Important dates:

October 25: Catch us at Turtleback Ridge Brewery for the Hainted Jamboreeeeee makers’ market. We will be set up under the big tent with some of our Loving Farm crafts and treats. There will definitely be Perriee’s amazing “kettle corn” for sale as well as dried flower art made with chemical free-flowers and herbs grown right here on our farm. Catnip kickers are also back in stock and will be available!

October 26: Plein Air painting day from 2:00 to 5:30 with our friend Kit from Artmarkit Covington. Kit will provide some guidance to kick you off on an amazing landscape painting experience. Space is limited (capping at 20 people) in order to ensure everyone gets ample support through the event. The cost will be $40/person, which will include a brief lesson, art supplies and some light refreshments. No experience is necessary!

November 1: Monthly email subscription giveaway drawing!

April 25^th, 2026: Third Annual Earth Day Celebration at Loving Farm! Mark your calendars. We will be having a day filled with fun and music and food.

Hello Flowerers,

There is still time to sign up for our Plein Air Painting class next Sunday, the 26^th. The weather is going to be beautiful! Snacks will be delicious too. Also hope to see you at the brewery on Saturday. Why not make a weekend of it?

Spring is in the air. Ok, maybe not the air, but in the soil. Perriee and I are plugging in the 1000+ tulip bulbs for the coming year and we MUST share our process on one of the beds that is currently housing half of them.

As you probably have heard, we are absolutely in love with cover cropping lately, buckwheat being one of the top contenders for warm weather. An experiment with it this year yielded us a brand new flowerbed out of a mildly disturbed, untilled spot with two back to back plantings of buckwheat that we initiated in mid-summer. The feeling of piercing the ground with a shovel to dig a trench for bulbs was unmatched! We dug out sections of it, mentally preparing to cover it with some remaining composting manure we had but did not need to use anything but the soil that we took out to cover the planted tulip bulbs. We planted 490 bulbs in about 2 hours, using nothing but shovels and our bare hands. We tossed crimson clover seed on top, but might settle for some straw mulch at this point since I do not think we will be able to grow much on top of that bed before the cold sets in. Wheat will still germinate and grow, but that might be too heavy for a bed of tulips, come spring. I put some wheat seed in the dirt around the bed to aid in wind protection. That is going to be nice.

There are still some real stunners blooming in the field, but the main focus has shifted to dried flowers. The arrangements we have made have been stunning! Oscar is trying his paws at Flower Studio Kitty to help with some rodent management. As you can imagine, a building full of dried plants is a hospitable environment for outside critters. Oscar is so portable, easy to carry in your arms as you walk back and forth between his shifts and seemed to enjoy himself, sitting in the sun and checking out all of the dark corners for unwanted intruders. He is the best little worker.

Ingredients of this arrangement:

Willow weed, strawflower, Queen Anne’s Lace, celosia, statice, blue spice basil, yarrow, native aster/false aster, bergamont, lemon basil, oregano

Some market research was done at Pike Street Wine House this week. A wonderful friend who learned about our excitement for wine making took us there to check it out. I had a flight of 6 of their own Runners Ridge Vineyard wines and each one was spectacular. Oh my gosh, they were all so good. I had a rose’ to start, followed by reds. The atmosphere was elegant, the charcuterie was tasty and we even got to chat with one of the owners for a spell who was both encouraging and kind to entertain our questions. Of course, she made sure to pepper the dream with hints of cautionary tales of hard work, which we completely appreciate as flower farmers, who are often viewed through rose colored glasses as well (pun intended).

We exchanged information and offered our usual, “let us know if you all need a hand with a thing at your farm sometime” as a way to open the door to a visit not just intended for a tour. We love helping out in trade for a behind the scene’s peek at someone’s farm operation. One thing we all agreed on was that when you really love what you are doing, none of the “negatives” of a job matter. In fact, the “negative” punches are dulled significantly compared how to they felt from previous careers I have had, and they are presumably more negative too! The wages are lower, the hours are longer, there are no paid holidays and it is still so much better.

Finally, I have to share about our haunted trail here in Fleming County. Fellow farmer friends from the local market here are part of a family operation that sets up a trail in the woods. If you love Halloween and love haunted trails or haunted houses, you should check it out. It is $12.00 for adults and less for kids. This is our third year attending, having even been a part of the show as “scarers” last year for one cold night. It just blows me away each time how awesome it is. You can still check it out this year, as it is every Friday and Saturday, through Halloween, starting at 8:00 pm as long as there is not rain. I could tell you all about it, but I hate to ruin it. Lets just say it is worth it. Wear your hiking boots or good sneakers, as you are walking on a trail through the woods at night and some of the terrain is a little uneven, which all adds to the ambiance. The address is 1343 Olive Branch Rd., Flemingsburg, KY 41041.