We are so excited to finally have installed our Chronolog photo station. Several months ago, I became aware of the Chronolog program. Was it a social media scroll? NPR? I don’t remember. Anyhow, as soon as I looked into what it was, I knew we had to have one! This is a fun and interactive way to log the changes of a specific place in nature through the progression of photos that folks can upload to a website. It is a “before and after” lover’s dream come true.

They made us a nifty instructional sign with our amazing logo that my brother designed for us (let us know if you need a logo person, we could probably hook you up). And for an annual fee, the group manages the website where the time lapse photos of the filed will be maintained, along with many other cool places around the country that are in the program. It is worth checking out. Never in a million years could we have dreamed that we would have a photo station at the edge of our front yard to document changes in a nature preserve we are building. We hope if you are in the area you will stop and take your own. There is a place to pull over near our mailbox, along the road. Just follow the instructions on the sign. It is pretty simple. You don’t have to create a user name or password to participate, which is a major plus in my book. Perriee chose a cedar pole from the warehouse to mount the hardware on and we made sure to get the hole dug before the ground froze. Having the Chronolog installed ahead of the pollinator patch installation is pretty special. We can’t wait to see how it changes over the years.

In the coming months we will be tilling a half-acre of the field to plant our pollinator patch that is funded by the USDA through a Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) grant with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). This is a five year program where we receive annual funding to plant and maintain the space. We joke that we will finally have some flowers to look at from the road. You would be amazed at how few flowers you tend to see around here for a flower farm. We see them, but it absolutely is not what one would imagine a flower farm to look like. Having a half-acre of untouched flowers is going to help a lot! Don’t expect a huge impact this year though. These things take time to start looking like something cool.

As an aside, we have been focusing quite a bit on planting perennial seedlings for cut flower production which take some time to establish. It is a long game for sure. I will make it a point to write a post about the perennials we have either planted here or have found growing here when we moved. There are a lot of gems sitting around here that I think you will enjoy.