Do you have a gardener in your life that you are still needing to buy for?  Never fear, Pea Patch has compiled a list of gift that even the hardest to buy for will appreciate.  In no particular order - here are the top gifts for gardeners:
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2.  Seeds and Seed Collections - a gift that will keep on giving for the year!  There are many themes and many companies that are so great for collections.  Don't know if your gardener wants to start their own plants??  A gift certificate to their favourite greenhouse is always an option!  A few ideas could be:

• Culinary Herb Garden - basil, thyme, rosemary, parsley, sage, cilantro, chives; the list is close to endless - Maybe add a qualifier like Italian herbs, BBQ herbs, Tea Herbs, Bartender Herbs
• Weird and Wonderful Veggies to Try - heirloom tomatoes, kohlrabi, eggplant, asparagus peas - another endless list with so many combinations! 
• Sunflower or Sweet Pea Collection - Bring a little nostalgia with these garden friendly favourites! 

3.  Birds and Bees - Is your gardener planting a lot of bird and bee friendly plants?  Here are some cool additions to a wildlife friendly garden!

4.  Community Garden Plot - Not all of us have a yard available for us to garden on.  For those who don't there are a lot of Community Gardens that offer plots for lease for very reasonable yearly rates.  Check with your local market garden, Communities in Bloom organization or church/community group for more information.

5. Statuary/Ornaments - these can be found in most box stores and garden centres.  Maybe they need their own BERTGNOMIO, or Buddha, or bird bath or frog spitting water for their yard?  

6. Gift Certificates - Still unsure what to get for the gardener in your life?  A gift certificate is a great option!

• Lee Valley Tools offers E-Gift Cards for last minute gifts!  LEE VALLEY
• Indigo/Chapters - great for gardening books!
• Amazon - you never know what you may find here :)
• Veseys - plants, seeds, equipment - Canadian Company
• Botanus - Right now all gift certificates are on sale!  Great value for bulbs and plants!!
• Pea Patch Gardens and Greenhouse - any denomination available!

Wow!  That was a fast summer.  I think I always say that though :)

We are on day 3 at the hockey arena and day 2 back to school - Hurray!  Yesterday I did some housework, baking and crafting; it was glorious.  Today I am catching up on a few things, then heading out to the farm for a bit.

We are starting to work on next year's order already - so if you have any requests, now is an excellent time to get them in to us.

Also: anyone interested in Fundraising with Pea Patch Gardens and Greenhouse next year - please let us know soon so we can include it in our "what we need" list.

Take care!

I got this message from one of our customers yesterday, and I thought I needed to share it with everyone:

"As you can see, my plants are doing great!  All except the catnip...no idea why it's just twigs!! Lol.  If you have more out there, I will take quite a few plants!"

Final Clearance on Now!  All baskets are $10, all flats $10 mix and match - many more deals - come out to see us, or send us a message to get brought into town!

I can't believe it's already time to call last call on the Brassica crops in the greenhouse!  Grandpa Bert wants to get the "leftovers" in the garden - so if you are still wanting cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower or Chinese cabbage contact us asap to make sure we save you some before it goes in the ground!  After Friday it will be planted in our big garden.

 Mantis Update: We have had two more pods hatch, they are making their way all over the greenhouse.  You can often catch them on top of a dahlia plant hanging out.  Yesterday, we saw one of the bigger ones (I assume it is from the first hatching), stalking a fly.  Not to sound like my twelve year old, but the fight that ensued was EPIC!  Mom managed to catch a picture of the action - it's not completely in focus, but I was too busy cheering for the little guy to take a picture, see below.

I have had two very important questions this week, neither of them are very good - please keep your eye out for both Fire Blight and the Lily Beetle.

Fire Blight is a bacterial infection that attacks members of the Rosaceae family - pears, apples, cotoneasters, etc.
It is called Fire Blight as it describes the appearance of the disease, which makes the affected areas appear scorched by fire.  Typically it occurs in the spring and you see it first in the open blossoms and new shoots and leaves.  

It can be transmitted by birds, insects, rain and wind.  I will save you all the gory details how it spreads through the plant, but treatment is to either prune out infected areas and destroy these clippings (DO NOT COMPOST!), or spray with a copper fungicide.  There is no true cure, and if not treated the tree will die.  

The Red Lily Beetle is another problem recently sighted in Calgary.  This red bug will devour your prized lily plants if not controlled.  They came to Canada from Europe/Asia in the 1940's and have no predators.  To control this beetle, hand pick adults and larvae as well as use of diatomaceous earth will help.  They over-winter in the soil and debris - so be sure to clean up in the fall!

I think that's it for now, here's a look at the greenhouse week 4 (yes, I know I'm late with the pictures).

I have seen the appearance of Buffalo Beans starting to bloom around here.  When I was younger, I was told this is the sign to plant your lettuce - but I think it's time to get all of those seeds into the ground - except maybe tender, untreated beans depending on what the forecast looks like for you, they don't like cold, wet soil.  If you are adventurous - or are willing to cover up your plants, you can probably start getting the rest of your bedding plants in now as well (especially in sheltered areas of your yard).

Sales have been steady at the greenhouse, and now in addition to being sold out of Nasturtiums, we are adding both blue and white bacopa as well as green sweet potato vine.  We still have a great selection - so come out and see us!

I would like to wish all of the 2015 Strathmore High School Grads good luck this weekend; we are busy getting your fundraiser order ready to be delivered!

Until next time - may not be until next week, Happy Gardening.

Groan.   Maybe this bugs me more than it should because it happens to be my B-day and I have already heard it multiple times today, or maybe I just dislike Star Wars, whichever it is, and more importantly, tomorrow is Cinco De Mayo!!!

I luckily spent the weekend trying to make my house and yard looking like we actually live here.  I'm still not done, but that's expected when more of your yard is plants than lawn.  I bought myself a new plant - a Sum and Substance Hosta - I fell in love with it's humongous leaves, I know just the place I'll put it too, but I haven't gotten to that part of the yard yet.  I also saw a Japanese Holly Fern, I didn't buy it for myself and now I'm regretting it.  I will go get it today or tomorrow because I really think I "need" it.  

I am pleased to announce that Vinny the grape made it through the winter, as did my sage, lemon balm and Sunny Days (zone 5) rose.  Now I know that our winter was as warm as I thought it was. :)

I've posted this year's pricing list, hope to see you soon!  We have hundreds of baskets and planters ready for Mother's Day - which is this Sunday!  Don't forget about Mom.

Off to the greenhouse!  

Happy January folks.  My short ones are back to school, and the routine was surprisingly easy this morning.  Call me a pessimist, but I don't expect it to be the same tomorrow.  This morning I'm starting to work on the seed order for the spring, I figured that was a good task to start on a cold winter Monday.  It won't be long and we will be back at it, just 9 weeks until we fire up the greenhouse, yikes! I expect the next few weeks to fly by, as they seem to do in my house, as my schedule is, as always, packed full.  

I'm not much of a resolution maker, but I do have some goals and things coming up in 2015 that I am looking forward to: working on our new place in Montana, helping build the community garden with CIB, and a few little projects that have been on the back-burner for a while.
  
Until the next time, keep warm and GO CANADA GO!  

Another busy weekend at the Patch!  We are now gearing up for Strathmore's Annual Spring Fest.  This will be the fourth year that we have participated in Spring Fest, and look forward to seeing everyone out!  This runs Saturday, May 31 10 am - 4 pm.

People have been asking about the herbs that we carry, so here is a list with information and some pictures, (All available in a 4" pot):

Lemon Balm - Is used in teas and essential oils - I love to plant it where it will get brushed against near walkways, it is marginally hardy (zone 4) so it may overwinter if you have a sheltered spot for it

Cilantro - is used in Mexican and Asian cooking, I love it's fresh flavour added in salads, soups and tacos.

Basil - who doesn't already love basil?

Chives - perennial from the onion family, great chopped up in salad, or on potatoes

Thai Basil - spicier basil, can be used in place of regular basil

Lemon Basil - lemon scented basil - a fresh change in your pesto!

Parsley - great for everyday cooking and salads

Oregano - we have had a fantastic crop of Oregano this year, we are excited to dry some ourselves this summer!

Catnip - anyone with a cat will be popular with your furry friend with this herb!  Mine like it right off the plant, dry it and save for the winter months.

Sage - mmm, sage always reminds me of turkey soup.  Great in full sun!

Thyme - a creeping plant, great along walkways and sunny areas.

Rosemary - great for barbecued meats, needs hot sun to really do well.

Mint - I love mint!  It has so many uses (mojitos anyone?)  I dry my extra leaves for tea in the winter.  This one is invasive - I plant in a pot so I don't have to fight with it staying in it's allotted space.

Chocolate Mint - NOT YET AVAILABLE - coming soon

Lavender - NOT YET AVAILABLE - coming soon

Stevia - popular as a sweetener/sugar replacement

I am hoping to get my Sweet Grass plant going - the plan is to offer smudge sticks mixed with lavender or sage down the road when it gets large enough.

That's it for now, I will end this post with a slideshow of herbs :)  Have a great week and we hope to see you at the greenhouse or at Spring Fest soon!

Wow!  It's got to be a record, two posts in the same week!

It was another busy weekend at Pea Patch Gardens and Greenhouse.  Joe and Dad got a good majority of the garden planted (Yay!) and the farm got a nice rain shower after they were done planting. (Yay!)

We weren't sure how the strawberries fared with the super cold winter, but it is looking good!  I think we made it through with minimal winter kill - I can't wait for July!

So now we wait...I thought I would be so smart and plant some spinach behind the greenhouse a few weeks ago to tie me over while waiting for the rest of the greens to come up.  We have something digging holes and eating all my baby spinach plants, (and cucumbers).  I think it may be a vole, but we haven't seen it.  Not one singular spinach leaf, and it makes me mad.  Watch out Mr. Plant Nabber, we may sick Tiggy the weasel killer on you!!  (Tigger is the farm calico, and if I was a good farm blogger, I would have a picture of her.)

I still have a few things that need to be planted, cut flowers, a few greenhouse tomatoes to be transplanted, my mushrooms.  YES, mushrooms!  It will be my "See if I can grow it" crop of 2014.  

We have a busy few weeks ahead of us, if you need us, msg us on Facebook, call or text.  We will be gearing up for Spring Fest in Strathmore on May 31.  If you around - come check out our booth.  We are aiming to have a selection of everything including veggies, herbs, bedding out plants, planters and hanging baskets.

What can I say?  General busy-ness has gotten in the way of blogging.  I could promise to be a more prolific blogger, but I think that would be a losing battle.

We have been VERY busy out at the greenhouse since March 10.  We are now open to the public for bedding plants, veggie transplants, herbs and herb baskets, hanging baskets and planters.  Our greenhouse is FULL of colour right now - come visit us!

We have had a lot of inquiries about the Veggie Box program!  More info will be posted soon, we are definitely a go with the program, with some minor tweeks for the 2014 season.  Sign up for our newsletter below for our weekly newsletter!

I'm off to do some work at the greenhouse, I will post more information about the Veggie Box program soon - I promise!  Until next time - Mel