Action Shots

Good old tiller




My workhorse!!!

Another windy day today but it was warm and the soil dried up nicely. I could not get the rototiller to work so I had to wait for Derek to get home. Of course he just pulled the cord and it started, I blame it on the babies. Don't want to pull too hard of course. I always had a hard time getting it started so I really should not use them as an excuse. We got another 6 beds planted this evening after supper. Speaking of supper it was really yummy. Salad and hamburgers. Ground beef mixed with ground pork both from farmers at the Summerside Market. But I digress. Back to the planting. We planted two beds of parsnips, a bed of dill and cilantro, and three beds of beets. Tomorrow we are going to finish planting the potatoes and start transplanting leeks, onions and Brassica greens. I'm excited!!! Yippie for progress. Here are a few action shots from my work this evening.


Off I go with the tiller to work up some soil



Notice all the safety gear, ear protectors and steel toed boots

Public Speaking = Scarry

Last night I spoke about our CSA farm at the farm centre in Charlottetown. I had all kinds of time to prepare and of course I left it to the last minute. Well not the last minute exactly but I did find myself in front of the computer all day yesterday making a slide presentation and trying to remember back to college days for proper words/page and proper fonts etc. I'm just glad its over!!! But it went really well. There was around 20 people there and lots of questions were asked. Becky Townsend from Fortune Organics also spoke about her CSA farm which was really interesting.

Public speaking = scarry!!

More Progress

Lettuce mix seeds in the hopper ready to be direct seeded


Green onion transplants, almost ready to be planted, notice the big belly in the way


Organic compost finally arrives


Healthy broccoli transplant

The last two weeks have been quite good in terms of planting seeds and getting things done. Our compost we purchased arrived last Wednesday evening from New Brunswick and Derek spent the next few evenings spreading it with our tiny manure spreader and on Friday he was able to work it all in and the ground is now ready for planting!!! All I have to do now is use the rototiller to make finished beds before I plant. All the beds have been made.


Beds all made, now ready to be planted

Last week I seeded 5 beds of carrots, 5 beds of peas, 1 bed of radish, 1 bed of spinach, 1 bed of lettuce mix and Derek and I planted 12 rows of potatoes after the market on Saturday.


Early carrot variety, Nelson
There are still 18 rows of potatoes left to put in but its been raining steady since Sunday afternoon so it looks like the end of the week will be when we're able to get back at the planting. Our early varieties, Red Norland and Superiors, have been planted now to get the Kennebeck, Penta and Gold Rush in.

Potato sets ready to be planted, Red Norland

When the soil dries up I will be transplanting turnip, broccoli, leeks, bulb onions, mizuna, swiss chard, kale and green onions.


Mixture of seedlings reaching for the sun


All of the tomatoes have been potted on now to either a 3" pot or a tray size of 36 cells or 50 cells. I started tomatoes a lot later this year and I'm afraid they are pretty small and it may not have been a very good decision. Time will tell. I put the transplants out in the shed a lot earlier this year and I think some benefited and some not so much. The peppers are quite on the small side this year but the Asian greens and Brassicas look really healthy.



Soon to be transplanted, when the soil finally dries up

Small Farm Canada

Today in the mail arrived Small Farm Canada Magazine. Its a great little magazine that focuses on small farm related issues throughout Canada. I had been contacted last fall about doing an interview in regards to our CSA program. It seems I've finally made it into the magazine, the biggest surprise was my picture being included on the front page. The online article is a little bit different but have a read if you've got a few minutes. The article talks about operating a CSA from four different Canada farmer perspectives. Happy Reading!!
http://www.smallfarmcanada.ca/csa.html

Progress

Jen & Whitey


New strawberry growth


Greenhouse work


Campbell brothers all working together, thanks guys!!!


Getting ready to plant the first bed!! Spinach & Lettuce mix



And the first bed is planted.

Well the first day of May has arrived. Its chilly and damp but a little bit of rain will be good to give all my newly planted seeds a drink. The greenhouse is still under construction but its coming along. We got some manure delivered yesterday which will be spread on the hay field and our compost from New Brunswick should be coming any day now. I was able to plant three beds so far 1.5 spinach and 1.5 lettuce mix. The seedlings are growing well and the shed is pretty much full. I have another full round of seeding to do on Monday and I'm not sure where I'll find the space.



Onions growing well in the shed


Truck almost empty


Pure Gold - Cattle manure


A proud farmer girl overlooking the new manure pile


Derek and I posing in front of new manure pile

My big belly is also progressing along quite well. Getting very hard to bend over and it sure was awkward trying to get up into the tractor yesterday. I'll need a step stool soon.


Belly shot 29 weeks. Two babies sure take up a lot of room!!

Last blast of winter?

We had a real kicker of a snow storm Monday & Tuesday. We got over 20cm and the wind blew it all around and I think most of it ended up behind our house in the form of a 6 foot snow drift which Derek had to shovel to be able to feed the horses and get firewood from the shed. By late afternoon yesterday the sun was shining and you would never have known that we had gotten hammered again by yet another winter storm. Will this be the last? The long range weather forecast is predicting warm weather with rain so that should help to bring the drift and all the other piles of snow down. Just on Sunday, one day before the snow, we were barbecuing and sitting outside enjoying the spring weather. It did not last for long.

The onions are growing really well. Overall the germination rate was pretty good and i'm happy with their growth so far. I've yet to plant anything else but hopefully I will get some peppers, parsley, shallots and other fine seeds started today.

The twins are growing well according to my doctor. We got to see them on the ultrasound last week and all looked good. 25 weeks down, and who knows how many more. She said the average term for twins was between 34-38 weeks so here's hoping for the 38 week mark!!!

Where to start

So, again I've been a terrible blogger. My main excuse is a lack of a digital camera but in reality I've just not made it a priority. Since the last time I blogged there has been some interesting developments here at the farm. We found out two weeks ago that we are not only expecting one baby in July but two babies. When I heard the word twins I was shocked!!! It was not something that had even registered slightly in my mind about being a possibility. I should have because there are a lot of twins in our family but I guess the news of being pregnant and planning for that and the farm was all my mind could handle, two babies was not something I had even considered. So now we are trying to plan not only for the CSA and market season but for hiring a new employee, making sure we have two of everything for when the babies arrive and just trying to come to terms that I will not be as available for working on the farm as I thought I would be. Luckily Derek is able to take 9 months paternity leave from work which is fantastic. So, that is our latest news.

We have our growing room all set up in the living room which makes the rest of the house rather cramped for a few months. Hopefully our greenhouse will be set up this summer so the house is not needed as much next year. We will be starting onions this week along with parsley and peppers shortly after.