Whitsend Market Garden

Update April 26:

Hello everyone...we are back on-line.  

If you are trying to contact us for purchasing one of the few remaining shares, call us at the house after 7 pm, or send to email (please find below).

Someone tried to call us the other day, but the number and name were too garbled to make out on the answering machine.  I think the first three numbers of the phone number were 407.  If this is you, try calling us again or send an email.  

As for the plants, New Zealand Spinach is finally germinating at a steady rate.  The Lettuces, Chard, and Kale are starting to show their first secondary leaves, and many of our flower sprouts look promising...Calendula, Zinnia, Primrose, Leopard flower, Bachelors Buttons, and more.  Thyme appears to be the most robust herb we have so far, the Rosemary and Lemon Balm being a little finicky.  Basil and squashes to be started in the nursery soon.  

The Garlic is also doing well (at least the visible part above ground).

I'll write more soon, I am in the midst of the pre-season field preparation for the season.  There's not much time for anything else, so my replies and communications may get a bit erratic over the next few weeks.

Hey Everyone…all’s well at Whitsend so far.

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 to late 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 in the spring.

Tomato and Pepper starts

If you are interested in your own tomato or pepper plants, check out this site in the next couple of weeks.  We should have some extra.  These are free for season customers, $5.00 per plant  for everyone else.

The Whitsend Post

The Nursery is holding together.  The old hardening off shelter is rebuilt and easier to use.  Last year’s nursery is getting a new roof before it is moved outside to become a new hardening off shelter.  The workspace is going to be a lot more user friendly this year, allowing me to spend more time in the field.

At least, as soon as the barn has dried out.  Seems that our new gravel pad on the outside of the barn has caused a lot of melt water to drain into the storage area of the barn.  Some of my lumber has frozen into the ground.  We’ll manage, hopefully the new structures outside the barn that are going up this year will reduce the amount of snow against the barn wall next winter.  Farming always require keeping one eye on the horizon.  Some call it “Next year’s country”.

Speaking of the field, the snow receded quickly.  We were out last Tuesday checking on a few things.  The snow was down to its last few inches.  I was out again on Friday, and parts of the field were dry enough to work.  I sowed our first round of snow peas on Saturday.

The Garlic has not yet made its appearance (We spot checked two of the 6 beds), but that is probably good as I expect we will have at least one more cold snap.  Some of the Sage has survived the season under its mulch of straw.  All will depend on whether the roots were insulated enough.  The overwintered carrots have survived the cold.  They are small, Angela will let us know if they are up to kitchen quality soon.

Speaking of Angela, I am pleased to introduce our first intern this season.  Angela has spent her two week trial period helping out in the nursery, seeding and promoting your Chard, Kale,  Peppers, Tomatoes and Eggplants, as well as some of the less glamorous (but important) work such as mixing our custom potting soil.  I am certain she will make a very positive contribution to the growing of your food this season.  Welcome to Whitsend, Angela!

And speaking of the food, we have had our usual blend of successes and failures. 

We have managed to germinate some New Zealand Spinach.  We have improved from last year’s germination rate of zero to this year’s 6 %.  Of all the variables, it seems that soil temperature is the biggest determinant.  I seeded several trays and placed them on different shelves (some higher up in the nursery where the temperature is warmer and some near the bottom where it is cooler).  It turns out that the plant prefers the cooler soil, and the shelf that has germinated the most plants also successfully germinated the Parsley – another cool germinating plant.  I am continuing to try some different techniques, as the number of plants is still too low for our needs.  But I think I am on the right track. 

Whitsend Celery Sprouts (Photo 2013 last year by Randy)

The celery is off to a great start.  Most of the challenges with this plant (for us) is out in the growing field.  However, I always find it amazing that these tiny little sprouts manage to survive their nursery life…they look so frail one can hardly believe that they will grow into such large plants.  The celeriac is a bit late germinating, but we seem to have a good amount now. 

The Tomatoes, Peppers, and Eggplant all got off to a slow start.  I had to seed them three times for some varieties.  The earliest plants seem to have been stressed by the fluctuating temperatures in the nursery and many were lost to damping off.  This is a first for us, we rarely lose any plants to this mold condition.  However, we now have a good compliment of sprouts and seedlings in various stages of development.  We should have a lot of “Lime Green” Cherry Tomato plants available for those of you who want extra this year for your own backyards or containers.  Lime Green Cherries are a relatively compact bush, and are early producers (58 days).  Their flavour ranges between sweet and tart.

The Rosemary and Thyme have required a second seeding each, as they have been kept a little too warm in the nursery.  The Oregano is doing well.

As for flowers, The Primrose and Zinnia’s 
are coming along nicely.  I saw my first Nasturtium and Calendula sprouts as of today.  More flowers (including Oppopeos and Marigolds) are getting their first seeding in the next week or so.  The marigolds are companion planted in one of the Tomato beds.

Stock photo taken by Randy from same time last year. 

For the next couple of weeks, most of our work will be in the field, I will detail that in our next post.  I'll explain a little more about our Tomato companion planting, and the plastic pictured in the field picture here.

Talk to you soon,

Bob