Feb 10

Big milestone in the nursery today...the doors are mounted!  Big thanks to Randy (one of our interns from last year), who braved the chill weather and provided the essential third hand.

One more day of work should do it for the new nursery.  Wiring for the light and heat, mounting the shelves (brackets already in place), and mounting the lights.  After that, time for the trays to move in, thaw out, and receive their first planting...onions and herbs...with tomatoes, peppers, new zealand spinach, and some flowers to follow...spring is a week away at Whitsend!

One other note for this week:

 It has come to my attention that one of our customers have had a family bereavement.  This individual (who lived in the family household) always took time to come down to the kitchen when the delivery arrived.  She often had very nice comments about the produce, remarking on the appearance, or expressing appreciation for an item from the previous week.  Your presence will be missed.

I like the winter but…:

I am already looking forward to some lettuce and potatoes with real flavour, purple radishes, a wide variety of mustard greens, and fresh fennel.

And oily garlic – not “garlic powder in a clove” that is all too common at the store.

Which reminds me, I am hoping that 2013 will mark an improvement in our bell peppers.  As well this year, we hope to have some success with our new strategy for the European Leek Moths.  

Hey All:

I was out in the field yesterday to check on the snow pack and see what the critters have been up to.  The only recent animal tracks were a lone Turkey lost from it’s rafter (A group of turkeys is referred to as a “Rafter of Turkeys”.  The mice, rabbits, red squirrels and cats seem to be favouring the area around the barn. 

There is between 18 to 24 inches of snow in the field, which is good for the garlic planted last fall.  The bulbs will be well insulated from the extreme cold.

The workload is increasing quickly here at Whitsend.

I am getting the annual flood of emails – inquiries from new prospects and potential interns, last year’s customers signing up again, and replies from some of my own seed inquiries.  If you are waiting for my reply, I am getting to it shortly.

There is still some planning occurring as I get a few more of last year’s surveys, researching pigs and forage crops, and double checking what my equipment and supply needs are for the season.

And in the barn, the building continues.  The nursery reached a big milestone yesterday, with the completion of the roof.  This was a moral victory, as the structure (like a greenhouse in function but a cabinet in form) now looks like something other than a skeleton. 

I’d take a picture of the nursery, but the barn is probably too dark to take a decent photo without a flash.  The insulation I chose is highly reflective, and wouldn't be appropriate with a flash, either.

By the way, my wood working has created a considerable amount of cedar wood shavings.  We usually use these as fire starters on camping trips, but there is more than we can use for quite some time.  If any of our customers are the camping type, let me know and I will get some to you when convenient.

Talk to you soon,

Bob