Spring Abounds, Better Hold On.

It would be just like spring in California
To know your love would be mine
             from the song "Take Me" performed by Jerry Garcia and David Grisman.

Early spring on a California flower farm is something to behold. Having farms at both ends of the state, Sun Valley has two very different micro-climates happening right now, and both are going off.

Arcata

Looking out my window in Arcata, the wind is blowing a big wet storm in from the south west.  The hoop houses that are brimming with French Tulips and Hyacinth are shaking in the steady breeze. Clouds are moving fast across the horizon, sometimes dropping a quick deluge of rain, other times surprising everyone with a burst of sun.

Our Arcata Farm

Right now you hear constant reports of the California drought, and though the rain started later than usual this year, our farm nestled on the redwood of Humboldt County is on it's way to normal precipitation for the year. We added another couple inches over the weekends, and one decent sized earthquake Sunday night. 6.9 on the Richter Scale, with no damage on the farm.

This early spring time is a keeping our growers and picking team really busy. The French Tulip harvest is stunning. Our Frenchies are the giants of the tulip world, the blooms are as big as a coffee cup and the colors are rich as King Midas himself.

Our "Pink Pride" French Tulip.

Oxnard

Oxnard traditionally starts to really warm up as we get through March. Right now their highs are in the mid-70's. Over the last few weeks they've had a few drenching rains, which have spurred our big Iris and Matsumoto Aster crops on to new heights. As it warms up more in the coming weeks our Lily harvest will be moving back to Arcata where it will remain until the fall.

I asked GerritVanderkoy, our head grower in Oxnard, what was happening on the farm. 

"The recent rain we received was a welcome sight, we can always use more."

Growing Iris in spring

He continued, "Our iris love this spring weather, the crop is coming in really nice, as are our Matsumoto Asters. Right now the flowers we grow outside are looking especially strong."

(Check out this 1 minute video on our Matsumotos from the Field in Focus Series.)

I asked what other crops are enjoying the spring weather,

"We are picking a lot of Matricaria and Freesia, and our Delphinium varieties really like the spring weather, it's growing in leaps and bounds." 

Sun Valley excels at a several things. Team work, year-round flower production  and cold chain management to name just a few. However, every year when spring rolls around and the flowers take advantage of Mother Nature's generosity; with the perfect blend of rain, sun, clouds and warmth, it is impressive to see flowers nearly leaping from the soil, reaching for the sky and growing fast.

Spring abounds!

This is the time of year when flower growing looks easy. We work in concert with Mother Nature and direct traffic as the flowers take off on their own initiative. Better hold on.