Monthly Archives: April 2014

plant shopping for the garden obsessed

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My friend Sara asked me at the end of last week if I wanted to take a plant trip to Lancaster County, so my inner Pennsylvania German grinned and my not so hidden and slightly giddy obsessive gardener self said “yes” in about six seconds.

So it was a beautiful day for a ride out to East Earl today. I got some fabulous photos too I think. But ohhhh the plants, the plants.

Anyway, she took me to :

Black Creek Greenhouses LLC.
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
Contact: Harvey Zimmerman
211 E. Black Creek Road, East Earl, PA 17519
Phone: (717) 445-5046

OMG. Perennials, herbs, annuals, vegetables. I was in heaven! And the prices are like nothing you have ever seen anywhere. The prices to the public are basically wholesale.

The quality of the plants are what you see in high-end nurseries at high prices. They had such a fabulous hosta selection that I was blown away. So many different kinds of herbs. And they have all the old-fashioned and often forgotten perennials and annuals that nurseries around here no longer carry.

I filled up a cart. Could’ve stayed there all day. And in addition to plants, they have amazing prices on gorgeous clay and glazed pots, and all manner of other garden supplies.

Down the road and over a piece was Conestoga Nursery. This grower has a fabulous selection of shrubs and trees, at really manageable prices.
310 Reading Road East Earl, PA 717-445-4076.

I hate to take business from Chester County growers, but these two places are extraordinary. And they are the nicest people and knowledgable.

These two growers are on a list compiled by the Lancaster County Garden Club.

on charlestown road

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Charlestown Road is one of my favorite roads once you get out of the way of the construction and madness as it begins off of Morehall Road. This is one of my favorite places on the road. Enjoy!

enough is enough

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violetSo? Where to begin?  I have written a few posts in support of the folks fighting Sunoco in East and West Goshen.

Some folks have left comments. They understand it is a blog and as blog owner I reserve the right to delete or publish comments. I am not some giant Internet conglomerate and I don’t have TOS (“terms of service”) other than hey now, this is my blog and I make the rules.

Anyway, up rolls this person from East Goshen and they leave a comment. (As in they initiated contact, I did not seek them out.)  I thanked them for the comment but asked them to have a care with leaving comments about their home township I was not comfortable with.  Something which is very reasonable and pretty basic, right?

A couple of days have passed and all of a sudden this person is back leaving comments. Which I also published. Then because I published comments that I was supposed to (apparently) NOT publish, and (apparently) I am supposed to be the psychic blog network because how else was I supposed to divine that this person (apparently) was having a private conversation?

HUH????

Yep, you got it.  Pretzel logic.

So here is the 411: I have removed the comments and retained full screen shots.  I have retained the original comment notification in native format (which shows their I.P. address, e-mail address, and sender’s full name.)  I will no longer accept comments from this person.  Further contact will constitute harassment on their part. The comments they have left today can be interpreted as harassment.

And there is one other thing. Because this person has made me so uncomfortable, and  although we are all supposed to be on the same team wanting pipelines out of our communities and Sunoco to be brought to heel, I can’t feel comfortable continuing to write about this topic on this blog.  So I wish those people fighting, including friends, well.  I want nothing but the best for all of you dealing with this weighty topic.

I created this blog as my exploration and experience of Chester County.  I choose the topics, I write the posts.  This is not a compensated blog, I am not paid to write.  I write and share my photos because writing and photography bring me joy.

I will continue to share with you my faithful readers, and I thank you for stopping by.

 

“that” stretch of swedesford road….

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swedesford 3So these are just a handful of snap shots taken quickly as a passenger in a car of that stretch of Swedesford Road that seems frozen in time and fading fast.  I would really like to take more photos, as I find this all fascinating.swedesford 6

Anyway, any knowledge which can be shared of the farms, or anything else right here would be appreciated. The history is so rich and with each farm that fails or development that breaks ground, more bits of Chester County disappear. I know you can’t save every old house, but it would be nice to have photos and bits of the history….

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ghostly neighborhood

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This is something I have been curious about. I think I have mentioned it before- this abandoned neighborhood on Swedesford Road.

This neighborhood fascinates me. Time has stood still, someone must have bought it. Anyway it’s like a ghost town.

UPDATE:

One of my regular readers wrote to me in an e-mail just now:

Those homes are the former staff homes for Church Farm School when it was run as a farm too.

The land behind them is part of the new 700 plus acre Chester County park whenever they make it useable.
It was part of the large development deal for Church Farm after the original developer (forgot name) lost money and bowed out.

The county park is another story. It’s been in ‘development’ for years. Apparently no money.

Meanwhile, a whole generation has grown up without being able to use it as a park.

Another Chester County boondoggle.

So I guess this was part of that Rouse deal back in the day then? So if municipalities own the park land, who owns these abandoned houses now?

Ok keep those e-mails and comments coming this is fascinating stuff!

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mourning dove mourned

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This afternoon ended on a sad sort of note. I was starting dinner and all of a sudden I heard a thump against the house.

I went outside and lying on the ground was one of my doves. I don’t know why this dove flew into the house or window so hard, but it did.

I have loved mourning doves and their comforting cooing since I was a child.

Anyway, this was one of the younger doves. It sat on the back patio for a bit and then moved close to the house behind my wheelbarrow. I thought it was just stunned but then it just slumped over. It was gone, just like that.

I get the whole Darwinian theory of it all as far as survival of the fittest in the animal and bird world, but I am still kind of bummed. I love our woodland birds.

The dove was laid to rest in the woods. It is survived by the rest of the doves who visit us daily.

today’s this old house….

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dear sunoco: told you the natives are restless

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I have written a couple of times now about Sunoco’s disturbing march through Chester County. I think SuNOco should get the frack out of Chester County.

I have also decided as a matter of personal choice to try to boycott Sunoco and their products. I just can’t in good conscience support a company trying to destroy what people call home in Chester County. Corporate America seems to respond to their bottom line, so why not? We still have freedom of choice in this country no matter what Sunoco is trying to do.

So…there is this great new website. I have nothing to do with it I just think it is terrific! The website is called eastbootroad.com

Check the website out and feel free to tell them you read about it on Chester County Ramblings!

Also check out this article which is related to this drilling and pipeline topic:

Vitali claims Corbett administration is stonewalling on information about shale gas drilling in state parks, forests Published: Thursday, April 24, 2014 By Linda Stein
lstein@mainlinemedianews.com

And speaking of Corbett our illustrious (*cough*) governor, the May primaries are almost here. Make these pipelines an election issue. As a Republican I can tell you I will not be voting for Corbett. How can I given what is going on with Sunoco in Chester County?

Regardless of your political persuasion if you are affected by SuNOco, take it to ALL of the gubernatorial candidates of either political party in Pennsylvania. They all have social media presences, get on them. Raise the profile of sneaky SuNOco.

Again I look at it this way: what has SuNOco done for us? The answer is NOTHING.

Say NO to SuNOco. Pass it on.

the farmhouse and the field

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pileated woodpecker…

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Here is the pileated woodpecker that has taken up residence in the woods.  I know this is blurry, but he goes way high up in the trees!

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