The weather was nearly perfect for spring seeding, there were no supply chain issues, I was healthy and hyper-focused after spending a better portion of the winter in Key West with my oldest daughter, son-in-law and two grand babies. Every single thing went according to plan and without a hiccup (hold that thought). What I could not have imagined in my wildest dreams was Opening Day 2023. Two thousand people came through - ON A WEDNEDAY. That's right - 2000 people. It was amazing and exhausting and exhilarating and quite frankly, a blur.
The evening of May 17th (Opening Day) the freeze came. We expected it to get "cold" but not a full-fledged freeze. At 6:30 am on Thursday morning, I woke up to my Weather Station reading 31degrees and the entire backyard covered in WHITE frost.
We had done our best to prevent damage by laying out 600 feet of floating row cover. However, the winds were from the north and lifted the cover from the outer most row causing all the tomatoes to get frost bit. Fortunately, I had a good amount of 'back up' plants and was able to replace and/or sub those plants that got hit the worst.
Two days later, another cold snap hit but this time we were able to move all the plants inward and protect them without damage.
There were many, but one of the highlights of the 2023 season was an email I received from a young man asking if I shipped. I answered no, that I did not. He ever so politely explained to me that he would then be leaving MISSOURI (9.5 hours away) that evening and would see me in the morning. I told him to park in my driveway and I would bring coffee out to him. I'll be damned - he showed.
Every year, I count (and recount) my blessings which I call my volunteers. Without them, there would be no transplanting of 30,000 seedlings, no pulling of over 400 pre-orders, no Opening Day as they truly are the back bone of Michigan Heirlooms. Thank you for all your selfless time, friendship and love: Carol, Johnny, John B., Vicky T., Lorraine, Donna P., Karyn, Vicky Z., Marilyn, Michael, Kimmy, Joey, Mie, Georgia, Todd, Curtiss and Alex.
To all my customers - old and new - thank YOU! Thank you for continuing to believe in me and telling your friends and neighbors about Michigan Heirlooms. I continue to strive to be better, do better and offer more varieties because of YOU! Much love,
Karen