Behind the Scenes: June Farm Tour

Farm tours are a wonderful way to celebrate the season, especially in June… California Grown Flowers Month!

The last six months, we’ve had the pleasure to exhibit in several Garden shows and to do Protea presentations for local horticulture clubs. These events provided us a welcome break from our normal farm activities and gave us the opportunity to explore the community. So, naturally when our friend, Ed Fitzgerald, Program Chair of the MiraCosta Horticulture Club, asked us to put together a farm tour for his group we were delighted to open our farm gate and show them around. After all, Ed was an amazing host when we visited the Alta Vista Botanical Gardens and MiraCosta College earlier this spring.

We luckily picked the perfect June morning for the tour, blue skies and 75 degrees… a relief after several days of our typical ‘June Gloom’. We started off by providing the group with a little ‘insider information’ on our farm and what we’re up to this time of the year. Then off to the greenhouse and nursery we went to see where everything begins, sprouts and develops its roots here on the farm. Next stop, the packing area and cooler to watch as our crew prepared the daily orders. Finally, for a little ‘hands-on’ the group observed as we created a protea bouquet and then, it was their turn to create a bouquet of their own. We had a terrific morning sharing our farm and flowers with so many friends, and it was the perfect way to help celebrate California Grown Flowers Month!

#PropagatingProtea

This month Resendiz Brothers had the pleasure to host a very down-to-earth and hands-on event where the members of California Protea Association (CPA) had the opportunity to share different protea varieties with one another while mastering their propagation skills.

Members were all asked to bring their favorite protea cuttings to share or exchange with others who may not have that variety.  During the meeting we were all provided a flat of soil, rooting solution and clippers if we neglected to bring our own.

Mel guided us through the propagation techniques while we built our own flat of cuttings.

This event was not just for beginners, because throughout the process the more experienced farmers were encouraged to share tips and tricks that have worked for them.

This CPA meeting definitely proved to be a unique and enjoyable experience!  We all left with the flat of stems we created and a better understanding of the art of #PropagatingProtea.  And, if we're lucky, in a few months our cuttings will develop roots and we’ll have lots ‘new’ protea plants growing in our fields.