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Harvest @ the Farm "There are no endings in life, only new beginnings." -- Flavia Weedn
Harvest. Probably my favorite time. It's the culmination of all our intelligence, hard work and fortune - good or bad. We quickly scour the rows and beds for exactly the right and best seed to collect into the baskets and buckets so we may package it for sale to our customers all over the world. It's an iterative process, taking from late July through end of September or early October, depending on the weather. Red Grass marks the approach of autumn at the Farm.
The wonder of technology is that we may make our offers to the American stationed in a post just south of the Sahara Desert, or to a woman who loves white zinnias in South Africa, and to a myriad of Americans all over the country doing their gardening thing. They ask for advice; they request catalogs, and they send us orders using the technology that is so far removed from the simple, physical work of farming, a pursuit almost as old as man himself. I feel so proud to be trucking my flowers to market! And with each seed pack we sell, a prayer goes out that it will be successful in the gardens of its new owners and will give them the pleasure through its beauty that is has given to me. The manufacturing process to turn fresh picked flower heads into seed packs is astounding and most interesting! This you can observe if you come visit between September and November. The barn is not heated; so the folks would have to bundle up and let the cheer of good company and brisk work keep them warm! Lights aren't that great either! We fight cold and length of days during this time, as we rush to get all the seed in before it turns bitter cold. We don't take many breaks, but hot chocolate and cookies would probably be in order if you visit then.....
First Frost Brings Death to the Farm ..... and Harvest Brings the Promise of New Life
"As the sun lights up the moon, love has the power to illuminate our hearts." -- Flavia Weedn
September passed without the Frost. October days clicked by on the calendar timer, in sync with my mind and body, and I knew that soon, very soon, all of the flowers would be GONE! Killed by the first hard frost of the 2001 season. I always have a problem accepting this. No matter that we have huge reserves of seed from each harvest. I'd like to keep every zinnia we grow. But, of course, that is impossible. We take lots of pictures each year to capture some of the most stunning specimens. Still, I walk with trepidation to the rows those mornings in Fall when Jack Frost brushes everything on the Farm with a coat of sparkly white. As luck would have it, I'd taken my camera with me for our usual early Saturday morning walk with the Farm Dogs. My first steps outside with the freezing chill of the air on my face and hands told me we'd lose some zinnias this October day. Out we walked, past the plum trees and the barn to the big garden - Marilyn's Garden. The sadness was palpable as we viewed the rows of now shriveled
and blackened plants. All we could say was, "Yep! This is IT.
No more zinnias 'til next year now." On we went down the road to the
winding paths that Gip cuts throug I could not believe my eyes! I wished I could rewind time to the beginning of the blooming season. It would only be a matter of hours before these reds, too, would be gone. The sun was inching up over the barn and would soon melt the frost and let death into our gardens. I quickly snapped several pictures to remember how beautiful the red zinnias were just before they died. But thank goodness, I recalled the words of Clarissa Pincola Estes in her book The Faithful Gardener, and I remembered that the barn was loaded with unprocessed seed. Seed that would produce more zinnia surprises next year. Estes had written about "...that which can never die..." And I held in my hand the evidence of it, in every seed and flower grown at the Farm.
Daughter Jean and Mom select flower heads to take for seed. The garden looks wretched now, but who can complain when it's given up its all so the world may have Zinnias?
New SeedTech Vacuum Separator (front left) and old "contraption" (background right)
Whether you take the Virtual Farm Tour or the Real One, we hope you enjoy your visit to Van Dyke Zinnias @ Redbud Farms! We strive to make each visit unique and memorable. Sit back and enjoy your visit, and write us if you have any questions! Thanks for stopping! Subscribe or Unsubscribe HERE to our * News Beams * from the Farm!From time to time, we will offer web-only specials and publish short stories about the Farm Dogs or the grandkids, and inspirations from life on the Farm in mid-Michigan, the American heartland. Seasonally, we will write to help Gardeners grow beautiful Zinnias, learn how to make a stunning bouquet, or how to collect precious seed when harvest is here. Let us know if you would like to receive them. We have moved our web to a new server and resized all photos for faster load times. As we approach another winter, I hope you visit us often to see our pretty pictures and read about the simple things we love most here. Thanks for being a customer! -Sharon Baller, President"To see life's passages through the eyes of your heart is to know that all is happening exactly as it was meant to." -- Flavia Weedn |
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the grasses so we and our visitors may view the wild flowers everywhere in
spring and summer. Down past the campfire pit. Back up around the
shagbark hickory tree and the new garden just
opened this season. All gone. Every flower was dusted with cold and
doom. We could see the frost starting to kill the plants. I grew
morose. Then we came to the gardens back of the pole barn. "LOOK!" I
shouted. "The Big Reds are still hanging on!" 
