Nice to Meet You!

Welcome to the Vine, Aagaard Farms blog! Nice to meet you! We're growing and blogging from the Canadian Prairies in Brandon, Manitoba. For those of you not familiar with this area we are just north of North Dakota in America. And no, we do not live in an igloo - that's for Canadians waaaaay farther North than us! And, actually, even they don't live in igloos any more - igloos are like their winter get-aways.

We are gardening in a rather tough climate here on the Prairies. By the Canadian Hardiness Zone Map we are officially a Zone 2B (although we like to think of ourselves as a Zone 3, it makes us more hopeful.) Here on the farm, the tulips are just barely beginning to peek out of the soil and buds are just starting to swell on the trees. Tomorrow, May 14, our weather predicts the evening low as -3 Celsuis (roughly 28 F.) Friday, it's possible we may get a dusting of snow, according to the weatherman.

We are gardening organically and sell our produce directly to the consumer through a Community Supported Agriculture program, as well as through Farmers' Markets. We have U-pick raspberries and we rent out small garden plots. This year, new for us, are chickens! 19 week old layers arrived a couple of days ago and chicks are coming in early June. Last year we raised a couple of pigs for the first time and we'll be doing that again this year. The piglets will come sometime in June.

Today is rather chilly but we hope to be planting potatoes! The Farmer is going out right away to do a little cultivating and to decide if it is a good day to plant. We're late with the potatoes this year - we'd really like to get them in soon. We'll let you know!