Once again Mother Nature has proven that she rules and we lose!  She definitely had a few tricks under her sleeve this spring.  A snowstorm on April 13^th, heavy rain in May and then record heat the last of May.  Our spring crop didn’t know rather to hide or bolt!  Since we had such a mild winter, the pests are out in full force.  Our first plantings of squash, watermelon and cucumber was completely devoured by an army of cucumber beetles.  The only thing left on the hill was the stem.  It was pretty sad!  We often wonder with acres of trees, clover and weeds around our farm how that little old beetle targets a few certain plants in our garden.  Why don’t they go defoliate an oak tree or wild honeysuckle?   That is just one of those questions we will never have the answer to.

We are seriously thinking about just growing garlic.  You plant it in the late summer or early fall, it grows all winter, no pest bother it, you dig it mid summer, then sell it!  That sure sounds a lot easier than all the different crops we try to grow and fight the crazy weather patterns and onslaught of bugs we have had lately.

            On a positive note, we have one of the best-looking tomato crops we have ever had.  Even though we didn’t get our plants set out until Mother’s Day weekend, they have just taken off without looking back.  We have over 1,000 tomatoes in the ground right now with plans on planting a couple of hundred more for some later tomatoes.  We are anxious to see what some of the new varieties we are trying this year pan out.  As hot and dry as our summers have been lately, we hope the Mexico and Sioux hold up to their reputations. 

It looks like we are going to have a bumper crop of onions also.  We are growing the Texas Early Grano and Candy Onion again this year and they are some of the sweetest onions we have ever eaten.  Some of our customers think the Texas Grano is sweeter than a Vidalia.  We have planted about twice as much garlic as we had last year and some of the stalks are simply huge!   Our garlic is one of our best sellers.  You just can’t find fresh garlic around here and we think ours is some of the best you will ever try.

            For three years in a row we have tried growing broccoli and cabbage and never harvested a single head or bunch from our efforts because of problems with the weather or cabbage worms.  We said we would try it one more year and if we failed we were never growing them again.  Well it looks like we are actually going to have a small crop of broccoli and our cabbage seems to be holding on better than ever before.  We put a floating row cover over our cabbage to keep the cabbage moths at bay and that seems to be working.   Keep your fingers crossed!

HAPPENINGS AT THE FARM

            Our first ever hypertufa workshop was held on May 1^st and seemed to be a success.  Even though we had a 90% chance of rain and had to squeeze into Steve’s workshop, we think everybody enjoyed it and were proud of the planter they took home with them.  Our next hypertufa workshop will be held on July 10^th at 9:00 a.m.  The cost of the workshop is $25.00 with a $10.00 deposit required to hold your spot.  You will learn how to make a hypertufa pot and will take home one filled with succulents.  The workshop is limited to the first 10 people to sign up and we still have openings if you are interested.  Call us at the farm for more details.

            We also will hold a workshop on June 12^th at 9:00 a.m. to teach you how to make a moss-lined basket.  Lindy will be in charge of this event and it will be a hands-on program.   You will be making your own moss basket and filling it with flowers to take home.  The cost is $25.00 that you can pay the day of the workshop and is also limited to the first 10 people.  Call us to reserve your spot.

            The Murray Farmer’s Market started on May 29^th and will continue on through October 9^th every Saturday morning.  The success of the market depends on your support!  The more people that attend the market and support the vendors, the more vendors will be attracted to set up at the market.  Unless you are a vendor you have no idea how much time and work is involved getting ready for the market.  We sometimes start on the Thursday before and continue on through Friday just picking and washing vegetables.  Then we arise at 4:30 to 5:00 and start packing up the vehicles to set up by 7:00.  Then whatever we don’t sell has to be packed back up and brought back to the farm and put away.  It makes for a pretty long morning! 

            Along the same note, if you have been out to the farm lately you may have noticed our new banner that says “Kentucky Proud”.  This is a new promotion by the Department of Agriculture to try to get consumers to buy Kentucky grown and Kentucky made products.  This is a win-win situation for the growers and the consumers.  By purchasing Kentucky Proud products you are keeping your money in your own state boosting our state economy.  Your products are fresher, you know the grower and how they were grown, the products have not traveled long distances thus cutting down on gas consumption, and most important it is keeping your local family farm in operation.  We cannot stress enough how important this last point is.  More and more family farms are being taken over by big agricultural conglomerates and at the rate that is happening the family farm will soon be a thing of the past.  We are trying our best to make our farm a “family friendly” farm.  We have stared bringing in animals for children to see and hope to have a small petting zoo next year, we hold our annual fall celebration for families to bring their children for an afternoon of fun on the farm, we have a sandbox for children to play in while their parents look, we grow everything environmentally friendly so you don’t have to worry about any chemicals on our food or flowers and last but not least our business in run by a FAMILY which includes father, mother, daughters, sons, in-laws and you will even find grandchildren there on occasion.

            Steve is fulfilling his lifelong dream of having chickens so he can have fresh brown eggs.  We recently acquired two breeds of baby chickens, which we are raising, and hopefully by fall will be producing eggs for us.  He is hoping that the majority of his chickens are hens and not all roosters!  We are planning on them being free-range which means they will graze on our land and not be fed any steroids or harmful chemicals.  We will keep you posted on the progress of this latest adventure.

  CUT FLOWER SUBSCRIPTIONS

            We will soon be starting our cut flower subscriptions like we had last year.  The program involves us delivering a large fresh cut flower bouquet to your home or business each Monday starting June 14^th.  The program runs for 16 weeks at a cost of $10.00 a week.  We deliver the bouquet in a temporary container in water so it will stay fresh until you place it in your own vase.  Lindy does a beautiful job making the bouquets and uses flowers that hold up for several days.  To name a few our selection includes zinnias, snapdragons, sunflowers, statice, strawflower, sea lavender, love in a mist, gomphrena and perennial sunflower.   Some of our customers told us that if they change the water every couple of days their bouquets lasted for a week or longer.  With the cost of gas and the time involved delivering the bouquets we are limited to the immediate Murray area.  If you live outside of the Murray city limits give us a call and we will see what we can work out.

SUMMER SALE

            With temperatures hitting the low 80’s at the end of May, it seems spring must be over and summer has begun regardless what the calendar says.  Starting June 1^st we will start our summer sale.  All annuals, perennials, herbs, roses and shrubs will be 25% off.  We still have a lot of nice annuals left if you need to spruce up a bed or mixed pot.  It is not too late to plant shrubs, roses or perennials either.  Most herbs like hot weather so now would be a perfect time to put in that herb garden you have been wanting.  Enclosed is a coupon you can use at the farm to receive an additional 10% off during June, July or August.  You can use this coupon for purchasing plants or produce.

 FROM SUZANNE’S DESK

            We have been pleased with the traffic flow we have had at the business so far this year.  We hear so many positive comments from our customers, new and old, about how well our plants have performed for them or how much they enjoyed our green onions, etc.  On the other hand, the one comment we have heard over and over this year was from new customers who tell us they did not even know about Beans to Blossoms.  With our limited advertising budget we put ads in the paper on occasion but cannot put one in every week for sure.  We send out e-mails on a regular basis and everyone seems to enjoy our newsletter, which is no small project with the size of our mailing list now.  Despite all our efforts, the best advertising we can have is word of mouth.  If you are pleased with what we have to offer please tell everyone you know about us.  We feel we have the most unique selection of annuals, perennials and herbs of most nurseries in our area.  Add in our other products such as herbal soaps, cut flowers, organic produce, dried flowers, mixed pots, dried herbs, worm castings, organic potting soil, heirloom tomatoes, etc. what more could you ask for?  We also hope you will let us know if there is any changes you would like to see us make.  Granted, there are a lot of ideas we would like to pursue if time and energy would permit us but we will consider any idea or criticism you throw our way.  Send us an e-mail or share your thoughts with us next time you are at the farm.