2009 Annual Plant and Seedling Sale at Midsummer Farm Saturday May 16th & 23rd

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2009 Annual Plant and Seedling Sale at Midsummer Farm  Saturday, May 16th and 23rd   |   9 am to 2 pm   |   Rain or Shine ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We've been planting and planting and moving tender plants in and out all spring, andwe finally took a moment to step back and look at what we have - We are thrilled to report that the seedlings and plants are looking gorgeous!  This is going to be our best plant sale ever - we have tons of beautiful broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, collards, chard, and other greens that are excited to go into the ground! Our celery, fennel, parsley, cilantro, radicchio are just perfect.  We are offering some new combos this year - a Mustard Green Quartet of Varietiesand an Heirloom Kale Trio.  We specialize in Companion and Dynamic Plants and have a full assortment for you to choose to boost your veggies' production power! We also will have tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, squash, and eggplants that will need to wait a bit to get in the ground, but they are timed to be the perfect size to plant after our last frost date. We have all sorts of new varieties as well as the old favorite heirlooms. I am most excited by the Aunt Ruby's German Greens and the Black Krims. This year our most exciting pepper is a black-colored chile pepper called Chile Pasilla Bajio - a black long chili - I can't wait to see what they look like growing! And we will have Genovese basil, Large leaf basil, Thai siam queen basil, Purple opal basil, Lime and Lemon basil, and of course - Holy Basil or Tulsi. As you can see, we are really excited about getting growing and about offering these organic and biodynamic plants to all of you. Nothing is healthier or more life-affirming than eating from your own garden, and we are so happy to be a part of that! Thank you for all of your support of our farm, and we are eagerly looking forward to seeing you Saturday!  NOTE - We are a small farm and can only grow a small amount of each variety socome early for the best selection HUGE Herb Variety    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Our obsession has always been herbs and so beyond vegetables, we are so proud of our huge variety of herbs - culinary and medicinal - everything from Angelica, Basil, and Coltsfoot to Uva Ursi, Valerian and Yarrow (sorry, we have no herbs that start with X or Z). We're planning to set them up in alphabetical order this year, which I think will help people find what they are looking for, and I think it is just so fun to see the herbs you might be using medicinally as they are in life. We will have plenty of new and rare stuff for the herb collector!  We have 8 different types of thyme:   English, Red Creeping, French, German Winter, Varigated Lemon, Highland Cream, Woolly (so cute!), and Orange-Balsam.   The Gotu Kola are doing splendidly, in case you were wondering!  And for the Foodie and Cook, we have absolutely the best Tarragon and Chervilthis year! And don't forget that every garden needs parsley! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Natives and Pollinator Plants  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We also will have tables set up of Native Plants and Pollinator-Friendly Plants which will include such things as Butterfly Weed, Lysimachia, and Yarrow for the Butterfliesand Hyssop, Mint, and Bee Balm for the Honey Bees.  We will also have New York Aster, Cardinal Flower, many different Monardas, and a shimmering mix of herbs that bees and butterflies will love!  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Featured Plant: Lysimachia Punctata ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Each year we offer a different selection of exciting perennials - this year one of my favorites is the Lysimachia Punctata - it is simply one of the most aesthetically pleasing plants around. I had a very hard time finding the variety with non-varigated leaves; I think the plain but emerald-bright green is what gives this plant its full effect. It will spread to form a nice size clump of 2 feet in diameter. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~    Strange Shade Plants   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ And to continue my obsession, we will have a lovely variety of Shady Ephemeral plants including various ferns, Black Cohosh, Lily of the Valley, Liverwort, and Bloodroot.  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ And we are proud to say that we have some VERY hard-to-find stuff that we have been hunting down and finally got a hold of and can offer to you!  Vatican Clary Sage  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I finally found seed for this plant offered by a small seed company called Diane's Seeds. I am so happy with how they germinated and they are doing fabulously. You will really love this beautiful sage!  White Dalmatian Sage   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It is another sage - but of a whole other type - this is the almost-mythical ultimate culinary sage - it is supposed to have the best flavor of all the sages - I cannot wait to try it! You won't find anyone else on the East Coast with this sage!  And I finally found Kent's Beauty Oregano    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Not really grown for flavor, it is a stunning hanging variety of oregano with pink and green bracts. Awesome combined with Dotted Mint or Monarda Punctata!  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lavenders - Two English Hardy Varieties this Year!  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We are offering two English Hardy Lavenders - Munstead with a magenta-purple flower head and Hidcote Blue with a blue-purple flower head. Both smell wonderful and can make it through the winters around here! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   Did you request? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We now have:   Lemon Grass Matt's Wild Cherry Tomatoes Yellow Bell Peppers Lemon Verbena Stevia  Lemon Eucalyptus!    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2009 Perennials ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Although we always feel frivolous, we can't help ourselves but get new and exciting flowers each year. This year, you can expect Bright Yellow Carnations, a variety of old-fashioned Hollyhocks (including the original heirloom French breed that started all the hollyhocks), Walker's Low Catmint, a delightfully-scented Dianthus called 'Fancy Knickers,' and an absolutely frivolous Hardy Hibiscus! We are also two subtle clematis vines - Autumn Sweet and Radar Love.  Saucy Seduction Yarrow (Have you noticedthat we try a new yarrow each year? Last year was Cloth of Gold; in 2007 we featured next year will be eitherSummer Pastels;Paprika orStrawberry Seduction). Achillea or Yarrow is a dynamic herb and when planted among other herbs, encourages higher essential oil production. And they are gorgeous and addictive! And alwaysEuphorbia - Deer hate it and other plants love to grow near it - particularly plants that like warmth. I just can't wait to see everything taking off around the yard and in the garden! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Please visit our website:  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Our Website Thank you very much for your interest in Midsummer Farm and in Sustainable and Organic Agriculture!  HAPPY SPRING !!!!  ~Barbara and Mark Laino  Midsummer Farm Contact Info: Barbara and Mark Laino  Midsummer Farm 156 East Ridge Road  Warwick, NY 10990  845-986-9699 [email protected]