Local Plant Sale

[Mason Gilbert]

Morning Owl Farm's Plant Sale is Thursday, May 14, from 4-8 pm at 7020
Pet Haven Lane. We're off of Warm Springs Avenue, up a short dirt
lane. C'mon up!

All tomatoes, eggplants and peppers will be sold in 4" pots and priced
at $1.50 each. Nothing you'll buy will cost more than a buck and a
half. We want to sell plants, not compost them!

Unfortunately, we had some disappointment with an organic fertilizer
we used for the first time this year. The quantities suggested turned
out to be not quite right and while the company's been wonderful in
rectifying this, and awfully apologetic, we lost some plants. The
upshot is two-fold. First, just cuz a fertilizer is organic doesn't
mean it can't burn your plants, and second, I'm not offering quite as
many varieties as I'd hoped. That said, there will still be a large
offering of mostly open-pollinated, heirloom tomatoes, various
peppers, melons, eggplants, etc.

At Morning Owl Farm, we start our plants under sunlight only with
minimal heat. This allows the plants to grow slowly and naturally into
spring, creating a strong root system that allows the plant to
transplant with less shock. After your plant's been in the warm ground
for 5-7 days get them growing strong with a good, organic starter
fertilizer. Our plants are shorter because of the methods we use to
start them, but they catch up fast, bearing fruit when when their time
comes and getting big and bushy and giving lots to eat!

Regardless of where you buy, be sure to dig a nice big hole for your
plant, add aged compost, a bit of organic fertilizer (we like Nutri-
Rich) and water-in. Especially with tomatoes and peppers, be patient.
They love to have warm feet and spring has been normal this year,
which is to say it's coming in its own time with still-cool nights
(near freezing tonight!) and days in the 60s rather than the 80s. The
soil is warming, but not as quickly as in some years past and we're
going to see this in your plants. Tomatoes, for instance, that might
normally mature in late-June or early-July could be up to two weeks
later this year in bearing fruit. But if they are well-fed and
pollinated, you'll have fruit.

I've learned that the gift of the garden is it teaches us to be
content with the rhythms of where we live. This year, as always in the
Treasure Valley, it's going to be a beautiful summer! Grow well grow
strong.