End of the Season 2015 part 1

It was one helluva gardening season this year.
Well...not really.
I worked at an organic vegetable farm called The Kitchen Garden from May-August.
Here's where I worked...

A small view of the enormous fields at the farm.

Inside one of the hoop houses I helped build by hand.

The big pond I helped dig by hand.

The smaller pond I helped dig...that waterfalls into the big pond.

Working at the farm was an amazing experience but it was incredibly draining.

Meaning that poor husband of mine spent more than his share working our own garden.

I was grateful.

I was also exhausted.

Some days it was just because I'd spent 5 hours hoeing and just couldn't look at another weed.

Other days I had spent 5 hours picking beans...and couldn't fathom picking any more.

We still managed to put away a crazy amount of food.
(stay tuned for more on that)

But the amount of food that we grew that got wasted broke my heart.

I learned an incredible amount as well.
I learned about working smarter...and harder.
I learned about different varieties of vegetables.
I learned how to trellis them and maintain their health.
I learned how to harvest them...and quickly!

Speed is of the essence at a farm.
The margin is so small on vegetable sales.
You work fast...
even if you feel like the heat is
making your body move in slow motion.

I learned how to use hand tools...
something I've never done before.

(Seriously?!  she's been gardening for over 10 yrs now!
How is that even possible!?!?)

Well...we've been doing it by hand.
Literally by hand all of this time.

Sure, we might use a wheelbarrow or a shovel.
But all of that weeding and harvesting was done by hand.


Let me tell you, I have some amazing discoveries to share in the coming year!
No trademarked secrets that only The Kitchen Garden uses.
Sorry folks, that's privileged information...and you'll have to work there to find out more.

What I'm going to share with you are all of the
things that I will be doing differently in my home garden.
Tools, tips and trellising tricks...
and much, much more!

Its all gonna change this year!
Stay tuned...

New additions to the flock 2015

Another unexpected bonus to working at The Kitchen Garden was the part timer!

She is a skater boarder/bird breeder living in Erinsville.

You can find her on Instgram under the name The Real Farmacy.

It sounded like her homestead had a lot in common with ours...

so we thought we'd head out for a visit!

It was a short drive for my son and I one sunday morning

back in July I believe.

She breeds turkeys.

Big ones.

She has a flock of laying hens.

And a whole lotta chicks!

My son was very taken with the baby turkeys (Poults if you want to get technical).

They were pretty sweet.

Aw who am I kidding?

They were freakin adorable!!!

Luckily we only came home with 3 hens.

Two Ameraucanas.

One Jersey Giant.

A JERSEY GIANT.

Not sure what I was thinking...

but I'll be sure to post a picture of her when she is all grown up!

I'm super excited to see how these new babies make out with our flock.

I'm also stoked to see how the giant turns out!

That brings us up to 12 hens.

Still perfectly acceptable.

No crazy chicken ladies here.

Nope.

SUPER SAD UPDATE:

Two weeks after I wrote this post...a raccoon grabbed two of the new chicks.

Killed them both.

And the orange necked ameraucana in the bottom of the picture above survived.

She's a scrappy lil thing but she was pretty traumatized by the whole event.

I was devastated by the loss of the two chicks.

It was our first attack on our hens.

For better or worse, we shot the raccoon the next night in a 

wave of anger and a feeling of protecting our flock.

Not sure how I feel about it now.

I'm still an animal lover...

and its not like we go sport hunting raccoons all of the time.

We've lived here happily for 4 years without having to kill off the local wildlife.

I would like to think the next time we'll use a live trap.

Then I saw a big turkey vulture flying very close to our yard...

and thought...

why would I deprive such a majestic bird a well deserved meal?

All I know is those sweet lil chicks aint growing up.

And I was pretty pissed about that fact.

Another Update:

We took in 3 of my sister-in-law's hens.

One died mysteriously shortly after we took them in.

The other one didn't integrate very well.

She developed a head wound that would not heal.

We separated her from the flock on numerous occasions.

Each time we tried to re-introduce her...they would attack her all over again.

We made the choice to end her suffering.

Strangely enough the whole flock calmed down once she was gone.

One of our original flock died of old age.

Then our Silver Laced Wyandotte had a prolapsed vent.

Our flock is now 6...but spring of 2016 will bring way more hen madness!

Stay tuned for the new arrivals... 

Apples

So its fall!

At least that's what my calendar is telling me.

I suppose if I were to sit and think on it...

It feels like fall too.

The air is cooler.

(Not so stifling and heavy)

The geese are honking their goodbyes.

The nights are beautiful!

(no bugs)

Not to mention, my calendar says its fall today...officially.

When its fall we pick apples.

Certainly not the first time.

Definitely not the last time.

We have picked apples at local farms too!

What makes this year a little different is that our favorite trees are heavy with fruit.

My sister in law has several GREAT apple trees.

The past few years have been hard on them.

Serious winters, porcupine damage, deer thieves...

These trees hardly stand a chance!

And yet this year they are spectacular!

(and luckily for us, they are right around the corner)

We drove up one evening to grab the apples before the deer at them all.

Owen was pretty annoyed that there was only one picking tool to be had...

So I made him the official apple picking photographer.

At 8 years old...he's not to bad!

Apple picking action!

I remembered the cloth in the picking tool this time...

No I didn't bring rum to pick apples...although...

We also scored a cabbage too!

(Located in the nearby veggie garden))

And in case you are wondering...

Here is a handy post that describes what we do with all of those apples.

And if you are interested...

I have posts on Apple and Havarti Quiche

As well as Parsnip Apple and Brie here.

Both are well worth trying!!!

I promise! 

Talking Garlic at Burt's Greenhouses

Well another weekend...and another event about GARLIC!

This time I traveled to Wilton, ON to Burt's Greenhouses

to see Mr Brian Burt talk all about how they grow garlic.

Brian and Ruth have been growing garlic for sale for 5 years now.

Held in the greenhouse itself, it was a super informative talk.

It was interesting to learn from the growers perspective.

Why they grow what they grow and how.

Brian is a very animated speaker...

so it wasn't until I went to get out of my chair that I realized how long I'd been sitting.

He kept the small group hanging on his every word.

Brian spoke about some of the issues in growing garlic...

such as bulb and root nematodes.

They use french marigolds (as shown behind Brian in the above picture)

to help the garlic fight off the bad nematodes.

He also spoke about leek moths and 

how they spray the garlic in May with beneficial nematodes in the evening to combat this issue.

He grows Cutlass oriental mustard to fight off the pathological nematodes.

He overwinters the garlic in his greenhouses in order to 

maintain a consistent level of moisture and temperature.

He also top dresses the garlic rounds with chipped deciduous wood due to the high tannin content.

Brian mentioned that they specifically grow garlic rounds rather 

than bulbs to help keep the stock safe from pests that prefer a more developed bulb.

All in all it was a great talk that I would highly recommend to anyone interested in growing their own garlic.

It stores well (when properly harvested) and can be enjoyed in almost any dish!

I hope that Brian felt the event was a success and will repeat the event next September.