Update April 10: We have moved house to a location closer to the farm. Our new phone number is now located at the bottom of this page.
We still have room for 6 more customers this season.
Income generated from the next three sales will purchase our solar panel for heating and lighting the nursery next season.
In other news, the nursery is very crowded. The Primrose, Celery, Celeriac, Peppers, and Tomatoes look especially promising. We have had our first successful germination of New Zealand Spinach. Much more news to come very soon...
We still have room for one or two more interns. If you are interested, please check out the "Volunteer and Interns" Page.
Hey Folks:
Thanks to those of you who are visiting this site for the first time. We hope you enjoy our farm website as much as the real thing. Unfortunately, the electronic farm experience is not quite as tasty, though I hope it will whet your appetite for fresh, certified organic produce.
If you have any questions about the farm, feel free to contact me at the email address or phone number below.
Your advance payment will ensure a share of this year’s harvest. Harvest deliveries start in mid June and run through to the end of October. There are a couple of deliveries anticipated for November (cold hardy leaves and storage produce such as carrots and kidney beans). It is possible that there may be an early delivery of peas and carrots in the spring.
Why I use Flyers to find customers:
To keep our doorstep delivery cost efficient, I restrict my customer base to particular neighbourhoods. This renders print and electronic advertising somewhat ineffective.
An on-line advert can be found on the website for the Canadian Organic Growers (Ottawa Chapter). Whitsend is a COG member as of 2013.
I use very simple flyers (printed at home on standard print paper) to keep costs down. I realize most flyers will wind up being recycled, so I do not create extra expense with glossy, professionally cut flyers.
I do not leave flyers if I see a “no flyers please” sign on your mailbox. If I did not notice your request to this effect, please accept my apologies.
By far, most of our customers have come to us by word of mouth.
We still have room for 6 more customers this season.
Income generated from the next three sales will purchase our solar panel for heating and lighting the nursery next season.
In other news, the nursery is very crowded. The Primrose, Celery, Celeriac, Peppers, and Tomatoes look especially promising. We have had our first successful germination of New Zealand Spinach. Much more news to come very soon...
We still have room for one or two more interns. If you are interested, please check out the "Volunteer and Interns" Page.
Hey Folks:
Thanks to those of you who are visiting this site for the first time. We hope you enjoy our farm website as much as the real thing. Unfortunately, the electronic farm experience is not quite as tasty, though I hope it will whet your appetite for fresh, certified organic produce.
If you have any questions about the farm, feel free to contact me at the email address or phone number below.
Your advance payment will ensure a share of this year’s harvest. Harvest deliveries start in mid June and run through to the end of October. There are a couple of deliveries anticipated for November (cold hardy leaves and storage produce such as carrots and kidney beans). It is possible that there may be an early delivery of peas and carrots in the spring.
Why I use Flyers to find customers:
To keep our doorstep delivery cost efficient, I restrict my customer base to particular neighbourhoods. This renders print and electronic advertising somewhat ineffective.
An on-line advert can be found on the website for the Canadian Organic Growers (Ottawa Chapter). Whitsend is a COG member as of 2013.
I use very simple flyers (printed at home on standard print paper) to keep costs down. I realize most flyers will wind up being recycled, so I do not create extra expense with glossy, professionally cut flyers.
I do not leave flyers if I see a “no flyers please” sign on your mailbox. If I did not notice your request to this effect, please accept my apologies.
By far, most of our customers have come to us by word of mouth.
Post March 11 2014 - Hey All:
I have said on several occasions that farming is about 10% vegetable growing and 90% everything else. These days, I am spending about 110% more time than I originally planned on being a carpenter.
The “new” nursery is not holding it’s heat, and it is not designed to allow for the addition of more insulation. To put insulation on the outside would expose the material to the gnawings of rodents, and putting the insulation on the inside would take space away from the seedlings.
I spent several hours “insulating” as best as I could, adjusting the position of the heat source, and blocking off the parts of the nursery that are not required for a couple more weeks. I used whatever sheet plastic, cardboard, and scrap wood I could find. Despite this, the heater continues to run near to capacity - costing me more hydro than I care to calculate.
I next took stock of the lumber I still had (for the sheds), and went back to the drawing board. I finally came to the conclusion that the best solution to the challenge at hand was to build a “newer” nursery.
Despite all of this, the onions haves started to sprout (albeit somewhat slower and with lower germination rate). There is still time to plant a make-up round, but I have to move quickly.
We started half of the Tomatoes, Eggplant, herbs and flowers today, and then I went back to hammering and sawing away.
Bob
Ps: I have room for eight more customers this season.
If you are considering purchasing a share of this year’s produce, please contact me soon.