I’m Kelly Mason LaBelle—and I am living the good life! Five years ago, I began working part-time with my two aunts Lisa and Suzanne, simply doing office work. Over the years, as The Gardener’s Workshop has grown, so have I. Now I’m a city girl turned farmer. My jobs on the farm vary on a daily basis, from soil blocking and packing all the beautiful kits we sell to maintaining our website. Every day is a new adventure that offers an endless supply of photo opportunities. I will share my favorite photos of our farm and its day-to-day happenings as well as the people (and dog) I spend my days with!
Click on images below to view full size.
The week of November 7, 2016
- Hairy balls are still hanging in there. Attracting lost of butterflies.
- Also feeding lots of Monarch caterpillars
- Even the tinest of caterpillars like hairy balls.
The week of October 24, 2016
- Summer is plowed down
- Spring is planted
- Hairy balls are still hanging in there. Attracting lost of butterflies.
The week of September 12, 2016
- What a beauty!
- Our last round of zinnias for the season are coming along.
- I love a sunflower bouquet when fall is starting to come around.
- There are so many I can’t even count.
- The hairy balls are a frenze of butterflies!
- Soon our hairy balls will also be covered in Monarch Chrysalis
The week of September 5, 2016
- Our Snap babies for next Spring are coming along, have you started yours?
- Lizzy is making quite the come back!
- Look how far these baby’s have come along in just 2 weeks.
The week of August 22, 2016
- The Cool Flowers babies are born.
- Snapdragons…which we will not harvest until next spring!
- Doesn’t look like much now but in a few weeks this little patch will have beautiful flowers.
- Peppers are popping here!
- Wow, check out these bees.
- Aphins….these bugs gotta eat too.
The week of August 15, 2016
- 240 Black Carrot seeds…these are going to be beauties in the spring.
- Look at the size of the Snapdragon seeds. Even I, as a veteran soil blocker, have to block count to make sure there is only one seed per block.
The week of August 8, 2016
- Hairy balls are getting their balls.
- Not only are they fun to talk about and look at they attract tons of bees and butterflies…can you find them?
- Can you say…..b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l!
- Giant Marigolds
- All the tomatoes we had been waiting on have arrived.
- Local honey anyone?! The bees that make this honey visit our farm regularly.
The week of August 1, 2016
- Tuberoses…a sign we are deep into summer.
- Just beautiful in full bloom.
- The brains of this operation, cockscomb.
The week of July 18, 2016
- Not my best photo, but I had to share. 3 Golden Finches on one sunflower
- The garden is full of bumble bees, help us along.
- Orange zinnia at my favorite stage.
- Tuberoses are coming along.
- We are soon to have a ton of the Tuberoses.
- Tomatoes are coming along, by the hundreds.
Golden Finches take over the summer garden
The week of July 11, 2016
Lisianthus…need I say more!
- But wait..there is still more!
The week of July 4, 2016
- Harvesting a couple times a week from our summer bed.
- No shortage of intresting bugs at the farm.
- Had the cutest little helpers picking beans.
- Never too early to teach where your food comes from.
- Best little picker in the business!
The week of June 27, 2016
- Red, white and blue bouquets all done up for this week.
- Add some dill blooms to your bouquet to make fireworks.
- Lizzy is going stronger then ever.
- Does anyone know what this bloom belongs too? Comment below.
- Babs will be sure to let us know when the figs are good and ripe.
- Tomatoes….
- green beans…
- and corn, oh my! Summer veggies are going strong around here.
The week of June 20, 2016
The life of a sunflower on the farm:
- Day one, we start about 400 seeds in plug trays.
- After just a week they are several inches tall.
- Here is a bed of our weekly start. This shows the sunflowers in week 4, 5, 6, & 7. Make sure to click to enlarge.
- Ready to harvest at just 8 weeks.
- The aftermath of harvesting.
- Veggies are available to our garden share customers.
- Summer bed in full bloom
- The beauty of zinnias!
- Lots of colors too.
The week of June 13, 2016
- Tomatoes…
- Corn…
- and Zinias. Oh my! Summer is in full bloom in VA!
- Dahlias have the most beautiful petals.
- Our newest addition to the farm, a Cupcake Zinnia.
- Bouquets ready for garden share members to come pick up.
- A view to the right and…
- a view to the left.
- Mr. SS is still around in our plant room sink.
The week of June 6, 2016
- Getting the tilling done on this dry day. New beds to come soon!
- Babs doing what she does best while we all work…nap!
- Who wouldn’t want these beauties on their table.
- Our newest Sweet Peas are climbing their way into one of our most loved flowers.
- The vibrant color of Mumsie has made it my favorite.
- Zinnias have arrived!
- The summer bed we have been following since April is in bloom.
- Lizzy will be here soon!
- We are harvesting our summer veggies at the farm too.
The week of May 30, 2016
- Beautiful Spring bouquet waiting to be delivered.
- While Summer Zinnias and…
- Celosia are coming up quick.
- Our summer bed now has buds!
- And the next generation waits to be planted.
- Found a Twig-Mimic Caterpillar working on becoming a Peppered Moth
The week of May 23, 2016
- Beautiful sunny morning to pick strawberries on the farm.
- We are still producing beauties around here…
- …by the bucket full!
- New prospective on the summer bed. its coming along even without much sun the last few weeks.
- What a view while harvesting berries.
- This big guy came for a visit too, not much cleaning for you to do, sorry.
The week of May 16, 2016
- At the beginning of May you could hardly tell there were plants in the ground, look now!
- Our tomatoes are coming along. How about yours?
- Look at the wonderful Celosia & Zinnia germination. They are hardening off under the carport and almost ready for the ground.
The week of May 9, 2016
- Summer Annuals coming along
- Baby Hawk (photo threw telescope)
- The girls are working on How-To videos
The week of May 2, 2016
- The view from Lisa’s desk, lets watch these babies grow each week. You will be amazed!
- I find nature to be so amazing. Look what tried to come home with me on a tomato plant.
- Second round of Zinnias in our germination chamber.
The week of April 25, 2016
- One of my favorites has been harvested, Lenten Roses
- Lisa doing the first Sweet William cutting of the year
- First harvest of the year! Garden Shares are ready for tomorrow
- We will have strawberries soon. Look at the berries developing in the middle of the flower
- Ageratum babies on the patio hardening off
- Look how far along our squash is after just 2 weeks
- Celosia is popping in its blocks
- One week old sunflowers ready to plant next week
- We started 5 more trays of corn
- Also started 5 large soil blocks of squash & zuccihini
- Bobo had a busy week working in the beds
- Getting ready for all the Cool Flowers to burst
- Lisa preparing the next bed to be planted
- Look at the chicks I saw while taking orders to the porch
Am I really making friends with this spider!
Like most of us, I was deathly afraid of spiders when I started working on the farm. But I have learned that living with spiders comes with the job! Over the years I have started to tolerate them more and more (with this particular species still being my least favorite).
This big guy is living in the sink of our plant room. Since I have to see him frequently, I gave him the name “Sink Spider.” Now that we’ve been introduced, I can’t do the usual– “HELP! There’s a spider!” I’m just keeping a wary eye on him to give myself some exposure therapy. Until tomorrow, Sink Spider! Maybe—just maybe– we can be friends.