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The Bossler family has had many a memory in the "shed" on the family farm. This shed has held the orchard workers in the 1940s-1960s, the produce stand from the 1960s to 2000s, varies family parties and now a cut flower workshop. During the summer, it was a common place of neighborly chats and drop-in visitors. Highlights included cracking open a fresh watermelon and passing it around. Over the years thousands and thousands of ears of sweet corn, peaches, tomatoes, cucumbers and yes, gladiolus were sold. The shed went quiet in 2012 when the elderly Stanley and Marian finally gave up keeping the fruit shed open to sell produce. Granddaughter Jessika kept it going for one more year after they no longer could.


In 2019 my husband, Clyde, and I embarked on a new adventure. Clyde had done all the gardening for this parents in recent years so that was nothing new. What is new, is changing to growing specialty cut flowers and minimum vegetables. We had visited our son and daughter-in-law in Seattle and were taken by the number of flower farms in that area, supplying local florists and displaying amazing farmer's market presentations. When our kids got married, they walked down to Pike Place in Seattle and picked out their flowers on the morning of their outdoor wedding. We were hooked. So we started cleaning out all the accumulated clutter in the shed, picked up a few items at auctions, started research and off we went. Now the shed is the flower shed and fourth generation Bosslers are involved in the Bossler Gardens adventure as well as dear friends.


Our local community of O'Fallon, IL built and opened a new Farmer's Market facility so the timing was just perfect. We hope to make this our playground as we go into retirement. What's better than nature, fresh air, and family.












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I guess I am dating myself, but it's what comes to mind when I walk in our cover crop on the farm. The gardens are on the highest point of the farm (where the house place is) and the ground is a lot of clay. Last fall we dumped a truck full of black gold compost from our local composting company. That only covered part of the gardens. The rest we planted in cover crop to grow for weed control, soil nutrition, and pollinators early in the spring. This week it is at it's peak blooming and it's just beautiful. That's when we cut it and plow it into the ground. Call it green manure. (The practice of green manuring includes growing, mulching by plowing, and mixing of green crops with soil to improve the physical structure and soil fertility).


So today we say good bye to it's beauty and see what beauty it will back to us.



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  • Writer's pictureLinda

We grew tulips this year for a specific purpose of having a flower market at our church as a fund raiser. Previous years we provided produce for a "farmer's market" so we wanted to continue our support using our flowers. Well, the corona virus has turned the world inside out, including church services. No worries, Clyde decided we would still have a flower market but as a drive-through on the church parking lot on the day before Easter. It was perfect divine planning that the tulips were at their peak during Holy Week, so we set up a table with about 30 bundles of tulips. We had a bucket with pre-printed scripture and a blessing from our pastor to accept donations. It was a wonderful success and folks were able to have the same flowers on their Easter tables that were present in the sanctuary on Easter Sunday. Flowers are truly a gift.






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