Spring is here! I'm sure the gardeners among you are itching to get your fingers dirty. Here at Little Salmon Farm, we have spent the last few months planning, seeding, sprouting, and growing a wide variety of flowers and vegetables for both our own fields and your garden beds. Starting this weekend, these plants will finally be ready for you to take home!
Over on Instagram we do a weekly update on what's going on at the farm, called the "Crop Walk." This grew out of our normal habit of walking around the farm once per week and writing down all of the tasks that needed to be done. However, it's since grown into a very popular weekly ritual! Some of you may be Crop Walk fans already, but if you haven't joined us for one yet, go follow us on Instagram at @littlesalmonfarm. We usually Crop Walk on Mondays or Tuesdays, post in our stories, and those stories are available for viewing for the next 24 hours.
This week, our Crop Walk was focused on all of the exciting flowers and vegetable plants that will be for sale at the farm stand starting this weekend. Let's take a look!
First, one of our most popular crops - tomatoes! This year, we are excited to offer tomato starts in 4" peat pots. Last year, if you only wanted to plant one or two tomatoes, you were out of luck - we only sold them in 6 packs. This year, you can plant as few or as many as you'd like, and you can mix and match varieties.
We have our two most popular red slicing tomato varieties again this year - the indeterminate "Big Beef" and determinate "BHN 589." What's the difference between indeterminate and determinate, you ask? More about that in a later blog post!
We also have several varieties of heirloom tomatoes this year, including pink "Martha Washington," yellow and orange striped "Buffalosun," and purple and green striped "Berkeley Tie Dye." We have chosen these varieties because they are some of the more dependable - and best tasting - heirloom tomatoes that we have grown.
If you've bought cherry tomatoes at our farm stand, you know we LOVE to grow a wild rainbow of cherry tomatoes in all different colors! Several of these fun varieties will also be for sale at the farm stand. Those include red "Cherry Bomb," orange "Sungold," yellow and pink striped "Tropical Sunset," red and yellow striped "Sparky," and "Pink Champagne" which is, you guessed it.... pink.
As always, our number one priority when choosing varieties to grow or sell is FLAVOR. We are proud to offer unique varieties of tomatoes, peppers, and other vegetables that you won't see at the other plant nurseries, big box stores, or in the grocery store. We cater to the connoisseur!
In addition to tomatoes, we also have peppers available in single pots. We are growing three different colors of bell peppers this year: red "King Arthur," orange "Gilboa," and yellow "Flavorburst." All three of these varieties can also be picked green, if green peppers are your thing. It's usually a good idea to pick the first few peppers that the plant produces while they are still green, to encourage the plant to grow larger and set more fruit. This can be tough if you, like Farmer Ellen, hate green peppers and only like the ripe colored ones! But, to each their own.
For the adventurous gardeners among you, perhaps you'd like to try something a little different this year? We will have a limited number of tomatillo and ground cherry starts to spice up your garden! Both tomatillos and ground cherries are distant relatives of the tomato, and grow inside a papery husk. Tomatillos are picked green and have a bright citrusy flavor - perfect for summer salsas. Ground cherries, also known as husk cherries or cape gooseberries, are picked when ripe and yellow and have a sweet tropical flavor. You may have seen these fun little fruits for sale at our farm stand last year. They are great for snacking, and kids love them! Both tomatillos and ground cherries can be grown and trellised in the same manner as indeterminate tomatoes, although they usually aren't pruned.
We still have lots of flowers, even after our successful Mother's Day flower sale last weekend! Most of our flowers are sold in 6-packs, though a few larger varieties will be available as single plants in larger containers. Right now we have 6-packs of petunias, pansies, and cosmos ready to go, with even more varieties (dahlias, calendula, celosia, and more) coming soon!
We grow and sell our 6-packs in soil blocks, which reduces plastic waste, produces healthier roots, and lowers the risk of transplant shock. We also use paper boxes instead of plastic trays to further cut down on plastic trash.
In addition to 6-packs of flowers for your garden, we also have a few fun new additions this year. Canna lilies are large, showy flowers that bring a tropical feel to your garden. While they won't survive the winter here in upstate New York, you can dig up the tubers in the fall and replant them in the spring. When the tubers get too large, you can split them and share with friends!
Did you know that Farmer Ellen's favorite flowers are sunflowers? She is very excited that Farmer Bob has decided to plant several dozen acres of black oil sunflowers this year as a cover crop! If you need a little sunshine in your life, but don't have several dozen acres, you can take home one of these adorable "Big Smile" miniature sunflowers in a half-gallon pot. They stay small and are perfect for patio containers.
And finally, we still have many hanging baskets for sale, with several different mixes of flowers. There are pink and yellow "Easy Wave" petunias, purple "Daddy Mix" petunias with white bacopa, and our very popular red, white, and blue petunia mix. We also have an "Edible Flowers" basket this year - all four varieties of flowers in this basket can be eaten, including nasturtiums, pansies, "Lemon Gem" marigolds, and scarlet runner beans.
So, which ones are YOU most excited to plant? Our plant sale opens this weekend, Saturday May 14th, and will continue until we are sold out!
Is there something you were hoping to plant, but you don't see here? We have more varieties that haven't been featured here or aren't quite ready to be planted yet. We also sometimes sell extra plants that we don't have room for after planting them ourselves. If there is something in particular you are looking for, email or message us, or stop by the farm stand and ask!
Happy gardening!
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