A sustainable spring!
This month is all about seed starting! As we approach the Spring equinox and the last frost, more and more seeds will be sown. Every week of this month I will be starting something new, beginning with strawflower, scabiosa, amaranth, rudbeckia, calendula, and statice this week. All of these flowers need to be started 4-6 weeks before the last frost dates if you are starting your seeds inside. The month will end with cosmos, zinnias, bachelor buttons, flax, and painted daisies. All of which do best in a warmer climate and only need to be started 1-2 weeks before the last frost. Plus, a whole bunch more in between! In total, I will be starting 52 different varieties of flowers in the month of March!
I’m particularly excited for this year because I will be using my brand-new soil blocker! A soil blocker is a handheld tool that creates individual soil blocks, these blocks then serve as the container, or cell, for the seeds to germinate in (see pictures below). There are many benefits to using a soil blocker. For me, the primary reason for switching to this method is because it is much more sustainable. Using a soil blocker eliminates the need for stacks and stacks of plastic trays, which in turn reduces the amount of single-use plastic that is typically used when starting seeds. With a soil blocker, you just need some sort of tray to put the soil blocks on and there are many sustainable options for sourcing trays including buying secondhand, buying trays made with recycled or recyclable materials, or some farmers even get old lunch trays from local schools!
As a flower farmer, it is so important to me to nurture my surroundings and give back to nature however I can. I grow flowers not only for other people, but for the pollinators, the soil, the air, and the wildlife. To me, it wouldn’t make sense to grow all of these flowers without doing it in the most sustainable, and least harmful way possible. Over time I will find more and more ways to do just that! In my third year of business, I continue to do what I can for all of my projects and through each phase of growing my flowers. My efforts include composting and recycling, minimizing single-use materials, growing my flowers chemical-free and sourcing from the BB field and other natural local farmers. My hope is that each year I will find more ways to be as non-invasive to the earth as possible!
In addition to its sustainable benefits, a soil blocker is also great for root health and decreases the chance of transplant shock. When seeds are started in trays, the roots of those seedlings are restricted to the cell that they are in. The roots continue to grow and eventually tangle and become root bound. When you go to transplant these plants, the roots will rip and therefore become weaker, creating more risk for the plant to die after being moved to the field. With a soil blocker, the roots are no longer restricted. There are small air gaps in between each soil block (see right picture above) which allow the roots to continue to grow past those barriers. When you go to transplant the soil block plants, the roots are fat and healthy and more able to take up nutrients and water and therefore, have a much higher chance of success!
To use a soil blocker, you first need to mix your starting soil with a lot of water, way more than you think. I was skeptical the first time I used my soil blocker because the dirt needed to be much wetter than I was used to and I was worried about molding. I trusted the advice I had been told and my many Google searches and nervously added more water. The reason the soil needs to be so wet is because it needs to hold it’s shape, since you are eliminating the structure of the plastic flats/cells. To make sure the soil is wet enough, you can form a ball of dirt, if it holds you are good to go. Once your soil is wet enough, you can then start packing the soil blocker. Some prefer to pack it by hand, I personally just press the tool down into the soil and move it around a bit to make sure the blocks are full, and the soil is going to hold when I lift up. Once you’ve, lifted the soil blocker up, move over to your tray of choice and simultaneously push the top handle down and pull up to free the soil blocks from the tool. It’s as simple as that! Continue this process until your tray is full and then you can sow your seeds the same way you would normally. Easy! If you’re more of a visual learner, like me, here’s a helpful YouTube video!
I’m clearly very excite about this new toy of mine. It’s just one step of many to greener growing and a sustainable business. Right now, it may just look like a bunch of dirt but in just a few months each of these soil blocks will have grown into a beautiful, luscious flower. The hours of planning, sowing seeds, prepping the field, transplanting, watering, and nurturing each flower are well worth it when I walk through the aisles of my field in full bloom. It truly brings me so much peace and happiness, and I’m so grateful to be able to share it all with my community!
My goal has always been to share my flowers with as many people as I can. Flowers are scientifically proven to cause an improvement in your mood. They literally give you joy! If I can provide a little joy to someone by sharing my passion, I feel like I’ve done my job. If you’d like to support local and receive a little joy each week this season, sign up for one of the Beverly Blooms’ CSA subscriptions. There are options for the whole season and for every budget!
One final announcement before I go. I’m so excited to share that Beverly Blooms will be expanding to Bellingham! I am now offering all services to Whatcom and Skagit county, in addition to Kitsap of course. I’m so excited to get to know this new community and share my flowers with you all. Stay tuned for where you can find BB flowers in Bellingham!
That’s all for now, folks! Enjoy the change of season as we move into Spring and everything begins to come alive again! I hope you take a moment (or several) to enjoy this time of year and it’s beauty.
Chase
