So the first step is complete, the offer has been accepted. The next step is to secure financing as I work with the bank; we also have to keep moving forward because we are coming to a time crunch.

Decisions on what to plant and where to plant it… Because the goal of the farm is to be as natural as possible, the planting plan is very important. There are plants that will work together in sharing resources and there are others that will aid in pest control.

The plan is to do true market gardening, which means we will grow a lot of different things. Here is the working list we’re looking at. Might be a bit excessive but the goal for the first year is to grow enough vegetables for 250 families by working 4 acres of the property.

Beans Green Eggplants Potatoes
Beans Yellow  Garlic Pumpkins
Beets Green Onion Radish
Bok Choy Ground Cherries Rutabaga
Broccoli Kale Spanish onion
Brussels Sprouts Kohlrabi Spinach
Cabbage Leeks Squash
Cantaloupe  Lettuce Swiss Chard
Carrots Parsnips Tomatoes
Cauliflower Peas Turnip
Celery Pepper Hot  Watermelon
Cucumbers Pepper Sweet  Zucchini

Some of the things we hope to do is to use the Three Sisters model. Corn, beans and squash are companion plants: corn is a nitrogen-taker and tall beans are a nitrogen giver and if you grow a climber, it will climb the corn. The squash then shades the ground around the base of the plants and keeps the soil moist and the weeds down.  We will do the three sisters planting if only as an experiment, with a soil test at the beginning and end of the season.

To that we will add herbs and some flowers like marigolds which are all pest deterrents and other plants that will hopefully feed and foster the local bee population.

Again if you would like to be part of the Farm Share =Food Share program let me know, it is filling up.

Our question to our readers:  what’s your favourite vegetable?

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