January 21 Newsletter

Hello!

The winter is moving on. It’s not too bad this season, a couple of snows. I don’t go outside some days because of the ice. Can’t fall. I’m too busy to be hurt.

The seeds are a challenge this year. Some kind of vegetables are not available this season. There is some to replace them, a shortage.

I have to share with you about a new Red Sweet Onion I had last spring. They are plants in onion bunches. No one had the guts to try them. We planted them. I had a hard time to sell them as I didn’t know the flavor or storage time. I kept 6 to have over winter. They were dug in September. I am using them now and they are excellent! So fun to have a good Sweet Red Onion. They are nice size. I kept them in my basement in a cardboard box (nothing too special).

I’ll have plants this spring. They come in 60 or so plants. I can split the bunch if you ask. Onions need to be planted as early as you can get in the garden. A lesson on plants, plants are the only onion to get large, the sets are not sweet, not large, stores very well. You need to harvest onions in August or early September. Keep in your garage to dry. Then bring them in the house for winter use.

I also have Cipollini plants. They are Italian. They sweeten up and caramelize to a beautiful color. 1-3″ dimeter. I have other plant varieties also.

I will have Seed Potatoes also. They are sold by the pound, not packaged in bags and you need to buy the whole bag. My seeds are not packages, they are sold bulk. I’ve sold seeds for about 40 years. Where did that time go?

What a gift I have to help you – to help you be a great gardener.

I’ll have organic Chicken Pellets (manure) odorless for your garden. (It’s the cat’s meow!) I got some last year and things just jumped out of the soil. I will have this in small amounts for home gardeners. Vegetable and flowers. No, it does not burn your plants. It was a fabulous product. So fun to learn and pass this on to you. I get to experiment with things and pass it on. The pellet idea is sorta new. I found this company from Southern Minnesota and they deliver. Nice. It’s all bagged up.

I hope to open April 1 if the weather is great. Easter Sunday is April 4th. I like a later date but I can’t change it. Some people want to plant potatoes on Good Friday. I never could figure that out. I think it has something to do with the Moon.

I grew up on a Farm by the South Dakota border and my Dad did a lot of things by the Moon. I never learned.

That’s it for this letter.
Call me if you need to visit.

Donna
952-442-4816

P.S. The Minnesota Growers Directory is no longer a print catalog. You need to go online to find growers. I’m not in it anymore.

At The Farm
8880 Hwy 5
Waconia MN 55387