Dayton "Dirt" - July 27, 2012

July is coming to a close with the steamy weather continuing but at least for now we received about an inch of much needed rain and relief from the heat! The Blueberry Festival went well with the hayrides, Frankie Spetich on his accordion and the cooking demonstrations, although from observing the fest-goers, I think they favored the free food sampling! We just finished with taking our azalea cuttings and now are potting up ferns and various perennials for next spring’s sales. Another big job is the weed control as it can be a constant battle as most of the nursery is irrigated which makes for a good mix of moisture and heat for extremely good weed growth! Seiberling farms has managed to supply us with delicious sweet corn besides the drought and the other produce seems to be better then ever because of the drip irrigation on the plants. In fact, the farm can run liquid fertilizer though the lines so that they are not dependent upon overhead irrigation or rain to dissolve a granular fertilizer. The Owl Barn Market is full of produce including local peaches and other fruits, pies, baked goods and other cooking supplies. We’ve changed our hours too in that we’ll be open at 9:00 am instead of 10:00 am to better serve our customers who want to get their shopping done earlier. Got to go now but do pray for some more rain! Tom