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Tue, 27 Feb 2007 |
This year, the greenhouse is cleaned up and prepped for "pre-season" lettuce earlier than ever, with the help of volunteers. For the upcoming season, the plan is expansion, but not by the typical approach of adding more area and equipment, instead, by simply adding more people! It's amazing how the labor equation works in small-scale farming. Since you're always working against time and around the weather, being able to do things quickly and simultaneously makes an incredible difference in how much you can produce in the same amount of space, and how much fun and satisfaction everyone concerned can get out of it!
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What a difference a day makes! |
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Sat, 24 Feb 2007 |
 Overnight, the early lettuce began pushing up! This is great, the first new green of the season! In the pic, lovely red Granada, a favorite leaf lettuce from the past couple of years, with a deep, rich red that intensifies as it matures. In 60-70°F soil, most lettuce germinates here in as little as three days.
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Read more...
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Fri, 23 Feb 2007 |
 Here's lettuce getting started in plug sheets. Not much to see, huh? Well, that's what farming looks like around here at this time of year! Going now in trays under lights in the grow racks: early lettuce aimed for the greenhouse in late March, also some herbs: oregano, parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, plus chives. In future, the plan is to start most of the herbs in the fall, from cuttings and divisions, but this year, we're taking the longer road again, from seed, for most of 'em.
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Tue, 13 Feb 2007 |
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A natural law it seems is that wherever there's growth there's crime. The message below just arrived from a US-based email mailing list for CSA farmers. You'd think someone would have to be pretty gullible to fall for a scam like this, but I guess it's also true that you can always fool some of the people some of the time:
There is a nation wide scam targeting CSA farmers! We (and several
farmers we know) received multiple phone calls from people claiming to
be part of a private trust called Debt Free Organic which will give
small farmers up to 2.5 million dollars to pay off debts and use on farm
projects. They ask for a donation "to process your application". They
use a lot of persuasive language- "how open minded are you?" and "are
you an information gatherer or do you really want help?" etc... When I
tried to get addresses, full names, tax ID etc...they got hostile. It
makes me SICK to think of them taking any small farmer's money! - email from CSA-L mailing list. |
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Tue, 06 Feb 2007 |
Although there hasn't been much "normal" winter weather this year, February is still the stretching point when you're waiting to get back out in the field. You can tell you're yearning for the garden beds when you start clipping catalog pictures of cut flowers for the web site. Zinnias and sunflowers are high on the fairly long list of cut flowers for the new-this-season flower garden. We grew gladiolas (gladioli?) four years ago (the first year!) and quit—too much timing involved for that start-up season. This time around, I'm taking the direct seeding approach to cut flowers, planting a large selection of annuals, and letting them go! That means blooms a little later in the year than with perennials and transplants, but the variety should ensure lots of great cutting and a fun selection right through once they get started. (Photo from Veseys, one of our main seed suppliers.)
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Wed, 31 Jan 2007 |
 The whole season begins with the seed storing system. It's nothing spectacular, simply a large toolchest filled filing cabinet-style with ziploc bags. Alphabetically ordered, too! Each bag contains packets of seed for a particular crop, and the whole thing is kept cool. Start of season means taking inventory to see what needs to be ordered afresh. Also, individual seed packets are dated by year, and seed that's more than a couple of years old gets a germination test (germinate a sample, and count the successes to get a percentage, most seed should be at least 80-90%). Bulkier seed and seed in bulk, for corn, beans, peas, clover and the like, are stored in separate, larger containers... |
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Sun, 28 Jan 2007 |
 It looks a lot like a winter! Snow is on the ground and the daytime temparture stays respectably below zero. Weather-wise, all is as it should be, for the moment. Indoors, there's still last year's paperwork to finish, but the new year's production is also getting underway. Trays and cellpaks are being sorted, lights on the grow racks getting checked, and the first onion seeds are ready to hit the ground (actually, a perlite-vermiculite-peat moss starter mix). It's new season farming action! |
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Fri, 12 Jan 2007 |
 Some real winter weather is forecast to start tonight. At last! Before the expected snow storm and freeze-up, there was time to impulsively gather a last bushel of carrots, dug up this morning from here and there in the final carrot beds of 2006. The first crisp, ground-sweetened mix of Nelson, Napoli, and Danvers Half-Long of the new year...
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Thu, 11 Jan 2007 |
 Climate change, global warming, or just plain weird weather, whatever the cause, this has been a record warm one. We've made it almost to mid-January with sprinklings of snow and only a handful of sub-zero nights so far. Average temperature has been 5-10°C—you can walk around in shirtsleeves. In the interests of natural pre-season pest control, bring on the cold! |
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Sun, 31 Dec 2006 |
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Happy New Year! This is shaping up to be a particularly interesting one on the Farm, with new crops, new additions working in the gardens, and a brand new Extended Milkhouse (an excellent field-side indoor garden center) for crop storage, CSA pickup, chilling after a long day in the...field, and more! |
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Sun, 29 Oct 2006 |
 A few advance flakes teased us over the last couple of weeks, until last night's little storm finally deposited the first snow of the year to stick around. It'll probably be gone before the end of the day—it has to be, there's still lots of field work and construction to do, and for that we need a warmer, snow-free November! With the clocks turned back an hour last night (dark at 5:30 now!), the Fall work mode continues, but thoughts are on winter, the somewhat unwelcome indoor season. (In the pic, the cabbage family—broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale—takes a little snow in stride, and the cold makes everything that much tastier...) |
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CSA Update |
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It's 2008 and the new farming year is underway! Sign-ups for 2008 are way ahead of any previous year, with both renewals and new members already in. Share prices have been increased for this season (the first increase since we began four years ago). The season will once again be 18 weeks, beginning around mid-June. This year, you're also encourage to visit the farm at least once, and a new farmwork program is being considered, where you can do some veggie gardening here in the field, in 4-hour blocks, when it's convenient to you. If you're interested in CSA with us for 2008, here are the details for our farm, and the new 2008 printable sign-up form (or email or call for one to be mailed!). And there's more CSA info in the FAQs.
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Come grow with us! |
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If you're in the Lindsay area any time this Spring or Summer and are looking to volunteer or for some part-time work on a real, live organic microfarm, get in touch! You'll enjoy a little fresh air and exercise, probably learn some stuff, and definitely have a good time (as long as your heart's in it!). Come for a day, or set up a regular schedule. All ages welcome, no experience necessary, any sort of personal interest in small scale growing or gardening plus a cheerful disposition are required! Enquire here! |
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