GoodSeed Nursery - Spring 2014 newsletter

Volume 12 Issue 2

May 2014

Growing With Us

Mother’s Day Party!

It’s time again for the annual gathering of mothers and daughters, grandmothers and grandkids, mothers-inlaw and mothers-to-be, at GoodSeed Farm for the Country Garden Mothers Day Party. After sixteen years it’s an annual ritual, with a FREE gift plant for every mom.

This year it’s Burning Bush! There’s one for you.

This is our second Mother’s Day in our new, more convenient Winchester location, with more parking and less walking!

COME HUNGRY! Our breakfast menu includes egg sandwiches, coffee and Amish donuts. All day we’ll have Papa’s Kettle Korn, tacos in a bag, chicken salad croissants, lemonade, homemade cheesecake and affordable kids menu. New for this year is Chinese Food. Jo Hall’s Hilltop Reception hall next door will be offering Mother’s Day dinner on Saturday and Mother’s Day Sunday, with seatings at 1PM both days.

We’ll be giving away 1200 cute little Burning Bushes, one for every mother, no strings attached, and the Brown County Master Gardeners will be manning the plant giveaway table. Our party starts Friday morning May 9th at 10AM, and continues 10AM to 7PM all three days.

We’ll have plenty of unadvertised specials on plants at their peak, perfect for Mom! We’re introducing the new HGTV Home Plant Collection, with specials on their stunning combination planters and baskets. Special guests include caricaturist Galen Bailey “the Scribbler”, Juniebee’s “Come Next Spring” hand painted hummingbird feeders, and Ken’s Unique Birdhouses.

If this is your first year in the GoodSeed Farm community, it can be the beginning of a wonderful family Mother’s Day tradition for you and your family.

NEW GoodSeed Nursery Hours:

It’s SPRING! Gorgeous Roses

Monday through Friday, rain or shine ................................ 10 AM to 7 PM HGTV Home Plants Saturday, rain or shine ............................................................ 9 AM to 6 PM Sunday ............................................................................................ Noon to 5PM Sweet Potato Starts

Maps, Directions & Schedules at www.goodseedfarm.com

Soil & Mulch

Growing With Us

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“Steve’s Soapbox” New Place, New Faces We’re still getting used to commuting to work. Every day we drive down our farm lane, past our old garden center, to our new location along the Appalachian Highway near Winchester.

Every day I think to myself: we’re saving most of our customers almost an hour round-trip that you faithfully drove, some of you for years, to get to us.

One of the rewards for the drudgery of commuting to our own store is that we get to see you more often. It’s just easier and quicker now, for you to come. Sometimes twice in a single day.

Another reward is all the new folks we meet every day, who are discovering GoodSeed Nursery for the very first time. All your new faces make each day an adventure and a fresh challenge. Starting over in our new store, we have a huge head start over the early days of GoodSeed Farm back in the late 90’s, as we tried to tame our sprawling old broiler hatchery building into a chic garden store.

As modest as our new store may be, it’s a big improvement in many ways. No, we don’t have charming old barns, water features and show gardens, but we’ll get there. Those improvements were years in the making at our farm, and in the beginning it was pretty raw.

Speaking of new faces, let me introduce a few. New this year is our retail store manager, Whitney Bering of Belfast. Whitney grew up on a cattle farm near Greenfield, and she’s new to the nursery business, but she’s a hard worker and a quick study so we have high hopes.

Also new this year are Dolly Leonard, from Sardinia, and Renee Velzka of Winchester. Many of you know Dolly from her years at Martin’s SuperValu, or from the Russellville Garden Club. Renee is a dedicated volunteer at the new Humane Society Animal Shelter in West Union. Bonnie McGuire of Winchester joined our sales team last year, so you may have already met. Kedith Bratton of Mowrystown and Nora Huff from Peebles are veterans from our old store.

The youngest member of our crew is our own son Stephen. He was only five when we first opened; now he’s a junior at “the” Ohio State. Having grown up in the family business, he’s an old hand despite his youth, and he’s moving up to Lot Manager this season. He’s the one to see for scoops of mulch, gravel and topsoil.

If you love to garden, stop in and introduce yourself. We’re all about new faces in our new store in our new neighborhood.

NEW LOCATION, SAME PHONE NUMBER! Our phone number, 937-587-7021, has been the same for so many years we decided not to change it when we moved. It’s still the best way to get in touch.

Those of you from Adams County know that 587-7021 is a Peebles phone number, and that’s where our office and landscape division are still located. Dial 587-7021 and your call will reach us wherever we are.

Growing With Us

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Marjorie’s

Perennial Pick “Kokomo Sunset” Daylily For constant color all season long, it’s hard to beat re-blooming daylilies. This new Re-bloomer has lush green foliage and dark yellow blooms with stunning rust-red "eyes".

Re-blooming daylilies will perform until frost if their roots are expanding, so it’s important to dig a “million dollar hole” for them and mix Bulb Tone into the planting soil. Another trick is to cut the clumps off at the ground in midsummer. Kokomo Sunset will quickly grow back and bloom its heart out. Mulching helps keep the soil cool and moist, and controls weeds.

Mother’s Day Dinner “Out”, No Waiting!

Reserve a Table Now for a Sumptuous Mother’s Day Feast, Next Door To GoodSeed Nursery Treat your mom to a delicious family meal in Hilltop’s elegant ballroom on Mother’s Day Sunday. Reserve a table for up to eight people for a gracious Mother’s Day buffet dinner. Every mother will receive a FREE dinner corsage!

Enjoy a mouth-watering menu of Prime Top Round of Beef in Gravy, Glazed Lean Sliced Baked Ham, Sliced Turkey Breast, Mostocholi with melted cheese, Roasted Redskin Potatoes, California Medley, Homemade Potato, Macaroni, Pasta and 3 Bean Salads, Assorted Cheeses, Vegetable Tray, Assorted Breads, Dessert, Hot & Cold Drinks.

Seatings are at 1PM Saturday and 1PM Mother’s Day Sunday. Cost is $14.99 per person. Reservation deadline is Wednesday, May 7. For details see hilltopdesigns.org or call 937-695-5545.

PULVERIZED TOPSOIL, COMPOST, SOIL BLENDS, MULCH, SAND & GRAVEL

..for pickup or “next business day” delivery: call 937-587-7021

Growing With Us

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Is Your Favorite Vegetable HEIRLOOM or HYBRID? We get many requests for “heirloom” vegetable plants and seeds, so at least half the tomato and pepper plants we carry are “heirloom” varieties. Vegetable plants can be either “heirloom” or “hybrid”. But what exactly is an heirloom vegetable, and why is it more desirable than a “hybrid” plant?

Plant hybridizing is the process of inventing new plants by combining the best qualities of other plants. Many new varieties occur naturally by cross-pollination. Genetic mutation also happens in nature, when “sports” (nonmatching branches or fruits) appear on plants. Breeders cross-pollinate under controlled conditions, or reproduce young plants from sports, to get predictable offspring. The process is a lot like raising pedigreed animals.

Hybridizers patent their varieties for a certain period of years from when the plant is introduced, so raising them from seed or cuttings is actually a violation of patent law. Seeds from hybrid plants will often produce plants that aren’t the same as the parent.

Our definition of an heirloom plant is one that is no longer patented, with seed that will produce the identical plant if you save it from year to year. Some heirloom plants were actually patented hybrids when they were introduced, but their patent has expired. The important thing is that you can save the seed and get the same plant from it.

So why would you want a patented hybrid? The simple answer is that breeders may have improved the original in many ways, like disease resistance, yield, taste, attractiveness of the fruit, growth habit, drought tolerance and other traits. There are hybrids that are terrific for home gardens, and some that are better for commercial growers and shippers; you just have to learn which are which.

Heirloom varieties can taste better or different, or maybe not. There are good and not-so-good heirlooms. Generally, heirloom plants yield about half as much fruit with the same amount of fertilizer, water, and space in the garden. One reason to grow them is that if we all grow only one variety, we are more vulnerable to massive crop failure from some new disease or insect. The more diverse our selection of food plants, the less risk from new pathogens wiping out an entire crop.

Here’s a handy chart listing all the tomato and pepper plants we sell at GoodSeed Farm. You’ll notice that most heirloom tomatoes are vine-type plants, meaning they need to be staked. Bush tomato plants are one example of hybridization. If you study this list you’ll see your favorites; probably many of them are hybrids, not heirlooms. Is that a bad thing? Ask yourself: Does your survival depend on saving your tomato and pepper seeds to plant next year?

Growing With Us

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Tomato & Pepper Plants Available at GoodSeed Nursery: TOMATOES BeefSteak (Heirloom) Old-fashioned favorite bears big, meaty fruits with rich, full flavor. America's favorite slicing tomato! 75 days. Vine-type Better Boy (Heirloom) Guiness record holder--342 lbs. of fruit from one plant! Deep red and meaty, up to a pound each. 75 days. Vine-type.

Big Boy (Hybrid) Good yields of bright red, very flavorful meaty tomatoes. Very popular tomato with home gardeners. 78 days. Vine-type Brandywine (Heirloom) Winner of countless taste tests. Heavy producer of big, tempting pink-red fruit. 90 days. Vine-type.

Celebrity Bush (Hybrid) Great Flavor in firm, crack-free fruits. Good blight and drought tolerance. 72 days. Bush-type.

Cherokee Purple (Heirloom) Deep-violet colored fruit with intense, rich flavor. 80 days. Vine-type.

Early Girl (Hybrid) There's no faster-growing, better-tasting tomato! Hugh crops of 4 - 6 oz. Fruit are ideal for canning. 52 days. Vine-type.

German Johnson (Heirloom) Large, prolific plant produces huge, pink beefsteak-type tomatoes. Excellent flavor. 78 days. Vine-type.

Hillbilly Potato Leaf (Heirloom) Gorgeous 1 pound beefsteak fruits are streaked with yellow. Great for slicing. Heavy bearing. 85 days. Vine type Jet Star (Hybrid) Excellent variety for the home garden. Heavy yields of low-acid, firm, meaty fruit. 72 day. Vine-type Jubilee (Heirloom) Loads of golden-yellow, low acid fruits are great for canning, salads and cooking. 72 days. Vine-type Lemon Boy (Hybrid) Large harvests of true lemon-yellow fruits. Easy-to-grow with a mild, yet tangy flavor. 72 days. Vine-type.

Marglobe Improved (Heirloom) Old-time favorite of home gardeners. Great for salads, sandwiches and canning. 72 days. Bush-type.

Mortgage Lifter (Heirloom) Extremely heavy yields of big, low-acid pink tomatoes. Few seeds and excellent flavor. 83 days. Vine-type.

Mr. Stripey (Heirloom) Plum-sized, two-tone fruits have yellow flesh and a pink center. Mild, low-acid flavor. 80 days. Vine-type.

Oxheart (Heirloom) Old-fashioned favorite. Heart-shaped pink fruits are very meaty with few seeds. Good for slicing. 80 days. Vine-type.

Roma (Heirloom) Abundant producer of plum-shaped fruits perfect for sauces and canning. 80 days. Bush-type.

Rutgers (Heirloom) The original "Jersey" tomato. Unequaled in flavor. Wonderful for canning, cooking and slicing. 75 days. Bush-type.

MINIATURE TOMATOES Grape (Hybrid) Grape-shaped, shiny red globes produced in abundance. Great for fresh eating. 65 days. Vine-type.

Sweet Million (Hybrid) Has been known to produce over 500 cherry-type tomatoes on a single plant. Delicious in salads. 75 days. Vine-type.

Sungold Yellow (Hybrid) These exceptionally sweet, tangerine-orange cherry tomatoes are habit-forming! 57 days. Vine-type.

Yellow Pear (Heirloom) Clusters of pear-shaped, yellow, mild fruits with a very sweet delicious flavor. Perfect for salads. 75 days. Vine-type.

SWEET PEPPERS Big Bertha (Hybrid) High performing plants produce loads of glossy, dark green fruits; some reaching a massive 7 inches long. 72 days.

California Wonder (Heirloom) Long-time favorite. Expect a big harvest of mild-flavored, sweet peppers. Excellent for stuffing. 75 days.

Chocolate Beauty (Heirloom) Incredibly sweet and delicious. Green fruits ripen to an attractive chocolate-brown color. 67 days.

Golden Summer (Hybrid) Super sweet flavor. Green fruits ripen to an outstanding bright-gold. A real a gourmet treat! 67 days.

Purple Bell (Heirloom) Beautiful rich, deep purple bells with lime-green flesh on compact, bushy plants. Crisp texture, mild, sweet flavor. 75 days.

Red Beauty (Hybrid) Heavy yields of bright-red, sweet bell-type peppers add color to all your dishes. 68 days.

Sweet Banana (Heirloom) Famous for its amazing yields of sweet, mild peppers. Delightful in salads and exquisite when pickled. 68 days.

HOT PEPPERS Anaheim (Heirloom) Mildly hot chili pepper. Plants produce loads of long green fruit that turn brilliant red when fully ripe. 80 days.

Cayenne (Heirloom) Hotter! High yielding hot pepper ripens from dark green to intense red. Bold flavor and medium heat. 75 days.

Garden Salsa (Hybrid) Hot! Mild heat with zingy flavor. Great for making fresh salsa. Best picked green. 73 days.

Habanero Chili (Hybrid) Hottest! Not for the faint of heart. Just one pepper adds spicy heat to an entire dish. Dries and freezes well. 95 days.

Hot Banana (Heirloom) Hot! Also called Hungarian Wax. Canary yellow fruits turn bright red when ripe. Great for pickling and drying. 70 days.

Jalapeno (Hybrid) Hot! Dark green fruits are at their hottest when they are allowed to fully ripen to red. 75 days.

Pablano (Hybrid) Mildly hot pepper with spicy bite. Commonly used to make chili powder and salsa. Also good for grilling and stuffing. 75 days.

Serrano (Hybrid) Very hot and pungent pepper with a distinct flavor! Five times hotter than Jalapenos. 75 days.

Tabasco (Hybrid) The pepper used to make the world famous sauce. Pick when red for the spicest flavor. 95 days.

Our Vegetable Flats Are Only $12.99 for 36 Plants!

Growing With Us

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...MORE THAN JUST FOOD & FLOWERS We’ve invited a few artists to our three day Mother’s Day Party!

Treat your Mom to one of Juniebee’s artfully hand-painted hummingbird feeders...

Ken Wagner’s whimsical birdhouses are made from found objects...affordable, too.

Galen Bailey “The Scribbler” can create a flattering portrait of Mom in just a few minutes…

Growing With Us

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Marjorie’s Outrageously Good

Sweet ‘Tater Pie

For a truly exceptional sweet potato pie, try this sweet potato puree recipe and fill a pie with it (best with your favorite pie crust recipe, or use a pre-made crust). Makes one 9 ½ inch pie.

Basic Pie Dough for a 1-crust pie 2 cups sweet potatoes (about 3 – 4 medium sized potatoes or 1 ¼ pound) 4 large fresh eggs 1 cup packed dark or light brown sugar Juice of 1 orange Juice of ½ lemon ¾ cup heavy cream, or a mixture of cream and milk ¼ cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted ½ teaspoon cinnamon ½ teaspoon ground allspice ¼ teaspoon nutmeg Whipped cream or natural vanilla bean ice cream (for serving) Baking sweet potatoes in their jackets, as you would a baked potato, results in dense, flavorful flesh. Scrub the skins, pat dry, prick a few places with a fork, and bake the sweet potatoes in a pie pan or shallow pan in a preheated 400-degree oven for about 1 hour, or until very tender. Cool, halve length-wise and scrape flesh from skin, and mash.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to a large circle about 1/8 inch thick. Fit it, without stretching, into a buttered 9 ½ inch pie pan. Trim off the excess dough, leaving a ¾-inch overhang. Fold under the edge of the dough, pressing along the rim of the pan and forming a high fluted border. Line the pie shell with a sheet of buttered foil, buttered side down, and chill while you preheat the oven of 400 degrees F, with a rack in the lower third.

Bake the pie shell until the sides are set, about 8 minutes. Gently remove the foil. Continue to bake, pricking any air bubbles with a fork until the crust is just beginning to color but has not yet baked all the way through, 8 to 10 minutes longer. Set the pie shell aside; leave the oven on.

With an electric mixer at medium speed or with a whisk, combine the sweet potatoes, eggs, brown sugar, citrus juices, cream, butter and spices until very smooth. Pour the mixture into the warm, partially baked shell.

Bake the pie for 15 minutes. Lower the heat to 350 degrees, and continue to bake until the pie is set but the center is still slightly wobbly, 20 to 30 minutes longer. (The timing can vary based on the depth of the pie pan; do not over bake.)

Cool the pie on a wire rack. Serve at room temperature, topped with whipped cream flavored with pure vanilla extract, or real vanilla bean ice cream.

Need sweet ‘tater plants? We’ve got five varieties! They arrive fresh every week during May and early June.

9736 Tri-County Highway Winchester, Ohio 45697 937-587-7021 www.goodseedfarm.com

PRSTD STD US POSTAGE PAID PERMIT 5400 CINCINNATI OH

SAME PARTY, NEW PLACE!

CALENDAR

GARDEN CENTER & LANDSCAPING

GoodSeed Nursery

We’re now at a more convenient location, just off the Appalachian Highway at Route 62 in Winchester.

We’re at Hilltop Designs on Tri-County Highway across the street from the Winchester Carpet Outlet.

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!

May 9-10-11 Country Garden Mother’s Day Party! FREE Burning Bush for every mother. Specials, food and fun 10AM-7PM Friday, Saturday, and Mother’s Day Sunday June 23-July 6 Truckload Annual Flower Sale Outrageous savings on a fresh shipment of annual flats, pots and hanging baskets while they last Aug. 23-Oct. 12 Mum Season Perfect MUMS plus shrubs, trees, fertilizer, mulch and soils!

October 4&5 Appalachian Artisan’s Fest Two-day craft festival. We’ll be open with our gorgeous hardy mums, barn quilts and a selection of fall color.

October 10-12 End of Season Sale! Friday: Everything discounted 30%! Saturday: Everything discounted 40%! Sunday: Everything discounted 50% or more! Come early for the best selection.

(Bulk Mulches and soils not included).

October 13 CLOSED FOR THE SEASON! Mulch & Soil Delivery, Landscaping still available by calling 937-587-7021