CHURCHVILLE - Laura Beth Dawson stands on the back porch of her family's log cabin in Churchville. You can tell she's going through a million lists in her head.
When do I need to cut those flowers?
When is the next planting?
Which flowers need pinching?
"It takes a lot of organization," she said.
But, she's got it under control. She's got a system down, she's not stressed and she comes out with a great product — beautiful bouquets.
She started Tiny Fields Farm in the City of Staunton two years ago on a small plot of land off Old Greenville Road she was able to use from a friend. The inspiration came from her own flower gardens at her Staunton home. She likesgetting her hands dirty, seeing lovelyflowers and literally watching the beauty grow.
Now, she's moved out to her husband's, Sean Harvey, parent's home in Churchville. She's working on about an acre of scattered plots on the property with more than 50 different flower varieties currently. At times she has more than 100 varieties.
Her operation offers community supported agriculture shares orCSAs. It's the same way other farms dowith vegetables, instead she offers weekly bouquets.
She does the bulk of the work by herself. Her husband and other family members help out when they can. But, she's doing the weeding, the picking, the cutting, the arranging and the drop-offs.
"It's challenging, but it's fun," she said.
Dawson started getting into CSAs when she did a work-share with Malcolms Market Garden in Staunton. There she clocked hours to get a weekly share of vegetables. It inspired her to start her own CSA.
"I thought, I could try this with flowers," she said.
Her share number has grown. Last year she had 10, this year she has 25 — which includes monthly shares and full season. For $200, you can get a bouquet a week from June to September. It works out to about $13 a bouquet. Or, you can sign up for a monthly CSA, where you would get one bouquet a week for just one month for $60.
She thinks the uptick in memberships is due to the monthly option, a new thing she tried this year that's getting good reception.
This is a part-time gig, which allows her to spend time with her family.
A former teacher, Dawson stopped working at Bessie Weller Elementary when she had her two boys — Henry and Jasper. The flower farm allows her to be home with the kidsand have more quality time together.
The flowers are also something that not only brings joy to her customers, but it brings joy to her.
"I love being able to sit back and see the results," she said. "Having that feeling of 'Woah, look what I did today.'"
But it can be trying at times.
"Flowers can be finicky," she said.
Each flower has different needs. They're like little humans growing out of ground.
She uses little trick to see when they're ready for picking. Like with zinnias, she wiggles the stem. If the stem is more rigid, it's ready to be cut. She also pinches the flowers, or cuts them down after they've started to bloom to encourage more growth.
They require lots of love and attention — and not one is the same as the other.
Since she works on a smaller space, she rotates the flowers. Once one section is done and she's cut all she can, she starts over. Rips them out, re-does the field and plants a new flower in its spot. And it's all about what can thrive in the environment she's set up.
She's also pretty self-taught when it comes to bouquet arranging and planting. She recently took an online course with Floret Flower Farm out of Washington state, which gave her more information on trimming, tending and planting.
When making bouquets Dawson has to be in the right mindset too.
"I wait until I'm in a really happy place," she said.
She grabs all the buckets of cut flowers that she's placed in her homemade cooler and just starts.
"I just start putting them together," she said.
She's gotten faster now. It takes her about the same amount of time to do all 25 bouquets this year than it did to make the 10 last year.
As she walks through her rows of flowers, she knows all the names, when they should be blooming and when she'll have to cut them.
They're all on a different watering schedule as well. Some thrive without lots of water, others are on a sprinkler system. She keeps all that information stored in her head as she walks around touching each one to see how they're doing.
Tiny Fields also offers bulk flowers, like for events or weddings.For more information visit the farm's website at TinyFields.com. CSA are dropped off at Newtown Baking every Thursday from 5 to 7 p.m. or can be picked up at the farm.
More:New candy shop opens in Waynesboro
More:Big Brother UPDATE: Sam is finally catching a break
More:Woman sentenced 18 years for Craigsville stabbing
Follow Laura Peters @peterslauraand @peterpants. You can reach her atlpeters@newsleader.com or 213-9125.
