Goldie's (and Our) First Baby!

This is not the post for you if you are not comfortable with frank discussions of birth, bodily functions and such!  There will be some (mildly) graphic details and pictures!

Aagaard Farms is pleased-as-punch to announce the arrival of Gafferty, a wee buck kid born about 4:00 PM on Sunday, May 20th (nobody had a watch on so the time is unofficial)!  The son of Goldie, our 75% Nubian doe, and Randi, our purebred Nubian buck, Gafferty, henceforth known as Gaffer, is doing fine!  It was the first baby for Goldie and for us, so it's been an exciting weekend!  Farmer Man decided, rather on the fly, that the kids' names should start with the first letter of their Mom's name; as the little buck was floundering around, Farmer Man called him a 'little gaffer', and the name stuck!

We do like things kind of natural around here: no chemicals on the gardens, no chemicals or antibiotics in the critters food, ya-da, ya-da, ya-da.  We did not intend to be so natural that Goldie would have her baby outside, in the pasture, but that's what happened!  We have done extensive reading on goat birth, watched YouTube videos, haunted some of our favorite websites like Fias Co Farms; nothing prepares you like the real thing! We've been watching our does for a few weeks, looking for signs and symptoms of impending birth.  We knew the udders were filling, we could see the body signs, we had read about the ligaments along her tail bones 'softening' when birth is near but we're still not exactly sure about that sign.  The does either think we're nuts or they enjoyed the 'massages' along their spine and down by their tail!  The goats had gotten their usual grain ration shortly after 1:30 PM and everything seemed normal: the little herd was together, they all came and partook of their treat, everything seemed good.  I angled around to get a look at all the girls rear ends: two of the first signs of imminent birthing, after the softening of the ligaments, is the doe releases a white, waxy looking plug from her vagina, then she goes off by herself.  Most goat keepers would have her in a separate pen a week or so before birth but it was a lovely day and we hadn't (didn't think) we had the softening of the ligaments, or the release of the plug......

About half an hour later I cruised back by the goat pasture, just to have a look.  Goldie was off under the spruces with a glob of yellow birth fluid hanging from her vagina.  Yikes!  This is happening NOW!  I ran to the house, grabbed the prepared birthing kit, the camera (like a good blogger) and yelled for Farmer Man!  Goldie stubbornly refused to walk to the barn at this point, so we grabbed some empty feed sacks to keep the baby from hitting the ground.  There was something I needed from the house so I ran back, and made a quick call to pal Deb, who had wanted to know when babies were coming.  I think I yelled something into the phone like: "Having a baby goat, gotta go!"   Deb appeared shortly after and a third pair of hands was a great help!

A wee, little hoof presents itself!

For about an hour and a half, we watched and encouraged Goldie, pulling the empty feed sacks after her as she moved around.  Farmer Man was at her head, keeping her steady and calm.  She'd push, a little hoof would appear, then recede.  She'd push again and we'd see a little hoof, then a tip of a little nose and a little pink tongue!  This might stay out, then disappear.  We still couldn't see the second hoof!  I was running through my mind everything I'd read about assisting in the birth, but it was too soon for that.  Finally, after almost two hours, Goldie lay down and began to really push hard, making funny little noises!  I intruded into her vagina, just a tad, and found the second hoof, just inside the entrance.  On the next big push, I got it between two fingers and pulled lightly along with Goldie's push.  A few minutes later, a little wet, gooey baby came sliding out!  As we were outside on a breezy day, Auntie Deb and I were ready with puppy pads to clean the baby, then old towels to keep the baby warm.  We tied off the umbilical cord with dental floss and slid the feed sack with baby up to Goldie for her to do some cleaning and bonding!

How does this work, again?

Farmer Man got some grain, Deb took the baby, all wrapped in a fresh towel, to a sunny spot just by the barn doors.  With a rest and a bit of grain, we got Goldie up and slowly made our way to the clean baby stall in the barn.  We put them in together, and turned on the waiting heat lamp.  Momma Goldie seemed interested, and did some more cleaning of her baby.  Getting the baby up to nurse and getting Goldie to stand still to nurse was a bit more of a challenge.  The rest of the evening, and the next morning were consumed by watching, encouraging Mom to nurse, using treats and brushing to get her to stand for the baby.  We actually put into action our milking machine - The Henry Milker!  Love this thing, highly recommend it!  We milked Goldie, had the waiting baby bottle and nipple and tried to make sure little Gaffer had colostrum and a good feed!  The worry and frustration when the baby didn't want the bottle!  Fortunately, shortly after Momma Goldie let him get a good drink and we could all relax!

Our plan now is to let little Gaffer feed during the day, then we will milk Goldie out in the evening.  I must say, fresh goat milk is a gorgeous, gorgeous thing!  Creamy, smooth and no, absolutely no, goaty flavor!  I've got a small stash for our first batch of soap, and that supply will grow every day!  Hopefully, we'll be making soap next week!  In the meantime, we're playing with Gaffer, congratulating Goldie and we are watching and waiting for Mabel and Chocolate to have their babies!

Hitting The Weeds With Vinegar!

Anybody casually seeing the photo of me spraying weeds might think 'What an idiot! No protection, not even gloves!'  Well, I'm not too worried about it 'cause I'm spraying vinegar, and I don't wear gloves in the kitchen when I'm using it!  Yes, vinegar can be a good weed-killing spray.  I'm using pickling vinegar, which is slightly stronger than common vinegar.  I'm using it largely because I had a big bottle left over from last years' canning and would rather start the new canning season with a fresh bottle!

Vinegar works by largely drying out the tops of the weeds.  It works best in combination with strong sun, so I'm in a hurry to get it on because today is going to be an unusual (for May) +30 C (about 92 F).  There may be rain Saturday, but hopefully the damage will be done and, for a minimal cost, I can always re-do the application.  I've got about half vinegar, half water in my tank; the 4 liter bottle of vinegar made a little less than half a tank.  That nicely soaked one side of my heavily infested driveway, about sixty feet, and a little bit on the other side.  I like to walk backwards while I'm applying because the bees were quite happy in all the dandelion flowers so I try to scare them off as I move along.  Vinegar would count as a non-selective weed-killer, which means it would damage any herbaceous perennial it touches, so I'd weeded out a strip along the perennial bed.  You can also use a shield; something like a piece of cardboard that you hold between the perennials and the weeds, 'shielding' the good stuff from the spray.  Vinegar will have little affect on woody plants' woody parts, but could damage the soft leafy growth.

I've included a 'before' picture, I'll keep you posted on the results!  Have any of you tried vinegar as a weed-killer?  I'd love to hear about your experiences, either here in the comments or on our Facebook page!

Wow! We're Going to Be The Stars of a Documentary!

Photo courtesy A. Collins and D. Adriaansen

We're going to be in films!  Allison Collins and Danielle Adriaansen, two journalists/bloggers/filmmakers/tech queens around town were looking for a project to produce for the  MTS community programming channel.  Allison is a member of our CSA program  and Danielle will be joining us for the new season, so they had some familiarity with what we do!  We sell all our product directly to our local community through the CSA program or through Farmers Markets; the ladies seemed to like that connection to community.  During the winter they proposed their project would be about what Aagaard Farms does and, on receiving the go-ahead from MTS, they made it official!

The ladies will be following us around for the next four months or so, filming all the disparate things that go on at a little farm.  It will be, I suppose, kind of like being on a reality TV show!  They'll see the frenzy of getting everything organized for CSA pick-up day, the garden renters coming and going, the quiet moments early in the morning when Farmer Man is letting the animals out into pasture.  Viewers will see us dirty, sweaty and tired - no hair and make-up people for this project!

The ladies have started a new blog 'Dirt to Dinner' to document their process; check it out here!  They will be working on every aspect of the documentary themselves from photography, to editing, to sound.  Can hardly wait to see the finished project!  We'll share some updates on our Facebook page throughout the summer, as well as here on our blog!  Although the finished product will be the property of MTS, after a certain length of time the ladies will be able to share it on YouTube or someplace like that; we'll certainly let you know where and how you can view it!  Wanna be in films?  You may be if you're out at the farm, a member of CSA or if you come see us at the new Global Market in Brandon this summer!

Brooding...and I Don't Mean Young Vampires!

At the beginning of May, I posted a picture on our Facebook page of some of the hens laying their eggs in the goats hay bin.  Now, one of the Ameraucana hens won't leave the hay bin!  The first few days I gently snuck underneath her and collected the eggs, as I do with all The Hens.  By day three, she resisted a little more strongly, giving me the hardest peck I've received from a hen and making a rather angry squawk!  She continued to almost growl at me as I stood beside her, so I backed away.  Yo ho!  Is one of our hens getting that 'mothering' feeling?

Hens lay eggs, it's what they do.  No rooster required, no special feed, it's just what they do - you can't stop them and why would you?  If no rooster is around, the eggs would never produce chicks.  If a rooster is present, and the hen is allowed to sit on the eggs for three weeks, a chick will develop if that egg has been fertilized.  With two roosters and forty seven hens, it's very possible some of our hens are not getting any, ummm, male attention; roosters seem to like a harem of about ten or twelve females.  When a hen wants to sit on the eggs and have babies, it's called 'going broody'.  It's quite an investment of her time: a mother hen will keep those eggs warm almost twenty four hours a day, only leaving for a short period each day to eat, drink and 'freshen up' a bit.

In our five years or so of having chickens, we've never had a hen go broody.  Our reading tells us that the instinct has almost been bred out of many varieties; the Leghorns and Isa Browns we've had the longest have never shown any inclination to have babies.  Our potential Mama is an Ameraucana, we have no idea if she's been mated, or if the Daddy would be Rocky the Barred Rock or Buddy the Ameraucana.  We've also noticed that the hen as adopted other eggs laid in the hay bin, a mix of Black Sex Link and Isa Brown eggs.  She's currently sitting on eight eggs.  She's showing classic signs of going broody: the protective instinct and unusual warning calls, her body is low and flat covering all the eggs, she's there almost all the time, she has a far-away, glazed look in her eyes.

All we can do is wait three weeks and see what happens.  It would be wonderful if we could be self-sufficient in chicks, so to speak.  We have already ordered twenty new chicks, for delivery at the end of May, so we may have quite the flock of babies here!  I'm already worrying about whether they'll fall out of the hay bin and hurt themselves!  As the old saying goes:  Time will Tell!  I'll keep you posted, check our Facebook page for weekly updates!

It's Hartney Hort Day, 2012

Volunteers help plant one of Rick's logs.

Today was the day for one of my favorite annual events:  The Hartney Hort Fair!  For a small town, Hartney puts on an awesome Hort day!  Today was the first time Aagaard Farms has been there as a vendor: selling seed potatoes and our lotion bars and lip balms.  It was fun to sit back and enjoy all the speakers, and see gardening friends I don't see that often!

First up was Rick Wilson, an old friend I haven't seen in a while.  He did a great presentation on planting an old log or piece of driftwood.  What a great little piece of garden 'sculpture'.  He was, as always, amusing and interesting.  Even got some of the audience up to help him plant a couple of great pieces of driftwood he's collected.

Next up was Connie Lagerquist, horticulturalist with The Peace Gardens, with a Powerpoint presentation of the new and nifty plants for 2012, mostly annuals, with a few perennials and even a few veggies.  I must admit that since I left the garden centre business I don't stay 'up' on things like I used to.  We don't plant many annual flowers here, but it's always nice to see beautiful new things!

After lunch Mr Wilson was back with a great talk on hydrangeas for the Prairies Gardens.  He was followed by Bill Stilwell, awarding winning author and photographer.  He had a super talk on the subjects of his fabulous books: flora and fauna of Manitoba and where to go to see them!  I learned of some beautiful spots in Manitoba; we're definitely going and doing some eco-tourism in our back yard!

The Hartney Hort Fair always has some fabulous local vendors.  This year there was Valleyrimgirl Perennials, from just outside of Brandon, L.E.T.S. Plant Greenhouse from Medora, Manitoba and Lillian's Garden from Killarney.  Janet McBurney from Souris with Mary Kay Cosmetics was there to keep all us gardeners beautiful!  Plum Creek Soapworks of Elgin had a table that smelled wonderful with handmade goat's milk soap and assorted bath products.  Lanark Trail Greenhouse & Nursery by Reston was there as well as Springdale Greenhouse from Carroll.  There was also gorgeous jewellery from Janice McBrien of Hartney.  I scored a lovely Rada Cutlery cleaver from Clarisse, who runs the delightful Red Door Cafe in Hartney.  It's so great to see so many local small businesses getting out to offer their wares!

Hartney always puts on a great day, they get one of the biggest turnouts of any of the Spring horticultural events.  Maybe part of it is their knack for an astounding array of door prizes, raffles and silent auction items!  Maybe the fabulous array of homemade desserts with the lunch has something to do with fabulous attendance.....

Just About Ready to Plant!

Ready to plant!

 I always love this time when the soil is all tilled, smooth and black!  Just waiting to receive seeds and water, to produce little plants and then to grow beautiful food.  Within a week, it will be cut up, tramped down in places and will be full of stakes and rows!  This time is all about potential, what might be!

We were hoping for a very early start, but the rains of late April and early May have lessened that possibility somewhat...we will be getting on earlier than usual but only by about ten days.  What the recent weather has brought is a full dug-out.  After the snow melted our watering pond was only half full, a big worry, but now it's full to overflowing.  The irrigation system itself needs a little work before it will be ready to use, but the soil has ample moisture now and we usually have sufficient rain through the end of May to get things going.

The dug-out full!

Farmer Man got the tilling of the main area finished last evening.  After watching the end of a hockey game, we got out close to dusk to set up the rental plots.  We gave up in the dark, before finishing, but that is getting taken off the 'to-do' list this morning.  The gardeners, with recent sunny days, have been anxious to get started!  This little farm will probably be a beehive of activity this weekend!  All the doggies will be so happy; they love the attention and all the extra pats!  We'll have to corral the chickens soon, or they will happy scratch up and pluck out everybodys' little seedlings!

There is more tilling to be done: the potato field is being moved to an area that was alfalfa/grass last spring.  We've been slowly taking back more and more of the old alfalfa field, for crop rotation and as our business expands.  The soon-to-be potato field was broken up last summer, disked in the Fall, disked again just a few days ago and will now get at least one rototilling to smooth it out.  The area around the dug-out is still a little wet and heavy, so we'll leave that for a while.  We're not in any big hurry: our last frost date is officially June 6th, so we're not in any rush to plant out our started seedlings of tomatoes and peppers.  Seeds and seed potatoes will be safe for planting now, and that will keep us busy enough for a couple of weeks!

And Just Like That....

If you don't follow our Facebook page, you will not know that the baby Berkshire Pigs arrived on Tuesday!  Ten little weanlings, well, fifty pound babies!  And just yesterday morning one of the barn cats had babies way up high in a box on a shelf; we're not sure because it's hard to see but we think there are four kittens!  Just like that, there are eighty mouths to feed around here, not including Farmer Man and I!  We're still waiting for goat babies, but we know we're getting close because the goatlings' udders have started to enlarge and, if all goes well, that could be at least three and as many as nine new members of the farm!  New chicks will arrive about the end of the month.  And another barn cat is, beyond question, going to have more kittens soon (I know, I know but we really do get them spayed and neutered as we can afford)!

And just like that, the greenhouse is almost full with baby plants!  Once we start to pot-up from our thickly seeded flats into six packs and cells, the plants (and flats) multiply quickly.  There are well over one thousand seedlings here now!  Potted up are most of the tomatoes, peppers and the early starts of herbs.  Waiting for potting up are the third and last seedings of the above three, and just seeded are flats of broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage.  We're just getting organized on making our little paper pots from newsprint, which means soon we'll be seeding the winter squash that takes a hundred days or more, like the delectable Australian blue pumpkins like 'Jarrahdale' and 'Crown Prince'.  Watermelon and cantelope will also go into the newspaper pots because they tend to be brittle and do not transplant well; with the paper pots we don't have to handle them very much because the pot can be planted!

And just like that, we're busy!  The leisurely days of March and April have given way to the increasing demands of all our babies.  Checking on the piglets is frequent:  we need to ensure they have not found a weak point in the fencing.  Their automatic waterer is still not hooked up, so we're refilling their water bucket three or four times a day.  Checking the goatlings is almost an obsession, looking for any signs that a baby may be coming.  Checking, watering and feeding all the critters and seedlings can take over a couple of hours.  Blogging, answering emails and phone calls, updating the Facebook page - we're quite happy now when it's dark and everyone and everything is tucked into bed!  And we're not even out in the gardens, yet....potato planting should commence next week, if the rains subside and then, just like that, there will be weeding and hoeing and then seeds should get planted and then the seedlings should get hardened off and planted and then:  it will be full-tilt small farm whirl-o-rama! 

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!   

Hemp Bread - Oh, Yes I Did!

If you've read this blog a while you will know that we are big fans of hemp.  Super food, soothing skin care ingredient, fabulous fabric - all from a plant that can be sustainably grown without much addition of pesticides, fertilizers or irrigation.  We're so lucky, in Canada, that it is perfectly legal and widely accepted (Get with it, America!).  We're also fortunate that one of the premier suppliers of hemp foods, Manitoba Harvest, is based right here in our province, so we like to consider the products local, even if we don't really know where the hemp was grown.  In our house you will find hemp oil, which we use in our morning smoothies, pestos and salad dressings, as well as in our handmade lotion bars and lip balms.  Hemp oil is not suitable for cooking with, as it can't take high temperatures.  Also in the pantry at all times is hemp protein powder which, until now, went into our morning smoothies.  We also have hemp seeds, known as hemp hearts, which are awesome little nutty seeds for topping salads, pastas or for munching.  We have hemp clothes, which are sturdy and long-lasting, improving with age as they get softer and softer.  We even have some hemp paper products!  Multi-purpose, awesome stuff that hemp!

For Earth Day, I received a lovely email offering a celebratory discount from the nice people at Manitoba Harvest.  I immediately went to the website to take advantage of 30% off, which was just for the weekend.  While cruising the different protein powders, I read that the powder can be used in place of flour in baking recipes.  Hmmmm.......

I was needing to make bread and had a craving for a more traditional sandwich loaf.  Our usual 'go-to' bread is one of the fabulous no-knead artisan breads from the book 'Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day' by Hertzberg and Francois.  It is a great way to make bread from scratch for busy people: you mix the ingredients in the storage container, let it rise, throw it in the fridge and when you need bread you grab a hunk, let is rise a bit and throw it into the oven on a hot pizza stone.   Sometimes however, I do want a lighter sandwich loaf, the 'knead' kind of bread.  My 'go-to' recipe for that has been the 'Easy Farmhouse White Bread' from the always fabulous Farmgirl Fare.  The original blog post with the recipe has tons of great extra info and tips plus links to techniques like forming a loaf and such.  Highly recommended!

Anyhow, I've made the recipe a few times; the first few times straight up, then changed some of the flour for whole wheat, then spelt.  Today, from the starting four cups of flour I replaced half a cup with hemp protein powder and a full cup with whole wheat flour.  As per the suggestions in the blog post, I increased the milk by a cup, to compensate for the 'thirstier' flours.  The resulting loaf is very good: still light, with an extra, subtle nutty flavor and a nice dark fleck through loaf!  I'm quite happy to know I've added a little bit of protein, Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids and other good things!  Now, I'm going to mess up all those healthy benefits by slathering on way too much butter and a bunch of homemade grape jelly!  Yummy!  Have you given hemp foods a try!  You really should; your body will thank you!

It May Be Time To Boot Up the Greenhouse!

The potting up of little seedlings continues unabated.  And there are more seeds to start!  The tomatoes and peppers are pretty much all started; there are herbs to finish, and then it's broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, celery and some of our winter squash that require a hundred days or more to mature!  It's getting hard to move around in the sun room: it is stuffed with folding tables with grow light stands on top, grow lights or fluorescent lights strung beneath.  Watering requires crawling around on the floor, inevitably bumping our heads on tables!  Some of our vegetable crates are holding the trays of seedlings closer to the lights - we're constantly stubbing our toes on those!

Looking around this morning, it seems obvious that it's time to move to the greenhouse.  Nights have been chilly here this week, dropping to below freezing!  Our concern is that the greenhouse, built by Farmer Man's Father from mostly found materials, is not very energy efficient.  It is south facing, so the lighting will be excellent (the sun room is east facing, hence all the lights!), but it's not very air tight, and it's heated electrically so our concern is a large electricity bill!  But, you've-got-to-do-what-you've-got-to-do, right?

Seedlings need to be 'hardened off' - meaning they have to get used to outdoor temperatures gradually after being somewhat coddled in sun rooms and greenhouses.  We're looking to move into our hoop house (or high tunnel) shortly - as soon as we re-cover it!  The poly covering has been damaged beyond repair this winter, so first it must be stripped, a new roll purchased and then, on a calm day, the poly must be re-floated and attached.  That's a big chore (and a calm day can be hard to find in Manitoba)!  Then we can seed some greens directly and we'll move out some of our seedlings.  We have 'water walls', plastic 'teepees' whose walls can be filled with water.  These absorb heat during the day which they release at night, protecting the plants within.  This can also be done by using a group of plastic milk containers filled with water, surrounding each plant!  We're a little uneasy about planting out seedlings into our straw bale cold frame quite yet, because the temperature fluctuations are a little more extreme!  I think we will put some onion sets out there soon, though!  Busy, busy, busy - how about you?

Potting Up!

Time to move some of the little seedlings to larger homes.  We generally seed thickly: five rows to a flat, seeds pretty close together in a row.  That means that there's quickly lots of competition for root room, nutrients and light! We're potting up 'California Wonder' sweet peppers today, into the large six-packs, with plenty of root room for each seedling.  This is probably the only time we will pot these up, unless it snows in May.....

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We're using Sunshine Mix #1 - we use it for everything.  We put it in a bucket and moisten it, not dripping but quite damp!  We dump the moist mix onto the six packs, over-filling so that we can move the soil around, ensuring that each cell is full but not compacted.  We use a little wooden dowel sharpened, to work with the plants; a pencil would work well, too.  First, we use the dowel to lift a clump of plants, starting the process of separating the roots.  Always hold the seedlings by the leaves, not the stem!  This is super important: the little, delicate stem is the only way nutrition gets from the roots to the leaves and you absolutely don't want to crush it!  We use the dowel and our fingers to separate each plant, then, we make a hole in the six pack cell to receive the tiny root ball.  Stuff the roots down, firm the soil up gentle and one seedling transplanted!  We always try to match the size of seedlings in a six pack, partly because we may sell some of them and people like uniformity but also so that no one plant is shaded by taller plants from the outset!


Most of our seedlings we make sure to replant the baby at pretty much the same depth it was in its' original soil.  Tomatoes are one of the few plants you can sink in deeper and they will root from the buried stem, creating a hearty, healthy plant!  Most seedlings won't like that and may rot away in the part of the stem buried!  These flats of bell pepper will go into the warmest part of the seed starting unit for a few days, on the bottom shelf right over the heat mats!  This will help them root into their new homes.  Then they will quickly move up and out, under lights on one of the tables.  We also try to water all seedlings by gently soaking the soil, not the plant.  Less moisture on the plants' leaves means less chance of fungal or bacterial blights and blotches.  Humidity is not an issue, so we've never found the need for fans.  We also run our hands over the seedlings regularly, not only for the great fragrance but we've read that it encourages better rooting and sturdier stems - something like a breeze might do in the garden.  One flat of transplants - about five more to go to finish this flat of baby peppers!  Then, there's a second flat of peppers, a flat of assorted herbs and two flats of tomatoes ready to transplant!  It'll be a busy couple of days!

Planting A Straw Bale Hot House

Farmer Man laying the rows!

Since building our straw bale cold frames, we've been monitoring the temperature with an air thermometer.  We seem to have killed our soil thermometer by leaving it unprotected on a shelf in the greenhouse all winter - oops!  With the windows on all the time, daytime temperatures can be as much as fifteen degrees warmer than outside and nighttime temperatures are as much as five degrees warmer.  Very acceptable ranges, so time to plant!  We've decided to use all old seed for planting the first one, to use up the seed and because this is an experiment and it's highly possible that we may let things get too hot inside.  We're a little unsure of how this should work, in practice.  If we let it get too hot inside during the day will the seeds be 'unhappy'.  Or do we want to let it get really hot during the day so that the soil has lots of warmth going into the night?  The forecast is for nights around freezing, and we think that we are more worried about that then really hot temperatures during the day, for now.  We can, of course, remove the windows during the day; we're just afraid we're going to forget!

Doodles found his way into the unplanted bed!

So, we chose 'Nantes Half Long' carrots, 'Russian Red' kale, Claytonia or miner's lettuce, 'Renegade' spinach, arugula, 'Esmerelda' lettuce and Black Spanish radishes.  The carrots are 2010 seeds, everything else is 2011 seed.  Farmer Man raked the bed and then, using the rake, marked shallow rows. I followed behind laying the seed quite thickly.  First design flaw we noticed in the bed:  Farmer Man had taken a scoop of soil out to create a mound for the bed, so that the bed could be sloped to the south.  The back wall is almost four feet high, standing in the scooped out area, and it's a little hard to reach into the bed.  That's an easy fix, we just have to put a scoop of soil in that area.  Other than that, the bed works quite well, easy to reach from the sides and front!  We found the soil in the bed very dry so we'll have to keep on eye on moisture levels!  Farmer Man dug out almost every hose we own: as the irrigation system is not yet running water will be coming from the house.  Better than hauling water and watering cans, and we have no big use for them anywhere else, yet!  Now, nothing to do but wait, watch and water!  Perhaps, just perhaps, we'll be having a delightful, fresh salad in about a month!