Little Flowers of the Mountain

09/01/2026

Bonjour Septembre!!!
Welcome.
❤️🧡❤️🧡❤️🧡

08/28/2026

Back to Basics. I like it.

A growing movement of young and first-generation farmers is intentionally stepping back in time, swapping high-tech diesel tractors for the rhythmic power of draft horses. This shift is primarily driven by economic survival, as the astronomical costs of modern agricultural machinery frequently trap new growers in a cycle of crushing debt. By choosing horsepower over horsepower-ratings, these agrarian entrepreneurs bypass heavy bank loans and high fuel costs. Instead, they secure immediate financial sovereignty and establish a resilient, self-sufficient homesteading model.

Beyond the financial relief, integrating draft animals offers profound ecological advantages that modern machinery simply cannot replicate. Heavy tractors exert immense pressure on fields, causing severe soil compaction that suffocates root systems and destroys vital soil structure. In contrast, horses move gently across the landscape, preserving the soil’s natural porosity while simultaneously providing natural fertility. This synergistic relationship turns the farm into a closed-loop system, where the live power source is fueled by the very hay the land produces (the horses eat the farm’s hay so there is no extra cost to the farmer), cultivating a healthier ecosystem and a more sustainable future.

These farms stay small on purpose and sell everything locally—OWING THE BANK NOTHING.

Check out the comments section for the types of horses that are considered “work horses”, work duration tips, rest schedules and how to tell whether or not your horse is being overworked and is unhappy. 🥺

08/26/2026

08/25/2026

We recently welcomed home two beautiful little boys to the farm. Formally introducing Mr. Arthur Morgan (black & white) and Mr. John Marston (white). I am an enormous fan of Red Dead Redemption, as some of you may know 😂😂😂. These sweet boys mark the start of a new adventure for Brooky Hollow Farm and Little Flowers of the Mountain. We made a small name change for both small businesses. Give both pages a like and follow, it helps a lot. I am very excited about this new phase of life for Mark and me. Our sweet girls will be coming home in Spring (or maybe sooner).

Bee Well
Much Love
&
God Bless
~Melissa🐝*•.•*💛🐐💛

08/20/2026

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Phytoremediation is the scientific process where specific plants like sunflowers act as natural vacuums to clean up contaminated environments. When planted in toxic soil, the sunflower’s extensive root system drinks up water along with dangerous heavy metals like lead and arsenic. Instead of harming the plant, these toxins travel up the stem and store themselves safely inside the sunflower’s stalks and leaves. This incredible survival mechanism allows gardeners to cleanse their land naturally, avoiding the high costs and destruction of digging up tons of dirt with heavy machinery.

However, this biological cleanup requires strict safety measures during the final disposal phase. Because sunflowers accumulate but do not destroy the heavy metals, the mature plants become hazardous waste themselves. Gardeners must never compost or burn these sunflowers, as doing so would release themselves concentrated toxins back into the backyard ecosystem. Instead, these plants must be carefully cut down, bagged, and sent to a proper landfill equipped to handle toxic materials, ensuring the ground is left permanently safer.

Check out the comments section for references, other plants you can place in your garden to help remove toxic heavy metals and strict rules for managing remediation crops. 🫶

08/16/2026

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'Auburn'. 🌿 Limited edition prints are now in a sale. EarthAngelsArtsEtsy.

08/14/2026

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The goldenrod just started a six week countdown 🌾

There is an old farm rule that has been passed down for generations, and it holds up better than you might expect. When goldenrod first blooms, first frost is roughly six weeks out. According to the Farmers' Almanac, this old folk rule is surprisingly accurate across much of the United States, and there is real biology behind why it works as well as it does.

Goldenrod is not blooming on a whim or reacting to a warm stretch of weather. It is what botanists call a photoperiodic plant, meaning it flowers in response to shortening day length rather than temperature. As nights grow longer heading into fall, goldenrod picks up on that shift and triggers its bloom cycle right on schedule. Frost arrival is also tied to the same underlying seasonal clock, cooling nights and a lower sun angle, which is exactly why two things that seem unrelated on the surface, a wildflower blooming and the first hard frost, end up following a fairly consistent timeline relative to each other.

This is different from a lot of garden folklore, because it is not really predicting the future so much as reading a calendar the plant already has built into it. Temperature can shift bloom timing slightly year to year, with a hot summer nudging goldenrod to open a touch earlier and a cool one delaying it, but the six week gap between first bloom and first frost tends to hold up reasonably well as a rule of thumb rather than an exact science.

There is a bonus to this old rule too. Goldenrod is not just a seasonal clock, it is one of the most valuable late season nectar sources in the entire garden. It fuels monarch butterflies fueling up for migration and gives bumblebee queens the reserves they need to survive winter, all while quietly counting down toward the season's first frost.

Goldenrod is native and hardy across nearly the entire country, from USDA zone 2 through zone 8 depending on the species, so this is a countdown almost any gardener nationwide can watch play out in their own yard. If you spotted that first gold bloom this week, it might be time to start thinking about your last tender plants and when to bring them in.

08/12/2026

August is Tree Check Month! Check your trees for signs of Asian longhorned beetle. Learn more at:https://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant-pests-diseases/alb