Getting Ready for Spring

"Don't wait for someone to bring you flowers. 
Plant your own garden and decorate your own soul."
— Luther Burbank

It’s all about
the Dirt!

Building your soil is one of the most important things you can do for a healthy happy garden. 

Spring will be here before we know it. The sun will warm the earth, and our gardens will burst to life after all.. that.. rain! Now is a great time to get organized and have a game plan! Breaking chores down into manageable chunks helps ensure a beautiful, plentiful garden. Healthy soil is the first step to an abundant growing season. 

Amendments that increase the soil’s organic matter improve the water holding capacity and infiltration in soils, promoting resilience to climate-related impacts such as drought, heat waves, or heavy rains. Additionally, research shows that amendments can promote biological activity and supply vital nutrients, resulting in healthier plants that are less vulnerable to pests and disease. MIX Garden has a great selection of composts to fit your needs.

MIX Garden Compost is our most popular blend, providing high value with multiple uses. A custom mix of rice hulls, aged cow manure, green recycled martial, and grape pomace improves fertility and soil tilth. It is great as a top dressing, mulch, or used liberally as a soil amendment. 

Cold Creek Compost from Mendocino County is made from a rich mixture of chicken manure, grape pomace, and recycled green material. The aged chicken manure gives it a boost of nitrogen that some manure-less composts lack. It has become a favorite among local vineyard growers and gardeners. 

Mushroom Compost, the by-product of a mushroom farm, is an aged blend of horse manure, straw bedding, gypsum, and mushroom farm waste. High in Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium, this amendment works well mixed into soil and helps break up clay. 

Organic Compost is a combination of green recycled material and grape pomace. There is no manure in the potassium-rich compost that is screened coarsely to help break up clay soil. 

If you have new raised beds or need to top off existing ones, MIX Garden Mix is your answer. This high quality custom blend is ready to go, as we have perfected the recipe over time. The base of this soil blend is our MIX Garden Compost which helps retain moisture and provides soil tilth. Chicken manure, blood meal, and feather meal are added to provide long term nitrogen essential to plant growth. Screened loam, lava rock, and sand provide good drainage and minimize compaction. Soil sulfur is added to adjust PH. 

MIX Garden Soil has more screened loam so it will shrink less than our MIX Garden Mix and is perfect for shrubs and ornamentals. Lava rock and sand provide drainage and sulfur keeps the pH adjusted for maximum uptake of all essential plant nutrients. 

Drop by or call us at MIX Garden so we can help you find the right amendment or soil for all your gardening projects.

Spring Gardening Updates!

We have been busy as bees here at MIX Garden preparing for this Spring season that is now ramping up! We got an early heat wave and did our best to get our first round of tomatoes and cucurbits out on the table as soon as possible. Now in classic Spring fashion, the weather has been cool and wet this week, with a couple nights of frost expected. Those tender starts need the protection of the greenhouse, so while we did put out several varieties of peppers and even some basil, we are waiting until next week to bring the next big wave over from our farm in Dry Creek Valley. We try to work around it sometimes, yet as gardeners we are at the mercy of nature to an extent. This does line up with our usual last frost dates in mid-April even though it has been getting warmer earlier and earlier, making us all eager to get planting! Soon enough the temperatures will be consistently warm for these Spring favorites to be happy and producing more than we know what to do with! We start everything from seed in a custom-made seeding mixture, and our nursery manager along with staff take great care to raise up healthy young plants for our valued customers. We appreciate your patience and support as we work towards getting all the varieties of vegetable starts on our tables as soon as their roots are established enough to transplant in your gardens.

We do have a lot of starts already on the table to choose from, you might even find your new favorite variety of tomato or melon! Besides the Spring favorites, don’t forget about beautiful herbs and greens, as well as a wide variety of flowering ornamental plants. A diverse garden helps create an ecosystem that is good for the plants, soil, and pollinators! As always, feel free to call the store or come on in with any questions, and to meet the new team members! (Or say hi to the old ones). Also sign up for our email newsletter and follow us on Instagram as we’re trying to keep those updated!

New Staff and New Energy

First of all, we want to thank our loyal and dedicated customers for sticking with us through the tumultuous couple of years we’ve had together, through fires, the challenging labor market, and now COVID-19. Along with the arrival of our store manager, Gerald, in September, and his contribution towards establishing a reliable and orderly environment at our store, we are now excited to announce the newest member of our team, our Director of Client Experience, Dundee Butcher.

A native Texan and long-time collaborator with Mick, Dundee moved to Healdsburg in 2013 and founded the Russian River Flower School at MIX Garden. Following the school's success and expansion, she branched out into her own studio. This year marks the start of a new chapter for Dundee as she closes the school and joins the MIX Garden team.

As Director of Client Experience, Dundee will be instrumental in realizing our vision to create a more ambitious and holistic environment at MIX Garden. We will be offering a wider range of products and experiences to enhance and expand the store that you know and love.

At MIX Garden, we want every customer to find friendly, knowledgeable, and attentive staff to answer their questions and provide high quality products and service. We want our store to be a home base to inspire and guide you throughout your gardening adventures. With Dundee on board and through the continuing presence of Gerald and our store staff, we look forward to developing a vibrant and dynamic space for our customers.

We love hearing from you all! Please let us know what you would like to see from us and how we can improve the experience for you. We know that in growing and nurturing MIX Garden, our customers have the greatest role of all.

Dundee joins us this week so be sure to drop by to welcome her to MIX Garden. We're open 8am to 5pm Monday through Friday and Saturdays 8am to 4pm. If you haven't yet, join our mailing list and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to get all the updates!

Pumpkins

Pumpkins are here! More and more are coming in each day so stop by and pick your favorites. Varieties for sale include, Rouge D'Etampes (Cinderella), Howden, Iran, Jack-O-Lantern, Galeux D'Esyines, Long Island Cheese and Dills Atlantic Giant. 

Pumpkins are perfect for decorating your home during the fall season. The many different sizes and shapes are great for making unique and colorful displays. It always feels a little more like fall with a few pumpkins on your front porch. Also, let's not forget that pumpkins are a nutrient-rich food that can be incorporated into desserts, soups and salads. They are filled with beta-carotene which is a powerful antioxidant. Their fiber, potassium and vitamin C content also support heart health and reduce blood pressure. What's the best thing about pumpkins? Kids love them! 

Come in and see what we have!

Bulbs

A cut garden is something that will bring joy to both those who plant it and those who admire it. As we continue to expand on our offerings, we encourage you to explore the world of bulbs. Decorating your home with flowers like Tulips, Daffodils and Narcissus is a great way to add color and life to your surroundings. Planting bulbs is very easy to do and an extremely rewarding investment.

We now have an assortment of bulbs for sale including Tulips, Narcissus, Allium, Anemone and more. We have carefully selected each bulb in order to bring you a variety of our favorites. You will surely enjoy the many colors and types we have in stock. The best time to plant bulbs is anytime between now and the end of November. These little wonders are ideal for making colorful borders, filling garden beds, or packing in random places throughout your yard.

Come in today and browse our selection. Our experts are happy to show you what we have available and make recommendations. Put your hard work and care into your landscape today and reap the benefits in spring. Time to get to work!

The Cutting Garden - Dahlias

We are pleased to announce that we are extending our nursery offering to include flowers for cutting. For most gardeners, assembling a bouquet of flowers is a great pleasure. Selecting blooms from your very own garden allows you to appreciate plants in a new way, while creating a beautiful and unique bouquet.

Beginning this Thursday, we will offer a beautiful assortment of dahlias in various forms and colors grown in 2-gallon containers for $19.95 and $24.95. Aztec Dahlias has been the perfect partner to work with to begin our expansion. Owners Kate and Omar grow the most beautiful dahlias you have ever seen. Just like us, they take pride in providing our community with a product that is unmatched in both quality and variety. Their cut flowers and plants are sold locally to florists, shops, restaurants, individuals on site everyday and at select farmers markets. They have a great selection of tubers available online as well.

It's a joy to pick a little of whatever is blooming in your garden and bring it into your home or to share with family and friends. We’re extremely excited to work with Aztec Dahlias to expand on your love of gardening and bring you something we’re sure you’ll enjoy. Dahlias make great cut flowers, are a gorgeous addition to any garden and are sure to brighten your day. Come in and select your favorites today.