Your organic farm in the Eastern Townships
Last night, we had to shift gears, moving into prevention mode. As I was inspecting our corn patch, to check on the plants’ progress and assess the silent presence of the nefarious corn borer, I noted some damaged stalks scattered throughout the patch, lying on the ground, felled at the base, unfinished cobs still intact.…
Summer is in full swing at the farm, amidst alternating sunshine and rainfalls, just enough of the latter to tide the plants over to the next one. Last Friday I woke determined to do something both pleasant and useful – which explains why I spent the day harvesting garlic. Those of you who have been…
It’s a corner of the farm we refer to as “no man’s land,” our own “dumping ground between fiefdoms,” tucked away between the woods’ edge and the irrigation pond we’ve dug deeper and wider over the past few years. A natural landfill which nature is constantly reclaiming, where we (and the generations of farmers who…
We finally caught him. For several days, he had been teasing us, eating the first well-formed ears, nibbling at others as he ambled down the rows — early indications of ravages still to come. We didn’t know what to expect — a racoon, perhaps, or maybe a skunk? Finally, our nemesis let himself be tempted…
We had to do it. And do it fast. You see, the rain was coming. And so, Friday and Saturday, we weeded EVERYTHING: the herbs, the baby broccoli, the kohlrabi, the beans…the list went on and on. We also planted EVERYTHING — more broccoli, more kohlrabi, and a few other things left on our greenhouse…
Our 2014 season has come to a close. As our fields take a break, so will we. Our farming activities will ramp up again in early March 2015 — we’ll keep you posted. Enjoy your winter, may the snowfall be abundant. We look forward to seeing you again in 2015.
The garlic harvest is a nice moment in the life of the farm, something of a seasonal tipping point. The leaves had begun to dry out; it was time to harvest before the bulbs burst. And so we did – not à deux or à trois, but à cinq and à six – with two…
There’s nothing like a week’s break to put the spring back in a vegetable farmer’s step, particularly if the week in question was sunny from start to finish. We harvested carrots, sowed green manure, spread manure of the other kind for next year and watched our rutabagas grow. Our baskets this week include Brussels…
Our first week has come and gone, with much harvesting and some planting. We’re still wondering if it’s really summer, as cooler weather has been the order of the day. Don’t get us wrong – we’re not complaining: fieldwork at 23 degrees is much more enjoyable than fieldwork at 32. We’ve had to catch up…
Already June 24th: our first week of vegetables will be a leafy one, with all shades, and kinds, of ‘greens,’ starting with the emerald green leaves of spinach – spinach which has benefited from the best of growing conditions. We’ll also have red frilly lettuce, oak leaf lettuce and even crisp, slightly bitter escarole, that holds…