Hello and a very warm welcome to this episode. It's Friday 6 June 2025 and I'm talking to you from the plot.

I don't know where this week has gone: it's been busy. We had a whole day of rain which has been an enormous help for the plants. This happened after I manually topped up the IBCs with water from home, which was a whole big drama.

Everything on the plot is doing fine and I'm excited to see that the cornflowers are just about to burst into flower. I've been pinching out the calendulas and snaps, which is something you need to do with branching plants because it encourages lots more flowering stems.

I do hope you enjoy the episode: it's a bit shorter than normal because I'm rushing around trying to get some seedlings planted on the plot but I hope you enjoy it nevertheless.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

✅ How I manually topped up the IBCs on the plot

✅ Why I've been pinching out the branching plants

✅ How much rain we've had this week

✅ What I've been watching on the internet this week

✅ Why I'm feeling so much better about doing hand-ties for markets

🌻 Follow & Stay Connected!

If you like what you hear, please follow/subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode. If you enjoy this episode, please take a minute to leave a review – it really does help more flower lovers find the show.

Follow me on instagram @henhillcutflowers for a behind-the-scenes look at life on my cut flower plot.

Join me on my journey through a year of growing and selling cut flowers. I'm going to give you the low-down on what it's really like, how I'm getting started, what you do and don't need, what I do when and why, the successes and failures, and just about everything in between. All in real time. With guest appearances from my chickens every now and then.

Good evening. It's Tuesday 3 June 2025 and I'm talking to you from the plot.

We've had rain! Not enough by far but it's very welcome and the seedlings have really enjoyed it. The water levels in the IBCs are critically low but I'm hopeful that the rain still to come later this week will help.

Lots of updates from the plot: all of the dahlias are in and I've been making some new beds on the newly-lifted turf area and adding old waste material from the duck house which has rotted down. I'm not digging it in: it gets laid on the soil surface and will slowly amalgamate into the ground. There's a pests update with the latest news on my blackly, greenfly, slugs and pigeons.

Finally I end with an update on the latest with the hens, who are an integral part of the plot in that they fertilise my soil, sort through my compost and help to control pest numbers. I do hope you enjoy the episode and thank you for joining me on my cut flower journey.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

✅ Why it rains as soon as I buy a proper pair on sunglasses

✅ I've finally got all the dahlias planted out on the plot

✅ How I've made my new beds and added a compost mulch

✅ Who attacked Goose: the security camera reveals all

✅ Seedlings that have just gone in the ground

✅ Pests update: who is doing what and where

🌻 Follow & Stay Connected!

If you like what you hear, please follow/subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode. If you enjoy this episode, please take a minute to leave a review – it really does help more flower lovers find the show.

Follow me on instagram @henhillcutflowers for a behind-the-scenes look at life on my cut flower plot.

Join me on my journey through a year of growing and selling cut flowers. I'm going to give you the low-down on what it's really like, how I'm getting started, what you do and don't need, what I do when and why, the successes and failures, and just about everything in between. All in real time. With guest appearances from my chickens every now and then.

Hi! It's Friday 31 May 2025: welcome to today's episode!

It's the end of another busy week and (finally!) the end of May, which I'm quite pleased about. Roll on, June! News from the plot includes the hiccups getting the dahlias in the ground, a couple of zinnias damping off, cornflower staking experiments and another lack-of-water issue. I also managed to spill lots of Roundup in the back of my car which has been a pain to sort out: I'm 100% chemical free (and always have been) and was doing a favour for someone in transporting it. Big mistake! Huge! Roundup (glyphosate) is a herbicide and it's non-selective which means it kills everything it comes in contact with so I had a proper dilemma trying to work out how to sort it out.

I share more thoughts on not having anything ready to sell at the moment and I keep telling myself that it's ok. And it is ok! I always said I would grow seasonally and I need to keep reminding myself of this. I don't want to use a heated greenhouse or a polytunnel with the aim of forcing things to be ready before they naturally are. Finally, some thoughts on why my dog does not look like other growers' dogs on their instagram.

I'm so glad that you're joining me on this journey and I really hope that you enjoy this episode. Please consider taking a minute to leave a review wherever you listen to your podcasts - it really does help other people (just like you) to find the podcast.

In this episode, join me for updates on my cut flower seedlings.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

✅ Why it's taking me so long to plant my dahlias out

✅ How I'm changing my plant spacings for my successional cornflowers

✅ Dilemma: how to safely get rid of a Roundup (glyphosate) spillage

✅ Who attacked Goose: the security camera reveals all

✅ Nothing for sale? Why it's time to stop beating myself up about this

✅ Seasonal means seasonal: it will be ready when it's ready!

✅ Insta envy: why are other people's dogs so well behaved (and mine isn't)?

🌻 Follow & Stay Connected!

If you like what you hear, please follow the podcast so you never miss an episode. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review – it really does help more flower lovers find the show.

Follow me on instagram @henhillcutflowers for a behind-the-scenes look at life on my cut flower plot.

Join me on my journey through a year of growing and selling cut flowers. I'm going to give you the low-down on what it's really like, how I'm getting started, what you do and don't need, what I do when and why, the successes and failures, and just about everything in between. All in real time. With guest appearances from my chickens every now and then.