The trials and tribulations...

Here at the farm, we have had our share of ups and downs lately. Here you can see the greenhouse that was ripped apart by the wind storm that we had, taking 17 poles out of the ground. This is one of two greenhouses, both of them causing us headache right now. So far we have not been successful in making it worth our while to have them. Last year we planted all flowers in them and quickly discovered that we did not get enough production out of sunflowers for it to make sense that we use the space for that.

The second one was planted with all lilies in hopes that we could have them ready to harvest in June for the bridal season. Instead, we had a huge wind storm in Ohio (see first picture) and the plastic to our greenhouse came off, leaving them exposed to the elements as if they were outside. Therefore, they are going to be prepared to harvest at the same time that all of our other lilies out in the field will be, which means we will have lilies coming out of our ears again this year. We got the greenhouse covered recently (see second picture), but not in time enough to make a difference in forcing them to bloom sooner. So be prepared because there will be tons of them!

Also, all of our transplants looked great until recently when we took them outside. Something happened and now they have yellowish, brown spots on them. We have so far been unable to identify them and are hoping that it is just a nutrient deficiency in the plants and that optimum growing conditions will pull them out of this stress. Otherwise, all that hard work and they will just be thrown away. Keep us in your thoughts!

And lastly, due to a recent misunderstanding with the administration of the Upper Arlington Farmer's Market, we will be unable to attend this year. This means that you can find us at Pearl Market which is downtown in Pearl Alley across from the statehouse from 10:30-2 on Tuesdays and at Granville on Saturdays from 8-12. Granville is thinking about having a market that would be in the evening on Tuesdays too and since we will have more time, we will be experimenting with other markets. We are going to be open at farm stand here at the farm though, which will allow us more sales directly off our property. This will give us the ability to make each sale more personal and allow you to see the farm first hand while you are making your purchase. And, coming that direct from the farm means that it is the freshest you can get! So, maybe this lost market won't be a bad thing for the customers after all...