Oh the memories of the "shed"

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.