Our Garden

Welcome to our on-site production garden!

Next to our cafe we have our very own production garden where we grow fresh produce for our kitchen. The ingredients grown range from traditional herbs, to edible flowers, from classic southern garden staples, to unique varieties of vegetables. Check out or dinner specials for garden featured dishes.

Our garden and landscaping is also host to many pollinators and provides habitat for native insects and wildlife. Our garden is open to the public during daylight hours and garden staff is available to answer questions and share garden tips. Follow us on Instagram for ongoing photos and news from our gardeners.

How Do You Deal With Squirrels?

In one word, sunflowers.

We are often asked how we keep squirrels out of the garden. We don’t, instead we distract them. We have found that they absolutely love sunflowers, as do many visiting birds, bees and other insects.

Sunflowers are located all around our garden perimeter and periodically throughout the garden. Mostly we grow the multi-head versions as these are better for cut flowers and, since they continue to add bloom stalks, have a much longer bloom time than the single stem sunflower varieties.

Sunflowers are also terrific companion plants, attracting beneficial insects and pollinators. They add height interest to the overall garden, often providing natural trellises for other climbing plants such as the small sour gherkin cucumbers. We deadhead a portion of the sunflower blooms as they go to seed (neighborhood chickens get these cut off heads as treats) while leaving some for the birds and squirrels. It is common to see flocks of goldfinches and sparrows on the sunflower heads in early morning and evening.

Squirrels love climbing up the sunflower stalks to bite off a seed head and carry it away. The squirrels are happy, seldom bothering other garden plants, and as they are messy eaters they spread seeds for next year.

Having troubles with squirrels? Plant sunflowers next year is our recommendation.

Seeds Of All Shapes And Sizes

One of the absolute joys of the quiet down-time of winter is to pore over seed catalogues and dream and scheme about the season ahead. Here at the Sunny Point Café garden we start nearly all of our own vegetable and flower plants from seed.

A tiny packet of seeds is full of so much potential…it is truly magic. To make the magic happen requires a certain number of variables, but mostly utilizing common sense and some research can get you through and lead to successful seed starting.

Most seeds, such as tomatoes and basil, need warm soil temperatures in which to germinate well, so we start them under an indoor lighting system before transitioning them outside when temperatures rise. Other seeds, like peas and beets, can be direct sown in the garden in early spring.

Each plant has different needs, so just read the seed packet. (Or you can buy plant starts at the garden center, too.) It may seem a bit daunting, but remember that seeds are designed to survive and thrive and go it alone. In other words, seeds are pretty tough, we just help them along with some tender, loving care.

What Are The Bottles For?

Throughout the garden there are many upside down glass bottles. What are they for?

The bottles in our garden are covering rebar which is inserted into the ground to prevent our garden staff from inadvertently dragging a watering hose across plants. Rebar alone would present a hazard, so the glass bottles provide a decorative way to safely cover the metal and as an added bonus the hose slides better across the smooth glass.

There are references to bottle trees in Southern folklore and literature as wards against evil spirits. Legend says that evil spirits are attracted to the glass shining in the sun, in particular blue bottles, and climb inside the bottles and are trapped.

Many private gardens in our area have bottle trees, keep an eye out for them as you travel around. We think it is kinda cool that an effective practical solution to a problem turns out to be both attractive and has its own legend.