2024: A Year in Review

I had been looking for a new property for a long time (over a year) and hadn't yet found anything that matched what we needed for both our family and the farm. We knew we wanted to move though but our timeline was to seriously look again in Winter of 2024. Well, that didn’t happen.

In January 2024, I randomly found a house on Airbnb and decided on a whim to cold email the owners and see if maybe they were interested in selling. To our surprise, they were. We met with them that month, details, prices etc… and we catapulted into an unexpected season of listing our house, selling, and moving all before planting time.

February - May was an absolute whirlwind of stress. Cleaning, painting the entire house, staging and then getting it on the market quickly while continuing to do the the farm work (oh and kids) was a challenge. Our timeline was tight because we had to close before a certain time AND we had to sell our house as well.

April was also tuber shipping month and we were still showing the house at that point. There were several points where I had to pack away ALL the shipping set up in our garage so we could show the house again… and then unpack it all after. That same month, my little nephew was born with severe limb differences which added another layer of emotional and mental pull. He is happy and healthy but life will still be harder for him and being there for him and his parents as he grows is so important to our whole family. Someday (with his parents permission) I will talk about it a little more: I already know that when I’m ready to release dahlias in the future, some will be named and donated to him.

My husband was also unavoidably gone for his work half of April, and he got back the day before the dahlia cutting pick up. A lifeline at that point was a dahlia friend with high attention to detail, who came over and flat out insisted on helping me pack and ship dahlias.

I had committed to dahlia cuttings back in December, when moving in spring was the furthest thing from my mind. And moving definitely threw a wrench in the plan of how many I could do. Thankfully most people understood when I had to trim down their orders, but I won’t lie… I still feel burnt out from those months of managing live plants, staging and showing a home. It’s a big reason why I’m giving myself a break this year from pre-ordered cuttings. I actually really love taking cuttings: I find it therapeutic on several levels and I didn’t like that my brain was starting to associate it with stress. So I’m giving myself permission to just do it for myself this year and find that peaceful enjoyment again. And I’m actually excited about it: I have over 4 dozen oversea varieties that I’m just really excited about propagating out for my field.

We got access to our new farm on my birthday in late May… the best gift I could ask for! I packed the house, and handled moving all the plants, and my daughter and husband basically moved the entire house over. We officially closed on June 1st, and it was full scale ahead in planting dahlias. At that point, I didn’t even care when the house got unpacked, I just wanted those dahlias planted. By the end of June (over a month later than normal), they were all planted and growing well.

July - December: A whirlwind. We had moved, we were settled but all the work of getting our farm infrastructure to where it needed to be was in full swing. My husband and daughter took on the cooler project… the highest priority as I use it for dahlia storage. Normally I sell cut flowers, I cut all those out this year and it was definitely a necessary decision. There was just NO time for it. The days were long and SO busy, but beautiful. We basically stayed home but we also didn’t mind. Frost came at the end of October and we spent November digging up the field. Despite being planted late, the plants performed amazingly well: another gift. December has been getting a high tunnel built, the field prepped and planned for next year. And dividing tubers. 

This whole year has been a lesson in priorities for me. Pulling back on certain things, focusing in more on others. Drowning out the noise of the things that were lesser priorities. Choosing time with my kids and family. Learning even more when to say no, and when to say yes.

Overall, I can say truthfully that all the stress and work of moving to this farm was worth it. And that I also never want to do it again. But every day I wake up grateful… I can feel in my bones that this is where we’re meant to be and raise our family and build our life. When I step back and look at the journey it took to get even to this point, there are parts that I can barely believe. Grateful also for each one of you who have chosen to follow along and have supported our family farm.

 

Excited for 2025 and all the life and beauty that will come with it!

With love,

Galena