SUNFLOWERS 

32.4 degrees here on the mountain above Peacham Pond and there's no promise of sunshine for the next two days. Rain will turn to snow and by tomorrow we'll have 6" of wet snow to welcome us. The bad weather will include high winds as much as 40 mph so with the heavy snow, loss of electricity and bad travel are guaranteed.

This is the time of year we begin planting some annual flower seeds to transplant in the garden for use as cut flowers.  We start the seeds in flats inside the house  and later move to our small greenhouse when it's warmer and heating costs are lower. We typically hold off until just after Memorial Day to plant outside but in more recent years we have sorted out the weather before getting started. Recurrent cold weather of less than 30 degrees has been more common so it's worth the wait. If you haven't tried sunflowers before, here's an article from Johnnny's Seeds, a seed vendor I have used for +40 years. They have a nice selection. We plant some of the larger varieties along the fences and the road to serve as a customer magnet and then smaller flowered varieties to use in arrangements.   I'm including this advertisement from Johnnys because it's a good, one spot location to see a number of varieties. Johnnys isn't the only sunflower vendor out there, just one I have confidence in.

Savor the Summer with Sunflowers (johnnyseeds.com)

Vegetables

 

FIRST  TIME  VEGETABLE  GROWERS

If you have followed my writings over time, you have heard my praise of Johnny's Selected Seeds. I have used the Maine company for +30 years and have never had a criticism. Their website is an accurate display of everything they sell and the opportunities increase every year. The descriptions and images of vegetable and flower seeds are excellent and you know how many seeds you are ordering whether a packet, an ounce or more.  Flower farmers and vegetable growers,  farmer's market growers, wholesaler growers --name the grower profile and you'll find that they might well purchase seeds from Johnny's. Give them a look-see at https://www.johnnyseeds.com. Unlike some companies I have tried, their germination rates are always accurate.

In more recent times, Johnny's has added a great video library which is ever so helpful to America's new crop of gardeners that has developed since Covid. It's free and easy to use. This morning I found this link that might be of interest if you are planning to grow some vegetables this year.  Garden writer Niki Jabbour chose 8 vegetables to learn about. Since I have committed to growing pickling cukes this year and making my family's very special recipe for Bread and Butter pickles, I was interested in Niki's video on growing cucumbers.  Watch the video and tell me what you think. Her point about replanting for a second crop is important. Also the mention of not letting your cukes get too big as they get bitter and slow down the production of more cucumbers because fruit production slows as some get big and go to seed. 

https://www.johnnyseeds.com/growers-library/vegetables/8-great-vegetables-for-beginners-from-seed-to-harvest-with-niki-jabbour.html

Happy gardening!

George Africa

The Vermont Gardener

ADD SUNFLOWERS IN 2021!

 

 

 A very inexpensive way to add some "vertical" to your gardens at the same time you are adding color is to plant sunflowers.  A package of  4-10  different seed varieties will cost $5-$12 total and the result will be impressive. At the flower farm, I usually buy ten different packages and plant one seed of each variety together in a hole 3" deep. Germination is always better than 90% unless you have a squirrel or chipmunk watching you plant. By the middle to end of July here in Zone 3-4 Vermont, the sunflowers are beginning to show some color which lasts until a hard frost---or a flock of hungry birds looking for fresh seeds.

As I purchase seeds I always try to vary the size of the flower heads I expect to see. That way I have some 8-9 foot tall attention-getters from way across the field as well as plenty of 5" diameter blooms on single stems that I can cut for bouquets. Do this once and you'll wonder why you didn't always include sunflower seeds on your list. Although the seed packages of sunflowers you might find in racks at box stores may seem incredibly inexpensive, sunflower seeds tend to be large and the husks protect them from dehydrating so the price is not only "right" but the varieties will get this project underway at little cost. 

CABIN FEVER GARDENING

 Reposted from my writing in the North Star Monthly, a very old Vermont publication from Danville, Vermont. Subscribe to the journal and always have a piece of Vermont close by. I love it and know you will too!  Enjoy!  George

CABIN   FEVER   GARDENING  

It was clear, bright and beautiful this morning so I decided to go to the flower farm and walk the perimeter to check for animal intruders. I hadn’t seen any deer tracks when I passed by on Route 2 but last year deer came in and ate a couple of dwarf conifers even though I had enclosed them with a wire fence. One experience with any kind of loss will always remind me to check. I know from many reports from customers last spring that I was not alone in seeing some damage from deer. This year, things look good….so far!

 

As I walked along the river, I noticed a pair of cardinals hiding in a wild honeysuckle and later on a small irruption of evening grosbeaks resting in a Katherine Havemeyer lilac before heading for the village where bird feeders are available. I have noticed that the colder temperatures have caused snow and ice to hang on the trees for three weeks now and this has made it more difficult for birds to find their favorite foods. That causes them to move into adjacent fields and appear at feeders. It also has given bird watchers an opportunity to see birds they might not normally see. Snow buntings have been at our feeders this week and despite their hyperactive moods they are nice to see.

 

Covid has kept us inside more than we want so this year it’s more than seasonal affective disorder and deepening snow that reminds us that it’s winter. Cabin fever has kept more than just gardeners inside but there are some things we can do to boost our spirits. We belong to plant societies and online specialty groups for the plants we grow and sell. As example, hostas are an important plant that has always interested us and the American Hosta Society (americanhostasocity.org) is one of the best organized societies I know. I think they have the absolute best journals which arrive twice a year as a published, image packed, journal and then again as an online journal. It costs $30 per year for an individual membership which arrives with a voucher for $15 towards a hosta. I especially look forward to the journals because they have biographical sketches of hybridizers, terrific pictures and stories about display gardens, hosta history, advances in viral testing, and great information on the latest registrations.

 

In addition to hosta journals, I use the online Hosta Library (hostalibrary.org) which is free. It contains summary information, abundant pictures (1000’s) and registration detail on all hostas, registered and unregistered.  It is the best resource I know of for anyone interested in this shade tolerant plant that’s perfect for Vermont gardens. Take a look-see and you will see what I mean.

While at the flower farm I decided to take some lilac cuttings. I usually take them a few weeks after the lilacs have bloomed in June but I read that you can also take cuttings now and root them in sand, covered for the first weeks in plastic wrap or plastic seed tray domes. I took cuttings from 8 lilacs to try this out and I’m being positive about my success. I dipped each one in rooting hormone and then put them in the front room under an eastern facing window. I mist them every day or so. If you have visited us at the farm, you might have seen that we have much of the perimeter dotted with multiples of +20 varieties of lilacs. Each spring by mid-May we have 8-12 varieties for sale if you are interested. The International Lilac Society is a great organization for lilac lovers and it’s very helpful as you learn about growers, retailers and how to grow successfully.

This time of year the larger grocery stores often have primroses in their floral departments. Primulas have become very popular perennial garden flowers in recent years even though they are sold as houseplants too. They come in all colors, bloom for some time and are attention getting, front-of-the-border plants. If you get serious about them, the  American Primrose Society (americanprimrosesociety.org) is a membership you might want to purchase. It publishes 4 information filled journals and can direct you to specialty gardens and retail sources. The Society has just completed its annual seed exchange which is an inexpensive way to purchase primula seeds from around the world to add to your collection.

Garden blogs, garden clubs and societies, plant societies, university and extension service groups as well as a plethora of gardening magazines can help you get through cabin fever. All gardeners are generous with their time and information. Be positive. Have questions? Can’t find something you’re looking for? Need a gift certificate? Drop us a line at vermontflowerfarm@outlook.com. We’re always here to help you grow your green thumb!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WINTER GARDENS

I'm still playing catch up with articles I wrote for the North Star Monthly. Take a look at this really special journal and see if you are interested in subscribing.  

http://www.northstarmonthly.com

WINTER   GARDENS

PLANNING   THROUGH   CRISIS

 

It’s been a cloudy morning here on the mountain above Peacham Pond. At 6 AM, I asked myself “Where’s the sun?” and now at 1 PM, I am asking the same thing. Minor snowflakes float to earth from a gray sky as the temperature holds at 26.8° and birds and red squirrels share the feeders for a late lunch. They seem very happy despite Covid.

 

Each year a company named Pantone® announces its color choices for the upcoming year. They factor in their complete understanding of the psychology of color and come up with colors which influence everything from fashions and home and garden furnishings to the vehicles we drive, and every purchase we surround ourselves with from home to work to vacation and back…including…. the plants we grow. This year the color choices include Pantone Illuminating and Pantone Ultimate Gray. The color descriptions tell it all. “Illuminating is a bright and cheerful yellow sparkling with vivacity, a warm yellow shade imbued with solar power. Ultimate Gray is emblematic of solid and dependable elements which are everlasting and provide a firm foundation.” If you scan through gardening or home decorating magazines by late Spring you will see these colors surfacing. New colors make us review our gardens and decide what additions, subtractions or rebuilds we need to make come spring….as the new colors warm us in difficult times despite the fact that in a sense we have been here before. Here’s a thought.

 

Rewind to 1943. America was in the throes of war and times were tough. In some respects, it was different than our current Covid crisis but some of the problems were the same. A broken food supply chain was an example. From the war came the Victory Garden Manual, a book that taught us that gardening was a way to feed ourselves, our friends, neighbors and soliders. We learned what fruits and vegetables would grow in our temperate zone and we were reintroduced to the Universal Food Grinder, the Foley Food Mill, hot bath canners and pressure cookers. Not only did we learn to grow and harvest food but we also learned to put foods by.

 

Now more than 75 years later, 1/3 of American farmers are over retirement age but still working. 6% of all farmers are under age 35. Climate change is upon us, and pollinators, ever so necessary to help with our food production, are in decline. Invasive plants and invasive insects which we have never before seen in such large numbers are prevalent in our backyards. Beetles are taking down red and white pine trees, tamaracks, hemlocks, ashes, sugar maples and beeches. Is positive change possible? Yes, it is! Gardeners by their nature are always changemakers striving for a better tasting fruit or vegetable, earlier and higher production, and resistance to more viral or fungal issues. Gardeners share with us the importance of learning about new plant or seed varieties before we buy and plant them. They learn the right plants for where we live, and the right place to plant respective of sunlight, soil type, hydrology, and the plant’s growth rate to maturity. Gardeners teach us the importance of pollinators and how to grow plants that pollinators can reproduce on while they carry out their work.

 

If you haven’t gardened much before, give it a try. Raised bed or container gardening are two ways to get started. You can add fruit trees or bushes to your property and start that way with blueberries, elderberries, strawberries or apples, pears, or plums. In the process you can expand your backyard bird and animal habitat as your gardens grow. Add vegetables to your perennial flower gardens and consider when your gardens bloom and how to add color from flowers next to the blooms of vegetables you grow to eat. Blueberry bushes planted in flower gardens provide red leaves as fall approaches. Tricolor beets—the reds, oranges and yellows—seeded into flower gardens provide color and textures that contrast with your flowers and grace your table with healthy food. Clumps of purple, pink or white liatris or swaths of 3-foot-tall blue Verbena bonariensis lure all sorts of pollinators and in so doing provide entertainment as you watch them work and learn to identify them one by one. Kids love to learn insects and teaching them early on will encourage their respect for environmental concerns forever. Clumps of grasses such as Calamagrostis ‘Karl Foerster’ become floral targets for insects you probably have never seen before while offering 5 foot scapes by year 2.

 

Yes, gardeners and their gardens truly are changemakers. In times such as these, gardens offer a peacefulness, a place of respite, an activity that calms when other news is something to avoid. Give gardening a try! We know you will enjoy it!!