So, if you are considering growing your own vegetables and fruits this year, you’re in good company.

The reasons for growing your own food are many. Freshness, of course, is number one. You can’t get much fresher than just-picked! I come home from work, pick tender lettuces from my garden, rinse them, put them into my salad spinner and tuck them into the refrigerator to crisp up while I make the rest of the dinner.

And in these days of food recalls, safety is also a big issue.  Whether you choose to grow without pesticides or to use relatively safe organic solutions, you know what is on your food because you are the one who chooses what to put on it.

Flavor is a big factor. Large farms produce varieties of vegetables and fruits because they ship well, not because they taste better. The tastiest varieties are often more fragile, and can only be sourced locally from a farm market or your own garden.

If you have children at home, growing food together can make them more willing to try healthy fruits and vegetables they may have refused in the past. And at the very least, they will learn that vegetables don’t just appear, fully formed, on the shelves of the local grocery store!

And the physical act of gardening is healthy. Fresh air, exercise and contact with the soil are known to be good for you. It’s like therapy to me– plus I get tomatoes…

You can be confident that the plants you purchase from us are hardy in our zone and have  not been  shipped from the south.  Most of our plant material is grown here in Ohio or in Pennsylvania,  and is used to our unpredictable weather.

To view a list of the trees and shrubs we have coming, click here.  We are still expanding the list, so check back later.

If you’re the green-lawn lover, then Home Depot has a program for you, where you can apply weed-and-feed and mow in patterns to make your yard look pristine and manicured.

If you prefer the more natural look, with exquisite bits of color moving from plant to plant. we can help you! We’ll be open for the season again in the spring, and we can help you choose plants that are butterfly magnets. Check out this short video for an appetite-whetting glimpse of what your front (or back, your choice) yard could become.

As of today, (January 10th) there are only 70 days left until spring!

Don’t forget– even though we’re officially closed until Spring, someone is usually around if you need something. Just give us a call before you make the trip. 740-546-4467.

Custom Decorated Blanket with Silks and Velvet Ribbons

The weather doesn’t agree, but it’s almost time to order your grave blankets, pillows, wreaths and sprays. Our price lists get mailed out next week to all of our customers who have ordered from us in the past few years.

We can’t begin to place them until mid-November (because of cemetery rules) but we’ve actually begun production– making the wood and straw bases that we make them on. I think we’re the only source still making them this way.

The benefit of our base is that it gathers rain (and melting snow) to help keep the greens fresher longer. (Have you ever tried to get Styrofoam to take up water? It’s not gonna happen.) It also adds weight that helps to keep the blankets and pillows from flipping and blowing off in windy areas. (If we place them, we also fasten them down with a sturdy wire.)

If you haven’t ordered from us before, but would like a price list/order sheet, please call 740-546-4467 or toll free 800-844-5944, or email us at bob@ferdas.com and we’ll get one right out to you.

The shop is beginning to look Christmas-y and like fall at the same time. Sounds strange, perhaps, but it works and looks good. Stop in and check it out.