We’ve been busy seeding and germinating trays of onions, eggplant, peppers and tomatoes the past couple weeks. At the moment everything is still indoors, but as the plants mature and get potted up we will move them to the greenhouse. Probably mid march. We could go into the greenhouse earlier but the cost of propane heat in -25°C weather is prohibitive. The 1000W light bulb we use as a grow light produces alot of heat, which means that we don’t burn as much wood heating our home while the starts are inside our home. Two birds, one stone.
2018 Annual Report to Shareholders
As the season winds down at Indian Creek, most of our outdoor work complete, we like to take time to reflect on the season we are putting to bed. A highlight and delight for us, was meeting so many of you each week at the farm stand and at Open Farm Day 2018. Some, the veterans of previous CSA programs had a clear idea what you were getting yourself into. For others it was a first foray into the world of local, organic produce. Either way, it was a revolutionary, empowering act of shopping. We hope we were able to …
-28°C Just sayin
This week I was in the process of setting up a blog on our website. I started by adding the shareholder updates for the extended shares. It’s funny seeing them all on one page, and the progression of headlines; Winter is coming Survivor: the garden series The garden under snow Snow turnips The elusive snow sprouts Winter with bells on -28°C just sayin Who know what next week’s might have been? To expand on the last headline, on November 23 it was -28°C here at Indian Creek. Cold, very cold. To put this in perspective it was -4°C in Edmonton …
Winter with bells on
Well, no amount of denial is going make the snow melt. We’re taking the last couple outdoor items off our to do lists this week. All of the harvesting this week will be from the greenhouse and hoop houses. Even there winter is reaching in. The outer beds in the hoophouse now have a frozen crust on the soil most mornings. Getting enough lettuce for this week was touch and go. Its not every lettuce variety that can withstand being frozen to -14C and still taste good thawed out. Luckily for us we have a few varieties still in the …
The elusive snow sprouts
That only come out after a snowfall. That’s what you’re looking at in the photo above. 6 inches of snow, and the joy of harvesting beets through it. See the big smile on Marisa’s face? It seems everything has gotten sweeter, cilantro included. Judging by the look of many of our hardier crops though, that will soon be coming to an end. The tops on much of this weeks harvest look like they are their last legs, I guess that what happens when your foliage is flattened under half a foot of wet snow. It does make the harvest a …
Snow turnips
We’ve had a break from harvesting in the ice n rain this week, but looking at the forecast, we’ll be needing a heater in the walk in cooler before much longer. Winter is coming. We’re going heavy on roots this week, with beets, carrots, radishes and a dainty little breakfast turnip called Hinona Kabu. We had them in June, but these are tender baby roots by comparison. We have salad mix, spinach and chard for greens this week. Brussel sprouts and cabbage in the brassica department along with onions and your choice of cilantro, parsley or thyme. FYI – That …
The garden under snow
Fear not, this recent snow affects us not one bit. Well, some vegetables may be a little flatter than normal. Wet snow is heavy! All our outdoor crops that were with us last week are still with us this week. The sky has not fallen. But luckily (for us) the snow has melted, for now. Our salad mix is the heavy weight of the greens department, flanked by both arugula and kale this week. Some of the kale looked a little war torn. Wet snow is to kale what freezing rain is to trees. But sooo sweet ! Asian greens …
Survivor – the garden series
As we head deeper into the fall and the frosts get more frequent and cooler, its really intriguing to see how stoic many of vegetables are. We can also see which of our hardy crew will be the first to fold up its leaves. Our Radish is still in the game, but taking longer to bounce back after a freeze. But so much else is unfazed. So, this week you can expect our full roster of roots, gold beets, orange carrots, and survivor radishes. Turnips next week. . Lots of salad mix, spicy micro green mix, and a choice of …
Winter is coming
Welcome to the fall edition. Our group has shrunk from the crowd of 160 families we fed this summer, to an intimate group of just 10 families. You, the stalwarts. Full marks to you. The be completely candid, this extended share is a bit of an experiment for us. In the previous two years we have managed to feed ourselves until the first weeks of December. Much of what will comprise the extended shares is already grown, some harvested, some still to be harvested, some is still growing, and some like micro greens have yet to be sown. During the …