Whitsend Market Garden

Update March 22nd:

Our pre-season request form should be ready shortly after the first of April.  I am looking forward to seeing what Jen at Sysabee has developed so far.  Once we are satisfied with the data collection form, I will distribute this to the customers for this season so that I can accurately sow the seeds for the start of the season.

Once the forms are distributed by email, work will turn to developing an electronic method of collecting the requests.  I anticipate trying this out a few times this season to ensure that it works (if there are problems with our first trials, I will still have the pre-season email form to fall back on).

Meanwhile, the nursery is starting to fill.  I now have enough seedlings for the celeriac, green onions, the first two rounds of celery; way more parsley than required, and a little over half of our bulb onions.  A second round of bulb onions is just starting to germinate.

Here is the parsley at two weeks of age.  Like many of the umbellifer (carrot family crops) a very slow grower.  For reference, check out the photo of the germinating parsley from March 9th, below.

At this time of year, I need to visit the nursery once every 36 hours, to ensure that the heat isn't drying out the soil.

As the temperature warms up over the next couple of weeks, the onions and parsley will move to the outdoor nursery, making room for the lettuces, chard, and kale.





Update March 19:



Farm sales have crossed the one third mark.  If you are considering a share of this seasons harvest, contact me soon.



Back at the old farm, the first round of sprouts are steadily growing into seedlings.

After promoting the first round of bulb and green onions, the a second round of bulb onions was seeded last week.  I have about half of what is needed, so a smaller third round will likely be required for insurance.

Pictured here are some of the parsley sprouts.  I had two partial packets of three and four year old seed which I assumed was reaching the limit of its viability.




I ordered a new packet and sowed all of the old seed to see what I could get out of it.  Much to my surprise, it gave about an eighty per cent germination rate, resulting in about twice as many plants as required, so there may be some parsley starts to sell at the farm gate in early spring.


Searching for the "New Farm" continues...

Another piece of farmland to explore.  Thankfully, this one is not as big as the previous property and easier terrain to hike across.

Not quite Canadian shield and not quite Ottawa valley - a boundary eco-system where different wildlife habitats overlap.

In theory, this means more pollinators, bug eaters, and rodent predators.

Half an hour drive away from here, we spotted a bald eagle.







An interesting aspect of this property are a few 'grand parent' aged trees.  Large swaths of this part of eastern Ontario were burned over in the forties and fifties.

A clue - those juniper plants suggest that the soil here may be quite shallow in places.

The south facing slope is a bonus as well, taking the solar climate of this property a hundred kilometers south.









One strike against this property is the driveway. 

It's steep slope will make for some difficult winter mornings in the car.

The busy road may make for some traffic noise, but also provides good access to farm gate customers.

Finding out the soil depth is one of the two pieces of information that will determine if this place goes to the short list.

Despite what gardening books might say, 12-18 inch depth is plenty for vegetable production - about the same as the current farm.

In some places, Elmtree had a maximum 12 inch soil depth upon which grew some astounding tomatoes.

Update March 9th:

Here are the first parsley plants to emerge.  Starting tomorrow, I'll be gently teasing these out of the soil and moving them to individual cell packs, where they will live for the next 10 weeks or so until it is time to transplant.  This process is called promoting.  The earliest onions will be ready for promoting as well.

I have sold 1/3 of our shares for the season.  I am especially encouraged by the number of new customers we have gained thus far.








Update March 1st:  Compare this seed tray from a photo (below) of five days ago.  The onions have started sprouting.

The seed starting occurs in a very light soil mix that retains moisture.  Light penetrates it fairly easily as well, and along with warmth provided by the nursery, these are the three ingredients needed by the seeds to germinate.

In about a week, these onion sprouts will be promoted to cell packs, where they will continue to grow in a richer soil for about ten or eleven weeks.








Update Feb 23:

The field is starting to appear.

The nursery has been switched on for the past few days, and has warmed up to spring temperatures. 

No sign of mice since the shelves were cleaned and sterilized, still plenty of fox tracks in the snow around the barn.

The first succession of onion seeds are now sown.  600 seeds, approximately half of what our projected needs are.

This may seem like a lot, but I anticipate about 75 per cent germination and survival rate between now and transplant, and some losses after transplant.

Seedlings lost after transplant are replaced by the second succession of onions.





Update February 21:

Whitsend Market Garden has engaged Sysabee Ottawa to assist us with developing a request system that farm customers can use to build their weekly and season harvest basket contents.

We anticipate this project to take a year to fully implement, but there will be opportunities throughout the season to experience the fruits of our collaboration.

The excitement of the new year continues, and it's still February...





Hello Everyone:


Work is starting to pick up here.  Despite the snow on the ground, this is a very busy time of year at Whitsend.

Very low snow pack this winter, but some long-term forecasts are suggesting another wet start to the season.

I'll look back at the notes from last spring to see how best to respond.







The seedling trays are cleaned:

This helps reduce the inevitable build-up of pathogens.  As chlorine based cleaners are prohibited by the organic standard, I use a 3% H2O2 (Hydrogen Peroxide).  It is permitted as it does not persist in the soil.





The nursery is cleaned out, lights, fans, temperature control tested:

Aside from a little soil, most of what is vacuumed out is the calling card that mice leave behind (aside from what they gnaw upon, which appears to be everything).  According to my traps, we had quite a few of them in here last fall.  A few days should let me know how many (if any) are left to clear out.

I've noticed more fox tracks than previous winters, and observed a cat prowling around the barn, which is always good news.



Most of our 2018 seeds are purchased:

As usual, organic green bean seeds were the toughest to find, but I was able to source most of what I wanted andd all of what I needed.  There'll be fewer "Jade" green beans, so I purchased extra "Maxibel" to cover the remainder.  Not quite as prolific, so I will have to sow little extra.

I added three new crops added for the season.  I have included chicory, parsley root, and a different color of zinnia in our order.  A couple more lettuces were added to the mix as well.

One lettuce many of our past customers will be pleased about is a Bibb lettuce variety called "Sylvestra".

I have planted chicory in the past - some folks call this frisee.  Closely related to lettuce, used as a salad leaf.  Some folks like this one a lot (or so my sister says).  So I will add it as a limited option in exchange for some lettuce head or arugula.  This crops does best in the cooler weather of early and late season.

I recall chicory has a stronger flavor than lettuce*.  Some folks may prefer this to arugula - another leaf with a "bitter" flavor.

*Technically that flavor is called 'bitter', but marketers have found the word bitter scares consumers away - hence, baby kale is marketed as 'sweet baby kale' (it is milder than mature kale but certainly not sweet) and salsify root is marketed as 'Sweet Salsify'.  (Salsify generally has no distinct flavor, it takes it's flavor from whatever it is cooked with).

Parsely Root will be a new crop for me.  I'll trial a small quantity this season and use it as an exchange for carrots.  It's maturity date is close to that of our colored carrots, so I will plant a few of these at the end of the bed.

A little bit of variety to spice up soups , stews and casseroles.  I am interested to find out how it differs from parsnip and celeriac, which it is closely related to.



Yellow zinnia seeds are not available from organic seed suppliers this season, and I only have about 20 seeds left that are about two years old.  I have found a new color zinnia to use, but I'll leave it as a surprise.

While closing with a new customer, I inquired if there were any requests they had, and they mentioned peonies.  I spent some time looking for peony seeds, but could not find any from organic stock.  What I did learn was that deer are repelled by this crop, and so some farms use it along boundary fences.  Deer are not much of a problem here, but this is something to look for in the future while we continue our search for  permanent land.





On another note, while setting up my next seed order, I found that white tomato seeds are unavailable this season.  "Great White" is our signature crop, at least to my mind.  Compared to our other tomatoes, it is a relatively low yielding crop, and it's irregular shape renders it a little less popular.

A few of us appreciate it's low acidity.

Rotating the trays so all seedlings get optimal time near the fan 

After scouring my usual seed houses (I typically work with four of them for most of our main season crops), I turned to Sunshine Farm in Kelowna, who have often provided rare or difficult to find seed.

They have a couple of options for a white tomato that I am interested in.  As of this writing, I am considering a gold tomato that has the low acidity content.  It's shape is a little more uniform and it is reputed to be quite flavorful. 






Next, continue to sign on new customers, get my annual farm registration mailed, and start seeding parsley and onions...