of past events by taking you through my farming start-up years.

Read on to find out how this all began. I’ll take you back to 2013. Back to our time just outside Madison, WI. Back to a wild, homestead turned commercial farm.

But my farming actually goes back even further, to when I was a child. I’ve always had the plant-lover in me, even from a very young age. I remember insisting on having my own garden, apart from the family plot. And one of my favorite crops: strawflowers! I still grow them to this day. They remind me of being a kid and the magic of growing - from seed to flower.

My very first job was in a greenhouse. I have very fond memories of biking 10+ miles (I couldn’t yet drive) from Eagle River to Muldoon to work at the now-gone Alaska Greenhouse.

I was all set to take this passion further into college but changed course at the last minute from Sustainable Ag to Ecology and Art. In retrospect what a perfect major for a gardener. Being a gardener is part artist, part scientist, part naturalist.

Here I am with one of our laying hens. In addition to flowers we raised 200 + laying hens, turkeys, meat chickens, sheep and pigs!

But honestly I lost touch with gardening for some time and pursued other interests. It wasn’t until I found myself living in the midwest that reconnected with gardening and farming in a big way.

My husband and I moved onto a 40 acre farm in south-central Wisconsin in the summer of 2013.

This was after he worked on a variety of farms in the Madison area. And boy, does he have some wild stories to tell - from milking cows on a raw-milk dairy to holing up in a donut shop to avoid a tornado on the way to his job as manager of a vegetable CSA farm.

His love of animals and the desire to work outside was the motivator in making this farm happen. We started with a flock of 200 laying hens, pictured above on a a property we found to rent on craigslist for dirt cheap.

As a life-long gardener, I was thrilled with the opportunity to go from having my neighborhood community garden plot to having ACRES to grow.

Soon we added meat chickens, turkeys and pigs. Sheep came soon after as a means to mow the pasture on our property.

8 foot tall ragweed in the perennial flower bed :(

There was a small perennial flower garden on the property that was covered in 8 foot tall rag weed. I conned my mom to help and we practically broke our backs weeding that thing. In fact, most of the growing area on this property was covered in ragweed. We weeded and weeded and weeded.

This was my first taste at flower farming and I loved it!

A pic of our market stand. Flower bouquets and stems by the each on the right.

The following year, I planted a patch of annual flowers and grew for a flower subscription and a tiny new farmers market in Madison.

Spring planting! There’s always so much hope and potential that comes with planting. Plus sore backs and endless work.

Here’s me and my farm dog Max, netting my first bed of snapdragons.

Our son was born on the farm during that third growing season. What a joy it was to have him come into the world.

Living on a 40 acre farm, working off farm and trying to grow a family was a lot!

When our son was 8 months we made the painstaking decision to leave the farm and move back to Alaska.

This was one of the toughest decisions I’ve ever made. I’ll probably never forget Jason and I walking the rural road with our dogs running and baby in the backpack, ruminating on this decision over and over.

This picture just sings BOUNTY! You can see our turkeys in movable houses to the left. And there’s me taking stock of my zinnia bed at the height of summer.

Here’s me harvesting for market. And there’s the farmhouse in the back. Our son entered the world in that house with the help of three fabulous midwives.

After leaving the farm I knew I had to continue growing. I just had no idea how this would happen. After a hiatus from farming and growing a small home garden in our yard I discovered that people were farming in the city! Who knew?

Llewyn reaping the benefits of a small backyard garden.

I poured over google earth and online property tax info to find the dream properties in my neighborhood.

I wrote a few letters to the land owners got interest! An amazing couple was open to having me garden on their vacant lot!

And so began Turnstone Farm 2.0 - an urban flower farm. The first two years I also grew herbs and salad mix but have since decided to focus my growing strictly on flowers.

My current flower farm is a small plot on a vacant lot.

So what’s next for the farm?

I’m always looking for more land. I have my eye on a few properties in the neighborhood. And wouldn’t turn down something rural again if an opportunity came.

But more than thinking about expanding the footprint of my tiny farm, I want to 1) make a profitable business, 2) pay myself a living wage 3) grow demand for Alaskan flowers 4) make really happy customers!

The urban flower farm in full bloom.

Three ways to turn your lawn into garden!

Slowly my yard is being taken over by garden… veggies, flowers, fruit trees, berries. Every year I adjust, move and hone my current gardens and slowly get rid of lawn.

This year is no different! In fact I’m planning to turn WAY more lawn into garden especially due to the recent turn of events. Food security has always been important to me, but now more than ever I’m taking it seriously.

If you’re also looking to add more food or flower production to your yard read on to find a few ways I’ve dealt with getting rid of that pesky grass.

The Smother Method: Sheet Mulching/Lasagna Gardening

This is a nice way to passively smother the grass. In its basic form sheet mulching can just be a 1/2 inch layer of cardboard or newspaper on top of your lawn to smother the underlying grass.

From here you can go a couple directions: 1) amend with the proper layers for a lasagna garden or 2) top with soil and plant directly into that.

If I’m making raised beds, I’ll build my boxes right over the sheet mulch. This will ensure that no grass grows up into the boxes.

First of all stock up on cardboard (bike shops are a great place to grab lots of cardboard as all new bikes come in a huge box) or newspaper and lie that over the area you’d like to garden. It’s a good idea to do two layers of cardboard and closer to 6-8 layer of newspaper just to be safe (invasive grass can be extremely tough!).

Once the cardboard id is down, water it throroughly. Then layer from bottom to top in this order:

1) organic fertilizers per your soil test - if you absolutely don’t want to mess with a soil test you can add an all purpose one - just follow the directions on the box.

2) manure or compost

3) straw or dried leaves

4) grass clippings

5) compost or manure

6) more leaves or straw.

Water again thoroughly. I’d let this set for 2-3 months. Or if you can, let it set and decompose all summer. And you’ll have a killer garden next spring!

If you want to plant directly, add a few inches of garden soil on top of the last straw/leaf layer and plant away.

Solarization

This is a low-labor and passive method for getting rid of lawn. You can also use this in an established garden bed if you’re having excessive weed problems. The sun shines through the plastic, heating up the underlying plant material enough to kill it.

First thing after the snow melts, cut your grass short where you are planning to build your garden and water thoroughly. If the grass is already cut short from the previous fall, don’t worry about this step.

Buy or scavenge a piece of clear plastic (I tend to hoard plastic scraps for this very purpose). The bigger the better. If pieces are too small, it’s harder to weigh therm all down and you might lose some in a wind storm.

Cover the entire garden-to-be area in plastic and weigh down with rocks, lumber, fire wood, or anything else. This is probably the most important step, as you don’t want wind to pick these up and move them around. This will lead to frustration and lots of tedious work on your end!

The plastic does need to be clear - the sun shining through the plastic will heat up the underlying grass - killing it!

Now wait for 4 weeks and check! Be patient. Once the underlying grass is dead (it will turn green to yellow to brown) you are ready to garden.

Give the area a shallow till (not too deep as you may mix up deep weed seeds) or just plant right into the dead matter. I don’t advocate for regular tilling BUT it is useful to establish your new garden beds and to mix in soil amendments for the first year.

Sod Removal

This is a labor intensive method but will give you a usable garden space quickly as you don’t have to wait for the grass to die off as you do in some of the above methods.

You can either rent a sod cutter from the hardware store or manually cut and dig the sod. Once sod is removed, you can amend the soil as needed (with compost and fertilizers) and plant directly! For the first season of planting, you can double dig, rototill or broadfork (this you can do every year without any soil damage).

Then plant away!

Note that all these above methods can be used to create in-ground beds OR you can build up to make raised beds. In-ground beds are simple and inexpensive. Raised beds will heat up a little quicker in the spring and provide better drainage but you’ll have to pay for the lumber or material to build up the sides plus bring in additional soil.

How to Grow Dahlias

Growing dahlias is such a joy!

It takes time, patience and some work. And I know it pays off when blooms start to fill your garden with gorgeous color.

I’m here to walk you through how I grow my dahlias - from starting the tuber to growing-on in the garden.

starting your tubers

Start your tubers inside in mid to late March.

Fill a gallon pot half full of potting mix (I use the organic Pro-Mix from Southside Garden Supply) and lie your tuber in there. Be sure to orient the eye of the tuber toward the top, as that’s where the shoot will come up and turn into your dahlia plant! Unsure what an “eye” looks like? Click Here for a good view of one. You won’t need lights until the shoot pops through. You can keep your pots somewhere out of the way but warmish: 50-70 degrees.

It’ll take about a week or two (sometimes longer) for the shoot to pop through the soil.

Until then, keep your soil dry. Maybe just drizzle water on it if it’s looking super dry or dusty. Too much water will rot your tuber before it sprouts up.

Once the shoot pops through the soil, get your plants under lights!

A simple full spectrum florescent or LED shop light will do. Now you can start watering as needed. Keep soil moist and well drained.

planting out

Wait until after the danger of the last frost has passed before planting your dahlia out in the garden. Historically this means Memorial Day but since our northern climate is changing so fast, I think you can safely plant out around Mother’s Day.

The Merril Field weather station hasn’t recorded a last frost after May 5th for 10 years!

When selecting your planting site, choose a sunny or mostly sunny location. You can opt for a large pot (5 gallons or more) or a place in your garden (raised bed or in-ground).

soil requirements

Be sure to do some soil prep before planting your dahlias to ensure that you get your plants off to a good start. Dig a large hole and mix in some compost and some general fertilizer. I like to use the all purpose fertilizer mix from Down to Earth.

After you’ve planted be sure to schedule a monthly side-dress of a more bloom-specific fertilizer like the bone meal from Down to Earth. To do this, dig a shallow trench next to the plant, add your fertilizer, cover fertilizer with soil and water well.

growing on

Once your dahlias are planted be sure to immediately stake them. You can either use a large tomato cage or a stake (2x2 or long bamboo stick). If using the stake, loosely tie the plant to the stake every now and then to keep the plant supported.

As your dahlia begins to bloom, either cut the blooms for your enjoyment in a vase or dead-head them once they start to fade. This will keep ample energy available for creating new blossoms!

Dahlias will keep blooming until the first frost. Once the dahlia is killed by the frost it is time to save your tubers!

If you have any questions now or as you get growing be sure to comment here or send me an email at turnstonefarm@gmail.com.

Happy growing!!

Choosing Dahlia Varieties

I fell in love with dahlias a little reluctantly.

My first exposure to these wild and beautiful flowers was when I was landscaping for the city. I worked with the Tree and Shrub People but occasionally helped out the Flower People.

The Flower People used to fill a gigantic bed next to the performing arts center with huge (and I thought garish and gaudy) dahlias. I’m sure they were amazing but I always thought them a bit silly. I mean, I was a Tree and Shrub Person after all: practical and no nonsense (I am however often unpractical and full of nonsense).

Once I became a flower farmer I still tried to steer clear of these flowers, mainly because of my previous association with them in the city garden.

But then I saw a different side to these flowers by seeing what other folks were growing for cutting - a more delicate side.

So I cautiously bought a few tubers AND FELL IN LOVE.

I am always amazed that from a sad little tuber grows a huge lush plant that can reach 5-6 feet tall with flowers that come in all colors of the rainbow (almost). The varieties I fell in love with first were the psychadelic looking pompons or ball dahlias. After that first year I quickly started adding new varieties each year.

Now I can honestly say that I’m obsessed with dahlias. I currently have 30 varieties (and over 500 actual tubers) safely tucked in my crawlspace waiting for spring planting.

Ball dahlias: my gate-way drug to the dahlia addiction.

So how do you choose which dahlias to grow?

I, of course, love to grow for cutting.

I always want the option to go into my garden and cut a bloom for the table.

Because of this I’m not going to bother with the short varieties or any other bedding variety flowers for that matter.

If you’re just getting started with dahlias, here’s what I would recommend: buy 3-5 high quality single tubers of different varieties and colors. Or more if you have the space!

Read on to learn about a handful of dahlia types. Within each type there are many different varieties of different colors and slightly different shapes.

1) Anemone varieties like “Pooh” are super fun in the garden but a little short lived in the vase. I love these because they are so different from the traditional looking dahlia. They add true variety to the garden.

Pooh - an anemone variety. This is a super prolific bloomer. And SO CHEERY!!

2) Dinner plate dahlias have huge, luxurious blooms. You can easily fill a vase to overflowing with just a handful of these flowers. I love using these in wedding bouquets and just one in a small vase on the dinner table is ah-mazing.

Cafe au Lait Dahlia - the classic dahlia for luxurious wedding bouquets.

3) Pompon or Ball dahlias can be just a few inches in diameter. I find these the most approachable variety. They are round little balls that look stunningly perfect and rather psychedelic.

Delicate and perfect - the ball dahlia.

4) Cactus dahlias are what I think of as a little garish but they can add texture and interest to the garden. I don’t currently grow these but maybe some day I’ll warm up to their crazy look.

Cactus dahlia

And believe it or not, there are more! I thought as a starter’s-guide the above mentioned varieties would be enough to get you going.

When planning your dahlia garden, pick a color palate (if that’s your thing) or a variety of colors and add diversity and texture by getting a few anemones, a few pompons, a few dinnerplates, etc.

Go here to learn how to grow dahlias in your garden: https://www.turnstonefarmalaska.com/garden-blog/how-to-grow-dahlias

Top Three Photos that Say "Turnstone Farm"

I want to go share three photos that represent what my farm is!

Enjoy the eye candy!

This first one is the farm in full bloom! My farm is lush, and busy. I try to squeeze in as many plants as possible onto my tiny plot. Every year I try to add more. This means I have to constantly give back to my soil in the form of compost, organic fertilizers and cover crops. I have implemented no-till practices in order to keep all the micro-organisms in the soil healthy and to keep as much carbon out of the atmosphere as possible.

This second one is of my bouquet subscription bouquets. If it wasn’t for my regular bouquet customers (farmers market customers and bouquet subscribers) I wouldn’t be farming! Thank you to all who buy these bouquets and bring them into your homes. I love picturing the flowers from my garden inside your homes. Flowers on a table really do make a house a home.

This last one is a bridal bouquet from my dream customer. I love creating designs that look like they’re spilling from the garden. I colorful, I like big, I like lush, I like wild.

If I could give advice to all you brides-to-be it would be this: ditch the white and blush and go freaking rainbow! Ditch the eucalyptus collar and go fern and spruce!

Looking Ahead to a New Decade with SMART Goals

Although I just read on my NPR app that not all are in agreement that on January 1st we will begin a new decade…

I am celebrating!

Bring on the 20’s!!

I’m not big on resolutions BUT am focusing on goal setting for the new year.

To focus my goals I’ve divided them into three categories:

1) Personal

2) Business

3) Financial

Then I’ve brainstormed 3-5 in each category that are meaningful to me. Some are really BIG and feel a little scary to write down. Others are smaller but still important.

A business mentor told me that you need to set BIG goals (that may not seem realistic) in order to push yourself to become a different person in pursuing them. Not all mine are in the category of BIG but read on as I share a few that I’ll be working on in 2020!

In my business category I’m aiming to TRIPLE my sales! This is BIG, this is HUGE and I will have to change a lot about me and my business to get there. But I’m ready :) I’ve got a few others in this category but this is the one I really wanted to share just to get it out there into the world.

In my personal life I’m keeping my desk clean! 75% of the time my desk is covered with mail, junk, kids coloring (not junk), broken toys, sewing projects, cassette tapes (seriously!), etc. Not in 2020! I need a clean place to work EVERY DAY. Desk cleaning will now be a part of my evening tidying-up ritual.

I feel a little shy about sharing my financial goals because these feel very personal but I’ll just say that I’ve been working on setting these in 1 year, 1-5 year, 5-10 year and 10+ year categories. This might be my hardest category but I’m excited to get them written down. Jason and I will be sitting down shortly to share these with each other, throw some out, and plan how to make the rest come true!

After I hone in on my goals I’m writing them in my shiny new 2020 planner so I can look at them every morning.

Now it’s your turn!

Set aside 30 minutes to set some goals that feel really meaningful to you.

You can use my categories or come up with your own.

Remember to make them SMART to help make them real and relevant:

• S (specific)

• M (measurable)

• A (achievable)

• R (relevant)

• T (time-bound)

If you want to read more on how to use SMART to set your goals there is loads out there on the internet - just google it!

Have fun and Happy New Year!

Chocolate Truffles - My Favorite Holiday Treat to Share

To be honest I’m not a big holiday cookie person. But what I do love to make and share are chocolate truffles!

If you’d like to try your hand at making these delicious treats just follow the simple directions below. I love handing these out to neighbors and others that I’d like to give a special holiday treat in lieu of cookies. Plus, they last a good month if kept wrapped in the fridge.

Chocolate truffles dipped in tempered chocolate and dusted with cocoa powder.

INGREDIENTS

11 oz Bittersweet chocolate (60% or greater cocoa content)

2/3 C Heavy Whipping Cream

Variety of flavors: orange or peppermint oil

Variety of toppings: shredded coconut, chopped nuts, cocoa powder, crushed candy cane, candied orange peel, etc

TOOLS

Medium sized metal or glass bowl

Small heavy bottomed sauce pan (smaller is better to avoid excessive evaporation)

Parchment paper

Candy thermometer (optional)

Melon-baller or tablespoon

Kitchen scale and measuring cups

PROCESS

1) Measure and finely chop chocolate, put in metal or glass bowl.

2) Heat heavy cream in a small sauce pan - bring to a boil.

3) Pour cream over chocolate, allow to sit for a few minutes.

4) Gently stir until chocolate is completely melted (if chocolate is not completely melted, add bowl to a double boiler to gently heat). A double boiler is pretty much just a small pan of water that you bring to a boil. You can then turn off the heat and set the bowl on the pan so that the bottom of the bowl just hovers over the hot water.

5) Divide chocolate mixture into separate small bowls, one for each flavor.

6) Add flavoring oil a drop at a time until desired flavor richness.

7) Let chocolate mixture sit until it thickens enough to scoop.

8) Use a melon-baller or tablespoon to scoop chocolate. Use your hands to roll into balls.

9) From here you can either choose to roll the truffles in toppings or temper chocolate and dip them (directions below). The later process will give you a nice smooth chocolate finish.

Chocolate truffles dipped in toppings: cocoa powder, shredded coconut, chopped nuts.

TEMPERING CHOCOLATE

1) Finely chop chocolate - use plenty, as you’ll need enough depth to dip your truffles - and add to a small glass or metal bowl.

2) Create a double boiler by bringing a small pan of water to a boil. Set bowl of chocolate on top. Reheat water as needed).

3) Using your candy thermometer, bring chocolate to 110-120 degrees F.

4) Remove from double boiler and cool chocolate to 80 degrees F while stirring occasionally to keep everything cooling at the same rate.

5) Reheat chocolate to your working temp of 86-90 degrees F.

6) Dip your truffles! Then set on parchment paper to cool.

7) Display in mini baking cups and package as desired.

There you have it! Feel free to comment if you have any questions. Otherwise enjoy! Truffles keep wrapped in the fridge for 3-4 weeks.

Here’s a chowder recipe you must try!

I don’t usually send out recipes.

But I was at a neighbor’s birthday and this soup was the star of the party. It’s amazing and I was particularly struck by this fun twist on salmon chowder.

Read on to find out how to whip up this fast and easy dairy-free chowder!

This recipe is adapted from the book “The Herbalist’s Kitchen”. I know what you’re thinking and yes, I’m running out today to buy my very own copy!

Here’s what you need:

2 T coconut oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

3 cups sweet corn, fresh or frozen

3 cloves Turnstone Farm garlic

1 jalepeno pepper, finely chopped

3-4 cups broth

1 lb salmon

1 (14 oz can of coconut milk)

Juice of 1/2-1 lime

1 cup chopped cilantro (for garnish)

Here’s how to make it:

1) Heat the coconut oil in a soup pot over medium heat, add onion and saute until tender. Add corn, garlic and jalepeno. Saute for 1-2 minutes then add broth. Bring to a simmer and cook uncovered for 5 minutes.

2) Add the fish. No need to cut it apart as it will flake apart when cooked. Stir while soup returns to a simmer. Cook until fish is done 5-15 minutes depending on how thick the fillet is.

3) When the fish is just cooked through add the coconut milk and a tablespoon of the lime juice. Season with salt and pepper and additional lime juice if needed. If soup is too thick, add a bit more broth.

4) Garnish with cilantro!

Ok, here’s the super cool thing I learned from this book… cilantro helps bind heavy metals from food and pass them through your body!

So when you add the cilantro garnish to your chowder it will help you process any heavy metals from the fish. (Originally this recipe was for use with white fish which I think has the potential to harbor more heavy metals than salmon)

When you’re planning your garden for next year be sure to add cilantro to your list! It’s easy to grow, has a great fresh flavor and is so versatile.

2019 Must Grows! 10 of my favorites from the garden that YOU must try

Each year I try to take copious notes on all my varieties.

At the end of the year I pour over these and decide on what varieties were rock stars and which varieties to cut in the year to come.

There are obvious choices and often tough choices to make as I plan my garden for next year.

Lucky for you, I’ve done all the hard work! Read on to find out what varieties I absolutely LOVED.

Maybe you can try these in your garden next year!

Ferncliff Copper Dahlia after harvest

Ferncliff Copper Dahlia. This was a cheery little ball dahlia on a tall and gorgeous plant. Sort of a red-orange-copper color in a psychedelic ball shape.

The flowers just kept coming all summer! And they are great tuber producers. So before you know it, you’ll have tubers to give away.

Shirley Poppies in full bloom

Shirley Poppies. Folks, this was my first year growing poppies for cut flowers!! I’ve grown the breadseed poppies for seed heads but always felt a bit intimidated about using the flowers as they’re notorious for being short lived in the vase. No more!

These Shirley poppies were out of this world! Easy to grow from seed - I just tossed them in the garden. And prolific - they bloomed through the heat of summer until frost. I even figured out how to keep them happy in the vase for almost a week! (hint - cut just as you start to see color peeking from the bud)

Ruby Silk Grass after harvest

Ruby Silk Grass. Now an annual must-grow.

Last year was a trial year for this and I almost didn’t grow again… I planted it in a shady area with poor soil and it was not happy.

But this year, wow! It was part of my main garden and it did great! If you fancy clumps of golden red grass in your garden (which I highly recommend) you will love this.

I planted about 20 seeds per cell (started these inside) and had gorgeous bunches of colorful grass ALL summer. Plus, it dries great for everlasting bouquets or winter crafts.

Potomac Snapdragons in a variety of colors.

Potomac Snapdragons. It is always hard to decide on which snapdragons to grow each year - there are so many different varieties, colors, sizes, etc. But hands down, my two favorites this year were Potomac Red and Lavender. You can also buy Potomac mix if you prefer a mix of colors.

These guys bloomed ALL summer. They last a long time in the vase without a fuss. And once you cut them from the garden, they just keep sending up new flowers! They even bloomed through the first couple frosts in the fall.

Purple Red Strawflower in a boutonniere

Copper Red & Purple Red Strawflower. These fun flowers always remind me of my first childhood garden!

They’re easy to grow and so fun. Copper Red and Purple Red are vibrant and striking colors that would look great in any garden. And of course the great thing about strawflowers is the everlasting flower you can save and display all year!

Now on to my favorite edibles!

Sungold Tomatoes. Hands down the most prolific cherry tomato I grow.

Golden orange in color and SUPER sweet. If you can only grow one variety of tomato, grow these!

Chocolate Pear Tomatoes. I couldn’t list just one tomato, especially after this hot tomato-happy summer!! This is a fun open pollinated variety of tomato, which means they have not been hybridized so you can save the seeds!!

Sweet, pear shaped and reddish-brown in color. If you can grow two varieties of tomatoes, grow these too!!

Dunja Zucchini. If you like zucchini, you will love these! This is an easy to grow variety that will give you lots of zucchini to get you through the summer.

Red Russian Kale. Hands down this is my favorite kale. It has a smoother leaf structure and the leaf is a bit thicker which makes it a bit “meatier”.

You can grow this into a large plant to harvest big leaves or plant many seeds close together for a salad mix.

Magic Molly Potatoes. I usually let the valley farmers grow my potatoes.

But this year I decided to grow my own for 3 reasons:

1) We have a couple marginal garden beds that are a bit sandy - just perfect for potatoes;

2) Just for my 4-year-old son since nothing is more fun than digging potatoes as a kid;

3) I’m trying each year to grow a little more of my household’s food on our tiny urban lot!

So if you want to grow potatoes too, try these!! These are delicious and a unique deep purple color!

So there you have it! My faves of the 2019 growing season!

Dahlia Saving Part 2

Congratulations: you’ve dug, washed, and dried your dahlia tubers!

Now it’s time to divide and pack them away for next year :)

Some folks don’t divide until spring but I prefer (at least for now) to divide before I pack for storing. This saves space and then I can inventory now so I know how many I’ll have come planting time.

Follow these easy steps to divide and save your tubers!

The first step is to grab your tuber bunch and cut it in half. This will make the whole job more manageable. Sometimes it’s hard to know where to start! Once you make that first cut, it is a little easier to see each tuber individually.

I like to use a sharp knife or a pair of felco snips for cutting. You can try both to see which one works best for you.

Don’t worry if you destroy a few tubers in this process. You will still have plenty to work with.

Once you’ve broken down the tuber bunch it’s time to start dividing individual tubers.

Here’s the most important part: for each intact tuber body you need to have an intact “neck” (the place between the tuber body and the place where the “eye” has formed), and and eye. If you don’t have these components, your tuber will not sprout in the spring

If you’re not sure what a dahlia eye looks like I'm pointing one out here with my pencil. Eyes are either slightly green/yellow (like above) or a purple/red color (like below).

This picture is showing the proper cut to give you the three key components: 1) tuber body, 2) intact neck and 3) eye (you're looking at the cut at the center of the photo. Disregard the broken tuber!).

Once my tubers are cut I dip the cut end in cinnamon (a natural, anti-fungal to ward off mold and rot) and lightly sprinkle in cinnamon.

To store my tubers for the winter I take a paper or plastic bag and put a layer of wood shavings, then a layer of tubers, then a layer of shavings, etc.

Make sure to label your varieties! I leave a plastic label in the bag AND label the paper bag.

All my bags then go in plastic totes with lids and get stored in my crawlspace (which is roughly 40-50 degrees).

Be sure to check your tubers monthly until planting time to make sure they are not drying out too much or rotting!

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I hope this helps you save all your gorgeous tubers for next year! Know that for each tuber you plant in the spring you will get 5-15 new tubers for next year. Soon you will be rich in dahlias. They make great gifts or you can trade your neighbors for fun new varieties.

Also, note that you can save the entire tuber bundle intact without dividing. It takes up more space but if you’re only saving a few varieties this might be the way to go. It will save you lots of time!

Please post any questions below. I’m happy to problem-solve with you.

Dahlia Saving Part 1

It’s time to dig and save your dahlias!

Each dahlia plant you have will produce at least 5-10 more tubers underground each year. This means that soon you will be RICH in tubers.

I’m here to walk you through the how-to of dahlia saving. Follow the pictures below for the first few steps in saving your dahlia tubers:

Wait until after the first hard frost to dig your tubers. You’ll know when its time when the plants look completely dead! The stems will still have some green in them but the leaves will look awful. (Quite possibly the ugliest photo I’ll post on my blog!)

Cut off the stems right above soil level and then gently pry up the tubers with a shovel or a pitchfork. The tubers are rather delicate, so pry gently! Use your hand to carefully dust off the biggest clumps of soil.

At this point, it’s important to make sure all your varieties are properly labeled. They can quickly get all scrambled up once they come out of the soil!

Use a hose to spray the tuber clump clean!

Look how many tubers I got on this baby!!! If they all save beautifully, this one plant will give me about 15-20 tubers for next year :)

Again, make sure you label your tubers so you know what you’re getting next year.

Place them somewhere to dry for 2-3 days. Mine are in my hoophouse and in my shed, gently stacked in bulb crates or hung from the ceiling.

If drying in an outbuilding or outside, don’t let them freeze!

Be sure to also read “Dahlia Saving Part 2” to learn all about dividing, packing and storing your tubers.