Versatile Blueberries

Blueberries are one of the best little berries around. Easy to grow and on a cute bush too. You can use them in your landscape for a nice green bush with great fall color, in a planter close to the house for extra easy access or you can plant them in your garden.

As I run across unique or extra yummy sounding recipes I will be sure and post them here to share. But if you have a favorite blueberry recipe please feel free to share it with everyone!

Oh man, this Recipe sounds WONDERFUL and I am sooo going to have to try it!

Janine’s Spiced Blueberry Sauce
Makes about 2½ cups
3 cups blueberries
½ cup red wine, such as merlot or pinot noir
½ cup sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cloves

In medium saucepan, combine wine, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, salt and cloves and bring to a boil over high heat. Add two cups blueberries and crush with a potato masher or wooden spoon. Boil for four to five minutes until mixture is thick and purple. Add remaining blueberries and cook for another minute or two. Remove from heat. Store in a covered container in the refrigerator.

This is from the Rustic Kitchen blog Janine is based in the Chicago area. Would it not be wonderful to take a cooking class from her? They start with a trip to the local produce stand and cook with whatever is in season! I found her blog just this year and really enjoy it.

Signs of Spring

I love seeing the first signs of spring popping thru the ground! Something about these little pieces of sunshine just lighten my mood and make me smile.

What are some of your favorite 1st signs of spring? How about all the tender green that you see starting to change the hills around us. Spring green is a happy color cause we are all so darn glad to finally see it!

For me another sign of Spring is the new items coming into the nursery. Pat ordered in some great terra cotta planters and has some fabulous ideas for filling them too!

The shipment of bulbs is in now too but I will save that for another day!

Customer Testamonial

This is what Jeanine Sturm (a local Licensed Landscape Maintenance provider) has to say about the Hori Hori Knife

'This last year was my first year using the Hori Hori from Valley View Nursery. I had been told how wonderful they were, but I was resistant. My employee Susan Newmann sang it's praises until I bought her one as a gift. Then her praises grew louder, so I gave in!

Now I don't go anywhere with out it. With the serrated edge, we easily cut through sod, edging beds and cutting through weed barrier. As a weeder it works better than the asparagus fork I was used to . We use the straight edge to divide plants. Definitely a worthy investment as it's the most versatile hand garden tool I've used - Jeannine Sturm'

Wow, now that's hearing about it from someone who uses it for work all the time! Come out and see us, Spring is coming and it's time to get things ready. Maybe you just feel like getting out of the house and seeing what's going on. We will be glad to show you what is new and where to start :)