Monday 25 March 2013

Update as of April 21:

The Garlic is emerging!  I saw a few shoots from the "Fish Lake" variety about two weeks ago.  As of Friday, Fish Lake, Prussian White, and Gourmet Red have all emerged from under the soil.  French Rocambole is at about 80% emergence.  Persian Star, German Red, and Ukrainian are about 50% - I expect a few more of these will appear in the next few days.  With such a high rate of emergence, I estimate the minimum number of bulbs to be about 9 per half share.

All of the Garlic was sown back in October.  Fall plantings tend to yield a larger bulb, as well as an earlier harvest.  We can expect to start sampling these in August.  The plants will be harvested in mid July, followed by a 2 week curing period.

These varieties have different culinary qualities.  Oil content, strength of garlic flavour, degree of "hotness", and shelf life are all qualities that set these varieties apart from one another.

As many of these types are new for us, I am as excited about trying them out as I am sure you are.  I will be including more than one variety at delivery time, so that you may have the opportunity to sample different varieties together, in order to compare the differences.

We have tried almost 15 varieties over the past two years.  From my records, it appears that Fish Lake is the most consistent performer in our farms soil and climate.  

Now I just have to provide the best growing conditions possible to allow them to grow...

Your first Turnips, Beets, Carrots, Parsnips, and Peas are all sown, and the Tomatoes are starting to get potted up from their seed trays to pots.  The nursery is becoming very crowded.

More news soon.

Bob

Update as of April 9th:

(About time for a new post...).  The first round of our Parsnips were sown today.  I'm really looing forward to these.  Thanks to the folks at Sunshine Farm in BC for their advice.

I was reviewing the production plan last night and found that some of my estimates were for a few more shares than I originally intended.  All shares can expect some extra potatoes, tomatoes, and carrots this season, either slightly larger servings per delivery or an increase of the frequency in which some crops are delivered.  


Update as of April 6th:  

I have enough seed and prepared field for the season to accommodate 12 more half shares (or 6 full shares or some combination thereof).  If you are interested in being a part of our 2013 season, call soon.


Update as of April 5th:


Our first Celery and Celeriac have germinated.  They are about 1 cm tall.


I was out in the field taking some soil temperatures and think I'll be able to start working some of the raised beds early next week.  If that is the case, your Snow Peas will be planted soon after...


Update as of April 2nd:


The Tomatoes have all sprouted and so have most of the Peppers and Eggplant.  Beds are starting to appear through the snow.  Lettuces to be planted in the nursery very soon, and Peas to be planted as soon as the soil thaws - a week or two?




Hey Folks:

Welcome to those of you who are checking out this site for the first time – I hope you find the virtual side of the farm informative and entertaining.  If you have any questions about purchasing a share for the season, feel free to contact me at the number below.

A short chart comparing the half shares and full shares may be found to the right of the page.  More detailed information may be found on the “Harvest Schedule 2013”

For those of you who are returning (and those of you considering signing up for the first time), I have decided to go with doorstep delivery.  Most of my customers are located in two small locations, which will allow me to deliver quite efficiently.  This will do for the next year, but as the farm continues to grow, the idea of delivery will have to be reconsidered in the future.

Work at the barn reached another milestone today – the Tomatoes, Peppers, Eggplants, Celery, and Celeriac  are now planted in the nursery.

These crops are being planted in trays.  Not all are expected to germinate, so another round of planting will occur in a week to ensure I have all that are needed.  Here is a summary of the crop varieties:

Tomatoes

Moskvich:  A mid sized Tomato with a very rich savoury flavour.  This variety can withstand relatively cool temperatures and will grow a little longer into the fall that most other types.  As the name (and cold tolerance ) would suggest, it is a heirloom bred in Russia.

Great White:  A large Tomato that has a yellow-ish exterior and a yellow-white interior.  It has a lot of “meat” and so is great for burgers and sandwiches, and stews well.  Savoury flavoured, though a bit milder than Moskvich.  It’s low acid content make it great for folks who suffer some indigestion from Tomatoes, though if it is used for canning, extra ascorbic acid may be required to can it safely.

Green Zebra:  Honoring a request last year for a mid sized Tomato with a sweeter flavour.  Green Zebra starts out with alternating stripes of dark green and pale green, and eventually ripens to a yellow color.  This variety also has resistance to cracking and holds up well under adverse conditions.

Cherokee Purple:  An heirloom that has legendary flavour and very interesting color – brownish purple skin, green shoulders, and red flesh.  If I recall a past experience with this fruit, the skin is thin and the flavour savoury.

One extra note about the Tomatoes:  Some of the larger Tomatoes (particularly the Great Whites) have a very irregular shape, and the shoulders are very uneven.  I take this into account when weighing out your share to ensure you receive a fair quantity of good quality fruit.

Peppers

Yarden (aka Californian Wonder):  From last year, a sweet bell pepper that seems to do reasonably well.  A bit smaller than I had expected, but surprisingly trouble free.

King of the North:  An heirloom sweet bell pepper that is said to be ideal for northern growers.  After an “ok” performance from Yarden and Orion last year, I decided to give another variety a try.  This one was sourced from Hawthorn Farm in southern Ontario, a new contact for me in the seed growing community.

Hungarian Hotwax:  Our hot Pepper from last year, chosen after perusing several varieties – it just seemed to do so well here at Whitsend that I figured why change.  Usually, this variety is for pickling, but it seemed to do the job when added to stews or anywhere else I needed some Capsaicin (the vanilloid that causes a burning sensation).  Rated as a “moderately hot" pepper.

Lipstick:  A pimento pepper that is great cooked but can be eaten raw.  Sweet flavour.  I am estimating from online photos that this is a medium to small sized bell pepper.  The plants are said to be very prolific, so we can expect quite a few this year; or, I might try my hand at getting a few of these to hang around until they turn red.

Eggplant

Ping Tung Long:  A variety of eggplant from the Ping Tung region of Asia.  It’s flesh is creamy and its skin is soft enough to cook into the dish.  This is a new endeavour for Whitsend, thanks to Erica (last year's intern) for her encouragement.  We sourced this seed from Hawthorn Farm.

Celery and Celeriac

Tango:  Our celery from last year.  It handled the dry season quite well and stood up under the cool snaps in spring and fall.  A bit strong flavoured (I wound up using a bit less that normal in recipes) and too stringy for celery sticks.

Tall Utah:  Looking for another type of celery that was milder in flavour and less stringy, I opted for Utah tall.  This is a long season variety, so we won’t be able to experience it until end of summer or early fall.

Prinz: Another customer request for an unusual root vegetable.  Basically, it is a variety of celery bred for root size and flavour.  The flavour is like a mild celery or carrot.  We have tried this in a casserole with grated carrots and baked with cream and cheese, and topped with crumbs.

Next in the quay for sowing are the Parsley, Green Onions, and much more…

Before I sign off for the evening, I would like to introduce one of our new interns for this season.  Randy has successfully passed through his trial period and will provide some help through the season.  He grew up on a farm in northern Ontario, has attended school here in Ottawa, and wants to explore the possibilities of a CSA model for agriculture.  Welcome aboard, Randy, it is going to be an interesting year!

There are still 1-2 more interns required.  If you know of anyone who “doesn’t mind picking 20 Lbs of beans in the pouring rain” then direct them to the “volunteers and interns” page at this site.

Talk to you soon,

Bob