Summer Scents

As I type it is hailing and raining sideways at the same time! So why does our blog say "Summer Scents"? Am I just dreaming of warm sun and cute flip flops? You bet I am cause otherwise this wet, cold spring in the Pacific Northwest could make a person crazy. Luckily we just got in the most lovely line of Eau de Parfum, lotion and bubble bath to direct our thoughts to that warm summer day. It is Lollia and you have got to come smell the light, clean scents. The scents tell it all - Imagine, Wish or Relax. Beautiful packaging - impeccable ingredients. You have to have one of these summer scents... come smell and enjoy. And rain, rain go away!!

2010 Tomato Varieties

Here are our tomato varieties available now!

Red: Jersey Giant, Beefsteak, Millionaire, Kentucky Beefsteak, Early Girl, Silvery Fir Tree, Seattle's Best of All, Oregon Spring, Super Marazano, Siletz, John Baer, Manitoba, Peron Sprayless, Tessaloniki, Fantastic, Arkansas Traveler, Ropreco Paste, Celebrity, Roma, Santiam, Double Rich, Hungarian Heart, Legend, Windowbox Roma, Burbank Slicer, Sweet Million (cherry)

Pink: Mortgage Lifter, Brandywine, Caspian Pink, Italian Heirloom, Old Italian, German Pink, German Queen, Zapotec Pleated, German Johnson, Mavritanskite

Yellow: Moonglow, Taxi, SunSugar (cherry), SunGold (cherry), Dr. Wyche's Yellow, Gold Medal, Huge Lemon Oxheart, Yellow Mortgage Lifter.

Purple: Pruden's Purple, Cherokee Purple, Micado Violettor

Orange: Caro Rich

Yellow/Orange: Pineapple, Hillbilly (taste test winner at Gathering of Gardeners 2009)

Green: Aunt Ruby's German Green (taste test winner at Hannible Mo farmer's market)

White: White Oxheart

Black: Japanese Trifele Black, Black Krim, Black Cherry, Black from Tula

Tomato Growing 101

Saturday May 8 from 1:00 pm- 4:00 pm

Come learn gardening techniques that will assure a sustainable harvest for you and your family. Natural products and organic methods will be taught by Dale Smith and Emily Rinck from The Green Earth Farm. The emphasis will be on tomatoes, as they grow over 50 different varieties but will also cover soil preparation, plants and watering, fertilizers, pests, and diseases. Bring a pen and all your gardening questions. The class is free!

(the above picture is of Hillbilly, the 2009 taste test winner at the Gathering of Gardeners, which will be one of the many different varieties available for your gardens!)

Yellow boots

Today I want to share a sweet story that a good customer told me yesterday as she purchased some flowers and herbs. She had helped raise her granddaughter who is now 24 and has moved away. She told me of all of her wonderful memories of teaching her little granddaughter to garden and how much closer they became out in that garden. She said she would always remember looking up to see the little yellow boots that her granddaughter insisted on wearing as she gardened with grandma. So she went out and bought a pair of kids yellow boots and was going home to fill them with cement and place them in her garden as a reminder of the days that they gardened together. How sweet is that. So make your garden as personal as you can this year too. Gardens are a true place of refuge from some pretty stressful times.... Happy gardening!

New chicks!

Our new order of chicks are here! Here is what's new:

25 Production Red Pullets
25 Cornish Rock St. Run
25 Buff Orpington Pullets
25 Salmon Faverolle Pullets (above picture)
25 Gold Wyandotte Pullets
25 White Crested Black Polish St. Run
10 Khaki Campbell Duck St. Run
10 Black and White Magpie Duck St. Run
10 Rouen Duck St. Run
10 Fawn and White Runner Duck St. Run

Chick Spotlight:

Salmon Faverolles (pictured above)- originated in France, mainly for production of winter eggs and heavy table poultry though now they are a rare variety mainly kept for exhibition and display. An odd fact, each bird has five toes on each foot. The striking difference in male and female plumage patterns makes this variety a very interesting and challenging breeding project. They are one of only a few standard breeds that lay cream-colored or tinted eggs that are produced when brown and white egg breeds are crossed.

Fair Trade Baskets

We live in a much smaller world these days. By that I mean we can easily access so much more than we could even just a few years ago. And we now have Fair Trade companies that pay a fair wage. It may make the product cost a little more but you and I know it is the right thing to do . So pictured above is our new line of Bolga Baskets made from Kinkanhe grass in Ghana, West Africa all handmade by a member of the Fra-Fra tribe. Take them on a picnic, use them at the Farmers Market or store your knitting in one. By buying this basket you will help a family in Ghana build a better tomorrow! $14.00 to $36.00!

Herbal apothacary jars will make anything you want to store in them look and taste better! And come see the frog and swallow shaped corkboards to post your notes and "I really love this picture" on. If this rain is going to continue we all will just have to spend the time indoors "fluffing and buffing" our homes. Farmhand Feed can help you with some inspirations.

Birds of Light

I told you we LOVE BIRDS. So now we have the cutest wax birds that have LED lights in them
for indoor or outdoor use. They come in white, blue or green. I can see them under a glass cloche on the dining room table for some lovely mood lighting without the worry of a candle. Or put one where you sit outside in the evenings. Charming and only $14.00. It is hard to show the nice light they emit - so come see....

Sara has been painting again and done a single nest canvas for $24.oo. She is talented and does our wonderful displays too. She is working on a swallow sailing through a blue sky but I may have to nab it first.....

A new pillow of nesting birds with linen and pillow ticking fabrics complete the new display. It is only $24.00. Don't you love our reasonable prices! So make your home your nest at Farmhand Feed & Home Co.!

We love Butter!

BUTTER - With a name like that you know it has to be good. We just got in handmade marshmallows made by Rosie Daykin, her Mum and her brother Ray in Vancouver, BC. The

toasted coconut is their number one seller with strawberry and lemon not far behind. And I had to order the chocolate one too! If the marshmallows are not enough to tempt you (we have samples) you can try one of Butter's handmade S'Mores! So if the cold winds and rain are going to continue here in the Pacific Northwest I say let's sit by the fire with hot cocoa topped with a melting handmade marshmallow. Come try a sample.

Life's little joys!

Cancer. The word no one wants to hear their doctor say. It seems to me it is what happens after those words that separate the patients into 2 groups. The survivors are the group that Cindee Eichengreen chose for herself . Nothing could get her down and now she is a real survivor. So while she suffered the complications from the chemo and radiation she picked up a needle and beads and began making the beautiful brooches and lapel pins that you see in the first three photos. They sparkle with the joy of life she has created them with. Real little pieces of art. So come down and see them yourself as they will lift your spirits. By the way Cindee is the garden designer for the Village Green here in Cottage Grove. You can walk through the large gardens anytime and see another creation by Cindee. Keep creating Cindee - can't wait to see your next venture. You can visit Cindee at http://www.ourgrandmothersgardens.blogspot.com/.

Soon we will list more of our favorite blog places for you to follow.

Picture number 4 is of a portable chicken barn made locally by Jim Hall and Dan Ediger. It is the perfect thing for all you Urban chicken people. It will be on display this Saturday here at the store so come down and take a look. There is no substitute for fresh eggs!

The last picture is of a copper weather vane and it's a chopper! Father's Day is coming! We also have in herons and large bugling elks. On top of your house or in your garden - a unique statement.