We went to the Maymont Herb festival on Saturday with Matt and Melissa, and it was amazing. Vendors lined the big field by Maymont's back entrance and tons of people milled around carrying large flats of plants. Our favorite vendor was Amy's Garden from Charles City County, and we bought four gorgeous heirloom tomato plants - "hillbilly," "purple krim," "speckled roma," and the notorious "mortgage lifter." I am way too excited about them. We also bought a random pepper plant called "carmen." We bought lime basil, blue African basil, hot and spicy oregano, and curled parsley at A Thyme to Plant at Lavender Fields. We also bought "Irene"lantana and a sweet potato vine at County Gardens. I want to try to start some plants by seed after this growing season, so we got a pack of Southern Exposure Seed Exchange Tropic Tomato seeds.
We decided (hoped!) that the soil was dry enough to plant, so we planted all of our new plants right after we got home as well as three big boy tomato plants, three green bell pepper plants, and three banana pepper plants that Elaine gave us.
I re-potted the strawberry plant that Mom W gave us for Easter as well as the mint and aloe from Matt and Melissa. We planted the lantana and sweet potato in the barrel in the driveway.
There are, of course, several things left to do. We still would like to get a sweet basil plant and several cucumbers for the large beds. We also plan on putting marigolds throughout to help stave off the bugs. We still have no plans for the side bed. Perhaps annuals and more lantana (I love that stuff). And, we need to actually use the mulch that is sitting in bags on our patio.
Thank you for including information about Southern Exposure Seed Exchange in your blog, we hope this growing season is proving a fruitful one for you. We are again involved in hosting the annual Heritage Harvest Festival and thought you and your subscribers would be interested in this event…… HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE---IRA
ReplyDeleteThe 4th annual Heritage Harvest Festival, hosted by the Thomas Jefferson Foundation in partnership with Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, is a fun, family-oriented, educational event promoting organic gardening, sustainable living, local food and the preservation of heritage plants. The 2010 Heritage Harvest Festival will be held on Saturday, September 11 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the West Lawn of Monticello in Charlottesville.
At the heart of the Heritage Harvest Festival are over 40 educational programs, lectures, cooking demonstrations, and food tastings that include the ever popular Tomato Tasting. Including workshops from two members of Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, “Heirloom Garlic and Onions: How to Grow These Culinary Essentials with Ira Wallace” and “Fall and Winter Veggies: Zero-Degree Gardening” with Ken Bezilla.
To kick off the event, Rosalind Creasy, founder of the edible landscape movement, will host a Preview Lecture and Local Food dinner on Friday, September 10 at the Monticello Visitor Center. For more information on the Festival, visit www.heritageharvestfestival.com or call 434-984-981 for tickets.