Behind the Shepherd's Gate

Our very own farm blog that is meant to be a sharing of the serene artistry of cultivation and botanical wisdom gained from the blood, sweat, and tears of working here on the farm. Join our journey through the seasons as we uncover the flourishing inspiration and educational insights found in every garden bed.

View the Latest:

Early Seed Starting

By Tracy Button & Christopher Kane • March 20, 2026

If you’re a gardener, you know the delight of growing plants in your garden once the weather starts getting warm. If you’re a gardener who chooses to start your own seeds inside, you know the excitement of getting started on your garden at a time when planting still seems far off. As for us, our first seeds are sown in January, when the ground outside is frozen and snow is typically covering everything (and will be for a few more months). This year, the first seeds we planted were different varieties of eucalyptus, sown on January 14th. Shortly after that were snapdragons, then sweet peas, then… Well, you get it. Growing plants requires at least a basic knowledge of their needs; the basics are of course water, light, and soil. After that, there are nuances of heat, exposure, soil types, possible protection and support, etc. Since, in New England, it’s much too cold for us to be planting these first seeds outside in the winter, we start them inside. They are sown into a seed starting mix, then watered, and (depending on the kind of plant) set under grow lights. Some seeds, like eucalyptus, require warmth and light to germinate, so their trays are set on heat mats and underneath grow lights to give them the best start possible. Others, like sweet peas, don’t need heat or light, and actually won’t germinate well if kept too warm, so they are kept cool and dark until after germination, at which point their leaves will need light for photosynthesis. However, seed care doesn’t stop there. Once our seedlings are up, they require constant checks to determine if they have enough water, if lights need to be adjusted, or if they need an extra boost of nutrients. Some will even have to be pruned a little before going outside. Speaking of putting seedlings outside, these “babies” have been cared for and well protected for weeks and months before ever venturing outdoors. Ironically, all that care has made them a touch fragile. If we were to take them right from our seed room to the great outdoors for planting, the shock of actual sunshine and weather would be too much for them and would likely cause their demise. Therefore, their transition into nature is handled in stages. Called “hardening off”, we take great care in gradually exposing them to increasing amounts of sunlight and weather until they are fit to be planted in the ground and begin their showy lives in the gardens. Since our seeds are frequently sown in trays with small cups of potting soil called “cells”, some varieties quickly outgrow the space. This means that we have to get the timing right - that delicate balance between when to start seeds vs. when to transition them outside. For example, cosmos, zinnias, and sunflowers are all annuals which grow quickly. If we decided to start them in January, then by March, they would already have roots that had grown out of room, stems that were taller than our lights could handle, and leaves that were turning yellow for running out of nutrients in their tiny spaces. However, putting them outside would be out of the question, as they still wouldn’t survive the weather at that time of year. For plants like these, we need to time their starting carefully in order to give them their best chance at success. So, after all of that activity, when can we expect to see some of these early-sown flowers bloom? Well, sweet peas generally start blooming in May and give us flowers all the way through June and part of July; the same with snapdragons, which bloom again in late summer and early fall. As for eucalyptus, it needs some extra time and heat to really mature properly. We won’t begin picking it until the end of July (on the early side), with our best harvests being August through the first half of October. As you can see, a lot of planning and work goes into having a season full of flowers, but we definitely think it is worth it all! Are you looking for a little extra help starting your garden this year? We have a couple of gardening workshops in the spring that might help. Check out the “Workshops” section in our Online Shop for more details. Happy planting!

Dahlias: Drama Queens of the Garden

By Tracy Button & Christopher Kane • February 20, 2026

Dahlias on the Farm At this point in New England, our gardens are still buried under up to a foot of snow. The ground underneath that snowy white blanket has been long frozen as well. This might be a little tongue-in-cheek, but what better time is there to talk about one of our favorite flowers: dahlias. Of course, we might have an ulterior motive in bringing up dahlias during February… but more about that in a moment. So, dahlias… While roses are considered the true “Queen of the Garden”, we’ve heard it said that dahlias are considered “Queen of the Autumn Garden” due to their late season production, or better yet (in our humble opinion), “Drama Queen of the Garden” because of their often dramatic, awe inspiring showiness. Inclusive of that inspiration, in our assessment, is their diversity. These beautiful floral gems come in a multitude of shapes, sizes, and colors: from the impressively huge “dinner plate” dahlias, to dahlias that look like little round pom-poms; from petals that are tightly packed in neat and tidy rows, to petals that are big and ruffly, or even blooms with single layers of petals all the way around and just a bit of “rough” in the middle. There’s brilliant whites, intense fuschias, golden yellows and subtle honeytones, pinks, peaches, salmons, and bronzes, not to mention reds so deep and dark they almost look black… and we haven’t even touched on all the bi-colors, calicos, and fades - at times looking as if the hand of God had painted each petal with a delicate palette of watercolors! When our field is open on Pick-Your-Own days, it’s almost always the place our visitors spend most of their time, gravitating to the area multiple times to fill up their containers. From August through October, dahlias fill special orders, bridal bouquets, CSA arrangements, and paper wraps out on our porch, delighting customers as they soak in their beauty! But dahlias, in all of their glory, come not without work. Each dahlia plant is started from a single, small, potato-like tuber that gets planted in the ground in May. Throughout the growing season (May through October in New England), while we are enjoying the prolific blooms, the tubers are multiplying at the root level. Since we live in a climate that doesn’t support the year round growth of these gorgeous plants (hello, 6 degrees below zero), we dig up their big root clumps each November and then divide them back into many individual pieces - a process that takes multiple hands and lots of care and time. They are then packaged and stored in a temperature controlled storage area to be planted the following spring. It’s a love-hate relationship for us for sure! Every few weeks during the off season, we sample a selection of our stored dahlia tubers to make sure they are doing well. We look for signs of mold or fungus, we inspect them for overall moisture level, and we make adjustments here and there and cull anything that looks suspicious. This ensures that we have healthy tubers to plant when the danger of a frost has passed. Once in the ground, care doesn’t end there. Many of the varieties we grow benefit from support, so staking is a must. As they are coming up, we make certain that their water needs are met and keep an eye out for pests and diseases. Luckily, the varieties we grow here tend to be strong, vigorous growers, so aside from the occasional Japanese Beetle, they don’t often require a lot of extra care once they are established. We do these checks as the season progresses, deadheading as we go, enjoying their great beauty like so many of our patrons. This cycle repeats year after year, and while we are not as big as some specialty or big box growers (we are technically a microfarm after all), we are very proud of the dahlia stock we keep. This winter, we’re caring for over 1,200 individual tubers and nearly 60 different varieties! Tuber Sale So why do this discussion in February? Well, simply put, February is the month in which we hold our annual Dahlia Tuber Sale! By now, we know what inventory we’re carrying - we have a good idea of our excess in each variety (what we can offer to our clientele), and we’ve already assessed the overall health status of the tubers as they sleep. This year, we are offering 15 of our favorite varieties. Plus, this year, if you spend over $50, we’ll include an extra tuber as your free gift. Dahlia Workshops Would you like to plant dahlias this year but have never grown them before and are feeling unsure or overwhelmed about where to start? We offer two workshops for you to learn how to plant, care, and winterize your dahlias. So, whether you grow them as annuals (a much easier method that doesn’t include digging them up in the fall) or replant them each year from your own tuber stock, we offer a course which should help you in your endeavors. We are here to help!

Our annual blog reflection on the victories and challenges of the 2025 growing season

2025 Year End Reflection

By Christopher Kane • January 1, 2026

Shepherd's Gate 2025: A Year of Resilience, Growth, and New Blooms

Feel free to get in touch with us. We will be happy to answer any questions about our services and products.

Shepherd's Gate Flower Farm

230 Meaderboro Rd.

Farmington, NH 03835

(603) 833-3424

Email Registration

Share by: