Hello and welcome spring! March brings us all the signs I’ve been waiting for, longer days, green shoots,… We have lost our beloved greenhouse in a storm, but a new one has replaced it, we have put it in a new space that has precisely turned out to be the perfect place – always learning, right? And finally, I have been able to start planting the hardy seeds… The truth is that I was a little anxious because I was late, almost a month, but finally they are tucked in the ground, and they are already catching up, so everything is going well and forward. Finally I feel that I have taken the rhythm of nature again, it is not easy. With time always changing, many things happen all at the same time and sometimes the motivation is hidden or as in lethargy. A lot of water, which has been with us for days, has made the tulips be the first flowers of the year at the farm, but the truth is that with such gray days, being able to enjoy such spectacular tulips, with such extraordinary colors and sizes, everything becomes easier.
This month’s favourites
So, this year, we give the title of favourite flower to tulips! And I’d like to explain some particularities so that you can get to know them better and appreciate them as they deserve. Tulips are flowers native to Turkey, yes yes, doesn’t it sound strange? It seems to all of us that it is the flower of Holland par excellence… well, in the Ottoman Empire tulips were considered sacred and a gift from an Austrian ambassador to Emperor Rudolph II triggered the plant to be seen as a status symbol. As today, tulips are flowers that seem exotic to us, of course a tulip chosen for its characteristics (color, shape of the petals, fragrance), we must take into account that the production is scarce and limited, only one flower comes out of a bulb, and to get a quality bulb it takes between 5 and 7 years of waiting in the production fields. However, now you can find tulips with super cheap prices, they are much younger bulbs, which are chosen for fast production. Don’t get me wrong, all flowers are beautiful and deserve the opportunity to show off, and it doesn’t matter if it’s a super special tulip, or a bunch of tulips from the supermarket.
How to make our tulips last longer
Tulips are drinking flowers and need a lot of water, make sure they have enough fresh water. Change the water day after day, or every day if you can. Cut the stems one cm so that they can absorb as much water as possible Keep them away from direct sunlight or any direct heat source. If you can, put them to sleep in the coolest place in the house, or if it doesn’t rain, even outside! There are people who put light, sugar, vodka or copper coins on them, so that they last longer, but… bleach: apart from superpollutant… It is used to kill bacteria in the water, if we change the water and the vase is clean, we do not need it. Sugar gives a lot of energy, so unless you have a dinner or something where you want your closed tulips to open right away (and then spoil sooner) better to avoid it. Vodka and copper serve as the lye. If we change the water, we don’t need anything else. Remember that tulips continue to grow once cut – they can double their height! And they will look for the light, so it is super interesting to see how they move and how they evolve.
Receipe with tulip petals
Did you know that tulip petals are edible? They have a taste similar to endives, but much milder and are spectacular served with any cream, cheese spread and smoked salmon, guacamole, beetroot hummus… Of course, they must be tulips not treated with chemicals! It is not worth eating those from florists or supermarkets. They must be grown by you or someone you trust.
Spring bouquet challenge
Let’s celebrate that spring has arrived! Do you fancy a little challenge? The next time you go for a walk in nature, take some pruning shears and a jar of water, and we will make a beautiful bouquet, with what nature offers us at all times. Surely you think that right now there is nothing to be able to make a bouquet, but nothing could be further from the truth. The color that we most associate with spring is green, a very vivid green, even acidic, with touches of yellow and perhaps white… some berries, and branches that are about to open their buds to fill with blossom or leaves. So, you will need 30 stems, from what you are finding. It seems like a lot, but really, think that to make a beautiful bouquet, we usually need 5-6 elements, so we will only need 5-6 stems of each thing. Always remember to harvest consciously, never leave a plant with nothing. I like the rule of 7, if a plant has 7 flowers, I can take two, and I continue with the next one. This way we do not leave the plant without being able to reproduce and we can enjoy them. Are you in?
And finally I wanted to share with you a reflection that I saw and that I have been forwarded several times (thank you for thinking of me!!) and that moves me a lot, no matter how many times I hear it… Flowers don’t have to last. They are not supposed to last. Their mission is to help us be present. They grow, they flourish, they fill the world with beauty and they leave. They force us to be present, to live and enjoy the moment. Otherwise, in the blink of an eye, they have left and we have not appreciated them.
How powerful is this message!! I love it!
Love, Susanna
