We would like to thank each and every customer who has helped us be in business for the past 30 years! Johnson Brothers started in 1985 as a small roadside stand. Now, 30 years later we have expanded to over 5 acres of retail shopping and over 30 growing greenhouses! We feel extremely blessed to be a part of this community and work with such great customers everyday!
Come out this weekend and help us celebrate with some fun activities:
We want to help you kick that drug habit for good, in your garden that is. This past weekend we showcased our favorite organic line, Gardener & Bloome. We gave away a ton of organic fertilizers and soils in our effort to send your gardens to rehab. Sure conventional fertilizers have their purpose, and we’re definitely not against them by any means, but there’s a place for everything! We want to educate you all on the benefits of keeping your edible gardens organic!
There’s the obvious, that you don’t want to put synthetics or chemicals onto the food that you will be eating, but it is also important to not put chemicals into your soils either. The Gardener & Bloome line offers many different soils and amendments that can safely and naturally enrich your garden beds without the use of harmful synthetics or chemicals. The Harvest Supreme is our favorite for edible garden amending. It can be used as a top dress or mixed in with last years garden soil to give it that boost of nutrients your plants need to thrive this season.
As far as fertilizing goes, we always encourage the use of compost, but if you need something more we recommend Gardener & Bloome organic fertilizers. We have liquid concentrates as well as granular options for just about any area of your yard and garden. For vegetable beds we like the Tomato, Vegetable, and Herb granular fertilizer. It’s very low maintenance and easy to apply, this granular can be mixed into the soil pre-planting and/or broadcast over the top of the soil to be watered in after planting. G&B fertilizers are fortified with calcium, humic acid, and other nutrients to provide just the right balance to make the fertilizer easily accessible to your plants. While organic fertilizers can take a little longer to show results, they also last a lot longer than conventional fertilizers meaning less work for you! G&B organic granular fertilizers only need to be spread every 2 months or so throughout the growing season giving you more time to enjoy what gardening is all about!
We also retail a Gardener & Bloomes organic liquid concentrate in three different varieties for those of you who like to water in your fertilizer, which is great for baskets and planters! Our favorite is the All Purpose liquid fertilizer, because it can be used on everything from containers to garden vegetables and even trees or shrubs. It’s molasses based for added nutrients and sugars that your plants need to thrive, and couldn’t get any easier than mixing directly into your watering can!
Come by to chat with our experts about any Gardener & Bloome product, or soils and fertilizers in general. We are always happy to help you get exactly what you need to be successful in all your gardening endeavors. Plus, ask us how you can save a dollar on ANY Gardener & Bloome product now through June 1st.
If you get our emails, or have been reading the tips on what you can be doing in the garden during the winter months, you’ll notice that we can’t stop talking about birds! That’s because we need your help to make sure they make it through the next few rough months of winter weather!
Birds are an essential part of any outdoor setting and rely solely on what’s in their natural environment for food, shelter and protection. As you may notice, most of their food sources are done producing for the winter, and a lot of trees no longer have thick lush greenery to shelter and protect their homes. Yes, some birds migrate elsewhere for the winter but NOT all and that’s where you can help them survive the winter ahead.
By providing fresh food, clean water, and secure shelter you are helping keep our valley populated for the years to come! Seeds, nuts, and grains aren’t easily found during the winter so having a bird feeder does more good than you know (they’re also super fun to watch from inside). Having trays of fresh, clean and unfrozen water out during the day provides a drinking and bathing source for the birds that may otherwise not have an unfrozen or clean place to refresh. And most importantly bird houses give a warm safe place for the birds to seek shelter during the storms. Wind and rain really take a tole on the trees, which unfortunately also takes a major tole on the birds that live in them. By providing a bird house you could be the reason a new family can grow next spring.
So please, check your emails and look on our website for coupons on bird supplies including seed, suet, feeders, houses, and more so that we can make this winter that much easier on our feathered friends.
Most of us think of spring as the time of year when slugs and snails are on the move, fresh from their winter snooze and ready to eat–all of our freshly sprouted annuals and veggies! They spend all summer in the cool of the night helping themselves to a smorgasbord of everything in our gardens and then disappear with the morning sun. Most of us here in the northwest constantly fight the up-hill battle with slugs and snails using a variety of tactics from our arsenal ranging from beer and flash lights to copper tape and salt. All of these work in their own ways, but unfortunately none seem to be the magic cure-all we all want so badly.
My mother taught me a long time ago, a wise gardener plans ahead! That being said, we as the wise gardeners that we are, can plan now to knock out our slug and snail problem for next year! With cooler temperatures on the way slugs and snails will be looking to lay their last batch of eggs for the season and bed down for the winter. This is the perfect time to take action against the slimy little pests, with a few tricks and preventative measures you can easily cut down your slug and snail population.
Coming into fall, lay down baits around the garden and other areas of interest to slugs and snails with the hope of getting to them before they lay their eggs. Slugs and snails lay eggs numerous times throughout the spring and summer and don’t need to mate in order to do so–that means EVERY SINGLE SLUG in your garden WILL lay eggs, and probably more than once. Our favorite bate is Sluggo, its all natural and safe around children, pets, and other wildlife; plus whatever doesn’t get eaten actually enriches your soil! The iron doesn’t kill them immediately, so you won’t end up with slimy corpses all over your garden, it takes a few days so they usually go into hiding somewhere cool and pass away–out of sight, out of mind!
Lastly, make sure you clean up any areas that would provide them shelter for their eggs, or for themselves. Pick up piles of yard and garden debris, don’t leave stacks of bricks on the ground, and tear out your garden remains once the season is done. All these sheltered areas look prime to snails looking to lay down some eggs, or hide out till spring. Eliminate areas of interest and they’ll likely move along to somewhere else.
Come by the nursery to shop a variety of slug and snail baits and repellants and utilize this time of year for early prevention of next years population.
If you’re anything like me, garlic is a staple in your kitchen… all year long, most meals, all the time! I go through garlic like crazy, and no it’s not the most expensive thing in the produce isle but there’s still nothing like that home grown taste! Garlic is super easy to grow yourself, and trust me, once you get started you’ll never go back!
We are proud to offer Local and Organic Seed Garlic coming available the first week of September! We’ll be carrying the following varieties:
You can find these varieties along with other fall bulbs available in the first weeks of September. Keep in mind that a lot of fall bulbs (especially garlic) are VERY popular items and our quantities are limited, so feel free to call ahead to confirm availability.
Our Fall Harvest Festival coming up the 13th & 14th of September would be an excellent time to load up on your fall bulbs while enjoying free caramel corn, apple cider, and live music. There’s plenty of fun for all ages with face painting, pumpkins, and snacks– so bring the whole fam and come have some fall inspired fun with all of us! The festival is all weekend long so feel free to drop in at any time Saturday and Sunday–can’t wait to see you there!
Every day for the next two weeks we will be featuring a different plant as our “Hot Summer Special”. This will give you the opportunity to snag some popular items at a fraction of the cost– perfect for those late summer pops of color or last minute spruce up for the bbq with the in-laws kind of things.
Be sure to keep an eye on our Facebook page for daily updates and reminders of the sales over the next two weeks. We all hope to see you soon, and remember to stay hydrated!