Hey friends, Spring is coming and The Briar Patch will be open in May. I hope you will stop by and see us. We have a great selection of perennials and lots of farm house primitives. Old rockers, crocks, shutters and lots of purposeful clutter. Now don't forget, June 29th is the date for our next Folk Art Gathering. Lots of local vendors will be here, Tom the Country Griller will have sandwiches available. Mmmmmmmmm, so good. The New Town Criers will be here with folk music, just pickin and grinnin'. We have a great time meeting friends and livin the country life. The Farm Chicks will be on site, giving you tips on how to live a simpler life. Come on out and wander around the gardens, you'll find lots of farmhouse treasures. Pick up your free Art & Earth Trail magazine while you are here. This is a FREE event, bring the whole family.

Garden Time is coming!

Friends, it going to be that time before you know it. Time to put in your garden and enjoy the summer! If you don't have garden space, don't let that stop you. Here at the Briar Patch we offer garden spaces like this one you see here. The spaces are about 8-10' wide by about 20' long. Big enough to feed a family of 4, plus have food to share. Easy to take care of, water and garden tools are made available. The spaces are ready to start planting the first of May, already tilled and amended. Only organic material is used on these gardens so you don't have to worry about any pesticides or any other nasty stuff. We only have a few garden spaces to offer so get your's reserved soon so you don't miss out. We offer these spaces for  $15.00 a month for the 5 month growing season. Come spend some time in the country, you'll be glad you did. E-mail me at phyllis.horvath@yahoo.com to reserve your space.

Morning Friends,

                Just had to post this wonderful picture I took this morning. There's not at lot going on here at the Briar Patch in late November, every plant has been put to bed for the winter and we are all settled in for a cold spell. As it sometimes happens, we've had a great November so far, fair weather has given us the chance to enjoy a little more time out of doors. On this day November 23rd we woke up to fog so thick that you could not see down the drive way, so of course, being the fog lover I am I took off with my camera and got a few really nice shots. I will try to update my blog often with items I still have for sale even though the shop is all closed up for the winter, like a true old cabin, it has no electricity or heat so we can't do business in the coldest months. But never fear, come May 1st the doors will open and you all are welcome to come on it. I will give you a sampling of the goodies, purposeful clutter as I like to call it, that I have to offer. I spend my winter months collecting all my treasures to share with you. I hope you have a great winter and we will look forward to seeing you in the spring! Check back often to see what waits for you here.

A little something for your garden

Hey girlfriends I promised that I would try to post some pictures of some of the items we have for sale here at The Briar Patch. The flowers are suffering with this awful heat we've had, but the shop is still open and we have fun stuff to offer. This vintage bicycle is one of our items. Wouldn't this just be the berries out in front of YOUR garden fence? I know it has to be everybit of 50 years old,  and I think it is a Schwin. The tires are good, and the origional paint is still pretty nice too, and look at this sweet basket. So come on by and take her home with you for only $45.00. Watch for new, old items to be posted. Look forward to seeing you.      

Folk Art Gathering 2012

                 Well folks, our 2012 Folk Art Gathering went off without a hitch, despite the hot steamy weather. Thank you to all who came out to support small business, without you we wouldn't be able to have this show. Our vendors were real troopers to suffer through the incredible heat, but we had such a good turn out it was worth it. (The popcicles were a real hit). The music was great, we had the New Town Cryers playing folk music and we all really enjoyed it, can't wait to have them back next year. Our thanks go out to Tom from The Country Griller, he always treats us right and has such yummy sandwiches. So thanks again to everyone!
                   So now that that's all settled, back to business as usual. So we all know that the drought has taken a toll on all of our gardens, poor thing. So, the Briar Patch is no exception, but I don't want you to think that plants are all we have to offer  Even if you are not thinking about gardening right now, don't forget we have much more to offer. I plan to start posting pictures of some of our shop items we have for sale. If you are a fan of pintrest (and who isn't) you've probably already been bitten by the decorating bug and you think to yourself "hmm where can I get that stuff", well the answer is ... why at The Briar Patch of course! We have  rustic old screen doors that look so good any place you put them. We even put one up in our kitchen for the door that leads to the basement stairs. (can't have the little ones falling down the stairs, now can we). It looks really sweet and homey there. You'd be suprised how one little thing can change the whole look of things. Old crocks are here, primitive old benches,  just oodles of cool stuff. So if you are into repurposing items, rustic and charming, come on by and see what you can find.  We will be open clear into September and our items are always changing, so stop by sometime, you'll be glad you did. Watch for pictures of our shop, coming soon!  

4th Annual Folk Art Show and Sale

Hello Friends, it's almost that time again. We are planning our 2012 Folk Art Show and Sale for June 30th this year. I can't wait. For those of you who haven't been here before, we will have vendors, demonstrations, music, food, drawings and just a great family time. Walk around the gardens and enjoy the flowers, we will have plenty for sale, and don't forget to stop by the little red cabin. Step up on the porch and step back in time. We have plenty of farmhouse treasures in there, old rocking chairs, shutters, quilts and lots of just plain old stuff.  If you are interested in being a vendor for the show in June, contact me at 574-784-3533 otherwise I hope to see you there. Don't forget...this is a Free event so bring the whole family. Our regular shop hours to visit our shop or buy perennials  Monday, Tuesday, (closed Wednesday), Thursday and  Friday's 9:00-5:00. Saturday's and Sunday's are by chance...depends on how good the fishing is. See you there!

What a great show it was this year!  Thank you so much to everyone who came out to support us...vendors and customers alike!  We had such a great time and we're so thankful to everyone for braving the heat to spend the day with us.   If you missed it here's a rundown on who was here.....Jessica Rohde from Periwinkle Jazz brought her unique, up-cycled baby and toddler clothing (check out her etsy shop at www.etsy.com/shop/PeriwinkleJazz)   Debbie DeShone from Woodland Herb Garden was here with her antiques and vintage finds but you can find her most days at 20051 Miller Rd in South Bend (574-291-8489).  Our friend Bobbi brought some yummy smelling candles and her unique outhouse mailboxes (she can be found at www.symplycountry.com). Then there were the amazing woodcarvings by Gary Dentino (574-520-9338) and the beautiful glass garden totems by Miss Mary Kay Jones. Becky Haverstock from Never Enough Thyme and Becky Pressel from Crows in the Cupboard were here with some fabulous primitive folk art wood decor.  We also were lucky enough to have Betty and Peggy from Cozy Cabin Crafters with their lovely garden ladies and primitive birdhouses.  Della and Marsha from our very own Late Bloomers also came by with their unique blend of gift items and home furnishings.  Then, of course, there was Jennifer from Jennifer's Nicely Spiced Olive Oil (574-952-1989)...yummy!! Our dear friend Audry Downey was here with her beautiful hand woven fiber rugs and  the sweet Jeri Ingle was here on behalf of Guardian Village Handicrafts (guardianvillage.com) with some beautiful handmade jewelry.  Lunch was provided by Tom from the Country Griller out of Hanna Indiana and boy was it scrumptious!!    Thank you again to all who visited and participated...we had a great time and we hope you did too!

Jennifer's Nicely Spiced Olive Oil

Periwinkle Jazz

Periwinkle Jazz



Audrey Downey

The Cozy Cabin Crafters

Never Enough Thyme & Crows in the Cupboard

Wood Carvings by Gary

Symply Country

Guardian Village Handicrafts

Guardian Village Handicrafts

Woodland Herb Garden

Woodland Herb Garden

The Country Griller

Glass Garden Totems by Mary Kay Jones