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
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- Hairy balls are still hanging in there. Attracting lost of butterflies.
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- Also feeding lots of Monarch caterpillars
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- Even the tinest of caterpillars like hairy balls.
The week of October 24, 2016
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- Summer is plowed down
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- Spring is planted
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- Hairy balls are still hanging in there. Attracting lost of butterflies.
The week of September 12, 2016
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- What a beauty!
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- Our last round of zinnias for the season are coming along.
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- I love a sunflower bouquet when fall is starting to come around.
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- There are so many I can’t even count.
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- The hairy balls are a frenze of butterflies!
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- Soon our hairy balls will also be covered in Monarch Chrysalis
The week of September 5, 2016
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- Our Snap babies for next Spring are coming along, have you started yours?
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- Lizzy is making quite the come back!
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- Look how far these baby’s have come along in just 2 weeks.
The week of August 22, 2016
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- The Cool Flowers babies are born.
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- Snapdragons…which we will not harvest until next spring!
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- Doesn’t look like much now but in a few weeks this little patch will have beautiful flowers.
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- Peppers are popping here!
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- Wow, check out these bees.
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- Aphins….these bugs gotta eat too.
The week of August 15, 2016
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- 240 Black Carrot seeds…these are going to be beauties in the spring.
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- 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
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- Hairy balls are getting their balls.
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- Not only are they fun to talk about and look at they attract tons of bees and butterflies…can you find them?
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- Can you say…..b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l!
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- Giant Marigolds
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- All the tomatoes we had been waiting on have arrived.
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- Local honey anyone?! The bees that make this honey visit our farm regularly.
The week of August 1, 2016
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- Tuberoses…a sign we are deep into summer.
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- Just beautiful in full bloom.
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- The brains of this operation, cockscomb.
The week of July 18, 2016
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- Not my best photo, but I had to share. 3 Golden Finches on one sunflower
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- The garden is full of bumble bees, help us along.
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- Orange zinnia at my favorite stage.
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- Tuberoses are coming along.
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- We are soon to have a ton of the Tuberoses.
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- 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!
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- But wait..there is still more!
The week of July 4, 2016
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- Harvesting a couple times a week from our summer bed.
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- No shortage of intresting bugs at the farm.
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- Had the cutest little helpers picking beans.
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- Never too early to teach where your food comes from.
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- Best little picker in the business!
The week of June 27, 2016
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- Red, white and blue bouquets all done up for this week.
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- Add some dill blooms to your bouquet to make fireworks.
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- Lizzy is going stronger then ever.
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- Does anyone know what this bloom belongs too? Comment below.
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- Babs will be sure to let us know when the figs are good and ripe.
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- Tomatoes….
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- green beans…
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- 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:
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- Day one, we start about 400 seeds in plug trays.
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- After just a week they are several inches tall.
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- Here is a bed of our weekly start. This shows the sunflowers in week 4, 5, 6, & 7. Make sure to click to enlarge.
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- Ready to harvest at just 8 weeks.
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- The aftermath of harvesting.
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- Veggies are available to our garden share customers.
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- Summer bed in full bloom
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- The beauty of zinnias!
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- Lots of colors too.
The week of June 13, 2016
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- Tomatoes…
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- Corn…
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- and Zinias. Oh my! Summer is in full bloom in VA!
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- Dahlias have the most beautiful petals.
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- Our newest addition to the farm, a Cupcake Zinnia.
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- Bouquets ready for garden share members to come pick up.
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- A view to the right and…
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- a view to the left.
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- Mr. SS is still around in our plant room sink.
The week of June 6, 2016
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- Getting the tilling done on this dry day. New beds to come soon!
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- Babs doing what she does best while we all work…nap!
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- Who wouldn’t want these beauties on their table.
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- Our newest Sweet Peas are climbing their way into one of our most loved flowers.
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- The vibrant color of Mumsie has made it my favorite.
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- Zinnias have arrived!
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- The summer bed we have been following since April is in bloom.
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- Lizzy will be here soon!
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- We are harvesting our summer veggies at the farm too.
The week of May 30, 2016
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- Beautiful Spring bouquet waiting to be delivered.
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- While Summer Zinnias and…
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- Celosia are coming up quick.
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- Our summer bed now has buds!
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- And the next generation waits to be planted.
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- Found a Twig-Mimic Caterpillar working on becoming a Peppered Moth
The week of May 23, 2016
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- Beautiful sunny morning to pick strawberries on the farm.
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- We are still producing beauties around here…
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- …by the bucket full!
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- New prospective on the summer bed. its coming along even without much sun the last few weeks.
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- What a view while harvesting berries.
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- This big guy came for a visit too, not much cleaning for you to do, sorry.
The week of May 16, 2016
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- At the beginning of May you could hardly tell there were plants in the ground, look now!
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- Our tomatoes are coming along. How about yours?
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- 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
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- Summer Annuals coming along
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- Baby Hawk (photo threw telescope)
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- The girls are working on How-To videos
The week of May 2, 2016
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- The view from Lisa’s desk, lets watch these babies grow each week. You will be amazed!
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- I find nature to be so amazing. Look what tried to come home with me on a tomato plant.
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- Second round of Zinnias in our germination chamber.
The week of April 25, 2016
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- One of my favorites has been harvested, Lenten Roses
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- Lisa doing the first Sweet William cutting of the year
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- First harvest of the year! Garden Shares are ready for tomorrow
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- We will have strawberries soon. Look at the berries developing in the middle of the flower
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- Ageratum babies on the patio hardening off
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- Look how far along our squash is after just 2 weeks
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- Celosia is popping in its blocks
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- One week old sunflowers ready to plant next week
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- We started 5 more trays of corn
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- Also started 5 large soil blocks of squash & zuccihini
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- Bobo had a busy week working in the beds
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- Getting ready for all the Cool Flowers to burst
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- Lisa preparing the next bed to be planted
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- 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.