Cultivation Of Crops: Investigating "The Spring Effect"

“In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.”

― Margaret Atwood, Bluebeard's Egg

It is the best time of year to be a flower farmer. Why? Because flowers love spring! The warmth has returned to our fields bringing bunches upon bunches of flowers ready for harvest. The growers worked hard to keep the plants warm and well lit all winter; now Mother Nature is taking the baton and leading the charge. The flowers are reaching up to the sky with the help of long days and the benefit of warmer temperatures.

Wild mustard growing on the farm.

Our ever vigilant growers are walking around the farm with smiles of their faces; they are only checking the weather report once every couple hours, instead of once every ten minutes. The rains of April truly do bring May flowers; we call it the “Spring Effect”. Sun Valley is bursting at the seams with flowers. Of course, a lot are already spoken for as Mother’s Day is just around the corner, but the fields, hoop houses and greenhouse are so full of energy you can actually feel it.

I took a hike across the Arcata Farm, to get a feel for spring.

Flowers are blooming everywhere.Even our giant compost pile is blooming out tulips with reckless abandon!

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I poked my head into a big Asiatic stand, the buds are forming perfectly.

Asiatic lilies as far as the eye can see

Next, I found a crew out planting Asiatics. Yes, the cyclic existence of a flower farmer is evident year-round.

These lilies will be ready for harvest at the end of July.

Then I stumbled upon some iris sprouts in their crates. When space is a factor in the hoop houses, often we will grow the iris in crates. We can let them grow their first few weeks outside, then we bring them into the hoop house where they spring into action.

Baby iris, these will be ready to harvest about July 4th.

After seeing the baby iris, I took a look at what these green starts eventually become.


A Telstar Iris against the soft blue sky of California in spring

Our elegant Skydiver Iris

It struck me that spring isn’t a time to ponder the nature of things; it is the time to experience things. Forget yourself and follow your whimsy, let your senses guide you, and leave your smart phone at home. Spring is actually a somewhat selfish season, a time to not think of the future, not to plan ahead, simply to be in the moment, so let the flowers guide you and take Walt Whitman’s advice, “Do anything, but let it produce joy.”