Update Feb 3rd:  My criteria for cake:  Heavy texture, real fruit as the dominant flavor, and if icing used, not too sweet.

So this year might have been my all time favorite, though there are endless possibilities out there that may change my mind.

The texture is quite dense, flour with yogurt and corn meal.
Flavored by Whitsend Rhubarb (I know that's not fruit but the taste is more than enough to overlook this botanical detail)
Whipped topping of cream, white wine, and mascarpone cheese.

Ice harvesting almost complete.  A few more loads like this, plus a water application on a minus double digit evening, and the fridge is powered up for at least the early summer.

Overall, this endeavor was much easier than I anticipated.

The tricky part will be getting the last sixth of the ice compartment topped up.  The top third of the door needs to be closed up to contain the ice, so I will have to open the roof of the fridge (It's designed that way) and load from there.  A bit awkward, but there was no other way.

I am very curious as to how well this will work.

Planting the 2018 garlic crop

Hello Everyone:   I hope you are having a safe, productive, and enjoyable start to the new year. 

Our delivery schedule and basket prices are now set, and may be found on the ‘How to Buy a Share’ page.

You will note that I have made some significant changes for this season. 

Deliveries:  The number of deliveries has been reduced.  There are a number of development projects I wish to complete this season, such as finding land for a new farm and building a hoop house.

All baskets will receive a minimum of twelve deliveries.   It is probable that another delivery will be added in September, to accommodate missed deliveries and spread out the amount of food delivered.

Basket Quantities:  The total amount of food delivered is a little less than in previous years (hence the decrease in price).  However, with fewer deliveries, the weekly quantity delivered will be a little more.

Weekly notification:  I have reserved one afternoon each week (Wednesday or Thursday depending on the weather) to update the ‘Next Harvest’ page.  This will allow you to plan further ahead.

Farmgate Store:  I am opening a farm gate store when the delivery season opens.  Folks who live in the area might wish to forgo purchasing a share and instead purchase what is available at the stand.  However, basket customers will have priority on harvest days, so the menu at the store may not have all of the items in the baskets.

Request Format:  I am still looking at a variety of options for requests.  If none of these work out, I will fall back on sending a detailed questionnaire to customers in the next month or so to use as a guide over the course of the season.

I used the questionnaire method in the past and it didn’t work out very well.  I have improved it so that it links directly to the harvest schedule, and though not my preferred method (lots of data entry involved), it will suffice for this shortened season.

New beds under construction for 2018

This year’s crops:  There are a few new crops and varieties (leaf celery, different green bean, leeks, and several new varieties of lettuce to name some).  You may find a complete breakdown on our crops on the ‘Introducing our 2018 crops’ page.

Payment:  I accept payment and in check, cash.  Checks payable to “Whitsend Market Garden”.  Please note that some of my bank branches have given me difficulty over checks payable to something other than  “Whitsend Market Garden”. 

General communication:  I hope to limit most of my writing this year to the website.  For most detailed updates (including communications such as ‘About Today’s Delivery...’), please check the site. 

I will continue to send a reminder a couple of days before the delivery, usually Sunday evening.

Not returning:  If you have opted not to return this season, please let me know as soon as possible, so that I may take your name off the list for this season.  I appreciate any feedback as to why you are making your decision, so that I may better accommodate customers in the future. 

Thanks again for your time; I look forward to hearing from you soon. 

Bob Whitmore

Onion and Delicata squash gratin with side dish of steamed chard

Update as of January 31st:

2018 Basket prices are final.

Most years have been relatively straightforward to plan a production schedule, as i have just been increasing the quantity of customers and tweaking planting dates to accommodate new knowledge , experience and techniques.

With a reduction for the number of deliveries this season, the plan had to be completed from scratch, which entailed a lot of number crunching.

Hard work pays off and now we are ready to get on with the show...

Ice fridge update - the ice compartment is now more than two thirds full.  The axe (and myself) are getting quite a workout with our mid winter ice harvesting.





Here's your garlic s of January 28 - covered by two layers of spelt straw and snow.

In half a year, I'll be harvesting the scapes and then the bulbs if all goes well.













I've been out at the barn, harvesting ice for the ice fridge.

Here is a photo of the progress so far.  This is the ice portion of the fridge - where the ice is packed in during the winter.

The compartment has two insulated walls, doors and ceiling.  The fourth wall is a uninsulated water proof barrier between the ice compartment and the food compartment.

The food compartment itself is also insulated.



The insulating material is sawdust, which retains its insulating properties even when wet.

As of today (Friday), the ice compartment about half full.  With the plus five temperature expected tomorrow, I am leaving it open so that the ice melts a little and settles into a solid block, filling all of the air pockets that would otherwise cause the ice to melt quicker in the summer.

When the temperature drops again early next week, I'll be filling up the rest of the compartment.

This morning (Saturday), we drove out to check out a potential property.

Interesting combination of three fields, separated by hedge rows.

Each field has different characteristics - very gradual slopes with different aspects (some north west, others south west, one field relatively level.

Good for planning shoulder season crops, areas with good drainage, and spots where water accumulates during dry periods.





 I'm glad we found this pace so early - gives us time to check it out during different times of the year.

Still too early to tell if this is the place, but it might wind up on our short list.

Next step is to do a bit of research at the county office, to check up on how friendly this municipality is to small scale farming.









My next communication is coming soon, as I finalize this years pricing and delivery schedule - probably some tweaking on the price and an extra delivery date added.

Talk to you soon,

Bob

I would like to point out that i have only contacted a sample of customers.  I am hoping you will provide some feedback so that I can further tweak this plan to best meet everyone's needs.  Thank-you.


Update as of January 21st:  I have added a page that describes a sample questionnaire (See page tabs, above).  This might be a better way t show what your options are.  

I've spent a lot of time trying to figure out how best to best provide customers with a fair range of options while adhering to the limitations of my field, the crops, and my budget.

I hope this helps you decide which basket is best for you, but if you have any questions or suggestions, by all means email me - I need to hear from a few of you before I finally settle on a price and production plan soon, as our first seed date is approaching for onions and leeks.

Bob


Update as of January 20 - thinking out loud about this seasons production schedule:

My running coach used to say "life is all about options".

Since releasing the first few season proposals for comment, I have been wondering if there are any other options for meeting the needs of the farm.  Wondering is probably an understatement.

-Reduced workload this season to cover farm finding and professional development.
-Cover fixed costs


One option:  I can reduce my overhead by about half if I forgo hiring an employee, defer the hoop house project, and defer some supply purchase to next year.

I could reduce the amount of produce delivered (and the basket cost).  I've looked over the production plan to see which crops I could drop. Squash, Garlic, potatoes, kidney beans and tomatoes are easy ones to keep; all are either high value or low maintenance.  But there is still a need for more crops to make a decent basket that has a fairly good value.

Then I run into problems...

Some customers will want mustard greens; others will want specialty crops, still others will want cucumber or zucchini...reducing all of these crops proportionally doesn't work for numerous reasons.  There is a rotation plan that must be adhered to, seed packets cannot be purchased in halves, etc...

There will still be many times when I need to be in two places at once (hence the need for an employee).  Dictating what customers receive doesn't make sense , but unfortunately, crops grow a certain way and there are limitations what can be done with a field - they dictate to all of us.


Thinking out loud when I should be asleep...TBC





A few notes about the 2018 season:

Those of you who are returning from previous seasons will notice some changes in how the shares are delivered this season.

Instead of weekly or bi-weekly deliveries, I have opted to make twelve deliveries throughout the season, with different quantities and options differentiating the snack, picnic and feast baskets.

I have done this for the following reasons:

-I need to dedicate ‘office time’ every week, to ensure that individual communications and customer basket tracking remain up to date

-I need to spend some time developing my farm skills this season

-There are two significant projects I want to accomplish – building a hoop house and a curing shed

-We need to find and purchase land soon to ensure our farm’s future

All of these projects take time and incur costs.

The biggest challenge was working out how to accommodate missed deliveries.  I have set up a planting schedule that takes this into account, so that there are extra crops to make up a customer‘s shortfall in subsequent weeks.

Other changes for 2018:

Prices have changed slightly to reflect the altered schedule and the rising cost of seed, supplies and services.  Updated prices are located on the "How to Buy a Share" page.

The most noticeable changes are for feast and snack baskets.  These changes reflect the fact that some crops are not practical for either halving (for snack baskets) or doubling (for Feast baskets).

The “Next Week’s Harvest” Page will be updated by Thursday evening prior to the next delivery.  This will allow customers to see the next anticipated delivery contents well in advance. 

I am going back to my original method of taking requests.  At the close of a basket sale, I will email a questionnaire listing your preferences, and use this as a guide during the season.  There will be some room for making weekly requests, but I would prefer to keep this to a minimum.

Eventually, I intend to have a real website that customers can log onto to make weekly requests, but at this time, the costs and amount of time required to do it right (and test thoroughly) are probably too much.  This is what our farm is working towards.

Changes to the produce:

There are a couple of new crops and varieties for the season; these may be found on the “Introducing Our 2018 Crops” page.

I have increased the basket amount of some crops, particularly tomatoes and garlic.  I have reserved space for planting more beans per week to ensure that each delivery contains 450 grams instead of 400 grams.  

I have removed a couple of crops for at least one year, due to limitations in our current field. These include yellow cherry tomatoes, eggplant, and Brussels sprouts.

I am going to experiment with packing the leaf greens such as arugula and amaranth differently - tying the bags shut with plenty of air so that the leaves do not stick together so readily.  I'll be asking if anyone finds a difference in the shelf life.  

There are a couple of techniques that i have learned over the past few months about improving the size and quality of a few crops, including celeriac and cabbage, so I expect improvements with these.  As per a previous post, I think I can eliminate the bitter taste that some of our peppers had last year as well.

I will continue to keep everyone updated over the next few weeks as the season progresses.   

I look forward to hearing from you.

All the best, 

Bob 

Addendum to 2017 year end survey:

Hello customers:

I have included some photos of the lettuce to support questions in the year end survey (part 2, section on lettuces).  Google forms is too stingy to allow me to send the form by email with the photos, so I was obliged to place them here for your reference.  I am only too glad to be using google forms for the very last time this year, and probably EVER!



Here are the types of lettuce that I have specific questions for:

 This is the variety of leaf lettuce called 'Lovelock'.  A predominantly green lettuce with some red.

 This is the variety of mini romaine lettuce called 'Freckles'.  Usually a predominantly green lettuce with red speckles, though sometimes the red coloring dominates.



















The next post - a post in progress...



In mid summer, several events led me to the conclusion that there would need to be some significant changes to the farm if it was going to continue to grow and be a successful business.

In previous years, I had been pretty good at identifying little efficiencies - so good, in fact, that each year my customer base grew, some tasks (such as harvest and delivery) continued to take about the same amount of time to complete.

Other improvements, particularly to the infrastructure (nursery, storage, irrigation, etc.) also allowed the farm to continue growing.

However, the rate of growth was very slow, and many of my business plan targets were falling behind.

Also, it was becoming obvious that the field was taking up more time than was reasonable.  The industry standard for operating a small scale mixed produce farm is one professional farmer for every 2.5 acres under till.  I was putting more time than I could afford into the field, working less than half the amount.  Clearly, something had to change.

I brainstormed many possibilities and drew up a list - everything from how I was going to continue operating the farm on a daily basis to how I would change our roster of crops, different models of delivery, and anything else I could think of.

During our camping trip, while I tended the camp fire in the evening as it burned down to coals, I stared into the embers and considered all of my options for change and the projects I wanted to commit time to.





Projects:



Hoop house:  Long-term, my goal is to take the farm further into the fall season.  Ultimately, I want to be able to serve up salad greens, lettuce, and spinach for the Christmas market.

Several techniques have been adapted by local small scale farms to make portable hoop houses that are affordable enough to make the effort worthwhile and easy enough for two people to build.

The portable houses have the additional benefit of being used to start the growing season early - heirloom tomatoes available in mid June!


Time to try my own.  Arrangements have been made with Dick for a suitable site on the farm, and the plans and materials have all been sourced.

There has been uch said about the relationship between walking and thinking.

Back when I was spending more time playing and writing music (was that my youth?!?!), a long stroll would often untangle a logistical knot or bridge an awkward gap between a verse and a chorus.


A lot of ideas came out of our camping trip.





Hiring:

Howmany times have I suggested that two people can do the same task as one in one third of the time?  Certainly, there are many tasks on te farm where a second pair of hands can make the chores go much quicker.

Also, ther have been many occasions where I needed to be doing two things at once.  The result was usually a rushed job, and sometimes it showed in the quality of the produce.

I confess to have been somewhat wary of taking on an employee or two.  After a lot of thinking (and walking) I came to the frealsisation that when I first put out my first advertisement, I had the same kind of "what if" fear.  Ands I was reminded about the nuberof times I said "...running away from what if's are no way to achieve goals..."

I've known all along that eventually I would need an employee or two.  Now must be the time.

Hey Everyone:

I mentioned during a previous post that the garlic was now sown for next year.  There is plenty of info on this elsewhere in the blog, but for now, some thoughts...

Earlier this season, I knew that I would have to do something different for next year. 

There were many options to choose from, and I wanted time to consider each carefully.

However, seed garlic is only available for a short period in late summer, and the varieties that I prefer sell out quickly.

One of my options included concentrating on high value crops, and garlic is certainly one of these.  It is easy enough to sell due to the high demand, and would fit any of myplans for nest year.

So the work begins...

First, I choose the beds.  In my rotation system, fruits, tubers, bulbs, and flowers occupy the same space, as they have similar fertility requirements.  This narrows down my choices to about one quarter of the field.  

Next, I check my records that no green onions were planted here in the past four years, as I often inter plant these with other crops - usually fruits but there are  exceptions.  

The final consideration is sunlight and water.  I keep my onions and garlic in the sunniest locations to allow for the most growth.  I choose beds that are in well drained areas, particularly during the spring melt, as the garlic (unlike onions) do not tolerate being in a very wet bed for prolonged periods.  .  

Having selected the beds, each are cleaned up and then amended.

I add rock phosphate (the white chalk-like residue on the soil surface, pictured), compost, and leaf mold.  These are worked in with the wheel hoe, and then the bed is raked smooth. 

The last step is to draw my lines (three rows per bed) and then cross lines (one plant every six inches upon each row).

Using a dibble, holes are pressed into the ground to receive the cloves.


Then the cloves are brought out from the barn, where they were sitting out of the sun - garlic is very sensitive to sunlight.  Each is placed next to the holes while I ensure that the best cloves are being used.  If I have any final doubts about their health, now is the time to cull them out.  These are sent to the house, peeled, pared and frozen for personal use. 





The very small cloves are reserved for the green garlic.   These are planted in a different bed, as they will be harvested a lot earlier than the rest of the garlic. 




I use small stones to separate different varieties.  Most of this bed is Fish lake, with a little Puslinch filling out the end. 

After the cloves are patted into the soil, work on the next bed starts. 


One important consideration for placing my garlic (this applies to several other high volume crops as well) is whether to block them together or separate them. 







Separating crops beds helps ensure that if a pathogen or insect gets into one bed, it will not easily spread to the rest of the crop.  However, with onions, green onions, and garlic all growing on a sinagle acre field, it would be impractical to place much distance between these closely related crops. 

I also separate crops for seed saving, but as garlic isn't propagated by pollination, so this is not a consideration.

By placing high volume crops together, harvesting work is a little more efficient, as I will not have to move about the field; it also makes it easier to compare growth rates of different varieties.


The last step is to cover the beds with spelt straw.  This prevents the cloves from freezing in our Eastern Ontario winters.  I usually tot his in two stages.  After the first layer has matted down from some rain, I can see where any thin patches in the covering are

And so we wait for next year, when the increasing warmth and sunlight cue the garlic t o start growing.