Little Otter Flower Farm

03/02/2025

First day back out in the fields in a while! Max and Jacob worked on w**ding and fixing a row we just did not get to in the fall. When the sun came out we lifted the frost cloth on the anemones — not dead yet and even a few first flowers 💐 — BUT we have a terrible VOLE problem. We put down volex before we covered, but that didn’t seem to do anything. Trying some traps. Open to any and all vole suggestions!! We might have to get some cats…or even snakes. Farming is so humbling…happy Monday!

31/01/2025

Spent the day making 50 arrangements for the .ymca Pot of Gold! No flowers yet, but Max worked his magic with the color and texture of the plants growing on the Y property and at the farm. Big assist today from Jacob, a new intern on the farm who did a GREAT job on only his second day! Our flowers are always more than just flowers — they are opportunities for people with Autism to learn and grow. Growing flowers, people and community… See you at the Pot of Gold! If you don’t have your ticket yet I think there are a few left — call the Y!

25/01/2025

Dahlias. Are. DONE! Well, they are all divided anyway. Hopefully by tomorrow after they all dry out they will be all packed away! I can’t remember when I started dividing, but it has been a long haul as always. This is a task Max hasn’t taken on yet because it requires a lot of judgement and fine motor skills. We left 100’ of dahlia in the field this year — but given the cold I am happy for the back-up tubers tucked away. We’ll be bringing some of these tubers to the seed swap tonight 4-5:30 at the Forest Library! We’d love to swap our heirloom purples for some different varieties and perennial flower seeds. Happy Saturday!!

24/01/2025

Little Otter will be at the seed swap with dahlia tubers and flower seeds!! Let’s spread the beauty and think about spring!!

Event Reminder

Join us at the Forest Library this coming Saturday, January 25th from 4:00 PM to 5:30 PM to swap some seeds with your community at our National Seed Swap Day celebration!

No seeds to share? No worries. Bring anything garden or plant-related to swap: pots, tools, plant clippings, etc.
Guidelines:
- Seeds for fruits/vegetables, flowers, and houseplants are welcome.
- Please label all seeds or plant clippings you bring to the swap.
- Each batch of seeds or plant must be in separate containers, e.g. a pot, cup, baggie, or packet.
- Try not to take more than you bring (it is a swap after all).

23/01/2025

Happy 2025 Brides-to-be!! I guess it’s time for brides to be thinking about flowers…we have had several wedding inquiries in just the past two days! We are a small family farm using regenerative farming practices (no chemicals!), so we only do one event per week — and weeks are filling up fast! We have just a few weeks left from June to October (nothing before June!) so if you like the freshest flowers and Max’s riots of color you can send an inquiry to Jen at [email protected]. Max makes bouquets, boutonnières, table arrangements and garland — shout out to and for their mentoring and support!! We also do DIY buckets and DIY parties at our greenhouse which includes coolroom storage and packing for transport. You can also check out Max’s work on our website www.littleotterflowerfarm.com Congratulations to all the brides out there!!

20/01/2025

Hands after another day of dividing dahlias… only three crates left to go! Hopefully I’ll finish before it is time to take them out to plant 🤪. For the record, Max took the MLK holiday day off!

15/01/2025

The greenhouse is filling up with winter seedlings! Today Max planted: eucalyptus, globe thistle, columbine, salvia, rudbeckia feverfew, scabiosa, and more Lizzie’s and snapdragons — whew! And all@before 1:30! We add our own mycorrhiza fungus grown on the roots of Sudan grass to our seed starting mix. And of course we couldn’t get it all done without Buck and Moose supervising… it might be cold outside but as long as the sun is out it is gorgeous in the greenhouse! Happy Wednesday!

09/01/2025

While the field babies are *HOPEFULLY* 🤞🤞 warm sealed in by a layer of ice, the greenhouse babies are definitely toasty! Max is busy sorting through all the glassware and getting organized for the season. THANK YOU to everyone who has donated glassware to us!! Stay safe and warm out there!!

05/01/2025

So, some of you may recall my saying, in the heat of the flower season, that I could use a good three-day snow storm. Well…be careful what you wish for! We spent the morning deploying more frost cloth and tucking in the spring babies with more mulch. Now we hang out, look out the window, and hope for the best! Stay safe out there everyone 🤞🙏

02/01/2025

We’re back!! We enjoyed a lovely holiday unplugging from social media, spending time with family, cleaning, and recharging …Hope y’all did too! But now it is back to work…. Today we planted over 1,000 tiny lisianthus seeds in nine different colors 🤞🤞. But before we planted we had to reset our seeding tables. We always dig out our heating coils to make sure critters didn’t eat through them and they still work. Then we bury them about 2” deep in the sand and level out the tables so when we bottom water the water does not slosh to none side (learned that the hard way!). This time of year seems like social media is packed with seed starting advice. What we’ve learned is that there really is no one “right” way to farm, and through trial and error you need to find what works for you! While we do try to reduce plastic use on our farm — like not using plastic w**d cloth — we do not soil block. The temperatures are too volatile in our passive-solar seed starting greenhouse and watering is too challenging. Watering is hard enough!! . But we don’t need electricity for grow lights, and we use duck-tape to keep our plastic trays as long as possible. Trade-offs always. The one thing that we have found to really improve our germination is cultivating our own mycorrhiza fungi on the roots of Sudan grass we grow in our fields. We chop the roots — which also have other indigenous micro-organisms from our fields — and add them to our seed starting mix. Happy to share more of what we do — feel free to ask questions in the comments. Cheers flower friends and welcome to the 2025 flower season!!

19/12/2024

Ditto! Thank you to all of the Bedford VA Farmers Market supporters!! All our best to you and yours for a happy and healthy holiday!

We are grateful for all of you! Thank you for your love and support in 2024 - we can't wait to see you in the new year.
❤️

17/12/2024

What a day! THANK YOU Benny and Dennis for delivering ten — yes 10!! — loads of beautiful leaf mulch. Max and I uncovered the frost cloth on all our hearty annuals to give them an extra layer of this leafy gold. Happy to report that the anemones, ranunculus, lisianthus, larkspur, snapdragons and bachelors buttons all came through the Thanksgiving cold and are looking good! 🤞🤞 for a mild rest of the winter.

15/12/2024

Watching football…dividing and packing dahlia tubers. Happy Sunday!

13/12/2024

Dried Little Otter flowers in a wedding keepsake. ❤️😊🥂

12/12/2024

Celebrated the season with the BEST Little Otter volunteers Kim, Michelle, Ellen and Maya! Can’t believe this is the end of our 5th season in Bedford. Thanks John for taking the photos and thank you Bedford for all the love and support. Happy holidays to all!!

12/12/2024

Reflecting on 2024…

11/12/2024

Great holiday market!!