Peonies

It smells so good in here! This season’s peony harvest is just about over, and the blooms are drying in our specially-designed racks.

The racks can slide on an overhead track made from garage door track, so we can fit a lot in a small space and still have good air flow. This is the 4th-generation drying setup. We started a few years back, hanging bunches of flowers in closets and on sawhorses, but ran out of room. Went to the garage attic. Too hot. Covered the greenhouse with tarps. Too hot. Built “The Drymaster” – ta-da, perfect. Every little design improvement and performance requirement was taken into consideration. The nerdy part of me loves how it all actually works now, as well as the right-brain part that loves being surrounded by flowers. It is the secret to the high-quality product we can produce without sacrificing the artisanal approach. Thanks to Chris Freund, owner of House Smart in Spring Grove, for bringing all the ideas to reality.