Hello Everyone:

Plenty of change in the past couple of weeks.  Most ofthe snow has dissappeared and I've been doing some mnor work touching up the fence and clearing the sumac and poplar seedlings that have grown up around the perimeter.  

And cleaning upthe fallen branches fromthe ice stormlast week.  Aside from a large limb fallen off the willow and a snapped white pine in our yard, not too much damage to report on from that.  

Cayley is all to pleased that the ground is warm enough to walk on and starting to explore her yard again.

The field is all but clear of snow except for the more shaded corners.  As of yesterday, the soil was thawed to about 6 inch depth, though still too wet to work.

Still too early to see how the garlic bulbs fared under ther blanket of straw.  

In the next couple of days, I'll be gingerley lifting the straw from the ground and giving the garlic beds a little warmth and sunshine for a few hours.  

This will also help dry off some excess moisture,asthe area the garlic s planted in this year is a bit wetter than other parts of the field.

All of the food related work is still confined to the nursery.

Here I am inspecting a seed tray of different pepper varieties.  A few late seedlings are ready to "promote".  

I start the seeds in trays to save space.  As the seeds germinate, the seedlings are promoted to cellpacks (for smaller seedlngs like lettuce or chard), or pots for larger plants (such as peppers or squash).

The onluy tools are a small seed lifting tool and a delicate touch, to prevent damage to the plant.

Not all seeds germinate - if I were to plant a seed in each one of these pots, some would inevitably remain empty, taking up space under the grow lights and over the propagation mats.

A tiny hole is dibbled in the soil, the plant is inserted and the soil tamped gently around the roots.

I use a stronger soil mix in the cell packs and pots as well.  The seed starting substrate is very light and water absorbant, to ensure the seed is in a uniformly moist environment.

The soil the seedlings are promoted into is fortified with a light compost to provide nutrient for the plant as it grows larger and starts to differentiate it's leaves.

The earliest round of peppers have already started to produce ther secondary leaves.  

I've been doing this procedure with the green and bulb onions, celery, and celeriac; as well as a few  parsley, amaranth flowers, lemon balm, and catnip.  Julia included some violas, nicotiana, cardoons and carnations for the bees.  These last flowering plants will augment the wildflowers, trees, and bulbs that will go into the making of this years honey.

Lots to look forward to!

Talk to you soon...

April 2nd:

Hello Everyone.  

This is the thickest snow pack we have had for this date since arriving in Lanark.

Good for re-charging the ground water table.  

The hope is that the melt will be gradual, so that as much water as possible has time to seep into the soil as the ground thaws.  A rapid melt would send water toward the road and away down the ditch.

The bees know it's spring.  Despite the snow cover, there is a lot of activity around the hives as the temperature rises above zero.  

They don't show up well in this picture - the little spots are individual bees flying about.  While some clean debris such as dead bees, others are scouting for food sources and generally checking out the vicinity.  

These are older bees that hatched late summer.  The queen will be starting to lay new eggs around now.

The nursery is getting crowded.  Hundreds of onions are doing ther best to stay alive.  The challenge for me is to keep their soil from drying out as their roots are still fairly small.  However, leaving the soil too wet casues fungal infections (damping off) which young plants are susceptible to.

I plant a a lot more at this time of year than are required for harvest to make up for dampig off losses - there  are always a few per tray.  

Onions depend on day length to cue the development of bulbs.  Transplant too early or late, and the plants will not bulb or will produce small bulbs.  The seedlings require between 8 and 12 weeks of growth before transplanting.  So after about this week, it will be too late to sow any more.  Therefore, I have to get all of the seedlings I need for the year now - there is no second chance to plant some more.

 

Your peppers have arrived.    Most of them, as the hot pepper seeds failed to produce a single plant.  

The cayenne seeds were three years old so I planted all that I had - over 50 - expecting at least the 5 or 6  I require to germinate.  

At least this crop is fairly quick growing and though the first round might be a week or two late, there is still plenty of time to start over.

The other varieties are germinating well, especially one of the new varieties I am trying this season.  Milena is a green to orange sweet bell pepper.   The seed house advertised the seed as pricey but of high quality.  I'm usually skeptical about such claims but one can't argue with it after a 100 per cent germination rate.  

Picnic peppers (pictured above) are another new type I am trying.  Picnics are smaller and more elongated that bell peppers, and reputed to have a sweeter flavour than bell peppers.  These are a variety called yellow picnic - ready as green peppers after 60 days but turn a brilliant yellow at about 84 days.  It was bred by one of the seed houses I purchase from, High Mowing seeds.  For those of you into seed saving (or want to try) this variety is open pollinated.  

I am looking forward to trying these to see if they really do taste better than bells.

I've used the phrase "promoting" seedlings a few times, so I should go into some detail for those of you who are unfamiliar with farming jargon.  

I sow the seeds in trays to save sace.  The seeds have germinated and start grwoing,