Choosing the Christmas Tree.

 This year we decided to visit Ravine Ridge Trees to pick out and cut down a Christmas tree for the 2011 celebrations.  They are located east of Cudworth, and run a tree farm on their property.  Once we arrived at the farm we hopped on the sleigh which was pulled by two magnificent horses and were taken to the area where the trees were growing.

After being dropped off by the horse and sleigh we wandered around and took a look at the trees available for cutting for the 2011 season.  All the trees were $50.00.  They were all approximately the same height, some being quite large around and others were a bit leaner.  All in all the selection was great.  They all looked healthy and vigorous.  

Rows of trees available to be cut.

We decided on a tree that was approximately 5.5' tall and not too fat but not too lean around.  They provide a hand saw to cut the tree, so once we had picked out the one we liked, we started to make the cut.  Took a good fifteen minutes to get through the trunk  

Then we hauled it back to the yard and stepped into their office which was a round grainery, converted into an office.  They had Christmas music playing and heaters in the office to warm our fingers and many wreaths on display, made by the owners, from the discarded branches.  There was a bonfire burning in the yard where you could roast wieners and we were also offered hot chocolate.  When we arrived home we gave it a fresh straight cut and brought the tree into the house and set it up in the tree stand with water.  Immediately the house filled with the aroma of pine.

Our beautiful tree!

At this time we have the lights strung on the tree but the decorations will be added at a later date.  We will probably wait until out two oldest grandchildren are visiting next week so they can help us hang the ornaments.  If you ever have the opportunity to cut your own Christmas tree, I strongly recommend that you make the effort to do so.

Recycling and Karma Dahlias.

This week we submitted our plant stock orders for the 2012 growing season.  We have ordered some new plant stock and some previously grown reliable plant stock.   Will go into more details in the coming months about the new selections we will have available this Spring.  The Karma dahlia's will once again be available this year.  We had many people stop by at the market to tell us about how well their Dahlia's performed for them.  I have always had nothing but the highest praise for these workhorses, as each and every year I have been growing them, they have produced an abundance of beautiful cut flowers.  Fred Gloeckner has developed an orange Karma dahlia, but I have not been able to secure a Canadian wholesaler that carries this as of yet.  I am hoping that it will be available to Canadians in 2013.

I have come across a few tidbits of information regarding keeping the environment in mind this holiday season.  If every family in Canada wrapped three presents with reused paper or cloth gift bags we would save enough paper to cover 45,000 hockey rinks.  So let's get creative with our Christmas wrapping, such as using cloth gift bags or using a bathroom towel or kitchen towel as wrapping paper.  Use empty cereal boxes and decorate with cutouts of  last years Christmas cards or make colourful snowflakes and paste them on the boxes.  Recycle bows, ribbons, gift bags and paper from last years festivities.  Send e-cards to family and friends with an e-mail account.  When needing to replace Christmas tree lights, consider LED lights.  Purchase a Saskatchewan grown Christmas tree.  Consider taking a drive to a Christmas tree farm and purchasing directly from the grower. Whatever you decide to incorporate into your plans, you will be making a positive impact on our environment.

Think Local.

Beautiful work of art by the local wasps.

As the festive season once again nears I just wanted to focus your attention on a couple of words.  

"Think Local"

This holiday season try to make an effort to purchase one of your gifts from a local entrepreneur.  Try to find items that are made in Canada, made from recycled materials, grown organically or naturally, have been produced from products which were locally grown.  The Saskatoon Farmer's Market is a great place to look around for items that fit any of the above categories.  It is a diverse marketplace where you can find everything from vegetables to skin care, and everything in between.  Starting  Sunday Nov 13th, the Saskatoon Crafters are going to be offering their products to the public, along with the regular Market vendors from 10:00-3:00 on Sunday's.  Check out their website www.saskatooncrafters.com.

Another website I wanted to bring to your attention is www.localsask.ca.  This is a website that showcases products which have been produced locally in Saskatchewan.  It has been around for only a few months and was created by a local entrepreneur, Marsha Lemon.  The website is a one stop shop for everything made in Saskatchewan.  Check out the site often as more and more businesses are featuring their products.  If you are looking for clothing which are ethically produced stop in at a new shop called Luna + Hill at 208-3rd Ave South.  They carry lines of clothing which are new and/or have been created from recycled materials.  Their website is www.lunaandhill.com.  Another very diverse shopping experience is The Better Good at 640 Broadway Ave.  Items they offer for sale in their store must fall into one or all of the following categories, Organic, Local, Fair Trade, Handmade, Natural, made from Reused or Recycled products.  Their website is www.thebettergood.com.

If we all make an effort to gift a gift which falls into any of the categories above, the world will be a better place for future generations.

Fantastic Fall

Wow, what a fantastic fall we are experiencing.  Sunny, warm daytime temperatures along with nights that dip just below zero, but not too far below.  Can't really ask for anything more than that at this time of year.  The gardens have been mulched, tilled and are ready for Spring.  Planted a few types of seeds that will survive the winter temperatures, to get a early start on some vegetables, such as radish, spinach and lettuce.  Planted Bell's of Ireland and Buplerum seeds as well, for the earlier harvest.
Dug and prepared the last batch of horseradish root for the year.  Stop in at the Saskatoon Farmer's Market and pick up a jar or two as it won't last long.  We are heading out to the bush to harvest Red Willow and Dogwood stems for Fall and Christmas decorating.  They will be available by the stem or bunch.  They look great in your outdoor fall displays.
Pat has been busy making barnboard bird feeders and bird houses this past week.  They will be available at the market Saturday.
I have now received all of the plant catalogues from the various suppliers and have been deciding what to order for our plant stock sales for 2012.  There are lots of unique and interesting options, so we have been taking a closer look at individual plants and researching hardiness for our zone.  We are going to have available the Red Rhubarb for 2012, as we had many requests for it after we were sold out of our 2011 stock.  I will profile the various plants we will have for 2012 sales in future postings.
Happy Halloween!

Information on growing tomatoes.

I came across really good information this past week regarding growing tomatoes, or specifically, solutions to diseases of tomatoes.  The first link is focusing on blossom end rot and how the experts solve this issue. http://www.douggreensgarden.com/black-rotting-bottoms-on-tomatoes.html
The second link below is a downloadable chart on symptoms of tomato plant issues and the possible causes.
It is a very good reference for next year's growing season.
http://www.douggreensgarden.com/tomato-problems.html

We have enjoyed a relaxing past week.  We visited and enjoyed fantastic food all Thanksgiving weekend.  We continued to tidy up gardens, made tomato sauce, salsa and roasted tomatoes.  Made a batch of horseradish, to sell at this Saturday's market.  We do not expect it to last too long, so best to come down early or e-mail us and we will set some aside for you.  We took a drive up to LaRonge for a change of scenery and to pick up a supply of fish, netted in the cold waters of  Northern Saskatchewan.  The colours of fall were on display, and we stopped in at the Robertson's Trading Post in LaRonge, to see all the wonderful items made by the local people, which include, moose hide moccasins, mukluks, jackets and beautiful paintings of local artists.  It is a store that has everything including grocery items, clothing, beaver and otter pelts.  We purchased a bag of locally grown wild rice.  If you are ever in the area, make sure you stop in and take a look around.

Below is a few pictures of our horseradish making process.

First the root is peeled, washed and cut into about 2" chunks and then fed into the food processor below.  We are then left with a fine grating of the root, which is mixed with vinegar, to stabilize the volatile compounds, which provides the heat, and a little bit of salt.  Once the vinegar and salt is added it is packed into sterile jars.  It will keep for up to two months in the fridge and up to a year in the freezer.

The grating of the root requires a heavy duty processor, as the root is very tough and fibrous.  As you can see the process needs to be done in a space that has ventilation, due to the fumes given off by the grated root.  The best place to do this is outside.

Busy week.

This past week we accomplished a lot of fall/spring chores.  We planted just over 1100 garlic cloves a few days ago, almost tripling what we planted last year.  The reason we increased the quantity is, that we always sell out of garlic within a month of harvest, so hopefully next fall we can stretch the garlic supply over a couple of months.  We came across some well aged sheep manure, so we hauled eight truckloads and spread it throughout the gardens, before the rain came on Friday.  This past week we hauled three truckloads of alfalfa bales.  We incorporated some of it into the soil and we will use the rest for mulch next growing season.  We moved a lot of perennials this past week, and shredded the garden plant material and tilled all the gardens.  It was a very productive week, the weather was wonderful and we received an inch of rain on Friday to settle everything into the soil.
We are planning on attending the Saskatoon Farmer's Market till mid December this year.  We continue to have a lot of ripe tomatoes, yellow onions, leeks, carrots, dried herbs, frozen raspberries, succulents and dried wheat and flower arrangements.

Some of our customers have been stopping by the last couple of weeks at the market to tell us their dahlias, they purchased from us in the Spring, are still blooming.  So envious, sure wish all of ours hadn't froze.

Enjoy Thanksgiving!

Reflection of the past growing season.

As I write this blog post on the last day of September I find myself reflecting on another growing season that has come to an end, even though the weather feels like summer.  In terms of weather I think this past summer has been one of the best in the last seven years we have been tending to the gardens.  One thing I really noticed this year was the lack of wind.  Most years we usually have lots and lots of days with strong winds, whereby this year has been relatively calm most of the time.  The rains came at the right times and all in all it was a very productive year.  It was a year of a few firsts for us...first year we made large quantities of flower bouquets for sales at the Farmer's Market, which was a huge success.  We would set up Sat morning with a large number of bouquets already made and they would disappear very quickly, so I found myself making bouquets throughout the entire day, so there would be lots of selection for our customers to choose from.  It was the first time we had a picture published in the Western Producer, of our flower display at the Saskatoon Farmer's Market.  Thanks again Mickey.  The picture included in today's blog was also taken by Mickey.
This year was a record year for the amount of weddings we supplied flowers.  They all varied in the quantity and type etc, but we received great feedback from them all.  The following quote is from Krista, whom was married in Regina at the beginning of September.  We created thirty nine centrepieces for their wedding.

"I know I've already thanked you, but I wanted to let you know that the feedback we received on your flowers was out of this world. People couldnt say enough and were fighting to take them home at the end! I've had several friends post pictures on facebook labeling them the "prettiest flowers in the world".  They really added to our already perfect day! My aunt even brought some home to my Grandma in Nova Scotia who is quite sick...on Monday...and said they lasted beautifully and totally brightened her day!" Krista


Another first, we had a bumper crop of Saskatoon berries from a natural stand of berry bushes beside our house.  This year was also a record year for raspberry production, and we will be selling frozen raspberries this fall at the Saskatoon Farmer's Market.  

We are looking forward to next year.

Western Producer.

September 22nd's edition (page 82) of the Western Producer published a photo of our flower display at the Saskatoon Farmer's Market. Thanks Mickey Watson for taking the time to photograph the display and then submitting them to the Producer.  

Tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes.....

Want to share our experience with roasting tomatoes.  We are preserving tomatoes for the first time this way, and we are really enjoying them.  The tomatoes are the Tumbler variety and the picture above is before they went into the oven and the picture below is after they have been roasted.  The process is simply halving the tomatoes and laying them cut side up on a cookie sheet.  Drizzle olive oil over them, and season with salt and pepper.  Place in a 300F oven and roast for 2 hours.  I placed two cookie sheets in the oven together and they roasted up just fine.  They can be frozen or stored in the fridge for a short time.  I guarantee they will not last too long.  They are wonderfully sweet and go great with a tangy cheese, (goat cheese is my favourite) or eaten right out of the oven.

With our next batch of large ripe tomatoes we are going to roast them at 200F for 10-12 hours, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper.  They also can be frozen for future use.

With the unseasonably warm temperatures we are going to do some painting on the house, something we just couldn't find the time to do this summer.  We have been digging out the plant material in the gardens and will let them dry for a little while and then we will shred them and incorporate into the soil along with alfalfa straw.

Last week just before the frost hit we had a group of students from the Saskatoon School of Horticulture visit the farm.   We gave them tours of the gardens and talked a lot about the various flowers we grow and cut for fresh cuts.  We enjoyed having them visit, and hope they will make this an annual trek with next years group of students.

Tomorrow I am going to dig a few peonies roots for sales at the Saskatoon Farmer's Market.  Fall is the best time to transplant perennials that bloom in the Spring.  There will be roots from the white, burgundy and pink peonies.  They will have to be planted within a few days, as I am not potting up the roots.  This way you will get a larger root mass which will in turn be a healthier transplant and they will produce flowers a lot sooner.  We will also have the remaining perennials, that are potted up, at reduced prices along with the succulent sale, buy one get one free.  Vegetables will include tomatoes, green and cooking onions, leeks, and horseradish root.  Dried herbs available are, Basil, Oregano and Catnip.  We have been making dried flower arrangements with the various flowers we have dried throughout the summer.  Those will be available along with golden dried wheat.

Frost hit hard.

So, Tuesday night it all came to an end for us.  The frost hit so hard, our thermometer recorded -11C.   Nothing was spared.  We had covered quite a few dahlia's in hopes of it being a mild frost, but the covers were no match for -11C.  The flowers are limp and lifeless.  We certainly were not ready for the flower season to end so abruptly, as we had a fantastic summer for flower production.  So now the cleanup begins.  The weather looks like it is going to stay nice for a while so it will be pleasant working in the gardens.  We will dig all the corms and tubers we want to save for next year and start shredding the dead foliage and incorporating it into the soil along with leaves and the barley mulch.
We made our first batch of salsa this evening, using the tomatoes and peppers that we harvested, and the house smells wonderful.  Tomorrow we will make leek and potato soup with our produce. The carrots, leeks and beets are still in the ground and will be harvested at a later date.  Unfortunately I think our entire celery patch froze.  Will take a closer look in the next couple of days and see if we can salvage any of it.  We really enjoyed using the green celery that we grew, but the red celery variety was quite tough and stringy.

This weekend at the Saskatoon Farmer's Market we will have a few fresh flowers that I had picked before the frost hit, but I will be making dried flower bouquets and will have those available for the next few weeks.  We are going to bring some perennials that are still in pots, which will be price reduced and I also potted up some more succulents, so lots of selection available for the two for one sale.
The vegetable selection this week is green onions, cooking onions, tomatoes, leeks, and garlic along with dried herbs.

Wedding flowers.

The pictures are bouquets that we created from the flowers we grow naturally here at Mistik Acres.  They are for a wedding in Regina and will be placed in mason jars and used as the table centrepieces.  

The hatchback loaded  and ready to head of to Regina.

Another milestone.

This is the 100th post for us and we wanted to thank everyone for checking in from time to time to read about what is happening at Mistik Acres.  Hope you will continue to visit our blog.
Can you believe this weather????  I am sure you are all thinking this same phrase.  What a fantastic week it has been.  The plants are quite enjoying the warm weather we have been having.  We are making sure they are well watered and they are rewarding us with blooms and vegetables.  We have already received a slight touch of frost in some areas of a couple of the gardens.  Nothing to kill the plants or prevent them from producing their blooms or vegetables.  Will keep our fingers crossed for warm nights for the next few weeks.

We had a celebration of harvest with many of our family members at the farm this past weekend.  Everyone had a tour of the gardens and then enjoyed a meal of harvested vegetables from the garden.  The rest of the week has been one of our busiest weeks, in regards to flower harvesting, so far this year.  We delivered flowers to the city florists twice this week and also supplied dahlias to a bride to be this week.  Today I harvested flowers and put together 39 bouquets for table centerpieces for another wedding in Regina.  Tomorrow we start all over again in preparation for the Farmer's Market on Saturday.  All the flowers are still going strong, responding to cutting and sending out new blooms for us to harvest.
With this warm weather the garlic and onions have dried quickly.  We have cleaned them up and they are ready for sales and winter storage.  We continue to harvest  lots of tomatoes, bumper crop this year.  We will have ripe tomatoes available at the Farmer's Market this Saturday along with horseradish root.  We will wait for cooler temperatures before we make prepared horseradish.

 
We will have a large assortment of ready made bouquets along with our vegetables this weekend at the Farmer's Market.  We are once again offering our succulents, buy one get one free.  We have been selling lots every week, but will continue to offer the sale till they are all gone.
Enjoy the wonderful weather.

Flower cutting frenzy.

The beginning of September is once again proving to be a busy time.  Along with the vegetable harvesting, the flower harvesting really kicks into gear and we go strong from now till freeze up.  The florists are very busy, which makes us very busy and we are also supplying flowers for a few local weddings in September, which is fun.  Today we had a bride-to-be stop at the farm and she picked sunflowers for her wedding this weekend.    
Frost could arrive any day, so we will make the best of it while we can.  Most of the birds are hanging around the area yet, so that may be an indication of warm weather continuing.
The tomatoes are ripening quickly and we pick a good pail full every day.  If we leave the tomatoes on the vine too long when they are ripe, we then have to share them with the gophers and squirrels.  They also enjoy tasting vine ripened tomatoes.
If you are planning on planting perennials in the fall, you should complete the task by the end of September.  This way the roots have time to get settled into the soil before the ground freezes.
Happy harvesting.

Harvest time.

Garlic drying.

The garlic was harvested this week and it is a bumper crop.  The cloves are large and well formed and the potency of the garlic is very strong.  We will allow it to dry for a couple of weeks before we will offer it for sale.

The onions were also harvested and the crop looks very good.  These will take a little longer to dry than the garlic.

With the hot sunny weather lately all the tomatoes and cucumbers are really producing.  The tomatoes are ripening rapidly and we have started to can what we will need for the winter.  After the canned tomato stocks have been replenished we will start to make tomato sauce and then salsa.  We plan on having our salsa available for purchase, so watch for further updates.  Today Pat dug the first batch of horseradish and as I write he is busy (in the garage, as you require plenty of ventilation) chopping the root to make our first batch of prepared horseradish.  If all goes well we will have a fresh batch available this Saturday at the Farmer's Market.  In any case, if you are only needing the root we will have it available this weekend.

Nasturtiums, showing all their brilliant colours.

This weekend we will have an array of flowers available once again.  Create your own bouquet or choose from a huge selection of ready made bouquets.  Sunflowers and more sunflowers of all sizes.  Leeks will be plentiful this weekend along with Cherry Sunsugar tomatoes, (small, yellow and bursting with flavour), beets, carrots, squash and dried herbs.

Right now we are really enjoying the gardens with all the colours and smells of all the beautiful flowers.  The Zinnia's, Dahlia's, Amaranthus, Galdiola's, Celosia, Rudbeckia, Sunflowers, Sweet Peas (and I can go on, and on) are all vibrant and abundant.  The cool evening temperatures, I believe, are a huge contributing factor to the vibrancy.  The rains have been plentiful and the storms have only produced strong winds so far this summer.  The trees we planted for shelter around the gardens are really doing their job this year for the first time.  So next year I can cut back on the annuals I plant for wind protection.
Pat is busy harvesting vegetables for the Saskatoon Farmer's Market tomorrow.  We will have leeks, celery, carrots, beets, onions, squash and tomatoes.  It is the 36th anniversary this weekend at the Market so lots of events happening to celebrate the milestone.  We will be offering samples of our naturally grown celery for people to try.  It is a lot stronger in flavour than the store bought celery.  We have been using it in soups, and stews etc.  It will be a nice addition to the tomato sauce we make in large batches and freeze for winter use.  At this time the tomatoes are free of blight and the fruit is ripening on the vines.  The little critters are also enjoying the tomatoes as soon as they ripen, if we don't get them picked right away.  The raspberries are still producing and we will have those available this weekend.  We dug out a few horseradish roots for the market, as we have had a few requests recently.  They like to use it in their homemade pickles.  The fresh cut flowers will be available, in ready made bouquets and individually, so people can create their own arrangements.
The garlic will be harvested next week and we will be making a small batch of ready to eat horseradish.  We have a patch of beans that we planted later, so we should have fresh beans available at next weeks market.  The herbs are doing well and we are continually dehydrating them for winter use and sales at the market.  We have mint, basil, summer savory, oregano, rosemary, thyme and catnip.
Stop in at the market Saturday and check out all the offerings.  This weekend, to coincide with the anniversary, with every purchase, you receive a chance to win a $36.00 gift certificate.  The draw will be made at 2:00pm.  The special of the week is in the succulent section, buy one get one free 

EcoFriendly Sask

The following link is a newsletter written about EcoFriendly alternatives in Saskatchewan written by Penny McKinlay.
http://www.ecofriendlysask.ca/2011/08/earth-friendly-flower-arrangements.html

This particular newsletter focuses on fresh cut flowers and discusses alternatives available throughout the year.
Please support the florists whom buy locally as they are providing us, the birds, bees and critters whom make Mistik Acres their permanent or summer home, a sustainable lifestyle.
I encourage you to subscribe to the newsletters, which are interesting, informative and may provide new ideas on living an earth friendly lifestyle.

Thank you Penny.

Saskatoon Farmer's Market Pictures.

We have included a few pictures we took at last Saturday's Farmer's Market.  The flowers are plentiful right now and producing wonderful blooms.  I must say that all in all this has been a very good growing season.  We have had ample moisture and lots of hot weather lately and all vegetation is responding favorably and most important the wind has been pretty calm this year.  Fantastic summer, hope you are all able to enjoy it.  

Cosmos and Zinnias

Flower arrangement's created for Living Sky Winery.

Thanks Sue!

The ever popular Sweet Peas are producing like never before this year.

Mmmmm the vegetables and raspberries.  

Squash, all shapes and colours.

Salmon Star Oriental Lily.

This Asiatic Lily has grown to about 4.5' tall.  Never have seen anything like it.  Unfortunately the Asiatic Lily's have completed blooming but now it is the Oriental Lily's turn.  Will have fresh cuts available this week and next. 

What has been going on around Mistik Acres lately...mmmhhhh.  As far as the critters go, there are plenty of birds still around.  Lots of Robins, Wrens, Barn Swallows, Catbirds, Bluebirds, Sparrows and Eastern Wood PeeWee's.  Have been enjoying watching the young birds getting used to their wings and catching their own meals as well as feasting on the plentiful Saskatoon Berries.  The Hummingbirds are very busy in the flowers and on the feeders.  We have counted up to six, we have seen at one time, which would include the young birds.  We have not seen the male Hummingbird lately, so not sure what came of him.

We have been enjoying cucumbers, tomatoes, peas, beans, potatoes, onion, squash and beets.  Also picked a few green peppers.  Hopefully the corn will be ready soon.

This weekends Farmer's Market will once again be plentiful with produce and flowers.  This weekend we will have sunflowers in larger quantities.  They have been a bit slow to mature this year, but they are looking great.  Raspberries, Sweet Peas, Gladiola's, beets, onions, squash, are just a few of the items displayed at our booth.  The Special this week is buy one get one free succulent.  Be sure to stop by and check out the colours, flavours and smells.

Pictures of Mistik Acres.

The summer is passing along fairly quickly as we are already enjoying the days of August.  The weather has been fantastic for growing conditions lately.  We can almost watch the plants grow in some cases.  Have included a few pictures of the gardens at this time of year.  There is plenty to see at Mistik Acres and we welcome visitors to take a look around.  Take a drive in the country and pay us a visit.

Bell's of Ireland are ready for cutting.  Available Saturday at the market.

Sunflowers are late this year, but are finally starting to show their cheery colours.

Little Lamb Hydrangea blooming.  A new plant for us this year, hoping to expand our quantities for cutting flowers if it performs to our expectations.

The raspberry patch.  We have been spending a lot of time in the raspberry patch this year, harvesting the fruit.  Every day is picking day in the raspberry patch....but oh so delicious.

Emmer Wheat

This variety of wheat has been around for a long time and has large beautiful heads.

We will have Emmer wheat available as a fresh cut for your floral bouquets and it will also be included in the ready made bouquets available at the Saskatoon Farmer's Market on Saturday from 8-2. 

The challenges of 2011.

We have been experiencing some great growing conditions and some not so great issues this growing season.  The pea harvest has been fantastic, along with the Saskatoon berries, raspberries and onions.  Disappointed in the bean production, not as plentiful as in past years.  The tomatoes look good so far, but we are experiencing problems with early blight.  It looks like we may lose our entire crop of  Zinnias, due to the blight.  The sunflower leaves are showing signs of it as well, but I think all should be fine with the flowers.  The sweet peas are growing with great vigor along with the Dahlia's. We also have a larger population of aphids this year than any other year previous and a much smaller population of lady bugs.  In fact, I have not seen a lady bug for a least three weeks now.
We will be attending the Saskatoon Farmer's market this weekend with our vegetables, flowers and plants.  The special of the week is a succulent called Large Red Carpet Stonecrop (Crassula radicans) priced at 3.00, regular 5.00 in a 3" pot.  This is a succulent plant similar to the jade family.  Likes the summer sunshine but needs to be brought indoors in the fall before frost.

Large Red Carpet Stonecrop

 The vegetables available this week are, potatoes, beets, green onions, & carrots along with raspberries.  The flowers are plentiful and vibrant.  Sweet peas, lilies, monskhood, calendula, cosmos, sea holly, dahlia, zinnia's and more.