Spring will be here before I know it.

Well with a couple inches of snow and my seeds being delivered it's time to begin starting seeds in flats. We have began starting snapdragons and delphiniums, as well as leeks. Today I plan on starting 2000 artichoke seeds and more delphiniums. It's time to lock myself in the basement, where all my germination takes place. We are behind on getting our 3rd greenhouse covered, which will be the only one with heat. It's crazy how the season hasn't even started and I'm already behind.

Last week for Early Bird CSA price!

We are really looking forward to this year's CSA. Based on feedback that we got from last year's participants, we will be adding some new things to our repertoire as well. Visit our website for the full contract and a list of some of the things that we grow. Also, if you backtrack in the blog, you will find old newsletters that will give you a list of the things that were received last year. We hope to be able to expand this year and already potentially may have a drop off spot in Westerville if we can get a few more people in that area interested. So, tell your mama... tell your friends!!

For the 2010 growing season the share price is $375.00, but we offer payment plans:

Early bird: $350.00 if paid by February 1st, 2010
Full price: $375.00 paid by May 1st, 2010
Installment plan: 3 installments of $130.00 paid by February 1st, March 1st, and April 1st

What your share will include:

This season will be a total of 18 weeks, beginning the week of June 16th and ending October 13th. Each week you will get an array of all natural, local, farm fresh vegetables depending on seasonality, enough to feed a family for a week. Understand that we answer to Mother Nature and that will determine crop availability. So, your share will include not only a variety of produce, but also fresh cut flowers, fruit, herbs, fresh baked bread, canned goods, homemade soap, etc. throughout the season.

***The fresh cut flower option***
***Should you want fresh cut flowers weekly, make sure to mark below and they will be substituted for some of the other products that will be offered in your share. We figured since we are a flower farm, that we should share this with our CSA members!
CSA newsletter:

With the vegetables that you may not be familiar with, will be a full description and recipes. There will be weekly updates via newsletter about the share that is to come. 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.
Half shares:

Since the demand was high last year for the shares to be split, this year we will be offering half shares. This will be good for those of you who either don’t have a lot of people in the household or don’t eat as many vegetables. This will consist of 3-5 things a week and/or smaller portions of what the larger shares are receiving.

Thank you for your support,
Gretel and Steve Adams

Sunny Meadows Flower Farm

Greenhouse is still growing...

This year was our first year to try winter gardening after doing some research on it recently. In the fall, instead of putting a cover crop and being done for the season, we planted cool weather crops in the greenhouse. We wanted to experiment to see exactly how long we could make our season. So, we planted salad greens and spinach, carrots, Swiss Chard, and Romaine lettuce and the science project began. We have found out that carrots are sweet as candy when they can stay in the ground longer, that Romaine doesn't tolerate the cold like some of the other crops, and that things grow REALLY SLOW in the winter. Overall, it has been very succesful with weekly harvests large enough to supply ourselves and our new restaurant that we are selling to... Black Creek Bistro.

By the way, if you have not tried, you are definitely missing out. This restaurant has got some of the best dishes in town and they are farmers too, so they support other local farmers. They also use their compost at home and are turning their oils into biodiesel for use at their farm. So remember, Black Creek Bistro at Broad and Parsons in Olde Towne East... be there or be square!

Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers

This is what we are doing now in the greenhouse. This is spinach in the greenhouse, along with romaine and some carrots. We are hoping to grow some flowers in the greenhouse this year and for years to come after going to a conference in Memphis held by the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers (which we are now proud members of)...

Wow was that an adventure! We took the dogs with us which was probably a bad idea, but a family field trip sounded like a good idea at first. Aside from that, the conference was very informational. And, we got to meet not only other flower growers that are up and coming, but also the ones who have dominated their local flower production. We got a good idea of what life would be like if we were flower growers full time for a living, producing year round. It is nice to see that it is definitely possible, and they even raised families with that income. Prior to going, we already knew that people aren't as concerned with flowers being local like they are produce. The presenters at the conference reminded us that we aren't just trying to sell our product, we are really selling our lifestyle too. We are showing the buyers that we don't use chemicals, that we are producing locally, and that there are no flowers fresher than just picked from the farm. All in all, it was very informational and inspirational and it made us already pumped for next year. We came right home and bought a used greenhouse so that we could increase production and expand our season. So despite the long drive, the dog's anxiety, and our anxiety, everything worked out for the best.

Come check me out at my next craft show!

My setup at the last craft show!

Shop for the Season at the 2nd Annual
Buckingham House Boutique
Sponsored by
The Licking County Historical Society

Join us Sunday, November 22nd, 1-4 PM
Buckingham Meeting House
Veterans’ Park
6th & Main Streets, Newark

After making it through the last craft show, I have been back to making more soaps and salves to fill in the blanks from what I sold. I will have lots of product there, so come out and see me!

Piggy judgment day...

Thats me and Steve in the first picture, and then Max spraying the hog down with some beer so that it didn't dry out.

So all the little piggies are about to go to market and there is still some available! We are still selling it as half hog share for $3.00/ lb or whole hog for $2.50/ lb. We recently had a hog roast and the meat was delicious! Everyone here seemed to enjoy the meat as well. The picture is of the beginning of the process. It took a full 24 hours to smoke, but it was worth the time and effort. But don't worry, if you buy a hog from us, it will come to you packaged and frozen in easy to deal with sizes. Sausage or bacon come in 1 lb packages for example, the pork chops usually in packages of 2. It only costs $.50 more per lb to have the meat smoked, so if you want bacon instead of fresh side, it will only cost $.50 more per package of bacon (you usually get about 5 packages with half a hog). So overall, it may sound like a lot of meat for you to have or for a large chunk of money to get rid of during tough times, but you will be able to feed your family with peace of mind. Knowing that these pigs were not fed any chemicals, and got to live in the mud with the garden scraps as snacks, will make it not only taste better, but it will be better for you too!

I'm a soap making fiend!

Preparing for my first craft show has been a lot more work than I had originally intended. I have been making soap and salves, labeling and packaging for many days now. I ran my printer out of ink twice just trying to label all the soap that I have made. I will be at the Granville High School Music Boosters craft show on November 7th, this Saturday, from 9am-3pm. Hopefully there will be lots of sales for holiday gift giving. If you don't have a chance to see me at the craft show, I can always ship soap. I am working on getting this information on our website, but for now, here is the information that I am passing out in a flyer...

Order your soaps today!

$5 a bar

$65 for a ½ block (makes 16 bars)
approximately 3.5 pounds

$120 for a whole block (32 bars)
approximately 7 pounds

$4 salves, or $20 for 6

Shipping available

Now taking orders at
sunnymeadowsflowerfarm@gmail.com
(614) 296-1637

Bars of soap make great gifts even for the person who has everything! They can be used for soap, for decoration, or even as air fresheners in cars, drawers, or just to carry in your pocket!

Sunny Meadows’ soap is made with all natural ingredients including vegetable oils, beeswax and essential oils. A lot of the soaps in the store consist of things that have no benefit for your skin. Actually, on the labels of most they aren’t even called soap, instead they say “deodorant” bar. They don’t even claim to be soap!

In fact, when you use our soap you will be able to feel the difference. The moisture that is left on your skin is the glycerin in it, a natural by product of soap making. The big soap companies actually take the glycerin out of their soaps to make lotion with it. Doesn’t make much sense!

With our soap, everything in it serves a purpose. The coconut oil is for good lather in any type of water. The palm oil and beeswax make a hard bar so it can handle heavy use, while the soybean oil lets it soften just enough. The extras added, like the coffee grounds or dried herbs, are there to help exfoliate the skin. Also, the cocoa butter or shea butter will make the soap extra moisturizing while still allowing your skin to breath, therefore not clogging your pores.


Scents available include:

Gardener’s Soap- a woodsy smell with poppy seeds in it for the scrubbing of extra dirty hands

Rosemary Mint- my personal favorite, with dried mint for a long lasting scent

Sweet Earth- the most popular scent with a blend of lavender, patchouli, and vanilla

Lavender- with dried lavender to help exfoliate

Forest Rose- smells just as the name says, with a nice mixture of rose, patchouli and sandalwood

Vanilla Latte- with coffee grounds and shea butter for moisturizing and exfoliating the skin

Jasmine Vanilla- a good balance of scents between floral and sweet

Double Chocolate- made with extra moisturizing cocoa butter


Holiday scents also available:

Apple Cinnamon- with ground cinnamon in it for a swirl of color and long lasting scent

Pumpkin Spice- great to have for those holiday get togethers

Frankincense and Myrrh-
a great mix of the two, with subtle reminders of baby

All salves are made with cocoa butter, sunflower oil, castor oil, beeswax, and essential oils. This is a formula that will moisturize the driest hands without leaving them feeling greasy. Any soap scent can be made into salve, but the current scents available are:

Forest Rose
Lavender Mint
Pumpkin Spice
Jasmine Vanilla

Double Chocolate

Bayberry