Winter is just boiling away in the wind

Well it is that delicious time of year when the sun starts warming up and winter begins to fade into memory. More importantly though this means it is maple syrup season again that sweet kick off to another growing season. This year i tapped just over 100 trees so far the season has been ok there have been a few heavy flow days but the cool weather has kept the sap from flowing continually for more than a day or two. I am guessing that it is about the midway point of the syrup season and that if the long range forecast stays the same the second half will be a lot heavier flow since the sap should be building up a lot in the roots. I am very excited for this spring but it definitely going to be a slow start to it because of how long winter has held on. I hope to start my seeds in the next two weeks which will probably be the topic of the next post. I have been working pretty long hours doing boiling it gets to be a little lonely some nights but you get used to it pretty quickly. The pics show me doing some tapping and some scenic shots look out for the last picture its a beauty. Still cant believe i managed to get the pic i hope to get more shots of the wood pecker while i boil. Well that's all that is going on around here enjoy the spring sunshine and get outside.

Time to take a little off the top

Well it is February and the weather is cold and snowy just like it should be for this time of the year in Ontario. That means its pruning season for apple trees and some frigid afternoons for me as i try to get them ready for another growing season in which i hope to finally get my first actual crop of apples even if its only a handful this year i will be happy. I am glad to announce that out of the 18 apples trees i transplanted last year the majority of them have survived only 4 seem completely dead. This is better than i expected and more than matches the hope that i had for their survival when i dug them up in such a rough way.

The reason why apples trees are pruned in what is traditionally the coldest part of the winter is because it causes the least amount of harm to the trees as they are asleep and do not have any sap running to the branches yet so it doesn't cause any major loss of vitality to the tree. Also the tree has the time to heal the wound before the spring so that it is not as vulnerable to pests and disease. This year i am only doing minor pruning on my trees as they were already pruned back hard last year and now i just need a more strategic approach to help focus there growth in a way that maximizes both root and canopy growth. I hope that in the long term i can get these trees to producing well within the next few years.

The pictures in this post were taken with eye towards showing you how the berries and trees at "rest" during the winter and with all the snow so far this season these pictures provide a perfect example of the insulation that heavy snowfall provides for plants in northern climates. The picture of dougie was included to show you all how are four legged friends struggle to get around in deep snow but it doesn't slow her down to much because she is a farm dog and is used to it. Well i hope you are all enjoying the winter don't worry spring will be here soon.

Berry big plans for 2011

Hello again and welcome to my first in a series catch up posts for the last few months. I caint believe it is already 2011 last fall went by in a flash it seems but it was definitely a busy flash. I am not going to go into to much detail of everything that was happening around the farm but i will provide a recap of the major accomplishments last fall. The weather for fall 2010 was great and it helped to prolong my season and make the late season harvest more comfortable as it was relatively warm and dry for the time of year. At the the beginning of the spring i made picking berries in five different months one of my major goals for the year. Happily i can say that i met this goal and i have to say that the berry patch overall exceeded even my most optimistic predictions for the level of plant growth and production in there first year i still was picking up until halloween. I am amazed that overall the berries were productive enough to more than cover there cost in the first year. The biggest benefit though of how well both the strawberries and raspberries did this year was the amount of new plants an canes that i was able to transplant from them. This allowed for me to double and for a couple varieties of the raspberries almost triple the row length from what i planted in the spring. The main bonus of this is that it saved me probably close to 1500.00 dollars but also it allowed me to begin expanding the berry patch faster and larger than i thought possible when i started out. Originally i thought it would take until the end of my second season to be able to start transplanting and thinning the rows but thankfully the weather helped to speed that along. The only real complaint that i have from transplanting in the fall in comparison to the spring is the weather but it was more than worth it because of the major head start this gave me on my expansion plans for 2011. This year i have decided that the berry patch will be my primary focus as i have a dependable level of demand for them from my wholesale customer and was unable to fully satisfy it for the strawberries last season. Right now my major goals for the berry patch this year is to grow it to about five times its original size by next fall. The other bonus about fall transplanting is that the strawberries especially will be raring to grow as soon as the weather allows as they have had the winter to settle in an lay there roots down firmly and will grow to maturity faster than spring transplants because of the head start. I am still going to be purchasing fresh plants and canes this spring. I have decided that i am more than satisfied with the strawberry variety i have. I will be trying a couple new varieties of raspberries this spring to help prolong their season and provide a steady production level from when the early season varieties start producing till the frost arrives and the ever bearing raspberries finish for the season. I hope that if the raspberries really produce well this year that i will be able to start wholesaling them also by late summer. So overall i am very satisfied with how well the berry patch did this year and that i know it will be profitable in the long term and allow me to make a living while still providing a financial foundation for new ventures on the farm in the next few years which i will post about in the coming months. Pictures from the expanded berry patch will be posted soon. I finally added the pictures these show me doing some of the transplanting and some of the beautiful sunsets an mornings i enjoyed while doing thankfully it was a mild November. I will be posting again soon its almost pruning season for the fruit trees so hopefully i will have something on that topic.

Welcome Newcomers

Hello Everybody!

If this is the first time you are reading my blog, WELCOME!

My name is Peter, and this blog is about me, documenting my efforts to start my own farm! I also use this blog to share news (good and bad), announce events, and anything else that I find interesting while working in the field every day.

I just thought I would share with you what I am about:

Mission: My eventual goal is to run a fully functioning farm, made of various vegetable varieties, fruit, and mini orchard. I also would LOVE to raise my own poultry, pigs, and cows (right now I raise only chickens and turkeys). I try to avoid using gas-guzzling machines as much as possible, and I believe in hand picking all of my produce. This is because I feel proud of what I grow, and can attest to its quality. I want to be able to tell all of my customers what kind of soil it grew in, how much water it was fed, and when it was picked. Most of all, I aim to never use any chemical pesticides, herbicides, and anything that ends in “-cide”!!!

If you have already visited my farm-gate, first of all THANK YOU for your support. We aim to sell only what we grow. Our product selection is variable with the weather and growing conditions, and we only want to put out the best. So the selection varies everyday.

RIGHT NOW: I am selling at my farm-gate, in Uxbridge, at the northwest corner of Main and Wagg. We are open Fridays and Saturdays. I am selling strawberries, raspberries, and a selection of vegetables including corn. I also have available various pies, jams, and baked goods. These are always made with the products from the farm, using local ingredients wherever possible. Even all the vegetables and chicken in our chicken pot-pie are all from my farm!
I also sell free-range chicken. My chickens are fed a whole-grain diet, and are never given any hormones and antibiotics. For Christmas, I am also raising free-range turkey, again I never feed them any hormones or antibiotics.

BELIEFS: I want to eat food that is as natural as possible. To me, this means that I want to feel like my food is safe to eat. I want to know where my food comes from, and to be able to eat food that has not been sprayed with pesticides and herbicides, and has not been fed antibiotics and hormones. I believe in supporting local business, and I want to sell my products to those who share these beliefs.

Contact Me: send me an email or give me a call if you have any questions. You might be surprised to find out some of the things we offer (like year-round frozen fruit and vegetables!). I also hope to expand on my fruit and vegetable boxes, and deliver more chickens, turkey and produce for the next season.

Email: oakridgesfinest@gmail.com

Phone: 647-833-6360

Facebook: Find me on Facebook at “Oakridges Finest”. Please “like” my page!

Thanks for reading, and check back here for more news!

best berries of the year

Hello again i am back it has been a really busy last half of the summer i cant believe its almost fall already i am definitely not ready to even think about winter yet. In the last month a number of really good things happened. The biggest was that i have my first wholesale account for my strawberries and i am getting a great price for them. The strawberries have really come into there own in the last month i am now averaging about 20-25 quarts every two days for my customer while still have more than enough to meet for myself to eat. I hope that my peak production for the season will be 30 quarts which is a lot higher than i though i would manage in my first season but is still small potatoes in the long run. The strawberry patch has definitely been my star performer of the season and because of this i have begun to realize that expanding the amount of strawberries and raspberry i am growing will be the most profitable area for me to focus on as the foundation for the business. I do not know how much i will expand them by yet it will depend on a few different factors but i hope to at least triple the amount of plants i have growing. The great thing is that even if i manage to expand more than that next year i will not have to buy a lot more plants. This is because i can subdivide and spread out all the strawberry runners that have grown off of the ones i planted this spring and transplant all the tiny raspberry canes that have begun to pop up like weeds in the raspberry rows. The raspberries have also produced better than i thought for how many i planted. The raspberries i am picking now are the nicest, firmest and largest ones i have ever seen in my life hands down the photos don't really show it but believe me they are. Well that's it for now lets hope the beginning of fall will bring one last round of nice weather so that the berries will keep on fruiting.