Thursday 23 August 2018

Hello Everyone:

Wanted - one body of water well stocked with all kinds of fish, surrounded with dead trees or artificial platforms and perhaps a few potential mates for this fledgling (and probably lost) osprey.









Here are a few quick notes about this past week's harvest.

Fennel:  Not all of the fennel is ready.  As I started harvesting it, I found about 2/3rds of the plants required another week or two to grow.  Fennel usually germinates over a three week period from when it is sown, so it is normal to have some variation in harvest time.  I should have remembered this, or at least done a count before notifying everyone that fennel was on the menu this week.

The rest of the fennel looks good and will be harvested in turn, I have made note of who still has to receive this.

There will be a few fennel's left over, s let me know if you want an extra.  I will have to wait until everyone who wants it receives their first bulb.

Carrots:  Still lower quantity than I expected, not certain why this is.  Nothing has changed from how I have grown them in the past.  It is easy to see that the roots still have growth potential, due to the very long tap root, but to leave them in any longer increases their susceptibility to insect damage and or scab.

Particularly surprising is the size f the white and yellow carrots, these are typically very dependable.

The next round of carrots is due in September, and then there are some for mid to late fall...I planted 50 per cent more than originally intended to make up for this shortfall.

Generally, roots and bulbs size up better in late summer and fall, as these crops take their growth cues from the shortening days.

Lettuce:  Lettuce has been a real challenge this season.  Despite improvements to  the outdoor nursery, it is still tending to be too hot and I have lost many lettuces before they even get a chance to transplant.  I had hoped to provide a wider variety this season.  I have continued to plant the heat tolerant lovelock (green and red leaf), Jericho (mini romaine), trunchas (mini red romaine), and freckles as insurance, and typically these have been been the only ones to consistently survive both the nursery and field.  I'm not a big fan of lovelock.  Even these ones are tougher than they ought to be.

Tomatoes:  These fruits, especially our Moskvich variety, are prone to cracking when receiving an uneven application of water.  There were many under-ripe fruits that were on the on the vine Tuesday.  With an enormous amount of rain on the way, I opted to pick some to prevent some from cracking or cracking further than they already were.  These were distributed to a couple of customers who have either missed deliveries, etc.  The best way t ripen them is to leave them by  some apples, bananas or other ripe fruit.on the way:

Garlic:  Last year many of our bulbs were rotted by the excessive rain.  THis year, they are small but at least most bulbs look quite healthy.  This means they will store longer, though I sugest using the smallest ones early as they tend to dry out sooner than larger bulbs.

We went up to the Maynooth Garlic Festival last week-end and found many garlic growers experienced small bulbs as well, even for varieties such as "Music" that tend to grow quite large.  Paradoxically, I spoke with one grower who had the opposite experience, his garlic was larger than usual.

I have tagged the varieties, most customers received all of them but there were a couple of varieties that I had only a limited amount of seed for.

If you happen to come across any spots on the cloves, please let me know which variety as this will be valuable information for planting from my own seed stock this fall.  Spots on the cloves are the easiest way to determine if the variety is infected with a virus.

I may have some extra bulbs late this fall to distribute, depending on how the sowing for next year's crop goes.

F:  Fish Lake.  Porcelain type - hot, lower oil content, keeps well.

Y:  Yugoslavian.  Another porcelain type, similar to above.

L:  Leningrad:  Another porcelain type, similar to above.

Unmarked:  Persian Star - Purple Stripe type.  Less hot and more oil content than Porcelains.  The larger cloves tend to keep well.

U:  Ukrainian Red:  (some marked with a cursive u).   A rocambole type, low heat, high oil content.

French Rocambole:  R  Another rocambole type.  Most was reserved for seed, but a few customers received these when I ran out of Ukrainian Red.

Garlic is very site specific, and two bulbs of the same variety grown on two farms may express traits differently.  I have found my Fish Lake tends to be a bit hotter than other examples I have tried.






Whats on the way:

Next week there is fresh kale.  Looking very good, the second round failed in the hardening off shelter so we have had a delay.  The russian kale is soon to follow.

The first of two rounds of kohlrabi is soon to be transplanted.

The fall potatoes have emerged and are looking promising.

The first round of delicata squash is ready for distribution.  These are going to the picnic baskets first.  May be some losses as it looks like there is stil cucumber mosaic virus in the field.





The Gold bison tomatoes have turned out to be cooking tomatoes.  I will be using these to make up missed deliveries.  Also unexpected, they have turned out to be determinate vines - they set ne concentrated flush f fruits and then cease production.   I assume this has been a communication mix up with the farm that supplied these seeds, as I have requested a small, determinate tomato from them in the past (the gold cherries from previous years).










Looks like another strong season for kidney beans, though I have to see how the plants that are still out there fared from the rain.  This crop needed its moisture a month ago, now rainfall is detrimental to the pods as they near their harvest.  To mitigate this, I will be harvesting some a little early and getting the plants hung up and  get the fan blowing on them.




Onions are looking very good and will be harvested soon.  They require about a week to cure, so I should be sending them out by early September.















The leeks are also doing well, easy to see that these are the best ones I have ever grown.

If the leeks and onions are doing well, then  why is the garlic faring so poorly?  All received the same amount of compost, rock amendments, and leaf mold last fall.











Beets:  These are growing unevenly.  I have planted a round for the fall (at the expense of some cabbage) in hopes that the late season days shortening will entice them to set bigger roots.



Wildlife:  I've been seeing a few more snakes this season, including this one that is unfamiliar to me (I'm hoping it is a very young rat snake, as I am also seeing a lot of mice in the field).

If you are familiar with these animals and can suggest which species it is, I would be glad to know.












New Farmland search:

For those of you who have expressed interest in our search for a new farm, here is the latest and one of the top three we have seen (the other two shortlist ones sold very quickly - we REALLY need to pressure the Ont Govt to protect farmland from speculators!!!

This one is somewhat small, we have sent some questions to the owners who are selling off a portion of their farm, inquiring about making the severance a little bigger.




What attracts us to it is the soil, unusually good for Lanark county.

A small pond has some potential for free range ducks, curious if this is a springline.

Located near some established farms and at least one new farm.

A little far off the beaten track, difficult for access to the farm gate store.







Several of you have sent in some comments and I am hoping to find time to respond soon.  First priority right now is steering the fall crops from the nursery into the field, and it is likely that I will be viewing another potential farm this Sunday - leaving very little time to write.  In other words, time to get out of here and into the field for another day...

Bob




Wednesday 1 August 2018

Hello Everyone:

Here are the details for farm visits.

If you are interested in seeing the place where your food is grown, then you are welcome to make an appointment to visit. 

Dates I am offering include August 4th, 19th, and September 1st or 2nd (TBD).

I offer two types of visits by appointment.  By knowing ahead of time, I can ensure that you have some food to go home with and ensure that there are not too many folks here at once. 

The short visit:

45 minutes to 1 hour.  A tour of the farm from seedlings in the nursery to the prep station where deliveries are packaged for distribution.  Visitors will find a few goodies to choose from before leaving.

The long visit:

1 to 2  hours or more if you are having fun.  A tour of the farm from seedlings to the prep station, and something edible to take home.  This is followed by some farm work geared to your interest and ability, such as

- Learning to use a co-linear hoe for weed suppression...no bending or kneeling.  Very translatable to a home garden setting.

- Compost turning...how to make high quality compost out of vegetable waste, grass clippings, and weeds.  A great way to burn off restless energy after a week of sitting at a desk.

- Tomato pruning...learn some of the finer points of getting the most out of your tomatoes, and introduction to the basket weave method of staking - a most economical way to stake tomato plants.

- Building a garden bed using hand tools - the broad fork, wheel hoe, and bed rake. 




Things to know to make your farm visit safe and enjoyable:


This is a working farm and a little rough and ready around the edges.  The following tips are important to consider.

Farming is a rain and shine sport so dress appropriately.  A brief downpour will simply move the tour into the barn, but lightening will cancel any visits immediately. 

There is a limited amount of shade from mid afternoon onward, again, be suitably prepared.

Toilet facilities are very limited so come prepared.  I may be able to open up the "rustic facility" for children's emergencies, but that will entail removing a lot of overgrowth - I'll see what can be done. 

The ground is uneven, so wear sturdy footwear. 

There are ticks and there may be some wild parsnip sprouting in the grass paths, so keep your ankles covered.  I have controlled the parsnip in most of the public areas, but these plants do sprout regularly so be vigilant (and point them out to me should you find any).  A portion of the field will be marked off limits due to some parsnip that is persisting.  Do not cross the barriers I have set.

Children are welcome though it is imperative they are kept close.  Everyone's food is in this field and a misstep or tumble could result in someone going short.


There will be opportunity for some carrot pulling for visitors aged somewhat young to growing older.

In September, there will be some radish pulling - ideal for those learning to grasp or slightly older. (good for photographs!)

If you are an avid birder, bring your binoculars, you might be in luck as the usual feathered friends have tamed up somewhat here and its easy to watch their behavior.  More unpredictable are visits from a heron and a bird of prey I can't identify (smaller than a red tailed hawk).  Most interesting are the sparrows patrolling for the potato beatles and horn worms.

Mosquitoes and deer flies are mostly absent.  If there is no breeze, the gnats may be a mild nuisance.  Rejoice, this is as good as it gets!



Directions to the farm:




Directions from Stittsville
:  

Travel south on Stittsville Main (This turns into Huntley Road as you leave Stittsville).

Pass Fernbank, Flewellen (Stanley Corners), and Fallowfield Road (Karter’s Corner). The next crossroads is Mansfield Road (turn right, or due west).

Drive approximately 4 minutes. It is on the left (or south) side of the road. You will see an old log barn about 200 feet off the road that has new cedar doors, turn into the lane way just before it.

If you arrive at 7070 Mansfield Road (also on the left, you have gone a bit too far. Turn around, and drive past the houses on the south side of the road; just past the last house you will see our lane way.


Directions from points west, or Hwy 417:  

Turn off Hwy 417 at Dwyer Hill Road, travel south.

Pass Golf Club Way, Crawford Road, Fernbank, and Flewellen.  Turn left or east onto Fallowfield Road. Pass Kolo, and Biltmore Cres., and turn right or south onto Munster Road.  Pass Biltmore Cres. and turn left or east onto Mansfield Rd.  Pass Conley Rd.

Watch for 7042 Mansfield Rd and turn into the next lane way on your right.

Directions from West end of Ottawa:

Drive west down Hunt Club until you get to the very end, then turn left.
Drive to Fallowfield, then turn right.
Drive to Huntly, then turn left.
Next right is Mansfield.

If you get to a cross road (Mansfield and Conley), you have gone a little too far, turn around and go to 7070 Mansfield.


When entering the lane way, drive slowly for everyone's safety.  Park under the trees to the right of the lane.  When exiting, there is ample space to turn around south of the barn.