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CLAVET, SASK. — For Kristen Raney, springtime on her flower farm doesn’t start when it’s warm outside. It starts when the snow has barely melted.
“I do a lot of early plantings. Basically as soon as the snow is off of my raised beds, it is go time,” she said. “There’s a few weeks where I’ll look like an absolute crazy person because I’m literally planting things out while there’s still snow on the ground.”
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In a few months time Raney’s garden will be overflowing with bright, colourful flowers. (Brittany Caffet/650 CKOM)
Listen to Kristen Raney talk with Brittany Caffet:
But this isn’t a first-timer’s gamble. Raney, who owns and operates Shifting Blooms just outside of Saskatoon, has learned how to work with nature — and sometimes against it — to make spring magic happen.
“I’ve done this for a couple of years now, so I know it works,” she said. “I never use my soil thermometer. I just basically touch it with my hands, and then dig in a little bit and feel what temperature it is and go from there.”
Raney’s greenhouse is packed with plants waiting to be planted outdoors. She tends to the blooms diligently while hardening them off through the unpredictable spring weather. (Brittany Caffet/650 CKOM)
This year, like every year, springtime on the farm is a frenzy of hard work and anticipation.
“Right now is sort of the great switch over,” she explained. “Every kind of cool flower has already been hardened off for at least a couple of weeks, so it’s very, very busy.”
The real excitement, Raney says, comes when the plants start poking out of the ground.
Kristen Raney begins planting in her raised beds as soon as the snow has melted. (Brittany Caffet/650 CKOM)
“Oh, it’s so exciting! I’m like a kid in a candy shop,” she said with a smile. “Every perennial that pokes through the ground — I’m like, so excited and I’m taking pictures of it. It’s kind of ridiculous.”
When asked what she’s most looking forward to this year, Raney laughed.
“Oh, that’s like asking a favorite child. What am I most excited, probably, to see that my zinnias again, because that’s a favorite.”
But it’s not all picture-perfect blooms. The arrival of spring brings its own set of challenges, including unexpected saboteurs.
Aside from watching the weather forecast closely to protect her delicate seedlings from frost, Raney also has to keep an eye on a whole flock of farmyard residents ready to cause trouble.
“My chickens! It’s literally my chickens,” she said with a laugh. “They just killed 300 statice plants that I thought I had secured enough that they wouldn’t get them, and I was wrong.”
Raney cares for a flock of 65 chickens. While they do get into mischief, she says they are a very beneficial animal to have on a flower farm. (Brittany Caffet/650 CKOM)
She’s still hoping to rescue the plants by putting the seedlings back under her grow lights, but if that fails, she might be stuck restarting from scratch.
Although the chickens have been known to wreak a little havoc, she says they earn their keep.
“We keep the chickens for the manure and for the bug protection. We almost have no ticks,” she explained. “And they will also work up a field for me. So when I do bed prep, sometimes I’ll let the chickens just have at ‘er for a little bit, and they’ll mix everything up.”
Eggs are just one of the benefits Raney cited for keeping chickens on her farm. They also help with pest control and will effectively mix up the soil in a garden bed. (Brittany Caffet/650 CKOM)
Despite the chaos, Raney said she loves this season.
“Mentally, it feels triumphant. The season has started. I have so much energy and optimism,” she said.
Raney keeps a close eye on the weather forecast at this time of year. She utilizes both sun shades and frost covers to protect her delicate seedlings. (Brittany Caffet/650 CKOM)
Each day brings a little more progress, and a little more dirt under her nails.
Spring may be messy, muddy and full of mayhem, but Raney wouldn’t have it any other way.
Kristen Raney owns and operates a flower farm near Clavet, Sask. Springtime is one of her busiest seasons, as she bustles around her garden prepping beds, hardening off plants and finally planting them. (Brittany Caffet/650 CKOM)
