Maris the Amazing Farm Intern Digs in

The lines are all straight-really!

Thanks for keeping the blog going Maris. A pretty accurate summation of the week follows..planting, planting and watering, watering because of the ultra-dry conditions. yes, rain is in the forecast for tomorrow. Here's hoping!

Another week, another blog.

Leeks going to seed

I’ve been enjoying being outdoors all week in the fields diggin’ and plantin’. Linda’s new reoccurring question for me is “are you sick of diggin’ holes yet?” and my answer varies between “not yet”, “nope, I’d rather do this than most other jobs” and “it beats labelling”. The sun was pretty merciless at the beginning of the week (I’m somehow still getting more tanned and burnt), but the clouds have provided a bit of shade for the past few days. Despite the bit of shade, we’ve had virtually no rain. The weather network has given us nothing but false prophecies and I’m beginning to wonder if I should do some serious research on rain dances. Nevertheless we’ve been very productive and in the past four days we’ve planted basil, eggplants, peppers, corn, beans, tomatillos, ground cherries, kale, broccoli and some other guys. And I don’t just mean a few. I’m talking about hundreds upon hundreds for most of the above mentioned veg. I forgot my camera this week, but I think Linda took some pictures and is going to post them.

Our army of animals has grown in more ways than one at New Leaf. The whole gang (my family, not the animals) went to a free-range poultry workshop near Owen Sound last weekend, and we all learned/ saw some neat stuff including where the term to goose comes from (they literally bite your butt when you’re not paying attention). After the workshop, we picked up some more heritage chicks and heritage poults (baby turkeys), which we plan to raise for laying as well as for meat-birds (sorry Linda). The muscovy ducks we acquired have doubled in size since I last saw them. They’re hanging out with some other chicks and Billy the Kid (the miniature goat) in the same pen, and they all seem to get along and even sleeping on one another (the birds are on the goat, not the other way around). The next guys on the recruitment list are probably going to be some Berkshire pigs or geese, and maybe a cow. Another cool thing we learned at the poultry workshop was that cow patties contain 7 enzymes (don’t quote me) that chickens need to digest food with meanwhile the chickens end up breaking up the patties so they crumble and fall apart faster in the rain and wind. The chickens also lower the fly count around manure by constantly eating the fly eggs and larvae. How’s that for a symbiotic relationship?    

Guest Post-Maris the Amazing Farm Intern Plants!

My step-mom Cathy and our goat

Hello again. I’m pretty beat this evening so I’m going to keep this post relatively brief despite all the new stuff I’m getting up to and all the stuff that happened the past weekend.

So the big sale which started Saturday morning was a big hit. I actually dealt with more people than plants in a day which hasn’t happened in quite a while. It was great meeting all of Linda’s friends that helped out before and during the sale, and I thank all of you big time because there was absolutely no way we could have been prepared in time or been able to handle the sale on our own (or Linda on her own for the rest of the long weekend). And thank you Cake & Loaf for the enormous pizza slices provided at lunch. It was rather relieving to see some of the over ten thousand plants finally leaving Tree and Twig to other (hopefully) responsible green thumbs.

The work was pretty different this week at Tree and Twig and for the best. We’ve finally moved out of the green house, no more transplanting, and most importantly no more labelling. We started planting stuff in the real dirt. We’ve done some peppers, beans, radish, tomatoes, squash, melons, watermelons, basil, onions, leeks, and some other guys. We haven’t even scraped the tip of the iceberg in terms of planting, but we’ve certainly started and I’m glad to finally be outside digging, planting, sowing (although it’s been way too hot and dry for this time of year).

Unfortunately there hasn’t been a hatched duck yet. The first one is due at any moment, but still no signs of any cracking. On a positive duck note, we’ve acquired three new ducklings back at New Leaf. We went out on Sunday to a town just outside of London to pick up the baby miniature goat (whom I think we’re calling Billy the Kid). The goat was at a farm with a bunch of other animals including alpacas, donkeys, turkeys, giant workhorses, dogs, cats, and some neat looking ducks. These guys were Muscovy ducks and apparently they’re great at catching bugs right out of the air. We later read that they also poop on you as a defense when you pick them up, but I learned that the hard way.

I’d go on, but that seems as good of a spot to stop as any. Thanks for reading and check out my post again next week.            

Muscovy ducks

Guest post-Kristina and Steve visit Wellandport

I was really happy to reconnect last fall with my wonderful friend from University, Sandie. And so happy too, when her daughter and her fiancee expressed an interest in growing vegetables in their neck of the woods. It was great to have them visit in April, and it is refreshing and inspring to meet two very thoughtful and committed young  people. There's hope! So much of it.

Our adventure to Wellandport to learn and visit Tree and Twig farm at the end of April 2012

By Kristina Leith & Steven Adams

We are from Richards Landing on St. Joseph Island in Ontario. We had a nine hour drive to the farm and the first thing we noticed was the leave on the trees, it felt like spring had sprung over night; In our neck of the woods there were only buds on the trees. It was very evident that our climates are slightly different.

We arrived on a beautiful day with the sun shining, the birds chirping and the sweet smell of cherry blossoms. We stayed for two nights and were extremely lucky to have such beautiful nights while staying in our cozy tent. 

Meeting Linda was a treat, she is easy to talk to and learn from, she started by introducing us to all her lovely animals. I was very impressed when Joey the pig came right out when she called him. From there we could see her chickens and Roger the roster. Also her ducks, why did the ducks cross the road? To be chase back to the other side. Which we did. We were spoiled for breakfast, having our first duck eggs, they were tasty. All our meals we very nutritious and delicious, like greens picked straight from the garden. Who could ask for more? Her three dogs and five cats were all very cuddly and ready to welcome us into their home. We had the opportunity to meet Linda’s daughter who were very friendly and nice.

We were very surprised how much can be done in three green houses plus regular gardens and how much variety and diversity was in her plants and seeds, especially her tomatoes. Linda referred us to look up Elliot Coleman who specializes in winter growing; this excited us, we had thought, ‘what are we going to do in the off season’. With green houses it is possible to not have an off season and also makes it possible to be a regular consistent supplier to the local community.

Heading on this adventure, we knew that we liked the idea of gardening and growing food to support eating local but we did not know where to start. Visiting Linda was inspiring and very educational. Our goal is to be as diverse as possible in our climate. We want to remain local as possible and to be relatively small but be able to sustain ourselves. 

We liked the idea of mulching and Linda shared with us the variety of good reasons for it; keeps the moisture in the soil, controls heat, good for nutrition for the soil (as it decomposes), and best of all it deters weeds from growing. This trip also reminded us of the importance of composting, not only to reduce waste but to give nutrition back to the earth to support healthy organic growing. Linda helped us realize how many innovative ways there are to harvest plants, for example garlic, the greens and the seed pods can be harvested at different time in the season.  

After this adventure we decided that we are going to work towards getting a green house. As we learn more we will grow like our plants. We will make this a life project and try to enjoy every moment. 

Guest Post-Maris the Amazing Farm Intern (tires of tomato tagging)

Hey again. It`s my third blog post and I`ve got a few things to mention this time around.

First off, I`d like to apologize for not having my pictures up for last week`s blog despite specifically mentioning them in the post. I have no idea of what I`m doing when it comes to uploading pictures, managing websites, or computers in general for that matter. Linda`s been having some trouble uploading the pictures I sent to her as well so we`re just going to wait until my dad the computer whiz shows us what simple thing we`ve been messing up. Until then, please take my word that the pictures were very relevant to last week`s post and very well shot if I can say so myself.

The main priority for this week at Tree and Twig is preparing everything for the big ol` plant sale which kicks off this Saturday. So for the most part we`ve basically been hauling all of the plants out from the greenhouse and up to the front of the house, feverishly labelling thousands of individual plants (which we`re still not done and probably won`t be on the day of the sale), and cursing the weather every night as it dips to frost temperatures yet again. I`m going to be helping out on Saturday so I hope I get a chance to meet as many of you as possible or see you again if I`ve already met you here at Tree and Twig.

After the weekend, we will be bringing a few flats of Tree and Twig tomato plants to sell from our farm in Mount Hope (which is now decided for sure as New Leaf Farm and Mount Hope is on the outskirts of Hamilton by the way). The selection, mind you, is going to be very selective in comparison to this weekend`s sale at Tree and Twig. So, if I don`t meet you on Saturday, here`s your second chance to meet up as well as see some of New Leaf (apparently we just added a miniature goat to our regiment of goofy animals of which I have yet to see, and yes I will post pictures of it).

And of course, duck update. Linda`s gone and done it again and added another duck egg in the incubator. The count is up to seven eggs! The first egg should be hatching on the 23<sup>rd</sup> of May, next Wednesday. I`m definitely excited for these new little guys, but I`m worried about the shenanigans they`re going to get up to when we bring them over to New Leaf. Linda`s ducks are always trying to cross the road, dangerous as that already is, to the neighbour`s lot which happens to have some pit-bulls in the yard (to be fair it`s only one of the male ducks leading his girlfriend over, but they`re pretty persistent). The male ducks tend to battle it out often as well, although I do wonder if a duck can even harm another duck given that they have no natural weapons or pointy parts on their entire body.

Lastly, I just want to mention that I`m eager to get outside and start putting all these vegetables into the ground (as I`m sure all you green-thumbs are). The greenhouse serves as a kind of `limbo` between being stuck indoors and enjoying sun and air of the outdoors. Don`t get me wrong, Linda. I`m up to any task that is required including labeling thousands of plants, but you`ve said it yourself dozens of times that you just can`t wait `til this stuff is done with and we`re outside planting. That`s it for this week. Again, I hope to see some of you at the sale and thanks for reading.