WOWOWOW!!! And THANK YOU!! Our Grand Opening weekend was a wild ride indeed! It was great to see so many people talking about so MANY different parts of farm and garden life! We had great music, great participation by our local vendors, spectacular cut flower arrangements, all kinds of people asking all kinds of questions and so much more. Truly – THANK YOU to everyone who helped to make it such a spectacular day!
And the energy and the conversations continue... Fruit Trees & Soil Health
We’re highlighting fruit trees this coming weekend and for the following week. Bare root apple and peach trees arrived mid-week – check HERE for the list and we’ll use Saturday morning (4/28, 10-11:30 am) to plant a bare root apple tree – in the not-so-great surroundings of our roadside edge so that you can see how to adapt the information needed to grow a healthy fruit tree to your own (perhaps!!) challenging soil conditions. There’s the perfect world of how to do it just right – and then there’s the real world!! We’re heavily into the real world here at the store... Saturday afternoon (4/28, 1-2:30 pm) will be a class on how to manage the whole tree for healthy fruit through time... be sure to sign up since class size is limited. And be sure to reserve specific varieties of trees – once they’re gone, they’re gone. The bare root trees will be available for the next week and after that, we’ll have to pot them up for their own safety and health.
And that’s only the beginning of the wide variety of plants that are coming into the nursery right now! We’ve had several shipments and are expecting several more. As an example: There’s a really wide range of berry and fruiting plants of all kinds in both starter sizes and more finished classic nursery stock sizes. An example is the blueberries – we have 3-year starter plants and 5-year-old 1⁄2 mature plants ready to provide fruit this year for you to pick... This allows everyone to pick out what size/price suits them best!
But there are more than plants at the store – there are baby chicks! Make sure you reserve your favorite breed (and we can even order ducklings as a special order -just ask.). These super cute babies gave us the idea to run another
Facebook photo contest – baby farm animals!!! So – for the month of May, 5/1- 5/31 (that has Mother’s Day right in the middle of it – appropriate don’t you think!), we’re hosting a contest for all of those intrepid homesteaders and farmers that have baby animals from all over the livestock world; goat kids (our personal favorite!), lambs, calves, foals, crias, ducklings, chicks, goslings, piglets – you get the drift. You don’t even have to own the mamas – you might be a neighbor or a friend and good with a camera... And - this is for farm animals only – we love the dogs, cats, and house animals as much as you do but there are other contests for them You’ll get a chance to vote on your favorite photo and we’ll announce the winner on June 1st – an excellent way to start the summer season! First place winner will get a gift basket targeted to the species that wins.
Now for a quick look at soil health – a topic of immense interest because every healthy plant, animal, and human being is dependent on healthy soil at the bottom of the whole wonderful exercise of eating. Heck of a concept isn’t it? This is coming up because there has been so much discussion in the store with people about lawns and gardens and how to manage them.
One thing to be aware of is how many of our expectations are determined by advertising. Why am I starting there? Because those expectations are often at the bottom of our decision tree (for all kinds of things of course but super true for lawns and gardens!). All of the standard options for fertilizer are available at the store but I wanted to highlight the regenerative/organic options available. These include some really decent organic lawn fertilizers. But, what’s even more interesting is the garden fertilizers. Personally, I’ve used North Country Organics Pro-Gro for over 30 years (often mixed with other supporting elements – see the Mineral Mixing Day below) and find it to be one of the best fertilizers.
There’s also the full Espoma line with Plant-tone and Holly-tone at the top of that list. Espoma’s Biotone is going to be part of the bare root planting demonstration. The rest of the list is too long to list here but come into the store and check out the options. We can walk you through all kinds of ways to wake up in-ground and raised beds. We even just got a raised bed delivered to become part of the plant side yard. Nothing like a demonstration garden to really make a point!!! We’ll host a “ Starting a Raised Bed Right” class once we figure out placement etc.
Upcoming Classes May 6: 10:00- 11:30 Mineral Mixing Day ($15 plus cost of mix) New England soils are very old and damaged soils – but you can change that!!! Learn how to mix a complex mineral, microbe food, and stone dust mix that gets added to all kinds of soil to bring your soil back to life. You will actually mix the mix yourself and take it home for your garden(s). Ask all kinds of questions too!! Space is limited so reserve early. The cost of the mix (weighed out individually at the end of the workshop) is to be determined by current delivered prices. Limit 12 per session May 20: 10:00-11:30 Herbs: How to Grow and Harvest – Carrie Novak ($15) You may have noticed the catnip mice at the store... Carrie loves her herbs - especially her catnip! She’s going to walk you through the basics of growing AND harvesting quality herbs for both food and fun! Limit 12 per session
June 10: 1:00-2:30 Growing in Containers ($15 plus the cost of container and plants) Hands–on. All sorts of plants can be grown in containers – even corn and carrots! Learn about soil mixes and fertilizer support needed for successful – not to mention spectacular - container gardens. You’ll be able to pick from several containers and plant combinations and will take a container home with you. Limit 12
As you can see, there is a lot going on! We look forward to your visit and your questions!
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