Whitsend Market Garden

Hey Everyone:

It's been a very very very busy month here at Whitsend.  As always, the priority has been tending to the food (and hosting my annual organic inspection and audit).  And harvesting.  And reacting to some big disappointments.  And searching for a missing crop.

How could I "loose" a crop?  I know I planted Catnip three years ago.  I watered it this spring.  The clover grew in around the rock garden (as I intended, but somewhat thicker than I anticipated.  I assumed the catnip, being a vigorous grower, would simply push its way up.  So a couple of weeks ago, when a customer requested some catnip, I thought no problem.  Until the very end of the harvest day, when I turned my attention to the cut flowers and herb requests.  That is when I discovered that the Catnip just wasn't there.

I finally found some growing a few feet away (no surprise, I have heard of mint family plants sending roots under a road to sprout in another lawn).  But I really had to scratch my head over this one.  I do know what's going on at my farm, don't I?  Either a cat got in and ate it, or the mice took it away.  I'll blame the rodents.

In the big disappointment column, rodents are a strong suspect for the missing lettuce and beet sprouts in the nursery.  Earwigs are another possible culprit.  The damage pattern for both pests would be the same - nipped terminal buds, which effectively prevents the plants from growing further.  These were to be the final lettuces and roots for the November harvest.  Cold hardy "Rouge D'hiver" mini romaine lettuce and Red Ace table beets.  Beets are usually grown from direct seeding, but unlike most roots, they can be started in the nursery and transplanted when needed.  In this case, the bed was not quite ready for a direct seeding and so I planted the beets in the nursery to get them started while I prepped the bed for transplanting.  Another case of "all that work for nothing...".  The worst part of it is that the planting date for both of these crops has passed.  It is too late to try another round.

We will still have some beets for mid fall.

There are many tricks one can use on small scale farms to "change" the weather.  But some crops require a combination of sunlight and heat that is difficult to achieve without resorting to expensive materials (some of which are not compatible with organic regulations).  Corn, Tomatoes, and Eggplant are three of them.

Corn is not having a great season in Eastern Ontario, as i have been hearing.  Ours is no different.  Even our "extra early" heritage sweet corn is about two weeks off from its expected maturity date, and the cobs are very small.  The tomatoes are still quite green, from the 58 day Lime Greens (Should have been ready by early to mid July), to the long season Sorrentos.  I suppose my acid intolerant stomach is better for it, but my taste buds are not.

I am in the midst of a disappointing bed of carrots as well.  My fault, I should have thinned them out a bit more.  Between lack of sun and being too crowded, they are the size of shoestrings.  Great for roasting, but not a inspiring way to start a harvest day.

However, i must put all of this out of my mind and get into event mode.  Like funding drives, festival coordinating, or staging a show, I am mentally preparing for the open house...as well as seeing to the final details such as cue cards, display boards, refreshments, etc.  It's going to be a compressed work-week for me.  See you there...

Bob