First Flea Market at Oakland County

Dried statice and strawflower wreath

So, packed up the van with all kinds of stuff and tried my hand at the Oakland County Flea Market yesterday. Vendors there were really nice and welcoming. If it weren't for the vendors swapping stuff I would have very little to show for my outing.

Foot traffic was really slow - I would say we had 25 cars but the vendor count was up.The vendors told me not to get discouraged, that the foot traffic gets going as the weather gets colder. But, we're competing with the big Dixieland Flea Market right around the corner from us - so I've encouraged the market master to do some more promotion.

Sales were strange. Had a nice selection of nursery stuff - bulbs, houseplants and dried flowers, but the stuff that was selling was my CDs, books, jewelry and yarn! Oh well, at least I sold that, I think I'll raid Mom's house for some more old goodies for next week.

Bulbs at the flea market

Houseplants at the market

First Harvest at Greenhouse

Went to the greenhouse two days ago with friend Janet Macunovich, who by the way has a great garden site called  www.gardenatoz.com , check it out, it is a great site for information and has a nice forum in which you can get your garden questions answered. Anyway - Beth, the greenhouse manager, asked me to thin my bed since they are spraying on Sunday and want to get full coverage of the plants. We fertilized with fish emulsion and kelp and watered. Went back last night to spray Bacillus thurengiensis, a bacterium that paralyzes the gut of leaf-eating caterpillars for the cabbage loopers and picked my first harvest of greens. I suppose it shouldn't surprise me that I am getting a harvest on the beds. They were sown and planted with seedlings almost a month ago - my time flies when you are having fun in the garden.

The first harvest was of greens - even though the Kale was infested with aphids! Will wash them well but who minds a little extra protein anyway? I got three big gallon ziplocks full of Kale, Pak Choi, arugula and lettuces. I may even have enough to start selling the bags of mixed greens at the market for about $2.00 a bag. A great price for organically produced greens compared to the 3.99 or 4.99 you pay at the supermarket. I will take them home and wash them well and have greens for the next week and a half!

Vicki and I are meeting at the greenhouse tonight to water and sow herbs in flats for the future markets. I've found that you really need to think ahead and schedule things fairly carefully. I sowed catnip in flats about two to three weeks ago and it still has barely sprouted and I would like to offer herb starts if I get into the winter market in Farmington, so I need to get started now as that is only six weeks away. I'll take another ziplock for Vicki tonight so she can share in the harvest, but I think she is a little grossed out by the aphids - oh well, we'll avoid the kale and offer her some arugula and lettuce.

Starting the Oakland County Flea Market this Sunday at the Farmers Market Facility on Pontiac Lake Rd. in Waterford, just west of Telegraph Rd. Will be offering a fresh selection of bulbs, houseplants, and I have a smattering of CDs, books, maybe yarn and fabric and the dried flower creations I have been working on. Trying to get costs down on my dried flower stuff - we'll see how it goes over at the market.

So, that's the recent update on how the greenhouse venture goes. In the nursery Pam and I spent the day potting up 4" pots into one gallons and took about 100 of them over to Vicki's for overwintwering. The pile of pots over at Vicki's keeps growing!

Bulb Planting Time

grape hyacinths, lily and scilla

It takes no small amount of hope to take a gnarly knob of a bulb, stick it in the ground and hope for a daffodil in the spring...but I find bulbs, especially in their first seasons, fairly foolproof. There are all manner of bulbs to choose from - early spring bloomers like crocus, grape hyacinth and scilla. Later spring bloomers follow - plants like daffodils, tulips and hyacinths. Alliums and lilies take up the slack for early summer. Planting bulbs is really a great way to get a lot of bang for your buck in a small amount of space.

The old rule holds true - try to plant bulbs three times deep as they are tall, and make sure you put the root end down - that's the hairy end. Bulbs can be planted now through ground freeze, but the earlier you plant them (to a point) the sooner they can make a root system to carry them through the winter. Bulbs are alive whether they are dormant or not, so try to store them away from a lot of heat or frost. If you have to hold them for any length of time, try putting them in the refrigerator where they will be kept cold not freezing.

Forcing bulbs is fun for anyone who has an extra fridge - pot them up now and set them in the fridge for a couple months. Pull them out and slowly acclimatize them to the warm temperatures and you can have blooms for the late winter. For those of you in a condo missing the garden experience, try forcing some paperwhite narcissus or amaryllis - they take no cool temperatures and can be forced on a windowsill or table. Forced hardy bloomers can be planted outside when spring weather begins to break.

Sage Advice finally got its first bulb shipment and is offering a small selection of varieties at the Oakland County Flea Market on Sundays. Not sure of the prices yet but they will be reasonable and you can buy one or twenty, bag 'em yourself. The flea market is located in the Farmers Market facility on Pontiac Lake Rd. just west of Telegraph in Waterford. Call me, Margaret, at 248-622-6527 for more information or directions.

Planting Greenhouse Garden Bed #2

17 varieties of vegetables

Last night Vicki and I went to the greenhouse and planted up the new garden bed #58. Vicki was all tired from work and fighting an infection so I wanted to make it easy for her. We made labels out of popsicle sticks for our 17 varieties of greens and vegetables and set about planting in the bed. I am excited I think family and friends will be having a great harvest this winter.

Vicki planted the entire package of snap peas. Four rows of the delicious little fellows. We did carrots, scallions, beets, bush pickling cucumbers, radishes, kohlrabi, greens galore and five kinds of lettuces. We'll be eating well this long, cold winter.

Then I sent Vicki home to get some dinner and relax while I watered and watered the bed. It still is so dry. Beth, the greenhouse manager also pointed out to me that the greenhouse is having a few pest problems and I had noticed that something was nibbling on the pak choi but couldn't see the culprit. Beth pointed out a baby green caterpillar hidden among the foliage munching happily along. That didn't last long as I applied the squish method of control. I asked Beth if I can spray some BT - a bacterium that paralyses the gut of leaf eating caterpillars. I know she'll get back to me soon.

Aphids are also sucking the lifeblood out of the plants and a leaf miner is tunneling around on another plot's spinach plants. The greenhouse program is to try and spray proactively on Sunday night - when it is closed with Mycotrol - an insecticide and Actinovate  - a fungicide. These materials are non-toxic and I think are approved for use in organic plots.

5 varieties of lettuces

two kinds of radishes

lots of peas and carrots

Harvested a bit of the baby Kale and the arugula in my plot #51. Yum - I am determined to make myself get a taste for Kale this year and baby size it is tender and flavorful but not overpowering. The arugula - one of my favorites - is sweet and nutty - best harvested small before it gets too hot and spicy. With all the watering we've been doing, I think the veg and greens will stay nice and tender and won't get too bitter.

Wow. Whirlwind two days at the nursery and in the gardens. Looking forward to winter when I can just collapse and vegetate!

Road trip to Hortmark

It was a glorious blue-sky day. The colors on the trees were fabulous. We took a ride up Rochester Rd. to the tiny town in the thumb called Dryden and hung a right, shot across the brown soybean fields and corn to the farming community of Capac, Michigan. As promised, we visited Hortmark, my greenhouse supplier and purchased - gulp!- 900 one gallon pots to size up the plants left in the nursery for overwintering.

Stacks of pots at Hortmark

Greenhouse storage at Hortmark

900 pots in the van

Hortmark has been around for years, I used to buy from them 20 years ago when I had my farm in Riley Center, Michigan, and is run by two characters, Ken Day and Dave Ludwig. They were there cutting up and having a good time as Pam and I took on our load of 900 pots. I decided not to get soil but did stop by their place called, originally, The Store, which carries lots of garden stuff and critter feeding supplies. Great selection of birdhouses there. Bought birdseed and kitty food for Jo-Jo and we were on our way to find Louie's Family Restaurant and had a couple of great and very reasonable omelets.

As you can see Hortmark wouldn't win a beauty contest but it has most of the stuff I need to grow things, and is run by two very nice guys with whom I've been doing business for a number of years. The prices are quite competitive too.

Got back to the nursery and started in on the potting. Pam said she felt like all she was doing was filling up the soil bin time and time again. We got all the bare root material that Janet Macunovich had dropped off for us. Did Hosta Aureo-maculata, black mondo grass and some nice Japanese banner grass. Wound up with a load of about 50+ pots to take to Vicki's. We dropped off the load to the growing ranks of pots in her backyard. We then took a trip to Home Depot for composted manure for the new greenhouse bed.

Dropped Pam off in Rochester and came back to the nursery and then to the greenhouse. Loaded 240 lbs. of soil and compost onto the garden bed, worked it in and waterered, watered and watered. The greenhouse is dormant through the summer months and so it gets closed up and temperatures reach as high as 140F. The soil is just dusty dry and baked. Vicki and I plan on planting seeds tonight so I was trying to get the seedbed moist enough for that. It will take several more deep waterings to get all that peaty compost wet again.

So it was a big day for both Pam and I. Looking forward to a day off(?) - where I will clean the house and do some more canning and probably make a few more flower wreaths. I guess that's a day off!

The greenhouse beds

Vicki with the new greenhouse bed

Vicki is excited. Splurged and got another greenhouse garden bed for Vicki and I and Sage Advice Nursery. Aside from just growing food we will now have a place for starting perennial seedlings this winter. We have to clear out by April 15 but I figure by then the weather will have broken and I will be able to harden off the seedlings in the cold frames outdoors.

We plan on growing tomatoes and greenhouse pickling cucumbers, green onions, shallots, romaine, radish and broccoli.
We'll keep half of the garden in short term crops so we can pull them by January when it is time to start the seedlings. I am excited too. I spent a few hours ordering seeds for the perennials from Jung Seed, Specialty Plants and Jellito Seedsmen - a german company well known among growers.We have exciting stuff. I was going to order double Hellebore seed for customer Robin, but it turns out it has to go through an extensive cold then warm period...it just seemed like too much of a hassle. I think I'll order the double Hellebores as plants.

Margaret with the garden bed, planted Sept. 28th!

The garden bed is almost ready to harvest for baby lettuces. Fertilized last week, Sunday, and I can see the pak choi has really beefed up. Need to thin them but I think I'll do so when I am ready for some more salad greens. The basil tops can be picked to make the plants branchier.

I'm going to pick up Pam today and we'll be travelling up to Hortmark for more pots and probably a few bags of soil if I decide I can afford it. Was kind of appalled when I went out and counted the plants for overwintering and potting up...850 of them! Eek! So we definitely have our work cut out for us in the next few weeks.Vicki has generously offered the use of her backyard as a nursery storage area for overwintering which is a godsend as I am already out of room.

Paul came to build the new cold frames against the fence, but weather intervened and we were unable to work. He'll be coming this Saturday to try again...so much money going out, I'd better make it up in the spring! Janet Macunovich stopped by to dig a hosta up for a garden presentation on digging and dividing plants. She is a well known speaker on perennial and other gardens in the midwest. We used to have a radio show together called "Green Side Up" on a local radio station back in the late 90's - geez was that nearly 20 years ago? It just can't be!

Gearing up for the indoor flea market. Made my first dried flower wreath for the first time in a long while. It turned out pretty well if I do say so myself. Will never get back what I have put into it - or I'd be selling it for $40 which I know I can't get. We'll run these dried flower wreaths and swags up the old flagpole and see who salutes.

So even though the nursery is officially closed there is still much work to be done. Check in with the blog periodically and you can see our progress this winter season. Enjoy this beautiful fall...the colors are spectacular

Oakland County Parks Moving Community Gardens Indoors for Winter

Oakland County Parks Moving Community Gardens Indoors for Winter: Metro Detroit has grown a national reputation for urban and community gardens. There are hundreds throughout Metro Detroit, but the vast majority of those gardens go dormant in the winter. Now Oakland County Parks is taking the concept of Community Gardening to the next level and is moving the gardens indoors for the winter months. WDET’s Amy Miller speaks with Mike Donnellon, Chief of Parks and Facilities Maintenance for Oakland County Parks.

Sage Advice Nursery: Up and Growing

Sage Advice Nursery: Up and Growing: Bed 51 continues to grow. Have been meeting people in the community greenhouse - Natalie, the accountant, whose bed is so neatly designe...

Up and Growing

Bed 51 continues to grow. Have been meeting people in the community greenhouse - Natalie, the accountant, whose bed is so neatly designed, Linda , the gal who lives in a condo who gets people to help her plant up the bed and Jan, the first timer trying her hand at the greenhouse. The community is starting to gel.

I have said it before but if you have never grown a plant from a seed you have missed one of the true great miracles of the Creator. All my plants are seed grown and they are up and doing their thing. Greens and herbs with golden purslane and siberian kale being a few unusual favorites.

I'm also growing Stevia - the herb with the sweet leaves and I'll try to harvest a few to tuck into my iced tea. The basil is also doing well and if I have a surplus of anything I think I'll take it to the flea market and try and sell it.

Golden Purslane

Siberian Kale

Potting with Pam

Had a big day today. Went to pick up Pam. Trying to get her enough work so she can afford a car! Went off to the farmers market and did a bit of shopping then went to Vicki's to scope out her backyard for overwintering plants. After a mid-morning coffee break, we went out to pot up the rest of the 36cell seedling trays and put them into one gallons.We finished up the miscellaneous sweet william and forget me nots and primrose - going to hopefully have some nice pots for spring. Ahhh, there is always hope in the nursery business. We also potted up a load of phlox 'David' a white, four-foot, fragrant variety into the one gallons, and watered everything in.

After a filling lunch of potato-cauliflower soup out of the crock pot, topped off by a cherry crumb pie we took another break. At Sage Advice, I think we are famous for our great employee coffee breaks. Then, we loaded up the van for a trip to Vicki's to line out the production for the day. We didn't pot up as much as we did Saturday but we ran out of the one gallons so we are trekking to Capac to Hortmark next Tuesday for more pots. I need to count the stock left in the nursery, but I wager I have about 500 more plants to pot up before the start of November.

Still waiting on bulbs. Want to sell a few at the flea market in bulk bags. Got mostly daffodils - 100 each variety - and some scilla and grape hyacinth in my favorite blues. May get some more bulbs from Vandenberg if the bulbs sell well. The market master tells me foot traffic at the flea market is pretty lame, but I am going to try it to keep my hand in over the winter.

Bought some 3" houseplants to sell at the flea market and bumped them up into 4" pots. They are nice and beefy so I will grow them on for a couple weeks. Got a couple of little Norfolk Island Pines that would make a sweet little Christmas Tree for the kitchen table. May have to keep one and make some quilled paper ornaments for it.

Been buying the nicest triple scented soy candles at the Armada Flea Market from a vendor who gets the from Bonnie Lass out of Lapeer. My brother also got some goats milk soap from them that I also like. I'd like to see if I can can establish a wholesale account with them and offer the very fragrant candles at the flea market. So far I have indulged in honeysuckle, coffee bean, lemon zest and a piney version called "Up North". When burned the candles fragrance the whole house.

Wish I had some pictures for today, but we were so busy potting and running around that it really slipped my mind. Before taking Pam home, we stopped by to water the greenhouse garden, so Pam could get her first look at the new babies growing. She was impressed with how the beds had progressed. Some of the other beds are really doing well with beans up about 6" and doing well. It is great to see the variety of things that the other folks have chosen to grow. Think I'll loan Vicki the registration fee for another bed so I'll have some room to start seedlings for the nursery for this spring.

So that was the day at Sage Advice Nursery - very productive and enjoyable. We have been blessed by some great fall weather and here's hoping we get all our work wrapped up by November!

Sage Advice Nursery: Getting Ready for Winter

Sage Advice Nursery: Getting Ready for Winter: Employee Vicki working hard potting So I am out of space for all the plants I want to carry over for the winter already. Employee number...

Getting Ready for Winter

Employee Vicki working hard potting

So I am out of space for all the plants I want to carry over for the winter already. Employee number two Vicki Peterson has generously offered her backyard for more space. I'd like to expand and have been wondering where I can get some more property for a cheap price.

Yesterday we were potting up the 36 ct. flats and 4" pots into one gallons. I don't think I can overwinter the 4" very successfully but I may be forced to do so. Went last week to my greenhouse supplier Hortmark in Capac, MI and got more pots and we've already used half of them. Looks like another run for supplies is in my future.

We potted small foxglove and sweet william from the 36's. Also potted up the terribly expensive "Hot Papaya" Echinacea or coneflower so I can get a better price on them. Even at the rock bottom clearance prices I haven't been able to sell enough plants. Thank you to Judy for supplying us with the earthworm compost that we have been adding to the soiless mix. Been reading about improving the biological activity of a soiless mix and it was recommended to add something like this. Ran out of the earthworm poop and am starting to use my composted manure bags. We'll see if it improves plant growth in the spring. Had trouble feeding plants like delphinium which are such heavy feeders. I hope this new mix helps hold nutrients in the soil.

So I think I'll take Vicki up on her offer and start trucking plants over to her house as we pot them up. Also have to get some frost blankets for the plants to help insulate them for winter. All the plants are cold hardy so the philosophy is to freeze them and then keep them cold through winter, thawing them out gradually in the spring.Pam - employee number one is coming over Tuesday and we will be potting some more 4", so I think we'll make a few runs to Vicki's house, which is conveniently only about 5 miles away, with our new transplants.

So I'd have to say the first season of Sage Advice nursery has been a tentative success. After starting in what one grower told me was the slowest time of the season, we did fairly well for a newcomer at the market. Starting to develop a few regulars who always stop by and look to see if I've brought anything new. I really appreciate those folks, they stop by and chat about their gardens and it makes for a more pleasant time at the markets. It is gratifying to help make others worlds more colorful and interesting. Here's to a bang up start for 2013!

The Greenhouse Garden - Planting Seedlings

Kale and Pak Choi seedlings

The baby seedlings are finally out of quarantine. So last evening went to the greenhouse to plant them up. To the left is a shot of the kale and pak choi seedlings - I'm sure I didn't leave enough space for them and in a few weeks they'll be crowding each other out. The greenhouse was busy last night with a few gardeners planting and watering their pots. Have only talked to a couple of them so far and I don't really feel like I'm part of the community yet. I suppose it will come.

Basil and Thyme

Have planted so far - Basil, one lonely sage plant, thyme, stevia - the very sweet plant whose leaves you can use like sugar, kale, a couple of different pak choi, golden chard, a golden purslane - yes I know you know it as a garden weed but it really makes a nice salad green if you try it. I've also got a few winter lettuces - and I think I did a mesclun mix. The lettuces should be ready in a couple of weeks as I will treat them like a cut and come again crop. Shearing them off for baby greens and letting them regrow again.

A few of the seeds on planted Sept. 28 are coming up - to the left is a shot of the baby arugula sprouts. So exciting to see the seeds sprout - to me it is always a miracle to grow plants from seed. I've never gotten over my fourth grade fascination with it. So far the sprouters are arugula, radishes, golden chard, some lettuces and mesclun mixes, spinach and the pak choi. The herb seeds always take longer I have found. You can wait for weeks before you'll see parsley seedlings. I think the basil should be sprouting soon, it is one of the few herbs I have grown which is usually a quick grower.

So I am over my buyer's remorse at spending so much money on the greenhouse plot. It seemed like an awful lot of dough for a little space. But I am certainly enjoying my time there. Now I've got to start using all my produce!