Just open www.phoodographsandfinds.com and take a look at the very first sentence… “Cool places to visit off the beaten path and more effective ways to navigate them for optimum enjoyment” Do you know where Ridge, Long Island is? I’m thinking that’s part of the reason why this broad-spectrum garden center is/was a well kept secret. Until last year even I didn’t know about Ridge, Long Island. Oh well…I do now and so will you!
Check out these phab flower pouches!
Theeere’s Sandy!
Wild (for flowers) Will
Sandy and I met the owner Bill Erdmann just last year and Sandy needed no more than one year to figure out his natural habitat was exactly what she/we needed and wanted to be a part of our backyard garden.
You know what they say about happy people…yes?
…and happy young cottontails too? For sure!
…and it all filters down to happy customers! Right?
NOW…It’s one thing to find a garden center that has a large selection of plants and flowers. They’re all over the place and many are really quite beautiful. It’s totally another thing, however, to find a garden center like Hidden Ridge hidden in Ridge with hard to find plants like the Buddleia Butterfly Bush and the Scaevola Fan Flower…among others!
Specifically, we are talking about purposeful gardens that address habitat, edible and sustainable. We have actually been practicing for the last 4 or 5 years the relationship between gardening and connecting with nature. Besides seeking out plants and flowers with beauty and extraordinarily intricate designs, we have been searching for plants with a dual function (both Hidden Ridge trademarks).
Our backyaaaaad! Life’s A Garden…Dig It? See the hummingbird top right?
I, for one, love seeing the bumble bees buzzing around and pollinating our flowering plants. Their impact as natural pollinators is critical when it comes to impacting ecology…and they are gentle too. Feeding them along with the beautiful hummingbirds and butterflies is not only fun and gratifying to watch, it’s good for the earth. As well, consider all the pleasing scents these types of flowers and plants release.
We’re also learning from Bill about edibles and medicinal plants and flowers. Between what we’ve learned from this master gardener and the direction we have taken with the use of organic soil and some sustainable plant types that don’t even need an organic soil, growing lots of perennials and veggies and tomatoes from seeds we have saved, I’d say we’re doing our part in making the world a better place to live.
Bottom line… You can too! just get yourselves over to see Bill at Hidden Ridge. Right now YOU have the perfect opportunity to get in there while the getting is good. It’s the perfect time to start planting and It’s the perfect time of year to start taking day trips out east. On your way you can stop in to see Bill at Hidden Ridge…or…you can make him the main reason for your trip. We’re by Exit 43 off the LIE and it takes us about 40 minutes.
Bill & Bert
Trust us with this find…..have I/we ever lead you astray?
As always…please feel free to comment below.
Enjoy the read,
Chef Bert
