Volume 10 Issue 1
April 2012
Growing With Us
Barn Update! Lots of people have asked us how we’re making out with the State of Ohio building code issue. For those of you who didn’t know, we came very close to having our business shut down because our barn doesn’t meet commercial building codes. It was a scary and painful experience. GoodSeed Farm - spring 2010 Here’s where things stand right now: to avoid a lockout, we agreed to have a Professional Engineer draw up plans for some of the buildings we’ve built over the years, and submitted these drawings for state approval. $3000 later, the state issued us a building permit for the new barns we’d built, but on the condition that we demolish the 1940’s broiler hatchery that is our main store. Eventually we’re going to have to tear the building down. In the meantime we’re working on plans to replace it with a new greenhouse structure. We’ll file these plans this summer. Rather than fight the system we’ve decided to work within the rules as best we can. You can help by simply patronizing our garden center when you’re buying plants or gardening supplies. As long as our business is thriving we can afford to make the investment in a new building. The past few years have been rough economically, but with your help we can get past this obstacle and be a better, more attractive, more convenient and user-friendly nursery. For those of you over five-foot ten, this will mean no more stooping while you’re shopping, something we all look forward to!
The broiler hatchery as it looked in 1997
GoodSeed Farm Spring Hours: Spring Shopping Hours Monday through Saturday, rain or shine .............................. 9 AM to 6 PM Sunday................................................................................................Noon to 5PM
Maps, Directions & Schedules at www.goodseedfarm.com
Start Your Garden: •Colorful Pansies •Seeds, Onion Sets •Soils and Mulch •Fruit Trees
Growin g With Us
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“Steve’s Soapbox:” FIGURING IT OUT... We got into the garden center business for emotional reasons. We wanted to work as a family, making a living on our own land, raising our son in the family business. We loved the idea of a country garden center that people would enjoy coming to each year on a spring pilgrimage, a special place with a unique character. Our love of gardening and beautiful plants was something we wanted to share, one on one, with fellow gardeners. It was a huge mistake not to do a “business plan”, putting on the green eyeshades and mapping out how we would actually make a living doing what we dreamed about. We made some mistakes right away that were almost fatal, like putting our store so far from the four-lane, depending on gardeners to go the extra mile to find us. Another big mistake we made was to promote our business so much when it was still small; many people came expecting a bigger, finer store than our humble farm. Many were disappointed and never came back. Another huge mistake was to wait so many years before installing a nice restroom for our customers. Our parking area was too small for our Mother’s Day crowd, so some people had to park in a field. Not popular, particularly when it got muddy. We also tried to build business in the off-season months, spinning our wheels and wasting precious dollars on fall mums, Christmas trees and Poinsettias that didn’t sell. Over the years we’ve learned the hard way to be better businesspeople. It’s been painful to adjust our offerings and shorten our season, when some of you have loyally supported us through thick and thin. We’ve made some upgrades, like better parking and restroom and shopping carts and signage. After fourteen years of hard lessons we’ve finally learned how to serve you better, support ourselves, and improve our business year to year in small ways. Our son Stephen has grown up and gone off to college. We’ve watched your families grow, and of course we’ve all gotten a little bit older. Many of you reading this have watched us evolve for many years, some since the very beginning. We’re grateful that you still care enough to visit our store and be part of our lives. If you haven’t been at GoodSeed Farm for a few years, we hope you’ll give us another chance to impress you and make you happy you came. Set aside a few hours to visit Adams County, and while you’re here stop and see how we’ve grown and changed. Tell us what we’re doing right and what we could improve. Take home something nice from our nursery to remember the day. You’ll be glad you made the trip.
ENJOY OUR PHILADELPHIA TOURS! We have two tours scheduled for this fall, and we’d like you to join us: PHILADELPHIA GARDEN TOUR September 13-16: Longwood Gardens, Winterthur Museum & Gardens, the Wyeth museum and N.C. Wyeth studio at Brandywine, plus great meals! PHILADELPHIA FOOD & HISTORY TOUR October 10-13: Old City Philadelphia history destinations plus local food landmarks & fine dining. See goodseedfarm.com “Bus Tours” page for details, or call 937-587-7021
Growin g With Us
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Marjorie’s
Perennial Pick “Double Red” Knock-Out Shrub Rose It’s hard to find more dazzle for the dollar than Knock-Out roses. They perform from spring to frost, shrug off most diseases, and require less maintenance than traditional roses. They “self-clean”, which means the old blooms drop off and new ones form without deadheading. The “Double Red” Knockout is the runaway favorite, covered with showy dark pink blooms all season. A hot sunny spot and good rose food is all they ask.
PULVERIZED TOPSOIL, COMPOST, SOIL BLENDS, MULCH, SAND & GRAVEL
..for pickup or “next business day” delivery: call 937937-587587-7021
Calling Your Garden Club! We love to host small groups (from a dozen to a busload) and we’ll make it worth your trip if you give us a little notice. We can arrange a buffet lunch or dinner, a tour or presentation, door prize raffle, and a group portrait in front of the quilt barn mural. You can meet rain or shine in our café patio, surrounded by flowers. If you like you can hold your regular business meeting. Then we’ll give you a personally guided tour and make sure everyone leaves with a door prize. Meals are catered by the White Star Restaurant. They do a nice job, including sandwiches, salads, beverages and desserts for only $10 per person (minimum $100, plus a gratuity for the servers). Clubs pay White Star directly, based on the number of reservations agreed upon the day before you visit. Because it’s a buffet format and there’s plenty of food we can easily accommodate a few more or less on the actual day. Sound like fun? Call or e-mail us and we’ll put your group on the schedule!
Thyme Will Tell Garden Club in front of our quilt barn mural ~ Spring 2011
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- EARLY BIRD CERTIFICATE! SAVE $10Bring this voucher to GoodSeed Farm for an instant $10 discount on any purchase over $20 in our garden center.
For the Month of April Only!
Valid: Sunday, April 1st through Monday, April 30th One coupon per family. Not to be combined with other discounts. Expires April 30, 2012
MULCH MADNESS!!! Save $10 on two or more scoops of bulk mulch picked up between April 1 and April 30. (No coupon required)
SAVE $25 OFF DELIVERY CHARGE for any mulch order (minimum 6 scoops) delivered now through April 30th! GIV CO E T HI U S OU PON T RD ON RIV O DE LIV ER ER Y!
Order “Black Gold”, Red-dyed mulch, or “Pine Magic” !
Growin g With Us
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BOSTON FERN HANGING BASKET SALE! Save $8 on two (Net cost $15.99 each) No Coupon Required. Sale Dates: Thursday, April 1 through Thursday April 30, 2012
APRIL TREE & SHRUB SALE! 25% Off Specially Marked Shrubs, Trees and Evergreens! Choose from our huge selection of flowering trees and shrubs, shade trees, windbreak evergreens and more. These are all carryover stock from 2011; one year older and larger than incoming stock for less money. money. While supplies last; come early for the best selection.
HARDSCAPE BLOWOUT!!! We’re clearing out leftovers, discontinued items and odd lots in our hardscape yard to make room for expansion. Choose from STEPPING STONES, PAVERS, WALL BLOCK, EDGERS, BAGGED STONE and other ingredients for your next backyard project. COME EARLY for the best selection. Most items priced at 99 cents or less!
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Enjoying Boston Ferns A lush display of Boston ferns hanging in a shady porch is a classic image of Victoriana, and adds a lush tropical feel to your outdoor living area. Many families have a tradition of displaying Boston Ferns in profusion every year, putting plants out as soon as danger of frost is past. Some fern devotees start even earlier, bringing plants indoors on extremely cold nights. Boston ferns look really good indoors, and if you have a brightly lit spot for them you can grow them as houseplants. They certainly don’t mind being indoors for a few days at a time. For longer stays you’ll need a humidifier, since Boston Ferns shrivel up and make a mess unless they have 40-50% humidity. That’s why it’s not usually practical to over-winter the plants indoors. Indirect sunlight is ideal for Boston ferns. Too much direct sun will toast their leaves, and too little sun makes them spindly and thin. You want to keep them actively growing, since the new foliage has the most vivid green color. Generous fertilizing and ample sunlight will keep them lush and full. Like any hanging basket plant, you get what you pay for with Boston Ferns. Quality growers use more and better soil in the pot, and space the plants in the greenhouse so they get plenty of light. There is also a size difference in the starter “plugs”; bigger and healthier plugs mature into fuller fern baskets faster. Regular feeding is important with any hanging basket. When feeding ferns, mix liquid fertilizer at half the recommended strength. We like using Neptune’s Harvest fish emulsion on ferns. Take a bottle home with you when you pick up your Boston ferns this year.
Experts disagree on most things, gardening included. If you need proof try “Googling” for gardening advice. Sorting through the online clutter you can choose between “dry-as-dust” university research station websites and mail-order catalog hype, endless blogs and online chatter. It’s like a carnival midway. If you love gardening, why waste your time “Googling” to get the solut ions you need? Cut right to the chase. Try www.goodseedfarm.com, click on our “weekly blog” for an alphabetical list of helpful topics from “Asparagus Planting” to “Winter Reading for Gardeners”. In simple, plain language we make gardening easy. You can find our weekly gardening column “Let’s Grow” in nine newspapers around southern Ohio. Some of our readers clip and save the column, but there’s no need. Each week we post it on the “weekly blog” page at www.goodseedfarm.com, and you can look up a hundred gardening topics in the online archive. Need gardening advice? Jump in your car and drive right out to GoodSeed Farm for an entertaining shopping trip, and we’d love to see you. Or just visit www.goodseedfarm.com for garden answers online.
Growin g With Us
LOW MAINTENANCE LANDSCAPING: Could your property use a “makeover”? That’s our specialty. Here are some snapshots of some of our work:
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G oodSeed Farm COUNTRY GARDEN CENTER
200 Storer Road Peebles, Ohio 45660 937-587-7021 www.goodseedfarm.com
PRSTD STD US POSTAGE PAID PERMIT 5400 CINCINNATI OH
CALENDAR
COUNTRY GARDEN CENTER
GoodSeed Farm
Visit often for our many unadvertised specials on premium plants at their peak, different each week!
PLAN TO VISIT GOODSEED FARM OFTEN THIS SPRING! Mark your calendar so you can enjoy our special events, take advantage of special savings, bring your family or friends for special times! March 3, 2012 Open for the 2012 Season (SATURDAYS ONLY in March): Seeds, fertilizer, mulch and soils! Hours: Saturday 9AM-6PM or by appointment. April 1 Open 7 Seven Days! Early season color, Easter flowers Monday–Saturday 9AM-6PM, Sunday Noon-5PM Now till April 30 MULCH MADNESS! Save $25 on bulk mulch delivery of 6 to 40 scoops of Black Gold, “Pine Magic” or Red Dyed. All month save $10 on two scoops or more of bulk mulch picked up between April 1 and April 30. April 11-30 Boston Fern Special $8 off on two Boston Fern Hanging baskets! April 11-30 Early Season Tree & Shrub Sale! Sale 25% off on selected evergreens, shade trees and shrubs! May 1111-1212-13 Country Garden Mother’s Day Party! FREE Butterfly Bush for every mother, specials, food and fun 9AM-6PM Friday, Saturday, and Sunday June 1515-1616-17 Father’s Day Woody Sale Huge savings on all woody plants including flowering shrubs, evergreens, orchard and shade trees! 9AM-6PM Friday, Saturday, and Father’s Day Sunday June 2020-July 8 Truckload Annual Flower Sale Outrageous savings on annual flats, pots and hanging baskets while they last July 2020-31 End of Season Sale! Final week: Discounts up to 75%! Final chance for year-end bargains. (Bulk Mulches and soils not included in clearance sale) All Spring Save 3030-50% on selected perennials, shrubs and trees throughout the garden center. Visit regularly for unadvertised specials on premium plants at their peak, while supplies last!