Robert Church farms in North Wilkesboro near Miller's Creek. He has developed techniques for providing early, great tasting crops by working with the climate and local conditions.

One of Robert's specialty crops is watermelons. He starts the seeds in quart pots in the greenhouse early in March. By the time the transplants are ready to be set out in April the plants are starting to run and bloom. Robert focuses on growing a flavorful melon that is easy for one person to carry and does not need to push the plants by adding fertilizer. He uses weed growth to his advantage, allowing taller plants to shade the watermelons during the hot weather. He also finds it unnecessary to spray for pests. Robert grows several different varieties of watermelons including Royal Sweets, Crimson Sweets, Jubilee and Sangria.

Once the watermelons start to play out, the pumpkins begin to take center stage. Robert grows many different varieties of pumpkins including unusual and rare types. Some of the favorites are Cinderella, Long Island Cheesecake, and Hawaiian Peanut pumpkins. Robert also starts the pumpkin seeds in the greenhouse and sets out the plants around the end of May. Robert plants out 12 acres of pupmkins every year as well as 12 acres of watermelons.

Robert also grows boxwoods which he digs and sells in the fall. He digs them after they have grown fairly large, averaging around two and a half to three and a half feet tall, and twenty eight to thirty two inches around. He spaces them in the four feet apart fields to permit mowing between the shrubs, and this easy maintenance allows a large number of plants. Robert has about 35,000 boxwoods planted, and plans for a couple of thousand more. Cuttings from existing boxwoods are rooted and planted for planting in the future.

Contact Larry Denney at 336-384-2779.

Alicia Breton is the owner of My Favorite Plants Nursery. Her love of plants has led her to almost ten years of growing annuals, perennials and flowering shrubs. She now has a greenhouse and 4 coldframes; she uses these to protect plants in winter and spring.
In addition to the Farmers' Market, Alicia can be found at her greenhouse from 10 AM to 2 PM on Monday through Thursday, and on Sunday from 10 AM to 4 PM. Call her at (336) 877-1155 or send an e-mail.
My Favorite Plants Nursery is located in Todd, North Carolina. From Boone, take Highway 194 North at New Market Center. Turn left at Three Top Road and continue for eight/tenths of a mile. The drive is on the left, there is a fencepost with the number 9570C.

Shady Grove Gardens & Nursery was started in 1986 to supply quality perennials for our landscaping needs. Through the years Susan developed the nursery using sustainable methods, before that was a buzzword. Plants are grown outside or in our un-heated greenhouse; organic, hands-on growing methods are used throughout the farm and nursery. Our selection includes new and hard to find varieties along with a few tough favorites. We are especially proud to say do not use any systemic pesticides or fungicides. "To us sustainable means protecting birds and bees too." See our website for more details about our organic and sustainable methods. We have great healthy perennials, bigger than mail order, better than chain stores.

We offer the highest quality, large, blooming size plants, all organically grown (non-certified). We've paid special attention to varieties that are well suited to the conditions of the High Country. Our selections reflect our passion for native plants and cut flowers. The nursery is located 10 miles west of Boone, NC. Summer hours are Fridays 9-6. Our phone number is (828) 297-4098, send mail about your gardening concerns, or visit our website at
Shady-Grove-Gardens.com
Shady-Grove-Gardens.blogspot.com

Cut Flowers are our speciality. We can supply flowers for weddings, churches and special occasions. Just contact us for special orders or lists of seasonal availability. Our selection changes daily, so visit our display at the market each week for something different.

Join our Fresh Flower CSA (Subscription).
This is the 2nd summer Shady Grove Gardens & Nursery will be offering a subscription to their best fresh flower bouquets. Bouquets are delivered in our buckets to be transported home. The Wednesday afternoon Watauga County Farmers’ Market in Boone is our drop-off site.

This is everyones chance to get fresh locally grown flowers without pesticides and without getting up early on Saturday morning. Members will get $25’s worth of flowers for 10, 15 or 20 weeks. The late season bouquets will include orange and red winterberry holly for the holidays. 

These seasonal flowers will be different each week as they are all grown outdoors in Ashe and Watauga counties. Since 1986 Shady Grove Gardens has produced perennials and cut flowers without using any inorganic pesticides or herbicides. 
Subscription members will be invited to join Susan Wright and Brent Cochran for a fun farm tour, to see where their flowers are grown and learn a little more about flower farming.

To get more information or sign up for the weekly bouquets contact Susan at 828-297-4098 or sggarden@skybest.com.

Vegetable and Flower transplants

WINTER VEGATABLE CSA-FOR OCTOBER OR NOVEMBER PICKUP Want fresh local vegetables after the summer season? Shares will weigh approximately 60 lbs., and include apples, large yellow storage onions, yellow and red potatoes, 4-5 types of winter squash, red cabbage and garlic. In addition pumpkins will be in the October package. Favorite recipes for soups, delicious casseroles and pies will be included. The cost is $90 a share.

The vegetables and fruit offer will store for at least 2 months most will store even longer.
Boxes of winter storage vegetables shares will available for pickup at the last Watauga County Farmers Market October 31st and just in time for Thanksgiving November, 21, 2009. Signup for this CSA will end June 1, 2009.

Planning a wedding? Why not have it on our Farm? Contact us about our facilities at The Peak.

Susan Graham enjoys going to the market even after more than 12 years of working long hours in her greenhouses. Her enthusiasm is made obvious by a trip to her greenhouse in Todd, NC. She takes meticulous care of her plants and is rewarded with outstanding blooms and foliage.

Susan grows perennials, amazing hanging baskets, and starts bedding plants from seed. You will find flats of petunias, French marigolds that grow to eight inches, and red, white and blue pansies. Susan also grows annual and perennial herbs, including bright and fragrant Pineapple Sage.

Susan Graham has won even more fans with her hand knitted and felted wool hats. Susan hand knits the hats from wool and wool/mohair blend yarn in a rainbow of colors and currently has three styles for you to choose from. One style features a rolled brim with fun fur trim, another has a narrow brim in solids and stripes with a braided hatband. A fashionable beret completes the collection. All of Susan's hats will fit an average adult's size head.

The hats can be hand washed in cool water with a mild detergent, then blocked over a form or bowl for drying to retain their shape.

E-mail Susan Allen Graham.

Lindy Johnson, J.Jackson and Allen Snyder all live in Trade, Tennessee and share a booth at Watauga County Farmers' Market. J. and Lindy have been vendors at the market for seven years, and Allen has been coming here for six years. Lindy and J. own Tennessee Rose Nursery and Allen owns Shady Acres Nursery. Both nurseries grow shrubs suitable for the Blue Ridge Mountain area.

Lindy and J. specialize in native azaleas, hardy Hydrangeas grown from seed, and blueberry bushes. They also supply Shiitake mushroom logs.

Azaleas are members of the Rhododenderon family; they are grouped together because of their flower structure. There are around four hundred decidious native azaleas and derivatives growing at Tennessee Rose Nursery. Some are becomming rare in the wild due to the pressures of development. The lovely and fragrant R. arborescens is already on the endangered plants list. Lindy and J. select the best wild forms as seed sources, then raise the best plants from the seedlings. These shrubs and trees are not bothered by disease, have a long bloom period, and are often fragrant. They range in color from white, pink, orange and red. All are very hardy in full sun to part shade. Some will not perform as well in the deep South, but some will do well as far north as zone 3.

A favorite evergreen Rhododendron is the Littleleaf Rhodendron. The foliage has a pleasant woodsy scent and there are clear pink blooms in early May. Later in the month look for Kalmia which is also known as mountain laurel, and oak leaf Hydrangea which grows naturally from North Carolina to Alabama.

E-mail Tennessee Rose.

Allen Snyder grows many popular types of flowering shrubs. Early in the season he has dwarf and semi-dwarf varieties of Wigelia blooming in shades of pink and red. These are Canadian selections and very hardy. Later he has ninebark with attractive dark leaves, butterfly bushes, and varieties of Clethra including 'Hummingbird" and '16 Candles". He also grows evergreen shrubs such as boxwoods and false cypress ranging in size from low growing varieties to ten foot specimans.

Selections at Cheryl Piracci's Bella Rooster range from gourmet foods to handmade decorations to live plants. Cheryl specializes in Italian cuisine, so be sure to look for her sun-dried tomatoes, biscotti and chocolate-zucchini cake.

Cheryl makes many jams and jellies, along with pectin-free preserves.This traditional method of cooking down the preserves allows for less sugar in the recipe.

For low-calorie flavor combined with a visual treat, try herb vinegar in hand-painted vinegar bottles. Cheryl will take orders for hand painted bottles and any other items, especially for the holidays, and will also ship your order.

Also at Cheryl's booth are many handmade crafts, such as bark baskets from Tulip Poplar trees and mosaic flower pots made from crockery. She also brings garden plants and herbs, and will install custom landscaping.

Chris Teague lives his wife Heather. They have an 18 month old son Daniel, who is the boss of the family. Chris started growing plants as a hobby and now has three greenhouses and a number of fields in different places around Boone. He has been selling plants to the general public for three years, and sold plants at wholesale for two years before that. Chris grows about 400 varieties of perennial plants, 800 varieties of daylilies, and a selection of flowering annuals and shrubs. Find out more at Hickory Lane Gardens and Landscape Center

Chris also does landscaping and maintenance within a 60 mile radius of Boone. He is available for landscape design, brush clearing, hedge trimming, leaf cleanup and yard winterization. His yard treatments include a soil analysis, fertilizer and weed control. Chris can be reached at (828) 265-4950 or by his cell phone at 964-6905