Trade Secrets Plant Sale

Big plant sale this past weekend. It benefits Women's Support Services, a "Worthy Cause" to be sure. Martha Stewart came through our booth, apparently all of her heirloom tomatoes are doing just fine...so she did not need to supplement.

The hottest sellers were probably Sun Gold Cherry tomatoes and Brandywines, though we have one customer who comes each season and buys 54 SanMarzano Paste tomatoes; they plant over 100 tomatoes for themselves...they are eating, freezing and keeping them and swore to me that none go to waste...I love it... passionate gardeners keep us in business!! Of course our Nasturtium hanging baskets almost all sold out too, just goes to show...tomatoes and old fashioned flowers are the way to go!!!

We of course had a huge display and as always came back with lots. There is probably someone out there who studies the effect of dwindling display, no one like to think they are getting the picked over goods. We never seem to have that at our Markets and plants sales. We always think big and bring the full diversity of what we have to offer.

Thank goodness for the sunny day and the stonewall behind our tent, it showed off baskets and containers so nicely.

Vegetable and heirloom tomato displays...we carry 24 varieties of heirloom tomato plants...definitely our most popular greenhouse crop.

We went through over 100 cardboard trays in the 6 hours of sales...Leo keeping on task!!!

They look good, they taste good, so many lovely nasturtium basket went to new homes.

Spring! Spring! Spring!

Lael and her friend Eleanor plant pansies by the front door

They look so lovely!!!!




The Lilacs are in bloom and they smell so great...too bad their season is so short!

This torenia is blooming in the Greenhouse...it is so beautiful!!!! It does well in sun or part shade....we have it in a magenta color as well.


Spring is full of blooming things...though the daffodils are past, violets of all colors are in all the woods, even some of the Solomon's Seal is blooming. With all the warm weather that we have been having, things are coming on a bit earlier than usual. Two of our three Farmer's Markets start this week...Hudson and Lenox.


We have been harvesting Arugula and Mesclun this week and look forward to selling lots of it this weekend. Plant sales are going well also...This is the first week that the Heirloom tomato plants are ready. While Brandywine and Striped German are the most popular plants, I am excited about Tigerella, Wapsipicon Peach, and First Light. I will trial them in a small garden plot to see if they are good enough to go out into the fields next year. We only let the proven winners go into production!!!

Nettles

We all went out with our gloves on and our bags open, ready to harvest the nettle by the stream. I prepared them into a delicious twist on an Italian favorite...Stinging Nettle and White Bean Soup.......Why not.

Delicious surprises we find all around us.