The Great Potato Search!

Last season we experienced an awful potato season.  We've made a bit of a name for ourselves with thirty varieties of potatoes, many heirlooms.  It was a combination of things: a cool wet spring led to some rot in the field early, the weather also brought us a bit of blight.  Then, in about a two day period when we were busy with markets, the potato beetle descended and nearly wiped us out!  Very few plants rebounded from the onslaught of the potato beetle.

Most of the potatoes we did harvest went to our CSA families, always our first priority.  I know many of them missed the variety we usually offer.  Not having potatoes to take to the Farmers Market was quite a financial loss for us, as well as a disappointment for our customers. And, this winter we've eaten a lot more rice than usual!  Perhaps the biggest problem, though, was the loss of seed potato, for this years' crop.  We've been virtually self-sufficient in seed for a number of years now; not only is it an expense, but we knew we'd have trouble finding some of our heirloom varieties.

So, the search began...well, it began last fall when pal Reta noticed Crampton's Market in Winnipeg had Pink Fir Apple potatoes - an awesome tasty heirloom and one of our favourites for soups and stews.  Erin at Crampton's was able to give us contact info for her supplier and we met the delightful Dennis, a chemical-free grower and wholesaler from the Winkler area.  Dennis could, indeed, supply us with some seed for Pink Fir Apple, as well as All-Red, an unusual pink-fleshed, dense and flavourful variety.  We had a nice meeting with Dennis at Neechi Common in Winnipeg on one of his delivery days.  Always fun to chat with and compare notes from someone doing the same thing we are!

We kept in touch with Dennis and he helped us find some Russian Blue, the all-purple potato and he shared with us some of his own French Fingerling, another of our favourites.  He also hooked us up with Kroeker Farms where we could find Sangre - our all-time favourites multi-purpose potato!  We scored some Yukon Gold from them, too.  Kroeker's offering are not chemical-free, but we're okay with that since they will be grown using all organic methods.

Then, Roger got in touch.  Roger is, well, a potato addict like Farmer Man.  He'd purchased seed from us in previous years, especially some of our interesting varieties.  Roger had run into Farmer Man and heard about our losses, and as he was getting ready this spring to plant, he found he could share some seed with us!  He's able to provide seed for Linzer Delicatesse, a beautiful fingerling and some more Pink Fir Apple; it sounds like he may be able to spare a bit of German Butterball - one of my personal favourites!    He also brought along some tiny quantities of some others, including one he believes is named Klondike Rose.  He gifted us a few bigger, eating spuds of Klondike Rose and it was quite yummy.

Perhaps the most interesting thing Roger has shared is true seed - harvested from the flower of the potato plant.  This is not how potatoes are usually grown!  Roger has been experimenting with saving true seed and following the work of a fellow named, I think, Tom Wagneg.  Roger left us with a small bag of seed he had gleaned and cleaned from those little round balls that grow from your flowers - you know those little balls we all ignore!  This is going to be quite a fun experiment: we're going to plant a bit of the seed now and save some to stratify, probably by freezing.  Should be fascinating!

In the meantime, the great seed potato search goes on!  At least we have the confidence of knowing we've got a decent quantity of some great potatoes for this upcoming season.  We've got to be careful this year to allow the soil to dry up and warm up properly: it's been such a long cold winter that that might take a while!

Have you a favourite potato variety?  Some of our Facebook friends have mentioned Adora, which I've never eaten but may try to find some!  Have you any recommendations?

The Global Market Brandon Is So Much Fun!

Loved the ceramic plant markers!

So, Brandon has a new market: a market with so much more than just veggies!  This is a community-group based project, with the land donated by a business to the City.  It's a permanent, colourful installation with wooden beamed tents with bright colored awnings.  Such a great looking space.  The Global Market welcomes farmers, bakers, artisans, crafters and home-based businesses, so a great mix!

A shady food court!

We decided to join this market for various reasons, discussed here.  Grand Opening was Thursday night, running in conjunction with the popular 'Cruisin' the Dub' car show: something like six blocks of vintage cars on display.  What a fabulous evening!  The weather was perfect: not too hot, not too windy.  The place was rockin'!  We saw friends, neighbors, CSA members and previous Farmers Market customers - so much chatting and laughing!  What a great way to introduce a new market.  There was live music to groove to supplied by the Majestics, a couple of food trucks providing good food, the occasional roar of an engine and lots and lots of people!

Awesome traditional Hispanic baking!

Grand Opening on Thursday night had a couple of us fresh veggie vendors, some fabulous handmade art including paintings and ceramics, two vendors of gorgeous locally produced jewellery - one classic metal based and the other had intricate, almost woven earrings, very cool!  There was an hispanic bakery (where I scored some scrumptious coconut buns).  There was a home-based business selling earth-friendly cleaning products (including Norwex re-usable cleaning cloths - which I adore, mine is about five years old now and still going strong after many washes!) and a seller of Epicure, with yummy gourmet spices, rubs and other edibles!  You could have also picked up some CD's or DVD's and some vintage toys from a couple of different small business people!  Such a great variety!

Smilin' Hugh and his son-in-law!

Friday, in conjunction with Brandon's Multi-cultural Festival, there was another market and some great music!  We were back Saturday morning and there were more veggies producers (Ray had fresh peas, don't know how he got those so early!)  There was another jewellery vendor with, again, cool different stuff, and 'Lady of the Lake' was offering coffee, some tasty and healthy smoothies and some awesome baking!  We were really enjoying a busker - a guitar player!  As we were leaving in the early afternoon a painter was setting up with some gorgeous, large scale abstract art!  Such variety at the Global Market!

Adorn yourself or start your
Christmas shopping!

The Global Market has a great new website, so you can keep up on entertainment, special events and such:  check it out here.  They are also on Facebook and Twitter, like us, if you want to know what's going on right now!  Market days, right now, will be officially Fridays afternoon and evenings until 7:00 PM, and Saturdays all day.  The Funky Food truck is there six days a week serving from lunch to dinner!  The Jamaican food truck is open during the evenings right now, I do believe.  We'll be doing Friday's from 4:00 to 7:00 PM, and Saturday mornings from 9:00 AM to noonish.  There will lots of different entertainment!  More veggies producers are coming as their crops come in, more of the vendors from the International Women's Market will be coming and lots of crafters will be coming-and-going each week!  What a great place to do your shopping!  I'm already starting my Christmas shopping: the jewellery and ceramics will be great for so many of the people on my shopping list!  Love shopping local as much as we can!  When you drop by the Global Market, please do come say hello! 

Where, Oh Where to Sell Our Veggies!

Working it at a Farmers' Market!

We never wanted to organize Farmers Markets.  When we took over the little family farm ten years ago and were looking to increase sales, there was one market in town on Saturday mornings and they wouldn't let us join!  We knew they sold out of fresh produce, and early, so we figured there was room for another market!  Friends were working with the Riverbank Discovery Centre on a project and mentioned they were looking for events.  We loved the idea of an outdoor market in such a beautiful location and thus was born the Saturday morning Farmers Market at Riverbank Discovery Centre!  We were growing extra veggies and we heard from so many people that they left for their cottages on Friday night and missed Saturday morning markets, so a year later we started the Thursday night market at the Riverbank.

We laugh now, looking back at the first few markets at Riverbank Discovery Centre!  There was us and our friend Jim, a baker, two little tables.  Fortunatley, the market grew.  We always struggled to promote the Farmers Market at the Riverbank Discovery Centre: it couldn't be seen from the street so it relied on advertising to grow, and there is never enough budget for ads while keeping the table rentals reasonable and still paying the licenses, rents and insurance.  With that in mind, Farmer Man had the idea to start a market at one of the busiest corners in the city so, a few years ago, we started the Friday Night Farmers Market at Shopper Mall!  It did quite well, quickly, showing us the value of 'location, location, location' and high visibility, however the rent and insurance requirements were much higher.

Now, those of you who know us well know that we're not that organized...well, Farmer Man is the farmer and organizing fell to me.  And I'm not that organized, or good at paperwork, or happy doing office stuff.  We never made any money at organizing markets and they were taking up a lot of our time.  In season, we'd get a lot of phone calls every week: inquiries about what veggies would be at the market coming up that day (when we're really busy getting the veggies ready for market that day), inquiries from people thinking of selling at a market, inquiries about whether we knew when a certain seller or product might be coming....much time spent in talking on the phone or returning emails.  Really, we just wanted to grow and sell our vegetables!

So, we were interested when we heard of a new community-based project called The Global Market.  A company, Perths, was closing its' downtown Brandon dry-cleaning plant.  For new building construction to happen on the site, an extensive and expensive environmental clean-up would have to happen, so the company decided to donate the land, with the Brandon branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association organizing, with stakeholders as diverse as Westman Immigration Services and Samaritan House.  The space is close to BU, close to residential areas with plenty of parking!  The plan includes permanent tents, green space and seating!  The organizers already have interest from a couple of food trucks; 'Funky Food' the chip truck is already using the empty lot, serving their goodies during the week!  Apparently the Jamaican food truck 'Irie Kaya' will be on site shortly!  Vendors from Brandon's much-loved International Women's Market will use the space as their summer home - meaning great, fresh ethnic food and crafts!  The Global Market, to my understanding, will welcome home-based businesses like Avon, Arbonne, Pampered Chef and such, and sellers of new merchandise like sun glass vendors, T-shirt sellers and the like!  There are plans for Saturday evening live music, with the 0 block of 12th Ave closed for street parties!  Should make for a fun and diverse market!

Although it has been a tough decision, we've made the choice to join The Global Market.  We're going to free ourselves from all the duties involved with organizing The Farmers Market at Riverbank Discovery Centre and The Friday Night Farmers Market!  The Global Market should be open by June - we anticipate being there Saturday mornings for sure and probably at least one evening during the week; follow Aagaard Farms on Facebook or Twitter to get our latest news!  We know that a number of the vendors that participated with us at our markets the last few years will be joining us!  Stay tuned for more details: The Global Market has a Facebook page at Global Market Brandon, MB so go 'like' them and keep up on all the latest info!

We would like to take a moment to thank all the Buyers and Sellers who have supported us over the years!  It's been great to get to know so many fabulous Brandonites!  We hope you'll all come join us at The Global Market, it should be a Blast!  In the meantime, we can concentrate on 'Growing Great Food for Our Neighbors', which is, really, what we do here at Aagaard Farms!   

Stocking Samaritan House's Pantry!

Marla and daughter Sonia working through the chill!

Farmer Man trying to hide!

We decided on a new venture for this October: a Farmers Market to benefit our local Food Bank, run by Samaritan House.  Our friends, and farmers market mentors, Menno and Evelyn Isaac had suggested we invite Samaritan House to come at the end of markets we organized.  Any produce unsold would be put to good use by the Food Bank, and we loved the idea!  Over the six years we've been organizing markets here in Brandon we've come to know Marla and Marcia, the driving forces at Samaritan House, quite well and we have sooooo much respect for what they do in the community.  A few years ago, we instituted a sponsorship for CSA shares for Samaritan House clients and it's been quite successful!  It's been a joy to share the veggies with them: so enthusiastic, so appreciative, so interested in sharing cooking and preserving tips!

Our friends at the local businesses Stream 'n' Wood and Lady of the Lake have been interested in a farmers market for a while, so it seemed like a natural to try it out at these side-by-side businesses with a great, visible location!  Today was our second Saturday, and even though it was blustery and chilly, we had a great day!  Both businesses jumped on board with nice bonuses for people who brought something for the Food Bank and we offered a discount of 10% at our table.  It was a good vibe - drop something off for the Food Bank, get your coupons, shop at the Market, shop at the Stream, lunch at the Cafe!  Word's getting out and we had a better turn-out today, with more donations for the Food Bank!  Marla is keeping track of donations, and we'll give you a total at the end of the month!  Meantime, if you're in Brandon on a Saturday in the next three weeks, come on out!  Bring an item (or items!) for the Food Bank, get a deal on great local produce, get a deal at Stream 'n' Wood and make time to take advantage of a deal that day on lunch at the Cafe at Lady of the Lake!  And don't forget: if you've had a great year in your veggie garden, Samaritan House will happily take any excess for their families!  Hope to see you there; stop by and say hi Saturdays in October from 10:00 AM until Noon!

Field of (Tomato) Dreams!

We've gone big on tomatoes this year.  With the help of our little crew we've got almost four  hundred plants in the ground!  All of them we started from seed in our little sun room.  We've got a wide variety: heirlooms like 'Brandywine', 'Opalka' and 'Black Krim', proven Prairie winners like 'Manitoba' and 'First Lady',  paste tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes and some of the low acid goldens.  We've got about twenty in the hoop house, which appear to be thriving.  The field tomatoes are, well, a little wind whipped, a little soggy.  Yes, we got more rain last night, along with some awesome lightening and rolling thunder.

All the tomatoes were planted in long rows, with the width of the tractor's rototiller between them, for ease of weed control.  One person dug holes every foot or so, one person came along with a wheelbarrow of compost and amended each hole, one person came along with a bucket of bone meal and threw about an eighth of a cup in each hole (that's to supply calcium, to prevent blossom end rot).  Then, a couple of people came along with trays of seedlings, planted and back-filled the hole.  Then, until they ran out, we put collars around the plants, to ward off cutworm.  We ran out of the collars (largely old cans) about half way through, so some little tomatoes are left to their own devices.  We already see a bit of cutworm damage: a plant seemingly cut off at soil level.  We still have a mornings' work to put tomato cages on as many as we can, until we run out of those.  These are closely planted, we may end up with a hedge of tomatoes, but that is okay!  I just want tomatoes, lots and lots of tomatoes!  I'm really serious this year about canning a lot of tomatoes, sauces and salsas, plus we need a good supply for our CSA families and to sell at the Farmers Markets!  Now, if only we would get a little sunshine and heat!

Catching Up!

I've been away having a wee holiday with my two sisters. Great to be able to spend time with my big sisters without the interruption of kids, animals, phones and all the stuff of daily life. We've never done that before, and it was a delight! Poor Farmer Man was left here on the farm because, well, he's not a sister. He's been babysitting chickens, dogs and kitties. And, he's been starting seeds. The first peppers got planted this past week, and they are already popping up. Quite a chore to empty and clean the sun room, find and set-up all the equipment including tray racks, heating mats and grow lights. And all in a week of frigid temperatures with wind chills of -40C. While I was lounging by a pool, shopping madly and admiring the oranges on the trees. Now, it's time to get very, very busy! We're working on upgrading the website, we've got to get new brochures for the coming season, we've got a lot more seeds to start and we're already getting calls from people interested in garden rentals, CSA and farmers' markets! Here we go for another season!

Westman, Check Your Datebooks!

Lots of interesting events coming up in the next little while! Here's a few I've heard about and thought I'd share! First, this Saturday, February 12, Funds Fur Furry Friends and Pet Valu are getting together. Both Brandon locations of Pet Valu will give you a 10% discount on any bag of food that you buy to donate to the rescue. They really need puppy food right now, but they always need dog and cat food. You may be able to meet a few adoptable puppies, too. If you can help, please do so!! FFFF will also be in Shoppers Mall from, I think, 2 - 4 PM with some adoptable pets you can meet! Go lay-a-little-lovin' on a cat or dog looking for a forever home!

Seedy Sunday is February 20th at Brandon's Park Community Center! If you're looking for seed or have saved seed and want to trade or share, this will be a great event. We're going to be there selling seed potatoes from our collection of twenty five different varieties. I don't have any further details at this time, but I'll share as soon as I know more.

New Era School is having a Market Day on Saturday, March 5 from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Tables are $20 and all proceeds go to support New Era! They're looking for sellers of baking, crafts and gently used items. There will be a canteen, with proceeds going to New Era, as well. Great day to shop or sell for a good cause! You've got to register to sell by February 24th, you can email Denise at coxb@mts.net or Delvina at kejick.delvina@brandonsd.mb.ca.

Earth Day is April 17th and there will be events in Princess Park again this year. The Green Spot's Spring Garden Fair is April 30 and May 1st this year. Hartney's Hort Day is May 7th and I'll be speaking there. Haven't really settled on a topic yet, but I'm currently rather obsessed with managing soils and garden beds organically. If you'd like to hear about something in particular at Hartney - let me know!

The Last Outdoor Farmers Markets!

Friday and Saturday when by in a blur - a grey, sodden blur. However, the Markets were certainly better than Thursday night at Riverbank Discovery Centre! The Friday Night Farmers Market at Shoppers Mall was well attended by vendors and shoppers. Friday's weather held great promise, and it was actually nice for a while in the early afternoon while we were harvesting and packaging. But, on our way there it clouded over, and shortly after start time began to rain quite steadily. it only lasted a while, though, and the shoppers continued to pull up and jump the puddles to check out the wares. Saturday morning's final market at Riverbank Discovery Centre was very grey: solid, gloomy grey but no wind and no rain. We were a little shy on vendors and customers, but it was a fine day! Now, we look forward to going inside for Saturdays in October! We'll be at the delightful Green Spot Home and Garden Centre where it's too easy to spend as much money as we bring in! I'll have to be careful and stay out of their store! And away from the houseplants! And the pots! And the trees and shrubs, which are probably on sale big time! Hope to see you there in October: Saturdays from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM!

Office Diva to Farmers' Market Vendor!

Sister Keltie has an alter-ego that her city friends don't know about. She comes to visit Aagaard Farms and become vendor extraordinaire! Now, Kelt likes good food (something we really like about her!). She is particularly fond of squash of any type. We have had to ship vegetable marrow to her on the Greyhound Bus, when she couldn't find it in Edmonton! Twenty six dollars to ship ten dollars worth of squash! Anyhoo, when she arrives at the farm, we cook her a couple of interesting meals with some of our more uncommon squash. Then we take her to the Farmers' Market with us and set her loose on the poor, unsuspecting customers! She raves, she praises, she gives cooking tips, describes textures and flavours, and darn if lots of people don't try something new. She brings a passion that we find hard to muster at our twentieth-something market of the season. And then, we bring her back to the farm and cook her some more! And load her car up with some when she heads home. If only she got enough holidays to be around the whole season!

Jammin'!

'Tis the season to be jammin' and cannin'. Now, it's too bad for us market gardeners that jamming season is in the midst of our busy season. But, of course jamming season is in the middle of our busy season 'cause that's when the berries are ready! Our raspberries are just coming on strong; we got a little pick but they will be on full force next week and we'll have u-pick people here. We always find a few surprises in the berry patch - so far this year it's been an awesome little nest of babies, mmmmm, wrens maybe, by the size of the beaks. I haven't seen the mom so I'm not sure.

The jamming started on Sunday with strawberries. I scored some beautiful berries from Sugar 'n Spice at the Farmers' Market at Riverbank Discovery Centre. Rocky and The Hens seemed to enjoy the leftovers and scraps! Today has been our own raspberries, and I'll do more of those - large quantities of jam and jelly, hopefully, for sale at the Farmers Markets!

We're onto something new this year: Pomona's Pectin. We're always looking for something different for the Farmers' Markets. Pomona's Universal Pectin allows for low sugar jams and jellies, and you can even can with honey, stevia or other sugar replacements. I'm loving this product! It is a 100% citrus based pectin that gels with calcium and contains no dextrin, like common pectins. The procedures are simply and you can double or triple a recipe no problem; the product itself has a shelf life, if stored properly, of up to three years! It's a Danish product, which Farmer Man approves of, of course! It's available in Brandon in small packages at Two Farm Kids; I went right to the website to order a larger quantity from the Canadian distributor: check out Pomoma's Universal Pectin!

Farmers Market at Riverbank Discovery Centre is On!

Farmers Market season is now officially on for us! Yes, we've done the Friday Night Farmers Market a few times already, but with opening day at Riverbank Discovery Centre under our belts, it's full tilt from now on! CSA and the Neighbourhood Market on Tuesday evenings starting July 13, Thursday nights at Riverbank starting this coming Thursday, Friday Night Farmers Market and Saturday mornings at Riverbank Discovery Centre. That's our life from now until the end of September!!

We call Saturday morning's market at Riverbank Discovery Centre 'the mellow market, where we let you sleep in until 10:00 AM'. It's a later start to allow out-of-town vendors to arrive. We didn't have much to prepare so it was a mellow morning for us: not the usual frantic scurry from 4:00 AM on! The market itself was very mellow - not that many vendors, not a whole ton of customers. Thursday being our national holiday, I know a lot of people took Friday off and went out to the lake or off for a visit. I know because I spoke to a whole bunch of them at the Friday night market as they loaded up for the weekend! Everything will just get busier and busier as more and more of the crops are ready! If you're in the area, you can download the schedule for all our Farmers Markets here.

A Farmers' Market Rant

Kate at the blog Gardening Without Skills has a little rant about her local Farmers Market. All we can say is: Amen!! And say it again, Sister!! Check it out here.

Opera at the Farmers Market!

Just for fun - 'Flash Brindsi' at the Philadelphia Farmers' Market! I love this! I want to do this at our Farmers Markets! Wouldn't it be great? You're just wandering around shopping and then suddenly..........well, I won't spoil it for you! Check it out here.

Friday Night Farmers Market!

It kind of snuck up on us - just doesn't seem like Farmers Market weather, and the growing season doesn't seem long enough yet. But, last night was the first Friday Night Farmers Market at Shoppers Mall. It was not great Farmers Market weather - chilly, blustery and threatening rain! Not much to sell, a tiny bit of asparagus, a tiny bit of rhubarb, fresh herbs from the over-wintered pots, some winter onions. Did have some tasty garlic scapes, which made a few people happy and baffled most. Took some bread, so we'll see what the feedback is on that! Did get some shopping done: some local honey, a local grape jelly and some hothouse tomatoes! Time to get busy!!

Great to be at a Farmers' Market

It was great to be at a Farmers' Market. Not just that the market was in San Jose del Cabo, in Baja Mexico. It was just great to be outside at a market! The Organic Market of San Jose was really fun! Only about seven veggie suppliers but a beautiful selection of lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, herbs and other goodies. Lots of crafts, clothes, soap, honey, herb mixes. One lady had even brought along her baby goat! Some super food being cooked as well, something the Health Inspectors here might not approve of. Farmer Man has a great, thick, open-faced tortilla topped with salsa and chicken, made fresh on the spot. The cook had the tortilla batter on hand, poured it out onto a griddle on order and finished them on the grill. It was called a heurechada or something.....should have written it down. It was a great day at the Market!

Last Farmers' Market!

The photo is Wee Man, the Green Spot's Vice President in charge of Rodent Control. We know exactly how he feels - found a warm, cozy spot and got comfortable! That's what Farmer Boy gets to do, at least for a while! Today was the last Market of the season, and we are ready for a break. It was a good Market, and we have really enjoyed October inside at the lovely Green Spot. But this year, with the addition of the new Friday Night Market at Shoppers Mall, we have done over fifty markets. Hard to believe just five years ago we started this adventure with twelve markets - every Saturday morning at Riverbank Discovery Centre. Time to curl up for a little nap!

Farmers' Markets Move Indoors

And just in time, as our temperatures take a big dip this week. Frost was possible overnight last night and the rest of the week looks cool and cooler. For Thanksgiving, we will probably get a bit of snow, according to the weather people! But, we'll be okay - because our Farmers' Markets will be indoors at the delightful Green Spot Garden Centre every Saturday morning in October. It's a great venue for a market - they've cleared out all the annuals and opened up a nice big space. Before or after the Market you can check out house plants, pots, great gifts and furniture and say 'hi' to all the fish and birds they've got.

It's great to have an extended season - we've still got loads of potatoes and a great selection of winter squash, carrots and beets. Last week we had summer squash but we'll find out a little later this morning if it survived last nights temperatures! We've got a garage stuffed with tomatoes in every shade, so hopefully they'll ripen over the next few weeks (note to self: move some of the green tomatoes into the sunroom to ripen faster....) We've pulled a few herbs to dry, we've got a little raspberry jam we made this summer - we can certainly fill a booth! And it will be quite warm and cozy for the sale - it's just the getting ready that will be chilly!

Multi-tasking Fall Chores

Farmer Boy is very busy, even though CSA and Farmers' Markets are largely over. We will still have indoor markets every Saturday morning at the Green Spot Home & Garden Centre, but it's pretty mellow to prepare for one rather than four. However, Fall clean up has started; harvesting of potatoes and other storage vegetables continues and, of course, the animals still have to be fed! Well, this is Farmer Boy doing fall clean up and feeding the pigs! Corn stalks with small undeveloped cobs are a new favourite of The Berks. Now, Farmer Boy could load up the tractor but sometimes he likes the personal touch......

The Chicks Move On Up!

The Chicks are out-growing their makeshift coop; there is no longer any doubt about it. They've discovered from their new roosts that they can get up on top of the walls and that is where almost half are roosting on a regular basis over the last two days. This is a concern as they could now get down onto the floor of the barn and basically wander away into the shelter belt and bush. Or a dog could decide they were a plaything. Or a fox or coyote or heavens-knows-what-else-that-lurks could decide to have them for dinner. But the chicken coop does progress! After a couple of rainy days, building resumed yesterday and the coop now has a third wall. Whoopee! No more building for the next three days, though, because it is Farmers' Markets weekend! One everyday for the next three - too busy for building!

New Potatoes!

About February, as we are dragging some dusty potatoes out of our root cellar, we start thinking about early Summer's baby potatoes. And they are here! We had our first dig for this weekend's Farmers' Markets and they are lovely! There is just nothing like a new potato. They taste fresh and alive, with a texture as smooth as silk. In this slow growing season, ours are still quite small, a bit of an extravagance to wreck so many plants for so little product. As Farmer Boy likes to say: when you sell things for pennies a pound, you'd like them to be a little bigger. But we just couldn't wait any longer!