Time to Learn

 

Employees and customers learn side-by-side about gardening

Plants and other merchandise have been rolling in for the last two months. This month, receiving plants will be our top priority. Trees, shrubs, perennials, cool-weather vegetables, pansies and so much more will be unloaded every day from our own growers and other local companies that provide us with beautiful, healthy, hardy plants. As I write this, large shade trees are being unloaded from a flatbed in our parking lot.  To get ready, we are hiring new people who will go through training in all of our departments. We like to teach people about plants, so have brought back our educational seminars this year. We'd love your feedback. All classes are free unless materials are provided for our customers to create a project. This season, all classes will be on Saturdays. We may expand to Sunday classes for fall as many people have asked for that option. As always, garden clubs and civic organizations interested in using Valley View Farms for a meeting and program may contact Carrie at 410-527-0700. 

A local garden club stopped in to learn about water features

 Here is a schedule of upcoming seminars.

March 25, 9 am, Spring Lawn Clinic-John will discuss the best practices for lawn care. How to seed, fertilize, prevent, and kill weeds, soil testing, and other techniques will be the topic of today's class. 

March 25, 11 am, Planning a Summer Cutting Garden- Learn how to grow flowers in your own cutting garden. Annuals, perennials, shrubs, and bulbs, their care, and developing a plan will all be up for discussion. 

April 1, 9 am, Create a Bonsai Tree-Martha joins us from Meehan's Bonsai to guide participants in creating a Bonsai tree. Tree, soil, wire, and a bonsai pot are all included for a $40.00 fee. 

Martha Meehan presents a bonsai seminar each month (excluding May)

April 1, 11 am, Herb Gardening- Our speaker today will share secrets on how to grow herbs for culinary and ornamental uses. Learn about the many varieties of herbs that our grower provides us; over 100!

April 8, 9 am, Spring Pond Opening- Our pond experts go through the steps to get the pond up and running again. Care for filters, pumps, plants, fish, and other water features will be part of the conversation. 

April 15, 9 am, Maintaining a Beautiful Perennial Garden- Learn when to cut back, deadhead, and divide perennials for optimum bloom and growing year-round, as well as selecting the best plants for your garden. 

April 22, 9 am, Introduction to Water Gardening- Learn techniques for building a pond and maintaining it for a new level of gardening pleasure.

April 29-30, 8 am -7 pm 9th Annual Tomato Tornado-Join us for a weekend all about tomatoes. Our farm grew an extra 35 varieties of heirlooms and small-fruited tomatoes for this weekend only. Doors open at 8 am. 

May 6-7, 8 am-7 pm 2nd Annual Pepper Palooza- We grew an extra 25 varieties of peppers for this weekend's event. Many are AAS winners and are very limited in quantities. Doors open at 8 am. 

Our classes will resume in the fall. (Bonsai will continue to meet the first Saturday of the month except for May.)  Please send us any ideas you have for future seminars and classes