On the Cusp of Blooming (Country Living Connoisseur)


Pull Up a Chair

I walked into the greenhouse yesterday and just stood there. The strawflower's cracking open, the gomphrena's showing off in magenta and white, a whole bed of lisianthus is coming in this gorgeous neutral I didn't know I wanted until I saw it, and the dahlias are so tightly budded they look ready to burst. We're right on the cusp of all of it happening at once.

This spring, I was at my friend, Mark Schaeffer's marketing retreat called Uprising — this is one of my never-miss weeks — and Dana Malstaff, who built the Boss Mom movement and community, had us answer one question: "What kind of world do you want to live in?"

My answer: I want to live in a world...

  • Where getting older feels like an upgrade, not a decline.
  • Where whatever's next is your chance to flourish, not just get by.
  • Where "it's too late" gets replaced with "what's next!"

That's what we're actually building here, underneath the flowers and the rescued animals and the eggs. A place — and we hope, a community — for people who'd rather see what's next as an unfolding than a slow shrivel into less. We're on the cusp of it, too, same as the dahlias. Buds tight. Working at it a little at a time, in the early mornings and the in-between hours, alongside full-time jobs we genuinely love.

If you're somewhere on your own cusp — sensing there's more ahead but not sure exactly what — come stand in the greenhouse with us a while. You don't need the whole picture. Just water what's in front of you today.

Jules & Lane

Photos: Greenhouse overview, Lisianthus, Salmon Strawflower, Gomphrena, Feverfew and Amaranth before the bloom, Dahlia bud

Out in the Garden

Maximizing Blooms

Not every flower in the garden gets cut the same way. Some get pinched back hard for more blooms, some just need deadheading, and some you just cut plain and simple, no fuss involved. I put together a full guide breaking down which flowers go in which bucket — it's up on the blog now, link below.

Tuck it in Your Pocket

A pinch isn't a setback. It's a bet that more blooms are coming. — Jules

Have a question you'd love me to answer? A project you're proud of? Something inspiring you've seen? I’d love to hear it—and it might just show up in a future newsletter.

We’re building something beautiful here, together. Now that's BombDiggity!

Here’s to designing a flourishing life,


360 Bethlehem Lane, La Follette, TN 37766
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Country Living Connoisseur: Designing a Flourishing Life

Design a Fourishing life—one bloom, one barn, one bite at a time. The Country Living Connoisseur newsletter delivers farm-fresh inspiration, vintage charm, and real talk from Sweet Bombdiggity Farms, straight to your inbox every other week.

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