Sweet 16 Farm

03/24/2023

Seed to Bouquet: Planning A Cut Flower Garden
Saturday, April 1, 8:00am-3:30pm | $35
Houston Elementary School (310 South Sherman St., Houston, MN)

On Saturday, April 1, I will be one of several presenters at the Houston County Master Gardeners 11th Annual Garden Workshop: Gardening in the Driftless. My presentation, Seed to Bouquet: Planning A Cut Flower Garden, will do just as it sounds – taking you behind the scenes at Sweet 16 Flower Farm, and sharing what I have learned about establishing a seasonal cutting garden. Annuals make up the majority of our blooms, so seed selection and succession planting are big components, but there is so much. Other topics I will be covering include:

Tools and infrastructure
Germination techniques
Season extension
Planting calendars
Bouquet recipe: Focal, filler, and foliage
Harvest techniques
Best practices for storage and handling

If you’ve been curious about establishing a cutting garden of your own, this event is for you. My 40-minute presentation runs from 11am-12pm, allowing for plenty of time to answer all your questions.

For a full schedule of presentations and to register for this event, please visit the Houston County Extension Master Gardeners website.

Learn More
https://extension.umn.edu/event/gardening-driftless

03/21/2023

UPDATE: WORKSHOP FULL - Thanks everyone! See you Sunday!!
Only 3 tickets left for this Sunday’s wreath workshop at Karst Brewing. Curious what kind of shenanigans we get up to? Here’s a few captures from February’s workshop at 608 Brewing Company.
More information and tickets:
https://sweet16farm.com/workshops/
📸 Emma Geiwitz Photography

02/06/2023

There’s still time to sign up for our wreath building workshop this THIS THURSDAY at 608 Brewing Company. Dried flower fun starts at 6:00pm. See you there! .
Purchase tickets:
https://sweet16farm.com/workshops/

08/24/2022

Drying bouquets!! These full color beauties double as everlasting bouquets. Follow the instructions below and you can enjoy it for seasons to come. This morning’s batch is going out to all our full season summer flower subscribers, but tomorrow’s harvest is destined for the Winona Farmers Market - come grab yours on Saturday! . .

Flower Drying 101:
Step One
Start by sorting your bouquet into piles of similar shaped flowers. My guess is that it will break down into three or four small bunches
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Step Two
Rubber band them tightly. The stems will thin as they dry and may fall from the bunch if not tightly banded.
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Step Three
Find a dark, dry, well ventilated space in your home to hang them - attics work great. Avoid your garage or porch. A damp environment will prevent your flowers from ever fully drying and eventually they will mold. Avoid the impulse to hang them in the sun. Although this will dry them quickly, direct sunlight will bleach and fade the colors. Because dry-time is entirely environment dependent, rather than giving you a set wait time, I'll instead have you assess the following: When fully dry your flowers should feel feather-light, hold their upside-down shape when turned right-side up, and rustle like dried leaves when touched.
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Enjoy!

Once fully dried, you have a number of options: You can re-configure your stems into their original bouquet for display in a vase, or divide them up and create several mini bouquets. You can design a wreath for your wall, or simply tuck a few under some ribbon on a gift for a friend. The creative possibilities are endless!

08/05/2022

We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming to bring you this moment of absolute adoration. My goodness, do I ever love this guy.

07/31/2022

Fill your phone with photos like this during tomorrow night’s Full Bloom Garden Tour! This FREE event (though we’d love it if you purchased a bouquet), only happens once a year when the gardens are at their peak. So charge your phone, invite a friend, and join us for an evening stroll through the gardens! . .
Monday, August 1, 6:30-7:30pm . .
RSVP Required:
https://sweet16farm.com/workshops/

07/30/2022

What an amazing group of young women. Congratulations to the 2022 Hoedown Court! And thank you for letting our flowers decorate your day. Houston Hoedown Days - Houston, MN

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 2022 HOEDOWN COURT! Miss Houston Hoedown Days Nicole Beckman. 1st Attendant Sydney Torgerson. 2nd Attendant Lizzy Weichert. Attendants Ashtyn Meyer and Mackenzie Zibrowski. Little Miss Claire Srock. We know you ladies will make us proud representing Houston over the next year! Have fun!!!

07/10/2022

We’re pulling out all the stops for tomorrow’s partnered event with Winona Outdoor Collaborative and have been stockpiling all our favorite flowers for drying. Come unwind with a friend, play with flowers, and learn a bit about the drying process during our first, “Into to Horticultural Therapy” meetup - Monday, July 11, 4:30-7:30pm . .
Register today for this FREE event:
https://www.winonaoutdoorcollaborative.com/the-shop/p/sweet16farm

07/07/2022

Only a few days left to register for this super fun (and FREE) collaborative event: Intro to Horticultural Therapy! . .
Monday, July 11, 4:30-7:30pm . .
Therapeutic horticulture is an ancient practice that focuses on the use of plants and gardening to improve mental and physical health. This can include the growth, care and maintenance of these environments as well as the simple act of spending time in gardens. Spending time with plants intrigues our innate sense of fascination. This ability of plants to capture our attention involuntarily enables us to take a "rest" from more stressful life tasks and provides us with enough space to reflect and restore our attention capacity. . .
Bring a friend and come enjoy a beautiful July evening with us on the farm. Register today // link in bio