Planning for the 2014 season has begun…

…because the first week of market has shown me that I need to plant more.  On some levels I already knew this. The plan when I started was to produce vegetables for 250 families. When I started planting I didn’t  have a market to sell at and I only had a handful of people in the Farm Share = Food Share program. So I planted 100 head of lettuce and thought it would last 4 weeks. With the program, markets and some loss to bugs, it will last 2.  Now I’m planting 200 head every 2 weeks, and the plan for 2014 is 300/week.  I also planted almost and acre of beans – flat green beans, fava beens and teggia beans (I know these as romano beans).

My first deliveries and markets went OK. Did not have much but it was good to get out and meet people. In Oshawa, Rogers was doing a spot for their morning show so I got to talk to the Mayor and be on TV. (Note: the Downtown Oshawa Farmers’ Market  is closed this week -June 26- but back on July 3 right through to the fall).

I have started to put together recipes – and I will also add a wine paring suggestion –  that go with the veggies that I will be giving out at the markets. I’ll also be putting the recipes up in a section here.

Finally, the Beetle Battle continues and I think I’m losing; did a bug walk and picked 300 plus beetles off of the plants. Now they have moved over to the zucchini because it’s flowering.  I will keep trying. The beetle is only doing what it’s supposed to so I can’t blame it. I might not like it but…

Well it’s back out to the fields, have to start to get ready to open the veggie stand on the farm, there is more to plant and then there are the weeds…

The peas are coming along and won’t be long now.

If you’re driving by, stop in and say hi.

Chris Marcucci
Farmer – Sommelier

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Some new toys…

I mean new equipment. This week has seen a couple of firsts. The new wheel hoe has arrived. This new piece of equipment is based on simple technology used when my father was a boy working the farm. He suggested it to me and I must say that it’s going to make hoeing much easier.  I also got a new seeder that attaches to the wheel hoe,  that should make things, if not easier, at least a bit more uniform with less waste.

In the war on the beetle and other bugs, I am happy to see reinforcements arriving: the ladybugs have begun to appear and there have been a couple of toad-spottings. Nancy stopped by with some info and supplies to build some cucumber beetle traps but it needs to stop raining before I can try them.

An organic grower the other day suggested row covers. I have ordered some and they arrived so I seeded the rest of the cucumber seeds in the field and put on the row covers.

They work by letting light and rain through but the bugs can’t get in. I’m not sure how I feel about this from a sustainability standpoint, I have  to do more research. It seems that in a way we are affecting an eco-system, sort of making a sterile environment for the plants, which to me leads to weaker plants in future generations.  It also goes against my eat-a-little-dirt-every-day belief – a little bacteria and dirt help make a stronger immune system. I could be wrong but it has worked so far.

As Abby’s dad says about eating wild mushrooms “I’ll only be wrong once.” I guess the “once” should worry me but…

As to how things are growing, well, slowly. It has been a slow spring. The leaf lettuce is coming along and the bugs on the kale are very happy and prolific. The peas are taking their sweet time but the swiss chard is close and the radish, well, they grow almost like rabbits.

So here’s to a little sunshine to help the plants make use of all the rain.
Chris Marcucci
Farmer – Sommelier

Many hurdles…

…. some that I was not expecting. This was a hard week. Many thanks to those who helped get the tomatoes and cucumbers in. I spent the rest of the week getting the remaining greenhouse plants in. Unfortunately I have hit the next hurdle. I was banking on having to keep the weeds down and on cleaning up. I  wasn’t expecting the cucumber beetle plague and the government red tape (which is another story). I have been left with hand-picking the beetle, probably a couple of hundred to date, with no end in site. Abby has taken to calling it my daily bug walk, (depending on the day, it happens twice).  At this point we have lost 30% of the cucumbers and 5% of the squash. I’m going to look into planting a few more cucumbers . My apologies to all those who put in the hard work to get them in. I’m doing what I can but really wasn’t expecting this.

As a friend and I kidded when I started this, “Chris you’ll make this work or die trying.” From sleeping in the greenhouse to chasing little striped beetles all over the fields, I’m still enjoying this and excited by each new development. In between chasing bug and getting the last of the plants in, I took on a couple of new projects. Spent a day, or part of, doing some companion planting, mixing basil and marigolds in amongst the cucumbers and tomatoes. This should, if all I’ve been reading is true,  help ward off some of these bugs.  I also put in a little herb/flower garden at the edge of what will be the parking lot and added some rhubarb that my neighbour asked me to dig up for her.

I’m going to see a organic grower in the next couple of days, to see what else I can learn and have spent some time understanding entomology so I know the good bugs when I see them.  I’m also looking into building habitat for birds, bugs (the good ones) and even bats. If all goes well next year I’ll have a little army of defences and call them The Company of 3Bs to take care of the cucumber beetle and his friends.

I’m up early to pick more beetles, wish me luck. I’ll get over this hurdle and then it’s on to the next one.

Chris Marcucci
Farmer – Sommelier