Well it has been a minute since I took the time to put together a blog post. What a year - what a season. We - like many others - were impacted by high gas prices, inflation, and low consumer spending. And on top of the economic woes of 2022, we had a particularly bad Spring that killed many of our lavender plants outright, made many others look very sad indeed, and delayed our blooms on the remainder by almost a month! Below are some pictures of some of our sad lavender in early July. If you live in or near Michigan and many of your plants looked like mine did in July , take heart! First, much of it was out of our control. Growers don't necessarily like to admit that mother nature is all-powerful and there are elements out of our control, but there it is. Second, many of our half-dead plants seriously revived in late summer and are poised to go into winter dormancy strong and alive, if not in full health. All in all, out of our 14,000 plants, I will be ordering about 2,000 new plants for my own fields plus our usual live plant sale stock for next Spring planting. Maybe more...but I am not thinking about that just now!
Notwithstanding all that, we did have plenty of successes in 2022. Our Lavender Daze event in early July was the biggest ever with loads of complimentary reviews from customers and vendors. We will be making a few minor tweaks for next year based on feedback - including some additional parking? - but all in all it was a huge success and we will bring it again next season in much the same way. IndigoFest at the end of July was not nearly as big as Daze, but it has also grown year over year and turned out to be a beautiful, super chill day with some gorgeous late season lavender blooms on the North Hill.
Additionally, we hosted several Weddings this Summer season. We were absolutely terrified of this new venture, but we managed to pull it off with some class and all of our brides and grooms and families were happy with their events. And the pictures! Gorgeous. We hosted three small ceremonies, a couple of reception-only evenings, and two full, 250+ guests ceremony and reception events. We are very much looking forward to our 2023 Wedding season! If you are in the market for wedding venues, be sure not to miss Ms. Danielle at the Fern Hill Golf Club Bridal Show in Clinton Township, MI on January 8, the Bridal Expo at the Blue Water Convention Center in Port Huron on January 22, 2023 , and the Community House in Birmingham Wedding Event Show February 5, 2023.
So now we are in full Fall swing and nearing the end of our outdoor farm work. The dahlias, sunflowers, zinnias and mums have been fantastic throughout late Summer and Fall. So much so that we will be expanding our Photo Sessions and Date Nights through September next year, so if you missed out this past Summer, be on the lookout for registration for those plus Brunch on the Farm, Yoga and more next season!
Happy Fall and hope to see you soon at the Farm - Trish