What You'll Find on the Hayefield Blog

Hayefield's blog is a long-running garden journal by Nancy J. Ondra, a garden writer and photographer in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. She has been posting about her gardening adventures and favorite plants there since 2007, so it's worth following if you want firsthand observations from a Pennsylvania gardener rather than generic advice. The site also serves as the home of her seed business and her photography, so the blog sits alongside those rather than standing alone.

Who writes it

Nancy J. Ondra describes herself as a garden writer, photographer, and "seed geek." The blog is her personal record of what she grows and what she likes, written from her own garden at Hayefield. That single-voice, single-garden perspective is the main reason to read it: you're getting one person's repeated experience over many years, not a staff-written content feed.

What the posts cover

• Gardening adventures — ongoing notes on what she's planting, growing, and dealing with season to season.
• Favorite plants — profiles and observations on plants she chooses to grow.
• Photography — the site notes that she is a photographer and that her photography is part of what Hayefield offers, so images accompany the writing.

Because the content is tied to her own garden, the useful framing is "here's what happened in my conditions," not "here's what will happen in yours."

The caveat to keep in mind

The site states plainly that its information is based on her experience gardening in southeastern Pennsylvania, and that plants and seeds are living things whose performance in your climate and growing conditions may vary. She also notes she cannot guarantee your results will match hers. So treat the blog as a well-documented reference from one region, and expect to adjust for your own zone, soil, and weather.

One more thing the site flags: she may or may not mention whether a particular species can be toxic when eaten or touched by people, pets, or livestock, and a lack of such a mention doesn't mean a plant is safe. If toxicity matters for your household, verify it elsewhere.

How it connects to the rest of the site

Hayefield is also where she sells seeds she grows and collects herself in Bucks County. Because she produces rather than repacks them, quantities of many seeds are limited, and the site suggests buying what you want while it's available. The blog and the seed shop share the same author and the same garden, so reading the blog is a reasonable way to see how a plant performs for her before deciding whether to try it yourself.

If you want to browse posts, the site has a blog section and a search function. If you'd rather start with what's currently available, there's a seed shop and a page for recently gathered seeds.