Homesteading During the Covid-19 Pandemic

I see that almost all my posts from last year didn’t publish for some reason so I’ll have to fix that later. You’d think I would have lots of time on my hands right now. Canada is in various stages of lockdown depending which province you live in. Steph and I are both gainfully unemployed at the moment and just waiting for things to start to get back to normal in another month or two. But we’re lucky because we were working so the government says we qualify for a little money each month so we’re able to stay home from work and still afford groceries. Jordan finds himself back home because the military sent home all their students of which he is one and Kate and Meghan are also here as is William. Eating food and using all the toilet paper 🤣.

Actually apart from having everyone home this is a great time for us. Steph is getting some amazing projects done including writing software and basically building an automated heating and venting system for our greenhouse. Steph is amazing! Take my advice, marry a funny nerd. You never know when you’ll be in isolation together! My grow tunnel is now heated and cooled automatically, the sprinklers are set to a timer, the seed sprouter is working well in its second or third year, and due to the success of the other unheated greenhouse it received an expansion and will be planted later this week once it’s been weeded and tilled over. We’re getting a lot done at the farm which is great because who knows how the weather or job situations will be this fall. In the meantime we’ve got food, a small mortgage and we’re already planning what veggies we can grow to last us all summer and winter. Since we won’t have so much labour from children and Wwoofers (travel restrictions are stopping a lot of people from woofing this year) we have to plant smarter so that we can manage a huge garden by ourselves. But all things considered were in a good position. Not too much debt, food security is pretty good, we have enough firewood for half of next winter and working on the next bit that we felled last year and need to cut and split for drying this summer in the woodshed. Because we order our seeds early in the year we beat the mad panic of other buyers who found themselves planting for the first time. And we all still love each other. 5 weeks into lockdown we are all still doing okay mentally.

Hope you’re all well and making the best of whatever situation you find yourselves in. Love & Huhs from all of us at Humblebee Farm. 

It’s Valentine’s Day today but of course there’s not a lot of romance going on in this cold weather at the farm. The chickens are mostly all laying again and we have the eggs from our laying flock in the barn in our incubator so we’re hoping for some chicks from our ISA Brown girls and an enormous gentle giant of a rooster who we think is an Orpington or Brahma Cross. He hatched from a blue egg but his parentage is unknown. He’s huge but also very gentle so he’s perfect for our small flock of laying ladies.

We have been busy this winter making a vacuum seeder, getting things ordered for the growing season, getting quotes for our house construction and family life. The learning curve is huge when you’re acting as your own general contractor and I’m also studying environmental sustainability at Dalhousie University so my brain is working overtime. I love it though.

Hope you are all having a good February so far.

Elizabeth 

Welcoming July

  With some interesting swings in temperature we are having a corresponding interesting time in the garden. Things are growing, albeit slowly, and some but not all of the plants have recovered from the heavy freeze we had at the beginning of June. Parts of Nova Scotia and Nfld got wet snow only a few days ago but after today we will be complaining about the heat I'm sure. If there's one thing gardeners have in common, it's a desire for good weather. In my perfect world it would rain from Midnight Sunday to Midnight Monday with a nice steady rain to give everything a good soaking and then be warm and sunny with a light breeze the rest of the week. Nova Scotia does give us rain but not necessarily on schedule, lol. It's been a very dry July and even the weeds are turning crispy in the walkways around the farm. 

  The weeds are growing well so it's all hands on deck for weeding and continued planting. Soon we'll be thinking about winter veggie plants and out of season crops will be started such as leeks and carrots for overwintering, the second crop of sweet potato slips and melons will go in plus more tomatoes under cover in the greenhouse. Our wwoofers Brian P and Ali have helped us put up a shade tarp in the greenhouse over my workbench which is keeping it drier when it rains (no more drips down the back of my neck) and much cooler out of the beating sun. The plants that we are going to put on the sunny south side include heat loving plants such as melons trained vertically, cucumbers and sweet potatoes. The winter veggies will replace them later in the fall. Prep work involves removing the pens used for the ducks this spring then watering it before tilling it over. It's so dry we have to water or else the dust cloud generated would be awful. 

  Thoughts are already turning to nursery plants and perennials for next year. With the new seed starter heated box, furnace in the greenhouse and shelving units we should be able to streamline and increase efficiency for the production of tomato plants and all the other things we grow. The herbs selection will expand and I already know to grow more cherry tomatoes. It's nice to see things growing. We're talking about ways to use the space at Annavale Co-Op Country Store more efficiently and expanding the line of trees and shrubs we offer. All that requires work right now to get the seeds and plants rooted. I can cut haskap, raspberry and grapes this fall and look around for other cuttings I can take. 

  Well I'm off to bed. I've been sick with pneumonia and need some rest because I'm not getting better fast enough for my liking. Hope you are all well and having a lovely summer. 

        Elizabeth

Frosts in June

The weather in Nova Scotia not only took a dramatic urn for the worst, we've had a sustained freeze of -4 degrees C one night and now patchy frost. It is apparently 1 degree right now though we have ice formed on the windows and plastic of the unheated greenhouses. I am so very grateful that we have Agrobon to use as frost blankets because it does afford some small degree of protection to the plants below and I'm especially grateful that we have a diversified farm with a minimally heated greenhouse.

First, the greenhouse. As some of you know, Steph took the old non-functional oil furnace out of our mobile home (we couldn't use it anyways) and got it all taken apart, repaired and working again. Now it is set up on concrete blocks in the greenhouse with a digital controller and thermostat. The thermostat is at the opposite end from the furnace and is currently set to 3 degrees. Once it gets below that the furnace turns on and heats the place up until the temperature is reading 6 degrees at the far end, then it shuts off again. We're not trying to have a hot house but merely to stop things from getting cold enough to stop growing or suffer frost damage. I think it's well worth the few litres of furnace oil we're using. Last night we kept the frost off the plants and the firnace kicked in twice so it likely ised less than a litre of oil which costs about $1.25. The ducklings, chicks and geese who are using the other side of the greenhouse as their temporary living quarters appreciate the added early morning heat I'm sure too. The greenhouse does hold some measure of heat overnight but by about 4-5am it's getting close to the outside temperature so having the furnace run a few times keeps it just warm enough that the plants appreciate it and as soon as the sun comes over the hill you can see the temperature rise rapidly. I open the door fairly early in the day so that the rise in temperature is more gradual as I think it is better for the plants to go from quite cool to hot more slowly and not over the course of an hour.

Second, diversification. We admire the apple growers and the vineyards around the valley but this isn't a year I'd want to be one. Due to the deep freeze at flowering and budding time, farmers are estimating a 50-75% crop loss for the year. While the plants, vines and trees  will likely recover and night actually do well with a year of rest, the businesses still have expenses and people to pay and now will have limited income for the year. I'm sure the bigger operations have crop insurance but smaller farms, hobby farms and home growers  who lose their income or food supply are basically out of luck. It's not so bad if you've got some extra plants (we didn't plant all our tomatoes, squash and basil thank goodness) and we still have enough time to re-plant beans and corn if we use early varieties that take less time to grow. But of course it delays the veggie boxes again which is really frustrating.

Despite being in a warming period globally I guess weird weather is to be expected. There's a few things we can do such as covering plants, having extra seeds on hand and planting at different times to spread out the harvest and the risk of losing them, and choose different varieties. We found that some tomato varieties were a bit more frost hardy than others.

Time to go bake bread for the farmers market and pack the truck. It's up to 2 degrees now.

Chicks & Exploding Eggs

Spring is the time for hatching eggs. As you'll see from our previous blog we have chicks and lots of eggs in our incubators.Have you ever thought about how amazing it is that a chick can develop from an egg in just 21 days? Or a few more if it's a duck, turkey or emu. This short video is really interesting and definitely worth a view or two, I really liked it and it's suitable for kids.

This morning we have a lot fewer eggs though because I noticed quite a bad smell coming from the living room and that's saying something because I have a sinus cold! Well, I'm deeply grateful for my decreased sense of smell because when I got everything sorted out I had several rotten eggs that had exploded and made a horrific mess. Luckily, I was a bit suspect of the eggs because they were VERY dirty so I'd kept them all together and had a cover over them just in case. Well, it took a couple of hours but I got 54 eggs out of the incubator and out of the whole lot I think I kept 7 to see if they'll actually hatch though I suspect 2 are not good. I'm trying to be optimistic. My other incubator is doing great. We've got the next batches coming along nicely. The big one is now all cleaned up and the second batch of eggs (from the same person) is now in, but this time I'll candle them more frequently and I washed half of them with hydrogen peroxide as it's supposed to increase the hatch rate. I'll keep track and let you know. Well there you go, I always said I'd let you know things NOT to do, having exploded eggs is something I'd not care to repeat. So I recommend that you candle your eggs at days 10, 15 and 20. I use a phone App called Hatchabatch that you can follow development and it will send you reminders for candling and when to set up your brooder. I find it very helpful.

Freeze, Bake, Freeze, Rain ... Spring Weather

The weather has been crazy recently making growing just that bit more difficult and time consuming. Things are freezing at night, overheating during the sunny days, and it's been windy and snowing intermittently. I'm headed out soon to open all the greenhouse vents and put the plants out to get some sunlight and tonight I'll spend a half hour or more putting them all back away in their heated sprouter so they don't freeze. It's frustrating. But, things are growing so that makes me very happy. Soon it'll be time to transplant seedlings, fill the nursery greenhouse and start selling for the season! I can hardly wait.

This afternoon my plan is to begin bagging up strawberry, raspberry and blackberry canes and get them ready to sell. Then it's cooking supper (vegan shepherds pie) and lots of household projects including making marmalade. Definitely a busy afternoon and evening ahead so this entry will be brief.

Plans are still in the works to dig a pond this year and to landscape the front of the property but as usual, the vegetable garden comes first. With our manure piles ready to be applied there's no shortage of work and we're hoping to find a couple of willing wwoofers to come and help us out for a couple of weeks. Fingers crossed.

Our chicks are all doing well, I'll add another video in the next few days for you to see their beautiful colours as their feathers are coming in. 

What are you all doing to get ready for Spring?

Hatching, Sprouting and Snowing, March at Humblebee.

We've been enjoying a very mild and relatively snowless Winter in 2018 but today it's snowing with a vengeance and mazingly the schools are still open despite very slippery roads. My guess is that the school authorities thought this would turn into rain before long but it hasn't. That's okay, it's not quite Spring yet. I had a nice hot breakfast of fried potatoes, egg foo yong and onions so now my tummy is happy and warm.

Regardless of the current weather we have to be thinking ahead to planting season and especially we have to think about having plants ready for sale in the nursery in a matter of weeks. It's tricky because each variety takes a different amount of time to germinate and grow, plus once they are starting to grow they need light and the greenhouse is still getting down to below freezing at night. So what are we going to do?

For the young plants we are going to have a partition in the main greenhouse that's got a heat source for those days and nights when it's cold. That's a project for next weekend. But the unit for getting the seeds germinated is built and officially called the Sprouter. It's far bigger than the shelf unit we had last year. We had an issue with it maintaining the temperature last year, cool at night and too hot during the day so the changes we made this year are that it's a wooden box and we've insulated it with fibreglass not just to keep it warmer but because it will also help control the airflow and shade it from overheating on sunny days. Helping to even out the fluctuations in temperature will really assist in germination.

Along with the seed sprouter we have a home made incubator full of eggs that’s scheduled to hatch at the beginning of April so stay tuned! Life is returning to the farm so Spring must be coming.

Hatching Eggs & Homemade Incubator

Note to readers, this was written in March and updated April 3rd, 2018.

It's another -15c freezing cold morning out there. Hard to believe in January it was +15c. Still, the march towards Spring 2018 continues with planting galore, and new life in the incubator. So much new life that Steph has actually built me a much larger incubator so now I have room for many many more eggs and a hatcher and brooder inside as well.

Incubators are essentially mimicking the warmth, humidity and movements of the mother bird so re-creating them isn't terribly difficult. You need an environment that has approx 99.5 degrees f (37.5c) about 50% humidity, and you must turn the eggs regularly until a few days prior to hatching. If you've followed us for  while you will  have seen our styrofoam cooler made into an incubator using a thermostat and a lightbulb. It worked reasonably well but had a limited capacity. Our newer model is a small fridge that we picked up in a junk pile at the side of the road last spring. It has two headlight bulbs from an old car as the heat source, fans that already existed in the fridge, and Steph put on a digital controller that maintains the temperature between 99 and 100 degrees so that the average is 99.5 and the fans circulate the air. The unit is overloaded with eggs right now so the airflow isn't ideal but we are still seeing growth inside the eggs so we are excited to see how our hatches go over the next few weeks.Oh, there is a little piece of insulation on the back to cover the wiring but not to restrict the airflow.

The cost for the fridge conversion is:

Lightbulbs.......free
Fridge body ....free
Insulation ........$1                      Total Cost $26.   Capacity 4-6 dozen.
Controller .......$25

Our next model is similar to both the incubator above and the giant seed sprouting unit that we have for our plants. It has an electric fan heater as the heat source, a digital controller that turns the heat on and off, and various shelves inside at different levels for incubating (trays full of growing eggs), hatching (trays of eggs that do not get turned) and then two areas for brooding where the newly hatched chicks go to dry off, stay warm and learn to eat and drink for the first week or so. We used one sheet of 1/4" OSB, one 2x4 cut down into 2x2, some drywall screws, hardware cloth to provide airflow space around the insides of the box, hinges and a latch, plus a heater we already owned and of course the requisite $25 controller. The box measures 2'x2' and is 4' tall and has R-12 insulation around the outside and vapour barrier, plus a door seal make out of a piece of vapour barrier plastic.

Total cost for the bigger box is:

Box .....................$15                  Capacity 20 dz incubating + 10 dozen hatching
Hardware ...........$ 6                   + 20 dozen in the brooder compartments
Insulation ...........$10
Heater (new).......$22
Hardware cloth...$ 4                  Total value new = $72.00 Cdn.
Controller ...........$25

In reality, we already had the OSB, panels that got cut to make the ends and the shelves, the heater and the hardware cloth. I bought screws, hinges and a latch for a grand total of $6 and the controller for $25. We may also put a fan in there similar to the one on the sprouter to help circulate the air from top to bottom and they're $12 each. All-in-all it's a great and simple project. I'm going to ask Steph to put together a video or an e-book so that you can go ahead and build your own for  fraction of the cost of buying a unit new. You should get a hygrometer to measure humidity and a couple of good thermometers as well and then you’re all set. Ours works very well and hatched chicks on April 2/3 2018.

Getting Good Help - WWOOF

Many of you know that in addition to our family, we have volunteers who stay at the farm over the summer. We call them wwoofers. But what is WWOOF?

WWOOF is a country specific, international program that matches farmers and gardeners with volunteers who are willing to exchange work for room & board. It stands for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. A typical stay is 2 weeks and they typically get 3 meals per day, 5 hours per day of work 5 days per week. But we’ve recently heard of much longer days and little or no time off. But at our place it’s 5 days per week with Monday and Tuesday off and 9-1 for a workday. But it’s a farm, so we’re flexible depending on weather and necessity. Sometimes you need to take the day off if it’s pouring with rain or stormy and if livestock have escaped it’s all hands on deck!

 We have been really lucky over the past decade or so that we have been involved in WWOOF, to have met and stayed friends with many amazing young people from  all around the world. They have come from a variety of backgrounds including nurses, teachers, computer programmers, financiers, social workers, students, authors, and just people in general who want to learn more about farming. I think there is a mistaken idea that the woofers we have at the farm are all young people or students with nothing better to do than travel around Canada trading labour for room and board. But that could not be further from the truth. In my experience  these are people of different ages and life experiences who have a genuine desire to learn something either about farming, about themselves, or about their place in the world. And being on a small family farm is certainly good place to learn some of those things.

Why do we have WWOOFERS?

 We primarily have Wwoofers to help Elizabeth with the farm tasks that require many hands or some of the bending and stooping she’s not easily able to do anymore. And it’s always easier and more fun to do tasks with a friend. While there is a certain amount of learning and breaking-in of new people, we have still found it to be really worthwhile for many reasons other than the free labor, which isn’t really free because you still have to provide them with some entertainment, a cozy place to live, and good food. It doesn't take people long to settle into the daily routine.

 Having young people around the farm from different places in Canada and the world also brings new cultural and personal perspectives that make for amazing dinner conversation! I would have to say that personally my favourite part of wwoof is learning about other cultures and exploring new social ideas. When you live rurally  there’s a certain tendency to get stuck in your ways and as we don’t have television we miss out on some of the popular culture that naturally evolves in the cities. Not that that’s a bad thing, I love the fact that I have no idea who most of the people are in the tabloids. But it does mean that you could miss out on new and interesting ideas.  Talking to Wwoofrs about their life experiences and their culture is almost like a way of traveling without leaving home. And I credit this for one of the reasons that my children are very tolerant of other people and interested in different cultures, simply from their exposure to such a variety.

So what are the drawbacks having woofers . Let's not kid ourselves, we're all human and therefore flawed. Most Wwoofers are great. But every now and again you get someone whose personality just does not mesh with yours. And that’s ok. Some people just don't show up (the #1 complaint hosts have) leaving you with a fridge full of expensive groceries and no help. Sometimes you meet people you find irritating or who are very bossy and controlling. And it’s not that these people aren’t good at other things they’re just not good team players, and that is what a small farm it’s all about; a balance of self determination and teamwork. I think the most important thing is that prospective wwoofers and hosts need to know is that the following things can help you to be successful:
1.  Good food
2.  Safe and warm accommodation (internet does help)
3.  Good communication. Clear expectations are very helpful.
                Explaining work clearly and demonstrating your method
                Be honest about the work. If it’s hard or long days, say so.
                Talk over and resolve problems or needs right away
4. Be open to new cultures, foods and ideas.
5. Ask for feedback and keep an open dialogue.
6. Respect peoples limitations. If people have never done manual labour then
                blisters will ensue and if you don't understand that some young   
                people really need internet it can build resentment.
7. Read Read Read. Learn about wwoofing and hosting from people who have
               done it and are doing it. 

Wwoofers will still come if the work is hard or the days are long, they will still come if you don’t have 5-star accommodation, they will still come if you live miles from town. Everyone is looking for something new and different and your farm might be just what they’re looking for. Be clear about what you offer, this isn’t a personal ad you should gloss over. The emails and messages sent before the stay begins are a great way to get a feel for each other.

WWOOF is primarily an exchange of labour for skills and knowledge. But it’s so much more than that. It’s personal, it’s cultural, it can be the beginning of a lifelong friendship. And we love it!

Preparing for 2018 Growing/CSA

January in Nova Scotia is a good time for planning the seeds we need, the projects and the growing we want to do for 2018.

So, here are some of the plans.

CSA. Unlike previous years when we've run a conventional CSA where you pay upfront, this year we're going to offer a Pay-As-You-Go Veggie Box. It's pretty much the same thing but instead of committing to us by paying upfront (which you can still do if you'd like to) we are going to offer a selection of veggies in season already packed in a box for you to pick up. You can order the week ahead to guarantee your box or take your chances and see if we have some still available at the farmers markets we go to. It's essentially CSA without the upfront cost. It does make planning a little trickier for us so we will potentially have more wastage but we're partnering with the Upper Room Foodbank in Kingston to take any surplus so it will go to good use.

We plan on being at the following venues for 2018 on a regular basis:

Saturdays     8am-2pm    Wilmot Frenchys in the adjacent community sale.
Saturdays     9am-1pm    Harbourville at the North Mountain Market
Thursdays     9-10 am      Annavale Country Store in Middleton at the Nursery
Thursdays     10:30-4pm  Greenwood Mall Farmers Market

We will have one pickup location in Lower Sackville near the Cobequid Bus Terminal if anyone is interested. And possibly another pickup location on Main Street in Bridgetown.

Starter plants will be available for pick up at the markets beginning in April/May and will be available for pick up during regular store hours Mon-Sat at Annavale in Middleton. These will include veggie plants, herbs, tomatoes and peppers, flowers and fruits such as raspberries, strawberries etc. We will post a list of available varieties early enough for you to reserve the ones you'd like. Please bear in mind that the rare and specialty ones are always snapped up early. We will have soft fruits, berries and fruit trees available also.

This year we're going to continue with our line of breads and soup mixes all year long at the markets. We will add plants, veggies, fruits and flowers as they come and we will have a lot more flowers this year so bunches will be available nearly every week.

I'm off now to plan the rest of my orders. Have a wonderful day.

Elizabeth

June Work Schedule

You can tell by my lack of blog entries that we have been keeping really busy in May. June is here, and finally some warmer Spring weather. Frost earlier this month is now hopefully the end of icy weather and according to the biodynamic calendar, it's time for warm weather crops to get planted in the garden. Beans, squashes, flowers, those are on my list for today. Melons will wait another week to go outside but we have them in the greenhouse. Plus tomatoes and peppers. Early potatoes are already in the ground for mid summer new potatoes and timed to be ready along with carrots and peas for hodge podge, a local delicacy soup made with fresh potatoes, carrots, peas and cream.

We were hoping to start work on the ponds this weekend but unfortunately the excavator we rented is broken so those projects are on hold. I guess that gives us more gardening time so it's ok. Goodness knows with a late spring we're a bit behind. 

We have lots of plants in the nursery and for sale at the farmers markets. The Mid Valley Market officially starts for the season today. Our new location is at the New Beginnings Church beside DQ on Bridge Street in Greenwood, NS. We will be open from 3-6pm each Friday.

Thunder and lightning last night were perfect for clearing the air and cooling things off. But apart from soaking my car seats (because I left the windows down) it gave the garden a good watering and will go a long way to helping all my newly planted stuff a chance to get going. Watering with a sprinkler just isn't the same as a good steady rain. I did a bunch of laundry that's now ready for the line so Mother Nature is helping me with my chores today and let me sleep in an hour that I didn't need to be fooling around with hoses. I still need to get watering and planting in the greenhouses but not water an acre of garden. So I'm happy.

Anyways, it's 7am. Time to get to work. In the greenhouses until 9 or 10 and then finishing a few planting rows and finish the rabbit hutch. Sounds like a good mornings work.

Elizabeth

Mothers Day Gift Idea

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIojWdJz0RE&sns=gp

Here's a pretty simple and yet lasting gift idea you can you make for your mother. A raised garden bed. 

Think how terrific it will be each time your mum harvests veggies, or strawberries, or flowers and thinks of you. 

The video is by Charles Dowding. He's big into compost making and gardening with no till methods. But this is a simple, well-explained project for making a 4'x4' bed. It can be placed anywhere convenient (I recommend somewhere that you'll see it regularly and close to a water supply). 

So, you have a week to get your supplies together. Start looking around for lumber you can repurpose or get for free. Many municipalities give away compost in May, so you may be able to do this project for minimal cost. 

Good Luck! And happy Mother's Day to all of you. 

https://youtu.be/OIojWdJz0RE

Tomato & Pepper Plants For Sale + Veggie Boxes

Looking For A Veggie Box?

Available here each week beginning June 1^st. Pay by the week or month. Ask us how you can get your locally grown no spray fruits, veggies and herbs. Delivery available.

Today I've been working on signs for our Nursery and Farmers Markets. Tell me what you think. I'm trying to make it easy & flexible to order veggie boxes this year. We are also taking pre-orders for tomato and pepper plants because so many of the popular varieties sold out quickly last year in the nursery. This year we're growing fewer varieties but more of each. Oh and speaking of the nursery, we will soon be open! We just need a dry and calm day to put the plastic back on and then a day or two to stock it. The greenhouse at the farm here is absolutely loaded with plants all waiting to be transplanted into their nice big red and white pots so they can grow nice healthy roots and be perfect for you to plant once the weather has improved. We're not past our frost free date yet so while its ok for many things to get going, the warmer weather plants need about another month yet for the nights to be consistently warm. Not +3C and raining as it is tonight. 

Veggie boxes will be available beginning in June again. This year instead of paying all upfront (which is too expensive for many people) we are doing pay-by-the-week or month options. You can pick up from us at the Farmers Markets in Greenwood on Thursday or Friday, or we will deliver too. As usual, it will be grown to our exacting organic and permaculture based growing standards. And you're welcome to come help us in the garden and see how we grow and care for your food. That way you know for yourself it's organic, locally grown, and fresh!

Pre-Order

Your Plants Today

No Deposit Needed. Get excellent varieties for our climate, delicious flavours, and healthy plants. Locally grown, many organic varieties.

Your plants will come in individual pots ready for planting June 1^st to 3^rd.

Tomato & Pepper Plant Order Form 2017

Beefsteak -Vine. 80 Days. This bushy vine does best when pruned, you'll get lager fruit and better ripening. Excellent balanced flavour, dark red. Large sized tomatoes are good for one slice sandwiches and burgers. For best flavour harvest when fully ripe.

Brandywine - Vine. 78 Days. The standard for heirloom tomato flavour. Well known for its size and exotic, sweet, tomato flavour. Compact vining habit produces large fruit with a pinkish red flesh.

Early Cascade - Vine. 55 Days. These vines produce heavy yields all season long. Good for canning and eating fresh, these are open pollinated. They are thin skinned and don't keep very long but are well worth growing and eating fresh. Bred for cooler climates like ours.

Gold Nugget -Bush. 56 Days. Gold Nugget cherry tomato seeds produce compact plants 24″ tall. Gold Nugget’s compact size makes it an ideal choice for containers and small garden spaces. The fruit set easily even in bad weather and produce ping pong ball sized golden tomatoes that are mostly seedless until the end of the season. Winner of the RHS Award.

Money Maker - Vine. 75 Days. These 6' tall plants are an old English variety that produce heavy yields over a long time. Deep red clusters of smooth skinned fruit are medium sized and have a classic sweet flavour. They benefit from pruning and staking.

Old German -Vine. 80 Days. If you give this 8-10' plant lots of sturdy support and water, you'll be rewarded with a modest yield of gorgeous yellow and red fruit that are fragrant & nearly seedless. Potato leaf variety from a Mennonite in community in Virginia, circa 1800.

San Marzano -Vine. 80 Days. This is a truly outstanding tomato for making sauce and its delicious! Forget Roma tomatoes, San Marzano Lampadina 2 are the worlds gold standard in sauce tomatoes. All the way from Italy, they are long, blocky and firm with thick skins. Fruit keeps for ages as it has a lower water content and the plants are disease resistant. One of our favourite tomatoes.

Scotia - Bush. 60 Days. Very popular maritime variety that's used for wating fresh and famous for green tomato relish. Early maturity and reliability. Open pollinated. Dwarf plant habit and medium sized globe shaped fruit.

Sweet Million -Vine. 60 Days. Bright red cherry tomatoes. Early maturing clusters of tiny fruit are well rounded, deep red in colour with a delicious sweet flavour. Long harvest time, vines need support and do well in greenhouses. Tolerance to cracking and good holding qualities.

Tiny Tim - Bush. 55 Days. Miniature cherry tomatoes. Dwarf plants are literally loaded with small, firm red fruit about 1 inch in diameter. These do well in pots.

Tumbler - Bush. 55 Days. These are hanging basket tomatoes that produce beautiful red tomatoes. Best grown in partial shade out of the rain, fertilize monthly. Mix a few flowers in for a beautiful basket at eye height. 2-3 plants per basket. Limited quantities.

Plants are available for delivery June 1-3^rd. They will be in individual pots, hardened off and ready for planting. We grow varieties that are delicious and also do well in our climate. Regular watering and keeping the leaves dry will promote healthy plants and fruits that don't crack. Add a little calcium to the soil to prevent blossom end rot and prune out the suckers of vining types. For best flavour pick fruits fully ripe and don't refrigerate.

Peppers

California Wonder -The standard for Sweet Bell peppers. These peppers start green and with enough heat and time will turn a beautiful red. The compact bushy plants do equally well in a garden, large pot, or greenhouse with a somewhat concentrated harvest period over several weeks. You'll get sweeter peppers if you let them ripen to red.

Ghost Chili -Ghost peppers also known as Bhut Jalokia, are one of the worlds hottest peppers and really pack a whollop at over 1 million Scoville heat units (SHU). That's 3x hotter than our red Habaneros. We're serious, treat the plants, fruit and especially seeds with caution. We use gloves and are careful to not touch eyes nose etc. Limited quantities available in 2017. They fruit at the end of the season. If you can bring them indoors as a houseplant over the winter you'll be rewarded with a much bigger harvest the second year.

Red Habanero -Another hot one! These ripen from green, to yellow, to red, getting hotter and hotter all the time. Ranging from 100,000 to 350,000 SHU, you've been warned. Like many other peppers you can grow it as a houseplant over winter then back outside the next summer for greater yields.

Jalapeno M -Compared to our other hot peppers, these thick walled and juicy little green peppers seem mild to heat lovers. At a modest 5000 SHU they add a nice warmth to chili, tacos and other foods. They're especially good stuffed and pickle nicely. The small bushes are good in pots on the patio. Deer resistant after the first bite.

Large Thick Cayenne- These are strong upright plants with thick wrinkly fruit up to 6” long. At 30- 40,000 SHU they definitely have a kick, though not as much as their slim cousins. They ripen from green to red and peppers ripen almost all at once so its easy to harvest them for drying. 70-80 days to maturity.

Orange Sun - These sweet bell peppers ripen to a stunning bright orange. The blocky peppers have 3-4 lobes and are juicy with thick flesh. The interior is good for stuffing. Plants reach 24” tall and do well in large containers with good fertile soil. 90 days to maturity, worth the wait. Keep evenly watered in free draining soil.

Paprik -Grow your own paprika! These pepper plants are vigorous little bushes and produce lots of 4” peppers with a small seed cavity. Dry the seed pods at the end of the season then grind finely. We also recommend you try slicing and smoking some before drying and grinding, the flavour is outstanding.

Purple Beauty - Beautiful blocky purple peppers are sweet and good for eating raw or stirfry. Open pollinated, we recommend saving your own seeds from these chunky peppers who ripen from green to purple. Matures in 75 days.

Transplants

This has been a lovely week in the greenhouse. The sunshine and above freezing nights mean things are treacly growing now. It's time for tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini to be potted into larger pots for sale in the nursery. The tomatoes in the soil blocks are easy to pull apart and are going into 2.5" pots before going to their red pots in a few weeks. By keeping them from getting root bound they grow stronger and make far better plants for the gardeners who buy them. They're also easier to harden off, ready for planting in June. Yes, June. It's still too early to think about planting them outside, the nighttime temperature is too cold. We start ours in smaller pots so that we can fit more into a small area that we can heat. It's the best way we know to get locally adapted plants for the Annapolis Valley, as well as choosing very good quality seed. You'll find there's a lot less transplant shock and the yields are good with our plants, especially if you've got some compost and a little calcium added to your soil and you keep the plants evenly watered. 

A list of available varieties will be with us at the Greenwood Mall Farmers Market next week and you can pre-order the plants you'd like. I'm also bringing a few dozen Honeoye strawberries with me as well as breads. The nursery will be open in 2 weeks, maybe sooner! (I need the room). I'm off to pot more strawberries into hanging baskets. Have a lovely week!

Veggie Boxes 2017

Veggie boxes are available to be pre-ordered and a really good deal. Just sign up and then decide how long you want to commit for. But why choose our farm CSA (community supported agriculture) over the other local ones? There are some really great growers in the valley who work hard to provide good veggies to their customers, there's a couple within 2 miles of our farm, but at the same time I know of one other in a different community where they buy discounted veggies from other local commercial farms all season long and pass it off as their own. It's important that you get to know your grower if you can, so that you're getting what you pay for. Otherwise you may as well just shop at Sobeys. I'm not saying I've never bought anything to help fill a veggie box, last spring our partners had serious water issues and despite their best intentions they didn't get a lot growing so I bought local veggies, carrots, green onions and lettuce etc. to help fill my boxes for a few weeks while I got a bunch more seeds planted and I got garlic scapes from a lady in Aylesford before being entirely self sufficient. But we've been doing a veggie box program for quite a few years both in BC and NS and have the experience to know what to plant when (and computer programs to keep us organized). Since this year we're not relying on anyone else to provide half the veggies, we can just plan for and rely on our selves again. And you are certainly welcome to take a drive by after the end of May and check out the field garden to see what's growing. You may be able to see the plants through the greenhouses too. Cucumbers, melons, eggplant, tomatoes and wasabi are all in there during the summer.  I guess when it comes down to it, the proof that we grow our own produce is right there in the field. The farm stand will be open in June so pop by and see us. 

We're changing things up from our usual CSA where you pay for all 4 months in advance. Instead, 

you'll order and pay by the week or pay for a month and get a discount. This means you still get your box of healthy and delicious vegetables each week, but now it's easier to fit into your budget. It also means that if you're a new customer, you can try us out without a huge commitment. Try it for a month and see what you think. You'll try some new veggies, get recipes, and become part of the Humblebee family.

FAQ.

Do you deliver? How do I get my box?  You can pick up from us at Greenwood Mall farmers market, Mid Valley Farmers Market, farm stand or get delivery. It's your choice. Delivery is an additional $5 per week up to 50km. There's a spot on the order sheet to let us know your preferred location and we take orders by email. If there is enough interest, we will have our regular pick up location in Lower Sackville again this year. 

Going on vacation? Just stop delivery while you're gone or donate to the food bank or a friend. 

Can I cancel? Yes, you are only committing to the weeks you pay for. This is what makes us different from the other CSA's out there. You don't risk losing hundreds of dollars if you don't like it. If you pay for a month and then decide it's not for you because you're moving, or circumstances have changed, that's okay. Just let us know. You'll only get the weeks you've paid for. We will be sad to lose you but our produce is delicious and I'm sure you'll be back to see us at the farmers market if you can. 

Can I substitute the things in my box? Generally no because it can get very confusing to keep a bunch of boxes separate that are all slightly different. But we can try to work something out, you can trade with a friend, or you can share with someone who loves what you hate. 

What's actually in a box? This questions a bit tricky because each week is different. The seasonal veggies go from lots of greens in spring to peas, beans, and summer veggies to the root crops of fall. We will only have apples available late September once they're ready, lettuce and tomatoes almost every week, potatoes go from new potatoes to main crop from July to September etc. And of course cool weather crops like peas and lettuce aren't very tasty when it's hot in August so you'll be getting melons and cucumbers then. This year I'm going to take a lot more photos of our boxes so I have a better record. 

Are you organic? We are not certified organic due to the cost and politics. We are 'no spray' and certify as Naturally Grown instead. We absolutely believe in using organic, permaculture, and pollinator friendly methods of growing. Our chickens and ducks do lots of bug control, we weed by hand and use a small tiller, truly organic growing is very labour intensive. There are lots of chemicals out there that are supposedly safe for organic growers but we prefer to use natural inputs like garlic spray, compost and fish fertilizers whenever we can.  Healthy plants = happy people. 

Is it just veggies? No, your box will also include herbs, berries occasionally and fruit such as melons and apples. Plus a newsletter. We give all sorts of things a try! Plus you can add free range eggs, breads and treats, preserves and flowers. We bake fresh to order. 

Do you hire outside help? We are a very small, family run farm and don't pay anyone to work here. But we do have help. We teach organic gardening and homesteading skills to young people from all over the world through a program called WWOOF. They help us for a few hours each day in exchange for room and board and we probably host an average of 20 people per year. It's a great program and we've made some lifelong friends. We also have our children, affectionately known as the 'slave labour crew'. 

Do you have veggies all year round? No, we offer a seasonal veggie box. We will have extra fruits and fall crops and we will keep everyone informed as to what's available in October and November. We had fresh peas last Christmas! But you never know with the Nova Scotia weather. 

How do I sign up? You can email us at humblebeecanada@gmail.com and let us know how many, what size, and then we will add you to our newsletter list and arrange your pickup location. 

How much? How do I pay? It's your choice to pay by the week, month (4 weeks) or season (16 weeks). After mid September everyone will be charged by the week because weather conditions may make bi-weekly harvests more practical. Costs are:

Large box $25 per week.  $90 per month.  $340 for 16 week season.

Small box $15 per week.  $50 per month.  $180 for 16 week season. 

Eggs are $4 per dozen.

Bread $4 loaf or 2/$7

Preserves - $4 jar

Flowers $5 bunch

We accept Visa & MasterCard, etransfer, cash or cheque. Sign up first, then we'll arrange payment method. There are a limited number of boxes available for pre-order. 

Frog Song

We've had a few warm days so lots of the ponds and rivers are ice free and for the first time this year the frogs can be heard. I'm not sure it will last with cooler weather on the way but it's a sign that winter has released her icy grip and Spring is well and truly on its way. Hooray! 

The season begins

Wednesday - The weather forecasts all said it would be below or near freezing last night and every night this week, and here we are waking to a decidedly frosty morning and -8 C (18 f) and -2 C for tonight. This fluctuation of temperature between warm days then cool ones is what makes spring growing so difficult. One frost can wipe out weeks of work. My greenhouse helps with that and the incubator and newly built covered boxes give me somewhere I can keep a small heater to warm it by a few degrees if necessary. The remote thermometer says it's currently 4 C in there so frost free and once the sun is shining it'll quickly warm up. We might only need the heater a few more nights but it makes a big difference at either end of the season. We have a few sub zero nights forecast this week and a little snow, but Springs definitely here. Despite the sub zero nights the forecast. I just have to be optimistic that it's all up from here. 

Thursday - Awoke to snow. Just a half inch so far but the world is white. At least it'll settle some of the pollen in the air. Covered boxes in the greenhouse are reading 7 degrees C. 

The first market of the year was this past Saturday of Easter weekend. It was great to try out the new location and see all our customers again plus new ones. The next market day is Saturday of Mother's Day weekend and then regular market days begin June 2. So you'll be able to get all your farmers market goodies from us on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Contact us for more info at humblebeecanada at gmail.com or look for the next blog post. I'm off to plant more strawberries. 

Wednesday Wisdom : The Importance of Temperature

Happy Wednesday! I'm currently sitting inside the greenhouse debating if it's better to go buy more cold medication or just wait out the tail end of this sinus cold. I'm not running a fever so I think I'll save myself the drive. The seed starter incubator is working well, it's maintaining the temperature nicely at night which is good because it's still getting down well below freezing at night. In fact it was snowing an hour ago but not settling because it's now plus 2. Inside the greenhouse is +15 even though it's cloudy and windy outside. It's nice.

Our seed starter is a bakery rack that's been framed out and covered with 6mil poly. Inside there's a small portable fan type electric heater set to 400w, a thermostat that controls the heater, a hydrometer and a remote sensing thermometer that lets me monitor the temperature from my bedroom. There is some temperature variation due to air stratification which is why we use a fan heater and put our heat loving seeds such as peppers at the top and cooler veggies at the bottom. 

Here's a selection of the peppers we seeded yesterday. Strawberries in the red pots behind are starting to break dormancy. 

That leads me to your Wednesday Wisdom: Know your Temperatures.

Some seeds like a cooler soil to sprout but several varieties will either rot or sprout and wilt because they're too cool. Here's a list of some of the seeds we grow that require lots of warmth to sprout:

Sweet peppers

Hot peppers

Tomatoes

Melons

Bush and pole beans

Corn, especially the super sweet and sugar enhanced varieties

These can be started indoors or outside once the soil temperature is over 21 degrees. I recommend planting them at the beginning of a warm spell in June or July here in the north. 

Another thing to know is storage temperatures of produce. I know you may be thinking that I'm talking about root cellars but I mean everyday fruits and veggies you probably have right now.

Keep at room temperature:

Bananas

Avocados

Tomatoes

Garlic

Keep cooler but not in fridge:

Onions

Potatoes

Oranges

Apples

Nuts

Refrigerate:

Lettuce

Greens

Carrots

Turnips

Parsnips

Cut fruit and veggies

Laughs & Sniffles

Well I definitely have a sinus cold or flu or something. Ugh. Tired one minute and hot & unable to sleep the next. It's ok. Today was productive. Lots of planting done. And I found a hilarious video to share with you. 

https://www.facebook.com/QuiltedNorthern/videos/1074861349222581/

Frosty April Monday

It's hard to believe that it's April and were still waking up to -3 today and snow yesterday. Crazy. But what can you do? It will delay the opening of he greenhouse partly because of the cold weather, but also because we need several weeks of drying weather to warm the soil and get things all ready for spring planting again. So it's looking like a May 1st opening day. Hopefully sooner. 

The bugs that over wintered in the damp compost are hatching and hopefully freezing at night. A swarm of mosquitos all dancing together in the afternoon sun may have been great for them, I wasn't as thrilled. But the seeds are sprouting inside our little heated chamber so that's good. Lots of peppers, tomatoes, petunias and herbs going in there today. I'm a bit under the weather so I'm watching the giraffe cam at aprilthegiraffe.com and waiting for the greenhouse to warm up. It's sunny this morning so it won't take long. The seed incubator has a separate heater inside plus a thermostat so it stays around10 overnight. Cool crops are started now and warmer weather ones today. There's a mix of conventional pots and soil blocks. The plastic covered bakery cart we made is great for seed starting. There is a remote read thermometer out there so I can keep an eye on it from the comfort of my room. And a hi/low so I can track the daily minimum and maximum temperatures. 

Well, I should get going for the day. Cold medication and a glass of juice and I'm set. Hope you all have a great week. 

Elizabeth