Home again!

Oh my, what a wacky past couple of weeks I have had. Immediately after my last posting my husband Paul and I decided to take a quick trip down to California to visit his family, specifically his father who is elderly and having heart problems. Our quick trip ended up lasting longer than anticipated because Paul ended up in emergency and having surgery, so we had to extend our trip until he was well enough to travel. He had two very large kidney stones that had to be blasted so that they would pass through. It was a horribly stressful time - it is never easy to watch somebody suffer - and it didn't help that I knew I should be home planting!

We finally made it home and I've since been planting like crazy. Luck would have it, I had a call from a friend of my daughter, Hannah, looking to do some volunteer work! She helped me plant out some tomatoes in the hoophouse and transplant the first veggies into the new field:

Also my employee, Grace had kept up with the weeding while I was away so the farm is actually looking quite good:

I have decided to delay my CSA program by two weeks. The combination of a cool Spring and my absence this month means that things are a little more behind than I like. The weather has been beautiful since I've been home so I'm sure things will really start to pick up now.

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May already!

I don't know about everybody else, but this year is flying by just a little too fast for me! Since my last posting life has been pretty hectic, but not! I had surgery, which meant I had to (and couldn't) do anything for 10 days. Any of you who know me knows this is VERY difficult, especially at this time of the year when there is so much to be done. Luckily, my husband really came through for me (and you!) and went out every day to plant or seed something - 3 cheers for Paul! :o) I also employed some part time help and that is working out really well too. As the business expands the employee will become increasingly necessary - there are only so many hours in a day!

In addition to everything else he has done the past two weeks, Paul built a walk in cooler! I'm very excited about this as last year it was a challenge to keep items cool after harvest. Last year I used an old fridge and our kitchen fridge, and it just wasn't enough room, but now I even have room to spare and it is easy access without having to juggle containers around to make room. To build it I purchased a device called a 'Coolbot' (you can google it for more info) that attaches to a regular air conditioner; it then very economically cools a well insulated area down to 3 degrees remarkably quickly. Improvements are also being made on my wash station to make things more efficient there.

My greenhouse at my home is overflowing with lush greenery. I LOVE my greenhouse: the look of it, the smell of it, the warmth of it. The plants outside are loving all this moisture and the warmer weather - so are the weeds!

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pictures!

I love seeing the seedlings looking so orderly in the greenhouse. This is the first year I have used plug trays (the flats with individual compartments) and so far I really like them, except I do have to water more often - they dry out practically daily.

Sunflower seeds! I threw a whole bunch in a flat to see how they would turn out for edible sunflower shoots.

This is the larger seed potatoes that have been cut up and left out on my deck to dry out a little before planting. The ones on the right hand side are the Russian fingerlings and the ones on the left are the German seiglindes. Both are delicious potatoes, can hardly wait to start harvesting!


A couple of pics of the farm starting to take shape. With the rye mostly turned over and rows of assorted veggies planted things are slowly starting to look promising for this season.

Grace Burns! Grace helps me on out a few days a week after school.

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busy, busy, busy

This warmer weather has seen me go crazy in the gardens the last week. I've been preparing beds (by turning over clover and rye) for a few weeks now, but this week I began actually planting. Yeahhh!!!! It has been a relief to move plants out of the greenhouse because it is overflowing with seedlings ready to go. I've planted out kale, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, lettuce, spinach, and fennel. I've also seeded veg gin (a Chinese broccoli), radishes, and peas, which have all germinated nicely.

This week I also relocated the greenhouse at the farm. Many of you know that this particular greenhouse collapsed under the weight of the snow this Winter. My husband and I managed to fix it but the plastic was torn in various spots. Well, last week we had a big wind storm that blew the greenhouse apart! It was quite the thing to watch my greenhouse blowing in the wind like a big air balloon! I never did like the greenhouse where it was because in the Winter time it didn't get sun until the afternoon, so this seemed like as good a time as any to move it. As well as moving it Paul came up with some ideas to make it more sturdy. However, with this style of greenhouse (very economical) you can't expect too much. I'm dreaming of the day I can afford a larger, more permanent greenhouse. It is quite remarkable how much you can extend the season with an unheated greenhouse. Even despite the weeks of sub zero temperatures and the greenhouse collapsing on top of the crops, I am harvesting fabulous fall planted salad greens right now. Many crops can be grown over the Winter under plastic.

Today I am planning on seeding carrots and Swiss chard - and maybe even beets if I can get enough beds prepared - though realistically this will probably have to wait a day or two.

Work in the greenhouse continues as I am now starting the warmer weather crops such as tomatoes, squash, peppers etc. I start the plants in small pots and plug trays that I start in the germination area (a small heated section in my basement) until they germinate, then they are moved under the gro lights for a week or two until they grow their first real leaves. The hardier plants then go out to the greenhouse (at my home), which is unheated. The less hardy plants will stay under lights for a bit longer, until the nights heat up a little more.

My seedling potatoes arrived this week. They are certified organic Russian fingerlings and German sieglinde potatoes from a farm in Pemberton that I had a lot of success with last year; keeping my fingers crossed they grow as well again. I will be 'chitting' them (forcing them to start sprouting) over the next few weeks and then they will be planted.

I still have some CSA spaces available, so please spread the news. Only 7 weeks to go until the first delivery!

I hope you are all reveling in the warmer days as much as I am.

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The 2009 season begins!

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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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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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

A 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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