Hutchinson Farm News Vol. 15 No. 3

April 17, 2011

As I begin to write this newsletter, it is a cold and blustery Friday morning. With the sun shining bright, it is a lovely place to be. The greenhouses are comfy and warm, and one is surrounded by plants with deep vibrant green leaves, with splashes of colour from the blooms that are starting to open up. The air is moist, and smells alive. I set the greenhouse temperature to about  23 - 25C, great for growing and enjoying. It feels great. Short sleeves and all that. With the sun streaming in through the greenhouse plastic, the greenhouses gradually heat up, and the thermostat sends a signal to the ventilation fan: "start blowing, it's getting hot in here!" If you are standing at the back of the greenhouse, the temperature gradually falls a few degrees as the fan blows out the hot air, and draws in the cool air from outside. If you can picture our greenhouse fans, they are pretty big, about four feet across, so they can move a lot of air in a hurry. Now, if you happen to be standing near the front of the greenhouse, you're basking in 25C air, and then the fan goes on and WHAM, you are hit with a blast of frigid 3 degree air. Ugh. It gets worse: our greenhouses aren't connected, so you have to walk outside from one greenhouse to another (which I do a lot). Today was simply unbearable, the shock made it almost too cold to breathe, and you've got to feel sorry for the plants by the doors!

• Third Annual Open House (pun intended)
  All our greenhouses will be open for a sneak peek on Sunday April 24th from 1:00 - 4:00 pm.
  It's a time to see what we've be doing for the past three months (growing annuals), check out the new flowers, get some ideas for your garden,  enjoy some time in the country, and just have a nice visit with my family while enjoying the beautiful flowers in our greenhouses.
  
  
• One of my favourite parts of our open house is that everyone gets to vote for their favourite flower. It may be an easy decision, or hard decision, but either way, it's a lot more fun voting for flowers than politicians!
  
  
• We also have a couple of special activities for kids. Rebecca is going to be running a seed planting station where kids will be able to plant their own pot of seeds to bring home. We also have a little treasure hunt exploring the diveristy of our flowers, and there is a rumour that the Easter Bunny may have hidden a few goodies amongst the flowers.
  
  
• New Flowers
  This year we have close to 400 different flower varieties growing in our greenhouses. Lots of the tried and true varieties, and some new ones too. Calibrachoa (aka Million Bells) has the most new colours. If you've never grown cali's, you should. With an outstanding colour range and season long flower power, cali's are a welcome addition to any garden. There are two new cali's this year: SuperBells Blackberry Punch, and SuperBells Coralberry Punch. For the first time we are also growing the complete series of trailing calibrachoas, so in total, we have 26 different cali's in our greenhouses. Also of note: Lanai Strawberries and Cream Verbena, Luscious Citrus Blend Lantana, some 'new' heirloom nasturtiums, plus a few more. We had requests to grow ivy, so new for us this season is German Ivy, and three varieties of Engish Ivy.
  
  
• Sustainability
  As we continue to strive to reduce our environmental footprint, some of our actions affect our customers, such as:
  
  
  • Flower Labels: We are now only using labels when we are forced to by the flower patents. Our unlabeled flowers will have their name hand written on the pot.
    
  • Flower trays: Please bring your own boxes to take your flowers home in, or skip the tray completely and gently place your flowers in your car.  We will have many free used boxes, but not enough for everyone. New flower trays are available, $2.00 each. Donations of boxes are most welcome!
  • Coffee: lots of customers enjoy a cuppa, we know, because our store garbage can is primarily full of Tim Horton cups! We will have complimentary coffee, tea & juice available at our open house, but YOU MUST BRING YOUR OWN MUG!
    
    
  We hope you embrace our sustainable philosophy!
  

Our official selling season begins Sat April 30, and we'll be open every day until the second Monday in August. We're looking forward to seeing lots of you at our open house, bring your whole family, and please invite your friends and neighbours as well. The long range forecast looks sunny and warm, so it should be a fun afternoon. Don't forget your camera!

Bye for now,



More than a newsletter: Our FaceBook page is becoming more and more popular, and this month we're posting almost every day with lots of pictures and quick stories that aren't in the newsletter.