Whitsend Market Garden

Update as of April 17:

Our CSA sales are now at 85%.  Contact us soon if you wish to purchase a portion of this season's harvest.

Pork is also starting to sell, and our stock is starting to dwindle.

I'll try to set some time aside on Sunday to do another post.  We have accomplished a fair amount over the past few weeks.

Take care,

Bob and Julia




Update as of April 3:

Our CSA sales have reached 70 per cent.

I have started celeriac and a second round of green onions in the nursery.

The dianthus flowers are starting their next pairs of leaves.  We are growing a lot of these in hopes of establishing them here in Lanark.  They should self seed effectively and be a treat for the bees.

Talk to you soon,

Bob

Update March 30th, 2020:

Hello Everyone, we hope you are all well - physically and mentally.  We know this has been an exceptionally challenging start to the year for a few of you - civil servants called upon to do work that you have never done before, teachers who have gone from the irregular work hours to no hours at all, families with children and parents to care for, and all of the other challenges big and small that we are all trying to mitigate and adapt to.  Some of my most interesting observations in the past month have not been on the farm!

Speaking of which, we are continuing on here with not too much disruption.  Most of my supply chains seem secure so far, though field seed prices are fluctuating as crops such as buckwheat and field peas are a commodity.

As of yesterday, our sales reached 60 per cent of our capacity for this season.  Thanks to all of you who have shown your faith in our farm during this most unpredictable season.

I am doing my part to ensure our property is remaining as low risk as possible.

I'll have more to write soon,

Bob

Hello Everyone:

Whitsend Market Garden is open for business this year.  I intend to continue to deliver food through the summer.  I'm doing my part to stay healthy and ensure I can continue managing the farm during this most unusual and unpredictable season.


If you are interested in a share of our produce this season, feel free to check out our “How to Buy a Share” page.  Contact me if you have any questions.

I hope you are all well in spite of everything.  As we have to limit our internet usage for Julia’s work from home, I will only use text for the following posts.

Here is a very brief update...

As of this writing, we are both well.  The snow is starting to recede from the house and the first bit of soil is starting to appear in the field.  The forest floor in the woodlot is about half snow free.  Cayley has been quite impatient for warmer temperatures and bare ground so she can prowl about without getting her paws cold.

The chickens are healthy and two of our four bee hives appear to have made it through the winter.  We are expecting another two new hives later in the spring.  


While we cleaned the two hives out, we inspected the frames.  In one hive, we noticed a lack of spring larvae.  This suggests that the colony appears to have lost it's queen at some point.


The other hive had dismembered bees and feces from shrews.  A miscommunication between Julia and I - her for not telling me that we should put screens over the hive entrances, and me for not telling her that this property is crawling with these rodent-like creatures.   

Seeds are now being planted in the nursery – green onions and tomatoes are the first out of the gate this season.  I have added gold bison tomatoes to the list as we still had some seed when we grew these a few years ago and I wanted to use it up.  These are an heirloom canning tomato with a nice taste.  I am curious as to how the Galahad tomatoes will work – a new variety for this season.

Most of the rest of the work on the farm right now is taking advantage of the limited amount of time in which the ground is starting to clear but still too frozen to do field work.

 

In addition to the spring clean-up, there is preparation for fence work, and work in the wood lot.  We are planning on making a few blue-bird houses together this week-end.

When I am out working on the farm, I feel like my life has changed very little other than Julia working from home.  I was a bit concerned about shortages of field seed, but after a quick chat with my supplier I was reassured that supplying animal feed and crop seeds are considered an essential service. 

Despite that, I keep looking ahead at possible what-if scenarios and trying to figure out what I would do if need be.  Farmers do this all the time, though typically on topics such as the weather and seed prices.

During this period of transition I am only using about half of the Stittsville farm growing field.  I was originally considering putting it to hay – it’s much too small to turn to cash crop.  The old vegetable beds are very overgrown but with a little work could be brought back.  I keep wondering if this could be necessary.  So I have been skipping past the regular news and watching the business and commerce section to see how supply lines are handling the unusual money/trade/transport situation/food accessibility.

In the meantime, it’s back to work.  We are set up to take care of ourselves for quite a while, and in a position whereby we can avoid going into town for prolonged periods of time if need be.   As a food producer, I want to ensure that I am healthy enough to keep our farm going and not a vector when it comes time to start delivery.


Fresh vegetable substitutes are starting to sprout in the woodlot, so I can eliminate one more reason to go to a grocery store.  

To close, please do your part to take care of yourselves as you are also taking care of others!

Don’t forget the people that the news is missing...I think daily about how life must be like in the border region of Turkey and Syria.  I checked the BBC website earlier today and found not a single story there about possibly the most vulnerable people on OUR planet.

Bob and Julia

We still have pork hams and loin chops...see our pork page if you are interested.