Winter Flowers.....just a thought.

Beyond my Bodacious Bouquets....
NO. I am not hoping for winter yet. I did wedding flowers on Friday with my own lovely flowers, but wanted to let you know I can do winter floral work as well, but not with my own flowers. Here are some photos of a variety of arrangements. Yes, my amatuer photography!

I have to limit the weddings I do, as we are already so swamped w/making bouquets for the weekend, can be hard to find time. But always willing to squeeze it in when I can, including anniversarys, wedding showers etc. No Bridezillas please.

RASPBERRIES, till we ran out.....

But should have them intermittently for a couple of weeks, then steady till frost. Me and the tractor tiller have been spending a lot of time together lately.
Boy, does the field look great. No more apologizing for 10 ft tall thistles....they're gone!
My summer crew has rescued the farm from the thistle, even if only for a week.
We try to plant everything in beds that are 4x 100, (that's feet) and leave 5 feet in between for the tractor. Because what the tractor can't do, we must do!

Summertime is flower time!

The daylilies seem to be a little early this year. I moved the festival back 2 weeks from last year, to catch them in full bloom, but might miss it again this year! They are gorgeous this year, loving all that extra rain. Daylilies are basically on their own here. We water a couple of times after planting, and then they are on their own. That's one of the reasons I love them, they don't NEED me.

We have about 124 varieties of daylilies at Earthworks. That seems to be about enough for anyone to find something they like. Stop out and stroll thru them.

Sweet Peas growing in the hoop house, stop by for a handful! I have to admit, that I, the successful propagator of most plants have in the past, had NO success with sweet peas. Could not get them to germinate, not sure why. After several failed attempts, this was destined to be my last. Normally, I won't try a plant that many times, but a simple plant like sweet peas, was not going to defeat me!

Hoping for a safer day today. Fell twice within an hour yesterday. First fell on my butt in the muddy field, ouch. Then an hour later fell trying to get off my bike as my shoe got stuck in the toe clip. Pavement is harder and scratches you up more than soil. Feeling it today! =(

Bouquet Day

Wednesday is Bouquet Day at EWG. Call ahead if you would like to pick up a fresh cut armload bouquet. Cost is $15.00 please call by 9am. We don't have refrigeration in the field,
but they are ready to pick up by noon, and the sooner the better. Please don't email an order unless it is a full day ahead, or I may not see it in time.

Diane, Master of the Bodacious Bouquet 382-9337

Good Guy or Bad?

A very good friend indeed. Above is the juvenille Green Lacewing. Big eater of bad insects.
Shape is similar to that of the ladybug juvenille.

This is the adult Lacewing. I see them periodically, but not to often. They aren't as plentiful as Ladybugs, and they are in 'camo' so harder to notice. They are just out there doing their job.

So let's narrow down the list of desirable garden helpers. Spiders, Lace wings, Lady bugs (#1)
earthworms.......and that's about it. There are a few more but fairly insignificant.

Look out for this Guy!

Yuk and yuk! Above is an insect that is devasting to squash plants, which include pumpkins.
The moth below, lays it's eggs on or near the crown of the plant. They hatch and burrow in. Then the damage starts as they feed their way down a vine. The brown stuff, caterpiller 'poop' seen above can be seen on the outside of the vine, if it looks fresh....the offender is close by. Open up a paper clip and stab it into the vine trying to kill it. If you don't find it right away, the plant, all or part of it may be dead. Usually, if you are paying attention, you should notice 'one' vine dying, that would be your clue. Besure to slit it open and find the insect(s) and kill. If you catch it early and the plant still looks like it can recover use the paperclip stab method.

The moth hides in the day, and flys at night, very sneaky. You may occasionally stir them up if you're working in the plants. If you ever scare up a sleeping moth, try to follow and kill, they usually don't fly that far as they were sleeping, kill kill! If the entire plants looks bad, and the leaves are discolored, it is more likely a 'whole plant' problem, like a virus or disease. FYI, leaves of melon and squash plants often appear withered, hanging in the hot sun. This does not mean they are dried out or dying. Plants are smart, they are hanging their leaves to reduce the leaf tissue exposed to the sun, to reduce their water loss. Who knew they were so functional? If they don't look recovered in the morning, then they maybe do need water!

Zucchini for sale today with green beans, lettuce, and the last of the pea pods and sugar snaps.

See you at the farm!

Next Year....Strawberries

Next year we will have strawberries for sale at the farm. Lots of folks asking for them this year.
Above photo is from my farm operation by Rochester. We had 2 acres in these beauties. Originally it was intended to be a PYO. And, found most people wanted MTPFT (me to pick for them!) There were a few that did pick their own...one in the pail, one in the mouth, one in the pail, one in the mouth. You get the picture. That was really hard to tolerate for me, and hard to resist for them! I will be doing pre-picked only, as I only will have about 6oo ft. of them. Everything at Earthworks Gardens is in feet! One hundred of this 250 of that. Growing June Strawberries is not complicated, but does require task through out the season.
Let me lay it out for you!
1. planting year, is your established year. All flowers/berries should be removed the first year to allow the mother plant to develop.
2. Should see runner development, scoot them into your row, & plant them leaving attached
3. After planting your patch, place straw around the base of the plants.
4. Can fertilize some, but stop by early Aug.
5. Cover plants completely with straw in Nov., about 6-12 "
6. In early April, start to remove straw. I usually did it in 2-3 stages, each time removing some, gradually introducing the plants back to the sun. If you have new growth developing, and remove all at once, a sunny day could easily scorch all the new tissue.
7. When removing straw, leave it piled around the plants, walk paths. In case of late frost, try to cover them up with the straw you left handy. Frost can result in black spots on the flowers, and misshapen fruits.
8. Year 2. let all the flowers go and develop fruits. May need to use bird netting to keep those pesky robins out. Be advised they can get tangeld in it. If the netting lays directly on the plants, they just sit on it and feast. Use stakes or something to hold it above the plants.
9. Pick only berries that are fully ripe, they will not ripen after picking.
10. Fertilize after done picking.
11. By mid Aug. mow down your plants with a lawn mower at the highest setting, do not mow off the 'crown' but the foliage. This rejuvenates the plants. No later than mid-August, as the plants then set set the buds for next year. So mowing in Sept, you mow off the buds which are next years berries.
Very basic stuff here, more specific ques email me ddenise58@msn.com

Happy 4th of July

We are CLOSED TODAY, enjoy the holiday! Open Monday 10-6.