Touring around

We've had a full weekend of fun on the farm. Today the garlic was weeded, a new herb garden was formed and the kids and I harvested 8 pints of tomatoes. We have matina and golden nugget - they are small but delicious. In terms of numbers, we harvested about 30 Matina ~ not many. They are coming. Yesterday I spent some time pruning the basil plants. For some reason I just love spending time with the basil. Tonight I processed a few cups of basil for easy pesto later this week.

This evening we all loaded up and went on tour of the fields. In Canard things are growing very fast. The zucchini were badly hit by cucumber beetle. Our squash here on the home farm have been badly damaged too. They will all survive - it just sets them back a bit.

The beneficials that we released for the aphids are doing their work quite well. The population seems to be reduced. But that leads me to our next dilemma....in Canard we have a 4 acre Honeycrisp orchard that we are putting into transition to organic. It is a young orchard, planted last year. There is a serious aphid infestation in the orchard. We are not wanting to spray with a conventional spray, but......aphids spread fire blight and fire blight wipes out orchards. It is really hard because we don't want to spray but risk losing the $40000.00 investment if we don't. My thinking is that the trees will be stronger in a year or two and will be able to fight against some of the pests and disease pressures. We will see. We work with professional crop specialists who advise on desease pressures, prevention and solutions. They work with organic producers too and will give good advice.

Have a wonderful Canada Day!

Aphidius colemani

I released 4 viles of these today (2000). The hope is that they will eat all the aphids. I will keep you updated.

Wednesday June 24

The market is open. This is pickup day but today we had the cooler full for anyone stopping by. We also harvested tomatoes today and have 8 pints for sale. Yippy!!!


It was a great day on Wednesday. The weather cleared up and it was sunny all evening during pick-up. Heather and Pam were kind enough to let me steal a picture.

Izaak and Valarie planted the sweet peas that Izaak started in the green house a month ago.

Keeping Herbs Fresh

Just a quick tip for keeping this week's parsley & dill from wilting: stand the herbs upright in a glass of water, either on the counter or in the fridge and drape a plastic bag over the top of the bouquet.

Water

One: Gerald and I transplanted something like 600 lettuces, 1,000 onions, and two hundred cucumber plants this morning. By noon, we were up off our hands & knees and as we strolled along the rows, Gerald said, "If we get those four days of rain like we're supposed to, you'll see these just hoppin' out of the ground. Weeds too, mind."

Two: It's been hot. And dusty. Three o'clock in the afternoon, Calvin said to me, "Water sure is good on a day like this." He puts a water bottle in the freezer overnight but, he said, "I wish it weren't quite so frozen just now." I was carrying water and offered him some; he gulped until it poured over his face.

Three: Yesterday, I hauled buckets of water up to the herb garden (It's unfortunately out of reach of the hose). Lily helped me scoop it onto the young cilantro and parsley and when she noticed I'd been drinking from a Mason jar, I guess she thought that was quite a novelty. Between us, we drained the jar and she so kindly offered to refill it. She had a run-in with some freshly pulled weeds and scootched around on her bum while deciding what to do about the thistle thorns in her toe. She disappeared, then reappeared with shoes and a shovel of her own to help with herb transplanting.

The Lady Bug Release

These lady bugs will hopefully fill up on the aphids. Thanks to Jamie and Judy for linking us up so quickly. We have wasps on the way for next week too.

Smelly Skunk

I usually wake up early on Tuesdays, trying to get things sorted out for the day of harvesting activities. This morning I was awakened by a very strong smell. A stinky skunk sprayed somewhere close to the house. I was concerned that all the greens would be sprayed, but they weren't, just our entry way.

It is 6:34 AM now. The rooster has been learning to crow and actually sounds like a rooster should.

Enjoy your day.

Monday Morning June 15th

Yesterday I harvested a full quart of these Golden Nugget tomatoes. Soon everyone will be enjoying the yummy flavour of these little yellow treats.

Unfortunately we have an aphid problem. We are trying to sort out what we can do about it. There are beneficial organisms that I am going to look up today to purchase. We've tried to wash them off but the populations is quite large. I'll keep you posted.

The garden this AM. Nicole and Derek are hole weeding. That is, removing the weeds from the holes where the plants are growing.

Jerusalem Artichoke plants growing so well.

On the weekend we attended the New Farmers Gathering. It was really fun, relaxed and just lovely. The seminars that I listened in on were great. I highly recommend going if you have the opportunity in the future.

Introducing... Nicole

There are other pics of me on the blog, taken in the office, the kitchen, the Grainery, etc. The seeds in my hand have now become plants yielding a pint of ripe tomatoes every day... with greater harvests to come!

There was mention in this week's newsletter that I've been traveling recently. I'm just back from a visit to "my other farm", in southern England! In 2006, I moved to the Pilsdon Community in Dorset, 10 miles inland from the southwest coast. The community really is that - a small group of people living together on a mixed farm. Primarily, it's a place of prayer and restoration, where people can have space & time to re-imagine their lives. For me, being there was about asking, Can we live together in an age that encourages so much fragmentation? Food was central to our common life. Daily work tending the livestock & gardens provided most of what we needed for the daily meals we shared. "Living together" incorporated the land, each other, and our own selves. Though I'd never grown a vegetable, I was landed with oversight of the extensive kitchen gardens and through two seasons of gumption and experimentation, not only did the gardens fill our bellies, but I developed an appetite for agriculture.

Working at Taproot, I suppose my question is, Can we feed people? It's a basic question that spirals into all kinds of others: How many people? With what labour and by what means? At what cost to the environment? With what participation of the whole community? And against what odds?! I love the CSA model because it takes a new angle on those questions and encourages all its members to taste the answers. With that, I'm off to the New Farmers Gathering - I'll keep you posted.

Rain Rain Pour some More

It is a happy day for all of us. It is raining! I only hope that it will rain some more just to really give the plants a good soaking. If you are ever feeling down about the rain, it might help to think of the little plants that are so very happy for it.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Cool Weather

Here it is June 10th. We have just finished the pick-up here at the farm. It is so cold. I want to start a fire but I don't have it in me to find some kindling. Josh has headed back out to Canard where he is fixing some equipment and getting things ready for activities tomorrow.

The kids are in bed. Izaak is telling me that Frank is keeping him awake. I think that is quite convenient for him....but that is ok.

The greenhouse is full of aphids, something that we need to address tomorrow.

Hopefully we will get rain and lots of it. We really need a good soaking.

I have agreed to speak on Sunday AM at the 2nd New Farmers Gathering this weekend. I am looking forward to participating. Last year I wasn't able to make it and heard such wonderful things about it. I have a link to the gathering info on the blog here. You might want to check it out.

No more news - well except that the desk is full of paper work. I need to get the organic certification paper work finished. It takes a lot of time and it hasn't made it to the top of the pile. Apparently I am late in sending it in so hopefully it will all be ok.

Good Night!

Tomatoes

I have been harvesting about a pint of the golden nugget tomatoes and last night while I was walking about and closing up the tunnels, I harvest two red matina tomatoes. I medium to small size tomatoe but red and fresh and yummy!

I can not wait to put them in your boxes.

Slow Food - Riverview Herbs

Yesterday Josh, Izaak, Lily, Frank and I packed into the van and headed to Maitland. We attended one of the Slow Food Nova Scotia events. It was great! Jim gave us a tour of the facility and then we had a delicious meal prepared by Chef Craig Flinn. It works out really well for us to take off for a few hours on Sunday and we love to learn from others and to expand our minds by talking with other producers. Not to mention that Nova Scotia is just so beautiful right now. It was a wonderful drive.

today reflection

Today was a very interesting day. I don't typically discuss my daily activities that are outside of the CSA activities but I feel like it today. Will you put up with me?

A part of the rest of my world is participating in the Kings County Federation of Agriculture. Today there were three people who work for the Federal Department of Agriculture visiting Kings County. These people work at establishing Ag Profiles that contain information that can be helpful to regions in understanding what is going on with agriculture from a statistical perspective (it is more than that). I agreed to set up meetings with farmers today to help this team gain a perspective of what is happening here in Kings County.

I feel like sharing my thoughts on this day.

First off, when people report in the news and when you hear in passing that farms are in trouble, it is true. Even farms that look like they are doing really well in terms of investing in new technologies and things, they too are feeling the effects of a "cheap food policy". Overall, the amount that farms have to reinvest in their businesses is getting smaller and smaller.

Second off, when people are concerned about new young farmers coming on and positioning to be the "next generation" of farmers - that concern too is valid. It is extremely difficult to get loans to purchase farms. And extremely hard to have security in the first bunch of years in terms of cash flow. I believe in the power of the small farm, that is more accessible to new farmers, but I also know that the reality of maintaining our larger scale agricultural activity here in Kings County depends on young farmers farming some of the larger volume producing farms, the cost of this is restrictive.

Thirdly, regardless, there is optimism and there is tremendous potential here.

I rack my brain nearly every day a trying to sort out how we can create a change in the system so that farms are more viable. It is so dependent on the global market place and the policies. All of which seem impossible to change. Of course this leads me to doing what I can to maintain a viable farm business ourselves here, doing the CSA. And that of course is because of all of you.

What the CSA means for us (in terms of finances) is that we are able to farm with less financial risk and financial cost of borrow during the growing season. This is a big deal. Last year we planted, tended and harvested lots of things that never sold. The farm markets didn't need the products or we grew things that were just not mainstream enough to get a sale. We did very well with tomatoes, but still not enough to pay for everything. Now with the CSA it will still be tight each year until our mortgage is paid down, but now we have the security of having sold our products which makes each day very rewarding. We will have less harvested compost this year.

As a young farmer I feel very optimistic and I have my family and husband to thank for that. Optimism does not mean that I do not have a realistic way to thinking about all this. The reality is that we have a tremendous amount of support. We have Izaak, Lily and Frank and along with them we have sisters, mothers, fathers, and very close friends who all come and help all of the time in various ways. It is because we have so much support that we are able to do it all. Also, because we operate a few farms, the cost to utilize equipment is shared and not such a burden on one operation. These types of supports are critical in how we are able to manage.

As I have said before, I am very grateful to how supportive everyone is. It has been a surprise how much people are looking to build community and connections to their food. Thank you for that and I only hope that we can grow this energy to support other farmers in the same.

I suppose that these are enough comments for tonight. Thanks!

Week One for 18 weeker's

Good Morning Taproot Farm 18 week CSA members:

It is a beautiful morning here on Church Street. The sun is shining, a breeze is blowing and we've had some rain. The colours are vibrant.

This week marks the first week in your 18 week journey of food from the farm. We are very excited and looking forward to the weeks ahead.

Just to confirm dates and times this week:

Tuesday Pickups:
1421 Hammonds Plains Rd (Springvale Nurseries) 4:30-6:30
2385 Agricola St (Grainery) 4:30-6:30
30 Peddars Way - Dartmouth 4:45-6:00 (it would be great if the pickups could happen as soon as as possible - if you are able - before 5:30, if not, that is fine)

I will not be present at all of the pickups. Cathy or a member of her staff from Springvale Nurseries will be there to check you off the list and send you on your way with your box off produce, Lorrie is the volunteer at the Grainery and I will be over at Dartmouth. I will make an effort to be at each drop spot throughout the season. I do the driving and therefore it makes it hard to be everywhere each week.

And on Wednesday:
Here at the farm between 4-7PM
Or the newly added option:
in Kentville at Speed Pro Signs (behind the Cornwallis Inn) between 4:45 and 5:10PM (let me know if you want this option)

I hope you all have a great day!

Thanks!
Patricia