Organic Search Results

I'm trying to gather info and resources so I can write up a business plan. One of the things I'm running into is that there doesn't seem to be any info on start-up or running costs for a <5 acre organic market garden type farm.

I can find spreadsheets that will tell me exactly how much of 5 different insecticides to buy, how long it will take to pay off 100 acres and a tractor, or even how many peppers I'll get off 25 acres, but that's not at all helpful to my needs.

I just want info on growing food without killing everything around it or going into debt for 50 years. 

Is that so hard?

There's Only So Many Options

A few years ago, a friend of mine was complaining that cooking fresh, healthy, dinners every night was time consuming and that he could make much better use of that time. We both knew he couldn't afford a personal chef so I didn't even bring up that option.

 

I had stumbled across a product with the unfortunate name of Soylent that claimed to contain all of the miro and macro nutrients required by human beings. It was touted as a complete replacement for normal food. You just mix up a batch once or twice a week, and drink a measured portion of the shake-like drink instead of meals. When I presented him this option he was disgusted. He said the physical pleasures inherent in eating delicious meals was important to him. I suggested that perhaps the Soylent could just be some meals and when he felt like cooking he could make whatever with the knowledge he's getting everything needed to be healthy. He still refused saying that the idea of drinking dinner was disgusting and he would only eat "real" food.

 

With this new info I suggested meal planning and a pre-cook day on the weekend so that he could have nutritious "real" food with less hassle during the week. With just an afternoon of work on the weekend he could have all the joy of his favourite dishes with little to no work during the week. You just pop the dish from the fridge to the oven at the right temp and walk away til it's done. He disliked this idea because it eliminated the spontaneity of deciding in the middle of the week that he'd really rather have a different meal. When I pointed out that pre-cooking and prep-work could be done at the basic level(just chop the veg or brown the ground beef but don't add seasonings) to simply make things quicker he still rebelled at the restrictions it placed on his creativity.

 

Why would you complain when you've chosen your favourite option ?  **shrug**  There's just no pleasing some people.

Went To Mom's For The Weekend

I decided that I really needed to talk to mom in the same room 'cause texting sucks and we had much to discuss so after making sure she didn't already have plans, I hopped a train last Friday and went to mom's house.

Mom and lil sis are currently in a tiny little place so I knew I'd be sleeping on the futon... I didn't realize how tired that would make me for the next few days.

Anyway, we got a lot of the room-mate stuff settled. We discussed what appliances we would like to buy for the household and looked over different models together. We discussed what we all consider to be healthy for our bodies and our minds (turns out we're all introverts!)

Our electricity rates on London vary by time of day, so we discussed using electricity wisely and leaving un-needed devices off during peak hours, as well as pre-cooking on the weekend to avoid too much cooking in the electric oven during peak times.

The food thing took up a lot of talking and we settled on these ideas:

• Eating only those foods which are good to us, meaning no gluten and no pork.
• Eating beans, quinoa, chickpeas, peanuts, lentils, and other plant sources of protein more often and meats less often.
• Eating a variety of vegetables daily, including "weird" ones.
• Buying dry goods(rice, beans, toilet paper, etc) in bulk and store them carefully.
• Going to the farmers markets every Saturday (or every other Saturday depending on needs) getting deals where they can be found and storing what won't be eaten that week in the freezer or as canned foods.
• Spending Sundays together pre-cooking and doing general prep work for the week ahead. This may involve making a large batch of pasta sauce of which only one jar gets used that week and the rest put away for later, or even just cutting the veggies for snack packs.
• Doing this prep work with a glad heart knowing it will help us eat healthy foods in reasonable amounts.(avoiding traps like popcorn-for-dinner-cause-I-don't-want-to-cook, or wow-I-haven't-eaten-all-day-and-that-whole-12"-cheesecake-looks-snack-sized).

We're also going to have a house warming party the first weekend so we can have everyone over at once and then not have to deal with social calls the next week or two while unpacking. :) No that's not really the reason, but it is a nice side effect. We've found these past few years that we all think fairly similarly and we not only enjoy each other's company, but also enjoy quiet time with the others around (reading, surfing, playing a video game) so I'm certain that living together is an excellent choice for us.

~ ~ ~

We will encourage each other to stretch and grow stronger physically

We will allow each other to grow spiritually in our own ways

We will clean our home enough to be healthy

We will relax in our home enough to be sane

We will honour our commitments

We will cherish each other

We will have fun

~ ~ ~

Seeds are on Order!

The Easy Care ground cover blend should keep us from having to mow grass around the front beds while still keeping a neat and pretty appearance. I may have ordered a tiny bit too much considering the area covered by the beds but I'd rather over seed than under seed, especially in pathways.

Instead of getting multiple packets of various seeds that I'd only want about 4 of each at a time, I chose a wild-flower blend for the front and back. The Partial Shade mix contains a bunch of the flowers I had selected for bed #9 and will also thrive as pollinator attractors in the front flowerbed by the rose and nasturtiums.

The Calibra onions look a lot like the small onions we buy in bags at the grocery store and say they're good for storage. The Walla Walla onions are the over wintering type and will be planted much later in the season for next year's harvest.

We have enough of the Amazing cauliflower seeds from last year for our first crop and I've ordered the Galleon cauliflower seeds to over winter at the end of this season and ripen for May 2014.

Last year I tried in vain to get carrots growing in soil that was too wet, too hard, and too nutritionally devoid. This used up all the seeds I had on hand so I'm buying some new ones to hopefully get a nice full crop this year. I chose the Scarlet Nantes carrots because they're good, basic, standard carrots.

The zucchini I chose is an unusual variety named Ambassador. Instead of creeping or climbing vines, this variety has a central stalk with leaves, flowers, and eventually fruit sprouting from it(Similar to brussel sprouts). This compact design is not only space efficient but it keeps all the produce in one easy to locate spot so they don't get overlooked and old.

I'm planning on buying the herbs, potatoes, raspberries and strawberries from local suppliers (Probably VanLuyk) so I don't have to start the whole spiral from seed and to ensure healthy sprouts. The herb garden won't be producing this year as it'll probably be barely planted in June but it'll have a few leaves to give and a good solid foundation for 2014.

Rough Plan for Front Yard

Now do keep in mind this is a ROUGH plan that isn't exact in placement or sizes. The border of the yard is measured and the rest is sketched in in approximate sizes and spacing. Megan says it looks like a face.

North is up. The front yard is bordered on the west by the walkway to the front door and beside that our driveway, on the north by the house, on the east by the neighbour's driveway, and on the south by the sidewalk that runs along our street. It's about 8-9 feet wide depending on where you measure and about 16 feet long from sidewalk to house.

The paths in the garden are marked by XXXX and are about two feet wide. The cross-hatch against the house indicates a lattice to trellis the wisteria and roses. The wisteria has a ? because I need to gather more info on it before committing. The very south edge of the yard will have common self-seeding annuals and some perennial bulbs. I'm hoping for this section to need the least care and to announce to the neighbourhood that this is a garden, not a random mess of "weeds".

If you don't know what a herb-spiral is or why you'd want one check out this lovely post by Antony at The Kale Yard. The cross hatch pattern at the north side of the herb spiral indicates a small frog pond/wetland area that can be used to grow watercress.

I haven't decided what's going where for most of the plants. Where it says "low ground cover plants" could be anything from forget-me-nots to creeping thyme. The keyholes might turn into something else entirely like Tripod supports for climbers... but here it is. :)

Have you got your 2013 plans started?

Jack Frost is a Busy Guy

Winter's definitely here. There's icicles, snow, and freezing winds.

Down spout icicle

I removed the paper and sticks. The garlic bed looks a little drier than the others because it had that layer of "protection" from the early morning frosts and such but it's not overly dry. It'll be interesting to see how much we can get from this one bed.

Garlic hibernation.

A Pillar and Boxes of Pee

I decided we needed some greenery indoors other than the aloe this winter, so I took the two containers the hot pepper plants were in and stacked them so the smaller top one drains into the bigger one. I figured that some fresh herbs would be welcome in the kitchen and the flowers will make awesome tea and salves.

Top: Basil surrounded by Chamomile;  Lower ring: Calendula, Sage, and Chives

I also got to the garden center today to pick up the nitrogen for the garden. Because we had plenty of everything else I wanted to find a high-nitrogen, low to zero phosphorus, low to zero potassium solution that was naturally sourced and slow release. I was considering poultry manure but the size and weight of the required amount(not to mention cost) was a bit uncomfortable... especially since I don't drive and I'd have to take it all home on the bus. What I found instead was this:

Urea is the chief solid component of mammalian urine; synthesized from ammonia and carbon dioxide. It is filtered out of the body through the kidneys, and is one of the components of urine.

Five boxes should do the whole garden plus some left for if the front yard needs a boost. Amazingly potent. :) We'll get it mixed in ASAP and it will age over the winter into very nutritious soil.

Plants and Plans

No I don't have 2013 all planned out all ready. I'm good but I'm not that good. 

This little off-shoot from the lavender we pulled up yesterday begged me to come inside the house instead of the compost. An empty peanut butter jar made a decent flowerpot.

Seems to be doing well.

 Because we don't have a working mower and no one wants to cut the "lawn" anyway, we're going to turn the front yard into an herb and flower garden. 8'X17' is a ton of space so there will be lots to use in bath products, herbal teas, and such.

Testing, Testing...

Results of The (suposed to be biannual) Soil Test

Last tested in March
Results were:
PH - 7 (neutral)
P   - 1 (Deficient)
K  - 4 (Surplus)
N  - 0 (Depleted)

Just tested results:
PH - 7 (neutral)
P   - 4 (Surplus)
K  - 3 (Sufficient)
N  - 1 (Deficient)

The kit I use to test.

Seems the compost did help but not enough. We've mixed in the fall leaves and will be getting some boxes of Urea to up the nitrogen. Hopefully ageing those two over the winter will balance out the numbers.
(Considering the nitrogen content I'm surprised we got the amount of produce we did this year.)

Wrapping Up for Winter

Did a bunch of work in the yard today including flipping the rain barrel so it wouldn't fill & freeze.

Obligatory before shot:

We harvested what we could of the parsley and kale before pulling everything up and turning in the leaves.

I know that kale and parsley could have survived til next year but we're going to most likely be turning in a lot of things to the beds and it's not like they were hard to grow.
The cauliflowers found in the centers of the plants weren't even big enough for a snack.

Tiny

Less Tiny

We already have two big mason jars of dried parsley, a large container in the freezer of frozen parsley... so hopefully we can find this fresh bunch a home with friends.

What was left of the parsley.

And of course, the obligatory after shots:

Shed & compost piles

Trellis tied for wind stability

Lonely potted calendula.

Closer shot so you can see, the new compost pile is off to a good start.

Sprouting Like Weeds

There comes a certain week every spring where every dandelion for miles blooms at the same time. The rest of the year you can find a small patch here or there, but if you want to make wine, this first flush is when you'll find enough blooming heads... and for the past 4 years, I've missed it every single time. I start out with the best intentions of having everything ready for spring... but one thing happens, then another, and suddenly, it's spring and I'm looking around at all the beautiful dandelions thinking how I wish I had the money go buy the supplies before they all go to seed... but knowing deep down, I've missed  making dandelion wine again.

It's like a yellow haze over every green swatch of land.

Do you have a favourite "weed" you like to use as food?

Just Gone, Not Forgotten

Life has been keeping my mind busy with work/school/financial issues and I've been keeping busy(games, videos, reading sci-fi, stumbleupon) trying to avoid that stress load. Unfortunately gardening is new and requires leaving my comfy furniture... those alone put it in the stress category. As such I haven't planted anything new since the last update.

I'm going to work on training myself to see gardening as a distraction instead of a responsibility... but that might take a while.

P.S. I bought an aloe and had to up-pot it as it was already root-bound. This doesn't count as garden stuff because it's not food.

P.P.S. We went to home depot and got the poles for vertical supports but we haven't put them in yet.

P.P.P.S. We priced do-it-yourself and pre-made rain barrels. IT comes out about he same if you don't have access to free supplies for the do-it-yourself model. We're going to get between 1 and 3 rain barrels this summer.

One last thing... I have just updated the calender so it should be accurate now.

Getting Tested

The testing kit finally came in. It covers all the basics ten times for $25. (much cheaper than a lab)

I've been waiting for this kit to come in for 2 weeks now. (They had the $200 electronic testers but I'm not running a hydroponic grow-op here). Using this type of test is easy. You just mix dirt with water and the powder out of the matching little pill, give it a minute and check the colour. I used dirt that had not been mixed with compost to see what our baseline looks like. Our Potassium(K) is "sufficient" and our pH is about 7 (it's hard to tell with the greens so maybe 6.5 or 7.5 but either way we're good).

Unfortunately the Phosphate and Nitrogen were "deficient" and "depleted" respectively. The compost should correct this and I'll run another test with the mixed up soil/compost in the beds this weekend just to verify there's no more tweaking needed..

Beds Ready, and I'm Ready for Bed

Dug in the alfalfa / rye and covered with compost. Squares will be marked and compost dug in when it's planting time.

Also did the seeds. Glad I did them first cause I'm wiped.

Crappy Weather

This is what thirty 28lb bags of composts looks like when piled in front of a Lada Niva

So now I'm the proud owner of over 800lbs of composted manure, shrimp shells and peat moss. At a rate of about 3 1/3 bags per 4X4 bed, we should get about 6" of compost mixed into the top 12" of dirt. This blend seemed ideal for our current situation seeing as peat moss that had not yet been composted (the common big bales turned in in the fall) would leach nitrogen away from the plants for a few months as it broke down.

I was going to start tonight but as you can see, it was raining. Tomorrow should be interesting as it should be warm enough, and dry enough to start mixing this stuff in... and I just remembered that I was going to do the seeds on Sundays... Too late. I'm going to bed. Five am comes WAY too early so they'll be planted tomorrow.

G-nite folks!

Geting Things Done?

This is how today feels.

I got to the garden center and bought thirty bags of peat/shrimp/manure compost (6th bag free so only paid for 25!) and it'll all be delivered Monday. I wanted it this weekend but I obviously wasn't proactive enough.

Had lunch out with Meg and John then came home with the intention of bundling sticks til dark and moving bedroom furniture to preferred arrangement after dark.... Got home and had a nap til 5pm instead. At that point I decided against bothering for the last hour of daylight and for doing it tomorrow.

I hope to one day change which graph represents me best.

Bundles of Fun

I was making bundles of sticks when the wind kicked it up a notch and snow started to blow in my eyes. That on top of oncoming night made me decide to call it a day.I managed to get six bundles done but there's still about 2/3 of the pile left... It's going to be a long weekend.

I'm really hoping the forecast is correct this time.

I've finally located a garden center that carries the amendments I want to buy (Canadian Tire thinks it's too early to bother with that stuff yet) and I'm going to go get them tomorrow. They don't have a website but the lady on the phone was super helpful in getting me pricing info. We're looking at $100-$150 worth of soil amendments, but we need it considering the current state of the dirt out back.

SEEDS ARRIVED!

Except the two packets on back order... but YAY!

Pics and such to follow.

Updates from December / January

• Started a paper route with the intention of earning extra money during this slow period at work.
• The compost pile actually got warm enough one day to melt the snow off it(kinda impressive for something that size). We're working on building it properly so when spring comes there will be a good pile ready for the worms and microbes to do their stuff.
• I got to visit with my mom & lil sis for a week and get mom's opinion on what to plant in the canning bed(since she's getting half). Turns out peas don't can well so there was some rearranging done.
• The sprouts in the containers are gone They didn't wilt or wither away... they just disappeared. I'm blaming the cats.
• The big tree branch that was blocking a lot of sun and tugging on the phone lines has been professionally removed. We now have a whole lot of wood for summer fires that needs to be cleared off the garden before any amendments or planting can be done.
• I quit the paper route because it was way too much work for the money offered.
• The seeds were bought with one minor change. We hadn't actually tried Swiss chard yet so we swapped it out for jalapeno peppers with the agreement that we'd get some chard soon and if it was liked, order the seeds later.
• We're changing our eating habits to focus more on real food like meat, veg, and homemade baking instead of prepackaged convenience "food"s

Silica, Seeds, and Snow

Ran a few errands yesterday; one of which was buying Silica Gel to dehumidify my seed tub.

Only $19.20 after tax at Michael's

When the blue bits go pink it's time to re-dry it.

Instead of making packets or jars, I dumped it all in the tub.

The cardboard box of seeds fits nicely on top.

This snow has stuck around a full 24 hrs... and there's an icicle on my window. I now have to admit it's winter.