Whitsend Market Garden

Update as of February 28 2020:

In the past two weeks we have sold forty per cent of our available shares.  If you are interested in a portion of our harvest, or want to purchase some individual crops, contact us soon.

Hello Everyone!

New post as of February 11 202o can be found just below the heritage pork advert...

Update Feb 21st - I have tried to clarify our purchasing our arrangements for this season.  Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Heritage Pastured Pork for Sale

Delicious pastured pork for is now for sale, just in time for your next feast!

This meat comes from heritage Large Black hogs, an old English breed that is famous for producing succulent, flavourful roasts and chops. 

We offer pork only once a year and quantities are limited, so order now to ensure you don’t miss your chance to enjoy this special product.

To see the price list, click on the Our Pork tab above.

To make your order, contact Bob at whitscust@gmail.com .

Hello Everyone!  Whitsend is starting to come out of hibernation. 

I thought a couple of the previous season's were challenging.  2019 - with the new property to start building up - even a reduced workload at the Stittsville site was a bit much.  

Making haste slowly has been the approach I have taken to remaining productive during an extended rest and recovery period this past winter.

I've been reading a lot.  The previous owners of Blue Chicory Farm had left much of their farm library behind.  The public library also has an interesting collection.  

Aside from personal interest reading - alternative economics, Muhummad Mossadegh, an eye opening trilogy about the WW2 European Theatre - I have been broadening my knowledge of restoring farmland.

Regenerative farming is a big topic of interest, for three reasons.  

First, I want to build up this farm on a strong foundation.  I made some mistakes when I first developed the Stittsville site which greatly impacted the rate of our business growth.  I know what mistakes to avoid, but I want to ensure I don't correct them with different mistakes.  

Second, regenerative farming seems to be the next logical progression from organic, ecological or sustainable farming.  The lowest common denominator of these regimes are not doing more damage to the land.  Some farmers, economists, and other observers/thinkers/authors have pointed out that these practices only slow down the degradation of the worlds most important resource, soil.  

Consider the fact that healthy soil retains and cleans groundwater.

Regenerative farming is a practice that seeks to regenerate soil even as nutrients are removed to be used by the farmer and farm customers.  Its modern roots can be traced to South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Zambia in the mid fifties; and slowly spread to Australia in the following decades. 

Many "pre-agricultural" societies followed regenerative land management cues for a very long time, because, as people who recognized themselves as part of the land - not in opposition to it - they worked around and with the systems that were already functioning.  

Thirdly, learning about regenerative farming gives me hope that maybe we are not too late in correcting the damage done to our biosphere for centuries.  Mesopotamia and the Libyan basin are two examples of  places that were damaged by farming long before the advent of oil based conventional agriculture.

If I were to recommend one book, it might be 'Call of the Reed Warbler' by Charles Massey.  It seems to cover just about everything on the topic - I am only about a 5th of the way through it and it isn't the most entertaining of reading.  If I find something a little more concise, I'll certainly share the title.

Regenerative processes work without the need for human intervention where there is  grass grazed by bison, wildebeests, aurochs, and other migrating herbivores.  It has been the foundation of life on land for millions of years.  

As a farmer, my role is to figure out to get herbivores migrating across these six or so acres  in a manner that regenerates the soil, retains water, and produces  meat, mushrooms, honey and vegetables that nourish our household and bank accounts.  

Welcome to the 2020 Whitsend season!  Eleven years in business and still learning...

During our first season here, we had the opportunity to meet a few of the locals.  When describing the location of the farm we had purchased, many times folks would say something like "...oh that place...whats in that strangely shaped building?"

In addition to the root cellar and the ground floor work space, this two story powered shed contains the production office of Whitsend.





As soon as I saw this room, I knew it was where I wanted to do my thinking, drafting, and planning. 

The view isn't great - all of the windows point away from most areas of interest on the farm and the house, trees, and sheds block the rest of the sight lines. 

But it is bright, cozy, and as free from distraction as an aerie.

It still needs some work, such as a curtain, internet access, and some kind of wall fascia to cover the insulation.  Aside from the curtain, these details will have to wait for time and money.

It functions well enough for now.

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Spreadsheets are frustratingly great.  An invaluable tool for managing a lot of information. 

Unfortunately, when trying to tie together a lot of separate elements into one unified whole, spreadsheets display on too small a screen to provide the big picture. 

For several years, I have been wanting an entire wall to map the farm on.  Now I have it.

Another drawback from previous years is solved.  When living off farm, planning at home had the drawback of not being able to go out and check some small detail.

Yesterday I was working on the schematic map from a sketch drawn last fall.  I needed to double check an obscurely written note. 

A short walk to the growing field to see the survey stakes confirmed what I thought my margin scribbles were telling me. 

Not every structure on the farm was in a state of "ideal for us" when we arrived.  

The yard below the A-frame (pictured here on a misty day) was bounded by a dilapidated fence.  Many of the posts were a strong push from falling over and they had heaved so much that the gate was a chore to close.

I knew this space would be useful, but I could not seem to see what it's possibilities were because of all the clutter.

Solution?  Remove the clutter!

By observing the different nails and the way in which they were applied, I figure at least three different people had added to this structure over the years...maybe as far back as twenty years to the previous previous owners.

A lot of nails were removed and graded into three categories:  useful, useful after straightening, and scrap metal.

Destruction comes naturally to me - none of my childhood snow forts lasted more than a week - and this job was fun.  For the first six hours.  

As the day (and the next) wore on, I continually asked why five nails were needed to do the job of two!

The hardest part was keeping track of nails as they landed.  There are at least half a dozen that went flying out of sight and are now waiting to foul a mower or pierce a paw or foot.

One of the benefits of destruction is the opportunity for renewal.  

In addition to reclaiming nails and other hardware, I now have added to my stock of wood.  A small amount is still useful for sheds.  A larger quantity is reserved for temporary repairs, door stops, livestock ramps, etc.

The rest goes to the brush pile.  When I have a days worth, I'll rent a wood chipper and make mulch for around the compost windrows and low-lying high traffic areas.

Hopefully, I'll have enough chips left over for a permanent pile, as these are a favorite habitat of salamanders.

I'm not sure what these fascinating little creatures do, and that is intentional.  Having something scurrying about it's own inscrutable business appeals to me.  

Besides, there is way too much to learn, and not enough time to learn it all...