Zinnia Madness!

Uncle Jimmy and Cousin Jackie - Father and Daughter - Out standing in their field!

Every year, there are about 6,000 Zinnias planted at Sunset View Farm.

I would have said that every year, we plant 6,000 zinnias — except we don't. Instead, we get a whole bunch of happy helpers to join in on the fun.

I like to joke that only my parents could get 15 people to show up voluntarily to work in the fields for a whole morning. And not only that, but to say thank you for such a great party afterward!

That party would be Zinnia Madness, my parents' annual June tradition, where friends and family come from far and wide across the garden state (and sometimes farther) to plant the fields in exchange for rather dirty but cheerful company, a hearty meal on the porch, and of course, a free bouquet or two when the fruit of the day's labor comes into all its summer glory.

My dad, Farmer Andy, documented the fun this year and couldn't resist captioning the photos (must be a dad thing). We thought you'd enjoy coming along for the ride.

The pre-setting "Weeding Team" gets right to the "Prep for Field" task of making sure that we just plant zinnia plants without any weeds!

Maria making a delivery to the "Field Team" on "cubby". The 1952 Farmall Cub!

Rosie and Jimmie getting to work on the "Yellow" Row.

Busy bees in the "Field Team"

Many hands make work light!

The "Pinch" extraction ! Gotta save those cups for NEXT year!!

The Insertion! A baby Zinnia Finds its home!

Ok Ok - We even got time to weed some of the 6,000 Dahlia plants!

Moving right along...

The lunch bus!

Weenies after a hard day in the field!

The French Fry cutter got a lot of attention after the field work!

Some of the crew! A few are missing. What a great team!

And in a couple months . . . they'll be back for the spoils!