Lawrence's Springwater Farms
125 Deplonty Rd RR 1 P0R1C0 Desbarats, ON, Canada

Lawrence's Springwater Farms is now closed for the season. (Whew!) See you in the spring!

Although the wave petunia baskets are sold out, we do have 75 million bells* baskets and 10 red begonia baskets available. On a normal year, we stay open through July (but it hasn't been; we aren't), and these million bells baskets, which are started later, would be filling out very nicely for our Southern Ontario and American July customers. This year, they're filling out nicely for anyone still needing a hanging basket in June. *That is, 75 baskets of million bells, not 75,000,000 baskets.

Two greenhouses housing some hanging baskets (wave petunias, begonias, million bells), bedding plants, perennials, veggies (13 types of tomatoes still available), and specialty plants. #openthrujune30 #stillgrowing

This week's ad in the North Shore Sentinel. Note that we are open through June 30 but closing for the season starting July 1st. #covid19year #thanksforshopping #timetogarden

Greenhouse #1 from early May to the second week of June: what usually takes 2 months to sell took only 5 weeks in 2020. We still have some specialty plants, now moved to Greenhouse #3 #thanksforshopping... #movedoutearly # See more

Cover tender plants tonight: we could get FROST.

If you have gotten your planters done by us in recent years, or picked up a good-looking one while shopping in store, then it's likely that Laila has planted them for you. Besides doing planters, she also envisions and creates fairy gardens which we usually have on display in our large greenhouse, along with a wide variety of fairy garden inventory for sale in our store. Laila spends part of her fall and winter searching out varities of hardware--pots, trellises, window boxes, herb garden planters, etc--and even attending garden centre trade shows in southern Ontario to learn about the latest trends and new hardware to order for our next season. Over the years, she has assembled a hummingbird feeder collection in our store that may have the biggest variety on the North Shore, including oriole feeders.

If you tried to come when it was so busy and did not make it in, just know we have not had a lineup all week. No waits. Very refreshing.If you tried to come when it was so busy and did not make it in, just know we have not had a lineup all week. No waits. Very refreshing.

Looking for veggies? Another sowing of cucumbers and squashes are in the greenhouse: zucchini, butternut squash, burpless cukes, english cukes, slicing cukes, spaghetti squash, hubbard squash, acorn squash, Howden pumpkins, sugar pumpkins. ...and even more eggplant have been potted up today! We also have greens for your salad! Sandy Oak Leaf lettuce, Scotch curled kale, Red Russian kale, Mesculun Mix salad greens, Buttercrunch lettuce, and Head lettuce. ... We have celery, celeriac, various cabbages.... ...and tomatoes. Lots of tomatoes. Yes indeed. As of today June 10, we still have 21 different types of tomatoes available, in 4 packs and singles. Interesting fact: we constantly sow squashes and cucumbers after opening for the season. On a normal year (a phrase we are using often these days ), the sowings generally overlap in the greenhouse, but this covid19 year demand has been so high we have had gaps between sowings.

Another aspect of our season here at the farm: almost daily deliveries to our partner Home Hardware on Second Line in the Soo. Because of covid19 restrictions this year, we cannot deliver during business hours. This change means that the truck gets loaded nightly starting at 8 pm, with brothers Kevin and Glenn and our four kids loading. At 6 am the following morning, Kevin and high-school aged Ethan (both pictured here, and sometimes Max the dog joins them) head to the Soo to unload the delivery before the 8 am opening of Home Hardware. They then return to the farm here in Desbarats where Kevin spends part of the workday this year heading up the line to shop and explaining the safety protocols we have in place, starting with the touchless handwashing station that he built.

My full-time job as of our opening day May 5th: answering the phone and processing online and curbside pickup orders. As today June 4th was my last day on phones (Glenn will be taking over since we have finished with online and phone orders), I thought I would give you a peek into what the work station looked like and also how the work station did the work. We averaged over 80 calls a day, and, wearing a Bluetooth over my ear, I emptied the voicemail box on average 14 times a... day. If a customer called and could neither get through nor leave a message, I called their number anyway, tracking down anyone who called. Most days I succeeded; some days I called customers twice as they called from a different number than the one they left on voicemail; some days I called customers back after they had already shopped and returned home. Regardless, I made it priority one to communicate with any customers reaching out to us every day. The blue clipboards were for holding the orders that workers would pick for customers. Some orders were small--a few tomatoes and cucumbers. Some orders were large--the biggest took an hour and 45 minutes to pick. I used a computer for online orders, inventory check, website questions, and email. The printer printed out online orders. The accordion file organized orders into both day of pickup and type (Horticultural Society, Landscaper, Soo businesses, wholesale partners, etc). Besides the phone, we also daily processed messages through this Facebook business page, averaging 10 to 20 messages a day (sometimes from the same customer). These messages came anywhere from midnight, to 5 am, to the middle of the busiest time of the work day. And Glenn tried to respond to those messages promptly. We have never before needed to have a worker devote herself solely to the phone line, but we knew--with covid19 and the questions about conducting a business within the safety guidelines and the uncertainty at time of opening whether or not we ever would be able to open to walk-in customers--we knew that we needed someone just for the phone. We knew it because we didn't want to miss any of you this challenging year.

Our ad in this week's North Shore Sentinel. Yes, we are phasing out curbside pickup orders as of this week, in addition to having already phased out online orders. Instead, we will be open for walk-in customers only, like a normal year. ...almost. Thanks for working with us, thanks for coming out to shop (and ordering over the phone and online), and thanks for shopping within all the safety guidelines we are required to have in place so that we can do business in 2020.... **edited: Our safety protocols are still in place and will be through our season.

Just a note: We have taken down our website and halted online orders for now to keep up with both in-person shoppers and inventory. Normal hours today.Just a note: We have taken down our website and halted online orders for now to keep up with both in-person shoppers and inventory. Normal hours today.

CLOSED TOMORROW THURSDAY MAY 28 Open again Friday at 10 am. ... A note: Home Hardware on Second Line in the Soo will be open for business as usual tomorrow with another fresh delivery before opening, same as every day. Here at the farm in Desbarats, we will be CLOSED and catching up on many things here we cannot get to yet during this intense, unusual year. Please share this post. Thank you. **We will not be taking pickup orders over the phone Thursday.

Tuesday shoppers: it's going to be very hot and humid in greenhouses today. Please dress for the heat, bring water, and maybe wear a hat. It's a quick turn around from the cold and blowing snow 2 weeks ago!

Yes there is a line up out the driveway and onto Deplonty, about a 45 minute to over an hour wait. Bring a book.Yes there is a line up out the driveway and onto Deplonty, about a 45 minute to over an hour wait. Bring a book.

New hours begin today Weekdays 10 - 6 Saturday 9 - 5 CLOSED SundaysNew hours begin today Weekdays 10 - 6 Saturday 9 - 5 CLOSED Sundays

Saturday shoppers, please plan for a lengthy wait time during our busiest stretches as we continue to abide by safety protocols.Saturday shoppers, please plan for a lengthy wait time during our busiest stretches as we continue to abide by safety protocols.

CHANGE IN HOURS: Starting Monday May 25, we will be OPENING WEEKDAYS AT 10. New hours will be... Weekdays 10 - 6 Saturdays 9 - 5 CLOSED Sundays We'll be using that hour in the morning to pack curbside pickup orders, catch up on watering, and get to other jobs we just can't get to throughout the day. This way, we can be sure to be available to help you our customers when you are here to shop. And thanks for working with us through all the hurdles and challenges of social distancing and hand sanitizing and waiting in line. We have always wanted our customers to ENJOY walking through our greenhouses and picking out plants, and while we know it is very challenging this year, we are working hard to try to maintain that level of enjoyment for each of you when you come. Thanks for shopping, thanks for supporting, thanks for understanding, and thanks for smiling with us through this time. #changeinhours #quarantineweek15 #thankyou

Thanks to ALL our customers for a successful long weekend--thanks to those who shopped and those who stayed home, making room for our essential workers.Thanks to ALL our customers for a successful long weekend--thanks to those who shopped and those who stayed home, making room for our essential workers.

OPEN VICTORIA DAY 9 - 5 -----------NO SALE------------ We want to remind customers who can to shop another day and leave today's shopping to our essential workers.OPEN VICTORIA DAY 9 - 5 -----------NO SALE------------ We want to remind customers who can to shop another day and leave today's shopping to our essential workers.

Let's talk about THE LONG WEEKEND So this Victoria Day weekend is usually the kickoff both to our spring season and camp season up north, and we have always done a sale on Victoria Day since time out of mind. But this year is different. ... How is it different? Let me count the ways: 1. NO SALE. We will NOT be having a sale on Victoria Day. The prices will be the same as every other day of the week, making a special trip on Victoria Day unnecessary. No sales at all over the long weekend. 2. RETHINK COMING. While we are open 9 - 5 on Victoria Day, we are asking customers who can come on another shopping day to sidestep coming on Victoria Day weekend this year. Since we can process only so many customers in a day with the guidelines and restrictions in place, we ask that if you can shop another day, please do so. Then we can serve those who can come only over Victoria Day weekend--like our essential workers who work through the week. 3. NO CURBSIDE PICKUP ORDERS. We will not be taking or filling curbside or online orders over the Victoria Day weekend but will resume taking pickup and online orders on Tuesday the 19th. 4. CLOSED SUNDAY. Like always. #makeroomforessentialworkers #shopadifferentday #lotsofplants #morechange #manythanks