March 30th

Today was our first day without a CSA share delivery in 52 weeks. It was odd.
The day was full of meetings for me and farm production for Josh. I was in Truro at the Agricultural Land Reviews Committees final consultation meeting. We will now begin to write our report.

Josh was here on the farm treating the greenhouse for the aphid issues we've been having, keeping the fires going and ensuring that transplants of greens that were cut for fresh greens last week made it into the ground in one of the tunnels. They will continue to grow outside and we'll harvest again in a few weeks. He is also checking in on the Swallows Nest. The floors are being done this week. And he is getting things planted at the farm in Canard. Full days now!

Final registrations are trickling in. This is wonderful. Thank you!

Get ready for lots of wonderful spinach in the weeks ahead. You may wish to prepare for freezing it a bit at a time for next winter since we have lots planted!!

I will have a posting up soon and an email sent out on details for next week. Yippy, first week of year two coming right up!

An Awakening.....

Hello CSA Members,
Please bare with me while I explain myself.

This morning I was down at Swallows Nest cleaning up after a beautiful family gathering yesterday to celebrate the life of Josh's Aunt. She is not well and will be leaving us soon.

Swallows Nest has always felt to me like a place we need to share with people. A place for celebrations of all sorts or for taking time away from regular life. All along it hasn't felt right to have a price tag set in stone around the use of this beautiful place.

This morning it dawned on me that I want all of you members to have access to this space. To come to the farm and to have the opportunity to enjoy the beauty and the sense of community, earth and farm that one gets here.

The realities are of course that we need to make mortgage payments, and I have been spending too much time worrying about this. I do believe that by putting it out there things will all work out:)

Please disregard our hand out earlier this week. All of the features remain the same but for people who have shared with us and support us on this farm we want you to feel welcome. So, full weeks, two days, one night, any duration of time is welcome. And a policy of 'pay what you can' will be in effect for all CSA shareholders. Money need not be an obstacle.

I hope this finds you well.

Patricia & Josh

PS. If you didn't get the one-pager this week - see the link here.

A day at the job fair

NSCC and Peopleworx have put on an Employer Expo. I decided to attend to hopefully find a few people for the farm this summer. They delivered us a lunch to our tables. Guess what was in mine?

Granny Smith apples from Washington!

What am I to do? I am here at this job fair to hopefully employ local people and to generate activity in our economy. I am here representing both Taproot and Noggins, we grow apples, and the lunch we were provided is in part supporting Washington.

What would you do?

I'll keep you posted!

Final class of the day

It has been a nice morning talking about what it takes to run your own business. Do you have any suggestions to share with the students at EMS? I can pass them on. Mme Gaudat class is the last class of the day before these students head out for lunch. Enjoy!

Visiting EMS

This morning I have the opportunity to meet with 3 grade 8 classes at the Evangeline Middle School as a part of their two week interdisciplinary unit on entrepreneurship.

The first class is arriving now.

Enjoy the rain!

Sad night for Chickens

On Saturday night we lost all the old chickens. They were laying now and providing us with about 6 -12 eggs per day. There were 30 of them and they were all killed. It was a very sad morning.
They were the ones that we started last year and were so colourful. There are coyotes around and a few of them must have come in for a chicken treat. It just so happens that on that night we didn't close the gate, an evening ritual that was missed because I was rushing us our the door. Anyway, no fault needs to be had, but the fact is now that they are no longer.

The chicken house will be cleaned out and prepped for the new chickens that are ready to be outside.

Ahhhhh.....there I told you.

Good Night.

Bull Frog Power

You may be interested in this for yourself. This is an email I got earlier today.

Dear Patricia,

We wanted to let you know about a new campaign that Bullfrog Power launched today. The campaign features a deliberately provocative theme: “Pay more for energy”. The purpose of the campaign is to provoke a dialogue on the real cost of energy. While climate change and air pollution are very difficult challenges, the most powerful solution is clear: we need to pay the real cost of energy, including health and environmental costs that are currently hidden.

The campaign will run for approximately 8 weeks, and includes a website where customers like you can upload comments and videos explaining why they’ve chosen to pay more for clean power.

You’ve already signed up for Bullfrog Power, paying a little extra each month to support the development of 100% green, pollution-free energy. Just imagine if everyone did it.

Visit paymoreforenergy.ca to learn more about the true cost of energy and share your reasons for paying more for clean energy with your family and friends.

Thank you for your continued support,

Bullfrog Power

Plastic is on

10 minutes later.....
Ropes and doors to go. What a great morning.

Tunnel#3 up

9 AM just starting to put up another tunnel. Hopefully by the end of the day we will have beet greens and radish planted. I may be a bit too ambitious but we will see.


Enjoy the day!

(Josh, Conall & Tim)

Finalized the list

Today Justine and I finalized the list. It is a plan for what will be in the baskets each week and then I can create a planting schedule based on the time it takes for each of the crops to grow. (it is in pencil so hard to see)

It is Friday afternoon and I am feeling like tomorrow will be a full work day outside. This weather is something else. The greenhouse is nearly full of planted trays - some have already popped up.

I am just getting around to year end activities - Carolyn has been helping me clean up a few errors. For those of you who are accountants I know we are pushing it, sorry:)

Have a wonderful weekend!! The forecast looks great for life and dry for the farm. Luckily your farm is situated on top of a large water reserve - there is water everywhere on this farm. Hopefully we'll never see a day when that water is gone.

Happy Spring!

Isn't it great to know your farmer?

All that comes to mind is trust and how fortunate we are.

New Book - by Sarah Elton

Check it out. Taproot is mentioned. That is fun!

Locovore: From Farmers' Fields to Rooftop Gardens, How Canadians Are Changing the Way We Eat.

http://thelocavore.ca/

First blooms of the year

Sunny day - birds singing

It is a beautiful day. On a short walk to Swallows Nest - the farm stay, I hear birds, warmth, saws pruning apple trees. Today is alive! Enjoy.

Tunnel challenges

Halfway done.



Gust of wind



Done for day - one gust of wind and 3/4 of the day blown away.

It is a lovely day here regardless of the tunnel challenge. I'm not sure if they try again today or not.

Tunnel up

This spinach will take off now. We need to weed and add some nutrients to the soil.

Conall is seeding peppers- bell peppers, 4 lobe peppers and three types of hot!

Wednesday activities

Today we got the greenhouse opened up. Josh and Conall worked on it for the morning. And the wasps arrived and are happily killing aphids, I hope.
It has been a great day here on the farm!

Greenhouse and computer

Lily stopped by the seeding room late this afternoon. We got so much done today. All the seeds are organized, the computer and farm management soft are ready and we started the spring seeding. It is seeding nonstop here on out.

Wednesday March 3

I will leave this blog post open for random comments by you. Feel free to express. What do you think of this new concept? Where would you like to see it? Or would you? Do you like we should start a Taproot Farms facebook page? Would you join? Would it be a better way to communicate with people? It would be nice to see everyones faces, for those of you that I don't get to see at pickups.

Farmers market visit

Following the potato tech tour we headed over to the farmers market. What a great place with great energy and delicious food!


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Stirring the Pot: WOW Dishes it Out

The Women of Wolfville are about to mount their ninth annual production - Stirring the Pot: WOW Dishes It Out. We have wanted to examine the food we eat for several years, and this show is our collective response to a myriad of food-related issues facing the post-modern world.

The Women of Wolfville is a network of over 200 women, about 50 of whom have been preparing for this production for the last six months. Stirring the Pot will be staged four times at the Festival Theatre in Wolfville, at 8 p.m. from Thursday through Saturday, from March 4 - 6, along with a 2 p.m. Saturday afternoon matinee.

Through their annual theatrical adventures, the Women of Wolfville have raised over $150,000 for charity since 2001. The 2010 show will support school breakfast programs, the Wolfville Food Bank, the Acadia Community Farm, along with food-related programs in India, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda.

Tickets for this year's production are $12 students/seniors and $15 for adults. They are available at the Box of Delights in Wolfville.

10 Health Benefits of Apples

We're told that an apple a day keeps the doctor away, but what exactly are the health benefits of apples? Here are ten reasons to heed the advice of that old proverb.

Bone Protection
French researchers found that a flavanoid called phloridzin that is found only in apples may protect post-menopausal women from osteoporosis and may also increase bone density. Boron, another ingredient in apples, also strengthens bones.

Asthma Help
One recent study shows that children with asthma who drank apple juice on a daily basis suffered from less wheezing than children who drank apple juice only once per month. Another study showed that children born to women who eat a lot of apples during pregnancy have lower rates of asthma than children whose mothers ate few apples.

Alzheimer's Prevention
A study on mice at Cornell University found that the quercetin in apples may protect brain cells from the kind of free radical damage that may lead to Alzheimer's disease.

Lower Cholesterol
The pectin in apples lowers LDL ("bad") cholesterol. People who eat two apples per day may lower their cholesterol by as much as 16 percent.

Lung Cancer Prevention
According to a study of 10,000 people, those who ate the most apples had a 50 percent lower risk of developing lung cancer. Researchers believe this is due to the high levels of the flavonoids quercetin and naringin in apples.

Breast Cancer Prevention
A Cornell University study found that rats who ate one apple per day reduced their risk of breast cancer by 17 percent. Rats fed three apples per day reduced their risk by 39 percent and those fed six apples per day reduced their risk by 44 percent.

Colon Cancer Prevention
One study found that rats fed an extract from apple skins had a 43 percent lower risk of colon cancer. Other research shows that the pectin in apples reduces the risk of colon cancer and helps maintain a healthy digestive tract.

Liver Cancer Prevention
Research found that rats fed an extract from apple skins had a 57 percent lower risk of liver cancer.

Diabetes Management
The pectin in apples supplies galacturonic acid to the body which lowers the body's need for insulin and may help in the management of diabetes.

Weight Loss
A Brazilian study found that women who ate three apples or pears per day lost more weight while dieting than women who did not eat fruit while dieting.