pledges & promises, delivered
It is hard to believe that I’m already thinking about & planning the 2021 garden.
Even though I’m as anxious as anyone to turn the page on 2020, I’m not exactly ready for the holidays either. Perhaps that is because I know it is going to look and feel so different from year’s past.
As we collectively see a new year approaching the horizon, it is becoming more obvious that we’re not in the clear yet. I’m hopeful we will get this virus under control, it is just a matter of time. But how much time? That remains to be seen.
Until then, I’m reflecting on the beauty that was a part of 2020. All of the exquisite blooms & bunches that grew in the garden and graced homes across Walla Walla and College Place.
I didn’t expect to add ‘delivery driver’ to the list of regular jobs here at the farm. But when our local farmer’s market was unable to open on time, I found myself making the rounds.
I delivered flowers to doorsteps, porches, backdoors and businesses for 19 weeks. No one week looked like the last, it was an ever-evolving route. This was a bit of a challenge for me initially because I don’t consider myself ‘spatially oriented’. That’s fancy for ‘easily lost’. But luckily they make an app for that.
I’d say by the 6th week, I had traveled down every single road within the Walla Walla city limits, along with dozens of new-to-me College Place cul-de-sacs.
Half way through the growing season, I felt so confident in my ability to navigate that I’d be able to improvise mid-route, tacking on extra errands along the way. I know that sounds a bit silly, but for the perpetually turned around, it’s kind of a big deal.
And in 2020, I’ve learned to count every win, no matter how small or insignificant they appear on the surface!
By far, the brightest spot in 2020 has been bringing fresh flowers to the community; not getting lost while doing it was just a bonus!
Nearly all my blooms are grown from seed onsite, with the vast majority being annuals. Selecting the varieties the previous winter, carefully sowing each & every tiny seed, and hovering over them for months. Then bringing them out of the greenhouse, then back in again, for several weeks before tucking them into the earth. Watching the blank slate fill in, before becoming an actual garden where it was nearly impossible to walk between rows without being tickled by leaves and stems.
I love all the parts of growing & cultivating, but harvest is its own enchanting experience. In the height of the season, I do all the cutting right as the sun is coming up as they perform so much better when cut before it’s sweltering hot. The way the early light slowly dances over the rows is magical. And knowing the flowers I was picking already had a home to go to, well that’s the special sauce.
Although harvest is the most picturesque part, I find delivering is the most rewarding. There is just something uniquely satisfying about showing up with an armful of flowers. Even when the recipient is expecting it, there is a spark of joy that cannot be replicated.
And of all years to revel in being the bringer of joy, this is it.
But the overwhelming majority of my deliveries were contactless. And I have to say, there is something equally charming in that, too.
Each porch and every stoop was as individual as the bouquet I left beside it.
No matter how humble, homes are sacred spaces. Transporting a portion of my farm to porches around town was like the ultimate invitation for this introvert.
And the fact these bouquets were available exclusively via subscription, that made the whole act of delivering even sweeter & more endearing. To pledge your money on a promise - during a pandemic no less - it is the highest form of trust.
After all, a lot can happen in a year! Being intricately dependent on the weather ups the ante even further. So every bouquet I left felt like a personal victory of honoring the pledge & delivering the promise.
And I’m eager to do it again in 2021!
