Update as of April 26:

Bed cleaning and seed sowing continues.  Almost al of the Garlic has emerged.  Now the guessing game begins - which ones are going to size up?  Which ones will remain healthy enough for extended shelf life?  Which ones will taste good?  Which ones will survive the season?  Which ones should be reserved for seed garlic next year?  What's going on down there (out of sight) underground, anyway?  At least with Turnips and beets, one can see the progress at or just above the soil line.  

I have a few extra "Green Zebra" variety Tomato plants that should be ready for transplant mid to late May depending on the temperature of your garden, porch, etc.  If plenty of fresh Tomatoes are not enough, let me know and I will get one or two to you.  Note that a couple of them will be small, as they were late germinating.  First call, first serve...

Hey Folks:

Here is the best update I can give you for the time being - photos taken by Randy on Monday April 22.

First - the big view:

These beds were prepared prior to ground freeze up last fall.

Some beds have IRT mulch on them to warm them up prior to seeding.

They are awaiting the first of three flushes of weed sprouts, which are cultivated out using a co-linear hoe.  Once the third flush of weedlets is removed, the weed seed load on the beds is reduced for the rest of the season, provided the soil is not disturbed too deeply.

Cleaning a bed for this year's Brussels Sprouts:

Here's a bed that was not prepped last fall.  Finished today in about an hour and a half - note the bed immediately behind me.  This is what the bed currently being raked looked like.

During bed building, we find tons of rock.   The smooth ones (in fore ground) are used for pinning down row covers.


The set of beds being worked in the above picture are situated in a north south direction, and receive more  most shade (note deciduous trees in the back ground) during the height of summer.  Crops that are prone to heat stress are planted in these beds.

The straw filled beds in the foreground of the above picture are where your Garlic is growing.  These were planted last fall and have begun emerging in the past two weeks.

The straw keeps them insulated against the night lows and prevents the wind from drying them out.  It is pulled back away from them in the morning, and piled up again at night.

This is the famous "Fish Lake" variety.

I mentioned celery sprouts in the previous post.  Here they are, about 2 weeks old.

Many plants are started in the nursery to give them a few weeks head start in our short growing season.  Not all seeds germinate.  By growing them in trays, I can eliminate gaps in the beds, ensuring that I use the maximum amount of field space.

These Tomatoes (foreground) started out in trays.  As they grew, the healthiest ones were chosen and potted up to accommodate their growing root system.

In the back ground, you see the Rhubarb Chard.

In the far background is the plastic wall of the rear of the nursery.  behind it are many straw filled bags which insulated the nursery since it was activated last February.  The straw and space heat keep the nursery temperature range stable enough to allow the plants to cope with the cold.


Erica requested Pak Choi and Chinese Cabbage.  Here they come...note how closely related they are.  At two weeks since sowing, they are virtually indistinguishable.  Kale, Broccoli  Arugula, (and many more) all look more or less the same.

All of these sprouts will wind up being transplanted in the next couple of weeks.  They should land on your table in the first weeks of June.

The Garlic and Tomatoes should be a few weeks after.

Talk to you soon.


PS - still room for a few more customers, and I NEED one or two more interns.

If you know of any one who is interested in either (or both) options, please forward them to me.

I will be closing sales soon.

Bob

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

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.

Work at the barn reached a milestone this past week – the heat is now on and the readings for air and soil temperatures are being taken.  The air temperature has stabilized, oscillating between acceptable highs and lows.  The soil temperature is a bit warm, and so a few adjustments are being made to get some of the seed trays down to about 21 degrees.  I expect this to happen over the course of the next few days.  At that point, it will be time to plant our Leeks and Bulb onions.  If all goes well, the Tomatoes, Peppers, and Eggplants will get the go ahead to start their work…spring is definitely on the way.

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.

In the meantime, it’s back to the barn for more temperature readings, and back to plowing the desk for my 2013 organic certification renewal…so much to do!

Update Feb 25th, 2013:

The first succession of Bulb Onions and Leeks are sown in the nursery.

I have chosen to continue the same bulb onions as last season (one variety of Yellow and one variety of red) as I have an idea as to how well they will do in fair conditions.  

As last year, I am growing  long season Leeks that should be ready by early Fall - these are the cold tolerant type that can stay in the ground right up to just before the ground freezes.  As well, I have sown "Varna" Leeks for this season, which are much smaller but should be harvest ready in 60 to 80 days after transplant (about sometime in July).  

Dick just HAD to say that the barn was full of leaks...

These all have been planted in the nursery in the barn.  The nursery is an insulated cabinet with artificial sunlight, soil temperature control, and air circulation.  This allows long season plants to get a head start in our northern climate - otherwise our tomato season would be about 4 weeks long - way too short for my tastes.

One other note, especially for those of you considering a first time purchase of a share.

I have tried to provide a complete picture on the menu page and 2013 harvest page as to what to expect for your purchase.  The information is all there, but I still find it is not as clear as I would like it to be.  I'll try to come up with something else in the near future.  

In the meantime, if you are interested, feel free to contact me, and I can answer any questions that you may still have.

Talk to you soon, 

Bob

Update March 1st:

The Onions have started sprouting.  They should have started next Monday, but I suppose they are in a hurry to be eaten.  Now the trick is to keep them growing...

Here are a few notes about our shares:

All of our produce is certified organic, and grown using an array of techniques ranging from traditional to modern, with a few adaptations I have learned along the way.

Produce is cleaned on the farm prior to delivery, using our biennially tested well water.  Leaves are rinsed twice. 

All shares receive harvests from the first week of June through the last weeks of October, with a couple of harvests  in November.

In total, there are 21 out of 23 weeks that I bill for (I assume 2 weeks absence on your part).  Full shares receive an additional harvest in May.

 For a $450.00 half share, you can expect about $20.00 worth of fresh food per week.

The $800.00 full shares receive about $40.00 per week.  

In addition, extra storage crops at the end of the year round out the value of your harvest.

These late season harvests include dry beans, storage potatoes, carrots, onions, winter squash and cold tolerant greens (green onions, kale, winter lettuce, spinach, etc).

To ensure I meet my commitment, I plant a little more than is needed to cover for the occasional setback in the season.  Last year, despite having a poor year for broccoli, missing a couple of weeks of lettuce, and having a poor turnout from the leeks, I was still able to generate more food than the value of the shares – half shares received almost $500.00 worth of food.

A few days before the weekly harvest, I will post an estimate of what you will receive on the website (On the page “This Weeks Harvest”).  This will allow you to plan.

I have to emphasize that if there are crops you want more of less of, please let me know as soon as possible, so that I can plant less or more of a certain crop.

Here is a glance at some of the differences between Full and Half Shares:

Full Share	Half Share
2 Heads of Lettuce per week	1 Head of Lettuce per week
2-3 Types of greens per week	1-2 Types of greens per week
Garlic – minimum 16 bulbs	Garlic – minimum 8 bulbs
2-4 Lb Tomatoes each week	1-2 Lb Tomatoes each week
1-2 other Fruit (2-3 peppers, 1-2 cucumber, 1-2 squash, etc.)	1 other Fruit (2-3 peppers, 1-2 cucumber, 1-2 squash, etc.)
1 Lb Carrots each week	1 Lb Carrots every two weeks
1 other root (turnips, beets, celeriac, radish, etc).	1 other root (turnips, beets, celeriac, radish, etc).
1 Lb Beans or Peas each week	1 Lb Beans or Peas every two weeks
1 Lb Potatoes each week	1 Lb Potatoes every two weeks

Quantity per share can be adjusted slightly, provided no-one else is short changed.  However, making adjustments is much easier if I know before I start planting.

The quantities for Beans, Peas, Potatoes, Carrots, etc are usually the minimum amount – if there is extra, all shares are topped up.

In the hottest part of the summer, I usually give two or three small  heads of lettuce per share instead of 1 or 2 large heads (they are harvested early to prevent the plants from going to seed as sometimes happens in hot weather).

Sometimes there is a lot of extra produce (such as Carrots or Tomatoes).  On these weeks, I notify all customers that extra food is available.  Those who want to preserve food have the opportunity to take extra.  First come, first serve.

There are two goals we hope to achieve within the next two years:

1- Find a way to offer more customer choice in basket contents - this has proven to be a much bigger challenge than I realised when I was an intern.  The production logistics (and risks) pose a considerable challenge.

2- Extend our season of winter greens, storage crops, and root vegetables up to the  feasting holidays of Christmas and New Years.  

With your support this year, we should achieve this bar by 2014 or 2015.  

In the meantime, our goal is to continue to provide ourselves and our customers with top quality produce.

Bob

Hey Folks:

A couple of updates.

I have located a source of organic Parsnip seed here in Canada.  I have to confirm a couple of details but anticipate getting some seed for this year.  This may be the culmination of a long search.  

The same farm produces seed for another crop I have been looking for sometime – New Zealand Spinach.

New Zealand Spinach (not really a spinach but tastes like it) grows on a trellised vine.  It is notoriously difficult to get started, as it naturally have a low germination rate – typically, about 65 % of the seed is viable when planted.  However, once established, it grows prolifically and continues to provide a harvest of leaves until the first frost.

I have looked for it in particular as it satisfies three criteria I have been searching for.

As a trellis plant, it will compliment my trellis crop rotation (Vine Beans, followed by “a leaf crop”, followed by a Fruit crop (tomatoes, cucumber, etc).

Another reason I have chosen NZ Spinach is that it is very heat tolerant.  It can provide an additional leafy green to the mid-summer menu, providing a substitute for Spinach should there be difficulties germinating the real Spinach in the hottest part of the season.

The final reason is that, from what I have heard, it is a very tasty.

I have come up with a means of responding to menu requests for the season.  I must emphasize that it is not a foolproof system – field and weather conditions will dictate what I can provide on a weekly basis.  However, I recognize that some way to tailor the menu to each customer should be found (This has been discussed at length in other posts).

When you sign on for a seasons share (or shortly after), I will ask you to fill out a form that grades your preferences for some produce.  I will use this as a guide when filling your weekly baskets.

There will be a few other questions, such as if you prefer your carrot or beet greens left on (some folks like these – I tend to keep some carrot greens for stews), and your approximate quantity for some crops such as carrots and beans (ie 1 Lb / basket, 1.5 Lb / basket, etc.).

For those of you who have already signed on, I will follow up with this in the next week or so.

That’s all for now, I’m off to the farm now to do some more temperature readings, wood working, and another round of flyer drop-offs.  Talk to you soon…

Bob