Update January 14:

Hey All:

Thanks to those of you who are reading this blog for the first time.  If you have received a hand bill (at your doorstep or in your house mailbox) advertising this farm, you are at the correct place.  I hope you enjoy checking out the farm website, and look forward to hearing from you.  If you are interested in a share of our produce or have questions this site does not answer, feel free to contact me at the address and phone number below.

Bob

I am still waiting for a couple of surveys to come in before I publish the results.  I would like a sample that is a bit more 'representative' of the overall customer base.

Please note that the deadline for the first discount is passing January 15.  (See the 'How to buy a share' page for details and dates.)


Looking forward to hearing from you!


Special Note:

I was sad to learn last week that one of my mentors, Mark Valcour, had passed away.

I met Mark shortly after I arrived in Ottawa and parachuted into the Ottawa Music Scene.  I had volunteered with his production company in an effort to learn more about studio recording and live sound production.

 Mark's role introducing me to the technology of sound reproduction was instructive, amusing, and practical.

However, his biggest impact on me was his approach to passing on knowledge.

Early on in my volunteer experience with Sound Output Audio Productions, I used the word 'teach', and Mark corrected me.  He claimed that if a person understands 10 percent of the know-how for a given task, Mark would build on that 10 percent and correct the remaining 90 percent.  He did not consider that teaching.

It's a very straight forward concept, uncomplicated, and disarming.

I continue to apply this technique in my role as a leader for farm interns.

Thanks Mark!



Update January 7th:

Hey Folks:

Surveys from the 2014 customers are coming in, and providing an interesting read.  Lots of different opinions. I'll summarise the results after a few more arrive.  At this point, 4 out of 4 surveyed have indicated they are returning for 2015.

A note about deadlines for payment:  I generally try to make several check/payment pick-ups at once.  Sometimes this means missing a discount deadline by a week or so.  If this occurs, I honor the discount.

A note about first time customers:  I prefer to meet in person before taking on new customers.  It gives both of us an opportunity to ensure that what I am offering matches what you are looking for.

A note about garlic:  I have indicated minimum expected quantities (on the bar to the right of your screen) for each basket type.  Last year, about 1 sixth of our garlic failed.  There was some question about another sixth, which I reserved for personal use and gifting family and friends.

Despite these losses, we still met our commitments and had enough seed bulbs for next year.  As of this writing, we have 550 bulbs planted (and a few more for garlic shoots in mid June).  Assuming we take on 25 customers, and reserve 150 bulbs for seed, it is probable that there may be a some extra per basket to go around.

As with any endeavour involving living things, there are many factors that will determine the success - my job is to provide the optimum conditions for the crop.

The soil was amended with compost and rock phosphate last fall, after the nitrogen providing kidney beans were harvested.  The beds were cleaned of persistent weed roots, cultivated lightly twice in the fall, and should be fairly weed free for next year, allowing the garlic to grow without competition.

To get the garlic growing early and take advantage of the long days of late spring and early summer, garlic is planted in late fall and overwintered.  The garlic beds are covered by a blanket of straw to keep the bulbs from freezing.

I have to assume at this point that starving rodents are not living under the straw, and munching the bulbs.

There are not too many insect predators of Garlic, but they are out there.  Leek moth is devastating to most allium family crops, but by the time they are getting established in mid summer, the garlic is almost ready to harvest, and not too susceptible to these moths.  Some use of row cover in the spring (after nighttime low of plus 8 to 10) further decreases moths getting onto the leaves.

Wire worms (click beetle larvae) can cause damage, but I have found they tend to attack crops that are left in the ground too long.

Onion grubs pose more of a threat.  These are evaded by moving the crop from one part of the farm to another - crop rotation.

The 1 sixth of the crop that failed was a variety that came from a seed house that i have never purchased garlic from before (my regular supplier had a bad season).  We are back to purchasing from Boundary Farm, who seem to have recovered.  Boundary have introduced me, in turn, to Rasa Creek Farms, who I also started purchasing garlic from.  Having more than one supplier whose quality I can depend on will be good in the event one or the other has another poor season in the future.

The varieties I choose also make a difference.  I have trialed about twenty five varieties over the years, and continued to grow the ones that have responded the best to our particular soil and microclimate.

Porcelaine type garlic grows best in Eastern Ontario.  I focus on these.  Fish Lake, a heritage type 'bred' in Prince Edward County has done exceptionally well.

I have had better than expected success with some Rocambole and Marbled types.  We grow a few varieties of these as they tend to have a different flavour/heat/oil content than the Porcelaines.  They don't last as long on the shelf, but I think they are slightly more versatile in the kitchen.

There are HUNDREDS of varieties of Garlic.  The options at purchase time are mind boggling.  What I find amazing about this is that garlic 'seed' is not cross bred in the same manner as beans or tomatoes are for generating new varieties.

As it is grown from the bulbs of the plant, offspring are genetically the same as their parent.  Garlic growers keep an eye out for subtle anomalies an individual plant may have (taller or shorter than the rest, different shaped leaf, etc) that indicate a genetic change or accident that could result in a new variety.

Of course, the new variety may or may not be an improvement.  The bulb from the anomalous plant would require a couple of seasons of propagation to determine if the resulting variety is suitable for growing, storing, and eating.

So much for all that, I seem to have got carried away and written a little more than an update.

Back to the office, I'll be in touch soon.

Please keep forwarding those surveys!

Please call if you are interested in signing up, or if you have any questions about our farm.

Bob





Update January First:

Happy Holidays everyone!  All the best for 2015.

Ordered the seed potatoes the other day.  As usual, four varieties.  THe Early Onaways, the mid season Dakota Pearls, and the late season Red Chieftains were chosen as I find I can depend on them.

I decided to replace the Agrea potatoes, as they have been a bit tricky here, and have not yielded consistently. I asked Henry abut a late season baker that could be ready for THanksgiving, and he suggested a Russet called "Goldrush".  This will be the first time I have tried a russet.  Henry says that this variety has a long and dependable history in eastern ontario, once a standard in the conventional farm industry.

I'll be e-blasting last years customers soon.  Feel free to contact me early if you want to sign up.  I'm starting to rev up the engines after a good holiday.

Bob

Hey All:

I have been able to catch up on some stalled projects.  

The improved nursery 3 requires about 8 hours of work - principally the last three of six doors and the last of the wiring.  It is insulated enough to hold its heat for a thirty hour power outage, it is much more convenient to work in, and considerably more rodent proof than nursery 2.

During the past two months at Whitsend, I was able to get a lot of my field prep work finished. When the ground thaws, we will have most of our beds ready to go.  This is a big improvement over last season, I should have no trouble staying comfortably on track for my planting schedule, even in the event I cannot attract a couple of interns.

The prep station construction has advanced a lot in the past months as well.  It still needs some work (A wind break, cupboard, wet-cooler, and dry storage space), but the frame and roof are up.  This will allow harvest days to start a lot more efficiently - no time lost trundling boxes, baskets, and buckets between the barn and prep station.  I will also be able to keep my customer requests right in front of me while I work - another time saver.

All of this saved time will allow me to focus on better harvests (quality and quantity), more individual details for deliveries, consistent planting and harvest schedules, more time for paperwork details, and some time to devote to experiments such as outwitting the Leek Moths, pushing our harvest season toward December, and developing new crops such as eggplant, sweet onions, and sprouting broccoli.

I should be set to start a serious customer base expansion drive for 2016.  

In the meantime, we have some improvement goals for the season:

Eggplant:  I have a little more knowledge about this most challenging crop.  Eggplants prefer to stay warm at night, so I will be keeping the row covers will be on through the summer.  

Tomatoes and Peppers:  Seems as if some of my old knowledge is outdated.  I am seeing more references suggesting a later start for tomato and pepper plants in the nursery, and transplanting them a bit younger than I have been.  This may make a small improvement in the yields for both plants.   

Also, I will be using more heat holding techniques for the Toms and Pepps.  As they are closely related to Eggplants, I assume that moderating overnight temperature change will boost their productivity even if we get another cool season.

Spinach:  I tried covering freshly seeded beds with row cover to keep the spinach seeds moist last year.  I have since learned that this is probably the reason why the last rounds of spinach germination failed last year - most leaf crop seeds require more sunlight to germinate.  So, the row cover stays off of these ones, and I will just have to water them a little more frequently.

Parsnip:  Unlike carrots, these seeds seem to require a lot of light for germination.  Like the spinach, I was covering them to keep their seed beds moist.  I reviewed my notes from two years ago, and found that they germinated just fine without the covers.  Another crop that will receive extra water and sun. 

Carrots:  I have altered my expectation somewhat for the first harvest.  Patience seems to be the ingredient I missed this year.  I think our extra early carrots three years ago was a fluke.  

I think I may skip a carrot harvest in late summer.  It makes more sense to have additional carrots in the fall as they keep well for the winter and taste better when grown in cooler weather.

Green Beans:  No different varieties, but I mention this as I believe that it will solve the problem of too much bean picking and improve the quality of the beans at your table.  I will be planting fewer, and reducing the picnic basket beans to bi-weekly delivery.  I'll be better able to provide a more consistent quality.

Beets:  Still some inconsistency to overcome.  I thinned the plants out more this season, but it seems that my timing of the thinning needs to be earlier than I have done in the past.  Some varieties have not done well in the spring, it may be that (like some other root crops) the shortening day length is the cue for some varieties to grow better.

Lettuce, Green Onions, Varna Leeks, Parsley:  Most of the problems associated with these crops relate to the inadequate nursery 2 (Catastrophic heat loss killing seedlings, awkward work space leading to seed tray spills, earwig invasion and rodent mischief).  Nursery 3 covers most of these.  As for the earwigs, I just have to keep replenishing the bug traps year round.

There is so much to learn!

With that in mind, might as well keep learning.  We are trying new crops or varieties this season:

Chinese Celtuce:  A lettuce family crop which provides a succulent stem that can be stir fried or cooked in stews or soups.  Leaves are edible too.

Mustard Greens:  There is no end to the genetic variation that the cabbage family can create.  I am looking at a number of different varieties, and will choose a couple that I think are suitable for our field and your palate.

Google the "triangle of U"  if you feel the need to augment your knowledge of genetic theory.  You don't need to digest the long chains of polyploid equations to enjoy a good salad, but you might appreciate what these little plants have done.

Potatoes: I will be speaking with our seed potato supplier in a week to inquire about a variety that is suitable for producing a good sized baker for Thanksgiving.  The Agrea is just too unpredictable, and may not be suited to our soil.

Squash:  I am trying a yellow zucchini this season.  What I really want are the Lebanese variety (also known as Cousa), which I am told are the best zukes by the folks at Byward Fruit.  So far, I can't find a source for the organic seeds.

As for our old green monster zucchini plants, I still have some seeds from last year.  There is no way I am going to try getting them in the field again (even next to the compost they wound up hogging space) so I will toss the seeds into the hedgerow.  I'm sure they will do just fine provided they don't bury the laneway.  If that doesn't work, I'll have to buy some adjacent land.

We have space for more winter squash, so expect more of these fruits per share.  They should also be a bit bigger this year.

Kidney Beans:  Two varieties this season, again due to more space available - Dark Red Kidney for cooking and salads, and Orca for soups and stews.  We will finish the last of the Dark Red Kidney this year, as I have found a better multi-purpose dry bean for 2016.

Zinnias:  Expect a different color this season.  Our Evening Primroses should be ready for delivery this season as well.

Rosemary:  Lack of space early in the spring prevented us from getting this crop off the ground.  Expect this herb in late summer, you will never want to get this one from the store again.

Two projects to start this year:

Rhubarb:  Due to lack of space, we have had to put Rhubarb off in past years.  Now I'm ready.  This is a two year project.

Sweet Onions:  There is only one variety of sweet onion that is suitable for our latitudes day length variation. Walla Walla sweet requires a three hundred day maturity period.  However, it's planting time is after the second wave of Leek moth, and its harvest time is too soon after the spring emergence of the moth for any significant damage.  If this works (I'll know by 2016), then mid-summer onions could be a possibility here.  

Enough of the writing, it's now time to head out to the farm and see how much ice has frozen on the barn door.

Talk to you soon, 

Bob

Raising Stonehenge at Whitsend

Well, closer to Avebury's woodhenge.  I'm not raising stone monoliths.  But if (as some archaeologists have pointed out) it is possible for a small number of people to raise 60 ton structures, then one can raise an awkward ten foot tall, eight foot long, four feet wide structure.  Using only simple machines, a pair of good gloves, and some fore-brain.

This is the intended location for the prep station shelter.  I had a makeshift one here for most of the summer, using parts of the structure framing assembled back in the spring and then set aside.  They were propped up and covered more or less with some plastic sheeting.

The plastic and temporary wood holding it in place was removed yesterday.  The structure was such that the only way a back could be built on it was if the frame was lying down, on its back.  So I rolled the entire structure forward until it was lying on its front, braced it in place and reinforced the framing (screws were used, another simple machine).

I then rolled it a second time so that it was on its back, and set to work installing the back paneling. Rolling was relatively easy, the structures edges were effective levers (physics again!), allowing me to lift an object considerably heavier than I.

That was the easy part, and where I picked up this morning.

First I slid whatever cylindrical shaped objects I could find under it and dragged it up to the edge of the gravel pad.  Then I placed it on a ramp of 2x4's (another simple machine) and lifted and moved it a couple of inches at a time until I was backed up to the barn wall.










Then the real lifting began.  With the new back (a pair of eight foot by four foot panels plus several six inch wide boards), the weight  of the structure was way too much for me to roll upright.  After some thinking, a chapter in a book about Stonehenge came to mind.  I went to the barn and retrieved a couple of wedges - Neolithic technology to the rescue.








Every move had to be carefully considered.  Each move was inches at a time.  There was much walking about the structure between moves, checking that nothing was slipping, cracking, etc.












At about this point, the wind started to pick up.

Larger wedges were retrieved.  Counter balancing was added to hold the structure.



Now upright, back onto the ramp an up to the gravel pad.

Now upright, back onto the ramp an up to the gravel pad.

Finally it was in place.  I built the roof on a square frame, used a ramp of 2X4's to slide the roof into place, and screwed it in.

After gloating over it while eating lunch, I went into the barn an began work on Nursery Three...

 A couple of photos from forthcoming posts.  Here's Beau, the 11 year old Labrador.  Julia and I house sat him while Dick and Bev (the farm landlords) were away this past fall.

 We bought our Halloween pumpkin from a farm down the road.  I augmented it with a couple of immature Delicata squash's.

They were a little too small for the candles.















But still looked good after dark.

Hey Folks:

Our pork is now in.  If you are interested, check out the "2014 Pork" page.

2015 is starting...the first delivery of 2015 seeds has arrived.  Spring is on the way.

Still tweaking next year's production plan, but it appears we will have room for a couple of new customers.

So far, it looks like beans will be bi-weekly delivery for Snack and Picnic baskets, and there should be 3 Delicata and 2 Acorn squash for each picnic basket sized share.

Prices will be going up slightly - I have increased all baskets by 5$ at this point, we may go another five by the time the dust clears.  I have absorbed the rising cost of seed in previous seasons, and the certification agency's increase in basic fees this year.  Seed delivery went way up this season as well.

However, we should be able to sustain our current pricing even as seed costs continue to rise - I assume that our gas will come down to offset this.

More news about the 2014 season up soon.

I've changed the formatting of the website a bit.  Let me know if you are having difficulty viewing this on your screen.

Bob

Hey All:

Back to the blog.  There are a lot of cobwebs to dust off, and plenty of blank spaces to fill in.

Later on, I’ll pick up where I left off in September (I have some rough drafts to touch up), but for now I’ll stay in the present.

The field work is all but done.  Most of the past week has been spent plowing the desk and harvesting files.  Some of this is basic administrative work, such as organising  documentation about the pig's work in the field for my organic certifiers.  They want to know information such as what steps were taken to prevent contamination of the growing crops (buffer zones, footwear or shovels dedicated as pig field use only, etc.).

Some of the paperwork involves a lot of creativity, such as coming up with next year’s production plan (how to fit an expanding customer base on the available number of beds, and more importantly, tweaking some of the plans to improve next year’s crops).  This needs to be done early, so that seed purchasing can start – early seed orders often have a discounted price.  Researching and sourcing new varieties of crops also needs to be done while the production plan is shaping up, and then it all has to fit into a couple of easily carried pages and a map for next year.

Needless to say, there is also receipt checking, end of fiscal year documentation, etc, etc, etc...Eighty per cent of farming has NOTHING to do with gardening.

Next year’s plan is looking good.  The map is now complete, the planting deadlines are set, and the first package of seeds has arrived.  There are only a couple of new crop varieties for next year.  Most of the improvements I want to achieve are with improving the quantity of yield, while incorporating some of the improvements I learned this season.

Highlights from last year:

Celery, particularly the last harvest, was much better tasting.  Mulching the stems of the celery with straw is what improved the flavour and texture.  Thanks to Richard (another farmer down the road) for pointing this one out to me.

New Zealand Spinach was a big hit.  The fact I was able to get it to germinate was a success in itself.  Its yield per plant was better than I had been told, and some customers said they preferred it over regular spinach for flavour, texture, and loft.

Peppers were a huge improvement.  Four years of slowly re-balancing the suspected nitrogen to phosphorous ratio seems to be having an impact.  Despite the fact that the climate was relatively poor for peppers, the bell peppers were larger by about 1/3, and the yield per plant was better.  The Pimento peppers also achieved their maximum size, and were planted in sufficient quantity that I was able to deliver a few red ones.  Many of the peppers (and some tomatoes and mid season potatoes) started to come down with a bacterial blight, but then shrugged it off about a month later.  This is another sign that the plants are healthier and able to withstand some extreme temperature swings such as we had in June.  The health of the plant is directly related to the health (or nutrient balance) of the soil, and this re-enforces my thought that the small peppers of previous years were a symptom of not enough phosphorous in the soil relative to the amount of nitrogen and potassium.

Potatoes had some big improvements as well.  The last two beds of Red Chieftain surpassed yield records here by 27% and 33%.  However, one succession in particular - the Agrea potatoes - were a disappointment.  They are capable of growing quite large, and have a great taste and baking quality.  I had timed their harvest to coincide with Thanksgiving, but they turned out either small or scabby.  I think they are best left to end of season, and a different Thanksgiving baker variety to be chosen for next year.  Still more to learn...

Another new crop this season was the Gold Purslane (pictured below the Red Amaranth).  Being heat tolerant plants of two different sizes, I planted them together - a technique called 'undersowing'.  This is one way of increasing the amount of crops grown on a small farm, and one of the reasons why small farms can out-perform factory farm in yield per acre - no tractor would be able to harvest one of these without squashing the other.  As well, both of these plants were planted together so that they could be harvested at the same time. 




I soon discovered that the Amaranth is a heavy drinker, but Purslane prefers less water.  The Purslane began to mold very quickly.  Subsequent harvests improverd, next year I intend to plant the Purslane with the Basil (another crop that prefers less water).  

The Purslane proved to be a nice addition to the kitchen, adding some extremely healthy veg-based oil to whatever it is cooked with and thus good for transporting flavours.  As a salad addition, it also proved to be interesting.  I am wondering how well it might fare roasted with drier root vegetables such as potatoes.  I also suspect it would add some citrus zing to the tallow texture of lamb.


The drawback of specialty leaf crops is that they tend to be very time consuming to harvest, clean and package - and time was something I did not have much of this season. More on that in another post.  

Basil improved slightly, though the second succession did not materialise (again due to not enough time).

The problem in the past was that the well water was too cold for Basil, and tended to blacken its leaves - as happens when fresh Basil is placed in the fridge.  I tried to get around this by watering the plants thoroughly the day before harvest to clean them off.  This works well when it doesn't rain overnight and splash soil all over the leaves again.

Flower production improved, largely due to more experience germinating seeds and the newly built rock garden.  I am very curious to see how well my perennial flowers self seed for next year.  The only poor note on these is that the Nasturtiams grew so vigorously that they overwhelmed and choked the Thyme.



One of the flowers that worked well was the Calendula's (pictured), though they will need another year to fully establish - we had very few to start with.  Expect more of them next year if they self seed as well as they should.


The Zinnias were also a good find, very easy to harvest.

The big question now is will the Evening Primroses and Leopard Flowers withstand the winter well enough to continue to settle in and start their blooming next year?

Kidney Beans improved over last year, though only three out of four beds were planted – I needed that extra bed for the last potato crop.  I’m still not satisfied with the Dark Red Kidneys, and am continuing to look for the Light Pink from two year’s ago or something very similar.  Light Pink Kidneys are soft enough for bean salads yet do not break apart when cooked in a stew.

Lettuce heads were larger in some successions.  On a hunch, I increased the distance between transplants from 10 to 12 inches and had much bigger heads.  The drawback is fewer plants, which presents more risk in case some start to go to seed a couple of days early. 

A new variety of lettuce for us this year, our first crisp head variety ‘Anenue’ was ok.  I thought it slightly better flavoured than the very long season iceberg lettuces, but its bolt resistance was very poor.  I’ll only be planting this one for spring in the future, and will try a different crunch lettuce for next year – a romaine type called ‘Coastal Star’.

The field continued to improve as a working area.    Here are the  beds I raked down in the spring.  Pictured below is how they look now (from the opposite direction) where the path cover is beginning to fill in.  I use Dutch clover (low growing, foot traffic and drought tolerant, and very good for soil health), and have started to supplement it with Perrenial Rye (which is a great weed suppressant).  

Another benefit is that mowing this cover gives me raw material for the compost, eliminating the need for a field of "green manure" for compost use - another advantage that a factory farm just can't match.

The paths do need to be managed somewhat so that they do not grow into the beds.  One of the advantages of not having interns this year was that I started to become very creative with time consuming tasks, and found ways of doing this particular task quickly.  Next year ought to be a snap!







With all these great improvements to gloat over, I must remember to add a few paragraphs about some of the less than stellar performances (and outright disasters).  I am after all, somewhat hypercritical.  It is much easier to see the damage when you are in the eye of the storm.  However, the rain is pelting the window and reminding me of some items drying outside, and it looks like time to get supper started.  Talk to you all very soon.

Bob

Treats to look forward to this fall:

-Brussels Sprouts.  I planted twice as much this season due to such a great response from last years customers.  The cool, cloudy, somewhat wet season was perfect for them.  I'll be picking them in October, after the frost has improved their flavour.

-Snap peas.  These are just starting (you'll receive some either this week or next).  These are stringless, and taste quite good - better than our snow peas, in my opinion.

-Napa Cabbage.  Looks like two heads for each picnic basket, and some being quite big.  This was another hit last year, and changed my mind on cabbage generally (which is an incredibly difficult crop for eastern Ontario.  In fact, I tried store bought nappa cabbage last winter and now I wonder why the other cabbage is so popular.  

-Winter Squash.  Looks like one acorn and two Delicata per customer.  I may send these on early to get them out of the storage here, I am worried that the mice might decide to sample them.  They are cured and should last for several weeks (months even) in a cool, dry place out of direct sun.

-Agrea potato.  These are a gold skin/gold flesh potato with incredible taste and great baking quality.  I planted them a bit too early, they are a bit small as a result.  But worth every effort.  we also have a surplus of Red Chieftains (which store very well for months), as well as some leftover early season spuds that were planted late (the white onaways we started the season with).

-Celery.  The third round of Celery due in a couple of weeks.  This round has had the straw mulch treatment, and should be much milder and less stringy.  

-Celeriac.  I am hoping the last 40 or so roots will size up, they were planted a bit late as I tried to get them to harvest readiness for Thanks giving.  The early ones will be coming out next week, preference given to the customers who specifically requested them.  An interesting veg to be sure.

-Storage turnips.  The Golden Globe variety of turnip last very well in a cool, dry place.  Hold onto them until sometime in the winter for a reminder of how good summer can taste.  Like all brassica family plants, a touch of frost improves the taste.

-Daikon and Watermelon Radish.  A versatile root that can be pickled, stir fried, or grated.  I'll ask some of you more familiar with this for some ideas.  Let me know if you want to try one of these out later in the fall - ready in November.

-Green Onions.  We have another round on the way.  These will be smaller, having been started quite late for fall planting.

-I'll try one more round of Arugula, it should do much better in the fall  with the cool weather.

-Kidney Beans.  These are 2/3rds harvested and now hanging in the barn to dry.  They should be ready for shucking in a few weeks.

-Pork.  Negotiations with abattoirs, processors, trailers, drivers, etc are being made.  All they know is that apples from Dicks hedgerow have started to appear in the grazing field...

With all this talk of food, it must be time for my own supper...I'll have pix up later in the week and a few other notes about "putting the beds to sleep" for the season.  Fall is our busiest time of year, with much of the activity focused on next season's start.

Bob

Every time someone new comes out to the farm during wet weather, I always warn them about the border around the gravel pad.  It is made out of 12" diameter cedar barn logs.  They get very  slippery when they are wet.

So despite knowing the hazard, I managed to step on these (with rubber boots on, no less) and took a spill.  With a full bowl of hog feed mash in each hand.

I was ok, other than some wounded pride and a mash covered sweater.

It only takes a heartbeat to end a career or incur a dry cleaning cost.

BE SAFE!

Hey All:

Thanks to those of you who came out to our open house.  Each year it grows a little more.  This year included some new facilities, a few “factoids” typed out at various places of interest in the field, and a tent.  Next year, I hope we can lure in a few more folks and perhaps some live music.

Thanks to those of you who brought in a few items to help out – the folding table, the extra cooler, the raspberry “wine”, the tent, and Barbecue.  Special thanks to Dick for helping out by mowing the guest area and the laneway.

The intention was to send everyone home with some cut flowers, but one thing led to another and by the time I realized I had not clipped any, everyone had already left…this is what they call “next year’s country”.

Speaking of next year, I have been taking some extra time to transfer some notes to next year’s production plan.  I seem to have a tremendous capacity for memorizing statistics (such as 1 bed of Provider beans requires 150 seeds times 2 rows per bed yielding 1-1/2 pounds of beans for 10 for two consecutive weeks, start yield around July first as the Providers shut down in July heat therefore plant no later than May 10, note that Slenderettes are 60 days to maturity, Maxi’s are 43 days but longer if planted after July 20…).  I think the exercise my brain experienced when I was much younger, memorizing hockey card statistics, helped with this.  But a good memory can only go so far, and the note taking is invaluable.  

More importantly, transferring the “notes” to a standard format will be very helpful when the planning for next year starts, likely in October and November when I begin making my first seed purchases.

I have mentioned a couple of times in these posts that the season is offering up a few big disappointments, a few great successes, and a lot of average expectations.  It seems that this year is an exception.  It is all great successes and big disappointments. 

The New Zealand spinach has been a great success.  It just keeps growing.  As a heat loving plant, I expect that a warmer summer could yield more than I have been able to harvest this year.  Other successes include:

-          “Unusual leaf” production generally has been a success this year.  After three year’s of trying, it was bound to work out.  The second round of Gold Purslane is on the way.  This has been one of my favourites.  It took three tries this year.  The first bed it was planted in (undersowed with the Callaloo) was too wet for its liking, and it quickly became moldy.  The second round was too shaded, and did not grow very well.  The third round is on the way, and despite some mold from the wet weather of late, it appears to be doing well;

-         Better than expected yield from the acorn squash, despite the appearance of some kind of blight with the leaves;

-          Success with trellising the cucumbers, though I can still improve on my technique;

-          Better flower production.  The Zinnias and Calendula in particular have done very well, and the Primrose are starting to flower despite still being in their first year;

-          Improved growth of Daikon and Watermelon radish (so far).  Last year’s crop was too crowded, and were stunted somewhat by starting them in the nursery;

-          Better compost production, despite the arrival of a colony of wasps in one windrow;

-          Better water management and use of the irrigation tapes.  This has drastically cut down time spent watering.  Now the trick is to figure out how to bury the hoses under the turf for the season so that they stay out of the way of the lawn mower;

-          Cleaner beds.  Each year, the weed pressure on the beds becomes easier to manage.  I am now spending more time edging the beds where the path clover grows into the beds, and have a few ideas on how to reduce this time consuming task as well;

-          Decent sized bell peppers!  This is a huge success.  There is still room for improvement.  However, the harvesting of some 4” diameter fruits was worthy of a picture.  I think that the soil building is paying off (adding the Rock Calcium Phosphate to the soil over the past two years), and the second potting up of selected plants may also have been a factor as well.  The bell Pepper I chose this year is called Olympus, it may be an improvement over the Yarden variety we have had in previous year’s.  However, I noticed that the Pimento “Lipstick” peppers were also larger than last year.  So many variables go into success…I wonder how they would have done with a hotter, brighter summer.

-          Potatoes have yielded better than usual.  The potato beetles were caught very early in the year and had their annual cycle disrupted.  I lost very few tubers to greening.  Now, most damage seems to from “lawn grubs”.  We had one bed of “Red Chieftain” yield an almost perfect pair of rows.  One of these rows broke a previous best with a 1/3^rd increase in pound yield.

-          Celery seems to be slightly improved in flavor and less stringy.  I think some plants were shaded a bit better than others by the straw mulch – see previous post about celery “stringyness”.

-          Healthy pigs.  Not bad for a first try.

There are, however, a lot of disappointments:

-          Everything that came out of the nursery this year was hard won.  Lettuces, Parsley, and Green Onions were either drying out too quickly, being eaten by earwigs, or eaten by rodents.  The drying out will be fixed when the nursery is improved and the hardening off shelter is moved to the side of the barn – which cannot happen until the shed is built and that can’t happen until the indoor nursery is dismantled and the wood re-purposed…

-          As for the indoor nursery, it has also done it’s best to hold me back, with frozen bulb onions and tomatoes (first try), spilled onions and tomatoes (second try - it’s a very awkward place to work in), and more infestations.  I found two mice nests in it a couple of weeks ago…how do they get in?!?!?!  Honestly, I try to tell myself that doing less harm is a virtuous path, but the thought of those buck teeth make my teeth grind.  They also chewed into two tarps and a roll of stored row cover.  They’ll be into the electrical wiring next.  I digress…

-          Mustard Greens have been difficult this year, despite the weather being fairly good for them.  The flea beetles seem to be taking advantage of a “population trough” of frogs and toads.  These are the only things that I am aware of that eat these insects on a large scale.  The first year I was at the farm, it was crawling with toads.  I think that some of the cultivating done in previous year’s may have knocked them back.  The Arugula, etc continue to grow, but the little holes that the beetles chew in the leaves cause the leaves to have a shorter shelf life;

-          Corn and Tomatoes have not done well this season.  This is despite having a better planting regimen for the corn, and a better trellising and pruning technique for the Tomatoes.  Not much I can do about this, these plants want more heat.

-          Undersowing the corn with Buckwheat did poorly.  My timing was off – when I expected a lot of rain, we barely received any.  The buckwheat grew very thinly, and did not suppress the weeds as expected.  The other reason we grow buckwheat under the corn is to help build the soil.

-          Eggplants.  This started off as a great success (they survived transplant, unlike last year), but then grew little or not at all for most of the summer.  I saw two blooms, which have both dropped.  A little “over the fence” advice from one of the oldtimers around here suggested that I should be covering them at night even during the summer.  Next year…

-          Choked Thyme, lost Catnip…the rock garden was a little too crowded.  I went to look for some Thyme last week, and found that it was so overgrown by the Nasturtiams that it had died off.  The Catnip plant suffered a similar fate from the Calendula.

I’m sure I am forgetting a few items, but I think you get an idea.  Many great successes and failures, and so little in between - what will the rest of the season bring?

Talk to you soon.

PS, if you know of ANYONE interested in experiencing work on an organic or mixed produce farm, PLEASE forward them to me.  

Hey Everyone:

It's been a very very very busy month here at Whitsend.  As always, the priority has been tending to the food (and hosting my annual organic inspection and audit).  And harvesting.  And reacting to some big disappointments.  And searching for a missing crop.

How could I "loose" a crop?  I know I planted Catnip three years ago.  I watered it this spring.  The clover grew in around the rock garden (as I intended, but somewhat thicker than I anticipated.  I assumed the catnip, being a vigorous grower, would simply push its way up.  So a couple of weeks ago, when a customer requested some catnip, I thought no problem.  Until the very end of the harvest day, when I turned my attention to the cut flowers and herb requests.  That is when I discovered that the Catnip just wasn't there.

I finally found some growing a few feet away (no surprise, I have heard of mint family plants sending roots under a road to sprout in another lawn).  But I really had to scratch my head over this one.  I do know what's going on at my farm, don't I?  Either a cat got in and ate it, or the mice took it away.  I'll blame the rodents.

In the big disappointment column, rodents are a strong suspect for the missing lettuce and beet sprouts in the nursery.  Earwigs are another possible culprit.  The damage pattern for both pests would be the same - nipped terminal buds, which effectively prevents the plants from growing further.  These were to be the final lettuces and roots for the November harvest.  Cold hardy "Rouge D'hiver" mini romaine lettuce and Red Ace table beets.  Beets are usually grown from direct seeding, but unlike most roots, they can be started in the nursery and transplanted when needed.  In this case, the bed was not quite ready for a direct seeding and so I planted the beets in the nursery to get them started while I prepped the bed for transplanting.  Another case of "all that work for nothing...".  The worst part of it is that the planting date for both of these crops has passed.  It is too late to try another round.

We will still have some beets for mid fall.

There are many tricks one can use on small scale farms to "change" the weather.  But some crops require a combination of sunlight and heat that is difficult to achieve without resorting to expensive materials (some of which are not compatible with organic regulations).  Corn, Tomatoes, and Eggplant are three of them.

Corn is not having a great season in Eastern Ontario, as i have been hearing.  Ours is no different.  Even our "extra early" heritage sweet corn is about two weeks off from its expected maturity date, and the cobs are very small.  The tomatoes are still quite green, from the 58 day Lime Greens (Should have been ready by early to mid July), to the long season Sorrentos.  I suppose my acid intolerant stomach is better for it, but my taste buds are not.

I am in the midst of a disappointing bed of carrots as well.  My fault, I should have thinned them out a bit more.  Between lack of sun and being too crowded, they are the size of shoestrings.  Great for roasting, but not a inspiring way to start a harvest day.

However, i must put all of this out of my mind and get into event mode.  Like funding drives, festival coordinating, or staging a show, I am mentally preparing for the open house...as well as seeing to the final details such as cue cards, display boards, refreshments, etc.  It's going to be a compressed work-week for me.  See you there...

Bob