Exciting New News!
Hello flower friends and family! Its been a while since we have updated our news page so I thought I’ll write a quick update for you all.
As it is winter, we have no flowers to pick and sell at the moment but there are a few flowers related exiting new for you all.
So without further delay here are our plans for 2021/2022 flower season:
First of all we are getting the chiller installed next week! So we will be able to condition your flowers better and pick and store flowers in bigger amounts for big events! I know you are probably thinking that this will reduce the life of your flowers as they are sitting in the chiller before they get to you but in fact it is the other way around. Some flowers need to be conditioned and need at least 24h of sitting in water to rehydrate and not droop in a vase. Because we did not have a chiller for 2 years we tried to keep our flowers in the garage or cool room prior to delivery and that unfortunately did not work for some blooms and we ended up with droopy flowers in some cases. Now we will be able to hydrate our fresh blooms properly and then deliver them to you better prepped then ever. Don’t worry we will not be keeping flowers in the chiller for longer than 2 days and therefore they are still fresh when they come to you.
In comparison to flowers that are imported into the area (supermarkets and so on) these (even though they are grown in NZ) most likely been in the chiller of the grower for couple of days, then gone to the market and set in the chiller there for a day or so, then went into delivery truck and for South Island they might even had to fly to you from Auckland and then sit in the supermarket till they are bought. So ours will be only couple of days old and in case of the flowers in the stall on the road side they will only be a day old if that, I might even pick in the morning condition over the heat of the day and put them out in the evening for super fresh and conditioned blooms. This is our main investment this year and there are a couple of rather funny stories about getting this chiller but I think I will keep them for some other day. I can’t wait to have it all plugged in and set up and running! It will make life so much easier and blooms so much fresher.
Second load of news is our availability and what we are going to have on the farm this year. Well we are sticking to the same moto as always “More is more”. We’ll be trying new things and working with seed raising experiments to try and provide a wide variety to everyone out there. Of course we won’t be able to provide tropical flowers as we are in Alpine environment but we are going to have all the local favorites: Zinnias, Cosmos, Statice, Dahlias, Roses, Peonies, Tulips, Daffodils, Hellebores, Daisies, Snapdragons, Lilies and so much more. We have started growing things from seed already and have lovely little seedlings all over the hoophouse. We can’t wait to see all the blooms that will come up on the farm soon. A little bit more sunshine and warmth and daylight and we will see a huge boost in flowers.
Third news and is a trade secret at the moment but I just can’t wait to share it 😊 Alpine Blooms Farm is partnering with 3 other local flower farms to create a collective. We are going to be called Three Valleys Flower Farms and we are going to work together to provide exceptional service to our florists as well as share the flower love with local community. We are still working on the details of the arrangement but I can tell you that we are planning to have a pop-up flower shop once a week in Wanaka where locals can grab themselves a bunch or two of locally grown flowers and treat themselves or someone they love. This collective will have us, The Joy farmer, Cardrona Fresh and Studio 24 Botanical working together to bring flowers to people. We are extremely excited about the opportunity to work with these talented growers and this joined venture should be fun as well as educational. Don’t worry, we will still have our stall outside Camphill road and we will still supply blooms to our DIY brides and events, but together with these ladies we can get production numbers up to a standard which florists require.
These are our 3 main news on the farm at the moment. Things are slowly waking up and getting ready for spring, Hellebores are flowering and daffodils are coming out from the ground, Tulips are still thinking about appearing on top of the ground but impatient me has dug down and found all the green growth under the soil so we are well and truly on our way to see first tulips around mid-October. Seeds are coming up as I’ve mentioned earlier and we are getting the ground ready for all the new seedlings. Next weekend we should have compost arriving on the farm and spreading will commence. And of course things like checking irrigation and putting tunnels up to protect our little seedlings from frosts, rain and wind.
I am looking forward to updating everyone on what is happening on the farm and on our little venture with other local growers. Stay warm flower friends and we will see you soon.
