Update May 26:

Hey Everyone:  It's been quite a busy week - lots of transplanting, seed sowing, mowing, and electric fence work.

I had my second frost day of the spring, a bed of pepper plats were lost but fortunately there are extra to replace them with.  As well, I can augment the lost peppers with some extra tomato plants tat I had in reserve.

I'll try to get a proper post in the next couple of days.

Talk to you soon,

Bob




Hey All:  We got through our first spring frost ok.  I covered everything up (or so I thought) except for the peas, which I figured were cold hardy enough to handle a slight chill.

That night, I dreamt I was presenting a delivery to a customer, and explaining that the little plastic containers had frozen peas in them.  That woke me up at 4 oclock.

I tossed, turned, and worried for about 15 minutes, wondering if I should have covered the peas. Finally, I got up and prepared for my day early, and got to the farm before sunrise to hose down the peas before the first rays of sunlight did the frost damage.  'Probably would not have made any difference', I thought, 'most of the frost is down here by the gate, such as in ....The primroses!'

I ran for the hose, got the primroses and leopard flowers hosed down, and thought that was a close call.


I'll probably be doing my 'frost morning routine'  possibly one or two more times this season, definitely next fall, so I will go into greater detail on the importance of watering unprotected plants on frosty mornings before sunrise.

By the way, knowing that the temperatures would be cold overnight, I removed the IRT mulch from the beds that are being rehabilitated, to gave the sprouting weedlets another knock back.  This is another example of "using what I have".


My first harvest of the year - grass clippings.

I use the same beds year after year, and gradually establish a path of ryegrass and dutch clover between the beds.  Ryegrass is great for suppressing weeds.  Also, it grows well in eastern ontario summers.

However, unlike the clover, it grows tall enough to shade the crops, so it requires mowing.  I don't think of it as mowing so much as nitrogen harvest.

Mowing is better known as a suburban pastime, but it is an important activity at Whitsend.  It is part of our fertility management.


Compost is the most important soil amendment I use.  It replenishes macro and micronutrients that are consumed by the crops, which are in turn consumed by the rest of us.

It also introduces a host of beneficial microbiology to the soil, and helps retain moisture in the beds.

Building compost is done by layering nitrogen (grass clippings, food waste, discarded portions of crops, some weeds) and carbon (dried leaves or straw).


I aim to get a 20-30 : 1 ratio of carbon to nitrogen, or about 1 inch of fresh clippings to 4-6 inches of straw.  These are layered into piles referred to as 'windrows'.

Compost windrows are typically 4-5 feet wide, about 4 feet tall, and long as necessary.  This size ensures that the windrows are large enough to generate enough heat to destroy pathogens and weed seeds.  The temperature range I look for is about 55-80 degrees C.


In a year, the compost will look like this.  To the untrained eye, it looks like soil.

This nutrient rich compost will then be added to the beds to feed the soil, creating an ideal living space for the crops.

The compost has reduced the macro and micro nutrients to a form that is accessible to the crops.
Depending on the crops stage of development, it can take up what particular nutrients it needs at any given time.




Here is the first of last year's grass harvest.  This is the bed where the chard will be transplanted.

The compost is applied to the surface of the beds (called top-dressing), and then incorporated into the soil when the beds are cultivated.  (I have discussed at length the collinear hoe in a previous post spring 2014).

Some of the top dressing will inevitably fall into the path over the course of the season.  It is taken up by the path growth (grass and clover) and then returns to the compost building process when the paths are mowed.


Compost is applied in in the previous year for fruit and root crops (ie, this year's tomatoes had their compost applied last October).  Leaf crops and corn have their compost applied the same year they are planted.  This means I have to know by this fall where next year's crops are growing.

Some very heavy feeding crops (squash, tomatoes, corn) have a little extra compost added mid-way through the season (called side dressing).  This is applied around the base of the plant.



Intuitively, mowing seems like something that one wouldn't expect on an organic farm.  I certainly thought cutting the lawn was something homeowners did, not farmers.  Grass is near the foundation of the food chain in nature, and I am co-opting its role in the food web to support the fertility of my farm.

You are what you eat eats (a quote from author Michael Pollan).  Think about it.


Here is the first row of spinach to sprout.

Timing the spring crops was very tricky this season.  (I think I say this every season)  These spinaches might not have germinated if they had been planted on time (the temperature that week ranged from 25 to 31 according to my field thermometer).  These will probably be a week late to your table, the second week of delivery.







This is the first bed of carrots.  These may be a week earlier than anticipated, as the soil was warm enough for them to germinate a week earlier than I had intended to plant.

The two varieties here are the 58 day Napoli and the 60 day yaya.  Both are mid sized nantes-type carrots.

The next bed of carrots is already sown.  I'm anticipating it will be a week earlier as well, mid to late July.




This is a brussel sprout plant.  When it first germinates, it looks no different than any other brassica - such as wild mustard, a weed that grows throughout the field.

To ensure I can tell the difference between the weed and the crop, I place a little ring of gravel (collected from the beds) around the planted seed.

When the crop has established (and I know without a doubt that it is brussels sprouts and not wild mustard), I remove the stones and add them to the gravel pad by the barn.  Over time, the gravel is removed from the beds.

By then, I should have enough experience to discern the difference between the weeds and their related crops.

I also use the stone identifiers for rutabaga - it also looks like wild mustard, and fennel, which looks like a couple of different weeds when it first germinates as well.


These are your second succession of potatoes, the mid season dakota pearls.  The beds are starting to fill up with food.

This coming week there will be a lot of transplanting and sowing of mid and long season crops such as fall potatoes, kidney beans, corn, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, echinacea...

And then next week, a lot of short season crops will be planted for the first two weeks of deliveries (radish, mustard greens such as arugula, more spinach).


And every two weeks, the parade of celtuce, pak choi, parsley and green onions will roll out into the fields for transplanting as well. a continuing parade of lettuces

And now for the bad news.  I have lost a few chard plants during the hardening off process.  I will start some more, but I suspect our first chard harvests to be very small.

It wouldn't be farming if there weren't some disappointments, at least this one seems to be recoverable.

Talk to you all soon,

Bob

Hey All:

The field looks a lot different from two weeks ago.

Row covers, hoses, clean beds, and beds with FOOD in them.








The rock garden has begun to 'grow'.  Another plot for more perennials has been dug out, and the central path now has a layer of flat stones capping 8 inches of loose rock.

I have a couple of extra zucchini plants from last year.  They cannot grow too close to this year's zukes as they would cross pollinate and yield a fruit that might not be palatable.  There is nowhere else for them to go, so I will put them here for this season.

Not everything goes as planned.  I mapped out a more efficient setup for the hoses this season.

Unfortunately, none of them are 105 feet long.

The stump that is dug into the ground at the edge of the rock garden has supported the splitter tap in past years.

Moving it a couple of feet is no problem, but then I will have to work on building the path and base up around the stump, to ensure that i have a level place to put the watering cans while they fill up.  Three more (unanticipated) hours of digging and collecting rock!

I use row covers for a number of different applications.  Keeping bugs out of beds, retaining warmth on cold nights, and providing shade for heat intolerant plants are a few uses.

The bed in the background is freshly seeded with fennel, these seeds will get washed away by the heavy rain that could come with the predicted thunderstorms tomorrow.

The covered bed in the foreground is seeded with brussels sprouts.  They too can be washed out by the rain.  Furthermore, like all brassicas, they are susceptible to flea beetles at this age, the row cover will keep most of these little bugs out.

Leek moth is the one insect that I haven't yet figured out how to beat.  For now, keeping the garlic and onions covered as much as possible is the only way to prevent them from damaging the onion family crops.

Despite their uses, I don't care for the appearance of row covers.

I grow a little coriander at a time, as it is consistently requested by a few customers for much of the season.  To make up for the extra space, I intersperse them with green onions, dill, and a few other limited quantity crops.

Here, I've used hoops to protect the transplanted onions; the coriander seeds are protected from rain.






The green onions are transplanted in clumps to make harvesting quicker.

I've had a lot of success in the nursery this year, though I am finding that the green onions are still challenging me.








Like many transplanted plants, these lettuces look pathetic when they first go into the ground.

It took me a couple of years to get used to this. It's hard to believe that these will be healthy lettuce heads in six weeks.

Transplanting is very tough on many crops. Cool, cloudy days are ideal for transplanting.  I did not have much of that this past week, so I created some shade with the covers and hoops.

By leaving the ends of the covers open, the cover does not retain the warmth that would be too much for this cool weather crop.

On very hot days, I've sprayed water onto the cover to evaporate heat away from lettuces.

Look carefully - around the plants, the soil looks slightly different.  That's freshly applied compost (and straw).  Leaf crops prefer to have their compost applied the same year they grow in the amended soil.  The straw helps to retain some moisture on the bed as well.

I planted our first peas a week ago.  They are just starting to sprout.

Peas are not heat tolerant.  Early last week, I was looking at the forecast and thinking that there might not be any point in trying to grow the second round of peas, and prepared the first green bean bed.

When bean planting time came, I saw the forecast was now calling for cooler weather, and so went back and planted a few more peas.  The beans will have to wait a week until the warmth returns.  as a result, they may be a week late getting to your table (Hopefully the peas will make up for that).

I was ready to give up on the spring spinach as well - at 30 degrees, I would be very surprised if the spinach seed germinated, the beds would have been put to better use growing something else.

As soon as I saw an extended period of cooler weather on the way, I raked down the bed and started planting.

I had assumed that with such as early heat wave, there would have been a bounce back in the temperatures at some point.  Deciding when the optimum time to plant is part instinct, part experience, and much guessing.


Some gardeners use string to 'draw' their seeding lines.  I learned this technique at Elmtree Farm - a couple of tubes (old hose) inserted onto the rake tines, draw consistently spaced lines that are fairly straight.

Planting in straight lines makes cultivating the beds much quicker when the crops have started to grow.

Some of our customers from two years ago may remember me raving about a variety of spinach called 'samish'.  I took a chance with the cool weather and planted it (as opposed to a heat tolerant variety, which will get planted next week - unless the temperature foes back up to the high twenties again).

Infrared Transmitting Mulch (or IRT).  This covering allows heat to get into the soil but blocks the light wavelengths that promote growth.

These are new beds and are not as 'tame' as the more established beds and will take a lot more work to prepare

In this case, I'm using the IRT as a means of keeping the beds dry and suppressing the weeds.

The IRT will buy some time while I attend other tasks.


Beds 1 through 8 and the (future) trellis bed are still a year away from being fully rehabilitated.

These were some of the first beds I prepared five years ago.

Everyone makes mistakes, beginners make more mistakes.

This is a job for two pigs...





It seems ironic that as an organic grower (and as someone who considers oil as old fashioned) that i am relying on spun bound nylon row covers and polyethylene irt mulch - and rubber hoses and plastic zip-lock bags, and a nylon mosquito jacket...

Traditionally, pine boughs were used for shoulder season crops, but there are no pine trees on Dick's land.

I have tried using straw whenever possible to protect plants, and particularly for cold protection and moisture retention, this works well.

Unfortunately, it does leave the leaf crops quite messy on harvest day.  I'll try straw in the fall, though I suspect you will notice the difference.

An alternative material to oil based row covers could be corn-based fibre.

I question the use of corn for manufacturing materials.  It is a very heavy feeder and would require a lot of good cropland to be reserved for non-food use.

I am certain there are alternative methods out there, hopefully inspiration will strike.

Talk to you soon...

Bob

PS - All customers, I will be sending out an e-blast in the next week or so to ensure that all of our new customers are getting their email alerts from Whitsend.  I'll have a few more details about the forthcoming season...first delivery is five weeks away!

Update May 1st 2015:

Whitsend has reached its sales capacity for 2015.  No more shares are available for this season.

If you are still interested in our certified organic CSA Farm for next season, please keep an eye on our website and track our progress.

We will have our open house on August 8th, and there may be food available at the farm gate stand for purchase on that day.

We may also have surplus as late summer and fall approaches, contact me if you are interested.

I am considering offering a bigger early bird discount next season as well.

Thanks again for your interest!

Bob



Hey Everyone:

Just returned from our annual seed potato pick-up.

I snapped a couple of pix at the Ellenberger farm, wishing now I had taken a few more.

This is the cellar your seed potatoes spent the winter in.  It is in the lower floor of a barn that is built into a hillside.  With three walls surrounded by earth and an insulated ceiling, Henry is able to keep the tubers at a stable 3-4 degrees throughout the winter.

In the dark, humid environment, mold can be an issue, so like the nursery at our farm, a fan keeps the air circulating to prevent the tubers from going bad.  To allow better air circulation around the potatoes, they are stored in large wood crates.

He also noted that by keeping an unfinished floor (earthen), ground warmth allows the temperature to remain stable.

Despite the time and cost of an annual trip to Coe Hill, it is worth the value in knowledge that I glean from several generations of potato growing experience.  This year, i had many questions about storing tubers to use as seed for next year.

During our travels to Hastings county, we found a park specialising in 19th century homesteading.

The park was closed, but the walking trails were open, and a few of the restored period implements were displayed in open sheds, so I was able to get some photos of a few items.

This seems to be an ancestor of my wheel hoe.

I find it odd that the modern equivalent (to be pictured below) has reverted back to the wooden handles.

The other most obvious design change is the method for adjusting height and working angle.












I wish I had one of these rock lifting machines last week.

This would have been worked by a team of horses, first to move and position the implement above a rock.

The chains would be hooked to the rock.

Then the horses would be hitched to a circular hitch (not pictured) and they would walk around the machine and winch the rock out of the ground.





After that, the horses would be hitched to the front of the lifter again and the entire apparatus (now carrying the rock) hauled to where the rock was to be deposited.













For the tractor buffs out there - a vintage ford. Small tractors were the norm back then.  Nice lines!



With the (partial) resurgence in market gardening, or truck farming as it was once called, the need for small tractors is growing once again.


By the way, the phrase 'truck farming' comes from the french word "trouque" - to trade.

Many of the year round small scale techniques that are being used by folks such as myself were first developed in the Paris region of France in the 19th century - the  golden age of market gardening, according to Eliot Coleman.



Trade farming is what came after 'subsistence farming' - what the first settlers practised before the economy had developed enough to make growing extra food for selling or trading feasible.

Speaking of the resurgence of market gardening, I was astounded by the potential of the region around Madoc.  There is a lot of under utilised land there that is very suitable for veg growing.

The soil is a rich blend of sediment deposit from ancient sea-shore and the phosphorous rich soil that has eroded off of the canadian shield.

The market potential (Brockville to Scarborough), and the transportation link (Hwys 401 and 7) could make this a great place for getting us off the dependency of shipping our food from drought stricken california - something that has been on my mind a lot lately.


I'm into the field this week for a lot of bed preparation.  A couple of crops will get planted as well. There will be more to write about next week - assuming I am not too tired out!

Talk to you then,

Bob

We still have two "picnic baskets" or four "snack baskets" available for purchase.  I will have to close sales for the season soon so as to concentrate on growing for our season customers.

Please contact me soon if you are interested, I would be glad to discuss what we offer for the season and see if our produce and delivery are suitable for your fresh local farm food eating..

Our contact info is at the bottom of the page.  talk to you soon...



Hey everyone:

A very busy week, plenty to talk about but not much time to write.

Remember those small celery's from several weeks ago?  They are getting bigger, and spending more time outside in the hardening off shelter.

They should be ready for transplant in a couple of weeks, assuming the weather settles somewhat.

Kale sprouts.  These are a week old, and just about to be promoted into cell packs.  They grow much quicker than the celery and celeriac, thus planted much later in the nursery.

They will be ready for the field in a couple of weeks as well.  Being more cold tolerant than the celery, they just need a little extra protection (some straw and a row cover) to see them through the period of unsettled spring weather.







Lime green tomatoes, about five weeks old.

The toms are transplanted into larger peat pots so as to keep them from becoming root bound.

It takes a lot of space, but necessary as root bound plants will have a much longer period of time adjusting to the beds after transplant, and will shorten the fruiting season.

All of the tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants are doing well.




Here are our first lettuces, less than a week old and already promoted up to their cell packs.  Good thing I planted extra, the tari variety germinated poorly, the bergam green germinated very well.

Likewise, the jericho romaine did not germinate, but the anuenue (pronounced ann-yew-en-yew-eh - hawaiian named variety from the B.C.) exceeded expectation.  It is a crisp-head type, similar in texture to iceberg.  Not my favourite type of lettuce - I prefer the leaf lettuce - but variety is a great thing.




The peppers are ready for the cold treatment.  Now, I have to figure out how to get them into a 10 degree nighttime environment.

The hardening off shelter is a little too cool, and other plants need the warmth in the nursery.


The bottom storage shelf of the nursery sits at about his temperature (but where will the stored items go?)

Inevitably, it will mean moving a few things around.



I have a theory that 'moving things around' is the lowest common denominator of farming.  Moving seeds from the supplier to the farm, then to the nursery, then to the hardening off shelter, then to the field, then to the prep station, then to the car, then to your door.

All the while, veg waste is moved to the compost, compost windrows are turned over, finished compost applied to the growing beds, straw and straw bales always need to go somewhere else, the lumber stack is sometimes in the way, rocks are always piling up at the ends of the newly built beds, before you know it the hoses need uncoiling and positioned across the field, etc...

...and there's no time to stop!

One corner of the field, up by the compost windrows, has always been one of the last areas to drain.  Last year (with a little help from a friend) I started work on a drain.  even though it is incomplete, there was a measurable difference in the amount of standing water in this area,

This drain is going to lead to the rock garden at the far end of the field, where the water will be trapped in a reservoir.

The reservoir is a trench dug around the rock garden.  It is dug down to the hardpan (very compressed subsoil) that is not very water permeable.  The bedrock is not much further down.


Like a french drain or a dug well, the lower layer is filled with golf ball sized gravel.  This allows plenty of space for water to fill, without eroding the sides of the trench.

This gravel is then capped with stones that have at least one flat surface.  This becomes the path around and through the rock garden.

In theory, the  should hold water for some time.  It's dimensions (deep and narrow), and the proximity of the tall perennials in the rock garden should slow down the evaporation.  The turf around the rock garden is subjected to a lot of foot traffic, so will be very compacted, whereas the worked soil of the perennial bed is much looser.  I am thinking (hoping?) that the moisture will wick up into the garden.

Some of the larger plants, such as the ever thirsty oppopeos should be able to reach to water table as well.

Loose rocks make a great hiding place for mice, so a little catnip planted in the bed will take care of that.


At the opposite end of the field, we have another area that tends to hold spring melt.

If the rock garden works as I anticipate it will, then I will do the same over here, though on a much larger scale (a tree has crossed my mind as being appropriate - something everyone should do at least once in their life).

But not until I see how the rock garden performs.

Until then, I simply cut a little channel under the fence and join my little edge of the field drain to the big one that takes run-off down the the fens.

Talk to you next week.

Bob