December is here.
For a flower farmer, it's a bittersweet time. The days are short, all the flowers are sleeping, and we will soon have a blanket of snow covering the gardens and fields.
The daily pace of a flower farmer certainly changes during the winter, but it's not really a time to slow down—it's a time to prepare for the next growing season. By spending your time wisely in December, you'll be ready to hit the ground running in spring. Let's take a look at what a flower farmer should be doing in December.
Here at the farm, we're still planting cool crops, seeding and cleaning up, but at a little slower pace. As the year-end approaches, we're also looking back on the past year and planning for the new one. Ideally, we'll have all our plans in place by the end of December . . . although that doesn't always happen.
To help us reflect on the past year, we look back at notes we've made in our notebook or scribbled on pieces of paper, rewriting them and organizing them for a clearer look at the past growing season. Our notes help us determine which flowers will not make the cut for next season, which ones will and how many of the keepers we'll need to order and grow. For example, we'll be reviewing our notes for answers to questions such as:
- Which flowers grew well in our garden zone?
- Which ones did not perform as expected?
- What were the best-selling varieties and colors?
- Did we have a bountiful supply of popular flowers or were we always running short?
- What mistakes did we make, and what adjustments are needed?
