—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 16,1971
18
Kreiders ’ Mums Are Full Time Hohhy This Month
By Mrs. Charles G. McSparran
Farm Feature Writer
“Flowers is my hobby, I just
love to work in them/’
So says Mrs. Harold B. Kreider
of Pleasant Valley Mum Farm on
Kreider Road, Lititz RD2.
Their mums are at their peak
this week-end.
With, two acres of plants and
about 300 different varieties, this
is truly a beautiful spectacle of
color. You’ll find all sizes and
kinds in white, shades of pink,
lavender, gold, yellow, bronz and
red Kreiders invite people to
come and see them and there’s no
charge to look
Mrs Kreider says, “We get our
most enjoyment on Sunday from
the mums because we don’t sell
on Sunday We enjoy seeing faces
year to year ” Tourists from all
over the United States, but not
quite from all states, go there and
buy mums
To get to the Pleasant Valley
Mum Farm from Lititz, take
Route 501 north about two miles
to Lexington Road Turn sharp
left and travel about a mile to
Kreider Road Turn right and it is
about a quarter of a mile
Pleasant Valley Farm is
spelled out on the road bank m
mums and the banks on both
sides of the road are a mass of
blooms
Kreiders have a beautiful rock
garden planted in mums and beds
of mums around the house and
lawn, plus the field they dig
blooming plants from. The rock
garden has a wishing well, an old
fashioned water pump with water
running from it and a water
fountain with steps winding up
and down through the garden
They made the rock garden six
years ago Mrs. Kreider has the
rock garden and flower beds
planted in petunias until mid-
September, when she pulls them
up and moves the flowering
mums to take their places.
The first blooms come about
September 10 and the last ones
sometime in November,
depending on the weather They
started digging the plants about
September l
October is the best month for
them In September the colors
tend to bleach some and in
November you get some freezing.
Frost damages the white ones
more than colored ones. Most of
the blooms get prettier with frost.
Cloudy weather forces the
blooms and causes the bronz ones
to get darker.
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blooming in early September and
lasts until sometime in
November.
Kreiders stick mainly to hardy
varieties. Fuji mums are delicate
and they lose some every winter.
Spider and some Spoon varieties
are delicate also. It is advisable
to take a few of the large patented
varieties in in winter
This hobby is practically a full
time job this time of year for Mrs
Kreider as she digs the plants to
sell and makes mum
arrangements to sell
Kreiders raise a few pie
pumpkins and pie squash which
they sell on the farm and use for
mum arrangements
Their plants are most
reasonably priced Their price is
the same to everyone If you buy
a dozen or more plants they are
cheaper than by the piece This
mum business started as a
hobby, but the past four years
they have sold enough to make
expenses
Kreiders have grown mums
eight years to sell They plant
around 40,000 mums each year
They buy about 40 new varieties
from wholesale houses to try
They dig,up their old plants and
divide them and take cuttings
from them They do this from a
week before Memorial Day till a
week after They should be
planted about 12 inches apart,'
unless you want a solid mass of
blooms by planting closer
The patented varieties may not
be reproduced. You must sign a
statement saying you will not
reproduce them.
They use tobacco stems to
mulch their bed. Kreiders also
sell tobacco stems. The tobacco
stems conserve moisture, keep
weeds down, keep insects away
and fertilize There is some
potash and nitrogen in them
Mums prefer acid soil. They do
not put fertilizer of any kind on
them, nor spray them. The little
black mites you see on the buds
sometimes disappear with the
rains and do not harm the plants
or buds. Too much moisture in
the ground in winter tends to
cause the plants to freeze out.
Chrysanthemums should be cut
back half way between July
fourth and fifteenth, but must
have two or three leaves left on
the stem. This keeps the plant
from getting so tall and makes
the plant sturdy., If this isn’t
done, the blooms will cause the
plant to become top heavy and go
down. If you want to produce
large blooms all the buds should
Mrs Harold B Kreider, Lititz RD2, loves to make mum arrangements and keep her
rock garden a mass of blooms
be removed from each stem
except the tirst one showing
color
Mrs. Kreider was born and
raised on this farm Her parents,
Mr and Mrs Joseph C Carman
bought this 67 acre farm in 1914
and farmed it until 1953. Mrs.
Carman lives now with the
Kreiders.
Harold came here in 1945 and
bought the farm in 1960. He
worked in Mr. Carman’s garage
at Halfville seven years before
starting to farm in 1953.
Before working in the garage
Harold helped his father dc
carpenter work. He is the son of
Mr. and Mrs. Eli Kreider of West
Willow. His father grew up on a -
farm so this was Harold’s desire
to farm. He used his carpentering
experience and built a large
chicken house in 1960 and a wing
on the steer barn two years ago.
He also built an addition to their
house and a garage.
'Kreiders have a son Larry who
graduated from Warwick High
School and has been helping on
the home farm since. He will
marry Laverne Heller, also of
Lititz RD2, on October 23 and will
leave November 15 for volunteer
service on Johns Island, South
Carolina, where he will be doing
construction work. He likes to
work with chickens.
Mr. and Mrs. Kreider have a
daughter Linda Kay who is
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enrolled in Home Economics
course in ninth grade in Warwick
High School. She likes to sew,
cook and bake. She makes all her
own clothes She helps a lot with
eggs.
Kreiders keep 9,000 Leghorn
laying hens and get about 6,500
eggs a day at their peak. They
buy the hens at 20 weeks and keep
them one year. They have
automatic waterers and feeders
and belt egg gatherers. They do
not have a cage operation, but
have half slats and half litter.
They keep the lights on to make a
17 hour day with the aid of an
electric eye to control the lights.
They have i thermostatically
controlled ventilation. They
gather eggs four times a day.
Most of the eggs are laid from
noon to 3 p.m. All of the family
helps with eggs, but Mrs. Kreider
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and Larry do most of the egg
gathering.
They sell fertile eggs to Veety
Poultry Farm, north of Allen
town, who produce vaccine. They
sell some eggs to R. W. Sauders
of Lititz and also sell a lot
locally.
They have about 1,200 Muscovy
ducks which they bought day-old.
Until this year they hatched their
own every two weeks from
breeder hens. They raise them
for the Thanksgiving market.
They sell some live and have
some dressed at a dressing plant.
They often have frozen ducks till
Christmas.
Kreiders raise three-way cross
swine. They are crosses" of
Spotted Poland China, Yorkshire
and Hampshire. They have eight
brood sows and about 60 young
(Continued on Page 19) ‘
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