Keeping those annoying pest away

We always have a lot of people asking "how do I keep rabbits out of my garden? or "My cat out of my flower bed?" or "the dog from laying in or digging around my plants?" So I would like to offer some ideas to you, the gardener, to keep your investment safe and so you don't get angry at your pet whom you normally love!

Critter Ridder

 A product we carry that's easy to use is called Critter Ridder. It works on cats, dogs, racoons, skunks, squirrels, and chipmunks. Just shake the granular mixture onto the soil and keep the critters away. Check out their website for more details.

 http://www.havahart.com/ourbrands/critter-ridder



If you don't have time to get out and pick up this amazing product, try one of these homemade recipes.

To repel dogs:
1 garlic bulb ground in blender
1 med. onion, chopped
1 L water
1 tsp tabasco

Let sit for a few hours, strain and pour into handheld sprayer and apply to areas where your dog digs or lays. It will need reapplying after rain and on occasion when needed.

Check out this link to our Pinterest board  for another homemade recipe for keeping rabbits away. 
 http://pinterest.com/huronridgeacres/onatural-pesticides/

Planning ahead when you plant!

There is nothing more rewarding than growing your own food and ending up with a great finished product.  For years Lorraine has had great success with this salsa recipe, so we decided to share it with you now, to make sure you plant the right ingredients.  We have all the produce you need here ready to plant in your garden for a summer harvest!

Hot and Chunky Summer salsa

8 c. peeled, chopped Roma/plum tomatoes

3 c.finely chopped banana pepper

6 jalapeno peppers, chopped

1 c.coarsely chopped gr.pepper

2 c. chopped onion

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 can black beans

2 cups corn

2 T dried basil (or sub fresh to taste)

2 T. salt

1 t.pepper

3 T sugar

1 t.cilantro dried (or fresh according to taste)

1/2 c.vinegar

1- 2 jars tomato paste

Mix together and cook approx. 1/2 once mixture is heated. Add tomato paste, depending on how thick you like salsa. Seal in hot jars or in canner for 20 min.. Makes approx 5 pints. 

Confetti Gardens

We've had this product around for a few years now, but want to tell you a bit more about it.  These 6" pots come with a combination of 3 different plants in them to create an instant hanging basket or container for you.... you don't have to guess what will grow nicely together, just plant it and voila!

There are a variety of different options.  This photo shows Carol with one of the purple combinations.  You can plant the confetti gardens in a container you already own or you can pick one of our many containers.  We love these Harmony containers (several different kinds available) as they have a large reservoir in the bottom for water to help keep you plants watered and looking great even if you are away for a few days.  Ideal for cottages too!

Congratulations also goes out to Candice Blyde who was the winner of our $40 gift card last week.  This is our final week of the $40 gift card give away so be sure to enter!!



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Recipe for Great Flower Beds All Summer Long

It's no secret that having great flower beds requires some good soil for your flowers and plants to grown in.  The question is what do you do when that great growing ground isn't just naturally there?  Don't worry we can help.

First off you need to take into account the ground you have.  If it's too heavy you will want to add some peat moss to help lighten the soil.  This will help the roots to grow more easily and also aid with drainage.  If your soil is too sandy you can add bags of top soil and black earth.  This will help the ground to retain water.  No matter the kind of ground you have, it's always a great idea to add some sort of compost - sheep manure is ideal and does a great job.   You might also want to consider working some slow release fertilizer into the soil as well.  All of these products are available in our retail center and come with instructions about how much to use for the size of your flower bed. I think you will be pleased with the results if you take the time to really work the ground well before you plant in it this spring.   Our staff is also on hand to answer any questions you may have about prepping your flower and vegetable gardens.

Also - don't forget about our $40 gift card give aways!  This week is week 3!  Please be sure to enter to win. a Rafflecopter giveaway

Many Thanks

A big thank you to everyone who came out this weekend to support us in our 40th Anniversary Celebrations and Open House.  It was a great weekend.  A special thank you to our Mayor - Bill Dowson,  our MPP - Lisa Thompson and our MP - Ben Lobb who were all on hand for the cutting of our cake on Sunday afternoon!

It was also neat to have on hand both the Member of Parliment from 1973 when we opened, as well as our current member.  Here's a photo of former MP - Bob McKinley enjoying a chat with MP - Ben Lobb.

Thanks again to everyone!

Congratulations also to our $40 gift card winner from last week - Steve Donohue.  There are 3 more weeks you can enter to win!  Enter often!!

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40th Anniversary Celebrations and Sweepstakes!

We would like to invite you all to come to the greenhouse this weekend for our annual Spring open house and to celebrate our 40th Anniversary of being in the greenhouse business! We've come a long way from our original wooden structures that we erected in the winter of 1972-1973!

Early 1973

Current day

This Sunday afternoon at 2pm we will be cutting the 'Anniversary Cake' - with both Mayor Bill Dowson and MPP Lisa Thompson. We invite you to bring your whole family and join us.

To help celebrate this landmark year, we have some great promotions that we are really excited about!  We'll be announcing new ones each Thursday.  If you aren't on our email list you can sign up to receive the newsletter by dropping us an email at info@huronridge.ca - Put "Newsletter" in the subject.  Incase you missed it,  here are this weeks specials.

We are also excited to announce a special online sweepstakes.  Each week we will be giving away
one - $40 gift card to a lucky contestant.  There are quite a few ways to enter.

The details are listed below.  Be sure to check back each week, as we will be drawing a new winner every Sunday during the month of May!

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