A customer asked yesterday how to bring bees to her property, and I said one of the best ways is to plant flowers!! Our bee population at Moonstruck Farms has to be at least 100x what it was before we started growing flowers. In particular, they love the flowers pictured above. We have Buddleia (Butterfly bush), lavender, rosemary, California poppies, and maybe some Agapanthus permanently planted on the farm (if the agapanthus survived the winter). Rosemary is by far the hardiest of plants to grow here in our High Desert home, and there has to be almost 1,000 bees on our largest rosemary at peak flower time!! We grow BBQ Rosemary for our culinary purposes, and believe it or not, our old neighbor gave us one of those tiny Rosemary Christmas trees about 15 years ago, and it is now 10 feet wide and deep and about 4 feet tall! They are both covered with bees each season, so in between, we planted lavender plants, which keep the bees very happy once they bloom. Butterfly bushes, I would say, are the second-hardiest of everything we grow here. I planted one out front, and it has now reached the second-story bathroom window with very little watering after just a few years.
At Moonstruck Farms, I will start trays of black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia), echinacea, sunflowers, and cornflowers (Bachelor buttons) this week. These are already planted and just waiting for some warm days to germinate along with the Cosmos, which are not pictured above, but the bees love. In addition, we will be starting peppers, tomatoes, basil, zucchini, and more and will have transplants at the market when ready for sale. While we are busy doing this, the tulips are busy popping up in the field and rooting in the cool room in preparation for the Easter holiday. As the tulips leave the fields over the coming weeks, they will be replaced with flowers, tomatoes, and herbs for sale at the market.
The local farmers markets are transitioning with the lengthening days, and the Phelan Farmers Market is showing great growth thanks to your support. We might not have enough room outside for everyone to move out once the April storms pass through, so stay tuned. If we are still inside and outside the Phelan Community Center, then you know we ran out of room in the parking lot!! The Phelan Farmers Market is currently open from 2 pm to 6 pm on Mondays accepts EBT, and is a proud administrator of the Market Match grant, gifting up to $15 each Monday in free farm fresh produce to EBT customers utilizing their card at market. The Wrightwood Farmers Market is moving outside March 21st so look for returning and new vendors. Hours at this time are 3 pm to 6 pm, but this will change sometime soon, so please watch Instagram and Facebook for up-to-date market information, especially regarding holiday and storm closures.
