to be a good bee

Yockey Farms Open House 2014

      Wow it has been a few days since I have wrote in my blog. Some people have wondered if something was wrong and I assure you nothing is. It is just that I have had other priorities and one of those was preparing for my 2^nd annual Open House here at Yockey Farms. This will be on this Saturday on the 17^th  of May, which is this next coming weekend. So daily here on my blog I intend to show you what I have available here at the greenhouse and what you can expect this year if you attend.

      Again I will have a carved bear to give away I haven’t even started yet but will finish and give away signed sealed and delivered to a lucky open house attendee. You must sign in person to be eligible. One entry per person and you will receive a free six pack of tomatoes of the heritage type and of the Beefmaster variety. Or you may choose a Roma tomato in the six pack also. Substitutions may occur due to limited availability of heritage tomatoes. A container to hold your tomato and good natural topsoil is available at a cheap price if you need soil. Bring your containers and fill them cheaply. I have plenty of soil available premixed with organics with no pesticide or herbicide used on this soil as far as I know for over 71 years. I have mixed composted manure with the soil and is available unscreened along with recyclable potting container, at a cheap price.

       I also have a wide variety of  deciduous broad-leafed  trees available as well as some of the conifers and these are economy priced allowing you to enlarge your woodlot and decrease your mowing while locking up carbon and cleaning the air. This is your chance to help the environment and create windbreaks or reduce noise, while creating a habitat for wildlife in your backyard. I also have limited tree planting service available on all our trees and will guarantee from one year of purchase the success of your new plantings with replacement or substitution of a different tree if you are not satisfied. I am trying to have one tree of every species available or growing in Ohio. Any trees out growing the pots will eventually be planted here on the farm if not sold. Nothing will be wasted. This I can guarantee.

     Last year I was blessed if you must say that with too many bedding plants and so this year I have reduced the number available. I have strawberries in pots as well as some cucumbers started and should have some giant pumpkins. I will have tomato plants and a few peppers available and flowers for making your own baskets. I have no intention of competing with the big box stores and cannot afford to be manned here at the greenhouse 24/7, so I encourage you to visit me when we have the greenhouse open house, and enjoy what the farm has to offer. Private appointments can be made by calling my cell and arranging an appropriate time convenient to us both. I am here most of the time but it is always helpful to know you are coming for sure and I will make myself available to all.

     Also yesterday I received my bees and installed them in my new or slightly used hives. I am kind of excited and thought to myself as I was immersed in potting flowers in the greenhouse, how wonderful life is that I am able to have the ability to experience all this. I am thankful for this opportunity and a lot of my thanks goes to my Mom, Florence Malott,  and my grandma, Ines Yockey, who without either , none of this would probably be available to me. Their dedication to the farm and hard work and intestinal fortitude to stick it out paved the way for me to be able to stop smell the roses so to speak . Thanks Mom. Happy Mother’s day to you all out there in this digital paradise and hope you have a good one. I will try and update daily what you can expect at our open house this year. Thanks kev. My cell phone is 234.521.3984. Please leave a message.