Ruth and Jack Flounders run a small heirloom rose nursery in Schuylkill County called Roses in Thyme. I think we first met when they came down to buy garlic for their Sculps Hill Vinegars, and throughout the years we’ve exchanged occasional emails. Last week, they drove down with their grandson to show him the llamas and to buy sweet potato slips.
Draven loved touching Griffey’s (the retired Mennonite Buggy Horse) soft muzzle, got to see the girls sunbathing on llama beach, and even cranked the bucket on the wishing well as he toddled around the farm. Before they left, they gave us a gift: a beautiful old shrub rose. It is just like the ones they sell at their nursery, only it was mislabeled and they only sell correctly labeled old roses. (Check out their website: rosesinthyme.com). So, the mystery rose has taken harbor with our mystery peonies and our mystery rugosa rose, an alleyway of pink fragrance from the house to the barn. Laurie Lynch
At Fleur-de-Lys Farm this week: We’ve got strawberries, garlic scapes, elderblossoms for making Elderblossom Cordial, lettuces, red Russian kale, radishes, honey, assorted fresh herbs, and eggs.
No Boys from Brasil, Just a Young Man: Our 18-year-old son Richard returns from his Rotary Exchange year in Juiz de Fora, Brasil, tomorrow. So, it will be help-yourself day at Fleur-de-Lys Farm Market.
Starting Thursday: Orphan tomato seedlings – St. Pierre, Rose de Berne, Green Zebra, Taxi, Rowdy Red, Egg Yolk and plum tomatoes Assalito Family, Pompeii and Roughwood Garden.
Llama Beans: They are here for the taking! Pick up a bag and cook up your compost.
Written on Slate: One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today.
-- Dale Carnegie
