An Acre Plus

Introduction: A story in three parts ...

The story of An Acre Plus has three parts.  All three facets are interwoven and grow together like the clematis, Jack-in-the-Pulpits and azalea that frame the entrance to my small farmhouse.  The first topic is personal -- how I compose my daily life as an artisan-farmer. I give you six months of images, verbal and visual snapshots, of my New England flower farm.  I describe my small plot: its sights, sounds, and smells during a growing season.

My piece of land is about an acre.  There are three buildings on the property.  The main house is old but not distinguished.  The barn, three separate areas connected under a cluster of roofs, contains a workshop, a garden shed, and a renovated section I use to pot up seedlings in the spring and to arrange party and wedding flowers during the summer.  The third building, a small woodshed formerly used as a chicken coop, was so overgrown with bittersweet the listing Realtor didn’t even know it existed!

A friend tilled the first garden bed on the east side of the main house.  Feeling guilty, I watched as his rototiller bumped over stones just below the surface of the lawn.  In a short time, the bed was ready and the rototiller no worse for the work.  In March, I panted seeds of morning glory and sweet pea.  I noted in my garden journal that the day’s forecast called for six inches of snow.  At the end of April, I planted potatoes and tomatoes.  The weather remained cold.  Frost occurred on May 7 and May 9.  On June 15, I recorded one bloom on the sweet pea vine.  That same week, nasturtium seedlings appeared among the weeds.  By July, ten flower varieties were in bloom.  I cut six bouquets for clients one Friday -- the high count of the season.