Update as of Oct 31:

Thanks to those of you who have made the early commitment for next year's harvest, and have taken advantage of the 15% discount.  This will allow me to pre-order much of the seed at a discount. 

The 2013 production plan is slowly coming into focus, a lot of tweaking will continue for the next month or three.

I have a rough draft of what the season menue will look like, and a peak at the basket contents for full and half shares.

Most of our customer base appears to be concentrating in two areas of the city - Glebe/Old Ottawa South; and Kanata/Stittsville.

I'm looking forward to next year's planting, harvesting, and eating.  In the meantime, I remain focused on getting as much field preparation finished for next year.

Looking forward to seeing everyone on the next full harvest day, November 9th!

Bob

Update as of Oct 13th - The Garlic is in the ground for next year!!!  We planted several varieties.  Last year, the Prussian White and Fish Lake did well, so we reserved some for seed.  I was surprised by the performance of the Korean Purple and French Rocambole (Eastern Ontario is better suited to Porcelain varieties than Rocamboles), so we reserved some of those as well, and supplemented them with additional seed cloves from our Garlic seed source.

New varieties are being tried this year as well.  These include Gourmet Red, German Red, and Ukrainian.  Persian Star is another new one for this year, looks stunning and has a mild, oily flavour! 


Hey Folks:

How quickly things change. Two weeks ago, the beds were full of produce, the flowers were in full bloom, the paths were mowed...now the fruit plants are dying back, beds are emptying out, and hoses are being drained, coiled, and hauled in for storage.

Two frosts later, there is still plenty of activity out in the field, in the barn, and out in the community.

New flyers are going out as I prospect new customers for next year. If you are interested, do not delay! I will offer a 15% discount for the first two customers to sign (or re-sign) for next year. Full payment required by Nov 1st. This allows me to pre-order next year’s seed at a discount – a saving that I am passing on to you.

Extra produce still available through our farm gate store. New prices and items available. An opportunity to sample what we have to offer for next year.  I will consider some bulk purchases on a case by case basis, if you are interested in larger quantities than advertised in our store.  We have a variety of Potato and a variety of Carrot that are good for long term storage.

Word of mouth is one of the most powerful tools a small business can have for getting the word out, so please go forth and communicate.

The field is rapidly expanding. The wet weather of the past couple of weeks has softened the ground considerably, and new beds are being built. This entails aerating the soil, removing many rocks, and raking dead grass and pulled up roots from the surface.

In the meantime, old residues are pulled out and sent to build new compost windrows.

A few crops still coming in, such as the last of the Kidney beans and potatoes.

Most exciting are the late fall, cold tolerant crops.

During my internship at Elmtree Farm, I noticed that most of the farms that we visited had some area of specialization, in addition to the standard market garden fare. As I sketched out various brainstorms in my cabin at Elmtree, I wondered what my farm’s area of specialization might be. If there were Oak trees and a pond, I might grow Shitake mushrooms. If there was a poorly drained, wet area, I might try Raspberries. If the farm came with a green house, I might try micro greens…I concluded at the time that it was impossible to know. The farm site would play the major role in determining the farm’s area of specialization.

As I started building the Whitsend site last year, I returned to this question. The field was a flat square of uniform sandy loam soil. A blank slate. No obvious suggestions.

I had located and retained the farm late in the season, and did not start my first deliveries until July. This limited my growing season, and so I began to develop some plans for season extension to get me through the first season. As the season progressed into fall, I realized that my farm had indeed chosen my area of specialization – season extension.

I did some additional research over the past winter, and learned about season extension techniques past and present that allowed farmers and gardeners to produce food well into the winter (even in our Ottawa climate).

I tried a bit of very early growing this year (early peas and greens in mid May), and learned several valuable lessons for next year.

As this summer progressed, crops for late fall were planted and the dates recorded. Timing is so important and very site specific! Too early, and the crops would be harvest ready before late fall; too late, and they would not be mature before being covered in snow or frozen into the ground.

One of the variables I had to take into account included the “solar climate”. At a certain point in the year (early September seems to be the cut-off point at Whitsend’s line of latitude), the leaf growth starts to slow down due to the shorter days. With that in mind, I now know that leaf plants such as Lettuce have to be nearing full size by early September. After they have reached this stage, it is simply a matter of moderating their microclimate until their scheduled weekly harvest.

Many crops are still in the ground, protected by row covers, poly tunnels, and straw. Still plenty to eat over the next 5 weeks…Spinach, Lettuce, Potatoes, Chard, Kale, Green Onions, Carrots, Leeks, Parsley, Brussels Sprouts, Beets…

See you Friday

Bob

P.S. – please pass on the word about the farm gate store! Still plenty of food to eat for those who have not yet arrived at Whitsend…

Update Saturday the 22nd:  Welcome to fall!  New items added to farmgate store; some prices lowered.  Check it out...

Update Wednesday the 19th:

Whitsend Market Garden on 93.1 CKCU FM (www.ckcufm.com) between 1:30 and 3:30 this afternoon!  Here us there...
Thanks again,

Bob

Hey Folks:


A few notes about how the fall season is shaping up. Fall and storage crops are coming to fruition.

I harvested the first round of Kidney Beans this past week.  Some were dry enough to start shucking, and the rest are hanging in the barn.  Meanwhile, the beds the kidney beans are being harvested from are being prepared for the planting of next summer's Garlic.  Seed Garlic just arrived in the mail yesterday.

Red Storage onions are almost ready to harvest, and the Leeks, though small, look like they will yield some tasty stalks. More Green Onions are out there, though I expect they will not grow as large as the ones we had earlier this summer. A few of the large ones are still left for the full shares.

There are two more successions of carrots still in the ground, both smaller Napoli carrots and larger storage carrots for cooking, as well as some heirlooms and White Carrots. More than enough to feed all shares to the end of October and beyond. These should taste great after our first frosts, when the cold weather converts the starches in the roots to sugars.

Chioggia beets are also approaching their harvests, though I expect they will be a bit smaller than the ones that were growing when the days were getting longer. This is another crop that stores well.


The Brussels sprouts are coming along, though the quantity might be very limited. It seems that the Flea Beetles are not being knocked back quickly enough by the arrival of slightly cooler, rainy weather (more compost required!).

As well, the Kale is taking quite a while to rebound, a few customers have had the opportunity to have some over the past few weeks, but the flea beetles are still eating the leaves (more compost!)


The only Radishes that I was able to grow (under a spare row cover) are doing fine. As for the rest of the Radishes, the Beetles ate their leaves, as well as the turnip leaves and while they were at it, they savaged the Rutabaga and the last of my Arugula as well (The Rutabaga and Arugula were also under covers but it seems that the beetles were already in or on the soil at the time of planting.


Damage to this degree is most unusual for this particular insect. I realize that sandy soil combined with hot dry weather is delightful to these bugs, but the bottom line for next year is MORE COMPOST!


The first orangetti squash is dying back, though the younger ones are still going strong. More squash to be distributed in the coming weeks, these can be stored for several months if cured (some are curing now as we speak). The first Pumpkin (way ahead of schedule) was harvested last week and is now curing on our fridge.


The Taxi tomatoes are starting to lose their vigor. They are an early variety that yields most its fruit in the first flush (all shares received them each week at one point). Now that these are ending, the early Moskvich plants are entering their second flush, and the insurance Tomatoes (a round of Moskvich planted late) are just starting. So expect some of these savoury fruits for a while yet. By the way, Moskvich is a cold tolerant tomato, so we can expect to see these even as the nights get cooler. I have also noticed that the Moskvich tomatoes are a bit bigger than they were at the start of the summer. I am not sure why this is.


There should be a couple more weeks of Matina’s, but I expect these will end soon.


The Great Whites have not had a good year; they started out too early and are only producing a small amount of fruit. They have suffered a lot from cracking, which points to either a calcium deficiency or uneven watering. Since correcting the watering regimen for the Moskvich, I noticed a big difference. I have started the same technique with the Great Whites.


The Spinach and Chard are doing great. My only question is how much yield there is. At a certain point this fall, growth will slow down to the point where the cut-and-come-again crops will not be able to keep up with the harvest.

One thing I am certain of is the amount of Potatoes in the ground. I estimate enough for another 8 weeks for all shares at the present rate. Better yet, most of these are excellent for storage, so you will be able to save some for the Christmas-New Year’s eating season.

Once we are finished the current crop of Red Chieftain, the second round of Fianna potato will arrive (these were in the harvests about four weeks ago). After that, there are yellow-fleshed Agria potatoes, which are a Frost tolerant variety – I can leave them in the ground for several weeks yet. In addition, they keep well in storage, so you can continue to enjoy them over the winter. A small quantity of Dakota Pearl potatoes are on the way – these are similar to Yukon Gold, but are better adapted to Eastern Ontario.


Do you recall the short period of relatively cool nights a couple of weeks ago? During that time, I planted some snap Peas. I only had room for one bed, so most of these will cover the full shares only. However, I am pleased to have been able to start fall peas – not a dependable crop in these parts, as our summers are usually too hot. Another one of those little victories that make the potato beetles a mere nuisance in the overall scheme of things.


See you next Friday!

Bob

Zucchini herb fritters

The recipe below is from Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. Save time by replacing the basil and garlic with a few spoonfuls of pesto.

Miso-curry delicata squash

We ate this one-dish meal twice in one week, it’s so good.

Fennel salad

Our usual way with fennel.  We learned this one from Isaac.

Hey Folks:


First of all, the Farm Gate Store has worked out well. It is what I came up with when I combined a harvest surplus with a bit of brainstorming. Spread the word among your fellow eaters! The additional income stream will allow me to purchase some lumber for a cedar trellis and cold frames.


Expect the Farm Gate to remain open for the time being. The availability of surplus produce will determine how long this “store” will remain open. Please remember to place orders in early (before Thursday at 6 pm).

* * *

I started yesterday by doing a bit of calculating, and found that the finish line for the basket value is in sight, with room to spare. This is in contrast to last year, when I had to go down to the final delivery to match the share value. What a big load off my chest, now I could relax and turn more attention to preparations for next year.

As the day’s harvest was almost finished, Erica and I went to work on fixing up a bed of Potatoes that was getting crowded by rampant Pumpkin vines and a few stray weeds that were missed when this bed was last worked on, about three weeks ago. Off came the row cover, to reveal dozens of Colorado Potato Beetles larvae happily munching on the leaves. So much for time to relax and build new beds…


Problem insects such as Potato Beetles can be controlled with organic compounds such as Pyrethins (a product derived from Chrysanthemums). For many “organic” growers, this is a completely acceptable method.


I consider using sprays – even organic ones - as a palliative, a last resort to bring a bad infestation under temporary control. I would need to first source the product, check its contents and it would probably be a good idea to clear it with my organic agency. Then ordering (purchasing inputs!), waiting for the delivery, and then preparing it for application. Then waiting for the ideal weather conditions. And then presuming the bug “colony” is in a vulnerable period of its life cycle, so the spray can be most effective.

Instead, I see the insect growth as a message – the plant is under stress. The best way to improve plant health is to improve the farm’s soil. After a round of squashing beetles, it was off to get a shovel and start building an additional compost heap for next year.

Someone once said to me that growing potatoes is easy. My response is “taking care of them requires an effort”.

In fact, I would suggest that the “difficult” part of the work is all in the preparation. Forking the bed to aerate the soil is one of the most important things one can do to promote soil health. With the stones in the field, years of feet, hooves, and tractors compacting the soil, and the lack of moisture, pushing the fork into the ground becomes difficult. After that, the soil is amended with applications of greensand and bucket-full’s of compost (building and turning the compost the previous year is a layer of chores in itself). Depending on the state of the soil tilth, the tiller may need to be run over the bed.

Then there is the cultivating out the weeds that begin growing within a week of the bed being built – these need to be controlled early to allow the intended crop to get is water and sunlight without competing with other plants.

Ideally, I prefer to cultivate the first two flushes of weeds before the planting, with a third flush cleared as the crop begins to emerge. If the soil surface is not disturbed, this should eliminate most of the weeds for the rest of the year. Weed seeds more than a couple of centimetres below the soil will not receive enough sunlight to germinate, and those that do will be stunted by the lack of sunlight due to the growing crops’ leaf cover.

So growing the Potatoes may be very easy. All of the work, on the other hand, is not.

I could go into more detail about the growing of seed potatoes. A seed potato represents the culmination of a couple of generations of cloning to produce a plant that will yield potatoes of useful size. But that is another story altogether.

* * *

A big thanks to Erica for the hard work yesterday, she did a lot of mundane weeding and placed straw under all of the sqaushes, giving me time to finish the harvest and beat back the beetles.

See you next week, either on Friday night delivery or at the open house on Sunday (or both!)

Bob