FEARLESS Flower Farming ( plans, goals and dreams 2017 )

And the day came when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom. Elizabeth Appell

Happy New Year, friends! Are you one of those people who chooses a word that inspires you at the start of every new year?  A word that will help you stay true to your path? I love the anticipation of claiming a word that motivates me to get moving in the directions of my dreams, even if it means not playing it safe. I don't mean diving in with reckless abandon and ignoring important priorities in life for the sake of success alone. I'm talking about puzzling your way through how to bring your plans, goals and dreams into fruition and plowing through the fear one small step at a time.

I often think we make things much harder than they need to be so we sit on ideas much to long before taking action in exchange for waiting for the perfect time to start something new or finish something old. I have been guilty of this, but heck, I'm 55 now and I don't have that kinda time anymore. That's why I chose the word FEARLESS for my touchstone word for 2017 and I meant to hold myself accountable. Here's how I'm gonna do it. Every time I have an idea I'm going to write it down, then I'm going to puzzle out how I can make it happen with pen and paper right then and there instead of waiting an thinking, and thinking and waiting. I'll make a short list of steps I can take to get the ball rolling. I'm a firm believer that we all have the power to work in unison with the universe to manifest whatever it is we desire in life but it takes practice and practical application to get results. We must be dedicated, passionate, AND FEARLESS!

Here are a few things I plan to be 100% fearless about in 2017.

First of all, I'm going to continue to listen to my flowers. You read that right. I LISTEN to my flowers. When I trust the direction they take me in I always feel as if I'm being true to my path even if it's scary because I'm trying something for the first time. There's a bit of thrill in throwing yourself into the unknown which I admit I kind of like sometimes.
 

 WRITING~ I'll let you in on a little secret. I'm writing a book about my backyard flower farm.  I've queried (and been politely rejected) by some of the top book publishers in sustainable farming and gardening genre's. It's frustrating to be rejected over and over especially when you believe you have something you want to share and you know others will benefit from it.  So I'm just gonna self-publish the darned thing because I believe in it that much. So, my first " Fearless Flower Farming act will be to take action on completing and publishing my first book.
I'll share how I started farming my backyard in 2012 with lots of nitty-gritty info to get you started on your way to an ever expanding cutting garden for your own personal enjoyment and steer you into small scale backyard flower farming for profit. My hope is that you'll find it to be an inspirational,  useful guide in your gardening endeavors for years to come. What  topics would be of specific interest to you?

DESIGNING~Make that two little secrets. I've had the urge to dabble in painting my flowers for some years now, but just hadn't gotten around to buckling down and making it happen. I've always thought it would be neat to design products for home and garden use. The world is your oyster when it comes to mediums for creating art and how you blend them to make it your own. I've discovered a fun way to paint flowers like I've always wanted to.

This is one of my all time favorite images of an arrangement I made one afternoon while just playing around with different vases and flowers. In this image I was experimenting with using a vintage glass flower frogs for stabilizing flowers with shorter stems.

And the finished acrylic painting of the same image below. I can't tell you how gratifying it was to get that out of my system! Now I'm ready for the next one and the next one after that! I can see this on the cover of garden journals, paper goods, fabric, scarves, stationary, note cards. Some of my facebook friends suggested tote bags and bed linens too!



TEACHING~ For me, the growing part of flower farming is easy. I love to be outside amongst the flowers wearing God knows what, no makeup, sweating up a storm without a care in the world. I'm happiest that way, but there's a part of me that longs for sharing what I've learned and helping others achieve their dreams too. No more hiding behind the flowers! No more waiting for the perfect place or time.This is the year I'll really start my workshop series. Plans are in the works for a series of workshops here on the farm in my newly constructed studio. I'll be recruiting some local flower farmers and floral designers to co-host with me. Interested in collaborating?  Drop me an email!
debbiejbosworth@gmail.com

Backyard Flower Farming 101, Dahlia Days, Mums and Me Workshop, and one or two more if I can squeeze them in. ( fingers crossed it's up and ready by the first of June). If not, we'll put up an Easy-up tent and do it anyway! I'll keep you posted on dates and times.

GROWING~
Naturally I'll be trying new varieties of cut flowers this coming season and I'm anxious to share my planting list with you in my next post!
 
In the meantime, go out there and be fearless in the pursuit of your dreams!
Put down some roots and BLOOM! 
Love,
Deb

Thank You Sarah Hudock!

 One of the biggest joys about writing for MaryJanesFarm Magazine are the amazingly kind and talented artisans I get to meet through my YET ANOTHER Girl Genius features. Melissa Caughey ( creator of  the well known Tilly's Nest blog AND future Girl Genius) introduced me to the beautiful and funny world of Miss Sarah Hudock and the rest as they say is chickory. 

I feel so blessed to be able to share such inspiring and talented ARTISANS with the world. It's a good feeling to shine the light on others! 

So, thank you, Melissa and Sarah for being such a special part of my flock. 

And a big ole hug to Sarah for sending me and the Dandelion House "Girls " one of her Chicken Art Tin Signs for the coop! It's beautiful! We luvs it!  

MaryJanesFarm can be purchased at all book stores and some Tractor Supply stores and you can also subscribe here! 

Do you know a farmgirl who you think would make a great Girl Genius feature? 

Send me an email and tell me who!

About Me, About You~ Write your own ABOUT page!

After three years of blogging it recently occurred to me that I ought to create an "ABOUT" page for my blog. And now that I have I know why I have avoided it for so long!
 It's not that easy to write a page about yourself is it?  You don't want to appear too braggy, too silly,  too stuffy, or too flaky. And if you're blog is about many things, how do you fit it all in without sounding, scattered, unfocused, and disorganized?

Like all good writing being concise is key. So I took that to heart when I created my own About page.
Here are the simple guidelines I followed.

PERSONAL PHOTO: Find a photo you love of yourself. One you'll feel good about putting out there for the world to see! My husband took this one of me last fall at a local farm. I felt might happy leanin' on that old tractor tire and flashing my pearly whites at the camera for him! Write a simple paragraph stating what your blog is about and include links to all pages in your blog that support  your key topics and your blogging passions.

DEDICATE YOUR BLOG: As I was in the process of writing my about page it occurred to me that I would not be ME if it weren't for my sweet hubby and the family we have made together.

ARE YOU PUBLISHED? It's okay to fluff your feathers here a little. Provide information and links to the places where you are published.

BLOG HOPS AND LINKY PARTIES: List any special features and hops and parties you host or participate in on a weekly basis and invite folks to join in!

SPONSORS: Write a brief paragraph about who you would like to attract as sponsors for your blog and prices.

THANK YOU:  Thank your readers for visiting your blog. Without our blogging friends, blogging wouldn't be half the fun!

  I don't have all the answers, but the best advice I can give you is to just be yourself!  I'm  pretty happy with my little ol' ABOUT page but I'd love for you to give it a once over and tell me if I left out anything important!

Whew, I'm glad that's over! Enough about me!

Write On, Mama's Anthology

Why do you write? When I first started blogging I didn't fancy myself a writer but as time goes on I think more like a writer every day. Words, phrases and topics from the heart jump out at me from everywhere begging to be expressed in a piece of writing. As a budding writer I believe I could really benefit from a local writers group. We all need encouragement and feed back as we tap, tap, tap, our way towards the finish line to that first published article, book, blog post, children's book, novel, or Anthology of our dreams!

My cousin, Teri is part of just such a writers group called the Write On, Mama's in Northern California. Before becoming a stay at home mom she worked in Marketing for Ghirradelli Square in San Francisco. It wasn't long before she met and married her dream man and moved to the suburbs of beautiful Napa Valley, California. After many losses, some deep soul searching, and a few miracles they finally became parents. These days she's a busy mother of three ( one boy and twin girls all under the age of 6 ). In between drop- offs and pick- ups to preschool, play dates and bedtime she squeezes in time to write.
Teri, along with the other members of the group have co-written an Anthology and are in the process of raising funds to help with publishing, editing and gaining their 501 ( c ) 3 status in the future. Teri shares her story of how motherhood finally came to them in hopes of inspiring other moms ( and dads ) who pray and wait for babies of their own.

  I'm so inspired by their project and the idea of forming a writing group of my own I just had to share this with you!

 Write on, Mamas! kicked off a fundraising campaign on October 9th to help us raise the resources to seek outside editing guidance and to publish and market this book.  We have an ambitious, but attainable goal to raise $15,000 by or before November 13th! Please consider supporting us and Write on, Mamas! in this effort by visiting our campaign page at www.indiegogo.com/write-on-mamas.  Once there, you can view an awesome video about our project as well as more information about what a donation from you can do to help us out. You can also view the results of our funding campaign in real time on the web page. It doesn't matter how much you donate, every single donation counts.  Consider giving at whatever level is meaningful to you and you will be sustaining a vital and vibrant part of our literary community, not to mention making us one happy group of moms! I hope I can count on your support.  As a token of our gratitude, you will receive special thank you gifts that are also detailed on our Indiegogo web page in the "Perks." 

Thank you for checking out our campaign and making a donation if you are interested!  
Teri Stevens ~ Marketing

 Their fundraiser ends Wednesday November 13th!



Who knows? Maybe you'll put the pen to paper and start a writing group of your own too!