Opening Soon-Strawberry facts.

  Well I apologize to all the followers of my blog, the last few weeks have been rather hectic. During this time a fair bit has gone on here at organics, and I have quite a few new events to tell of. First off for anyone planning on stopping by the farm, we are looking at opening for strawberries around the seventeenth this month. I encourage readers to stop by and discover where real food comes from and talk to us about the organic life.

 The strawberries now have many green berries on them, and it is looking good for this year. One of the things that we as growers need to be careful about with strawberries is frost. During early Spring frost may cause the plants to heave out of the ground, but later in the season when the plants develop blossoms frost poses an even more serious threat to the crop. When the temperature drops below zero the blossoms will actually wither and die, and depending on how bad the frost is developing fruit may also be damaged. To combat this we water the berries during nights when there is a risk of frost and this keeps the temperature above zero, saving the fruit. 

  The majority of prep work is now done around the farm, however there are still a few finishing touches needed to open. The farm needs to be in perfect condition for opening day, which requires a lot of time and effort. The first requirement is that our produce will be perfect and ready for when we open, and the work for this has been going on since the snow disappeared. Work now needs to be done to tidy up the farm, during the course of the next week a lot of weeding and gardening will be done to liven the place up and also ensure that the fields are as clean and natural as possible for when the berries are being picked. 

  Another important factor in ensuring a good harvest is making sure the drainage of the field is perfect. Though this stage is done long before harvest, doing it properly can determine whether or not you will get any harvest at all. The majority of fields here in Ontario have pre-existing tile drain systems. These are a group of underground pipes that collect excess water from the lower points in the field and brings it to where it will not harm the plants. Excess water is a danger to crops because it causes mold to form quickly on the fruit, this can destroy a good crop of berries in under a week. Also many types of plants can not deal with very wet conditions So it is important to keep fields moist but not soaking. 

   Strawberry season is almost upon us and the next couple weeks will be some of the busiest this summer. So remember when you eat your next strawberry that there is a lot more to that berry then just sticking it in the ground. And for goodness sake, go out and support your local farmers. We're beginning the season where you can get some of the freshest and best tasting produce available, so eat local and eat healthy! Until next time everyone,

Good Eating! 

Composting

  Latest on our journey to sustainability, we have begun to experiment with new ways of fertilizing our fields. One of the main ways we fertilize our crops here at Organics is by applying compost tea which is literally tea made from compost. The compost consists of a variety of wastes from around the farm, from food scraps to animal manure; it's all there and it's all made here. A little pile of compost is placed into a barrel and the rest is filled with water. A small pump churns the compost up from the bottom and slowly dissolves the nutrients into the water. The tea takes about two days to make and does an excellent job maintaining the health of the soil.

 Of course we also have the standard compost pile into which we empty manure from our pigs. cows and chickens as well as any waste material from the plants. If you are a backyard gardener or even have a small farm and plan on using compost it is important that you know how to decompose the waste properly. When you 'compost' what you are really doing is building up the bacteria content of the soil, causing organic matter to break down quickly and into a form that can be used by plants and micro organisms. This breaking down generates heat and depending on how hot and how well you manage the pile you will be able to compost different things. 

  For example if you are attempting to compost raspberry canes you need very high temperatures in the center of the pile in order to break them down. You can achieve this by adding certain wastes which decompose at very high temperatures things such as chicken manure. Now we get into maintenance, certain wastes such as chicken manure require a constant 'flipping' of the pile to ensure there is oxygen for the bacteria to break them down. So believe it or not waste is actually a pretty complicated thing and essential to the production of food. So next time you pick up an small farm apple remember that a part of that is thanks to compost. and maybe that core will someday go into growing the next generation of apples as well.

Spring is in the Air!!!

 It's beginning to feel like summer out again, the field is a lush dark green and alive with bees, bugs and birds. I would just like to remind you all that now is a time to visit local farms for fresh early season Ontario veggies such as asparagus, and also to start off the year with your local farmers!

  Our patch of asparagus is alive and well, it just popped out of the ground about four days ago and is currently about three feet tall, nature is truly amazing isn't it! Well as tradition at the beginning of the year we have purchased about fifty chicks that will will help us with pest control , keep the flies down and fertilize our fields over the next few months. There only about the size of a tennis ball right now but it is incredible how fast they will grow. 

  Well if anyone has driven past the farm over the past few weeks you may have noticed a wide variety of changes, besides the colour of the field! We now have two Dexter cattle, two Birkshire pigs, about seventy five chickens(the oldest is still alive; six years and counting), and as our newest addition ten turkeys. Our little 'organic project' is finally beginning to look like a sustainable farm!

  In the news at Organics our heffer Gillian, is due to have her calf any day now and we have a few generous, experienced neighbors on hand to help see things through. Our pigs now weigh in close to one hundred and fifty pounds and in the field our plants have all budded and the strawberries are beginning to blossom. Now is one of the most important stages in the growth and fruit production of plants. Nutrients need to be available in the right amounts or the plants growth might become stunted and therefore its' yields will decrease along with the health of the soil around it. Now because we are organic and cannot use synthetic fertilizers we must resort to more natural means and there are three main ways we can do this:

 

 one being keeping livestock letting them graze and naturally maintain the health of the soil

the second is by planting cover crops consisting of many legumes such as clover and alfalfa or even beans, which fix nitrogen in the soil.

or we can use compost, compost teas, manures and organic fertilizers.

  We have started our compost and manure piles and are just finishing the fence around the field. This weekend we applied organic alfalfa pellets, which are basically dried alfalfa and set up the irrigation in the strawberries. If you happen to be driving past the farm over the next week and see us out working, go ahead and stop by we would be more then happy to talk to you. It is looking like it will be a great season and it will certainly be quite the adventure for all of us! Until next time, 

Good Eating!