Today On My Small Farm

It was a sad day for Joey my delightful pig today as the vet made her annual visit.
Sadder yet because our old large animal vet has retired, and Dr Scott was so good with Joey.
Today's visit was far from smooth. Joey needed a hoof and tusk trim and his rabies and mange shot.
Squealing, vomiting and as alarmed as I've never seen him before- it was tough, tough, tough. There has to be a better way, as even once a year is too often for this traumatizing a visit. I'm not sure what the answer is. But I am thinking.

It was a weird day in other ways.
A California company tried to Fedex me some grafted heirlooms to try, but of course they couldn't get through customs and now are going to be destroyed. I've heard about grafted heirlooms for years and attempted grafting some of my own, just for fun, a few years ago

Essentially, heirloom tomatoes are grafted onto strong and disease resistant root stocks, creating stronger and more disease resistant plants.  I believe they are available in some larger nurseries in Toronto, but you'll pay. Oh, how you'll pay.

The planting carried on today too.
Lots of people at VegFest on Sunday, and folks who are coming out to the farm to buy plants ask the same question:"is it too late?"

Some things, possibly. Spinach, peas and traditional radishes, but not the rat tailed, that are grown for the tasty seed pod. But with most other things, the time is now and for many things it will be the right time for months.


Cukes, zucchini, squash and melons can still be seeded.

Beets, carrots, lettuces, chards, brassicas, corn and potatoes can go in for a good long time yet, as can many other crops.

I find this year the flea beetle damage is horrendous, so there are some things I'll just hold off on.
If you don't know flea beetles, they are the shiny and tiny little beetles who drill holes through your arugula, eggplants, kales, radish leaves and more. They love turnip and rutabaga leaves too, so mine are on hold.

Today some cool stuff went in the garden. The ground cherries, cape gooseberries, Morelle de Balbis, tomatillos, New Zealand spinach, okra, lots of carrots and my favourite 3 Root Grex beets, Blue Ribbon beans, a few more peppers I had forgotten and Rose de Chine eggplants. Huckleberries finished off the day and finished me off too.

I'm tired.

Tomorrow may be a different day, one out of the garden, if we get the rain they are predicting. I don't need it, or particularly want it. At all.  My clay is saturated and things will suffer if we get a dose of rain.  Why doesn't it rain when I need it and they predict it, but when I don't want it the forecasts are always right?

As for me and Joey, we'll sleep well tonight and I will hope I don't hear the sound of rain on my roof.
Joey I bet, hears nothing at all.