The calendar says we should be in full planting frenzy, but because of Mother Nature, planting conditions for farmers and the backyard gardening enthusiast have not been very favorable. I think ducks, frogs and crayfish are the only living things enjoying all of this.
I am hopeful things will get better, and if you are a gardening enthusiast I hope you take the opportunity to join us at the Clinton County Master Gardener annual plant sale and garden workshop event. So, come one, come all! It’s a great opportunity to buy vegetables, herbs and flowers on Saturday May 11 from 9 a.m.-1 p.m.at the Clinton County Extension Community Room, 111 S. Nelson Ave., Wilmington.
The master gardeners will also have a couple of workshops you can attend on May 11. The first, Plant a Mother’s Day Planter, is from 9 a.m.-noon. The master gardeners provide the soil, the pot and some assistance, you purchase the plants at the sale and create that wonderful Mother’s Day planter for mom.
The second workshop, Plant a Fairy Garden, is from 10-11 a.m. There is a cost of $15 and we ask that you register by calling the Clinton County Extension office at 937-382-0901.
If you did not realize, the Clinton County Master Gardeners do several community projects including working with Habit for Humanity homes and families, community gardens, demonstration gardens, pollinator activities and several educational programs.
Proceeds from the sale of these plants go towards these and many more activities. Come out and get some great plants to help support the Master Gardeners of Clinton County.
This year, you will be able to pre-order your vegetables and herbs ahead of time. This will help us have the vegetable and herbs that you want and will help us with our needed inventory of plants.
You can find the order form at our Clinton County Extension website at https://clinton.osu.edu/ . Once on our website just look for information about the Master Gardener plant sale under county news.
Pre orders will be accepted until 7 p.m. Thursday. You can email me at [email protected] with your orders.
The pre-orders can be paid for and picked up at the plant sale location – 111 S. Nelson Ave, Wilmington on Friday, May 10 (3:30-5:30 p.m.) or Saturday, May 11 (8:30-9:30 a.m.).
At the time of this news column we do not have an annual and perennial flower and plant list from our supplier, so unfortunately we will not be able to take pre-orders for any of the annual and perennial plants and flowers. We do plan to have an excellent variety to choose from so plan to get them the day of the plant sale.
Honor farm moms
Finally, this week I want to give a shout-out to all the farm moms out there in honor of the upcoming Mother’s Day celebration next weekend. I have read and heard that the following line, “and on the 9th day, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, ‘The farmer needs a caretaker’, so God made a farmer’s wife.”
Many of us farm kids know this woman to be Mom.
My farm mom was probably like most. She was the one that got up early every day and got us all ready for the day on the farm. She took care of all of us, ran errands, cooked all the meals, kept the house clean, kept all of us on schedule and then in her extra time helped drive tractor and work in the fields, or fed livestock or ran for parts.
On top of those tasks she may also go get extra seed during planting time or run to the feed mill before they closed to pick up the feed order.
So this next week, treat mom like she is the Queen of the World. When Mother Nature decides to let us get busy with the planting season, her world will stop to keep the farm and all its activities going in the right direction and we probably won’t say thank you enough.
So with that said, happy Mother’s Day! We could not do what we do without you!
Tony Nye is the state coordinator for the Ohio State University Extension Small Farm Program and has been an OSU Extension Educator for agriculture and natural resources for over 30 years, currently serving Clinton County and the Miami Valley EERA.
