High-Fence Farm LLC
(Formerly "Hatcher's Farm & Greenhouse")
Edit: List Update, May 08, 2020:
Tomato VarietiesBetter BoyCelebrity
Monte Carlo
Jet Setter
Amelia
Florida 47
DonaRoma (paste)
Juliet (large salad)
Sweet 100 (cherry)
Pepper VarietiesKing Arthur (Bell)Gypsy (blocky sweet banana)
Cubanelle
Poblano Corcel
Major League (Jalapeno)
Serrano
Arbol
Cayenne
Ahn Tran (small oriental hot)
Habanero Red
Carolina Reaper
When mid April rolls around each year our thoughts here at High-Fence Farm turn to “herb festival”, but even more so this year since there won’t be any public gatherings celebrating gardening and all things out in the yard. When we were much younger and had “help” still in the home, we would load up our little gypsy wagon most weekends in the spring and head off to one of the various herb festivals being held all over north-eastern Oklahoma. A couple of years we even loaded up and participated in a festival at the Harn Homestead in Oklahoma City. Another year we participated on a festival held in Durant, down in south-eastern Oklahoma. Those trips made for long days.
We were one of the founding vendors at the very first Sand Springs Herbal Affair. It was one of the first herb festivals in the area, and it has come to be one of the largest, with more than 100 vendors. If you ever attended, we were the double tent set up in front of Gilbert Insurance Agency, just south of the Triangle. The fresh peanut roaster guy set up right around the corner, and the Amish kitchen was right behind him. When our three “helpers” headed off to college and finally left home, we laid it all aside for a time. There were other factors involved, but we just needed a rest.
We never really quit gardening and growing plants. We just slowed down a bit, trying to keep up with all the grandchildren. This year’s greenhouse season is upon us and the tomatoes and peppers, herbs and flowers are ready to plant. Give us a call and set up a time to come out and visit and see what is growing inside and outside the greenhouse. Social distancing is easy out here. Oh by the way, if you can correctly identify the lady in the hat at our booth in the photo above, we will give you 25% off your purchase.
We have been busy starting flower and vegetable seeds this late winter, and we just wanted to let you know that we will be open around the middle of April with vegetable plants such as tomato, pepper, okra, and eggplant. As our regular customers know, we love herbs and will have a nice selection of culinary herbs to sell. We will also have some pretty annual and perennial flowers available.
Tell all of your family, friends and neighbors, and keep an eye out for the word when the plants are ready. We always keep an eye out for surprise late frosts, so unlike the big stores in town we will not tell you to come out unless we think all danger of frost is past.
There’s no need to worry about “social distancing” as we do not have the in-town crowds. Heck, we will even stay back and let you serve your self.
Our newly sown pickling cucumber seeds have emerged this morning after a shower in the night. So at seven weeks from sow date to first harvest date, we should start having an abundance of cukes again by early September. Hold your breath folks. We will keep you updated with progress photos, knowing that you have run out of drying paint or mud puddles to watch. 😉
Taking the dog out for the last time tonight—nearly ran into this:
Starflowers are considered to be one of the easiest to grow of the spring-flowering bulbs, and is easily grown in average, medium, well-drained soils in full sun to part shade. We have ours growing primarily under two Magnolia trees, but as we have been finding new plants straying out very far into the lawn we have been digging them up and setting them around other tree trunks in the landscape. They naturalize perfectly around trees, casting seed modestly. Plant bulbs 2-3” deep and space 2-4” apart in fall. For the homeowner however, the strays can be dug up as soon as you spot them. If you wait for these till the fall, you will scarcely be able to remember where they were. Starflowers neutralizes easily by bulb multiplication and the seeds produced readily germinate and grow, providing new plants to plant elsewhere in the landscape. Starflowers go dormant by late spring and the foliage just disappears.
Ipheion uniflorum, is native to parts of South America and features grass-like foliage and solitary star-shaped flowers on 6” tall stems in early spring. Each bulb produces multiple flowering stems. Flowers range in color from almost white to violet-blue. The flowers of the variety we have, Wisley Blue, are a dreamy pastel blue.
We finished pruning our grapes this week. Every spring it is a dramatic affair because of how much plant material we remove. Next year’s production comes from this year’s growth. Way more material is produced in one year than the grape-vine is able to handle. If left unpruned, a typical grape-vine will produce small grapes, and be highly susceptible to disease and insects. Not only will multiple vines arise all along the main trunk, but new growth will originate at the terminus of last year’s production laterals. Left unpruned several years these laterals will travel down the trellis fifty feet or more. The vines pictured here are three-year-old plants, and are a Concord-type variety called Fredonia. It makes wonderful juice for cider or jelly.
Pruning grape-vines is kind of like working a jig saw puzzle, or filling out a Sudoku puzzle. You want to pick the four best lateral arms to tie along the trellis, but all of the lateral are far longer than necessary, so long that they extend over into the spaces of the neighboring plants. You have to carefully determine which laterals are connected to the particular vine you are currently working on and which are connected to the adjacent (or beyond) plant. Careful multiple cuts are necessary to insure the best four “arms” are selected for each vine.
Okay, here is what the finished product looks like. You would be surprised, but by the end of the season you are back where you started with a tangled mess. We even prune multiple times throughout the summer to promote adequate air flow around and through the vines.
We usually wait to prune until leaf buds begin to emerge, so gently untangling the intertwining laterals is a must. Another issue is having to sometimes make a lateral branch snaking off to the right (or left) and force it to the left (or right) because no logical option exists. When it comes to pruning grapes, slow and steady wins the race.
It is hard to believe that it is mid February, but it is. We have had such a mild winter that I fear (good & bad) that we are going to have an early spring. It can be a good thing for those of us who just can’t stand snow and ice. On the other hand, there may not have been sufficient hard cold to kill overwintering bugs. It can also spell disaster for fruiting trees that are tricked into blooming too early, only to be sucker punched by a dip into freezing territory some starry night in late March. We will see. Our apple and peach blossoms haven’t begun to break yet but we do have a Star magnolia that has begun to bloom. Ohhhh, way too early.
This week we have begun to sow seeds, beginning with broccoli, which means we will begin to sell broccoli plants out of the greenhouse the latter half of March. About the same time lettuce and spinach will be available. Keep your eyes and ears peeled. Don’t forget to follow us on twitter at @HighFenceFarm for the latest update.
We also sowed sweet basil, chives, and parsley this week, which will be ready in early April. Of course we will have a good supply of tomato and pepper plants and also—well, we will have to hold a few things back for a while, just to keep you in suspense. We have had a few hiccups the last few years, and with those out of the way we hope to do much more this year. We can hardly wait for this season to get under way so you can come out and see what we have been up to.
The first stage of our barn rebuild is almost complete. We just lack a couple of doors topside and three pieces of trim on the south end and we can call it finished. But for a knee scope a week ago it would be finished, but now it will have to wait a few more weeks. We hope this completion will create an attractive place to shop for produce later this summer.
I know many of you residing in Green Country might think “Why would I want to drive all the way out into the sticks to buy plants or produce from a couple of old farmers? There are plenty of places just around the corner where I can do that.” On the one hand, that is certainly true. You most surely can get the products we sell closer to home. Why would you want to drive all the way out into the boonies? Well, here are just a few reasons:
Just a few words to put it all in perspective. We are a work in progress, so don’t get an unrealistic picture of Eden out here. There are a few weeds present, and the paint isn’t bright and shiny on every post and barn door. Heck, some of our barns don’t even have doors yet. And above all it’s best to call ahead. We’d love to have you out.