Hey Folks:

So the second round of onions is growing well.

The seed starting medium is formulated to be very light and able to retain moisture effectively.

This is good for getting the seed to germinate.

However, the medium very low in nutrients.

The seedlings are going to require a heavier soil to continue growing, a soil rich in compost.

Moving the sprouts into richer soil is 'promoting', to use a bit of market gardening jargon.





Each of onion sprouts are teased out of the soil in the seed tray and grouped into bundles of five.

At transplant time, the bundles of five will be planted in a bunch.

One will inevitably fail, one will probably be too small, and three will be successful enough for delivery.

This is a very delicate process.  Gripping the sprouts too much will bruise them, removing them too quickly will break off the root.

 Into the seedling trays.

After the tray fills up, it is returned to the nursery, into a slightly cooler shelf - the sprouts don't need the extra heat provided by the propagation mat.

A little bit of field soil is added to the soil mix. This introduces the plants to the microbial life of our growing field (which is absent or different from the microbes present in the commercial seedling mix).

A small detail, but these are small plants...


Green plants are inefficient at taking up micro nutrients.  Fungi is very efficient at this activity, having evolved to take up all of it's nutrients by direct absorption.

Fungi, in turn, is very inefficient at consuming carbohydrates, which the plants synthesize from sunlight and water.

Fungi and plants work symbiotically to resolve their own inefficiencies.  Fungus mycelium in the soil pierce plant roots and exchange some micro nutrients for carbohydrates.

The theory is that by introducing some of these microbes from the soil into the seedling growing medium, the plants will be better able to start taking up micro nutrients right away, both in the nursery and in the field.  As well, the plant will already have some "familiarity" of the field fungus and other organisms not present in the growing mix.

Like I said, a very small detail, but then again, this is about micro nutrients.


Not everyone makes the team.  The onions that look unhealthy or break during promotion are sent to the compost, to become next year's food.

A tasty treat for all the mold in there.

In other news, the eggplants were started today.

In the coming few days, the first parsley and green onions will get the go ahead, and I'll be debating whether it is too soon to start the peppers.

Talk to you soon,

Bob

So we have a new development to report...read on for this weeks post...




Folks ask me at this time of year if I am enjoying my time off.

Since the onions were started, I've been at the barn every day, doing the nursery routine.

As with any beyond busy workplace, nothing gets done on time (or at all) without a routine.


First task is to check temperature readings and soil moisture.  Temperature of the barn,  the coldest part of the nursery (bookshelf) and the warmest part (seedling shelves).



The next task is the watering.

Too much water and the seeds drown, too little and they dry out.  So each tray gets a moderate amount every say.  Which means a trip to the barn every day for about fifteen minutes.

A dry seed tray at the wrong time can greatly reduce the germination rate.  With the fan  blowing across the seed bed and the heat coming up from the propagation mats, the soil can dry out within 24 hours.



Some crops are more dependent than others for light to germinate.  As the nursery lights are not nearly as strong as sunlight, some crops need to be sown by pressing them to the soil surface.  This leaves them very vulnerable to drying out.

I use two trays for each seed bed.  The top tray is perforated, allowing the water from the reservoir tray below to wick up.  This ensures that the roots are wet and the rest of the plant is dry, preventing the fungal condition called damping off.

With the temperature and watering routine complete, I can turn to work on nay tasks required for the day.

In this case, checking to see what has started to grow, and estimate what my germination percentage will be.

The onions are appearing.  These should be ready to promote to their cell packs in a week or two, then sent out to the field in another couple of months.

White bulb onions, Sturon variety.

With long season crops like onions, it is really important to make sure that i have enough started on time.

The germination rate of the second tray (the first tray failed for some reason) looks good, but I don't want to take any chances that there won't be enough, as there is very little time left to start another round of onions.  So another tray is prepared.

I believe I mentioned I follow a model of agriculture generally referred to as 'small scale' farming.  You can't get smaller than this!

Chamomile solution is misted onto the soil surface; this is another trick I use to prevent to prevent damping off.

Air circulation also prevents damping off, so I have a fan on in the nursery.  The fan also helps circulate the warmth throughout the nursery interior.  The drawback is that it causes the soil to dry quicker.

Most soil molds are beneficial, so I do not want to suppress all of the fungal activity.  My theory is that by misting the surface, I preserve the molds within the soil; the water wicks up from the reservoir, keeping the chamomile residue at the surface.

Keeping track of which onions are coming up.

The green onions are going to look exactly like the bulb onions for the next few weeks, so each seed bed is marked with type and variety.

I am always amazed that such a big plant comes from such a small seed - and these are huge compared to celery seeds!

The next seeds to plant are the eggplant and the first round of green onions.  These start next week.
Peppers and Tomatoes not long after that...

Everything slows down, time stops.  One seed at a time are rolled out from between thumb and forefinger and fall into the furrows in the tray.  After doing this hundreds of times over the past couple of years, getting the seeds to land right in the furrows is more common than it used to be.

It helps when the barn temperature is only minus two or three.  Even when I squeeze as close to the interior of the nursery as I can, the hands still get very cold when he barn temperature is in the lower teens...this is not a task where I can move around to keep warm.

The routine finishes with the note taking.  
What was planted, how much and how many, what year was the seed and which seed house was it from.

Anything that will help me interpret results later in the season, and plan for the coming seasons.











Speaking of warmth, the ground is appearing!  

We are getting a little closer to re-opening the field.

Still some small building projects to do and a lot of paperwork....

...and still a lot of snow to melt.

Update March 7 2016:

Hello Everyone:

Quick update so that no-one thinks I have abandoned the site.

Lot's of office work at this time, as i hope through my annual organic certification hoops.  The trickiest bit of paperwork is in the details regarding the celtuce crop; there is no available organic seed for this crop so additional paper work required, detailing my search. 

The next milestone in the 2016 season was reached this past week.

The nursery is switched on and heating up and the soil is hydrating.  

The fan and heater have been serviced and cleaned out, and the temperature is moderating.  In other words, spring is a day or two away.  

You'd never know it.  Five hours of shoveling to clear as much snow as possible from the sides of the barn, which sits at a slightly lower grade than the gravel pad outside.  With a plus five temperature (and rain) on the way this week-end, I was under a bit of pressure.

  
Good way to keep up the anaerobic conditioning during these months.

A bit difficult to judge scale in these pictures, so consider 50 cm over 612 square feet.

That's a lot of water.

In previous years, there was no need to shovel as much, but the shed has changed this somewhat.

Dick offered to loan the snow blower for the afternoon, but it is a considerable distance to the barn from his garage, and the route in there is completely snowed in.  Even the tractor would not make it.


So it appears I'll be purchasing a bit of horsepower next fall.  Hopefully it won't snow as much between now and then.

Next post, I'll  describe sowing the onions...

onions sprouting in the nursery (2015)

Hello Everyone:

Two weeks away from starting onions in the nursery.  The indoor nursery is powered by lights and heat.  I typically use this for crops that require a very early start, such as onions, celery, and celeriac; and for starting crops that like a lot of heat as they get started in mid April, such as tomatoes.









In previous years, this nursery has been almost big enough to accommodate all of our seed starting. The hardening off shelter was adequate for the more cold tolerant plants when lettuce, green onions etc. started in mid April.  However, keeping the hardening off shelter warm during cold snaps - such as a frost we had last May - was a bit of a challenge.  As well, it was too small to accommodate our growing customer base.








I am building a new nursery for outside, to accommodate the additional seedlings needed for the expanding customer base.  It does not require power as the indoor nursery does.  It relies on sunlight for growing and heat, the insulation retains the heat for the nights.  The first plants move into it in mid April.

The new nursery was built in the barn (allowing me to work on it on snowy and windy days).







This past week-end, I reached the point where it was ready to be moved outside.  The components were dismantled, carried outside, and reassembled.  Fortunately, I've been able to keep the gravel pad clear of snow (the weather was a gift in this regard!), so it is sitting level, and does not have to melt it's way down to the ground.

Here is the 'plants-eye view' of the nursery. Softwood flooring, double pane windows with steel reinforcing to protect from buck-toothed intruders, and (off camera) reflective back wall for 360 degree sun light.  What more could you want?





The nursery doors still need a bit of work, and the bottom shelf needs it's insulation installed.  More than enough time to complete this before the nursery is needed mid April.



Back at the office, the last order of vegetable seeds were purchased.  I've been able to find a red cherry tomato called Gardeners Delight.  It was recommended by the folks at Sunshine Farm in Kelowna, a seed house that I purchase difficult to find varieties (This is where I found organic parsnip seed).  I'm also growing a bit of sorrel to border the herb garden with.  Some folks will enjoy this addition to their salads and soups.




We have two new varieties of cut flowers to offer this year.  An heirloom daisy called Zulu Prince and a mix of columbines, which apparently do quite well in cut flower arrangements.

I had looked for a hotter hot pepper, to accommodate a request from a few customers who found our Hungarian black and hot wax peppers too mild for their liking.  Unfortunately, I'll have to put this off until next year, as I have too much seed from the previous years; and no room for a third variety.



For the next week or so, the calculator comes out to determine how much seed I will need for path cover, forage crop for the pigs, and fertility building.  I'll have more to say about that in a week or so.

Talk to you soon,

Bob

By the way, we still have room for about ten customers.  Feel free to contact me if this site has piqued your interest for a tasty variety of farm produce.