With August fast approaching, many of you should have produce coming out your ears!
It has been a rough growing season though as some gardens have been attacked by tomato blight and powdery mildew because of the extreme heat coupled with exceptionally high humidity.
For the things you don't grow, I hope you'll come on over to the Owl Barn Market as we have plenty of fresh vegetables and fruits in stock from local farms.
I must admit that I am a little behind as we normally have all of our cuttings of shrubs taken by now but a major "time-eater" occurred when our main 25 horsepower pump failed so that we had to rely on the much smaller 10 hp electric pump.
Unfortunately, the new economy means less stocking of everything so that it took about 3 1/2 weeks to get the replacement pump in order to water the nursery stock properly with the heat.
Weeds, as always, are a pain but more so this year as I let some of them go too long because I frankly did not want to have anyone, including myself, pulling weeds in 90 degree plus weather coupled with high humidity.
Remember to use your Dayton Dollars by the end of August before they expire as stock for many trees and shrubs, perennials and hard goods are quite adequate for you to select an item you want.
Well, back to finishing the cuttings,
Tom
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Dayton "Dirt" - July 27, 2010
The grand opening of the Owl Barn Market went over very well last weekend as many of you have wanted to take a look inside of the barn.
Seiberling's sweet corn has been a big hit as we are able to have fresh stock everyday.
Early tomatoes have been difficult though as prices at some of the Amish auctions have run quite high.
Just this morning I Gagged in disbelief when 4 ten pound boxes of tomatoes sold for $25 each!
For the best southern Ohio tomatoes, prices started out at $15 per peck which is about 10 pounds and sometimes moved up to $17-18.00.
You would think tomatoes to be in the league of steak as far as prices go.
We were fortunate though to find another source of quality tomatoes from Ohio at a much better price.
Since our emphasis is on local, we want to be careful to only have some "imports" that are "must haves" to round out our line of fresh produce.
The other news I received was that the nursery that grows the patented Bloomerang Lilac is delivering sometime this week!
I'll believe that when I see them here!
If you haven't been able to come to the market yet, take a look at some of the online photos on the market section from our website.
Happy gardening,
Tom
Seiberling's sweet corn has been a big hit as we are able to have fresh stock everyday.
Early tomatoes have been difficult though as prices at some of the Amish auctions have run quite high.
Just this morning I Gagged in disbelief when 4 ten pound boxes of tomatoes sold for $25 each!
For the best southern Ohio tomatoes, prices started out at $15 per peck which is about 10 pounds and sometimes moved up to $17-18.00.
You would think tomatoes to be in the league of steak as far as prices go.
We were fortunate though to find another source of quality tomatoes from Ohio at a much better price.
Since our emphasis is on local, we want to be careful to only have some "imports" that are "must haves" to round out our line of fresh produce.
The other news I received was that the nursery that grows the patented Bloomerang Lilac is delivering sometime this week!
I'll believe that when I see them here!
If you haven't been able to come to the market yet, take a look at some of the online photos on the market section from our website.
Happy gardening,
Tom
Friday, July 9, 2010
Dayton "Dirt" - July 9, 2010
The long awaited opening of the Owl Barn Market is finally here.
I hope you’ll be able to come to our open house tomorrow to take a look at all the locally grown produce from neighboring farms as our emphasis is and will be to buy local in order to ensure freshness and quality of fresh foods and to help your neighbors – local farmers.
The Owl Barn will have related food goods such as jams and jellies, some baked goods and an assortment of cooking utensils and paraphernalia.
Lisa Merrick will be displaying some of her art work including her well known works of framed pressed flowers from her own garden.
The Owl Barn is a return to the produce market days of the late 1960’s through the mid 1970’s when I sold produce from my garden at my parents’ home in Norton.
A lot has changed since then about the products available and the display of those products.
Again, locally grown fresh produce is the emphasis of the Owl Barn Market and I think it will fill a void as its location of just ¼ mile north of I-76 on Cleveland-Massillon Rd. will be a convenient location for Norton, Barberton, Wadsworth, Copley and Fairlawn residents.
The other void the market will fill will be the freshness of the product. I was appalled by the sweet corn that was being soil in the local grocery store a couple of weeks ago.
The sweet corn of course was not local because of the early season; however, the dried up mess that the store offered as sweet corn I would have been ashamed to sell!
Just make sure you e-mail the nursery or make it known to one of the clerks if there is something we offer not to your liking in case we goof.
Remember, if we don’t have all the produce you are looking for, it may not be available yet as again our emphasis will be on locally grown produce.
Hope to see you soon.
Tom
I hope you’ll be able to come to our open house tomorrow to take a look at all the locally grown produce from neighboring farms as our emphasis is and will be to buy local in order to ensure freshness and quality of fresh foods and to help your neighbors – local farmers.
The Owl Barn will have related food goods such as jams and jellies, some baked goods and an assortment of cooking utensils and paraphernalia.
Lisa Merrick will be displaying some of her art work including her well known works of framed pressed flowers from her own garden.
The Owl Barn is a return to the produce market days of the late 1960’s through the mid 1970’s when I sold produce from my garden at my parents’ home in Norton.
A lot has changed since then about the products available and the display of those products.
Again, locally grown fresh produce is the emphasis of the Owl Barn Market and I think it will fill a void as its location of just ¼ mile north of I-76 on Cleveland-Massillon Rd. will be a convenient location for Norton, Barberton, Wadsworth, Copley and Fairlawn residents.
The other void the market will fill will be the freshness of the product. I was appalled by the sweet corn that was being soil in the local grocery store a couple of weeks ago.
The sweet corn of course was not local because of the early season; however, the dried up mess that the store offered as sweet corn I would have been ashamed to sell!
Just make sure you e-mail the nursery or make it known to one of the clerks if there is something we offer not to your liking in case we goof.
Remember, if we don’t have all the produce you are looking for, it may not be available yet as again our emphasis will be on locally grown produce.
Hope to see you soon.
Tom
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Dayton "Dirt" Green Blog - July 2010
On July 17th, Dayton Nurseries in Norton will be opening the Owl Barn Market which will offer fresh produce, Amish jams, Ohio foods, baked goods and related items.
The markets emphasis will be on locally grown produce from surrounding farms in order to ensure the freshness and quality of the products and in order to buy from local farmers instead of relying on suppliers from hundreds or sometimes thousands of miles away as the grocery stores do.
In addition to having a farmer’s market, the Owl Barn’s association with the nursery will result in an expanded offering of Dayton Nursery’s potted small fruits including blueberries, raspberries, currants, rhubarb and asparagus, as well as potted herbs, most of which are grown right at the nursery.
Coupled with the Owl Barn Market is the botanical-display garden Wolf Creek Gardens which is located just north and down the hill on which the Owl Barn sits. The garden includes a dwarf conifer bed and shade gardens including a shade perennial and Rhododendron-Azalea garden and hopefully next year a pick-your-own blueberry patch that will be located along the garden’s north border.
Although the market will not specialize in organically grown foods, the relative safety and freshness of the local farm’s products will be the staple fare.
The Owl Barn Market is another way to accomplish and to advance the vision of Dayton Nurseries as an enterprise of environmentally sustainable practices among which are low energy and pesticide use, water recycling and runoff water containment on the nursery property and now locally grown healthy produce.
The markets emphasis will be on locally grown produce from surrounding farms in order to ensure the freshness and quality of the products and in order to buy from local farmers instead of relying on suppliers from hundreds or sometimes thousands of miles away as the grocery stores do.
In addition to having a farmer’s market, the Owl Barn’s association with the nursery will result in an expanded offering of Dayton Nursery’s potted small fruits including blueberries, raspberries, currants, rhubarb and asparagus, as well as potted herbs, most of which are grown right at the nursery.
Coupled with the Owl Barn Market is the botanical-display garden Wolf Creek Gardens which is located just north and down the hill on which the Owl Barn sits. The garden includes a dwarf conifer bed and shade gardens including a shade perennial and Rhododendron-Azalea garden and hopefully next year a pick-your-own blueberry patch that will be located along the garden’s north border.
Although the market will not specialize in organically grown foods, the relative safety and freshness of the local farm’s products will be the staple fare.
The Owl Barn Market is another way to accomplish and to advance the vision of Dayton Nurseries as an enterprise of environmentally sustainable practices among which are low energy and pesticide use, water recycling and runoff water containment on the nursery property and now locally grown healthy produce.
Friday, July 2, 2010
Dayton "Dirt" - July 2, 2010
Picnics, swimming, fishing, get togethers, fireworks and more conjure up visions of the 4th of July.
That same week in 1776 in Philadelphia, it was hot and muggy with all the delegates of the Continental Congress not on the same page.
I can just imaging some of the heated arguments that the gruff John Adams had with his fellow delegates.
Truly with the genius of men like Franklin, Madison, Adams and Jefferson, its no wonder that the eighteenth century is known as the “Age of Enlightenment”.
Don’t forget this is the last week that you can plant heat loving successive crops such as sweet corn, cucumbers and squash.
The garden spiders will be out soon in full force if they aren’t already and don’t you dare kill any of them as they’re doing you a great favor by catching and eating insects harmful to the garden.
I remember reading a magazine in which a naturalist was searching for a bat cave in Tennessee.
The visitor questioned a farmer about the bats to which the farmer replied that those darned things were in such and such location.
When the naturalist found the cave, he noticed shells of insects on the floor by the thousands which were potato beetles.
When the Tennessee potato farmer found out about the onslaught these beetles suffered from the bats, these bats then became HIS bats!
Enjoy your weekend and the 4th.
Tom
That same week in 1776 in Philadelphia, it was hot and muggy with all the delegates of the Continental Congress not on the same page.
I can just imaging some of the heated arguments that the gruff John Adams had with his fellow delegates.
Truly with the genius of men like Franklin, Madison, Adams and Jefferson, its no wonder that the eighteenth century is known as the “Age of Enlightenment”.
Don’t forget this is the last week that you can plant heat loving successive crops such as sweet corn, cucumbers and squash.
The garden spiders will be out soon in full force if they aren’t already and don’t you dare kill any of them as they’re doing you a great favor by catching and eating insects harmful to the garden.
I remember reading a magazine in which a naturalist was searching for a bat cave in Tennessee.
The visitor questioned a farmer about the bats to which the farmer replied that those darned things were in such and such location.
When the naturalist found the cave, he noticed shells of insects on the floor by the thousands which were potato beetles.
When the Tennessee potato farmer found out about the onslaught these beetles suffered from the bats, these bats then became HIS bats!
Enjoy your weekend and the 4th.
Tom
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
