Humming Harvest Farm

Today is Christmas Day, and I’m flying back from my home state of Mississippi to reunite with my husband, dogs, cows, chickens, and the little slice of paradise we’ve created on our farm in Washington. 🐄 🐕 🐓 🌱

It’s wild how much I miss this space and the feeling of home every time I leave. I’d be lying if I said I always feel calm when on the farm, as there are always a million tasks to complete. But the sense of calm I experience is much deeper..more grounded in a sense of purpose and connection to the earth and the world around us. I’m looking forward to feeling this calm again soon 🙏

I had a wonderful visit with my sisters, mom and baby niece when visiting the home I grew up in. We made time to watch some family videos while home, and it was such a sweet reminder of all the moments that have shaped who I am in this world. We lost my dad to dementia 5 years ago, and since he was the videographer of the family, these videos offer a glimpse into how he showed up for our family through the years. The holidays can elicit so many feelings for folks, on both ends of the spectrum, and I’m acutely aware of this missing person in our world. 💕

Whether you are experiencing joy or loss this holiday season, I hope you feel support from those you love. Sending the best holiday wishes your way, and gratitude for all the support y’all have showed me and my little farm over the years ✨ Photo credit: and for the photo opportunity 🙏

Just when I thought spring was here, we got hit with another solid sleet/frost/rain. ❄️ But my goodness it’s gorgeous out there! ☀️

So grateful for the newest infrastructure addition to the farm. See that high tunnel to the left of the barn? Right now, it’s home to some cozy ranunculus and will soon be planted with more cool season blooms (snapdragons, statice, ammi, rudbeckia and the list goes on). Casey purchased it used, as an intimidating pile of parts. Despite my doubts, he magically put it together and it’s stood up the wild winds and snow we’ve gotten so far this winter.

As much as I’m feeling ready for spring, I could use a bit more time to organize for the growing season. How about you?

Can you believe it? These vibrant blooms were harvested months ago and will look stunning for months to come. No unnatural dyes or chemicals…just nature doing what she does best. ✨

January can be a tough month weather-wise, but these dried flowers are bright lights in my flower world these days. This time of year, I’m busy scheduling workshops and events, so stay tuned for fun, flowery things to come!

Up next, my Valentines workshop , next Sunday February 12th, 11-1.

To ensure all participants receive the instruction and support they need, we offer only 10 spots for these intimate workshops, and we still have some spots available! Sign up for my newsletter and register for this event from 🔗 in my bio. Head over to the events page and you’re there!

I share these opportunities with my newsletter subscribers first, so sign up to hear about them first in the future!

How are you celebrating 💕 Valentine’s Day next month? We have another exciting flowery event on the horizon!💕

Grab your sweetie, gal pals or family members and join us for another wonderful dried flower wreath-making workshop . I had a blast working with all the creativity folks brought to our November workshop last year, and I look forward to gathering again soon.

To ensure all participants receive the instruction and support they need, we offer only 10 spots for these intimate workshops.
I share these opportunities with my newsletter subscribers first, so sign up to hear about them first in the future! Sign up for my newsletter and register for this event from 🔗 in my bio. Head over to the events page and you’re there!

Full disclosure…I have never made anything this cute before. But seriously, look at them 🤩

You can find these little Thanksgiving place settings at in Proctor. I’ve only delivered a handful of them, so if you miss this batch, you should see more on Monday afternoon, in time for the holiday!

It’s such a joy to create these keepsakes, incorporating flowers that I harvested in the full throws of the summer season. Through the drying process, they’ve been given a second life and will last for many months and even years to come!

Oh my goodness, yesterday’s dried wreath workshop was SO much fun! Truly, thanks to everyone who came out to create some beauty while building community. 🙏

Huge shout out to for being the hosts with the most…delicious beer and cider. 🍻

Here’s a snapshot of one of my recent creations. Just swooning over the magenta strawflowers I grew this year. All natural colors, all grown naturally in our farm. Workshop participants could choose their ingredients and it was amazing to see how many combinations resulted.

I’m so grateful to have the opportunity to share these blooms through workshops, as it feels like they’re given a new life and a new home. So much goes into their workshop “debut” 😆 I spend hours crop planning and seed shopping; I plant the tiny seeds, care for them through the growing season, harvest buckets of blooms and then hang them to dry. When it’s time for workshops, it brings me so much joy to finally see them formed into something beautiful that will brighten a new home.

Want to join a workshop in the future? Sign up for my newsletter to be the first to hear about them! 🔗 in my bio. So many more flowers to share! 🥰

How are celebrating the coming of fall? I’m so excited to share that I have a new, creative event on the horizon. I’ve partnered up with the brewing wizards at to bring our first ever ‘Petals and Pints’ event to y’all this fall.

What’s this, you ask? It’s an opportunity for YOU to play with the flowers I’ve lovingly harvested and dried through the season to design your own everlasting wall wreath. Perfect for fall and year-round decor, your wreath will invite natural beauty into your home for many months.

Limited to 15 participants so sign up today! I will provide all necessary tools and instruction, so no prior floral experience necessary.

Tickets include a 10” grapevine wreath, an abundance of beautiful flowers, supplies, and of course a delicious Yoked Farmhouse pint of beer or cider. 🍺

Grab a friend and register today! 🔗in my bio 👉 head over to the events tab.

📸 / (she is SO talented, y’all 🥰)

Shout out to all the fellow flower lovers who created beautiful bouquets in our September Bloom Bar Workshop! 💐🤩💕

From showy dahlias to fragrant lemon basil, participants had freedom to choose which blooms, foliage and textures they wanted to add into their masterpieces. We finished them off with my signature paper wrap, perfect for gifting.

It was a joy to meet everyone and see what folks created. I’ve enjoyed partnering with and to bring it all together. Also thankful to for the delicious sweet treats and to Anna for these lovely photos!

Stay tuned for more events in the future. I have some fun dried flower events on the horizon! Sign up for my newsletter to be the first to hear about these opportunities. 🔗 in my bio.

Are you ready for fall? This is my favorite time of year on the flower farm for so many reasons 👇

💐 Everything is in full bloom, so it’s just beautiful
💐 The the daily hustle involves harvesting beautiful blooms…the product of so much work.
💐 The infrastructure is (mostly) done, so irrigation is ready to go and my post-pounding days are over. Well, I say that as I’m about to finish supports for my final fall succession today…
💐I have loads of seedlings going for fall planting and early spring harvesting. Feels good to see seasonal horizon in sight and have plans for next year’s beauty.
💐The weather has finally leveled off and I’m soaking in the cooler mornings and beautiful cloudy skies
💐 We have an over abundance of delicious produce rolling in and it’s so rewarding to eat it fresh and put it up for the winter.

Are you a fan of fall too? Tell me why!

🚚 I just delivered my weekly order of 60 bouquets to stores in Tacoma and Gig Harbor, and you know what? With so many flowers moving through our farm, I feel like I make bouquets in my sleep!

Wanna learn how to make your own bouquet to brighten your space or share with loved ones? Join me September 18th, 3-5pm for our final Bloom Bar of the season! 💐

I’ll bring buckets of freshly harvested blooms and we’ll create deluxe hand-tied bouquets together. I’ll even share my signature wrap technique that makes them perfect for gifting. Beverages provided and 🍪 delicious sweet treats by .

I also plan to share some tips and tricks for growing cut flowers in your own garden, so if you’re a plant enthusiast, this class is for you! Grab a friend and sign up today. Space is limited to ensure that we can all connect and grow together. 🌱

Link in my bio…head over to the events page to register 🙌

Bam! How’s this for a color combo? 💙 💖 💛

Once we hit late august/early September, I have enough blooms rolling in to be picky on what I decide to harvest for bouquets. I haven’t chosen to integrate this purple/blue flower called ageratum for a few weeks, but now I’m regretting that!

It’s hard to find true blue in nature, so I think that this blue-ish bloom brings an incredible accompaniment to other flowers. Whatcha think! Plus, my nerdy former art class self has an affinity for colors that are opposite on the the color wheel, so this combo is 👌 🥳 👏

Hi flower friends! Amy here, the grower behind all the flowery abundance coming out of Humming Harvest Farm. 👋

Coming up in September 18th, I’m partnering with to host our final Bloom Bar Workshop of the year from 3-5pm. I’d love to meet you there! I’ll bring loads of ultra fresh flowers so that we can spend the afternoon creating beautiful hand-tied bouquets, while snacking on sweet treats by and chatting about the flowers and the growing process. You can learn more and register on the event page of my website 🔗d in my bio.

I’ve always been drawn to education and I can not wait to chat about flowers with you all soon. Early in my career, I spent 5 summers in Alaska, working as a national park ranger in Glacier Bay National Park and naturalist on a tour boat in Icy straight. I felt so at peace in the outdoors, sharing what I’d learned with visitors. From watching glaciers calve to being wowed by whales 🐋 breaching, these experiences cultivated a deep appreciation for the interworkings of the natural world, of which we are only a small part.

Since then, I’ve sought opportunities to remain plugged into my surrounding ecosystems, so my path to flower farming isn’t too far away from those years of outdoor adventure. Each day that I care for the flowers and vegetables in the field, I’m reminded of the same sense of stewardship and responsibility. We grow everything naturally here—no synthetic fertilizers or chemicals, and rely on the battalion of good bugs 🐞 to keep things in check. Of course things don’t always work out, and I’m always learning something new.

As I continue to grow the farm, I’ve realized that my passion for growing is something that can be shared. Whether folks want to learn how to design their own flower arrangement with purchased flowers or they want to start from seed and take it all the way to the vase, I’ve loved engaging folks in this process. I look forward to offering more workshops and opportunities to grow together soon! 🌸🥰💐

It’s been a wild couple of days. When cleaning up my flower mess this evening, I decided to make something for myself. I call this one “tutti frutti.” Check out today’s story to get a look behind-the-scenes at how I make my bouquets 💐

In the last 48 hours, I’ve harvested a few thousand stems (took me 8 hours…😯), created and wrapped 70 mixed bouquets, designed wedding bouquets and centerpieces and drove over 100 for these deliveries. To say I’m beat is an understatement.

That’s why using this last ounce of energy to create something for myself feels like a version of self-care. Well, that and I’ve finally settled into my hammock that overlooks our field, watching the goats entertain themselves. Chief is at my side….wishing I would share my chips and salsa 🐕

It’s the season of abundance and exhaustion. I wouldn’t trade it for anything, but damn it feels good to be stationary. Take care of yourselves, friends!

Look at these cute little red buttons! Do you know what they are? 🤷‍♀️

Gomphrena, also known as globe amaranth. When growing flowers for local customers, I am constantly thinking about what unique flowers I can provide…flowers you don’t see in the imported supermarket bouquets. These little guys add such a unique element to bouquets, almost like little polka dots floating above the other blooms. ✨

I’m growing several colors of gomphrena this season, but this specific variety (strawberry fields) is intended for winter wreaths. Can’t you see it? Rich evergreen branches, dotted with little bursts of red polka dots. I’ll keep cutting and drying these for the holidays…just you wait!

In the meantime, I’ll certainly add more of the pastel colors into fresh arrangements for y’all! See if you can spot them next time you pick up a humming harvest bouquet. 💐

💐 Why do you grow flowers? 💐

Honestly, I didn’t grow up ogling over flowers. I happened upon this path by happen stance, and haven’t looked back. Of course I love the process of growing flowers…seed shopping, crop planning, soil prepping, seed starting, transplanting, baby-ing and *finally* cutting. But you know what I love most? Sharing them.

Flowers inherently live our spirits. To be able to grow something that you can share with others, something that lifts their spirits…it’s the best. Made this bouquet for a friend recently and had a blast picking the stems with intention.

Maybe you’re the type of person that likes to cook for others or help with childcare. Whatever it is, there’s something so gratifying about lightening someone else’s load. We could all use a little light in our lives. What light do you bring to those you love? ☀️

On days like this, I’m so grateful for irrigation. When I look out at the field, the cultivated plants look like an island oasis, surrounded by lots of sad, brown grass. With temps hitting the 90s again this afternoon , I will definitely be turning on the drip tape to cool these plants down later this evening. 💦

It’s that time of year that things are really starting to roll in…veggies, fruit and of course, loads of flowers. I harvested my first big batch of zinnias and amaranth today and it feels like summer is official here.

Hope you’re staying cool out there today…it’s a hot one! 🥵

Which camp are you in? Team cafe au lait or labyrinth? Swipe for a close up of each!

My dahlias are finally starting to bloom and even though I’m quite excited to see everyone’s favorite, cafe au lait, I’m actually even more thrilled to have labyrinth back in the field. I consider it the wilder, more colorful cousin to cafe.

Through the years of growing flowers, it’s neat to learn about the ways flowers change over the season.
🌸 Dahlias typically start the season off with shorter, fatter stems and thankfully elongate in slimmer, more usable stems as the season progresses. Right now, we’re in the shorter, fatter phase lol.
🌸I’ve also found that some of the more ruffly varieties like these two beauties typically start smaller and less ruffly.
🌸Some dahlias can substantially change color as fall approaches. For example, the ketchup and mustard dahlias is, as expected, yellow and red for most of the season. Closer to fall, though, it becomes a more palatable muted version of light pink and yellow. Same plant, different month.

I love getting to know plants through their growing cycle. What else have you noticed about how flowers change in your garden?

📣 It’s delivery day ! 📣

These bouquets feature some of my first dahlias (finally) coming in, scrumptious lemon basil, bubblegum-scented snapdragons, cheery sunflowers and more! Maybe I’ve used too many adjectives here? Anyway, they’re lovely and you probably need one 😂

For folks on my newsletter list, you’re already in the “know” about my delivery schedule…if you’re not on my newsletter, sign up for updates and upcoming events! Link in my bio. If you’re looking for a ultra-fresh Humming Harvest bouquet, you have lots of options, any day of the week:

💐- Mondays/Tuesdays

💐Fresh Food Revolution- Wednesdays

💐 (Tacoma and Gig Harbor stores)- Fridays/Saturdays

Whew! That’s a lot of harvesting and bouquet-making on my end, and a lot of of beauty for you. As always, thanks for your support. Y’all are the true rockstars who make all of this

It’s pickling season, y’all! I have a few hacks for ya. 👇

🥒 Notice my gloved hand? Yes, I’ve learned the hard way that if I cut hot peppers, I seem to ALWAYS rub my eyes and then suffer the consequences 😆

🥒 Always make more brine than you need so you’re not limited by the easiest ingredient. If have extra, just keep it in a container in the fridge for your next batch.

🥒 I invested in a high quality mandolin to make the slicing much faster and more uniform. It was a bit more expensive but I’ve been scarred (literally) by cheaper versions that allow for easier slippage around sharp blades…

🥒 One last hack in this photo is my little red bracelet. It’s not pickle-related, but it sure makes watering easier. We keep it on the spigot and every time we water, we put it on so that we never forget to turn it off.

What’s in this batch? Farm-grown cucumbers 🥒 , garlic 🧄 , onions 🧅 , jalapeños 🌶 and dill flowers. I also add dried bay leaves and pickle spice that I purchase in bulk. For the brine, I heat up salt, water and raw apple cider vinegar and let it cool while I prep the other ingredients.

Super simple when you make large batches! Put in the fridge and you’ll thank yourself later. Happy pickling, friends! 🥒

📣 Shout out to my girl TJ for helping make the magic happen and for snapping this photo 💕

Strawflower for the win! I experimented with this bloom last year and didn’t plant enough. I quadrupled the amount I planted this year…and still don’t have enough 🤷‍♀️

What’s so great about them, you ask?

💐 1. They are everlasting…meaning they look great in fresh arrangements AND dried. Even when picked fresh, they are very dry to the touch and add a unique texture to arrangements.

💐2. They love cool weather but still grow well when it’s scorching hot outside. I’ve been amazed how the plants that I put in the ground very early spring are still pumping out blooms, despite the heat waves we’ve experienced with highs in the 90s 🥵

💐3. They are cut and come again. The more you cut them, the more they produce. I do plant a few successions of them though, since they tend to thrive through the first few harvests before slowing down. I am still cutting from plants that went in the ground in super cold temps in February. Wild!

💐4. They come in a wide range of colors, and there are several great color mixes on the market. I personally love the apricot mix, and also grow the white and red for winter holiday crafts. I tried the sultane mix this year too and can’t get over the vibrant magenta color. It’s stunning and I want more of it!

Have I convinced you to grow them yet? 🤩 If you already grow them, I’d love to know which colors you fancy!

Seriously though…have you ever had a fresh fig? Little Penelope hasn’t either! 🐐

Fresh figs are a very fragile product that doesn’t ship well, so most of the world has only had the underwhelming dry version. If you can get your hands on fresh ones, they are like nothing else! Swipe to see a closeup of this fig in respect to my hand. Yes, it’s ginormous.

We were lucky enough to inherit an epic fig tree when we bought this farm last year. It towers above our barn, so we think that it’s benefited from some residual heat over the years. We were able to pick enough last year to dehydrate as snacks and freeze for smoothies through the year. Ready for another haul this year!

Figs are often thought of as warm climate fruits, but surprisingly there are a few varieties that are well suited for the cooler PNW (i.e. desert king). A couple of years ago,’I found some gig options at in port orchard if you’re looking to plant a tree of your own this fall!

I grew up in Mississippi and remember my dad taking great lengths to try and harvest figs before the birds found them. The smell of fresh figs brings back such fond memories…it’s wonderful to have them in my life again 🥰

When I grow specific varieties of flowers and harvest the first blooms of the year, it feels like seeing an old friend. It’s just so lovely to see them again, especially those that are scented and bring back memories from earlier seasons.

Right now, I’m harvesting the first snapdragons of the year, and it is just SO exiting. Have you smelled freshly harvested snapdragons? Truly, they smell like bubble gum, but better. Their scent is intoxicating.

Featured in the foreground of this photo is ageratum, a new addition to my farm this season. Are you a fan? Would love to hear how it’s grown for you!

Do you know this plant?

About half of the plants I grow are not the showy, beautiful flowers you may think of when you think of a flower farm. When making bouquets, it’s equally important to grow stems that compliment the focal flowers, a category of plants called “fillers.”

This “filler” is cress, specifically “emerald beads.” Over the years, I have struggled to find nice green filler in the heat of summer, but cress delivers despite the heat! Some gardeners grow it because it is edible before it grows these seed pods—I’m essentially letting it bolt for the pods at the end of its life. I’m this photo, you can see the tiny white flowers that will eventually completely turn to little seed pods. This is what I put into bouquets.

I plant Persian cress every 2-3 weeks because it’s a one-cut plant, but the emerald beads variety provides many branches for a longer period of time. I just planted my last succession this week so that I have something to put in my late fall bouquets. Plus, if I have too much, it dries super well for dry flower crafting and is a great base for wreaths.

Have you grown cress? What are your favorite green fillers in the heat of summer?

How do you treat yourself? A fancy coffee? A sweet treat? Flowers? (You may have predicted that last one 😆)

Personally, I’m relatively bad at splurging on things that cost money or time. But while grocery shopping today, I ran over to pick up some hair ties and walked past the nail polish 💅🏻 section. I can honestly say that I don’t think I’ve painted my nailed since I got married four years ago. My nails are constantly dirty and it seems pointless.

But you know what…I bought some nail polish and painted my nails tonight. It feels silly and frivolous, and I’m very content with my decision. It will look terrible in a couple of days, but for now, I’m feeling like a farmer queeeeen 👸 😂

Treat yoself, y’all. The flower in this photo is calendula…a beautiful, medicinal flower that’s often used in salves and other natural remedies.

First harvest of these whimsical beauties! Do you know what they are? Check out my story today to learn more!

It’s called winged everlasting or ammobium. The first name is super appropriate because it is an incredible dried flower, lasting beyond the growing season. The other name sounds more like a digestive medication 💊 so let’s stick with the first one 😆

This is my first year growing this flower, and today was my first small harvest. When I trial a new crop, I usually only plant 5-10 feet, and I’m already wishing I’d planted much more! They grow on tall, sturdy stems that have stood up splendidly despite my lack of providing any support.

These are officially the first flowers I’ve hung to dry for the season and I can’t wait to incorporate them into fall crafts. Many more to come.

What other flowers do you like to grow for drying? I’d love to trial more!

Before this flower, I never wanted anything to do with rats 🐀🐀🐀

This beautiful spike flower was donned the unfortunate name, “rat tail statice”(Psylliostachys suworowii). Seriously, who came up with that?! Regardless, I hunted for seeds everywhere this spring and was lucky to snag a few packets from a Washington grower last time I was at the incredible .

Statice is a plant that prefers cold weather, but it can also manage heat as long as it’s established. I planted these seedlings back when the ground was literally frozen in February…had to break the top layer of soil up with a shovel, and now it’s finally starting to put in a show.

It’s my first year growing it, and I’m looking forward to using it in arrangements both fresh and dried. When it matures, it has very long spikes that add a whimsy element to the bouquets.

What’s just starting to bloom in your garden?

Oh heyyyyyyy, first bouquets of the summer! So excited to see these bright, shiny faces! *Almost* all of the flowers in this bouquet are considered “cool flowers,” as Lisa from calls them. They love cool weather, and many can survive below freezing temps.

The one exception? Hint: 🌻🌻🌻

Sunflowers aren’t considered hardy annuals officially, but in reality, they can handle much colder temps than most of us think. I seeded these lovely, green-centered sunflowers indoors all the way back in early March when frost was still very prevalent. Incredibly, they’ve done great and I’m finally getting my first harvests. In case you’re wondering, these are sunrich gold, which is a single-stemmed, fast-growing variety.

If you’re wondering what the other blooms are, check out todays stories. You’ll find a video tour in which I point out each of these cool-loving blooms!

If you’re a local, I’m planning to start selling bouquets again soon using the online, Fresh Food Revolution marketplace. If you’re looking for locally grown food and flowers, check it out!

When I first started growing, I didn’t interplant. It felt too complicated to mix plants of different families when trying to practice crop rotation. Pictured here: lettuce and broccoli. Now, I mix all kinds of plants together, constantly experimenting with new combinations.

One of my favorite flood/flower combos this year: radishes down my dahlia rows. If you’ve ever grown dahlias, you know the wait from planting the tubers to harvesting mature plants is excruciatingly long. This year, I planted several different plants down a single line between my two rows of dahlias (I plant my rows 2’ apart and within rows, tubers are 1’ apart in my 36” wide beds).

Radishes are the clear winners, as they mature in just 30 days, growing large enough to harvest before they’re crowded out by their slow growing dahlia neighbors. Just picked some for dinner! I also tried dill, flax and beets. Of those three, the beets may be the top contenders…just not yet sure whether they’ll mature before they’re taken over by the dahlia canopy. It’s all trial and error!

The beauty of growing both an abundance of food AND flowers is that I don’t have to worry so much about crop rotation anymore. By planting flowers and food in the same blocks of my field, I’m able to mix plant families on the veggie side of the operation and can easily plant flowers in that same place the following year. Also, by diversifying the plants in an area, you’re also diversifying the microbes in the soil, which are really what bring our soil to life. Of course, you’re also attracting pollinators to your flowers that may also be planted by plants that need pollination (like tomatoes). The list of benefits goes on and on.

Tell me, what combinations have you tried in your garden? It’s still prime planting season, so there’s plenty of time to experiment and see what new combinations work for you!

Hey guess what? Sometimes things don’t work out. When it comes to growing plants, sometimes a lot of things don’t work out.

This image depicts an Instagram-friendly photo of a beautiful ranunculus flower, right?Know what it doesn’t show? The entire bed replanted with onions because I lost my ENTIRE ranunculus crop this year. I learned that without the proper support structures for protective winter coverings, you will not be rewarded with…well, anything other than a good lesson.

But this is what I love about growing plants. Mother Nature has her own plan, and we’re really just along for the ride. Every season is a blank canvas, ready to receive whatever is thrown at it. As stewards of this earth and growers of green things, the best we can do is educate ourselves, learn from our mistakes, and let those mistakes roll of our backs. Because for me, the successes we experience, full of magical abundance, truly outweigh any of the heartaches to receive them.

If you’ve made mistakes in the garden, we all have. In fact, in addition to my royal ranunculus fail, I planted my summer blooms out too early in this cold spring, and lost most of my zinnias and amaranth to cold damage. But I always have insurance, and thankfully my planting of a second succession will be even more valuable this year.

Get out there, get dirty and make mistakes. I think the beauty of growing plants is that we get grow too.

Tell me, what are some of your best (or worst) garden fails?

✨ Shoutout to fellow plant lover and talented artist who inspired this post-