Dreaming of Sunflowers @ Rooster Ridge Farms

"She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard." Proverbs 31:16

This wasn’t a vineyard full of grapes, but a field of flowers at Rooster Ridge Farms LLC. My cousin Taylor, and I were welcomed onto the farm for a tour. I had never experienced a flower farm before, so this was a very neat adventure.

A special thank you to Taylor Richards for coordinating this farm tour and taking all of the beautiful photos, visit Taylor's blog here!

Me on the left with Teresa on the right

Teresa Brown is a first generation female farmer and her dream was to grow sunflowers. This dream has come alive just in the last year when she purchased just shy of 23 acres in Bryan, Ohio.

Teresa is an art teacher in a local community school system. I am sure the artistic ability aids in arranging the flowers, but this is not your average art teacher! Teresa has a sunflower painting over fireplace and sunflowers growing outside!

In northwest Ohio, agricultural production predominately consists of the three crop rotation of winter wheat, field corn, and soybeans… But Teresa Brown has a different plan for her acreage. 

With being on the property only one year thus far, she has a great set up. Teresa has one main field in flower cultivation, but what an excellent view! Facing the woods, you’ve got a field to your left and a pond to your right.

The beauty is hard work, Teresa bought her tractors and got busy. She learns as she goes, which is a quality I very much admire. I once heard a saying “you just have to start”, and that is what Teresa has done at Rooster Ridge Farms. 

In the era of making money, Teresa has a different view. She does it for the aesthetics, it instills happiness in others. 

A few tips that Teresa shared with me:

*Cut your flowers early in the morning, so the stems retain their moisture.
*When marking your rows, use a pencil on your tags instead of permanent marker. The permanent marker may wash off!

Pricing

*Pint for $8 

*Quart for $10

*Refill for $3 this year

Flowers are now affordable, local, and perfect for “flower-bombing”.

“She is flower-bombing people”, Teresa told us of one of her customers. This now coined term refers to the customers that like to buy multiple flower bouquets at a time, and gift them to their friends. What a neat idea!

So, what does the future hold?

Teresa explained that there is a program called NRCS, which you can read about here, that provides high tunnels and irrigation for farmers, which she plans to pursue. 

A future for female farmers

I was very encouraged by Teresa’s start-up story as she talked to me about the resources available for female farmers, through Ag Credit and FSA(Farm Service Agency). Read more about these types of loans on the USDA website, here.

Resources

Teresa buys from Jonny’s seed company, check out their website here.

Field of Farmers Joel Salatin 

Midwest Gardeners Handbook Melina Myers

Contacts

Teresa Brown at Rooster Ridge Farm LLC

Facebook: here

or visit her at the Bryan, Ohio farmer’s market!

More Photos:

I took this photo of Teresa's farmer's market set up!

Fruits and Other Perennials

With my sophomore year at North Carolina State University coming to a close, moving back home, and interning on an organic produce farm...life has been quite busy.

I am happy to give you all a Practice Farm update. For more up to date photo posts, follow practice_farm on Instagram here.

Wild black berries found growing in the brush.

4 newly planted raspberry bushes.

The front flower bed is housing many herbs, including oregano, basil, mint, and sage.

Newly planted and trellised blackberries.

Granny smith apple tree. 

Close up of the granny smith apples. 

Another one of our apple trees has fallen over but continues to survive, unfortunately covered in poison ivy.

Newly planted fig tree from NC State, propagated by air layering and now planted in our back yard!

Diagonally growing cherry tree. We are not sure how it fell over, any solutions?

The not-so-tame muscadine vines, but the fruit is growing! I am hoping to learn how to prune them, because it appears that they were not pruned by the previous land owner.

A close up of the muscadines.

We have been blessed with this property. All of the fruit trees (excluding the fig) and muscadine vines were here when my mother purchased the land, and I am hoping for a bountiful harvest! 

"And I have given you land for which you did not labor, and cities that you build not, and now you dwell in them; eating of the vineyards and olive eytzim(trees), which you did not plant."

Joshua 24:13 (RSTNE)

Comment below if you have any questions.
Blessings,

Olivia 

Personal Greenhouse Guidance

This is the look of my personal greenhouse when I approached my horticulture professor for guidance:

So how do you keep from baking your plants in the summer and deep freezing them in the winter?

These are the recommendations that I received:

• Keep the temperature above 40 degrees in the winter. 
• Provide a shade cloth in the summer to keep the temperature no higher than 80 degrees.
• Humidity is only something to worry about if you are propagating plants, for example, by cuttings or seed.
• Managing the humidity in such a large structure would be tricky, so if I decide to start plants from seed, place a clear plastic container over the flats to increase humidity. 
• Don't worry about watering too much [which is what I tend to do] because once you "water in", it may not be necessary to water the trays until germination of growing seed.
• Most plants won't need water everyday, but you may need to water every day in the summer when starting veggies from seed. 

So my next mission is to relocate the greenhouse to a more shaded area to better regulate the temperature. One step at a time to build a more functional greenhouse. 

Interested in buying your own? 

$61.99 at Sears: Here
$101.84 at The Home Depot: Here
Although, my recommendation would be to watch for sales at Big Lots. That is where I was able to find the greenhouse pictured above for a very good price!