I have a little update from the center of our garden…we have a pavilion! This has been a dream of mine for a few years now, and I am so excited to have it nearly ready for the growing season. It is placed in the center of our garden where there is almost no shade (great for plants, but rough for gardeners), so this will be such a welcome reprieve from the heat of harvesting and weeding this year. We also have plans to add a washing station and counter along one edge, providing the perfect place to rinse veggies, wash flower buckets and more. My tagalongs (Walter age 7 and Everett age 5) will especially love a place to cool down this year!
Jones Valley Flowers has a logo! My sweet husband gifted me with a little hand-written “coupon” this year for Christmas, which I could redeem for a logo/brand creation. He has always known the way to my heart. I am so excited to have these images and color schemes to enrich the content I send to all of you, and also provide a recognizable brand for bouquet sales and popups. Jones Valley Flowers may not have anything to do with cows directly, but the moment I saw this little cow face paired with wispy stems I never looked back. Cows have always been a part of my life, as well as a staple in the landscape of the valley. Plus they are usually munching nearby when I harvest, so this logo felt perfect. Check out the look below :)
Most all of my seeds for the very early spring planting (which is next week!) have been started, and pictured above you'll see the first trays that I moved out to “harden off.” This is the process in which the little seedlings adjust to the great outdoors. Shockingly, there is no wind, direct sunlight, or drops in temperature in my dining room, so these little guys benefit from adjusting gradually to the elements. They will be on my back patio for 1-2 weeks before I plant them out into the field. Then they will have to face the world on their own!
Winter. It is a time of cold, of wet, of darkness, of dormancy. For many it is a time of depression, the "winter blues" or seasonal affective disorder. But whether it is winter outside our window or not, we all experience times of darkness. Times when we can't see when life and light will expand again, or if it even will. I have fallen in love with a song by Samantha Ebert called Flowers. The lyrics word a prayer asking why the Lord could keep her in a place of pain, when it seems to just keep raining. “Then He said to me, Child I'm planting seeds. I'm a good God and I have a good plan so trust that I'm holding the watering can, and someday you'll see that flowers grow in the valley.”
If you are in a valley, give this song a listen, then open His Word and experience His reassurance and His plan. For He is a good, good God.
A Winter Prayer
by Andrea G. Burke, A Bit of Earth - A Year in the Garden with God
You command winter to quiet the earth (Job 37:6).
Help me to rest in the dormancy and stillness (Psalm 46:10),
and to so deeply root myself in you
so that I will yield fruit at the right time,
in the right season (Psalm 1:3).
I hope that this email has given you a glimpse of hope, beauty, and God's goodness for you to hold on to through these short, dark, wet winter days. Spring will come my friends, and I for one am so thankful for that assurance! I would love to hear from you, please reach out anytime. As always, I'm so grateful for your support and am thankful we can enjoy a life made more beautiful by flowers.
Garth Road
