On this page, I will add notes about how the gardens are coming along, what plants are doing particularly well, what chores we are doing, and how we are coping with Indiana's often erratic weather!
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April 2, 2005 |
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We're OPEN! Although the weather has been less than ideal, the farm has been welcoming lots of visitors, eager for the first plants of spring. Our first daffodils opened yesterday, which was a treat. After the radio show this morning, I hurried back to the farm to prepare for the afternoon's workshop, "Planting a Spring Basket". What a treat to combine cheery pansies, jewel-toned primroses, fragrant stock and alyssum, and happy violas into "movable gardens"! After everyone left, and the farm was closed for the day, I made a few more just for the fun of it! The birds and frogs were singing, I sipped a glass of wine as I worked, and had a great opera CD on to keep me company. Does life get any better? |
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March 20, 2005 |
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SPRING arrived officially at 7:34 a.m. today. It's an overcast day, but the birds are singing, and several more crocus have opened. The early yellow snow crocus (yes, they are STILL blooming beautifully!) have been joined now by purple, white, and striped giant crocuses, so we have more color! Lots of daffodils are up now, and many are beginning to show buds, so they will be opening soon with cheery golden brilliance. As I look out the office window, I see hundreds of branches still lying on the ground, waiting for an energetic person to come move them from the lawn and gardens. One of these days....Right now, we are too busy in the greenhouses to worry about branches. Can't believe Opening Day (April 1st) is only a few days away, and there is still so much to do! The first of our hellebores in pots are beginning to bloom, as well as some of the miniature coral bells. The pansies are growing nicely, and should be blooming by the time we open. I'm still seeding lots of annuals, and we are transplanting and potting at record pace. I LOVE this time of year!
We sent out the March e-newsletter this week, made new displays in the barn, took two loads of cardboard to recycling, and began putting signs and labels in the plants in the coldframe. We transplanted over 2700 plants in one day, so that was well over our 1,000 a day goal, and helped make up for the day I took off to go to the Michigan Herb Conference. We're actually about on schedule! |
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Feb. 20, 2005 |
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Our FIRST CROCUS of 2005 opened today--in fact, several patches of bright yellow snow crocuses are decorating my deck garden. They are 3 weeks earlier than last year, so maybe that is a good sign! Seeded statice today, and several more seed orders arrived. We are still having below normal temperatures though. The Spring newsletter has gone off to the mailer, so it should be arriving in your mailboxes around March 1. Now I'm working on the Feb. E-newsletter, which should go out in a day or two. |
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Feb. 9, 2005 |
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Well, the groundhog saw his shadow, and we have 6 more weeks of winter. Today we are having a very pretty snowfall. All the trees are frosted nicely, and Currier & Ives couldn't make it more beautiful. I hope all of you survived the ice storm of last month. We were without power for nearly 6 days. Fortunately, we have a generator for the greenhouses, so all was well there. David's boy scout training came in handy for cooking all our meals on the grill, although he found that doing toast took some perfecting. We played lots of rummy by candlelight, and listened to our battery-operated radio. I spent time in the greenhouse, where it was warm, and I had my electric teapot over there as well.
Things are progressing nicely. I just sent the Spring newsletter off to the printer, the greenhouse is filling with plants, and the first of the new product for the Big Barn Gift Shop is beginning to arrive. I found lots of "good stuff" at the shows in January. Also spoke at the Illinois Specialty Growers conference, so it was a very busy month. As soon as I get some new articles written, and locate some pictures we will be updating the website with the 2005 schedule, etc.
My crocuses are up nearly 3", so I think the next warm spell will bring them into bloom. We have lots of clean up to do from the branches that fell during the ice storm. In the meantime, I am enjoying the primroses that are beginning to come into bloom in the greenhouse. I plan to bring some over to put in a basket on the coffeetable. They flourish in low-light situations, and bloom for a long period. We should have lots of colors when we open April 1st. Can't believe it is only 7 weeks away! I'd better get busy! |
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Jan. 4, 2005 |
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Another year! The New Year seems to come more quickly! I feel as if we just closed the farm, and already we are knee-deep in planning for spring! The pansies and violas have been seeded and are doing nicely. I've continued to take cuttings, keeping the propagating mats filled constantly, so the greenhouse is filling already with new plants. Today as I worked, the pretty blooms on the flowering maples kept catching my eye. The circles of red or pink, and a few orange, fill the branches, putting on quite a show! The rosemary bushes are already starting to bloom as well, and the flowers turn the branches into blue arms reaching for the gray sky. We havn't had much sun lately, but at least all this rain wasn't snow, so there are no complaints here! Well, I need to take the Christmas tree down, and pack all the decorations away again. Always a depressing day, so I guess I'll have to bake something to lift my spirits! Hope you had a Happy New Year, and that 2005 is filled with herbal blessings for you and yours! Carolee |
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