Yesterday really felt like the season had truly begun. I had previously started dozens of flats of seedlings inside (which are all coming along great) and did some work in the hoophouse last week, but yesterday was warm and sunny and I finally got to dig outside in the dirt! I was turning beds and weeding at one of the new gardens. It promises to be a great space - lots of sunshine and nice soil - but will take quite a lot of work to get it cleaned up. I managed to get two beds cleaned out nicely - 6 more to go! :o)
I also planted peas out at two of the gardens, and checked on the greens growing in the hoophouse at the farm. What a joy to be outside working. I love my work!
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Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Friday, March 13, 2009
freezing temperatures
It feels like this has been an extraordinarily long cold Winter. We are still getting freezing temperatures at night and sprinklings of snow every week or so. My seedlings that are inside under lights are nice and warm and cozy though, so they are coming along nicely.
Yesterday I transplanted the endive and arugula seedlings out into the hoophouse at the farm with the help of Joe, a guy who is interested in farming in the Roberts Creek area. He wants to shadow me for a while to learn as much as possible. This is a godsend for me right now because a couple of weeks ago my back went out! I hadn't done anything in particular to cause the problem, in fact I hadn't done any gardening work at all, which you would think would be a prime candidate for the cause. I'm on the mend thank goodness but for now I have to take it easy, no lifting heavy objects and digging etc. The hoophouse is now full of greens - the lettuces and red mustard that were planted last October are thriving!
I have an employee who will be starting in a couple of weeks. Her name is Grace, she is a student at high school and will be working for me a couple of hours after school each day. I have known Grace since she was a little toddler so it will be fun to work alongside her.
I am passing along this link because it really speaks to me and it may you too; an urban farmer talks about the physical labour involved in farming:
http://www.whyy.org/podcast/thisibelieve/tib20090213.mp3
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Yesterday I transplanted the endive and arugula seedlings out into the hoophouse at the farm with the help of Joe, a guy who is interested in farming in the Roberts Creek area. He wants to shadow me for a while to learn as much as possible. This is a godsend for me right now because a couple of weeks ago my back went out! I hadn't done anything in particular to cause the problem, in fact I hadn't done any gardening work at all, which you would think would be a prime candidate for the cause. I'm on the mend thank goodness but for now I have to take it easy, no lifting heavy objects and digging etc. The hoophouse is now full of greens - the lettuces and red mustard that were planted last October are thriving!
I have an employee who will be starting in a couple of weeks. Her name is Grace, she is a student at high school and will be working for me a couple of hours after school each day. I have known Grace since she was a little toddler so it will be fun to work alongside her.
I am passing along this link because it really speaks to me and it may you too; an urban farmer talks about the physical labour involved in farming:
http://www.whyy.org/podcast/thisibelieve/tib20090213.mp3
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Thursday, February 26, 2009
Home again and ready for a new season!
Hello again! It has been too long since my last post but I do have a good excuse, I was away on vacation. Now that I'm back from my travels I'm excited about getting started on the 2009 season. I had a fabulous time on the Big Island of Hawaii, did lots of hiking across lava fields, snorkeling with fish, turtles and even an octopus, visited many isolated beaches and even an active volcano, read five books (!), and worked on an organic lettuce farm. Yes you read right, I worked while on holiday! I learned a lot at the farm and am planning on implementing some of their ideas, but best of all it was just plain fun.
one of the many areas at the lettuce farm in Hawaii
one of the many areas at the lettuce farm in HawaiiA couple of weekends ago Paul got my seedling area set up in our basement. I started some trays: red onions, two types of leeks, endive, green onions and fennel. These will be followed shortly by broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, many varieties of lettuce, more onions, italian parsley, mustards and kale. And this only takes me to March! Of course, the peas and radish will go out in the field very soon too. I love this time of year: the activity after being idle through the Winter, the anticipation, the expectation, and being outside again.
I am excited to announce that this year the CSA program will include some produce from The Green Room. Linda and Gabriel, the owners, grow fabulous certified organic tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers to die for! These are items that are quite difficult to grow well in the field in our area. I'm very excited to collaborate with Linda and Gabriel in order to bring even better quality produce to my customers.
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Sunday, January 4, 2009
Incredibly hardy lettuces!
This picture was taken today of some of the lettuces growing in the hoophouse at the farm.I decided to experiment and followed Elliot Coleman's recommendation of using a basic plastic hoophouse with row cover inside the hoophouse directly over the lettuces - a double barrier against the elements. What is truly amazing is that this year we have had a really hard Winter already with zub-zero temperatures for almost a month. I don't think I would have even considered attempting to overwinter lettuces if I had anticipated this weather. Even more amazing is that these plants have survived after the hoophouse collapsed on top of them too (see previous post)!
Maybe they will make it?!
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Friday, January 2, 2009
snow, snow and more snow!
Since my last post we had two more snow storms! Yep, one the day before christmas and then one the day after - phew! This is what you can see at the farm - absolutely nothing!
Except for a couple of hoops barely peeping out above the snow - hard to believe that anything could survive underneath all this snow, especially since there has been rain and freezing temperatures so the snow is frozen solid, you just walk on the top of it now, when these photos were taken you sunk down to your knees!
Below is what the hoophouse looked like when we arrived - pretty sad!
It was the sides that had collapsed inward from all the weight - it took a lot of digging:
This is what it looked like inside.............you can see the snow weighing down the sides:
Today (January 2nd) we replaced all the broken hoops and added a wooden beam across the top with some extra wooden supports in the hope that this will be enough to withstand another snow storm. I didn't take any pictures because I just wanted to get it done - my fingers and toes and nose were frozen! It is no fun doing work like that in zero degree weather. To show how cold it was one of the pipes that was broken had a lump of mud frozen to it. I tried to get it off as we needed to reuse this specific pipe - I couldn't, it was frozen solid!
Not sure that I like farming in the Winter. Roll on Spring! :o)
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Except for a couple of hoops barely peeping out above the snow - hard to believe that anything could survive underneath all this snow, especially since there has been rain and freezing temperatures so the snow is frozen solid, you just walk on the top of it now, when these photos were taken you sunk down to your knees!
Below is what the hoophouse looked like when we arrived - pretty sad!
It was the sides that had collapsed inward from all the weight - it took a lot of digging:
This is what it looked like inside.............you can see the snow weighing down the sides:
Today (January 2nd) we replaced all the broken hoops and added a wooden beam across the top with some extra wooden supports in the hope that this will be enough to withstand another snow storm. I didn't take any pictures because I just wanted to get it done - my fingers and toes and nose were frozen! It is no fun doing work like that in zero degree weather. To show how cold it was one of the pipes that was broken had a lump of mud frozen to it. I tried to get it off as we needed to reuse this specific pipe - I couldn't, it was frozen solid!Not sure that I like farming in the Winter. Roll on Spring! :o)
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Tuesday, December 23, 2008
A white Christmas!
What a crazy couple of weeks we have had! We have had constant sub-zero temperatures (very unusual for our neck of the woods) and two snow storms. We have about a foot and a half of snow on the ground and another foot expected tonight; if anything survives in the hoophouse I will be amazed. It has been a full-time job keeping the snow off of the hoophouses so they don't collapse. Thank goodness Paul thought ahead and put some supports in them both the day before the snows started, otherwise they would have collapsed by now for sure! As it is, they are built with pvc pipe, which I have found gets quite brittle in the cold.
Yesterday I dug down in the snow where I knew the brussels sprouts were (you couldn't see them) and harvested some for Christmas dinner. Gotta love Winter crops!Yes, we will have a white Christmas this year, what a treat! Since I've been in Canada I only recall that happening once before. Seasons greetings to everybody, may 2009 bring everything you dream of. :o)
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Thursday, December 11, 2008
Oh dear......
It is SO long since my last posting! In fact, it is so long that I hardly know where to begin.
I recently committed to a new space in Gibsons; an elderly gentleman named Bruce has kindly allowed me to use his large vegetable garden as he is not able to work it anymore. The space has raised beds and lots of sunshine. Right now it is quite overgrown and will take a major bit of work to get it cleaned up, but I think it will be worth it. Now is a good time to be working on it while there is not too much to do at the other spaces.
Tim and Wendy have also built another veggie bed at their place for me to use. It is so awesome because slowly but surely their grass is all disappearing and being replaced by veggies - they love it, and I love it too!
I decided to put together a 'To Do' list for the Winter:
I recently started learning to make my own cheese. It is SO MUCH FUN! My only problem is trying to find a source for local raw milk, I had no idea it would be so difficult. I would be making so much more if I could find the milk. I'm just going to have to get myself a couple of goats! I actually wish I could but it is impractical as I don't have the space where we live right now.
The sun is blazing outside so I can't sit here in front of the computer anymore. I will do another update soon..........really!! :o)
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I recently committed to a new space in Gibsons; an elderly gentleman named Bruce has kindly allowed me to use his large vegetable garden as he is not able to work it anymore. The space has raised beds and lots of sunshine. Right now it is quite overgrown and will take a major bit of work to get it cleaned up, but I think it will be worth it. Now is a good time to be working on it while there is not too much to do at the other spaces.
Tim and Wendy have also built another veggie bed at their place for me to use. It is so awesome because slowly but surely their grass is all disappearing and being replaced by veggies - they love it, and I love it too!
I decided to put together a 'To Do' list for the Winter:
- design business cards
- shelving and lights for seedlings
- turn compost and cover (better late than never?)
- look for space for wash station and pickup
- build a wash table with grid surface
- put together seed list for 2009
- buy more harvesting bins
- fencing for new field at farm
- build or buy a cooler
I recently started learning to make my own cheese. It is SO MUCH FUN! My only problem is trying to find a source for local raw milk, I had no idea it would be so difficult. I would be making so much more if I could find the milk. I'm just going to have to get myself a couple of goats! I actually wish I could but it is impractical as I don't have the space where we live right now.
The sun is blazing outside so I can't sit here in front of the computer anymore. I will do another update soon..........really!! :o)
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