Subscription sales are closed for the season.  If you still wish to purchase our produce, the farm gate store will be open most week-ends starting soon - possibly Friday June 21st.  

For farm gate purchases, I highly recommend sending an order to me 48 hours in advance, so I can ensure what you want is ready at the store.  

I'll try to keep the website up to date as possible, though I cannot always guarantee that.

 Aside from the MacDonald's Corners Agricultural Fair, we are NOT taking part in any farmers markets this season.  

Hello Everyone:  How quickly growth seems to come out of nowhere.  These snow peas were not more than a few inches in height a week ago - now they are reliant on trellis twine and starting to flower.  

For trellising, I use the 'basket weave' method.  According to research carried out by the Rodale Institute (if I recall correctly), this method  is the best overall technique for cost of materials, ease of assembly and  effectiveness for holding up vining crops.  

Many of the stakes were from cedar trees I cut for fence posts, allowing me to make use of the thinnest portions of the trunks.  Slightly thicker portions were used for fence railings.   

These are the shelling peas, also doing well.  Last year we lost these due to birds plucking the seeds out of the bed - I kept them covered as they germinated this time.  

I once had the same happen with 200 row foot of corn at the old farm.  After the corn failed to germinate, I checked the beds very carefully, and found that every six inches there seemed to be a hole dibbled into the ground.  I re-seeded the corn, covered the beds with row cover and within an hour, a crow was pacing back and forth over the beds.  

After seeing a successful germination of the spinach, the weather turned hot and the growth froze.  

Same happened to the beets.  On a hunch, I checked to see if beets have a thermal dormancy temperature, and found that the past few weeks have been too hot for them to germinate.

That explains another absence in the field.

The first round of green beans has made it past the stage where the sprouts are vulnerable to rodents nipping the growth bud.  A tolerable few were damaged but the castor oil solution seems to protect the rest of them.  

We've been seeing more snakes than usual lately, particularly Eastern Milk snakes, along with the usual residents of Garter and Red Bellied snakes. It may be these are helping too.

It's been too many months since I have had lettuce.  These are a little too small for quality control tests.  If they are not fully sized up for harvest this Wednesday, I have enough to include four mini lettuces in each customers basket.  

This variety is the heirloom "Black Seeded Simpson" lettuce, a green leaf type with lots of loft so ideal for salads.  It was established in North America in the 1870's, but I have seem some sources suggesting it was first bred in Turkey or the Eastern Mediterranean region.  

The onions are starting to fill out their stems (compare with photo on previous post).  

I am growing two types  bulb onions this year - the heirloom Rosa de Milano red cooking onion and the Red Marble cippolini onion, both if which I was greatly delighted with.  The cippolinis for their mild flavor that was so good in salads and on burgers, and the Rosa's that had a tart but not hot flavour.  These were still firm in the cellar last February.

Not all garlic is equal.  The plants in the foreground are slightly yellowed at the tips of the leaves, a sign they could se a little more water.

A different variety is further back, with little to no tip burn.  

Note to self - if I use these two varieties next year, they'll go in different beds so I can give each their preferred amount of irrigation.

If the rain keeps up, I'll have to harvest these a little early as too much rain causes garlic bulbs to 'shatter'  - the term used to describe when the cloves split outward rom the stem.  This does not change the quality of the bulbs but it does reduce the storage life of the bulbs.

I'll also have to bear in mind that the garlic sprouted much earlier than usual due to the very early spring (or was it an absence of winter?), so the harvest date might have to move forward a week or two.

Through the insect netting, this is one of the winter squash plants with two rows of arugula planted on either side.

This is the arugula due to be harvested next week.

I also planted the radishes with the squashes.

We have some new radishes this season that might pique your interest...

Radishes have been disappointing since we moved here.  I was wondering about this while I sowed the seeds and it occurred to me that the nitrogen rich muck soil we have might not be suitable for these roots.  The new field I am working on may provide a solution; I should be able to experiment with this later in the year as the new fields start to take shape.  They are half muck and half sandy loam.

The kidney beans have just started to sprout, time to give the seedlings a splash of organic castor oil solution to keep the rodents from nibbling the growth tips.  

The clover that I established last year is now old enough to bloom, a real treat for the honey bees and other pollinators.  

Grassing the paths and belts around the vegetable field prevents soil erosion, maintains water in the soil, and provides me with a source of green manure for the compost making.

I typically use perennial rye as it is far less invasive than bluegrass, maintains green leaves through the summer, and sets a thick root mat that only some weed seeds can penetrate.  (Dandelions, thistle and calendula seem to have no difficulty),  

If I had to maintain a lawn, the rye/dandelion/dutch clover mix would be my choice, though the rye does seem to grow quicker than some other lawn grasses.

The dandelions are a must for helping pollinators as they are among the first profuse flowers in spring; and their taproots are good for aerating the soil.  Thistle is good for pollinators as well, though the Canadian Thistle endemic to these parts is sharp enough to penetrate my gardening gloves, which does not help when working in the paths between the beds.

Unlike previous years, the tomatoes are growing steadily.  After enriching the beds last year with all the organic matter, compost, ash, and grass clippings I could spare...

A small amount of fish emulsion seems to do the trick.  This stimulates root development, according to gardening guru Ed Lawrence.  I used to use it at the old farm when I first started, but I had a tendency to burn the leaves rom too rich a solution.  

Out o desperation I tried it last year to get some plants going quicker and they seemed to respond.

This year, I made my first application about a week after transplant, when the soil was saturated with two days of rain.  I figure this allows the plant to take as much as it needs and no more, as opposed to taking too much amendment while the plant tries to take in as much water as it can during a dry spell.

My mentors could not possibly teach me everything, the books don't always have the answers I am looking for, and gogle is so weighed down with advertisements that I am increasingly disdainful of it's ability to provide answers.  I was looking for a manual drill seeder to seed the new field with, and kept getting seeders towed by tractors, hand drills (as in for driving screws) and admonished for not spelling cedar correctly.  I gave up on the internet and phoned a friend.

Talk to you soon, 

Have you received a flyer and or have seen one of our print or on-line advertisements?  If you are interested in learning more about buying our produce with a pre-paid subscription, check out the "Join Our CSA" page by clicking on the tab above.  

I prefer to speak with new customers before signing them up for a season of vegetable deliveries, to ensure that what I provide matches your needs.  These phone conversations typically last about twenty minutes.

Contact me by email or phone and we can go from there...

I have placed a few posters and distributed a limited amount of flyers in the town of Perth to see if there is any interest in that area for deliveries.  At this time, I anticipate that the neighborhood bounded by Hwy's 7 and 10, Drummond and Perthmore is the only place I will consider for deliveries.  

We have sold 68 per cent of our projected shares - quite slower than most years.  I'll take a few more customers in the next week or so, and then close sales for the season.  

I had planned on selling all shares when early crops were started in the nursery (peppers, tomatoes) and when I ordered seed potatoes, so there are more of these than I will need to feed the subscription shares.  As these are already planted, all shares will be topped up a little, and there will be plenty to sell as extras for those who want to put food by for the winter.  Customers who have purchased a share will have first option on these extra purchases.  

Extra food will also be sent to the local food banks as well.

I have sourced two pigs for this season.  As with any agricultural endeavor, nothing is certain until it is on the plate, but at this point it is certain enough for me to start planning.

More info to follow on the "Pork" page...

Hello Everyone:

Quite a bit to write about as the season continues to progress.

The fields are cleaned up and the seeds and transplants are moving in.  

Now that the nights are consistently over 10 degrees, the insect netting goes over the garlic and onions to protect these crops from leek moths; and some light row cover goes over the newest transplants  to provide some relief from the sun while they transition into their spot of soil.

All the nylon doesn't make the farm look good, but at least it is a sign of progress.

 

Last week-end, we went up to Ellenberger Organic Farm to pick up our seed potatoes.  

I have been saving seed potatoes from our own harvests since we started growing them.  To ensure a constant supply of new genetics, I augment my saved tubers with new ones purchased from the only organic seed potato farm in Ontario.

Ellenberger's have been "organic" since the mid sixties.  Many of the techniques they developed as alternatives to pesticides etc. are now used by many of us thanks to Henry's willingness to share his knowledge.

Though this visit, we spent more time talking about the draft horses he uses to seed and harvest his potatoes.  Here is the latest addition to Canada's draft horse population.

By the end of her first day, she was able to keep up with her Mother at a full gallop.  

I am always awed by these animals.  I've only ever seen them work, once, briefly, at another farm.  

To me, these animals are the embodiment of power.

Henry also uses tractors, but he finds horses are more pleasant to work with and don't break down as much as old machinery does.

We returned home to find the spinach has germinated successfully.  The sprouting was patchy in places, so I inserted some seeds from a quicker growing variety of spinach in the bare spots of the spinach beds.  It required a bit of calculating but the new seeds should catch up to the main crop by harvest time.

I've always had a bit of trouble getting spinach to germinate successfully, but it would appear the  cool weather of the past couple of weeks helped a lot.

The first two rounds of lettuce are transplanted, and the third ready to go into the ground soon; the fourth round has just germinated in the nursery.

There are three different varieties planted for the first round - an heirloom green leaf lettuce called Black Seeded Simpson that provides a lofty head with very tender leaves; a mini romaine called Freckles due to the specks of red on the leaf, and a regular romaine called Coastal Star, which is  crsipier variety that holds up well in hot conditions.

Onions do not look very promising for several weeks after transplant.  These went into the ground about early May and late April, and don't appear to have done much.  

The bulbs will finally start to appear soon after the solstice, when the changing day length stimulates the bulb development.

Another slow grower that takes a lot of time to look like something you would want to eat is celery.  Hard to believ at this stage of their life that these will be full sized bunches in about sixty days.

When I started to work this soil a couple of years ago, I found that the muck soil on our farm behaved very differently from the sandy loam at the previous rental farm.  I have been experimenting with various ways of softening up the soil, and have found that there is no one single answer.  

Coarse sand, dry grass clippings, green manure based compost, ash, sheep and horse based compost, cover crops (typically buckwheat, tillage radish, and sometimes field peas and oats) and plain seed starting mix have all been used to various degrees on the muck soil areas of the farm.  

The seed starting mix is somewhat pricey (the sand is free aside from lugging it from one part of the property to another) but is quick and easy to apply.  Aside from the perlite (pictured above), one would not know it was there by casual observation.

I have noticed a big difference between the beds that were started last year and the beds that were started three years ago.  The ground on th e older beds are softer to work and easier to plant in.  

Which is a relief to know as I look at the next portion of fields that are freshly plowed and ready for clean up for future growth in the years to come.

By the time the next post is written, there should be a lot more seeds and transplants in the ground, and the celery and maybe the onions will start to look more like you'd expect.

Talk to you soon...

For the past month, I have been cleaning my way through the field.  More to do than usual, as last autumn much time was spent setting up the new pig field.  I am pleased to find that my efforts of the past two years of amending the soil has paid off.  Most of the beds are much easier to work; the most recently developed beds are still a bit harder and provide a good comparison.  This bodes well for crops that have taken extra time to settle into the hard soil in the past (tomatoes, peppers, squash).  I expect these to be ready earlier than previous seasons.

Here are the second round of this year's lettuces in the nursery.  

The celery, celeriac, peppers, and onions are al doing well.  I have enough tomatoes, though the Cherokee Carbon did not germinate quite as well as hoped.  

The onions, peppers, and lettuces have started hardening off.  I planted these earlier than usual last year, and was able to protect them during the cool weather and ice storm last May.  That has given me the confidence to continue with the early plantings. 

The first transplants of the year were trees.  Two cherry trees and a pair of native mulberry trees.  Apparently, birds prefer mulberry fruit to most commercial tree fruits, so we planted these to use as a "trap crop".  

The cherry trees should be ready or harvest in 6-8 years - plenty of time to whet the apatite.

Our first tree planting two years ago appears to not have done well - one pear tree failed and the other is questionable, we should know in a week or two if it is going to settle in or not.

The snow peas have been sown.  The ground was still too cold, so I placed some clear plastic on the beds for a couple of sunny days to warm the soil, then kept the plastic their for a few days after the peas were sown.  Now the plastic comes of and a thin floating row cover is placed over the peas to protect the seeds from the birds (happened to last years snap peas).  

Next for seeding is the spinach; Julia is seeding several different types of flowers for the bees.

The garlic is doing very well.  Now that night temperatures are up to 10 C., the Leek moths will be out so the netting is going on to protect the plants.  

In the background, beds are covered with the infrared transmitting mulch.  Typically it is used to warm up beds and suppress weed growth.  In this instance, I am using it to keep moisture in the beds until they are ready for planting.  

Not the most picturesque addition to the scenery! 

A summer of possibilities stretches before us.

Hello Everyone:

Much has changed since the previous post.  I would take a few photos for the next installment and within a week the photos would be out of date.

I was relieved that the melt was steady - at no point was there any significant amount of water flowing into the road ditch. 

As well, there was very little surface pooling, suggesting that the water is soaking into the ground.

Good signs for our water table this year.  

The same field, about two weeks later.  Already, the soil is thawed enough in the most exposed areas to work.  A head start on springs work.  

Grass requires only one degree to start growing, so the plastic mulch will be out in a few days to keep that suppressed.  The mulch will also help hold moisture in the beds.

As of this writing, I already have the first spinach, lettuce, and snow pea beds ready for planting.  

Most of the work is in the nursery - seeding peppers, tomatoes, onions, parsley, etc.  

These are the first round of green onions germinating in a seedling tray.  

Two weeks later the onions are promoted up to their cell packs.  They'll continue to grow for another six weeks until they are ready for transplant.

The parsley is coming along.  I'll likely have more transplants than required, though I always prefer more than I need in case of any losses from damping off infections, mice or earwig infestations, or spilled trays.  

If I do have extra, I will offer the surplus seedlings  to CSA customers who want some extra for a container in their kitchen or back yard.

I'll likely have extra hot pepper plants to give away to CSA customers as well.

Lots of other work to do while waiting for the ground to thoroughly thaw out.  

All of the bird boxes now have predator guards on them.  With a bit  imagination and some left over metal flashing, it is easy enough to protect the bird boxes from most predators.  Protection from Jays requires a little more work.

I rely on the finches, bluebirds and barn swallows to help manage the insect population; the finches in particular seem to have a taste for hornworms and potato beetles. 

Off to inspect the property to see what winter has left behind....