Lorraine's choice of the week

This is a great product that we've had for a few years. I like to try out items we carry to see if they do what they say. This is one product that works amazing. Follow the instructions, hang it up and let it do it's job. We eat outside alot and this "ate" flies, berry bugs, and hornet/wasps. You can even use it inside for fruit flies!

That's why it's my choice of the week!

Hours

Our extended spring hours end today. Beginning tomorrow we are back to our regular year round hours which are: Monday - Saturday 9-5 Closed Sundays. Thank you for a great May! We would not be successful without you, the faithful gardener. Coffee. Garden. Coffee. Does a good morning need anything else? ~Betsy Cañas Garmon

Fertilizer

Don't forget to fertilize once you plant those beautiful plants. Plants need to be fertilized because most soil simply doesn't provide the nutrients required for optimum growth. Even if you are lucky enough to have great garden soil, your plants absorb nutrients as they grow and leave the soil less fertile. By fertilizing, you ensure that your plants have the proper nutrients to flourish, day in and day out. This is even more important when planting containers.

Fertilizer comes as a powder that you add to water or in granular form. Measure accurately or you could burn the roots and foliage. We recommend that you apply the granular fertilizer right after planting then after a month or so, fertilize with water soluble and continue this every week to every other week throughout the season for excellent looking plants. Or you can reapply the granular fertilizer half way through the summer. Adding compost to gardens and beds is also a great way to add the much needed nutrients to your soil. Feeding your plants regularly gives you great -looking, strong plants that will last all season and produce beautifully. I am told that abundant and rank weeds are signs of a rich soil,

but I have noticed that a thin poor soil grows little but weeds.

Charles Dudley Warner

My summer in a Garden, 1871

Bunnies

I never understood the frustration the gardener has with bunny rabbits until now. I always sympathized but now I understand! Our dog Maggie, died in the fall and I never realized how much she did. She didn't just laze around, she was keeping the pesty little bunnies and other annoying creatures away from my garden! I told Kevin either we need a dog or a fence. A fence it is...for now anyway. It's too late for my broccoli and pak choi but I can plant more, after the fence is up!

Perhaps we should form a support group called "NAB"...."No Annoying Bunnies". :)

If you have something that works for you and your little pests other than a dog or fence, I'd love for you to leave a comment.

The weather is looking up!

I hope everyone had a lovely holiday weekend despite the cool. This coming weekend sounds like a beautiful one with comfortable temperatures.

We have a sale on pansies - $9.99 a flat or $0.99 per 4 pak, pots of violas - $0.99, poppies, columbine and primula - $0.99, and odds and ends of perennials from last year and before, that we're clearing out.

Frost Warning

Some of you may have planted some tender, little plants in your outdoors. Tonight the weather man is calling for -1 temps so frost is probably a likely happening. If you have pots of flowers, I would recommend covering them or bringing them into a warmer area for the night. If you have plants in your garden like tomatoes and peppers, you should cover them with a light blanket or place upside down pots over top of them. Use stones or bricks to make sure they stay. A general rule of thumb is to cover plants by 8 pm then uncover by 8 am. Hopefully this is helpful.

Mothers

This is my mom. Now that I'm a mom, I appreciate her so much more. I think this is true with a lot of women.Being a mom is a hard job. Sometimes you have to be the tough, mean mom when you really just want to be the cool, hip friend. I can think of many times growing up when I promised myself that I'd be the coolest mom ever but now I know that's just not possible if you want to be a good mom. Don't get me wrong...we can be cool and fun too but there are times we will have to be "mean" and our kids will not like us but that's ok because they will come around.

Anyway, enough about that, I was going to extol the virtues of my mom! She has been married to one man, my dad for almost 54 years and has been his helpmate all along. They were dairy farmers for many years and still grow crops and live on the farm. Mom loves to garden and has many pots of flowers, a small vegetable garden and lots of grass to mow. She enjoys having the grandkids come and stay from a few hours to a few days and is always willing to babysit. Once in a while, for fun, she will come to the greenhouse and help us on a busy day. I am amazed at the energy she still has!

She lives, loves and laughs, content to be near and around family and has kept us surrounded by her prayers.

As Mother's Day approaches, remember your mom. Some of you can only do that in your memory...it still counts. Perhaps you have a mother-figure in your life. Whoever your mom is, take time to tell her how much she means to you.

To all you "Moms" out there, have a great Mother's Day!

Heritage tomatoes

We are growing a variety of Heritage tomatoes,

from purple/black to lime green and yellow.

"A heritage or heirloom tomato is one of many old varieties from which seeds have been saved over the years and passed down from one generation to the next. Most tomatoes purchased in a grocery are hybrids. Hybrids have been bred to produce greater yields, uniformity, shipping durability and long shelf life - rather than flavor. Heritage tomatoes stand out first and foremost for their amazing flavors. They frequently have distinctive shapes, tastes and colors (purples, oranges, greens and yellows). Many of them are just as hardy and sturdy as hybrid varieties."

-taken from http://www.growgreattomatoes.com/

We began with a few last year and have added many more this year. Many thanks to my sister and brother-in-law who market gardened for a few years, testing and trying the heritage tomatoes. They have been a great help in ordering the seeds and giving their opinion as to which ones they liked the best.

Last year was not a very good growing year for tomatoes due to the extra moisture and cool weather we had. I know some where discouraged at how their plants grew(or didn't grow). I would encourage you not to give up after one year but to pursue this productive and delicious past-time. Each year is unique and will yield different results.

So give it a try again and enjoy the fruits of your labour!

Here are a few photos of what's growing here at Huron Ridge. The first two are petunias. Great for a full sun area.

These colourful plants are impatiens. Good for shade but can also grow in sun if watered enough.

Assorted patio pots and window boxes that are still growing and filling out. Not a lot of colour yet but it will come.

Here are some of the many hanging baskets grown here. Alot are filled with mixed plants.

We also have HB that are just geraniums, just petunias, just million bells and more. Come on out and take a look. We're open from

9-8 Monday to Friday, 9-5 Saturday and 1-5 on Sundays for the month of May.

Gardening is about enjoying the smell of things growing in the soil, getting dirty without feeling guilty, and generally taking the time to soak up a little peace and serenity.

~Lindley Karstens, noproblemgarden.com

Thank you!

A great big thanks to those who came out on the weekend to make our Celebrate Spring Openhouse a success. We had beautiful weather and bright sunshine most of the weekend. We're still celebrating and preparing the greenhouse with plants for you. The only difference is there are no donuts and juice. (I'm rather glad about that because it was much too tempting over the past couple of days to grab a donut as I walked by the refreshment table!)

Anyway, here we are in the first week of May! I think alot of you have been planting early cool weather seeds and plants such as peas, potatoes and pansies, the 3 p's! Everyone is anxious to plant peppers, tomatoes, etc but I'd caution you about that. We could still get frost and if we do, any tender plants such as basil, peppers, and cucumbers will not be happy. A general rule about safe planting is to wait until after the full moon in May and everything should be ok. Once in awhile, that rule is broken by nature herself and we do get a late frost.

So get your pots or ground ready, plant what you can and give it a couple more weeks to warm up.

The naked earth is warm with Spring,

And with green grass and bursting trees

Leans to the sun's kiss glorying,

And quivers in the sunny breeze.

~Julian Grenfell