Landis Valley Herb and Garden Faire

I spent Friday and Saturday in a most enjoyable way - in the company of a new but good friend while we sold heirloom herb and vegetable seedlings to possibly the nicest people in the world. The mood was relaxed and happy, everyone was smiling, and I had the opportunity to meet so many wonderful folks. In all my various endeavors, I have never felt as comfortable as with people who garden. We come from all walks of life, from college students, to urban professionals, country dwellers, and retired folks, but we share one thing in common - the love of growing food. Egos and agendas are left elsewhere while ideas, information, recipes, and growing tips are freely shared.

So thank you to everyone who stopped by. It was a pleasure.

after the festival

I had a great time at the Pennsylvania Herb Festival! But there are two things - first, although I took my camera along, I also completely and totally forgot to take any photos to share with you! (Bad blogger! Bad!) Second, I am simply exhausted. It was non-stop activity all last week, starting with dealing with all the little details preparing for the event, loading up Thursday night, unloading and setting up then manning the booth on Friday, loading up additional plants Friday night, unloading on Saturday, manning the booth, and finally tearing the booth down, driving home and unloading one more time. Not complaining at all, but whew!

I met the most wonderful people at the festival, had some very interesting conversations, and sold many seedlings. All in all, it was well worth my time to be there. Oh, and bonus - I bought a nice little bay leaf tree which I'll pot up and grow in the greenhouse along with my meyer lemon and persian lime trees.

The next event will be at Lancaster's Eastern Market for the May Day celebration. A much smaller event to be sure, but looking forward to it since the emphasis is on gardening and, of course, local produce. After that it will be the Landis Valley Herb and Garden Faire, Friday, May 7th and Saturday May 8th. Then we settle into market season starting Thursday May 27 at the Willow Street growers market and Saturday, May 29 at Eastern Market. Both of these run all summer through the end of October.

I'm looking forward to it all!

PA Herb Festival

a table of seedlings in the early morning haze of the greenhouse

Today is the first event that Tulip Tree Hill farm will be attending as a vendor - the Pennsylvania Herb Festival. It runs from noon until 7 p.m. today and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. tomorrow. We'll have a booth full of heirloom herb and vegetable seedlings. Some unusual stuff, too, like artichokes, licorice, and cotton as well as more "normal" offerings. More normal would be 23 different varieties of tomatoes in all sizes and colors, many sweet and hot peppers, eggplants, cabbages, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, lettuces, broccoli, and numerous herbs. And how about Thai Red Roselle? It's flower buds are a key ingredient in Red Zinger tea. Fun stuff, folks! 

Be sure to stop by and say hello!

more good news

I found out yesterday that Tulip Tree Hill has also been accepted into the Landis Valley Herb Faire as a vendor. Whew! Happy day! What a load off my mind. Of course, there are still details that need attending to, but at least I know that there are now actual outlets for all these seedlings I've been starting.

The herb faire is May 7-8 at the Landis Valley Museum, just outside Lancaster, PA. It's a big deal and folks come from all over to buy not just herbs, but also heirloom veggies, flowers, and all sorts of related whatsits. Oh, come on, take a little spring vacation and make a long weekend of visiting Lancaster County. I know you'd like it if you came.

looking forward to spring

Also looking forward to gardening. I'm hoping a lot of folks are because I got very good news today: it's official - Tulip Tree Hill has been accepted as a vendor at the Pennsylvania Herb Festival, April 16-17, in York, PA! The farm's first big event. Just six weeks away. Oh my. On one hand I can hardly wait, but on the other hand, the logistics make me more than a little bit nervous. My biggest issue will be the transportation of all those plants, I mean a VW Bug just isn't going to cut it no matter how cute it is. My plan is to rent a van, but even so, I'll need to figure out some sort of shelving or some such thing. If anyone has ideas, I'd be more than open to hearing them! But you know, somehow I do believe it'll all work out. That the many flats of seedlings will safely make their way to the festival and a good time will be had by all. And by all means, if you attend the festival, be sure to stop by and say hello!