It's planting time!

That's why there's an Open Farm Weekend at the 14 Acre Farm from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, May 29 and Sunday, May 30.Have your plant-related questions answered by Kevin and Sara Ruch, two of the owners of the organic farm in the White Bear hamlet between Jim Thorpe and Summit Hill.Their garden is flush with flowers, herbs and vegetables, Daughters Amarynth, 10, and Zinnia, 9, will give tours-with special emphasis on the large variety of unusual herbs grown on the farm. Sara, who completed the Master Gardener program, will answer your gardening questions.Each day at 11 a.m. Kevin will demonstrate homemade wine making from garden and wild-foraged ingredients. He will talk about winemaking using dandelions and elderberries, and demonstrate how to make yellow rose petal wine and rhubarb lavender wine.Kevin uses an heirloom variety of yellow rose that flowers for two weeks around Memorial Day. For the past two years, during this window of opportunity, he has collected the rose petals to make wine. "We've made it three times in the past and it has just an incredible citrus flavor," Kevin said. He will offer samples from these previous bottlings.The process of preparing yellow rose petal wine that Kevin will demonstrate begins with adding boiling water and a sweetener such as honey or sugar to cover the rose petals. Once cooled, yeast is added. The yeast will react with the sugar to form carbon dioxide and alcohol to form the wine. "It takes six to eight weeks to ferment before its bottled," Kevin said. "Then we let it sit in the bottle for another six months to a year until it's ready."Kevin will then pick fresh rhubarb to make a rhubarb and lavender wine. This wine is prepared in an open fermentation process using the rhubarb flowers to provide natural yeast to the wine. "The rhubarb and its flowers and the lavender flowers are allowed to sit together in a pot open to the air for ten days before we add the sugar to inoculate the yeast," Kevin explained.During the entire weekend Kevin will be smoking trout and Alaskan wild caught salmon, and barbecuing organic meats from Spring Mountain Farm. From their farm bakery, Frank Brady will be preparing sweets and breads. Seasonal produce can be picked fresh from the farm.For the serious cook ready to start an herb garden, the 14 Acre Farm will have a selection of popular and exotic herbs."The Open Farm is a kickoff for the season to reconnect with all our friends after a long winter," Kevin noted. "It's a perfect time for planting. It's been a good year for planting-with plentiful rain and sun, and optimum temperatures.""It's a great opportunity to reconnect with the community and to meet people from-as far away as New Jersey to people who live two doors down who have never been here before," Sara noted.The address of the 14 Acre Farm is158 East White Bear Drive in Summit Hill. For information call: 610-509-6829, or visit: 14acrefarm.com for directions.The Open Farm Weekend schedule is:Saturday, May 2910 a.m. Farm opens. Tours, crafts and barbecue all day11 a.m. Winemaking workshop with Kevin Ruch1 p.m. Fly tying workshop with Shawn McCarty5 p.m. Open mike and jamSunday, May 3010 a.m. Farm opens. Tours, crafts and barbecue all day10 a.m. Yoga in the Garden with Maya Kowalcyk11 a.m. Winemaking workshop with Kevin Ruch1 p.m. Civil War era music with Poppa Duck2 p.m. Songs of Tom Storm3 p.m. Open mike4 p.m. Old Timey Music with McCarty, Finsel & Ruch5 p.m. Open mike and jam