Newsletter / May 1, 2008

Welcome to our new e-newsletter--our new way of staying in touch with our loyal customers.

First, we'll answer that question from the e-mail: Just how many plants are transplanted by hand in the greenhouses for opening day here at Frerichs Farm?

Answer: Over 1 million! Yes, it's a lot of work, but we love getting our hands in the dirt, so it's a labor of love.

If you haven't heard, we also have a new website. Check there often for timely advice, updated class and event listings and more. We're rolling ahead with the times!

April was Autism Month, and we once again donated a portion of our sales for the month to the Autism Project of Rhode Island. Last year, we raised $2,500 in the month of April. We haven't tallied our donations for this year yet, but we'll let you know when we do. We hope to even surpass last year's great effort. Thanks to those of you who shopped with us in April.

Frerichs Farm has always been environmentally conscious, but this year we are stepping up our efforts. We are currently working with the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Agency to recycle used plastic containers that cannot be reused at the farm.  Also, our customers will have even more “green” options such as Bugz brand products (support a microfinance society for an African Zulu tribe) and bio-pots (biodegradable but look like traditional terracotta pots, featured in the right column).

And while you're going green, you can also go, yellow, orange, red...our greenhouses are bursting with color!

Even though we started off the season very warm we are still concerned about the chance of frost. David suggests no planting of any tender annuals until after the moon change on May 20. This is generally when the wild weather swings take place.

A lot of new things are happening this year. We'll stay in touch through this newsletter. We hope to see you on the farm

Barbara & David Frerichs