Saturday 23 June 2012

where DOES the time go?

Every waking hour has been spent trying to get all the little plants into the ground or flowers to a potted place on the deck, oh ya and the office job which only consumes about 10 hours of each weekday - ah how boring it would be to have nothing to do eh?  Everyone keeps saying broccoli doesn't grow this early, I'll have to point that out to the broccoli every day while it keeps growing, we keep selling it and eating it - yum.
dinner tomorrorw, the next day . . .
dinner tonight

 The Farmers' Market has been extremely good for us this year, located on a corner lot, prime real estate, lovin' it.  It's such a social scene, we really enjoy watching the regular shoppers (we used to be) arrive and get their baked goods first, spring rolls to munch on, iced tea or lemonade and then visit each vendor, chat and leave with fresh locally grown colourful food for the week.  How much better can it get than that?  

Cars slow down at the roadside Stand but not too many shop just yet.  We're busy working the potatoes, stringing up the beans, planting more radishes, beets, leeks, snow peas and peas and we wave at them - the people, not the plants.
I've been getting calls from customers regularly who'd just like to stop by and get a bag of greens or a bit of this or that - that's the part I like, I get to visit with each customer.  If you phone ahead, I can have what you need ready for you, then when you arrive and see the food actually growing, how can you resist getting just a little more?
Tom takes food to his Cornwall office each week, which is an hour away, so are we still local?  We are, Cornwall isn't, ya that's it.

eager tomatoes
The tomatoes, peppers and cukes in the Greenhouse are growing like there's no tomorrow, they are indeed in some kind of race. I hope to be selling tomatoes in a couple of weeks.  Some peppers have formed too.
peppers starting
cherry toms - soon, soon
more eager tomatoes

spinach & chard


And just for the simple pleasure of growing flowers, doesn't yellow make you smile the most?  
a sea of sundrops 
Call me or drop in if you're looking for a plate of  local organic produce
 and maybe some flowers on the side. 





Thursday 7 June 2012

The Potatoes are all in.

As of yesterday afternoon, thanks to Thomas and Ryan, the potatoes are now all in the ground, they are happy, we are happy, we'll all be happy in a couple of months - yeah.  So Ottawa and Brockville had rain last night, it has rained every day this week in Toronto.  Heckston had dew.  Just dew, no rain, dew.  The last bout of rain many many days ago filled the rain barrels so we're still watering with them.

So we're going to try the very first broccoli tonight with dinner, just testing for you.

Wandering around the gardens after doing some weeding amongst the greens, I was inspired by certain flowers that made me smile - please enjoy.

wigelia
iris
lady's mantle
siberian iris



peonies
peony - my favourite of all








 Put it together    
 and
 what do you get?


Tuesday 5 June 2012

Very exciting - broccoli and garlic scapes

Well, this should make good eatin' for the weekend, broccoli and garlic scapes will be ready any day now - mmmmmmm.  The bags o' greens, tomato, pepper and herb plants are selling well at the Farmers' Market as well as the herb pots.  Heather and I had put together a few lettuce pots which are popular as well, we put in a few varieties so you can just pick from a nice cool spot on your deck.  I love to have an herb pot in a sunny spot by the door so I can snip whilst cooking, sometimes if the weather is bad I just don't feel like running out to the gardens.   The beans, snow peas and peas are getting taller, must get some trellis up there soon.  And of course, must get more potatoes in, we've planted about two-thirds so far.  Sunflowers, squashes, cukes and melons are coming up.  I feel like the plants and I are running a crazy race, where we all win in the end, but it's quite exhausting at times.  Camera's batteries are out so must buy new ones today, have had time to weed some of the flower gardens, no urgency there, it's really quite peaceful, the result is already complete, just need to cut and bring in to enjoy.

Saturday 2 June 2012

Pretty Busy - how is it that it's June already?

The first Kemptville Kinsmen Farmers' Market for 2012 was last weekend amid the hubbub of The Dandelion Fesitval.  Rydell (Thomas' band) played Friday night, terrific down east band Stanfield had everyone hopping Saturday night.  We opened the roadside Stand Saturday, small turnout of customers but the exposure is good, hoping to catch some of those garage sale shoppers on their way by.
Last Sunday at the KKFM was the BEST market we've EVER had!  It was so wonderful to see everyone, what a social scene too.  The weather was perfect, the farmers' (not a full house due to the longer hours last week) were happy to be back, seeing each other, greeting visitors - it felt really great to be part of it all.
But oh no - we were too busy to take pictures, the 11:00 to 4:00 long day seemed like just a couple of hours and it was all done for another week.
Tom left at 4:15 a.m. today to attend a funeral in Oakville, I picked up Thomas at 7:30 a.m. we planted more potatoes and sunflowers in the rain, now the sun is out, we've eaten a good lunch and out we go again to weed and plant more - cukes, herbs, peppers, I planted about 50 tomatoes during the week - and then the KKFM again tomorrow 2-4.  Today was the Giving Garden planting day as well - and it's only 1:00 now - plenty of day left.  We're missing Heather - she's in Alaska!
If you can't make it out to the Stand Saturday morning or the Market Sunday afternoon and you need:  plants or salad greens, just call me 613-258-7970, I can accommodate during the week.
And we're very excited to see the broccoli is coming along quite nicely along with the new greens planted.
Will try to take pics. bfn