It's April and in my mind it's the beginning of the gardening season. The weather is my boss. I've tried to find excuses to be outside and puttering around. Part of our field is pretty dry and thawed. I was tempted the other day to plant the peas but I thought I would give it at least another week for the soil to warm up just a touch more. Dad and Jacob (my brother and business partner) were with me at the farm and so we decided to just get some beds and paths staked out. We put some black sheet mulch over the beds to help warm them up and protect them. The hardest part for us this year will be making the beds. I don't want to be tilling the soil unless absolutely needed so permanent beds are the plan. According to my current calculations we need to make up about 50 beds although I don't really think we will need that many if we shuffle things about and reuse some beds after the first crop has been harvested. Not much growing at the farm yet but look at all the action in my front garden! CSA Newsletter June feels like a long way away still but I'm sure it will be on us before we know it. This blog will serve as the newsletter for our CSA and those of you who didn't get to invest this year can also follow along and find out more about the work we're doing and maybe hear when we have surplus veggies. Our first weekly share will hopefully be ready at the beginning of June. Some of the vegetables you can look forward to are peas, lettuce, green onions/scallions and rhubarb. The first few shares may seem sparse but as the season rolls on you may find that you are getting more than you're prepared for. This is what it's like to eat seasonally. In the newsletters I will give you some advice on preserving your bounty as well as recipes for making fresh meals. It's not as hard as it seems to preserve the fresh food especially if you have only a little freezer space. I don't have a lot of spare time either so quick and easy is my favourite way of preserving. Stay tuned. BYOB So I've been doing a lot of pondering about the bins and how to minimize waste. Specifically the plastic. Plastic is a really useful material. We wouldn't use it if it wasn't so useful. However it's a terrible waste material that is difficult to just toss in a compost pile. I've bought bins that will serve as harvest bins and bins to separate and cart the shares. I don't want to have hundreds of them so you can't take them with you. If I let you do that then I'll have to keep track of it and you'll have to return it. It's just extra work for all of us. Please bring your own bags or boxes. Well duh right? I will have some recycled plastic bags handy if you forget. It will be like the grocery store except with less waste and fresher food. Pickup Days and Locations Tuesday at Lake Land Meats. I'm hoping you can pick it up between noon and 5pm. If for some reason this doesn't work for you then please let me know. Wednesday in Beamsville/Grimsby. The official pick up will be at 4427 Lincoln Ave, Beamsville between noon and 5pm. The unofficial pickup will be at Yoga Truly in Grimsby between 10:30am and 11am. Thursday on Lowell Ave. 19 Lowell Ave, St. Catharines This pickup will be after 3pm. Come and visit. Please feel free to visit the farm (located just behind Lake Land Meats) and if you see someone in the garden go and make sure they aren't stealing your vegetables. Although if someone is going to steal vegetables then let them take them. The garden is not much yet but as the season gets going then you will see the beauty of your food!
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JackieI'm a garden farmer, herbal enthusiast, motherwifesisterfriend and Archives
April 2022
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