Oh Baby, 2022!
You may have seen our social media post yesterday about us “seeing a lot more pink this Valentine’s Day”, announcing our 3rd child, a baby GIRL, is on the way!
(In case you didn’t see the post, scroll down to the bottom of this page - we linked it there.)
THE Announcement
Well, the secrets out, I’m 21 weeks pregnant and we are anxiously awaiting a baby girl to arrive around June 23, 2022. I know it came as a shock to many of our friends and family, but honestly, we’ve wanted more kids ever since we got married and the icing on the cake is this time it’s a girl.
For those that don’t know our family well, a bit of the backstory… We already have two kids, both boys, ages 3 and 5. You can view our family here. We were married 5+ years before having our first and struggled with infertility. We’d seen specialists, had a few procedures done and endured a miscarriage before finally carrying Henry, our eldest, to term. So getting pregnant and carrying to term has always been a scary but cherished thing! Since then parenthood has taught us a thing or two but I couldn’t (and wouldn’t want to) picture life any differently.
We didn’t tell the boys a baby was on the way until Christmas morning and let them unwrap a box with a few baby items and new brother T-shirts. They are excited and curious to say the least! We announced the pregnancy to our family and closest friends on Christmas also with a subtle photo of the boys wearing their promoted to “big” and “biggest'“ brother shirts (photo below). And we finally decided we should share the news on social media with our extended family and friends (and you), once we learned the baby’s sex last week.
We are blessed beyond measure and excited for another child, and a looking forward to a “different” experience in raising a daughter! If you’ve got advice, leave it below - we only know boys and I’ve been warned more than once. I’m not thrilled to have a growing belly or about the pregnancy and birthing effects on my body but the end result will outweigh all that pain I’m sure.
What this means
Now, more to the point, you’re probably wondering and maybe making a few assumptions already on how and what this means for the flowers and the farm. Things will be a little different this summer but business will go on with a few changes and hopefully a few improvements also.
Since I (Sarah) am the primary planter, grower, harvester, designer, and marketer of the flowers, and this baby has to come out, we will be taking a short “vacation” from the farm and flowers in mid/late June if the plan holds - it may be sooner or later but that’s not entirely up to me. There will be at least a week or two with no deliveries, no markets or stands but with the help of the rest of the team, we will resume as fast as we can!
Also, you may see a prego belly in its full glory with deliveries and farm visits before mid-June, but it’s still me. You may also see extra help from the hubs and supporting staff in market setup or tear-down, deliveries, planting or harvesting. And you will definitely get a chance to meet her (and our other kids) this summer and fall!
We are also focusing our efforts more in the spring and fall this season, which was kind of always the plan but emphasized a bit more due to the June/July baby timeline. We planted hundreds of specialty tulips, fancy daffodils, ranunculus and anemones for spring harvest. I’m hoping that maybe by Easter we might have the first small harvest this year, months before we really have had anything the last couple of years! Come late summer and autumn, we have hundreds of lisianthus, dahlias, sunflowers, and specialty zinnias planned. Extending our season and expanding our holiday offerings and farm events!
Finally, I’m hoping this child also means extra help on the farm and florist tasks (I might have to wait 10 years, give or take a few, before that happens but I’m excited for what it could mean for the future of this farm and business)!
What it doesn’t mean
Quality will still be #1! We’ve narrowed down our grow list a bit this year to focus on those flowers that grow and sell best, but expanded them also with colors, shapes and forms at the same time - polishing our products to be able to bring superior fresh, local, seasonal florals.
There won’t be any “throttling back” on the business and farming venture. Maturity leave means more time, not less right?! As you may know, Pine & Posey is a “side-hustle” to us currently; I work full-time as a marketing/web specialist at Purdue University and juggle my responsibilities there, at home being a mom and wife, and flower farming. So having the summer “off” from Purdue might actually help free my mind if nothing else.
We haven’t lost focus or vision on local, sustainable, fresh, seasonal flowers and trees. And we hope you’ll enjoy this season just as much or more than the last couple!
An exciting season to come
Consider subscribing to our Monthly Joy Club to receive something from the farm delivered to your doorstep 10 months this year! Starting in March with a houseplant; spring daffodils, tulips, ranunculus, and anemones bouquets in April, May and June; summer sunflowers, lisianthus, and dahlias in July, August and September; pumpkins in October; an evergreen holiday wreath in November; and a Christmas arrangement in December!
Or come by the farm and pick up bouquets with our Season Pass. A Pass is a $75 value and good for 5 bouquets from May 1-September 30. The best part of the Season Pass is the farm visit and getting to know us better, plus it’s the best savings we have on bouquets.
We plan to host more events at the farm this season too! We’ll have a couple of weekends early (in May) we’ll be open with cut-flower starts, patio planters and early bouquets. We plan to host a couple of Bouquet Bars this summer which are a good way to visit us and create your own bouquets. Make it a girls’ night, mother/daughter thing before grabbing dinner or create a bouquet to gift to someone special - whatever the reason it’s a perfect casual way to have fun. By early October, as the cooler temps set in and fall is knocking, we will have our Fall Finale at the farm, and this year we’ve got pumpkins! Keep an eye on our Events page and Facebook Events to stay up to date on happenings this season.
We’re offering a few new products this season also. You may have already seen our Valentine Succulents and we’ve got more coming with succulents (stay tuned). We’ve also expanded our vase arrangements, making it easier to order online and include a message. This season our cut-flower planters will be back but we’ll also have 6-pack cut-flower starts for you to transplant in your own gardens. Markets will include 2 sizes of bouquets and a wide variety of straight bunches, giving you more flexibility on spending and desire. We’ll have Mother’s Day bouquets, maybe a few Easter daffodils, and Thanksgiving and Christmas arrangements. And did I mention PUMPKINS, yes specialty pumpkins for fall decor and fun!
And as always, we’ll be vendors at the Kokomo Downtown Farmers Market this season. We plan to be at about 10 markets in total (look for a future post on dates soon). And you can shop our products at The Radish Market & Cafe throughout the week and Saturdays downtown.
We hope to see you this season and can’t wait to introduce you to our newest girl, once she arrives!