I go back and forth between the two. I'm in the panhandle as well. I did hear somewhere that when buying from nurseries, it was best to go north to Hagerstown rather than south to Winchester. Hagerstown's climate is supposed to be more like ours. Having said that, Weber's in Winchester is a favorite of mine. :-) It's good to see another WV gardener!

Live in Martinsburg, and love the nurseries here. Iris farm, Thumper's Daylilys ect.

Thanks to cjaneh and jennid for responding. I'm acclimating to life in West Virginia--especially since we got rain!! Weber's is wonderful--although I must admit the trip was FOREVER. i'm in Shepherdstown.

Hi everyone! I wasn't sure where to go to join in because
PA is colder and VA is so much warmer than wild & wonderful, so I am glad to find some other WV gardeners.
I am as far east as I can go and still be in WV--can see VA
and MD(inthe winter)from my house. If you guessed Harpers Ferry you are right, but I gardened in Charles Town for a number of years B4 I recently moved here. We have been so busy with getting started on doing a rehab on our 1870 house and with my volunteer gardening at a farm (we planted 85 tomatoes this summer) that I barely got started here, but the garden has good bones so should be able to do something nice here. At least I know where most of the good nurseries are, both nearby and a little further away (PA).
Webers has a good selection and I love their July sale! I'd like to hear more about where you are and what you grow....

I have an apple/peach orchard in WVA, but live in VA. I go out there usually every other weekend to do maintenance. This year, I'm going to grow a 30'x50' corn patch. It should be interesting and exciting! I'm in the Smoke Hole, Petersburg area.

I'm just over the line in Winchester, so nice to see some gardeners that are close! I'm just starting my garden (my first not in containers on a patio) and have no idea when our last day of frost is around here. Any thoughts?

I live in Maryland and I too can see Virginia & W Virginia from my front door. If I walk across the road I can see Harper's Ferry. I always say, we're the last left turn in Maryland before you go into Va.

I also love Weber's. They had 25% off last weekend. I also found another place near Winchester that sells an interesting assortment of heirloom tomatoes, peppers, melons & lettuces. They have some bedding plants as well.

I think it's called Master's Choice but I can't find a phone #. They're located in Clear Brook on Hopewell Ave between Rte 11 & Rte 81. They're behind the cigarette store and the motorcycle shop. Stay to the right.Easy to miss because it looks like the road ends before you get there.

I found them last year from a tiny ad they had in the paper. They also sell some great seeds from Seed Saver's Exchange and other mail order sources. I think I saw Baker Creek too. They're open every day but Saturday....odd...

I'm trying my best to grow all of my veggies from seed this year, so I've not hit the nursery sales. If anyone wants to trade some plants for tomatoes, I've got more than a few (I thought that 50% germination meant only 50% would sprout... all but 2 of those stinkin seeds came up!) that I'm hardening off this week that I'd love to sell or trade.

I've never heard of Master's Choice, but the next time I'm over on Hopewell I'll check them out. Heirloom melons sound lovely.

Hello~ Thanks for the reminder about Masters Choice in Clearbrook, VA. I saw an ad for garlic put they put in a WV paper last year but didn't make it down there then, but hope I can this year at the right planting time. From what I understand, they do a Sat. Farmers Market so that's why they are closed. They also sell at the Berkeley Springs Sun. Farmers Market, if you are ever up in Morgan Co., WV. I wasn't aware of what all they sell until I went to their Berk. Springs market site. I probably won't need fresh veggies from them as I will supplement what we don't have in our garden with some from The Veggie Wagon on #340 near Charles Town and may try the Sat. farmers market in Charles Town too, but hope that their prices are not high as Shepherdstown market. Our lettuce is over for now, but will replant in August along with spinach, beets, etc. for fall. Our heirloom tomatoes seem to be doing OK and we are harvesting stick onions, zucchini, yellow squash, pattypans, a liitle basil, and even some veggie spaghetti squash, even though our community garden plot got in late, because my DH was on crutches for awhile and it all had to be dug by hand since we put raised beds in. So we are pleased that we are as far along as we are. We think that the pole beans are reacting to an herbicide that was used there last year, which makes us very unhappy since we are organic, so if the beans do come around we don't know if we will even eat them! However, the morning glory that I planted on the bean teepee doesn't seem to mind it nor the scarlet runner beans. Guess they are hardier than 'Blue Lake' or 'KY Wonder' beans.. My cukes are only about an inch tall, but with all this rain, they should catch up. We planted some winter squash in another plot as a gamble two weeks ago and they've all germinated so we just might get some ripe pie pumpkins and squash by frost. My container garden on our big old-fashioned front porch of potted scented geraniums and herbs--rosemarys, lots of basils, pineapple sage, lemon verbena, etc. keeps gowing, so that if I get any more pots, we won't have much room to sit! To me this is the pleasure of summer--working on the veggies till we are tired, and sitting on the front porch in the evening. I'm glad that Harpers Ferry is a front porch kind of town...

Hey Maggie, I wasn't aware that Master's Choice did other markets. Their selection this year wasn't as good as last. I hope they do a good business so they'll stick around.

There's an awesome nursery in Middletown, Md called Surreybrooke Herb Farm. They sell mostly ornamentals. They probably don't have a lot of plants to sell this time of year but believe me, it's worth a visit. It's 15 acres of gardens, ponds and a gift shop. Every year it just gets better. there's a link to her site below but I don't think she's updated it in a few years. And believe me...she has lots more than herbs.

Maybe we should plan a plant swap over this way sometimes huh? Anyone interested?

Here is a link that might be useful: Surreybrooke Herb Farm

Oops, I spoke too soon they just updated it.

Hello, everyone~ All this rain has made everything jump, and we are harvesting tomatoes from our community garden since last week, even though they were planted late--first week in June. However, the down side is that all that moisture has also caused a lot of fungus diseases. WVU warned our extension agent about a prevalent squash fungus and she told our community gardeners about it. Within a week, a neighboring plot lost a 20' row of zuchinni and yellow squash. Since then I lost all of mine, plus the veggie spaghetti. I replanted Z seed, but will use the space vacated from the other squash for fall veggies. I hope that the winter squashes in another plot can withstand it.
Since last writing, I have been to Masters Chice in Clearbrook twice and definitely plan to go back in Oct for garlic. Wasn't too much there the 1st time, but I went home with 2 sale scented geraniums and the 2nd trip last Fri.,went to their Tomato Tasting. Small--only about 10 varieties, but I went home with another geranium (a variegated rose one), and packets of Seed Savers Exchange and Landreth's heirloom seeds @ 49[!] cents each... Saturday, we hosted our own Tomato Tasting event for 50+ people at the living history farm where we volunteer, near Charles Town--a lot of work, but great fun. We had about 35 varieties, but I was too busy to count them or even get them all tasted! I posted the tasting event on the Tomato Forum, but for some reason they removed it--guess that they thought we were doing it to raise money, but not so, just for education and to celebrate the taste of our favorite fruit! But at the end, I did find $2.50 in our donation box...Sorry that I did not also post it here so that some of you that are nearby could attend. FYI--next year we are having a tomato cooking demo, with our own tomato cookbook, in addition to our panel of tomato growing "experts" and the actual tasting (I think that we'll have over 50 varieties next year). As it was,I had 6 kinds of tomatoes that did not get put out to be tasted because there was no room on the table or we'd have had over 40 varieties. In 2009, it's tentatively scheduled for the 3rd Sat. in Aug. again, if anyone wants to come. It's free, except that the suggested admittance is 3-4 of any 1 kind of tomato that is worthy of tasting and competing for "Best" in each class--no prizes; it's just for fun. If anyone is interested in receiving an account of this year's voting results, please email me at mjkoaktregarden@aol.com
Maggie
To Peggy and all other nearbys--Yes, by all means, let's plan a plant exchange for next spring. I can offer the Peter Burr Farm, which is about 5 miles north of Ranson, WV as a site.
We have a 1751 farmhouse, an 18th C display Kitchen Garden, a tent (if it's rainy), 2 bathrooms, and even a modern kitchen, so we can have refreshments at our trading session. This location is not hard to get to from central MD, northern VA, the Shen Valley, or points east in WV. I know several people who specialize in heirloom and other tomatoes and I do a lot with herbs, especially basil and scented geraniums, so if we do it in May, we may be able to exchange those as well as hardy plants. Let us know if you are interested....

Hi Maggie--I'd love to do a plant exchange in the Spring...I usually do winter sowing and have all those dear little babies and can only use so many. Plus, now my yard is starting to need thinning/dividing. And, of course, the ever elusive quest for new and different plants. I may just do some dividing now and stick little pots in the ground for the winter and get a head start. I went one time to the plant exchange in Maryland when I lived there and it was great. The hardest part I think would be the location and it sounds like you have the perfect place.

YAY!! I'd LOVE to be part of a swap in the spring! I grow heirloom tomatoes as well, and I'll have some irises to share, and who knows, if my red spider lilies reproduce like rabbits this winter, I may have lots of bulbs to share too.

Definitely count me IN!