Morningsun Herb Farm

First, some very sad news at the nursery.  My dad Leroy Loveall, who was so instrumental in building the nursery and provided us with so much support throughout the years (including letting us use his land!), passed away peacefully at the ripe old age of 92 on Jan 8^th.  Really, there is nowhere at the nursery where you wouldn’t turn and see his work, especially so much of the original building and planting.  Although the past 5 years new customers may not have noticed his presence out there as much because of health issues, all of the ‘old timers’ will remember him, since he was always out greeting customers, watering, helping with tomato questions and fixing stuff we had broken.  He was so happy when we decided to build the nursery out on Pleasants Valley back in 1994, we like to think we helped keep him young when he was 80 years old by just keeping him so busy.  He will be so missed, but his spirit lives on, every time we turn on a light or a water spigot!

This is our 15 year anniversary for Morningsun Herb Farm!  In so many ways the last 15 years flew by, I can’t believe how much we have changed!  Our spring newsletter will give much more information on upcoming events, but planning has already started for our 15^th annual Open House, scheduled for Saturday, May 8^th.  We will be dedicating the Open House to my dad, and he loved all of the great food we have available for tasting (especially the pestos…) on that day, so plan on an especially fabulous spread for this year’s event.  As spring events are scheduled, including spring classes, they will be available online.

 

We are already in tomato heaven out here, adding some new varieties this year (and retiring a few) as we begin sowing seeds for this spring.  The updated list will be online soon, and tomatoes will be coming out a bit earlier this year – we will have about 40 of the 90 varieties out by Tuesday, March 9^th.  I know, this is early, but so many of you are calling in February wanting to put veggies in the ground, so we think this is a happy compromise.  Peppers and eggplants will be available for sale by March 23, other veggies by April 1.  Just remember – check your last frost date (at the nursery it is April 3^rd) and plan your protection accordingly!

 

Be sure to check out our new demonstration lavender field when you come out to the farm.  We ripped out three rows of Provence lavender (they were 8 years old and losing vigor), and replanted with just one row each of the always popular varieties ‘Provence’ and ‘Grosso’, and planted a row each of Lavandula angustifolia ‘Maillette’ and ‘Violet Intrigue’, two English varieties very popular in Europe for great oil production and pot pourri.  We also found more space out in the field and  planted rows of Lavandula angustifolia ‘Twickel Purple’ and ‘Royal Velvet’ and Lavandula x intermedia ‘Impress ‘Purple’.  These have all been really lovely additions to our nursery but we have not been able to show them off the way they deserve.  Now the lavender field has 12 selections planted, which should give some beautiful color and be a great spot to look at many possibilities for your gardens!  If the 450 lavender plants out in our garden aren’t enough, we are in the process of teaming up with our neighbors Soul Food Farm to plant our first acre of lavender this February for organic essential oil production.  We already see the whole valley filled beautiful lavender!

 

Finally, we just want to include a photo from the hailstorm that hit the nursery on Tuesday, Jan 19^th.  For those of you who wonder why we close the nursery during the month of January and go into hiding, this is why…it is cold, dark, and sometimes a bit dangerous under the shadecloth!

 

We will reopen for limited hours Saturday Jan 30^th for weekend hours, 11 am – 4 pm.  In anticipation of an early spring (and because people start showing up and standing at the gate!) we will open the nursery full time this year on Tuesday Feb 16 – back to our regular hours, Tuesday through Sunday, 9 am – 5 pm.