Mount Holly Newsflash- Friday, April 3, 2020- morning edition

Mount Holly Newsflash -Morning edition- Friday, April 3, 2020 The weather today in Mount Holly - Rain and snow likely before 8am, then sleet likely and rain and snow showers between 8am and 2pm, then drizzle likely. Cloudy, with a high near 44. North wind 5 to 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. Little or no snow accumulation expected. Archived Newsflash emails can be read at:   https://mthollynewsflash.blogspot.com Our diversified farm is located in Mount Holly and we are dedicated to providing a local alternative to commercially produced factory food. CURBSIDE SERVICE AT OUR FARM STAND Thank you to everyone who has stopped by our farm stand over the past week. We will continue our curbside service. You can find our complete product price list on our website or by clicking the price list button below. Take a look at what we've got and let us know what you'd like. Orders can be paid by credit card prior to your arrival at our farm stand. You can order by calling between 9am & 5pm at 802.259.2250, or by sending us an email to (plewfarm@gmail.com). Our farm stand is located at 1966 Healdville Road in Mount Holly and will continue to be open 7 days a week from 12-5. Click for price list FARMERS MARKET We will NOT be attending the Rutland indoor farmers market this weekend. To all of our market customers, we invite you to visit our curbside service page on our website and let us help you with your needs here at our farm stand. WHAT'S FOR DINNER FOLKS?! The weather is a bit wishy washy, so I'm thinking a nice pot roast is in order for the weekend! Start with one of our chuck roasts, add your favorite seasonings, some onions, garlic, potatoes and carrots, and you're good to go! And the leftovers make delicious hot beef sandwiches! Our roasts will be available all weekend - let us know how many you'd like! PRODUCE ALSO AVAILABLE We have been working with our farmers market friends and are now able to offer a limited supply of produce here at our farm stand. This week we'll have the following available from our friends at Evening Song Farm. POTATOES ~ CARROTS ~ SPINACH ~ SALAD GREENS These items are also listed on our price list and are available while supplies last. FREE SHIPPING ON OUR WEBSITE We are now offering FREE SHIPPING on all of our maple syrup and maple products! Check out our website and shop from the comfort of your home 24/7. DEALS OF THE WEEK ~ Save $3.00! HERE'S THE BEEF 2lbs of ground beef 1lb of beef patties   Reg. $21.05 This week $18.00 MAPLE LOVER Small Maple Cream Small Maple Almond Pint Maple Syrup Reg $23.00 This week $20.00 SAUSAGE LOVER 1lb Maple Breakfast 1lb Sweet Italian 1lb Hot Italian Reg. $28.50 This week $25.00 STAY CONNECTED AND FOLLOW US Questions? Contact us today: 802.259.2250 www.plewfarm.com plewfarm@gmail.com Kevin & Patti Plew, Owners, Operators, Husband & Wife! Mount Holly Garden Blog   This is a new series to share information about something positive that we can be doing during these very peculiar times.  Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and persistent snows, spring is officially here and many of us are thinking about the garden.  In these weekly articles I will address timely gardening topics as we go through the seasons in Mount Holly.  If you have ideas to contribute or questions to ask about a local gardening topic please email me at (mhgardener@vermontel.net) and I'll try to include them in an article. First things first.  If you want to grow the best varieties from seed the best time to order your seeds was early January.  The second-best time in NOW.  Seed companies have been overwhelmed with seed orders and are running low on many varieties.  We have several excellent seed companies in New England that specialize in northern varieties including FEDCO Seeds, High Mowing (based in Vermont), and Johnny's Seeds.  They all offer online catalogs and convenient ordering but don't delay.  Local retail stores are also seeing strong seed & gardening supplies sales and may not have a full selection soon. What should we be doing now?  Use the nice days to your advantage and get your pruning and cleanup done before everything else starts.  In general, prune out all dead, diseased or damaged stems and branches while plants are dormant (now).  Make your cuts close to the main stem, just outside the enlarged "collar" or just outside lateral buds that can grow new branches.  This is a great time to manage shape & size by cutting off those drooping branches and downward growing branches.  A few specifics: Raspberries – cut out all the old canes that fruited last season plus any short, spindly canes (cut off at ground level).  Also, you can cut back young canes to 5-6 ft. to reduce floppiness or excessive height.  If you have everbearing that tried to bear a second fall crop you should cut those canes down to the lowest fruit bunches as they won't repeat fruiting on that top area. Apple & Pears – remove all dead or damaged branches and any "suckers" (branches that grow straight up from the main trunk or side branches.  Remove branches that cross (pick one), grow downward or head centrally.  After pruning, apply a dormant oil spray covering all surfaces well (especially the buds) from the ground up to the top to smother over-wintering pest insect eggs.  Do this on a calm day when the temperature is above 40 (coming soon). We'll repeat this application after the leaf buds swell and after they just open but before blossoms to get most of the larvae hiding in the bark and buds. Hydrangeas – in Mount Holly we mostly have only smooth or panicle hydrangeas that bloom on new wood. (Big white blossoms)  They don't require pruning but you'll get bigger blossoms if you cut all last year's canes back to the ground.  I leave a number of strong young canes (straight and gray colored) for early greening and to provide support for new canes. Do not prune forsythia, rhododendron, spiraeas, clethras, viburnums, or lilacs until after they have finished blossoming (except to remove dead or damaged branches). Their flower buds are already present on last year's wood and pruning them now would remove this year's blossoms! My big suggestion, keep a garden journal.  This is so valuable for your own record of what happened, when and what you did.  Yes, I know you have an excellent memory, but keep a journal anyway.  Next year it'll be your goldmine of reminders.  Make it simple and easy - what you did to what plants and the dates. For example:  "4/3/2020  Planted tomato (Juliet) seeds, 24 seeds in 4 6 packs" or "4/5/2020 Pruned raspberries".  You may add whatever you want such as weather, varieties, soil mix, etc. but keep it simple so that it doesn't become a chore.  Get a notebook and start it now. Next week we'll discuss more about seed starting and growing your own plants plus your questions. Jim Corven,  Fenn Farmstead & Gardens, Mount Holly.  mhgardener@vermontel.net