Pink - Green - Yellow + Last Day for Early Bird Pricing

The weather the past couple days has been so beautiful - warm but not too and not a drop of humidity. The leaves on the trees are pretty much fully leafed out but the color is still that bright and new green. It is all I can do to not be looking up all the time. 

I have been driving past some hay fields the past couple days. They are out of a Monet painting and I can't stop looking at them. Pretty soon, a farmer will cut the grass and the blooms will be gone. But for now - they are a masterpiece of nature. 

Simply stunning. 

I took my camera out into the field to document the little bits that are making this beautiful scene. It is the green grass, the yellow buttercups and the magenta wildflowers which I do not know the name of. 

 

Often when I am teaching about color, I tell my students to just open their eyes and their mind to what is around them. I love complementary color combos (those opposite each other on the color wheel). Here's how the field played out on color wheel. We can all learn a thing or two from Mother Nature everyday.  

Wanted to let you all know that today June 1st is the last day for Early Bird Pricing ($375 for 2 days) for the three different Creative Retreats here at our farm. Get all the info here. There is still time to sign up for the classes but the price will go up a tad bit ($410 for 2 days; there is also a one day Saturday price for each retreat $250). Don't want to pay with Paypal? Shoot me an e-mail and we can do a credit card payment over the phone. I also take checks. kristinnicholasATgmailDOTcom

Have a colorful day everyone! 

Lilac Season + Progress This Week

The lilacs were gorgeous this year. Not sure if it was the mild winter or what but they were so full and pretty. I am slowly getting my interest in gardening back again. I will have my veggie/cutting garden tilled within the next two weeks I hope so I can begin planting it out. My peonies are looking like they are going to be beautiful in a few weeks. Cannot wait. 

I've been promoting my "Getting Stitched on The Farm" Summer/Fall Classes on my email newsletter. Seriously, I feel like a broken record - always promoting. But I know I have to do it if I want students to come. So here I go again...... Check out the upcoming classes at Leyden Glen Farm HERE. I have 3 retreats scheduled. The Early Bird Pricing has been extended until May 31st. There are only 2 spaces available in the first class July 16/17 Fabric Printing and Lampshade Painting so if you are on the fence, I suggest signing up soon. 

Once again, I am not sure where the week has gone. I spent the better part of it picking up our frozen lamb at the processor then unpacking it and re-packing it for wholesale orders. I spent all day Tuesday at the Northampton Tuesday Farmers Market where it was a dismal day for sales. It drives me absolutely nuts sitting there, not selling and thinking about all that I have to do. I'm not happy when I'm not chatting and selling to customers. I had some swatching with me to do so that was good but really - I just wanted to be home working on my book project.

The rest of my week has been spent painting, painting and more painting. I've been working on the re-do of the Garden Shed which I am modifying into a Pottery Studio/She Shed for my new book project. Have you heard of "She Sheds"? I guess they are popping up all over in homeowner's back yards. Take a broken down shed and gussy it up and enjoy the space for entertaining, writing, art or whatever floats your boat. The female version of a "Man Cave." 

There has been a bit of color trial and error to say the least. After the floor was laid with the leftover VCT tile I had stashed away, I wanted to add some color to the white walls that I primed back in April. It isn't the best lit space so I knew I wanted a great bit of white. Because I plan to be throwing pottery in here and there will be lots of clay and dusty mess, I chose a washable paint finish. I wanted to make the space feel playful and creative. I decided to mix up some bright colors that will coordinate with the super bright patchwork style floor. 

I began with a gorgeous turquoise and painted the large wooden doors and the small paneled door. I loved the color and how bright and cheerful it made the space feel. I also chose a lime green as another accent color. 

I decided that I would use the bottom edges of the 3 windows as a design element and placed blue painters tape across each wall. I also decided to change up the colors on each wall to continue with the creative vibe. 

The green was a total pain because it took 3 coats to get the color to cover. But it looks good. I love my new table - my friend Kevin built it for me using birch plywood and 4 table legs I had purchased in Tennessee on a business trip over 20 years ago. I knew I would use them one day. He also added wheels to the bottom of the table so I can easily move it around. Wheels on furniture are fantastic. I painted the base a pretty electric blue and the top is a clay white color. I actually took one of my handmade pots down to the paint store and matched it up with an off-white the color of my clay. I will probably be the only one that realizes that! 

On the adjacent wall, I began with a pretty electric blue. 

When it was done, I decided it was too dark so I lightened it with a bit of extra white I had lying around and I like it. 

Around the edges of each window, I added painters tape and painted a colorful border. The windows aren't trimmed out so I figured by adding some color, the rough patches wouldn't show as much. 

And then yesterday, I decided I had to do some of the fun part because I was sick of painting solid color. I cut out a triangle shape from a sponge and stamped a border in green. Here it is in process. 

Now I have to get back out there and do some more. The other walls await. I hope you all have a great Memorial Day Weekend. Grill up some lamb from your local sheep farmer!

A Sunflower Garden Planting Guide

A bouquet from last summer
Flowers include Autumn Beauty, Sungold, Stella Gold,
Greenburst, and Moulin Rouge

I'm just getting around to thinking about my garden this year. I'm a late gardener - putting in my garden in mid-June. I thought some of you might be interested in planting sunflowers in your garden this year. I am sharing this Sunflower Garden Planting Guide for any of you interested in growing sunflowers in your garden. It was originally posted in April of 2015 but all of the information is still accurate. Enjoy all you sunflower lovers and growers! I can't wait to see these pretty blooms again in late August. 

If you have followed me for any length of time, you know I grow sunflowers every summer. I heard from Melissa, a childhood friend of mine who follows my blog. She asked for a list of my favorite varieties of sunflowers. I think there may be more of you out there who might like to plant sunflowers this summer so I put this Sunflower Growing Guide together for all of my readers. Please share this post with your fellow gardening friends! FYI - I grow in western Massachusetts. All photos by me taken either at our Farmhouse Garden or at our Sunflower Field (from a few years ago). 

First off - there are two companies I buy seeds from. My longtime supplier has been Johnny's Selected Seeds in Maine. They ship amazingly quickly from Maine. No minimums and they have some mixed variety packs for those of you with small gardens. 

My second supplier (a recent find) is SunflowerSelections  in California. I heard about them through this NY Times article. I have purchased from them since 2012 and have nothing but good things to say about the company, service and the varieties they offer. SunflowerSelections is actually a subsidiary of NuFlowers, a breeder of sunflower varieties. The only downfall is their packs are 100 seeds and there is a $15.00 minimum.  Their website is set up to sort by colors, branching, single stem, and more. 

So here are some of my thoughts about growing sunflowers. This is what I have learned from many years of growing them. 
1.You need sun! Shade doesn't work for them and long days of sun will yield much better flowers.
2. Although you can plant sunflowers early in the season, I wait until the middle to end of June to plant. This will give me flowers through frost. I have planted as late as the beginning of August and still gotten flowers - they are smaller because of the shortening days at that time of year. 
3. There are two kinds of sunflowers - Branching (many flowers per plant) and Single Stem (one flower per plant). I prefer the branching sunflowers to the single varieties (ProCut, Sunbright, and Sunrich strains). You get more sunflower blossoms per seed and they have a wild and unruly appearance which really appeals to me. 
4. Florists and growers usually plant the single varieties because they are reliable, are sturdy, and ship well. For the home gardener (me) they are a bit of a disappointment because they take up room and I only get one flower per stem. That said - they are very quick to bloom so I usually plant some so I get flowers quickly. 
5. Once my plants are about 8 inches tall, I mulch the heck out of them to hold the water in the soil and keep the weeds down. Once they get going, they grow like crazy and shade out most of the weeds. 
6. I don't fertilize my sunflowers. I have basic garden soil and the mulch from the previous year gets tilled in. I do add manure from my chickens and the sheep though every other year or so. 
7. Don't crowd the sunflowers. If you do, they will be stunted and not thrive. I plant about 2 to 3 seeds every 12" or so. That gives me insurance in case the birds or mice eat the seeds. 
8. Sunflowers tend to not transplant well. Plant them where you want them and be patient. They will grow as long as they have sun.  
9. There are dwarf varieties of sunflowers available but I don't grow them. I did once and they just didn't seem right. I am fortunate to have lots of sun and space but if you are tight on space, check out these selections via SunflowerSelections. 
10. Most of the branching sunflowers have one very large top flower. If you pinch (or harvest) the top flower, the lower branches will grow longer stems and the flowers will be bigger.
11. If you are looking to grow the giant sunflowers for bird seed, I do suggest you plant them as early as possible. They need a long time to grow huge and win any contests. If you plant them later, they will be shorter and the heads will be smaller. I like the variety called Mammoth Russian available from Burpee. 

Here are the Sunflower varieties I highly recommend with links to each supplier who stocks the seeds. I have described why I enjoy each of the varieties. Don't wait to order your seeds because they often run out of popular varieties. The variety is BELOW each photo. 

Both photos - Autumn Beauty

Autumn Beauty - Branching. This sunflower is long season and needs a while to bloom. It gets very tall. Order seeds early as they are often sold out. This is Mark's favorite sunflower. The plants get huge and send out tons and tons of flowers. There is a wide range of colors - light yellow, light yellow with pink tinged centers, dark brown, rust, red, maroon, bronze, and classic sunflower yellow. If we had to choose one sunflower to grow, this would probably be it because you get such a variety of colors. Has pollen for those averse to it. 
Johnnys

Moulin Rouge Sunflower

Moulin Rouge - Branching. This is a gorgeous wine colored sunflower that looks lovely in bouquets. It is one of the earlier sunflowers to bloom. When we grew sunflowers in our field on the main road, this was a favorite of many of our customers. It doesn't ship well so that is why you probably have never seen one in a florist's bouquet. (FYI - SunflowerSelections has a new red branching variety called Black Beauty that I am trying this year to compare to Moulin Rouge.)
Johnnys
SunflowerSelections

Joker Sunflower

Joker - Branching. I love this multi-colored sunflower. It is one of the first to bloom. The center is edged with a fringe of teeny petals. The outer petals are long. Once in a while, there will be a plant that has different looking blooms on each branch. It lasts a long time in a vase and is quite sturdy. Not too tall but definitely not short. 
SunflowerSelections

Orange Ruffles Sunflower

Orange Ruffles - Branching. This sunflower was new to me last year and it rocked! Similar to The Joker and Greenburst, it has a brown center with a fringe of mini yellow petals. Seriously gorgeous. 
SunflowerSelections

Greenburst Sunflower - Top Flower

Small Greenburst Bloom from one of the bottom branches

Greenburst - Branching. This sunflower was new to me last year and I am in love! Reminiscent of Sungold, it has a tight chartreuse center surrounded by hundreds of tiny petals. The outer edge of the flower has slim long petals. The top bloom is big (8") if you let it grow. If you cut it off early, the smaller lower branches will produce bigger pretty (although smaller) blooms. Long vase life. 
Johnnys
SunflowerSelections

Sunbright Sunflower

Sunbright - A single stem variety that is the classic sunflower. Quick to bloom. I always plant these so I have big blooms quickly. This variety is often grown commercially as is the Pro-Cut varieties which I am not highlighting here in this Planting Guide. 
Johnnys

American Giant Sunflower

American Giant - This is the classic GIANT sunflower. One giant head per stem. These plants are like small trees by the end of the season. It is best to give them lots and lots of room to grow. They will shade out other plants so if you have a spot, away from your regular garden that has good sun - plant a few there for fun. You will have a giant seed head to feed to the birds. You could also plant a "sunflower house" for your kids and grandkids. 

SunflowerSelections

Sungold Sunflower

Sungold - Branching. You need to have a long growing season for this gorgeous, puffy sunflower. They are always the last to bloom in my garden and I usually plant them first! The top flower will be the largest. Once you cut the top flower (usually 10" across) with its short stem, the lower flowers will grow with longer stems. A few years, the frost got mine before they bloomed, so plant them first! 

Johnnys

Holiday Sunflower

Holiday Sunflower backed by Autumn Beauty

Holiday - I love this sunflower for its vigorous nature. You will get so many blooms off each plant. The blooms are not very big - about 5" or so. It does drop a lot of pollen (for those of you who are clean freaks). The blooms develop in the vase nicely. 
Johnnys

Golden Cheer Sunflower

Golden Cheer - Branching. This variety was new to me last year. It is similar to Greenburst with a larger green center. It has a frilly textured edge to the center. Gorgeous. I plan on growing it again this year. 

SunflowerSelections

Stella Gold Sunflower

Stella Gold - Single. This is a quick growing sunflower with extremely long petals. I grew it for many years and then couldn't find the source of seeds until I discovered SunflowerSelections. Funny thing is years ago when I grew it, the centers were rather mis-shapen - almost oval in shape. I loved that. The seeds from SS are a bit more perfect. I miss the wonkiness but love the very long spider like petals. 
SunflowerSelections 

Above is a mixed bouquet from last summer. Flowers included are: Autumn Beauty, Moulin Rouge, Greenburst. I like mixing in some of the over mature "done" sunflowers for interest. 

I hope you will try to grow some sunflowers this summer in your garden or along the edge of your yard. 

Greenfield Recorder Article + Video of Sheep Shearing at Leyden Glen Farm

A few weeks ago, we did the annual sheep shearing at our farm over two days with two shearers - Kevin Ford and Gwen Hinman. Richie Davis, the senior reporter for The Greenfield Recorder came to interview Kevin Ford as he is a bit of a local celebrity in some circles. How many people do you know that have shorn sheep around the world using blade shears that look they came out of a forge from the Middle Ages? 

Here is a link to the article. 

Photographer Paul Franz came to document the day and events. He also shot some video and put together this nice little film of shearing at Leyden Glen Farm. Enjoy.

Thanks to The Greenfield Recorder, Richie and Paul for documenting one of the big days here at our farm. 

Wild Things

Boy, I do love spring. Color and nature burst forth at such a rapid rate that it is hard to take it all in. I especially love the spring wildflowers. Over the years, I have discovered patches of different kinds of wildflowers. Each spring, I go looking again to see if they are blooming in the same spot. 

This year, along our road, next to a little stream that dries out in the summer, there was a massive group of beautiful maroon trillium. I couldn't believe my luck in seeing them. They are done now but I was lucky enough to get a few photos to share. 

Bluets are not very rare but they sure are pretty.  I love the dainty little flowers and the pretty light bluish-purple tinge on the outside of the petals. They remind me of the forget-me-knots my Mom and Dad grew in their garden although they are much closer to the ground. 

This little yellow flower is new to me. My neighbor Debbie told me about them in the cemetery on East Hill. I'm not sure what they are called (do you?) but they are so delicate and have mottled leaves.

This whitish-green flower was next to the trilliums. It was so elegant. I don't know its name either. I'm hoping one of my readers might know. 

The Virginia Bluebells in my garden are almost done. 

The flowering quince is one of my favorite spring flowering shrubs. Love the color.

I hope you get a chance to enjoy the wildflowers where you live.

Here are the wild puppies Beau and Sadie rolling around on their still favorite moss. Giant puppies. 

We've got a new litter of kittens. Here is Spunky.

Here is Spot. I'm looking for homes for both of them if you are in the market for a farm-raised kitten with good hunting instinct.