Yesterday at our morning farm meeting, we were discussing how to tell when it is time to plant.  Because of the chaotic weather patterns, we find the calendar doesn’t work anymore.  Instead, we have to rely on biological signs, like oak leaves, honey bees, and fish runs.  David explained that when oak leaves are the size of squirrel’s ears, it is time to plant corn.  Our friend Robert told us that his honey bees are two and a half weeks later than normal in their hive development this spring.  Last year, Jeff told us the fish were running late, and that the fall would be warm 3 weeks later than usual.  He was right!

Our schedule has also been delayed.  Our plan was to start Produce Packs during the third week of May, but we will have to start in June — likely not before mid-June.  It is difficult to tell exactly when, but we will let everyone know.

We were very grateful for the nice dry weather of the first week of May to get some work done outside.  It feels like we have to do all the farm work normally done in March,  April, and May, in May.  One piece of good news: No mosquitos or blackflies yet!

Thanks to all our customers for being so patient and understanding!  That means a lot to us.  We are doing the best we can and we are optimistic!  We have also had many offers of help on the farm.  On May 16 and May 23 we are hosting planting parties with different groups.  Anyone who wants to help plant is welcome any time except Sundays.

On May 1, right on time, Alice arrived from Montreal.  Yay!

 

She wrote a little about herself:

Hi! My name is Alice, I am from Québec City and I am a student at the faculty of agricultural and environmental sciences of McGill University. I first got in touch with farming when I was traveling around Canada and Australia, and after a disastrous semester studying physics, I realized how much I missed it and I decided it was time to go back to basics. I am really excited to spend the summer here, learning as much as I can about growing vegetables (and other useful skills) while discovering Nova Scotia!

To see what other members of the live-in farm crew wrote about themselves, check out the last blog post.

Here are some more photos from the last couple of weeks on the farm: