Week #2 - Hurricane!!

This post is really late coming but we have a house full of family, four kids five and under and never ending dishes.  Life is good.  My sister and her family are visiting us from BC which has meant lots of play time for Ben & Jake.

Kids will be kids, gigantic controlled house fire and all they wanted to do was play in the big puddles

Too cute for words that kid

Silly kids at the beach

We just experienced the wildest weather that I can remember.  I'm not sure if it was technically a hurricane but the winds were crazy high all day yesterday sending branches flying, landscape fabric taking off and destroying many poor squash plants in the process, a greenhouse that threatened to tear apart and my poor nerves to almost shatter.  I was scared to look outside this morning to see what might be left of my precious greenhouse.  I peeked through the curtains and there it was, standing strong in all its glory.  I still haven't been out to really assess the full damage to all the plants but seeing the greenhouse still standing brought much relief. 

Week #2 had lots of greens again.  I'm beginning to wonder if we'll ever have anything more than greens this season.  It's been a much different start to the season than the last two years.  I keep planting but the weeds keep trying to take over.  I'll have to have a crop rescue party soon.  This weeks shares included lettuce mix, spinach, beetgreens/swiss chard mix, summer turnips, radishes, Chinese cabbage, tatsoi and a spicy mizuna/arugula mix.  The grab boxes had gorgeous bok choy, swiss chard bunches, lettuce heads and more of the above mentioned veggies.

Beautiful Chinese cabbage

Love sharing the Charlottetown pick-up location every second Tuesday with these lovely ladies.  Sally and Lucy were there with their organic pastured chickens for their chicken CSA drop off.  http://barnyardchickens.blogspot.ca/

I hope you all survived the storm and if anyone is looking for a great outside escape and wants to see what a real good patch of lambs quarters looks like come on out and I'll find you a nice weedy patch to get lost in :)

2014 CSA Week #1

The first CSA delivery of the 2014 season happened today.  We have a new location this year for weekly pick-up and I'm very pleased with it.  No more having to worry about traffic and high winds off the water.  Many thanks to the Spring Park United Church for allowing us to use their parking lot for our CSA pick-up location!!

It was a very green first share but folks seemed pleased so that was great.  This week share has lettuce mix, cooking spinach, baby spinach, radishes, hakurei turnips, hardy mix (mixture of arugula, mixuna and tatsoi) and bok choy. The grab bins had rhubarb, beet greens, fresh basil, basil plants, swiss chard, Chinese cabbage and more of the above mentioned veggies.

Week #1

It's a very busy time on the farm.  We still have alot of seeding to get done as well as try and keep up with the weeds!!!!  This year we are swimming in weeds!!

Enjoy all those farm fresh veggies!!

Quick spring update

Well the spring sure got off to a damp chilly start leaving fields much to wet to prepare for early planting.  Last week we managed to work up a small section of ground and we transplanted our onions, shallots, leeks and direct seeded peas.  I have a list as long as my arm to direct seed and the weather this week looks very promising so I'm expecting to get alot of tasks scratched off of my to do list!!

I was invited to sell some herb and vegetable transplants at the first annual Herb Day at the farm centre in Charlottetown this past Saturday and it was a tonne of fun.  Saw so many folks that I knew and met so many great new people, I can't wait till next year.

Beautiful basil transplants which were available at the first annual Herb Day this past Saturday at the Farm Centre in Charlottetown

Below are just some pictures of recent activities here on the farm.  

Planting peas pretty much in the dark.  Rain was in the forecast for the next morning so it had to be done.

Before transplanting on Friday...greenhouse is full full full!!

After transplanting, finally some much needed space in the greenhouse for the next round of seeding this week!

Empty leeks/onions & shallots all planted in the field

Onions getting transplanted

Heading to the field with a big load of compost

Filling up the spreader

It was my first time running the manure spread.  It's normally Derek's job but scheduling has been a bit of an issue lately so figured it out and away I went!!

My silly little farmers!!

Greenhouse greens are slowly taking shape.  Arugula was the first crop harvested last week.  This week will be spinach and mizuna.

Employment Opportunity

We are seeking two energetic, hard working, reliable, physically fit and motivated individuals to work with us this season providing our CSA members and other clients with farm fresh organic vegetables. If you like working outside in all kinds of weather (yes, we work in the heat, rain, cold and wind), enjoy working with your hands, have a good sense of humor and don't mind getting dirty then you might just be who we are looking for. 

 You will often be lifting and moving bins of produce that could weigh up to fifty pounds so you will need to be physically fit. We work in a fast paced atmosphere as crops need to be harvested quickly to maintain a high level of quality. We grow over forty different types of crops so the work is always changing so I promise you'll never be bored. We need someone who can trouble shoot and think on their feet and who also has a keen attention to detail. 

No experience is necessary but a background or experience growing food would be an asset. Some of the duties you can expect will be transplanting, seeding in the greenhouse, weeding, harvesting, washing, weighing and preparing produce for our clients. 

Position #1 – 25-30 hours /week. Monday-Thursday. $12.00/hour

Position #2 – 14 hours/week. Monday& Wednesday. $12.00/hour

**There can be some flexibility in the hours between the two employees if need be**

These positions would start the end of June and finish the end of October. We also require extra help in the spring and later in the fall so an interested individual could start as early as the first of May but hours would be more flexible due to the nature of the work (ie transplanting). 

We are located in Wilmot Valley which is ten minutes east of Summerside and forty minutes west of Charlottetown. On top of the hourly wage we also provide free produce to our employees to take home and enjoy.

If you are interested in either position please contact us at JenAndDereksFarm@gmail.com