The gardens are doing well and our first weekly boxes will be delivered this week at Renaissance College. Subscribers, come pick up your veggies at Renaissance College, 811 Charlotte St in Fredericton. We look forward ot seeing everyone.
Cheers
Mike
Monday, June 21, 2010
Our First Harvest!!
On Saturday June 19, we went to the Fredericton Boyce market with out first harvest. We had good day, despite the lettuce wilting 30 degree C weather and a less than ideal location. A great big thanks to our first customers!! The response was very positive and many people said they would return again next week. Thanks also to Francie, for the great job working at the stand, and Andi for painting our sign!
The gardens are doing well and our first weekly boxes will be delivered this week at Renaissance College. Subscribers, come pick up your veggies at Renaissance College, 811 Charlotte St in Fredericton. We look forward ot seeing everyone.
Cheers
Mike
The gardens are doing well and our first weekly boxes will be delivered this week at Renaissance College. Subscribers, come pick up your veggies at Renaissance College, 811 Charlotte St in Fredericton. We look forward ot seeing everyone.
Cheers
Mike
Friday, June 11, 2010
Starting to look like a garden!
After a dry month of May and a wet beginnning to June, things are starting to grow now. We have the first round of plantings mostly done and have already started succession plantings for lettuce, peas, beans, and some greens. The flea beetles have been thick this year because of early hot eweather and we do have some cosmetic damage on some of the greens. All of the white floating row cover you can see in the pictures is mostley to prevent insect damage. Lots of weeding to do now aand we will be doing out first real harvest in about 10 days:-)
Come on out for a visit! We are usually busy doing something, but normally have time for a quick tour.
Cheers
Mike
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Come on out for a visit! We are usually busy doing something, but normally have time for a quick tour.
Cheers
Mike
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Sunday, June 6, 2010
Where did May go?
Things have been quite busy on the farm through May and now into early June. Francie and Eric both started working full time in mid may and they have been busy transplanting most days. The planting has been going well, but we got slowed down a bit by the very dry weather through most of May. We actually stopped setting things out for a while as it was just to dry and it was easier to water things int he greenhouse. We finally did get lots of rain over the past five or six days and the plants have really responded. A few days of sun now again and things will really take off.
The raspberries, strawberries and rhubarb we planted are doing well and hopefully will provide us with a nice crop next year. We planted quite a few potatoes and they are coming up now, so we should have a very nice crop of early potatoes. I have a feeling we will be having an epic battle with the potatoe beetles though as a few have showed up already.
The dry weather was a signal that we needed to invest in an irrigation systems, so a used drip irrigation sytem has been purchased and will be set up over the next little while. It should improve our production even when things are not critically dry.
The entire first round of plantings is up and growing, as are the weeds. I was able to cultivate between the rows yesterday with the little tractor in the few hours it was dry enough. We still have lots of hoeing to do and a fair bit of handweeding. If any one wants to come help with weeding, just come on out:-). The flea beatles were thriving in the hot weather and they did a lot of damage to some of the brassicas. We have to keep everything covered tightly with row covers to keep them out, but even that doesn't work sometime.
Our first livestock arrived last week! We now have four little pigs, and they are already growing fast. They have a very roomy pen in the barn and they we should be in their outside yard this week. For a treat, we cut them a big pile of grass and clover everyday which they devour with great enthiusiasm. I don't think they had ever had fresh food before they arrived, so they they are loving it, and probably needed the vitamins.
We should be doing a our first harvest in a couple of weeks. For those of you who have ordered boxes, I will be in touch soon.
The raspberries, strawberries and rhubarb we planted are doing well and hopefully will provide us with a nice crop next year. We planted quite a few potatoes and they are coming up now, so we should have a very nice crop of early potatoes. I have a feeling we will be having an epic battle with the potatoe beetles though as a few have showed up already.
The dry weather was a signal that we needed to invest in an irrigation systems, so a used drip irrigation sytem has been purchased and will be set up over the next little while. It should improve our production even when things are not critically dry.
The entire first round of plantings is up and growing, as are the weeds. I was able to cultivate between the rows yesterday with the little tractor in the few hours it was dry enough. We still have lots of hoeing to do and a fair bit of handweeding. If any one wants to come help with weeding, just come on out:-). The flea beatles were thriving in the hot weather and they did a lot of damage to some of the brassicas. We have to keep everything covered tightly with row covers to keep them out, but even that doesn't work sometime.
Our first livestock arrived last week! We now have four little pigs, and they are already growing fast. They have a very roomy pen in the barn and they we should be in their outside yard this week. For a treat, we cut them a big pile of grass and clover everyday which they devour with great enthiusiasm. I don't think they had ever had fresh food before they arrived, so they they are loving it, and probably needed the vitamins.
We should be doing a our first harvest in a couple of weeks. For those of you who have ordered boxes, I will be in touch soon.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Greenhouse+ Cabins+ Planting
The Farm News.
We are being catapulted into the growing season with the warm weather this year so it feels like we are behind sometimes, but in reality we are on schedule for a normal year. We got our three thousand strawberries planted as well as 50 rhubarb and 300 raspberries. The first of the potatoes went in on May 1st and we are about one third done planting them. The greenhuose was bursting at the seams but we have begun to set some cold hardy seedling out so there is now some room for things to grow and also to plant the next round of transplnts. We still need to get out the 20 trays of onions out, but they are doing fine. As you can see from the pictures below we are planting seeds directly into the garden now and the first greens and radishes from those planting should be ready around the first of June.
The new 30 x 72 greenhouse went up quickly on a Saturday afternoon with all of the help we had, and many people camped out that night and stayed the next day to help out with the cabins. Thanks again everyone for all the help!! There still is quite bit of work to do , but we are hoping to get the tomatoes,and some eggplants and peppers in there for the summer so they are not so susceptible to late blight.
I am excited that Francie Morgan and Eric MacLean will be joining me for the summer on the farm. They have already been a great help getting things ready to go and I really appreciate their enthusiasm. You can see them planting seed in the pictures below.
It has been very busy lately so it has been hard to get posts up, but I will try to keep things up to date.
Cheers
Mike
Our new greenhouse.
Watch the video on Youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-xsNzc96ok
Eric amd Joe building the floor for a cabin
Francie planting some salad greens
Me on the cub at work in the potato field
The first rainbow of the season
One of the lettuce mix beds
Making garden beds with the cub. This tractor originally belonged to my great uncle Lester Carr who used it on his farm for many years but maintained it in great conditon.We are very happy to have this little tractor and it will save a lot of work this summer.
Eric planting beets
We are being catapulted into the growing season with the warm weather this year so it feels like we are behind sometimes, but in reality we are on schedule for a normal year. We got our three thousand strawberries planted as well as 50 rhubarb and 300 raspberries. The first of the potatoes went in on May 1st and we are about one third done planting them. The greenhuose was bursting at the seams but we have begun to set some cold hardy seedling out so there is now some room for things to grow and also to plant the next round of transplnts. We still need to get out the 20 trays of onions out, but they are doing fine. As you can see from the pictures below we are planting seeds directly into the garden now and the first greens and radishes from those planting should be ready around the first of June.
The new 30 x 72 greenhouse went up quickly on a Saturday afternoon with all of the help we had, and many people camped out that night and stayed the next day to help out with the cabins. Thanks again everyone for all the help!! There still is quite bit of work to do , but we are hoping to get the tomatoes,and some eggplants and peppers in there for the summer so they are not so susceptible to late blight.
I am excited that Francie Morgan and Eric MacLean will be joining me for the summer on the farm. They have already been a great help getting things ready to go and I really appreciate their enthusiasm. You can see them planting seed in the pictures below.
It has been very busy lately so it has been hard to get posts up, but I will try to keep things up to date.
Cheers
Mike
Our new greenhouse.
Watch the video on Youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-xsNzc96ok
Eric amd Joe building the floor for a cabin
Francie planting some salad greens
Me on the cub at work in the potato field
The first rainbow of the season
One of the lettuce mix beds
Making garden beds with the cub. This tractor originally belonged to my great uncle Lester Carr who used it on his farm for many years but maintained it in great conditon.We are very happy to have this little tractor and it will save a lot of work this summer.
Eric planting beets
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Greenhouses
April 11 Laying the foundations for the new greenhouse, and pics from the existing greenhouse.
Gerry and Eric maneuvering some very wet and heavy hemlock planks.
Eric and I nailing the planks together to make a continuous beam.
Some of the various pieces of the greenhouse. The big curved pieces are the arches that will form the roof.=
The existing greenhouse at sunrise.
The tomatoes (about 400), Eggplants (300) and peppers (350)
Some Arugula
Craciovensis Lettuce
Bull's Blood beets
Gerry and Eric maneuvering some very wet and heavy hemlock planks.
Eric and I nailing the planks together to make a continuous beam.
Some of the various pieces of the greenhouse. The big curved pieces are the arches that will form the roof.=
The existing greenhouse at sunrise.
The tomatoes (about 400), Eggplants (300) and peppers (350)
Some Arugula
Craciovensis Lettuce
Bull's Blood beets
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Greenhouse Activities- 1st Week of Spring
Some greenhouse helpers. Philip-Edouard, Francie, Andi & Gerry do some precision planting and transplanting. We were planting various greens, beets, broccoli, lettuce, and even a few radish for an early salad. This is only the tip of the iceberg as there are about 50 trays of onions, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, ground cherries, tomatillos, and leeks at home under the lights to be transferrred around Easter.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Some soil blocking and seeding activity!
Tea Time.
Eric was a soil blocking machine!
At the end of the day. 100 trays waiting for seeds. 5000 soil blocks!
Eric was a soil blocking machine!
At the end of the day. 100 trays waiting for seeds. 5000 soil blocks!
Friday, March 19, 2010
New greenhouse plastic and beehive site scouting
Removing the old plastic.
Rolling out the new.
A successful installation! Thanks to Francie, Joe, Eric and Michelle!!!
Katie and Greg arrived and we went for a walk to scout for a location for their beehives.
Rolling out the new.
A successful installation! Thanks to Francie, Joe, Eric and Michelle!!!
Katie and Greg arrived and we went for a walk to scout for a location for their beehives.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Getting ready for spring!
Feb 28- Micheal stacking wood in the greenhouse. The greenhouse is almost ready for planting with its new door and a cleanup. Once the snow melts a bit more, the new plastic can go on. Everything will be up and running by Mid March. Drop by sometime to plant a few seeds and have a cup of tea in the greenhouse!
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