{"id":599,"date":"2025-06-25T04:21:51","date_gmt":"2025-06-25T04:21:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/windyhillwildflowers.com\/?p=599"},"modified":"2025-06-25T04:23:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T04:23:10","slug":"learning-as-we-grow-january-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/windyhillwildflowers.com\/?p=599","title":{"rendered":"Learning as we GrOw – January 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Building a family business has been a dream for both Jarret and me for quite some time. We’ve spent countless evenings on our back porch, reflecting on our “why” and researching the possibilities for “what” our business could be. It still feels surreal when I think back to the magical moment the idea of building a cut flower farm came to mind. Even more magical was seeing Jarret become just as excited about it as I was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without a doubt, our children are always our primary “why,” but our shared desire to take on challenges together is a close second. Like many couples, we\u2019ve faced our share of obstacles over the years, but each one has only brought us closer and made us stronger as a team. I feel incredibly blessed to be stepping into this new chapter of life with my best friend and greatest teammate by my side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 Our first true planting at Windy Hill Wildflowers took place on October 21, 2024. We planted several varieties of Anemone and Ranunculus corms in an array of colors. The first sprouts emerged by November 2. There\u2019s nothing like the joy of seeing those initial signs of life from something you\u2019ve planted\u2014it\u2019s a moment that fills your heart with hope and pride.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we watched these precious plants begin to thrive, we knew challenges were inevitable. Still, nothing could prepare us for the sinking feeling of disappointment when our hard work started to show signs of struggle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the end of the month, Jarret noticed blister beetles covering the plants during the early mornings. Acting quickly, he sprayed a pesticide that seemed to solve the problem and protect the plants from further damage. Things looked promising\u2014until early December.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite all my research suggesting that Anemones and Ranunculus are not appealing to wildlife, we quickly learned otherwise. Some very hungry field rabbits decided to test that theory, and they developed a particular taste for the Ranunculus. Before we could fully address the issue, most of the Ranunculus had been chewed down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thankfully, I had some bird netting left over from my home flower bed, which I wrapped around the tunnel. It worked perfectly to keep the rabbits out. After securing the area, we gave the plants a dose of fish fertilizer through the drip irrigation system, and before long, we saw new growth emerging from the nibbled stems. Watching those resilient little plants bounce back was incredibly rewarding<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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After some research, I concluded that overwintering plants in our hardiness zone was feasible, though we\u2019d need to protect them from frost occasionally. Initially, I envisioned using layers of frost cloth, but the thought of covering and uncovering the plants daily felt overwhelming. That\u2019s when Jarret stepped in with an even better idea: building a high tunnel using cattle panels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The structure he created was far more protection than I had imagined. It\u2019s incredibly sturdy, covering a 6-by-25-foot row. However, we quickly discovered that securing the plastic to the tunnel in our windy conditions was far more challenging than we anticipated. It took three attempts before we found a solution that worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the first attempt, we anchored the plastic with whatever we had on hand\u2014cement blocks and fence posts. It lasted two days before the wind tore it loose. The second attempt involved tying rope to the T-post frame, crisscrossing it over the tunnel to hold the plastic down. That held for about a week. Finally, on the third attempt, we combined rope, anchors, and framed ends to fully enclose the tunnel. This stopped the wind from ripping through and pulling the plastic off. At last, it worked\u2014just in time for our first big overnight freeze!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tunnel may not be the prettiest thing to look at, but it\u2019s functional. The sides can be removed to allow air circulation on warmer days, making it versatile for changing weather. Jarret did ask me to paint the wood framing, and while I didn\u2019t think it mattered at first, seeing it now, I agree\u2014it\u2019s definitely on the to-do list!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Once we successfully covered the tunnel, our Anemones began to bloom! So far, the high tunnel has done an excellent job protecting both the Anemones and Ranunculus from two strong cold fronts. While temperatures outside have dropped into the 20s, the plants inside the tunnel have stayed much warmer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Anemones continue to produce stunning blooms, bringing so much joy to my days. Stay tuned for more updates\u2014we\u2019re so grateful to have you along for this journey as we learn and grow!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Building a family business has been a dream for both Jarret and me for quite some time. We’ve spent countless evenings on our back porch, reflecting on our “why” and researching the possibilities for “what” our business could be. It still feels surreal when I think back to the magical moment the idea of building […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":601,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/windyhillwildflowers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_1657.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/windyhillwildflowers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/windyhillwildflowers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/windyhillwildflowers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/windyhillwildflowers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/windyhillwildflowers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=599"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/windyhillwildflowers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/599\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":600,"href":"https:\/\/windyhillwildflowers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/599\/revisions\/600"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/windyhillwildflowers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/windyhillwildflowers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/windyhillwildflowers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/windyhillwildflowers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}