We see them everywhere--- the telltale signs of season change.  The last of the garden flowers, the falling leaves, the disappearance of the hummingbirds, butterflies, and the gathering of birds getting ready to fly to warmer climates.  Here at the Market we too are preparing for the change of season---offering the last weeks of fresh local produce and treats from our bakery.

In This Issue:
PUTTING YOUR GARDEN TO BED
APPLES GALORE
APPLE CIDER
BAKERY ORDERS
GREENHOUSE 2010
SEASON FINALE PARTY

PUTTING YOUR GARDEN TO BED

Last week we offered a number of tips on putting your garden to bed for the winter.  With the colder temperatures and heavy frost of the last week there is more work to be done.  It is important to remember that the last week was rather unseasonably cold and that it will likely warm up again this week.  It is important not to get too carried away on some of the activities.  I would not put up any wind breaks yet to protect your rhododendrons or other wind sensitive shrubs.  This can wait for some time.  If you are putting stakes in the ground to secure burlap on for a windbreak then you might want to think about driving them into the ground before the ground freezes hard.  But, leave the burlap off until we have consistently freezing weather – December perhaps.

I do recommend leaving the pruning of roses until the spring just before the new growth begins and as the buds begin to swell.  Wait until you are sure that all danger of hard frost is past or newly pruned trips may be killed.  Winter protection of hybrid tea roses is very important; the hardy shrub roses can survive well on their own without winter protection.

The main principle for winterizing roses is to protect the “crown” to enable buds which will form the following year’s plant to survive through the winter.  This is done by mounding up the crown to a depth of 9-12 inches 22.5-30cm. 

The best material for mounding over the crown is garden soil.  The soil should come from another part of the garden and not from around the rose plant itself.  You don’t want to expose the surface feeder roots.  Leaves or straw can be packed into a wire collar. 

Climbing roses should be taken off their trellis each fall, laid on the ground and protected with soil, straw and wooden boards. 

Snow is a great insulator and anything that will cause snow to accumulate on your rose bushes should be regarded as helpful.

                                                                                    Elspeth

APPLES GALORE

Our apple selection continues to grow and this week we have lovely Russet and Gala apples.  New for the week is Ginger Gold, a yellowish green apple, a bit softer than the very hard and crunchy Honeycrisp.  Ginger Gold make a great snack apple right now.

APPLE CIDER

The cider wasn’t ready for Thanksgiving but we have it now.  Our cider comes from Noggins Corner Farm and is just plain delicious.  Very refreshing!  Cider freezes well so you can stock up for Christmas or for the winter months now.

BAKERY ORDERS

Just a reminder to get your bakery orders in to us if you want to order extra bread or other bakery items for your freezer.  We would appreciate getting the orders soon.  We would like to schedule our special order pickups between Sunday, November 1 and Thursday, November 6.  We want to avoid taking orders on November 7 and November 8 because we have a lot of people dropping in for small orders of bread.  Our number: 543-6082

GREENHOUSE 2010

The greenhouse project is progressing on schedule.  The guys have had some cold days to work through but we give them lots of hot coffee and bakery treats.  We are quite surprised at the number of people who did not notice that the greenhouses were gone and now that the new one is in place many customers are curious about our plans.  A crew from Meisner and Zwicker’s arrived on site last week and removed our old entrance to the greenhouses (the orange roof structure).  They will work this week on the wooden ends in the greenhouse.  Peter has everything ready to begin attaching two of our old greenhouses to the backside of the new structure.  We will keep you posted.  At this point our target date for opening the new greenhouse is the week or April 26, 2010!  Of course we have to have things finished up so we can grow plants in the new area by mid March.

SEASON FINALE PARTY

We plan to celebrate the conclusion of our 24^th season on Friday, November 6.  We will repeat our dessert party theme that we started last year.  Stay tuned for the dessert selection!  Between 5:30 pm and 9 we will be serving complimentary desserts and coffee.  There will be special draws and special deals from our gift area.  Bring a friend and come on in to say good-bye!  All are welcome!