Valley News

September 2, 2006
Pick your own flowers

By Sally Miller Wyatt/Reporter Correspondent - The Reporter, Vacaville, CA

Even if you don't grow your own, there are still plenty of ways to get fresh-off-the-vine vegetables here in Solano County. No matter where you live, you're probably lucky enough to be within a short drive of several farmers markets, as well as many local fruit and vegetable stands.

People who love to buy their fruits and vegetables with that just-picked freshness have a list of favorite places to visit. For us, we just have to have the fresh strawberries sold at an unnamed stand on Vanden Road, out in the middle of nowhere somewhere in between Vacaville and Fairfield. It can be hit or miss at a stand such as this; the minute the just-picked strawberries are gone, the closed sign goes up. We also like the variety at Aliki's in Vacaville, located at the corner of North Orchard Avenue and Fruitvale Road.

You can expect to find fresh corn, melons and plenty of tomatoes and peppers at most stands, but one local purveyor offers a little extra: "pick it yourself" flowers.

Suzy Parker, of Parker Farms in Fairfield, has put in several rows of flowers at the front of her farm, and it is brimming with zinnias, sweet William, cosmos and black-eyed Susans. The selection will also be enhanced by a collection of sunflowers, which should be blooming soon, she says. "I planted them all by hand; there must be at least 20 long rows of flowers."

Visitors to Parker Farms can pick a bucket-full of flowers for just $5, or $2.50 for a half bucket. She expects that the flowers will continue blooming right through October, or as long as her stand is open this year.

Parker, who has been in business for 13 years, recently moved her stand to its current location on Rockville Road from its previous location on Abernathy Road. A very rainy spring season and a searing heat wave in July prevented her from opening the stand until early in August.

Despite the delay, Parker has a vision for her current growing season and great plans for future ones.

If all goes according to her vision, she'll be able to offer shoppers even more floral variety in the future, if she is able to plant lavender plants and rose bushes. "I'm going to try that for next year," she says, noting that this year's late rains kept her from going forward with those planting plans.

Parker also grows and sells heirloom tomatoes, as well as other vegetables on her 14 acre-plot. "I have from 30 to 40 kinds of heirloom tomatoes, five colors of eggplant, cucumbers, sweet lavender, hot (red) peppers, green peppers and even Gypsy peppers, which are yellow. It's very visual here, with all the colors," she says. "I try to grow things for salads, boutique items."

Parker also sells fresh corn at her stand. "I go up to Dixon and get it every day."

July's heat wave was not only brutal for Solano County residents, but also on local gardens, and many of Parker's heirloom tomato plants were not spared. "Heirloom tomatoes are delicate, and when temperatures hit 117, all the blooms dropped right off."

The plants have since recovered and "we have tons and tons of tomatoes now."

Parker Farms is located at 2991 Rockville Road in Fairfield, just a short distance from the Rockville and Oliver roads intersection. You can reach the farms by calling (707) 422-2915.

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