These make for some fun projects

http://www.maryjanesfarm.org/recipe-project/project-20110221.asp

Our spinach harvest last week... on a bright and sunny day!

Even though it looked like this outside, the sun shone into the greenhouse and really heated it up.

Look at all the beautiful spinach.

It was warm enough in there, I couldn't resist temptation to take my shoes off and stick them in the dirt.  Now don't get me wrong, this didn't last long, the soil was still cold.

Since it was so warm, I had to have some ice cream too.  I figured I might as well take full advantage!

Steve didn't really want to take a break from working to eat ice cream, but I think he enjoyed it anyway.

We're also gearing up to heat our seed starting greenhouse.  Our goal this year is to have flowers by Mother's Day, which requires starting things a little earlier than usual and our basement seed starting area isn't big enough to hold everything we are trying this spring.  

Check it out!

http://www.local-matters.org/story/sunny-meadows-grows-food-flowers-and-community

2011 Cooperative CSA info is finally here!

This year we are proud to announce...

Sunny Meadows Flower Farm 2011 Farmers' Cooperative Community Supported Agriculture Program

This season will be a total of 20 weeks, beginning the week of June 7^th and ending October 18^th. Each week you will get an array of all natural, local, farm fresh vegetables based on seasonality. Mother Nature will ultimately determine crop availability, but your share will include more than a variety of produce. Instead this year, it will be a cooperative of local farms. Your share will also include fresh cut flowers, fruit, herbs, fresh baked bread, canned goods, homemade soap, cheese, eggs, meats and other things throughout the season.

This year's partners include: Honeyrun Farm, Osage Lane Creamery, Lucky Cat Bakery, Blue Owl Garden Emporium, Anderson's Orchards, Triple J Farms and an Amish farmer named Vernon Yoder. All participating farms use sustainable, all natural practices and are in the Central Ohio area. There may be others involved too, but we will always make sure to let you know where you got it from, so you know where you can get more. Our goal is to expose you to the array of things that are available locally and also to give you a more eclectic CSA share each week. Please let us know if you are a vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, or have any other dietary restrictions that would affect your weekly CSA share.

CSA newsletter:

There will be weekly updates via newsletter about the share that is to come. With the vegetables that you may not be familiar, will be a full description and recipes. We have found that people who utilize the recipes are the ones who typically enjoy their share the most, as they find new ways to use their share contents. To be environmentally conscious we would prefer to have the newsletter online, but for those of you whom that will not work for will receive one when you pick up your share.

For the 2011 growing season the share price is $475, but we offer payment plans:

• Early bird: $450 if paid by March 1^st, 2011
• Full price: $475 paid by May 1^st, 2011
• Installment plan: 3 installments of $160 paid by March 1^st, April 1^st, and May 1^st
• Half share: $250 paid by May 1^st, 2011

Pick up spots:

Granville Farmer’s Market, Granville

Saturday 8 am-12 pm

At our farm, 3555 Watkins Road, Columbus

Wednesday 3-6pm

Upper Arlington Farmer's Market

Wednesday 3-6

Just email us if you want more information and a copy of the contract:

sunnymeadowsflowerfarm@gmail.com

Thank you for your support,

Gretel and Steve Adams

Sunny Meadows Flower Farm

Getting married near Columbus? Join the Green Wedding Movement!

We are revamping our website, so soon this will be available to everyone on the new site, but I just thought I would get this out there.  Soon I will have a flickr account just for the wedding photos too, a portfolio for display.  

We operate based on seasonality, so we encourage brides to use the flowers that we grow so you get the freshest, most beautiful bouquet. Contact us and we can discuss the possibilities. We have three options available for wedding services:

1. Buy Bulk Wedding Flowers: You would pick these flowers up a day or two before the weddings and do your own arranging. Or, combine it with some a la carte options and make sure your wedding party looks sharp.
2. A La Carte Design Work: Have us do some of the floral design, usually including anything the wedding party would wear or carry. These arrangements would be picked up day of or the day before the wedding. Can be combined with bulk flowers for the reception.
3. Full Service: This package includes everything for the ceremony, reception, set-up and delivery. This is the hassle free option, so no worrying necessary!

Contact us soon to ensure your date is still available. Then, fill out the contract below the best you can and make a deposit. You can come visit us at one of our farmer's markets to see our arranging in person. And for other wedding services you may need, check out the links we have to some of our friends who do great work.  

Spring has sprung, well kind of...

And so the season begins.

This is Munki.  She was in with the chickens and trying to figure out how to get out.  Crazy kitty!

Thanks to this handy, old tiller, it was time for reworking some of this ground for spring.

So, we tilled in the old beds.

Out with the old, and in with the new.  We're planting some Bells of Ireland, flowers that will hopefully be ready early spring.  It's kind of an experiment, so we'll see how it goes!

This is one of our Larkspur beds, which will be a nice greenhouse crop this year.  Last year they weren't ready until after Mother's Day, but this year we are hoping they come right on time.

This one was originally a spinach bed, but the larkspur from last year reseeded and took over.  We decided to sacrifice what little spinach was left in there, like that one leaf that you can see, to let the flowers grow.

This is ranunculus finally popping through the soil.  It's a new spring crop for us and we're really excited about the beautiful bouquets it will make.

I found another one!  So plural, would it be ranunculi?  It's just so nice to see things sprouting.  It gives me hope on these dreary winter days.

The farming community mourns today

Our beloved farmer friend, Cliff Nishimura, Zenjiro Gardens, passed away unexpectedly Sunday the 30th. We will miss that laugh, his beautiful bouquets, and a great man. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Cliff's family and friends, and all the other people who have been touched by his kindness. A memorial celebration is this Sat. Feb 5th, 11am-1pm at Jagers and Sons Funeral Home in Athens, OH.

Gretel and I are extremely thankful for being able to visit Cliff's gardens, it was amazing. His gardens were beautiful, and his place had a lot of character. Seeing his place gave us a greater sense of who Cliff was. He lived the way I always wanted to live, simple, minimal, and in the mountains. Cliff lived a hard life, but was always smiling and had an infectious laugh. We wanted to be at markets that he was at because they were so much more fun. Even though we were flower growers too and you would think there may be a sense of competition, instead it was something that brought us together and made us closer friends. He was the first farmer to reach out to us when we were fresh into doing the farmer's markets, and the friendship continued to build from there.

I learned a lot about flowers from him, and will continue to learn from Cliff. What is really sad is that his garden will not be tended to like it always has been. I think about seeing it next year with all the perennials holding on as well as they naturally can, over grown with weeds, lost in nature, and wonder what will come of it. His memory will always be a part of what we do and who we are as flower farmers and as people. He will be very dearly missed and this season just won't be the same without him.