This year’s sweet pea crop is by far the best to date and it’s all we can do to keep up with the massive task of harvesting. Never did I think I’d groan at the thought of picking these little darlings but when we hit 330 bunches on Thursday morning, we were all groaning a little.
While a pleasure to harvest (you actually get to stand straight up vs. stooping over all day), sweet peas are a super slow pick. The tendrils and vines get all tangly, the flowers hide amongst the foliage and if you feed them too much compost *ahem*…. they grow 8ft. tall and you have to stand on a bucket to reach them.
Ok, now I sound like I’m whining. I don’t mean for it to sound like that. I know people who would kill for the experience. And the scent in the warm greenhouse, the morning light filtering through the bright green foliage and the hummingbirds zooming in-between the trellises watching us work. It’s pretty unreal! It’s just that I love to go fast at whatever I’m doing, and sweet peas make me have to slow down. But gosh, what a wonderful thing to slow down for.
For this week’s Seasonal Flower Alliance installment, it seems only fitting to let the sweet peas reign. There are stems from every single variety we’re growing tucked into these vases. I tried my best to create an ombre with the rainbow of flowers at hand. Oh, the smell! If only it could be shared through the screen.
If you can make the time, I’d sure love to see what’s blooming in your corner of the world this week. It can be a single rose blossom, a handful of wildflowers or a big old fancy bouquet. It doesn’t matter. The point is just to take a few minutes, explore nature and create.
If you’d like to join in the fun, simply make up a bouquet using local flowers, snap a photo, post it somewhere on the internet and then leave a link to it in the comments section below. If you’re on Instagram, you can use/search the hashtag #seasonalfloweralliance for even more flowery goodness.
Katharine Martindale on
http://instagram.com/p/p14vAYs-JC/
This is the first time I have done this. Let’s hope it works!