At the Farm is located on Highway 5 in Carver County, Minnesota - 2.5 m. East of Waconia - 4.5 m. West of Victoria - 10 m. West of Chanhassen
Donna Frantz, Proprietor - 8880 East Highway 5, Waconia MN 55387 - imthefarmer@earthlink.net - 952-442-4816

At the Farm Newsletter

Sent May 4, 2011 The robins are singing The snow is gone Soon I'll be planting And I'll be singing a spring song! Hello, The green house has been restored! My baby chicks have arrived. So I'm ready for spring to be here. I'm open most days now. Call ahead to make sure 952-442-4816. I have bulk vegetable seeds for sale. Also onion sets, seed potatoes, onion plants and cabbage plants are here. The Spring Home and Garden supplement to the local papers has nice 'ink' (article) about me. Its fun to see and read about myself in print! And again thanks and welcome to even more new folks who wanted to subscribe to my newsletter after reading about me in the ' edible TWIN CITIES' magazine. I am so excited about the response to the article.
My updated book , Gardening According to Donna - With Canning Appendix is ready! It was fun to do. The canning tips section is new. I added it to the book that I published last year full of gardening expertise and reprinted this spring. Call or stop by to purchase the book! Its a great Mother's Day gift for any gardener or want-to-be gardener. I have great soil for your container gardens. The soil you use in containers is very important. I don't use Miracle Grow, have not figured that one out yet. Dump all the old soil out of your containers each year and start new. The old soil is all wore out and your plants have nothing to get nutrition from. And if you had spruce tips in your pots over the winter there is alot of acid from the needles. Things don't grow in that! I also have organic worm castings that you can use to amend the soil. I use a Jack fertilizer for my flowers and I have it for sale too.
Sister Saturday Party and Plant Swap At the Farm Come to Sell - Swap - Buy and to Just Enjoy all the Activities! Saturday May 14, 2011 How this works . . . Do you have extra plants, bulbs, starts? You can bring them to sell or swap! In 6-inch pots (or smaller) Divisions of plants (peonies, grasses, lily of the valley, ferns, lilies, cone flowers, yarrow, hostas, etc.) Perennial starts Bulbs (callas, dahlia, cannas, iris, etc.) No seeds, bedding plants, annual flowers or vegetable plants Containers (fancy pots, urns) Gardening Books and Tools Trellises, Arbors, Garden Décor Anything related to Gardening FREE Setup Area for Your Items! Bring your own tables, chairs, etc. Set up starts at 8:30 am. I do not charge you for the space or anything. It's a way for you to move some of your plants and meet other gardeners too. I know you will be great and will "Sell the Sizzle"! Events 9 am to 2 pm - Plant Swap and Sale 9 am to 3 pm - Junk Market (Jane Hall of Mustard Moon & Friends) 9 am to 1 pm - Vintage Photo Shoot (Taylor Hubbard of Waconia) 10 am to 12 noon - Master Gardener (Evie Burau) 10 am to 12 noon - Tea Sampling (Hostess - Yvonne Brown, Folk Artist of Excelsior) 11 am to 12 noon - Rhubarb Sorbet Demonstration (Olivia Kornelis) 12 noon to 3 pm - Wine Experts (Sovereign Estates Winery of Waconia) 12 noon to 3 pm - Live Music by Jenn Bostic I will have my Fern Peony plants for sale. Also to Plant in Your Expanding Garden: Rhubarb Roots Fall Bearing Raspberries Everbearing Strawberries June Bearing Strawberry Plants Asparagus Roots
Remember, I have eggs available most of the time now. Call ahead to make sure 952-442-4816. Think Spring! Donna When you care enough to Eat the very best, ask Donna!
Gardening Tips Don't work the soil too soon. If you do you will pay the fiddler all summer. It will stay in hard as rock clumps all season. Take a handful of soil and squeeze it. If it stays in a ball keep out of the garden! The soil should crumble when you open your hand, then you can work it. Cold crops can be planted as soon as the soil is workable; potatoes, onions, lettuce, radishes, peas, beets, kohlrabi, cabbage plants, broccoli, cauliflower, parsley.
As the season goes on you can tell the temperature of the soil. Just put your hand in it. If it feels warm you can plant warm crops. Too early now for flowers. But you can split perennials and transplant them now. If you have extra bring them and sell or trade them at my Plant Swap on May 14. When you care enough to Grow the very best, ask Donna!