Before the Winter

Zoë explained while harvesting green onions, that her jumpers are going to get more and more festive every week until Christmas. Underneath those wellies, she’s got rainbow socks on too!

After the many challenges with weather this spring, the nice run of almost frost free weather we have had this fall is greatly appreciated. Being so close to the Bay of Fundy, we have missed all but one light frost so far. This has given our warm season crops just a little extra time to ripen. We will have a few more eggplants and peppers this week, while the tomatoes in the hoop houses are still going strong.

Justin was busy today planting for winter production in the hoop houses. We had to rake out some failed plantings of Cilantro and Bok Choy. They were growing in beds that had lots of compost from a previous planting, but no fresh compost was applied immediately before planting. The soil-borne fungus that used to be a huge problem in the days before we used the peat based compost seems to have come back and killed our sweet little seedlings! After listening to me say “Argh” and “Umph” a few times, Justin applied half an inch of new compost and planted some Red Russian kale and spinach. If all goes well, they should be ready by the Holidays.

Henri, who is the owner and chief compost maker at Annapolis Valley Peat told me that his compost protects seedlings from soil borne fungus. This seemed too good to be true, but after using his products for several years, I’m beginning to believe!

We are doing everything we can to have lots of crops to sell over the winter. We have two hoop houses, each one a hundred feet long, full of kale and collards, and three houses full of spinach and salad greens. Once these crops are harvested, we have more kale, collards, and salad greens in the climate battery greenhouse. Shoot production will continue all winter. Additionally, we have lots of root crops that we grew or are going to buy in from Taproot Farms, Nature’s Route Farm and other organic farms. On top of that, we are going to ramp up our orders of imported produce over the winter.

We have been hearing from several of our farmshare members that they didn’t know that the Warehouse Market is open year-round. So please spread the word, we are open Year Round, three days a week (Thursday, Friday 11-7 and Sat 9-1)!

I never get tired of the changing nature of the Avon River. Its mud, mists, and shipyard remnants always make for an interesting adventure

Farm lunch

Aaron, Kim, and Sydney pulling the tomato plants out of the big greenhouse. Making room for winter crops

Warehouse Market: Open Year Round, three days a week (Thursday, Friday 11-7 and Sat 9-1)!

Sitting at my desk, I pull out a bottom drawer and put a pillow on it. Next thing I know there’s a little dog settling in and he puts his head and paws on my lap

Brandon harvesting dill

Little gem lettuce. You’re going to love it!

We freeze bananas that are left after market is over. Then we make ‘ice cream’ with them by putting them through the champion juicer or in the food processor. We’ve combined them with other frozen fruits to make all kinds of vegan treats