I was sitting here tonight thinking about what a visitor might see or do here at Exotic Gardening Farms and Wildlife Habitat. Since we live here, we know there is something new to see everyday, year-round.

When someone calls me and wants to see the farm, the question often comes up pertaining to what there is to do. I draw a blank often, not because there is a lack of things to do, but rather because I wonder what they may want to do.

Here are some things that a visitor to the farm may see, sorted by season.

The spring season is upon us now. This is a grand time to visit the farm not only because you may have the opportunity to see baby animals, or better yet, see them hatch or be born, but also because the weather is cooler and the flowers are often at their peak.

There is a wide range of native wildflowers on our farm. During the spring, visitors may see our native Jack-in-the-Pulpit, mayapples, wild ginger, Virginia bluebells as well as a wide range of culitvated plants including hellebores, tulips, daffodils, creeping phlox, daphne and many more.

In the vegetable garden one can expect early spring vegetables such as kale, lettuce, chard, radish and peas. Herbs are awakening and waiting to be tried. Most of the fruit in the orchard is flowering. The spring season really is one of the most exciting times on the farm!

In the kitchen I am busy dehydrating spring flowers, herbs and whatever else I can find that I may want to preserve for later use.

As summer creeps in, more vegetables are producing, some fruit will be ready to eat while other types of fruit is still ripening. There is nothing like eating cherry tomatoes right out of the garden! Since we are an organic farm, eating things right out of the garden is perfectly fine.

The herbs are at their best, some are even flowering. Flowers abound – butterfly bushes, milkweeds, hollyhocks, roses, clematis, phlox and many more! Everyday it seems some plant has come into bloom that was not in bloom the day before.

The baby animals that were born earlier in the year are generally frolicking around in the pasture by now and growing quickly.

The kitchen is a diaster this time of year. There is dehydrating going on 24/7. Most days – and nights – we are canning. I pour over recipe books looking for new ideas. Jerry tries to figure out new places to store food and ways for me to dry even more fresh herbs, flowers or vegetables. Some days it is a miracle if we can even walk in the kitchen due to all the baskets of fresh produce sitting around waiting to be dealt with.

Autumn is a pretty time of the year with the leaves turning colors, mums and asters blooming and everyone getting their winter coats. It is a sad time of year as well because we know summer is fading and the long, hard, cold winter lies ahead.

Their is an urgency to get the last minute chores done, get the garden ready for winter, seal the greenhouse. The short autumn days come to an end too soon every year.

In the kitchen things are still going at a pretty steady pace. Some produce and fruit is just now ready to be processed. Inventory must be taken so I know what we have and what we still need to get though yet another year.

Soon the snow begins to fly, the holidays are upon us and winter has set in. Some years there are flowers blooming throughout most of the winter. The thrill of finding fresh produce such as spinach, lettuce or radish in the tunnel house makes it worth the trip out to the vegetable garden even on the coldest days.

The long winter days are spent planning next years garden, eating the food we preserved during the summer and anxiously awaiting the first signs of spring and new visitors to the farm.