Right now, we’re planting (both direct-seeding like in the picture above and transplanting seedlings we’ve started in the greenhouse), weeding, mowing, preparing beds, covering crops with row cover, starting more seeds in the greenhouse for future plantings, harvesting and more. We’re basically trying to catch up to where we’d like to be at this time of year. The weather hasn’t made it easier. Our last frost was 2 weeks ago but last week it went down to 2 degrees Celsius and fields had frost just a 15 minute drive from us.
We’ve got a beautiful cover crop of rye. It’s just starting to shed its pollen so we’ll soon be either mowing it or attempting to “roll” it with our rototiller (note: the rototiller isn’t being run by the PTO on the tractor, it just turns as it rolls along the ground…this rolls the stem over and “crimps” the stem which kills the rye and leaves the stalks on the ground as a mulch). This will be our 2nd time trying this…the first attempt was ok, we had to roll over it twice.
The Dieppe Market has been going well. We’ve been inside the market so far this spring but will be moving to our regular spot outside next week (not this coming Saturday…the next one, the 27th).
And, finally, just in case you’ve been itching to hear either Shannon or Bryan’s voice, we’ve both recently been interviewed in audio format. Click on the photos below to hear:
a) Shannon talking with Chris Blanchard on the Farmer to Farmer podcast about Valuing Yourself to Mitigate Risk,
or b) Bryan on the CBC Shift NB Homegrown show talking about the farm-made infrastructure he’s created including our germination chamber (which we also wrote a blog post about).
