Hello. It's Thursday 15 May 2025 and I'm talking to you from the plot.

Exciting news that the Digger Man, Nigel, came yesterday to lift the turf on my plot and it' amazing to have more growing space. Quite a lot more, in fact: an additional 171 square metres. He did an excellent job and was a very nice man.

I had an emergency with one of my chickens just before he arrived so this is a really quick episode to update you on the turf-lifting and then I'll have more to tell you next week.

In this episode, join me for Digger Man news

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

✅ How the digger man got on

✅ The size of my new cultivatable growing area

✅ How I've broken yet another water bowser tap fitting

✅ My emergency visit to the vet on Wednesday

🌻 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.

It's Tuesday 13 May 2025: welcome to today's episode.

Beautiful sunshine but still no rain. I'm running low on water so it's a bit of a tense time. Tonight I'm on the plot talking about how I'm managing my seedlings in the hot and dry conditions. Some plants are doing fine but I really wish I had more water right now.

The digger man is booked for tomorrow and I'm very excited. Having more turf lifted will double my planting area so I can't wait but I'm slightly holding my breath until he arrives and does the work. The dahlias are outside now and doing really well. I've found some gall on one of the tubers which is disappointing but not the end of the world.

More seedlings have been planted out but now watering them is becoming a bit scary: do I have enough water to last until it rains? I also talk about an idea I've just heard on another podcast about selling single varieties of stems at local markets rather than mixed bouquets so I'm giving serious thought to doing this. It's an extremely busy time and there's alot going on. I do hope you enjoy the episode.

In this episode, join me for an update on the plot.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

✅ How the dahlias are doing

✅ Why I've just mulched my Verbena bonariensis

✅ Dahlia gall: what to do with infected plants and tubers

✅ Why you should buy good quality hosepipe fittings

✅ Thoughts on selling at my local market

✅ Digger man update

🌻 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.

It's Friday 9 May 2025 and another gorgeous evening. I've recorded this episode at home tonight, out of the wind, so the audio quality is much better than the last episode (sorry about that one).

Executive decision: the dahlias are finally moving outside this weekend! They have had enough of being inside (and I want my living room back) so they're going out to be hardened off before being planted out on the plot. I talk about the importance of data collection for my cut flowers and how I'm getting on with collecting information like the time it takes me to sow/plant out/water. I know it will be useful information when it comes to calculating stem prices and productivity later on.

I analyse what's going on with my nigella seedlings and why I don't think I'm going to grow them in 2026 (unless they sell really well). Some of my seedlings are doing brilliantly (like the cornflowers) but the nigella are not happy. There's an update on my 'lookbook' for showcasing my flowers to florists: are you doing anything similar? I'd love to know. There's a bit of a discussion about a marketing idea I have for persuading brides to ask their wedding florists for local and seasonal blooms (rather than imports) in the hope that it increases demand for British blooms.

Finally I have a bit of a rant about competition from other growers (I'm in favour), through the prism of growers who have a leg up in the setup of their business. I'm only jealous because I've been doing things the hard way. Despite my moaning, I hope that we can all lift and support each other in this crazy business and I wish everyone the very best (even if I am green with envy sometimes).

In this episode, join me for a chat about what's going on this week.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

✅ Still no rain...

✅ My seedlings are still on the inside-outside carousel

✅ Why my dahlias are finally going outside this weekend

✅ How I'm watering my sweetpeas

✅ The importance of recording time spent sowing and planting out

✅ How my flower "lookbook" is progressing

✅ Why I want to start marketing to brides

✅ Competition from fellow growers: good or bad?

✅ Clockwise or anticlockwise: which way do your climbers want to go?

🌻 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.