SMELL THE FLOWERS
Growing up, one of the things I loved about summer was to pick flowers for my mom and bring home a colorful bouquet of daisies, blue bachelor buttons, poppies, and others. These times are long gone, but not the love for wildflowers in summer. As we now operate a small organic farm with an apiary in Harvard (Good Spirits Farm), flowers have become even more important for me because we need them as food source for our bees and on top, we offer wildflower bouquets mixed with traditional garden flowers at the farm stand to share the beauty.
We are one of several farms in Harvard that sell flowers in farm stores and at roadside farm stands. Sunflowers are most common but also zinnias, snap dragons or dahlias are ready to be taken home to brighten your home and lift your spirits.
This year, we planted in addition to the already mentioned, also gladiolas, bachelor buttons, red buckwheat and bee balm. Originally, there were more varieties, but a baby bunny managed to sneak into the flower garden and had a feast with our calendula, tassel flowers, lupines, and asters.
For herb lovers, we also offer “edible bouquets” made with a mix of fresh green and blooming herbs, e.g., red, and purple bee balm, purple hyssop, white yarrow, peppermint, oregano, basil and more.
One of the best things about farm grown flowers: You can stick your nose into the bouquets and enjoy the smell of fresh flowers without worrying about pesticides. A research study examining most commonly in stores sold cut flower bouquets of roses, gerberas and chrysanthemums found heavy contamination with pesticide residues. (Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5086682/ )
In the interest of the safety of our bee colonies, we avoid pesticides and instead use companion planting to keep our flowers and other crops healthy. Hence, it’s safe to take home a floral memento of summer, so – stop and smell the flowers….
Visit our website to find out what is at the farm stand and sign up for our newsletter: https://goodspiritsfarm.com
