week 43: that's a wrap!
this week on the little dream farm
The Killing Frost came early this year so the dahlias could be cut back, dug, and stored a little earlier than usual, too.
Normally I’m doing this the last week of October or first week in November. The nice thing about that early frost was that it gave me an entire week to be able to leave the dahlia tuber clumps outside in the patch and out in the barn to dry because we had no frost and no rain all week long.
This was the most dahlias I’ve ever had to dig and store but it was by far the easiest year of tear down we’ve had yet. That’s probably a combination of our experience now, plus the weather being on our side.
By the time you’re reading this, Chris and I will be headed off to the gym for a morning workout, then to the grocery store to pick up a few things for the week, and then back home to the farm for dahlia loading, transporting, and storing.
We have a local farmer friend who has a guest house they’re currently not using as it is undergoing major renovations, so each year they let me store my dahlia and canna lily boxes down in the 50-degree, mostly dry, perfect spot for tubers basement.
Our strategy for storing the boxes is that we place them in one single row in the middle of the floor with big pockets of space between all the boxes to prevent mice from getting in them. Then once all the boxes are down there and in their spots, I go around and stick a Bounce dryer sheet in the small opening of each box that’s four-way-folded shut. Mice hate the smell of dryer sheets, so it’s a nice little additional deterrent to keep them out! This little setup has worked like a charm three years in a row now.
It’s quite hard to believe this will be our fourth year storing dahlias.
Speaking of…this week I hosted a little tuber sale here locally. I put up a post on our town’s Facebook page and all week long I had ladies stopping by the house to pick up and pay for dahlia tuber clumps. We made a nice little stack of cash and I was able to sell two of the varieties I had way too many of. I also saved a bunch of clumps and donated those to a friend who hosts a big charity plant sale in her Vermont town each year.
The little sale gave me the opportunity to meet so many wonderful women who love to garden and grow things…and many who were learning how to grow dahlias for the first time so I got a chance to teach them all the basics!
It gave me a few pangs of wishing I’d invited people over during the growing season to see the patch and take pictures in it, and then just before the frost to have people over to cut blooms before they die back, and then also to have a digging and dividing party so people can bring their collections and we can all swap.
All ideas that are now planted in my mind for next year’s season. I’m pleased I did everything the way I did it this year—it was phenomenal to grow a big patch of dahlias and do nothing but enjoy it all. Next year, I’d like to use it as a way to bring gardeners together, and I talked with a few ladies about me hosting a big plant sale here at the Big Barn in the spring…how fun would that be!
Once we drop the dahlia boxes off, today I have plans to head to the next town over to meet a woman who deals in mostly 18th century antiques. She just collected a whole lot of items from an early 1700s home in Vermont and is opening space in her barn to have people come take a look at the items and have a small sale today. So I’m really looking forward to seeing what she’s got and I’ve been on a real antique kick lately. We happen to live in just the right part of the country for this to turn into a full-blown obsession for me!
Meanwhile, here on the farm this week, we had a run-in with two hens having some health issues that we believe we’ve fortunately been able to resolve. We’ve been through so many hens and have tried so many different medicines, tinctures, and so many concoctions and potions of our own that we may have finally discovered one that happens to work pretty reliably. We’ll keep our fingers crossed over here as we wait it out and see.
Last night was the first time we dry-wrapped Molly-Max’s hoof and didn’t need a soaking, a pultice, iodine, or any other type of infection-clearing mechanism for his hoof. We’re in a good spot and what Maxy needs now is for the places where the abscess blew out of the hoof to heal shut and he should be feeling a whole heck of a lot better going forward. It took us six weeks to get through this most recent abscess, but thankfully Molly-Max had it in him to fight his way through it. We’re so proud of that old boy.
This week we’ll be ordering him these customized orthotic booties for both his front hooves that he’ll likely wear all the time going forward. You measure the hooves, they size them specifically to the donkey or horse, and then he’ll have an orthotic insert that will provide padding, support, and take a lot of the pain and pressure out of his hooves, and then there’s these little black booties that go around the insert and over the hoof. So, Maxy will have some cool new shoes in about a week or two just in time for him to be healed up from this most recent abscess!
I got to jet out of town for an overnight trip this week and spent time in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. It was a great trip and I had a chance to visit with some farmer friends in Rhode Island and spend the afternoon on their farm.
We ordered lunch from this amazing little deli, pulled the patio furniture in a circle in the grass out in the sunshine, and enjoyed our lunch while their dogs ran around the yard and napped at our feet. Then we walked their farm and I got to see the little travel trailer they turned into a tiny camper BnB, and an art installation they were hosting inside their event space in their barn—which was fascinating! We took a stroll though their massive raised bed gardens and then a stop by all their animals—sheep, goats, a llama, chickens, and ducks—and then hung out in their old but renovated colonial home.
These were strangers we met through doing some due diligence back when we were looking at a home and tiny farm in Rhode Island who’ve happened to become dear friends.
I love when the Universe sees fit to make little connections like that!
And with that, dear friends, it’s both a wrap on this year’s dahlia season and a wrap on today’s Farm Note! As always, we love hearing from you—catch me up on anything you’d like in the comments…you know I always read them!
Three things:
I picked up this coat for the winter season and it is just so, so good. Perfect fit, warm, cozy, the best color, stylish…highly recommend if you’re in the market for a new coat at a great price point.
My friends had these sound boxes in both their bathrooms in their home and I’m getting one for Chris and thought you might like to nab one as a gift for someone. They are motion activated and make such a lovely muted sound that was so peaceful and wonderful. I loved it so much I had to have one for my bird guy!
Ordered this handy electric spin scrub brush for regular deep cleaning around the house—sink, shower doors, shower floors, tile, grout, toilets, etc. Haha, can’t wait!
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I'm so excited you sold some tubers! How fun! You must invite these women out next season for Dahlia lessons, pictures or just to view. Very happy Maxy 🫏 is so much better. Looking forward to seeing his "shoes." 😁 I am a little concerned about Dominic being jealous. You must give him extra pets and love. 🥰 Enjoyed the farm note as I'm in bed with covid. 🤧🤧
So lovely to hear about fall weather as I head into upper 70s and 100% humidity for a morning walk here in Houston!🥵😆The northeast this time of year is my favorite type of weather. Can't wait to see the donkey booties!!!