dahlias and cucumbers

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So you may know that the gardening standard is to dig up dahlia tubers at the end of the year and overwinter them inside. Because the tubers have thin skin and blah blah blah.

But why do what everyone says to do when you can do something else?

So we piled a bunch of leaves on a row of dahlias last year and boom: there are dahlia plants growing this year.

Now the crew also dug up other rows and overwintered those tubers in boxes in the tunnels. Just in case. And Matt planted seeds (yes, you can grow dahlias from seed! And it’s not hard – just dirt, water, and light required. So much more economical than buying tubers). So there will be a lot more dahlias this summer. Like a lot a lot.

Which is fine, cause they’re pretty, and you can never have too many dahlias.

We do have dahlia plants for sale (that are already blooming) if you’re not a plant killer and don’t want to wait until we start cutting ours in August.

The raspberries are raspberrying and should be red and not green raspberries by the end of the month. Woot woot. And the blackberries are blooming and should be fully blackberrying in June.

Blackberry blossoms pictured. Because while the hard little green raspberries are exciting for what they indicate is coming… they’re not that pretty right now. Like, “Yay, hard fuzzy green things on spiky sticks…”

Also, the cucumbers are just about ready to start and Matt says we will be swimming in them this year, so break out your swimsuit. Or, if for whatever reason you don’t want to swim in cucumbers, then break out the recipes.

Some seasonal inspiration:

Strawberry Lemonade

Whipped Chive Butter

Strawberry, Spinach, and Asparagus Salad

Spicy Sausage and Kale

Garlic Home Fries

Sweet Potato and Caramelized Onion Pizza

Open Tue-Fri 9-6, Sat 9-5.

Closed Sunday & Monday.

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You may also enjoy reading:

How to grow figs

Barley Risotto with Asparagus and Parmesan

Bacon Braised Greens

Tortellini with Garden Vegetables

Strawberries Romanoff

Creating a Swallow Oasis

About Highland Orchards

Completely surrounded by suburbia, our small farm has been growing beyond expectations since 1832, just north of Wilmington, Delaware.

Growing a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, and flowers, Highland Orchards provides true “farm fresh” for the community all year. If you want to shake the hand of the farmer who grows for you, here is the farm! With plants in the ground or under cover in tunnels, we grow for every season. A family farm, we have three different generations involved in running the farm right now.

Come see us to eat fresh, eat local, and eat well!