Life the way it used to be….. Preserving history and honoring tradition by working a sustainable farm, producing handmade products, and educating the public on the value of self-sufficiency, craftsmanship, and a strong sense of community. Located on three acres in the northwest corner of the historic village of Mooresville, AL (pop. 58), 1818 Farms is named for the year Mooresville was incorporated, one year before Alabama became a state. The happy animal residents on our little farm include Babydoll Southdown sheep, hens, mini pigs, and Great Pyrenees dogs. In an adjacent field, over 10,000 flowers show off their best colors and blooms, bringing beauty today and providing seeds for future seasons. In 2017, we began our "Seed to Vase" initiative with the goal of educating others on ways to identify, grow, harvest and arrange seasonally grown flowers. Through our Seed to Vase initiative, we are sharing our gardening knowledge, as well as the beautiful flowers growing on our farm.
This is very helpful, thank you! Just curious though - that first ‘shoot’ to come out is the actual shoot, not the root, isn’t it? I would have thought that’s the bit that will grow up to the light, not down into the soil?
Your videos are so helpful. Thank you. You mentioned in another video that you dry zinnias. Is the ideal time to harvest them for drying the same as for harvesting them to use fresh?
Hi!! I’m so envious of your harvest!! I had a hell of a time sprouting my lufa seeds and determined the only way they’d sprout is soak the seeds for 24 hours then split the seed like you’d open a sunflower seed… now mine are flowering but I’m getting a lot of blooms drop off.. is that normal?!
I posted a video on how to raise germination rates on hard to start seeds. You should watch it. We get almost 100% germination rate for luffas using this method. It works on butterfly pea seeds which are so hard to start.
I peeled my first luffa today! I picked it a bit sooner than your dry brown one and the peel slipped right off! Now its drying in the sun! I had seen a video saying to pick before its dried and it peels much easier and that was the case for me! It was after the yellow color but before super dry.
@@Blue_Azure101 for personal use that is a great idea! If you are selling wholesale/retail directly to customers we can’t send the ones with broken necks.
I just found your videos after seeing your article in Southern Living magazine. I absolutely love your clear teaching and demonstrations in the field. You mentioned in this video that you direct sow many of your seeds. What do you do about rolly pollies or other bugs that like to eat new sprouts???
Thank you so much for this video! This is my first year growing these and I harvested the first two WAY to early. Should i let them sit or cut them open and then let them dry? Can you save the wet seeds as well?
Hello, what a amazing instructional video, thank you so much!! Can I adk what fo you use or can I use in the vase water to keep the zinnias a little longer. Thank you again
I am curious to know what you gave her for . Also how on earth did you ever get her in that chair? I own 4 sheep and I need to trim their hoofs . I also own goats so I do know how to trim their hoofs .
Are they planted in full sun? This shouldn’t be a problem if they are receiving the correct around of sunlight. You can also pinch them to cut down on the leggings. I have another video on pinching.
Great information. I've planted a long row of branching sunflowers, Soraya, Sonja, Ring of Fire. So we'll see how they do. I notice the plastic mesh you have. What does that do for you? I'm familiar with doing wire mesh to support fresias, but I haven't seen it on sunflowers before. best of luck !
It is called hortonova netting. It keeps the flowers from falling over when they get top heavy. I have another video about it. Couldn’t live without the netting
That looks like a hard way to skin/peel. You actually can get those seeds out of the yellow one. I run my thumb under between sponge & skin. In my opinion you did it both types the hard way. I’ll try to make a video showing how I do it. Not being ugly only trying to say there is a more easy way.
Thanks for the tip. Because we sale the seeds as a crop, we like for the luffas to be as dry as possible. We don’t have as many viable seeds when they are peeled yellow.
I water when the ground is really dry and the plants look droopy. I spray with fish emulsion when they are first growing. Don’t fertilize at all after they are climbing well.
I've learned after the first year with my flower farm that I can't live without the netting! Even makes the snap dragons grow straight, or else I could never sell them. This year I replenished some of my ratty netting with green. I think it will blend in with the flower better and be nicer for pictures.
I planted a couple of sunflowers last year. Very tall with very big heads. The squirrels bit off the heads and ate all the seeds. I have all sorts of varieties this year but am afraid the squirrels will get them again. What can I do to protect my sunflowers?
Ive done the pinching method on other types of flower for many years , tough but needs to be done. I hadnt really done it on zinnias though and will this season., thanks.
