Don’t eat the KALE!

Don’t eat the KALE!

#americangrown #LetsTalkFlowers brassica cabbage CAGrown Cailifornia Ornamental kale Pieter Landman

Sun Valley is offering a year round ornamental kale crop.  Although, we kind of like to be fancy and call it by its genus “brassica,” and many folks also call it “cabbage.”  Ornamental kale’s popularity has been steadily growing in the floral industry for several years now, and at Sun Valley we have been planting larger and larger crops to supply demand.  We are currently offering brassica as a year round item, with perhaps a week gap as the farm production moves from our Oxnard farm, north to Arcata in June. 

Brassica growing at our Oxnard Farm

As you would expect, our kale is in the same scientific class as many edible crops.  It is in the mustard family, and is a very close relative to cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and Brussels sprouts(yuck!).  Just to get this information up front, no matter how tasty our Brassica looks, it is not for human or animal consumption…much the way I see Brussels sprouts.

Brassica growing at our Arcata Farm

Being at events where we have arrangements and bouquets featuring kale, it almost always manages to steal the show from the lilies, tulips and iris Sun Valley is so well known for.  Last month we had a beautiful new lily at a trade show, we had arranged the lilies with some brassica stems to add girth. We ended up spending the day looking on, as interested people literally pushed the lily petals aside to get a closer look at the brassica.

Two bouquets from the "Cabbage Patch" collection, by Sun Pacific Bouquet.

Brassica’s current widespread popularity can be attributed to its natural, “Farmer’s Market” type feel. People are enjoying the warm earthy feel of brassica. Simple arrangements that look like the elements were gathered from a back yard garden or a roadside stand are really hot right now.  Also, it being summer, the opportunity to think “Outside the Flower Shop” is really great.  Finding non-traditional botanicals in the woods, on the side of the highway or on the edge of a pasture frees the floral design palette.

We recently had world class floral designer Pieter Landmanon the farm for a film project we are producing.  Even with all the resources, flowers and greens of Sun Valley at his disposal, he walked into the studio with a handful of interesting grasses he has spotted in a neighbor’s unkempt yard.

Integrating a bit of the truly natural world in arrangements is a European touch; however, it seems very American, very “Do It Yourself” and very homestead.  Any of our California Grown Ornamental Kale varieties can also fit this bill, and the size and color make it the best of both worlds.  A “back to the land” element, yet with bulk, lovely color, and intense texture of a more upscale botanical.

Some Brassica options

Traditional brassica is thought of as a winter crop, since the beautiful coloration in the heads comes with cold temperatures.  This leaves brassica off most people’s radar for the hot months of summer. However, we move the crop to our Arcata farm for summer, where our average high temp for summer is 61 degrees Fahrenheit.  No, that is not a typo. This is a chilly place to live, which is perfect for brassica to color up…and for year-round soil grown tulips!  It is also great for not sweating in summer. 

 Here is one of our beautiful "Resource Pages" for inspiration and education, we have created these for many of our crops, see the full collection.

For some nice design ideas, check out this blog post from DesignSponge.

This summer have some fun with brassica, straight out of our garden.

Flowers at the First Thanksgiving?

Flowers at the First Thanksgiving?

brassica First Thanksgiving Flowers Lilies Plymouth Colony Squanto Thanksgiving Bouquets Thanksgiving centerpiece Wampanoag



Were there flowers at the first thanksgiving? There were certainly wild flowers growing all around the Plymouth Colony, however, there is no mention of the table centerpieces at that famous dinner in 1621. Surprisingly, there are only two firsthand accounts of the first Thanksgiving. One by Edward Winslow and the other by William Bradford. These two gentlemen mention all sorts of details of the day, but not flowers. Such stereotypical men… mentioning hunting, fishing and football, but not noticing the beautiful arrangements that adorned the tables!


Wouldn't this bouquet dress up your Thanksgiving?

Shortly after the first Thanksgiving, a second ship arrived at Plymouth and a report from William Hilton, a passenger on the ship Fortune, does mention flowers,

“At our arrival in New Plymouth , in New England, we found all our friends and planters in good health, though they were left sick and weak, with very small means; the Indians round about us peaceable and friendly; the country very pleasant and temperate, yielding naturally, of itself, great store of fruits, as vines of divers sorts in great abundance. There is likewise walnuts, chestnuts, small nuts and plums, with much variety of flowers, roots and herbs, no less pleasant than wholesome and profitable. No place hath more gooseberrries and strawberries, nor better. Timber of all sorts you have in England doth cover the land, that affords beasts of divers sorts, and great flocks of turkey, quails, pigeons and partridges; many great lakes abounding with fish, fowl, beavers, and otters. The sea affords us great plenty of all excellent sorts of sea-fish, as the rivers and isles doth variety of wild fowl of most useful sorts. Mines we find, to our thinking; but neither the goodness nor quality we know. Better grain cannot be than the Indian corn, if we will plant it upon as good ground as a man need desire. We are all freeholders; the rent-day doth not trouble us; and all those good blessings we have, of which and what we list in their seasons for taking.”


Some flowers would have really brightened this scene up!

The first Thanksgiving was probably a lot more focused on praying than on feasting as the Pilgrims were extremely devout. There was also a fleeting peace with the native Wampanoag people who helped the Pilgrims through their first year. The leader of the Wampanoag, Massasoit, was present at the feast as the Native Americans brought venison for the meal. Only one person at the first Thanksgiving spoke both English and the Wampanoag language, an interesting historical figure originally from the Patuxet tribe named Squanto.



Our "Seasonal Surge" Bouquet, featuring brassica and lilies.

Thanksgivings have been celebrated for various reasons all over the world for centuries, and if you ask anyone in El Paso, Texas, they will actually tell you the first Thanksgiving in North America was celebrated in El Paso is 1598.


If you mention turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie in St. Augustine, Florida, they will gently let you know that they hosted the first Thanksgiving in North America in 1565. 

Even the good people of Virginia think they beat the Pilgrims to the punch by having their first Thanksgiving in 1619 with settlers not from the Mayflower, but from a ship called the Margaret, which landed a year before the Mayflower.

To the north, our generally agreeable neighbors in Canada also have a claim on the first North American Thanksgiving. English explorer Martin Frobisher hosted a Thanksgiving in honor of his safe arrival in New Foundland in 1578, beating the Pilgrims by 43 years. (Do you know Sun Valley now has a farm in Canada, near Niagara Falls? We are growing beautiful  flowers to supply Canada, as well as, the northeastern and northern mid-west USA.  Here is our contact info.)

Thanksgiving was not a formal holiday until 1863 when President Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday of November as a national day of Thanksgiving. However, even at this point Thanksgiving was mostly celebrated in New England.  In 1941, Thanksgiving was officially sanctioned by Congress and was moved to the third Thursday in November.

The modern incarnation of Thanksgiving is a celebration of family and friends, and flowers have become a big part of the merriment. As people gather, flowers are a central element on any dinner table, as a gift for the host or to send to family, when you can’t make the long trip home.

In our ever more materialistic culture, Thanksgiving still sticks out as a day not completely dominated by presents, religion or glitz. It is about taking a moment to be thankful for all you have, and to eat a great meal and relax. Personally I love the fact that Thanksgiving is always on a Thursday. As other holidays happen on different days, the vibe gets all skewed based on how the holiday will fall in the work or school week. Not Thanksgiving, it is always right where it should be.

Did you know that the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving is actually the biggest night out at the bars of the entire year, even bigger than New Years, St. Patrick’s Day or Halloween? Ever had to cook a 30 pound turkey with stuffing, potatoes, green beans, sweet potatoes, gravey and a peacan pie for 16 of your relatives while nursing a ridiculous hangover on no sleep? No…me neither.

So as you head out to your Thanksgiving dinner or spend all day in the kitchen, make sure there are flowers on the table, even if the pilgrims didn’t have a big bouquet of fall colored blooms…apparently they didn’t have forks either.

Happy Thanksgiving from The Sun Valley Group.










lily@tsvg.com
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Navigating The Farm By Bike

Navigating The Farm By Bike

Arcata Asiatic Lilies bikes brassica Brigth Wine. Humboldt County Kinetic Grand Championship LilySunValley Sun Valley Floral Farm

“Where is the brassica growing?”


I thought this was a simple enough question, however, the answer was pretty complicated and a little dangerous. On our Farm it is pretty tough to walk out through the greenhouses and hoop houses and find one variety or species without some guidance from the growers, the pickers or anyone else with an idea of where a certain stand of flowers may be. The growers can tell you with pinpoint accuracy where a crop is but interpreting their instruction can be part of the challenge.

“Brassica? You want Corgy White, Bright Wine or Crane Rose?” answers Grower Tim.

Picking the variety with the coolest sounding name I answer with confidence, “Bright Wine.”

“Ok, go out to 9th Street, 9th Street West, not East. Go down to about 944 and it is about half way down in the hoop.”

I act like this jargon means something, thank him and walk away. Behind my back I hear, “You’re not gonna walk all the way out there are you? Take a bike.”


Bikes on the farm

“Oh, which one?” I ask as I look over a collection of beaten up, but functional farm bikes. The grower points to a faded green one, “Take mine.”

I hesitate just long enough to get the question every adult who loves to mountain bike never wants to hear.

“You know how to ride a bike, right?”

“Ahh, yeah of course, nothing to it.” Thinking,  I know how to ride a bike why am I so nervous?

I hop on the once sweet beach cruiser with a basket on the front handlebars and take a few good pedals to get up to speed.  I feel Tim’s eyes on my back, as if the verdict is still out on whether I know how to ride a bike or not. Just at that moment a fork lift comes whipping around a parked delivery truck, beeping his horn to make sure he doesn’t collide with any one.

Who “yields” in this situation? I know on the water the vessel with the most control yields, such as a power boat yields to a sailboat. In this situation, my own sense of self-preservation slams back on the coaster brake, pebbles fly and I am back to standing astride a bike with a cloud of dust swirling around me, having gone all of 15 feet.

Grower Tim yells back over the forklift’s grumble, “Look out for forklifts!” and he returns to his clip board with crop calendars and planting schedules. I thank him for this gem of knowledge, remount the bike, give it a good shove (steady, steady) and pedal off in hopes of finding the “Bright Wine” Brassica, at this point I consider pedaling to a local café for an actual glass of wine.

Arcata is a bicycle friendly community, I would say more than just friendly, there are some real bicycle nuts here.  The Kinetic Grand Championship is an annual race of pedal powered vehicles, which need to be able go across (or through) pavement, sand, mud, open water and many other hazards. Start planning for Memorial Day 2013 to be a part of a wonderful spectacle, started right here in Humboldt County.

Bicycling in and out of the greenhouses, across fields and down dirt roads is a great way to get around. The farm is big! The farm is so big, we actually need street signs just like any other community. Cruising down Tulip Avenue leads you right to a mechanical door at the entrance of a greenhouse. Once you are comfortable on your ride, you can pull a string about 10 feet before the door, the door magically opens and you pedal right through. The street signs help you navigate through the rows of lilies, iris and tulips.


Street signs on the Farm.

I zoom past West 7th street, and sure enough West 9th Street appears on the right. I ring my handlebar bell, in the faint hope that if a forklift is coming the other way we may avoid a collision. I go past row after row of Asiatic Lilies, then the crops start getting different, some freesia, some basil (don’t ask…), some yellow iris, then suddenly I hit the brassica…right where Tim said it would be. All I needed to do was find it.


West 9th Street, home of the Brassica.

I take some beautiful photos of this unique crop, the Bright Wine is really a neat plant, so much texture and personality.

I head back to the office, taking a different route through the farm going past the blazing fields of crocosmia, enjoying the freedom and speed only a bicycle can provide. Pumping my legs, the wind in my hair, leaning over the handle bars for the least amount of drag, feeling great! I pull up to the office, just as Grower Tim is coming out. I slam on the brakes, kick out the back wheel, and skid to a perfect stop.  Then gracefully hop off the bike and stand in flawless form like any 11 year old would proudly do.

Grower Tim rolls his eyes, grabs the handle bars away from me, tosses his planting schedules in the front basket, mounts the bike and pedals away slowly, shaking his head.

"See...   I can ride a bike," I call out after him.

lily@tsvg.com

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