Who's a real New Yorker? When I moved here from Pennsylvania, I was advised not to call myself a New Yorker until I had survived the city for 7 years.
But I discovered two more meaningful criteria.
1. When, deciding to go car-less, I sold my Jeep with its Meadow Lark Flower & Herb Farm logo.
2. When I fully accepted mailorder gardening as a feature, not a bug, of living in the city.
On my farm, I had used my Jeep and GMC panel truck to haul bags of fertilizer, trees and shrubs, flats of herbs and annuals, and even as modified cold frames in emergencies. I had ordered specialty seeds for the hundreds of varieties I grew for drying (Nigella orientalis anyone?) ordered bulbs so I could get the exact shade and timing I required, but everything else I trucked from nurseries as much as 90 miles away. Below, the interior of my barn with dried harvest.

Now in Manhattan, too cheap to rent a truck, and not wanting to rely totally on the kindness of Other Ellen to buy things for me, I expanded my use of long distance ordering. From Klehm's I bought the lovely native wisteria 'Amethyst Falls' (above), three varieties of clematis and two peonies. Well-Sweep Herb Farm had the grand assortment of species I needed for a living herb wreath. Do you think the Home Depot at 59th St. would have the peanut seeds that I REQUIRED? No, but Henry Field's
Seeds, roses, perennials, herbs, shrubs, containers, fertilizers, and bagged compost all showed up in my building lobby, trucked there by UPS, FedEx, or USPS. I paid attention to the pot size and shipping dates so I'd know just what to expect and be available to plant immediately.
Daughter Jen living in NH, tries to eat from her garden from April thought November, and has the luxurious choice of a car or her husband's truck. But she still buys seeds, bulbs, and even perennials and trees from her favorite mailorder houses like Fedco for starter trees and organic vegetables, Bluestone Perennials where she can find small size plants to fit her budget, knowing
that they'll catch up to landscape size in a year or two, Baker Creek Seeds for heirlooms, Pinetree for their mini-packs so she can try lots of new varieties before committing to a pack of 60-100 tomatoes, beets or carrots, and Johnny's from Maine where winter hardiness is a given.
If I need to ponder which one of 32 varieties of sunflower to choose, from the largest to the smallest, I go straight to Johnny's. (below, biggest and smallest at the Korn King produce stand, Canterbury NH)
6 comments:
My question, Ellen, is how do you receive your mail order plants? This is the biggest grief for me, because I cannot be home to receive the UPS package, and if you've never missed UPS in Brooklyn, the package ends up in a warehouse somewhere near JFK!
As much as I'd like to mail order plants, it's hard to receive them. What do you do?
Frank, I'm lucky to have a doorman in my building who accepts packages and if I expect to be away for a few days, I beg him to open the box that says PLANTS:PERISHABLE and give them a drink. All of the mail order Cos. that I've spoken to say they only ship Mon. or Tues. so there won't be a warehouse holdover on the weekend.
Any friendly neighbors who will accept a package?
My Fedco veggie seed order just came in yesterday's mail! One of my major milestones as the winter season turns.
Jen, We're eagerly awaiting your famous roasted beets!
Do you miss being in the country? Your post shows your resourcefulness! :-)
Shady,The buyers of our farm house and property replaced my raised beds with LAWN. (Paved Paradise and put up a parking lot). The country still smells great but New York City- no better perfume. New things to learn, new places to go, see and be inspired by. esp
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