May at Hickman Hollow Farms
I always like to start off talking about how the month went, summed up into a word or a phrase. Well, May was beyond any word I can think of. There are some I can think of…chaotic…crazy…busy…nuts. None of those seem to truly describe what the month was like. So instead of a word, I will just try to explain life on the farm in May, and you can decide for yourself on the word.
Just how busy were we? The kind of busy where you fall into bed exhausted, wake up the next morning, and somehow there is even more to do than there was yesterday.
I honestly do not know where the month went.
The fields that had been patiently waiting suddenly burst into growth. Seedlings stretched upward, plants doubled in size, and flower buds seemed to appear everywhere I looked. Projects that felt far away suddenly became urgent. And before I knew it, I was looking at a calendar that somehow said June was just around the corner.
There were days when I felt completely on top of things and other days when I felt like I was running from one project to the next, just trying to keep up. Between my full-time job, family responsibilities, and everything that comes with starting a flower farm, there were moments when it all felt a little overwhelming.
But honestly, when I look back at May, what I remember most is not the exhaustion. It is the blooms.
After months of planting seeds, nurturing seedlings, digging beds, moving sprinklers all over the field, and wondering if everything would work out, the farm finally started showing us what it had been quietly working toward all this time.
And let me tell you, it was worth the wait.
The Rain Finally Came
If you read our April update, you probably remember me talking about how desperately we needed rain and the sky just wasn’t having it.
At the time, I was spending my days dragging a sprinkler from one section of the flower field to another because irrigation was not in place. Every hour, I was moving it again, trying to make sure everything received enough water to survive. It was exhausting work, especially knowing how much easier the job would have been if the weather had simply cooperated.
Well, May answered my prayers.
Around the middle of the month, the rain finally arrived. And unlike April, which seemed determined to stay dry, May decided to make up for lost time. The rain settled in and hung around for over a week straight.
Morning After the Rain
I am sure there are farmers who would tell you that a week of rain creates a whole new set of problems, and they would not be wrong. And trust me, with delicate dahlias in the ground with tubers that love to rot, I was nervous. But after what we had been dealing with, I was grateful for every single drop.
The difference in the flower field was almost immediate.
Plants that had been growing steadily suddenly exploded with growth. The snapdragons stretched taller. The zinnias seemed to double in size overnight. Flower buds appeared everywhere I looked. Every morning brought something new to discover, and I found myself making extra trips out to the field just to see what had changed.
There is something incredibly satisfying about watching our property respond to exactly what it needs.
For weeks, I had been worried about keeping things alive, and now I was just trying to keep up with everything that wanted to bloom.
Peonies That Refused to Wait
One of the biggest surprises of the month came from our peonies.
When we planted six 50-foot rows of peony roots earlier this spring, I fully expected this year to be all about patience. Every book, article, and experienced grower seemed to say the same thing. The first year is about root development. The flowers can wait.
And honestly, that made sense.
These plants are a long-term investment. They are the kind of flowers you plant for future years, not immediate gratification.
Then the buds started appearing. Before long, those tiny buds were getting bigger and bigger, and suddenly I found myself facing a decision.
Do I remove them like everyone says? Or do I let a few bloom?
Technically, I know what the right answer was supposed to be.
But I also know myself.
If you ask anyone, especially my husband, you will find that I am not a patient person. I wanted to know what they looked like. I wanted to smell them. And if I happened to need some marketing photos for future flower sales, well…that seemed like a perfectly reasonable excuse too.
So I compromised.
Almost all of the buds came off.
A few stayed. Enough for one bouquet for myself.
And I am so glad they did.
The very first bouquet I made from those blooms felt special in a way that is hard to explain. There was something incredibly rewarding about carrying flowers into the house that had come from plants we had only recently tucked into the ground.
Bowl of Cream quickly became my favorite. The blooms were huge and creamy white, with petals that seemed to go on forever. Sarah Bernhardt was equally stunning, covered in layers of soft pink petals that looked almost too perfect to be real.
And the fragrance.
My goodness.
You can take all the photos in the world, but nothing quite compares to walking past a bouquet of fresh peonies and catching that scent.
What made it even more special was that I had not expected any of it.
I went into the season thinking these plants would spend the year quietly establishing roots. Instead, they decided to give me a preview of what is to come.
Sometimes the flowers have plans of their own.
Lilies and Their Tiny Tenants
Our lily patch also made quite an impression this month.
When the first blooms started opening, I found myself stopping every time I walked by. Is it just me or do lilies feel a bit dramatic, but of course, in the best possible way? One day they are tightly closed buds, and then suddenly they open into these enormous, colorful blooms that seem impossible to ignore.
As beautiful as they were, they also taught me a few lessons.
Looking back, I definitely planted them too far apart. At the time, it seemed like they were close together yet still far apart enough to give space for airflow and growth, but once they started blooming, I realized the display would have been much more impressive if they had been planted closer together. That's one of the funny things about farming. You can spend hours planning something, only to realize later that the flowers had a different opinion.
Because of that, I already have plans for the fall. I want to move the lily patch to a new location and increase the planting density quite a bit. These flowers are stunning, but their bloom window is relatively short compared to some of our other crops, so I want them tucked into an area where they can shine without taking up prime real estate for too long.
The flowers weren't the only ones enjoying the lilies, either.
Apparently, a blooming lily makes the perfect nap spot for tiny frogs.
Several times throughout the month, I found these sweet little frogs tucked deep inside the blooms, completely content and completely unbothered by my presence. One would be nestled into the petals like it had rented the place for the season. Another would peek out just enough to see what I was doing before settling back down.
One of my favorite things about flower farming has always been the wildlife. The flowers are wonderful, of course, but the birds, bees, butterflies, frogs, and countless other creatures that share this space with us make the farm feel alive in a way flowers alone never could.
Dahlia Season Is Almost Here
If the peonies were the surprise of the month, then the dahlias were the promise of what is still to come.
After spending several days planting over a thousand tubers back in March, I have been eagerly waiting for them to wake up and start showing off. May was the month they finally started making their appearance.
Not all of them are blooming yet, but enough have started that I can finally see the vision beginning to come together.
Salmon Runner and Sweet Nathalie were among the first to bloom, and I have been cutting bouquets for myself while I wait for the rest of the field to catch up. There is something special about carrying a bouquet into the house knowing that in a few weeks, those same flowers will be blooming across the entire field.
The rain brought both excitement and anxiety when it came to the dahlias.
On one hand, they absolutely needed the water. On the other hand, dahlias can be a little particular. They like moisture, but they also like a chance to dry out between rain events. After nearly a week of steady rain, I found myself walking the rows and checking plants more often than I probably needed to.
I had visions of tubers rotting underground before they ever had a chance to bloom.
Thankfully, most seem to be doing just fine.
There are a few plants I am watching closely, but considering the number we planted this year, losing a handful would not be the end of the world. Every season comes with a few casualties, and I am learning that part of farming is accepting that perfection is never the goal.
Progress is.
And from where I am standing, these dahlias are making plenty of progress.
Everything Started Blooming
It is amazing what a little rain can do. Actually, scratch that. It is amazing what a lot of rain can do.
The rain arrived, temperatures warmed, and suddenly every corner of the farm seemed determined to bloom at the same time.
The snapdragons started producing armloads of stems. The zinnias multiplied so quickly that it felt impossible to keep track of them all. By the end of the month, we were even seeing the first blush of gladiolus color appearing in the field.
Every morning felt like a treasure hunt.
I would walk the rows with a cup of coffee and find something new. A flower that had opened overnight. A variety blooming for the first time. A section of the field that had completely transformed since the day before.
After spending months planting seeds, transplanting seedlings, and wondering if everything would actually work, these moments felt incredibly rewarding.
Not because the work was finished.
Far from it.
But because I could finally see that the work was working.
The farm was beginning to look the way I had imagined it would. And that was a pretty amazing feeling.
The Tractor Incident
No farm update would be complete without at least one story that makes me laugh now but definitely wasn't funny at the time.
This month's story belongs to the tractor.
While Jamie was out bush hogging one of the fields, the tractor lost a wheel.
Not a flat tire.
Not a slow leak.
The entire wheel just decided it no longer wanted to be part of the tractor and exited the situation completely.
As you can imagine, that brought things to a rather abrupt stop.
Jamie ended up using the front loader bucket to help lift the tractor while he figured out what happened and how to fix it. Unfortunately, getting the parts and repairs completed took longer than we hoped, which left us without a working tractor through the entire month of May.
That might not sound like a big deal until you realize just how many farm projects depend on that machine.
Bush hogging stopped.
Moving dirt became a wheelbarrow activity again.
The grass continued growing as if it had received no notice of our equipment troubles.
And I am fairly certain the weeds viewed the entire situation as a personal victory.
Thankfully, everything is back up and running now (first week of June), but it was a good reminder that on a farm, even the best plans can be interrupted by something completely unexpected.
Usually at the most inconvenient time possible.
Getting Ready for the First U-Pick
As May came to a close, one thing became increasingly clear.
The flower field was almost ready.
Through the cold days of winter, the uncertainty of spring, the drought in April, and the explosion of growth in May, everything has been building toward the same goal…sharing it.
By the end of the month, I found myself walking through the flower field and mentally planning what our first U-Pick experience would look like. Where people would park. Which rows would be ready for picking. What still needed to be cleaned up. What signs still needed to be made. What projects absolutely had to be finished before visitors arrived.
And let me tell you, that list seemed to get longer every time I looked at it.
For months, I have been waiting for there to be enough flowers. Waiting for the field to look the way I imagined it would. Then suddenly, almost without warning, it happened. The flowers arrived. The field began filling with color. And with that came a completely different feeling.
Excitement. But also a little nervousness.
What if people don't like it?
What if nobody loves flowers as much as I do?
What if they walk through the field and only see the weeds I haven't pulled yet?
I know those thoughts probably sound silly to some, but when you spend months building something, it can feel surprisingly vulnerable to finally invite people into it.
Thankfully, mixed in with all of those nerves is a tremendous amount of gratitude.
Because the truth is, this is exactly what we have been working toward. And for the first time, welcoming visitors no longer feels like some distant future goal. It feels close enough to touch.
Of course, getting ready for that next chapter meant we needed a little help.
And help has arrived! This month, we welcomed Landin to the farm as our first part-time farm hand, and his timing could not have been better. Between my full-time job, family responsibilities, and the endless list of farm projects, we had reached the point where we simply could not do everything ourselves. And to be perfectly honest, with both Jamie and I, a member of the over 50 club, my back could use all the help I can get.
Landin has already been a tremendous help around the farm, and we are excited to have him as part of the Hickman Hollow Farms family. Now, if I can find a way to make him smile while standing in a flower field, that will be something else, won’t it?
Something tells me June is going to keep all of us very busy.
A Graduation and a Glimpse of the Future
May also marked a huge milestone for our family.
Our daughter Saige graduated from high school.
Back in January, I wrote about her turning eighteen and how emotional that milestone felt. Somehow, just a few months later, we were celebrating graduation.
I am not entirely sure how time moves so quickly.
We are incredibly proud of the young woman she has become. She is kind, hardworking, faithful, and ready for whatever comes next. Watching her reach this milestone brought the same mix of pride, excitement, and nostalgia that I imagine every parent feels.
To celebrate, we hosted her graduation party right here on the farm.
Saige and her best friend Madden decided to have a joint graduation celebration, which meant bringing together two families, two friend groups, and what felt like a small town's worth of people.
By my count, somewhere around 150 people joined us throughout the day.
Cars filled the main parking area. Then they spilled into the orchard pasture. The barn buzzed with conversation, laughter, and celebration. There was food everywhere, floral cupcakes that I am still thinking about weeks later, and enough decorations to make the whole place feel festive.
But the moment I will remember most happened when I stepped away from the crowd for a minute and walked out into the flower field.
Standing there, I looked back toward the barn and watched people gathering, talking, laughing, and making memories on this property.
And it hit me.
This is finally happening.
For years, I have imagined this place hosting events, bringing people together, and creating experiences that families would remember.
For the first time, I wasn't imagining it.
I was standing in the middle of it.
That moment made every late night, every long weekend, and every challenge feel worth it.
Looking Ahead to June
As May comes to a close, I find myself feeling incredibly grateful.
Grateful for the rain that finally arrived.
Grateful for the flowers that are beginning to bloom.
Grateful for the lessons we continue learning along the way.
And grateful for the people who continue following along on this journey with us.
June feels like it will be a turning point.
The gladiolus are beginning to open. The dahlias are preparing for their moment. The flower field is fuller than it has ever been.
And in just a few short days, we will welcome our very first visitors for First Bloom.
For months we have been planting seeds, building beds, solving problems, and dreaming about what this place could become. Now we finally get to share it.
And I cannot wait to see you here.
