Leave the Bees alone!

10 March 2016

Phillip

Top 10 easiest vegetables to grow

16 April 2014

Phillip

As growing your own food has now become in style again, I’m often asked many of the same questions by new gardeners. Gardening shouldn’t be something that is dreaded, but rather an enjoyable activity. In order to make it enjoyable you need to make it as easy as possible. Our raised bed gardens are one of the easiest ways to start small and help keep gardening simple. If you need a little help and/or advice along the way our garden coaching services can give you the necessary help to be successful. This blog will focus on one of he most common questions of new gardeners…”what should I grow”.

Number one on my recommendations is to grow vegetables that you like to eat. If you enjoy a certain veggie, you’re more apt to take more care to help it grow to maturity. After you feel comfortable in your growing abilities, then try new plants. Expand you pallet with vegetables that you’ve never tried, or have only eaten as processed items. I’ve heard it a hundred times….”I never knew a ___ tasted like that!”

When you are looking for easy to grow vegetables…these are my top ten.

Lettuce. Quick to germinate, and with little care you’ll be eating fresh salad within 30 days
Peas. An early season plant that does well in cool weather. You’ll be rewarded with weeks of fresh peas.
Radish. Another early season plant that will give you edible food in a little more than a month
Potatoes. An easy plant it and forget it vegetable. Plus you get the bonus of a long harvest, starting with baby potatoes in July
Beans. Whether you like green or yellow, there is a bean that will appeal to your tastes.
Cucumber. Once these babys start producing in mid-summer, you’ll be eating fresh cucumbers for the rest of the year.
Tomato. Probably a must have for every garden. Hundreds of choices in size, shape and flavor…you’ll be sharing with friends.
Cabbage. Don’t be intimidated by these giants. Easy to grow, and delicious when eaten fresh.
Carrots. Plant an early crop and again in July..and you’ll be amazed by the flavor of a fresh carrot pulled straight from the ground.
Squash. A larger late season plant that will be produce an abundance of fruit, that can be stored for months.

There’s my quick list of ten easy to grow vegetables. You can add or subtract from this list, and get yourself some fruit bearing plants started. …after all, you’ll want some dessert with those veggies!

A Spring Poem

24 March 2014

Phillip

I recently came across this poem that I had not seen for years. I was in High School when I first read it, and had little or no appreciation of poetry at that time. What triggered the memory was learning that the Poet, Robert Frost…was a farmer as well as teacher and poet. Thinking in high school that I was always going to be a farmer, his autobiography was something I gravitated towards. His poem(or prayer), “A Prayer in Spring” has a deeper and more enjoyable meaning to me now. I hope you will enjoy the words of his poem along with pictures from our Garden Center.

A Prayer In Spring

(Robert Frost 1915)

 Oh give us pleasure in the flowers today
 And give us not to think so far away
 As the uncertain harvest- keep us here
 All simply in the springing of the year.

Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white
Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night
And make us happy in the happy be
The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.

And make us happy in the darting bird
That suddenly above the bees is heard
The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill
And off a blossom in mid air stands still.

For this is love and nothing else is love,
The which it is reserved for God above
To sanctify to what far ends He will,
But which it only needs that we fulfill.

Growing your food organically

11 February 2013

Phillip

I see the number of customers constantly growing at the local organic food store in Rochester. This is not some fringe group of people, but they are your friends, neighbors and family. We all want to eat healthier, but many of us have the idea that organic gardening is difficult. You see and read everyday, how organically grown vegetables and fruits are good to eat. All of this, isn’t really as hard as you think it might be. Vegetables especially, can be grown in a number of different ways and still be organic. Probably the easiest way is to grow them in some type of container. A container can be anything as simple as a flower pot, to something as large as a raised garden. In order to stay true to the organic concept, you need to start with organic soils. Luckily there are more and more companies that sell organic soils.

My personal favorite is a brand called Organic Mechanics. It is an all natural soil with worm castings as a natural fertilizer. Along with an organic soil, you will need to look for organic seed or started plants. Vegetables that need warm weather to thrive are usually best purchased as plants. All of these items can be purchased at Viola Nursery and Greenhouse. We can also provide you with garden coaching to help you be successful. Growing organically isn’t any more difficult than using chemicals on your garden. With a little research, and a stop at your local garden center, you’ll be enjoying all the flavor and benefits of growing your own organic food.