A message from Steph Wooton:
We of the "Unityverse" would like you
of the Unity commUN
ITY to welcome Stephen Parrish to our nursery team where he will be ordering, caring for, advising on and selling our wide selection of plant material, garden art and accessories, tools, products, and services. He has worked in the horticulture production field for over five years, has an Associate degree in Horticultural Science, and participated in the Longwood Gardens Co-op program. That's all a good base, but what we really love is that he is always questing for new knowledge about the natural world and fits right in with the Unity Way. Oh, and by the way, among many other talents, he is a musician and has great taste in the music he tunes into down at the Farm Stand - you can almost hear the plants around the stand tapping their, ummm, roots! Most importantly, Stephen cares very much about helping people with garden decisions so stop by to meet him.
In other news, this spring I made the difficult decision that it is time for me to retire. Difficult because this is such a unique place to work, the very dear people I've been privileged to work with, and maybe most of all, the truly wo
nderful customers (now friends!) I have met just by doing my job! I will still help out with special events, talks, and clinics, so I hope to see you here soon. Thank you all for your loyalty, patience, humor and friendship! - Steph
With these spring rains and warm days,
everything at the Unity Farm is growing like mad: crops and weeds included. This is the time of year when we are doing are best to stay ahead of the weeds while also making time to plant, harvest, and do other farm tasks. One technique we are experimenting with is using silage tarps to prepare our beds for planting without tillage. In one field, we had a flowering cover crop of crimson clover, in another we just had a mix of overwintered weeds. We mowed, covered the field with a silage tarp for two to three weeks, and then after removing it we were able to plant watermelon and other summer vegetable starts right into the bed without tilling.
Spri
ng crops of sugar snap peas, garlic scapes, kale, swiss chard, red beets, and c
arrots are coming in strong. Cherry tomatoes growing in our high tunnels are starting to ripen, and we now have some available for sale in our farm stand. We also still have herb and vegetable starts available here at the Unity Farm Stand and at the Chestertown Farmers' Market on Saturday mornings.
With many new projects beginning and other completed the Unity Landscape Design/Build team continues to work in high spirits through the Spring rains with sights ahead for the Summer heat just around the bend. The Adkins Arboretum Parking Lot Alive project is completed and ready for visitors so please go take a stroll through the Arboretum and visit the new entrance.
With our new low voltage lighting demo kit in hand the sales team at Unity is signing up customers for a free LED low voltage lighting demo which will be set up at your property so you can experience what lighting can do for your property first hand. Call in now to schedule with Kevin, Lucas or Michael.
This is the time of year when most property owners are
spending more time out and about on the property observing the results of the long wet season last year and into this Spring. Erosion has been a common conversation whether it be on steep slopes, a shoreline toe, a drainage channel or and area that has never seen erosion in the past. Nearly every project implemented by the Unity design and build team involves some form of water management to improve the quality of the water traveling back to the water table, Rivers and Bay and it is our passion to implement innovative design and construction projects to continue to enhance the
environment for all beings living in the watershed. Stop out to the Unity Design Showroom to see some of the projects we have implemented or that we have in process.
The first wave of plantings has been installed in our demonstration gardens adjacent our Design Center so be sure to stop out to see the progress. All plantings are native and the first phase contains plants for shade, part shade, full sun, and wet sun conditions as well. Something for everyone!
