2021 has come and gone. Whenever I reflect on the past year, I’m always surprised at how much we accomplished! Sometimes things happen so gradually that you don’t realize everything you did until you put it all together.
My business goals for 2021 were to give a name to our farm, grow more flowers, and sell at the farmers market, while my personal goals were to make time for reading, writing, and art, and stay physically active.
We did give a name to our farm: Hartnett Farm! It’s not the most creative name – believe me we went back and forth with so many “fun” names – but we settled on just using our last name to keep things simple. We plan to show our creativity in other ways, such as the logo that I’m hoping to have designed in 2022! We sold bouquets at a small farmer’s market on Wednesdays from July through September and it was a very good experience. We made some good connections there and actually sold a few bulk orders. We supplied flowers for two small weddings and two small events. This season definitely had challenges with dry weather and pest pressure, but we were still able to deliver our product throughout the season.
I made time for reading this year by having an accountability partner! I’ve been reading the “A Court of Thorns and Roses” series with my friend and it helps keep me on track if I know she has finished reading it and is waiting to discuss it with me. We have fun discussing characters and plot in a casual way. We are on the last book of the series now, so we will have to decide what to read next! I also made some progress on my short story this year – I’m now at 6,000 words. I wasn’t able to much else in terms of “art”, but I did make mixed bouquets for market each week this summer, so that was definitely a creative outlet.
I was able to stay physically active all year doing Pilates. I love the Blogilates videos on YouTube and find her calendars so helpful and easy to follow. Cassey is constantly challenging her viewers with new moves and combinations and I never dread my daily workout.
Here are some highlights of 2021!
- January
- We painted the office in our basement. Since Greg is working from home for the foreseeable future, we gave that room a facelift to make it more his own.
- February
- We officially registered Hartnett Farm as an LLC!
- Visited my family in North Carolina for a delayed Christmas gathering.
- March/April
- We got our Covid vaccines!
- We mulched our landscaping and it looks so much better and the weeds are manageable instead of out of control.
- May
- Planted my seedlings outside in the flower field.
- June
- We got sheep tenants! Someone was looking for a place for his sheep and we offered to have them stay on 2 acres of our fenced property. They are very well behaved and cute.
- Greg’s parents visited.
- Attended my friend Caitlin’s bridal shower in New Jersey and brought flowers to decorate.
- July
- Sold bouquets at our first farmer’s market!
- I traveled to NYC for my friend Niki’s bachelorette and bridal shower.
- Attended my friend Caitlin’s wedding in New Jersey and I supplied the flowers for the bride and bridesmaid’s bouquets.
- August
- Greg sprained his ankle while playing basketball.
- September
- Attended my friend Niki’s wedding in New Jersey.
- Celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary.
- Finished the farmer’s market season.
- October
- Visited New River Gorge National Park for the first time
- Went to an outdoor concert in Richmond: Mt. Joy and Trampled by Turtles
- Greg’s brother visited (we hiked Old Rag, visited Montpelier, saw Natural Bridge, and visited Mount Vernon)
- December
- Celebrated Christmas back home in Central New York.
Thanks for reading!
-Rebecca
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