Giving Tours, and Thank You!

I'll have to admit, I was a mixture of being excited and a little apprehensive about being on the CFSA's Eastern Triangle Farm Tour this weekend. Having a marketing background and being a convicted extrovert, I looked forward to it -- I love being with people, discussing ideas, and answering questions! On the other hand, being a Type A personality, I was worried, worried, worried about everything being just right. I don't even know how many times I aplogized for everything not being quite as lush in the greenhouses as I would've liked, as I've just done a bunch of replanting in beds, and there are others that are still waiting for my attention. And I'm not quite sure how many times I said that the beds would look a hundred times better in about 4-5 weeks. But all turned out OK; a vast majority of those who came seemed to enjoy the tour, and I enjoyed the interchange and having th ability to answer everyone's questions. The only thing that would've made it any nicer would have been temperatures UNDER 90 degrees F! But there were still quite a few people who came out to brave it, anyway, so thank you! :-)

There were some things that made me cringe, particularly the gold mushrooms that seemed to pop up in the beds after Friday night's rain (I had many, many questions about them and whether they were edible!). They are very pretty, but I'm now on the crusade to identify them and why they're there. I've just started seeing them over the past several weeks, and I want to make sure we don't develop any plant problems because of them. I'll let you know what I find out, because I know everyone, as gardeners, has those buggers pop up during humid times here in NC! So, more to come in that department.

The other thing that made me cringe was the repeated questioning about whether or not we have any deer problems with the beds behind the greenhouses. Every time I answered no, I just HAD to knock on wood! So, though I don't consider myself superstitious, I'm hoping all that talk didn't jinx me, because we've been very lucky to date...

Beyond that, it was a really nice weekend. Though we didn't get to tour the other farms ourselves, I did hear a lot about other setups and interesting information. Since getting into the growing arena and speaking with other growers, I've realized more and more how creative growers are and have to be to get things to work sometimes. So, I mentally registered and filed away some ideas that seemed to be interesting to try out.

Anyway, thanks to all who came, and if you have any questions, feel free to send me an e-mail at info@herbanmeadows.com!