Fall Activities in Sugar Grove

Where can you see 100 different varieties of trees changing color this fall? Where can you take a hay ride and walk thru a garden that has been transformed into a spooky place? You may also enjoy painting a pumpkin or learn how to make a corn husk doll. Have your picture taken in a large pumpkin cut out. Feeding the chickens is also popular.

Spring Bluff Nursery will be sharing all this fall family fun for a second Fall Farm Fest weekend on October 16th and 17th from 10am to 4pm Saturday and 10am to 3pm on Sunday.

Fall Farm Fest is here!

October has arrived and we are ready for fall family fun. We have been working all week on our "Spooky Garden" and its free!!!! You will also enjoy free face painting, hay rides and some refreshments. For 25 cents you can feed our chickens or for $2.00 you can paint a small pumpkin. We have plenty of unusual gourds for decorating and we still have red and yellow mums too. Get your picture with our Giant pumpkin cut outs. Bring a picnic basket if you are traveling from a distance or enjoy a cup of our Chili. Spring Bluff Nursery is on the historic registry and has been a part of the Norris family for over 150 years. Come out and enjoy fall on the farm this year.

Fall Farm Fest is the first and third weekends in October from 10am - 4pm.

Twilight Hayrides

New this fall at Spring Bluff Nursery are "Twilight Hayrides". Families can reserve space on a hayride that tours the Farm of our Sugar Grove, Illinois location. The ride is roughly 30 minutes long. There is also a self guided path thru the "Spooky Garden". Picnics and tailgating are allowed.

Gates open at 5:00pm till sunset. Hayrides are $5 per person and children under 2yrs are free.

Reservations are required and hayrides leave on the half hour. (630) 466-4278 (This event is weather permitting.)

Tomato Fest 2010

Yes! We have TOMATOES. There is an abundance of colors and flavors waiting to be tasted. Stop by Spring Bluff Nursery on Saturdays and Sundays in August. We will be tasting from 1-3pm. There are numerous Heirloom varieties. Make sure you sample the ground cherries too! And did I mention 20 varieties of peppers?

Ground Cherry

This year we planted Ground Cherries in the vegetable garden. At first the young plant resembles a tomato plant. As the Ground Cherry plant matures, it grows more horizontal than upright. The cherries have a paper like coat similar to a Tomatillo but much smaller.

To eat the Ground Cherry you peal off the thin cover. The ideal color of the ripe fruit is peach to orange. The fruit is delicious! It has a subtle cherry taste followed by sweet tomato. Ideal for making a sweet salsa and jam.

I would highly recommend trying this plant in your garden. Once you start eating the small fruit, it is difficult to stop.

What better way to spend a rainy day?

If I cant be in MY garden, I love to listen to garden talk. Gardening is a great hobby you can't stop learning. I am sure you will agree, gardening is endless. Unlike decorating your home inside, the outside is constantly changing. Imagine if you had to keep cutting back your couch or dead heading the curtains so you could see out the window. As silly as that sounds, there is always something changing in the garden. (I use the word garden to refer to the entire yard). My point is, try to experience at least one garden speaker event this year. Gardeners love to share their garden success and failures. I am sure you have a story too!

Landscaping is much more than pretty plants

Well placed trees and shrubs can add real value to your property. A good landscape design can add 20% to the value of your property and save up to 25% in heating and cooling costs. The National Association of Realtors president elect was quoted in an article saying "When people ask me how they can get strong interest in their property, I always tell them to fix up their landscaping."

I'm sure we have all heard the saying "Do it right the first time." This certainly applies when we attempt to landscape our homes. Having a professionally prepared plan will result in a beautiful property with a polished look. Here at Spring Bluff Nursery we have design professionals that can guide you through the process of landscaping your home just the way you want it while keeping within a pre-established budget. Perhaps the biggest mistake homeowners make is a piecemeal approach to landscaping. They begin projects and start to clear areas followed by trips to nurseries or worse yet, the local home improvement stores to pick out plants. Typically the first thing that happens is they are totally overwhelmed by the huge variety of plant material from which to choose. Which plant is good for sun and which for shade? How large will this shrub get? What is the difference between an annual and a perennial? What type of maintenance with this plant require?

Generally homeowners choose a mix of plants & proceed without a plan. The result often is the wrong plant in the wrong place and a hodgepodge of plantings. Basically, a huge waste of time, hard work and money! You can spend just as much money on a bad landscape as you can on a good one. In reality, eventually you wind up spending more on a bad one because you will have to replace it. Some people think they cannot afford a professionally prepared landscape plan. The fact is that you cannot afford to make costly mistakes. Let us do it right the first time for you.

Trial Garden

The weather (and time) has finally allowed us to plant our new vegetable trial garden. On Friday, Sue and I planted one of ever variety of Tomato and Pepper plant we grow. We planted 33 tomato plants and 25 pepper plants. We also planted melon, onion, eggplant and much more. Our plan is to offer tomato and pepper tasting on weekends in August. Mark your calendar and join us. You can tell first hand what is your favorite.

The Chickens have arrived

As some of you may know, a shipment of day old chicks arrived on April 26th. During the month of May, Tim built a new chicken coop. It looks more like a chicken condo. Its spacious, nice view, quite neighborhood and low rent.

The chicks are a month old now and seem to be adjusting to their

home. Stop by and visit our newest additions located behind the perennials in the sales yard.

Chickens

The new chicken coop is just about complete. The day old batch of chicks arrived on April 26th and are currently staying with Sue and Tim. They are growing rapidly and should start laying eggs when they reach 4 months old.

On Memorial weekend the chicks will be relocated to their permanent home at the nursery.

Welcome Buddy!

Thursday was "Take Your Child to Work Day". Family is very important to everyone at Spring Bluff Nursery. We want to encourage our children to try new things and we support them when they step out of their comfort zone.

On Thursday we welcomed Buddy, who came to work with Mom/Brooke. Buddy has always shown an interest in trees and shrubs. He was a bit bashful and did not want to leave Brookes side. His visit was rather uneventful, since he slept most of the time. I am sure he enjoyed his day on our farm.

Fairy Garden

Every spring the fairy garden needs a bit of renovation. This year, a noticeable change to the fairy garden is the removal of the 50 year old Ash tree that shaded the garden. Not to worry, the fairy garden is still in the same location however, it is now at the bottom of an Ash stump.

When you visit the fairies this year, you will notice a large tree is not required for this enchanting hobby. During this years renovation I pruned the tiny Spruce trees to create a miniature woods. I have added pansies and as the weather allows, additional small varieties of annuals will be added to compliment the existing perennials. For the first time, we will have available a small fairy version of Hosta. The supply for this tiny Hosta is limited since we use our own fairy land as a production garden. We will also be carrying a selection of Stepables for planting in your fairy garden. Bring in photos of your fairy garden to share with others on our community board.

Its beginning to look a lot like spring time...

We have just about completed digging trees for this spring. Over the past few weeks newly dug balled and burlap trees have been relocated to the sales yard. An outstanding selection of trees up to 4 inches in caliber are ready for new homes.

We are stocked full of beautiful container shrubs. We have expanded our container shrub area this year and we feel the new area will make shopping easier. Many perennials are starting to appear in the sales yard also. Nature has some control as to when the perennials are ready for transplanting, the warm weather has really given everything a jump start. Now is a great time to take a walk in the woods to see the wildflowers in bloom. This is sure to inspire you to create or expand your gardens. We have a nice selection of woodland plants to choose from.

The winds of change are upon us. I hope you are able to take the time to enjoy some of natures beauty this spring.

Happy Spring!

Spring Open House

10am-The Spring Open House will be one of our best yet. Tim is going to kick off the day talking about the Emerald Ash Borer and Japanese Beatles. He will discuss options for control and/or tree replacement choices.

11am-We will be talking about our new plants for 2010. Hear about the new annuals as well as perennials, and other nursery stock newly available this year.

1pm-Linda will be talking about protecting your plants from rabbits. She will talk about the many options available including plants that are less desirable to Peter Cottontail.

2pm-We will be making "Hairy Potters" with our young gardeners. Children will have fun painting a face on a clay pot and then planting grass seed that will grow green hair.

3pm-We will be planting a gourd with spring flowers to create an arrangement you can use indoors until the weather stays warm. We grew and picked gourds last fall and stored them over

the winter. They have been dried and are ready to plant or create a bird house. We will have gourds available for purchase.

There will be refreshments and FREE TOOL sharpening all day. Join us and celebrate Spring!

Make way for Spring!

In the spring, certain things take place in a certain order. At the nursery Tim takes the prairie restoration seriously. He will collect seeds in the Fall and broadcast them back across the area in the Spring. To maintain this area filled with native plants and grasses, he and Ken use a method called prescribed burning. Mother nature and time play a role in this too. The prairie needs to be dry and the wind needs to be at a minimum, out of the east is also a good thing. Today was that perfect day. It takes about 6-8 minutes once the first fire is lit. Although the prairie is now blackened, it will show signs of new growth in the next week.

The nursery is waking up

Signs of Spring are showing up at Spring Bluff Nursery. The area for balled and burlap trees has been cleared to make way for the new stock. Tim said "we should begin digging new trees next week".

We are finalizing our 2010 calendar and it is another great year of talks and gardening events. If you would like to plan a talk for your group or club, contact the nursery for details

Unfortunately, we cut down 3 very large Ash trees. The stumps are remaining and you can easily count the rings. Tim and Ken both counted 56, that means the tree was planted around 1954. Let us know how many rings you count when you stop by.

Everyone is busy preparing for the growing season. Anna and Sue are transplanting new seedlings in the green house. It is really starting to fill up. Tim and Carlos are putting in a new sandbox for our younger guests at the nursery. We also added some new color choices for the check-out hut and we will be painting the front of the greenhouse as soon as weather permits. FYI-we are trying to convince Tim to get us chickens for the nursery. Keep your fingers crossed for a new chicken coop in the near future.

I am told we have an abundance of beautiful Crabapple trees. Now is an excellent time to choose a new tree from the field.

This evening I will be speaking to the Sugar Grove Park District Garden Club. I will be discussing our 2010 calendar and giving suggestions for evening lighting in the garden and other gardening tips.