Thiessen Farms Keep updated on all that is happening around Thiessen Farms!

Once upon a time, there were seedlings – many seedlings – languishing in a greenhouse, waiting to be planted out in the fields, where they could grow freely, soaking up the sunshine and the rain, sending their roots down deep into the rich, sandy soil.  There were sweet peppers, hot peppers, pumpkins, gourds and squash – lots of squash!

Their friends the eggplants also waited, already outside on the jitney, hardened off and eagerly anticipating their new home.

The farmers also waited – somewhat impatiently – for the day they could plant their seedlings in the fields. Another week or so, and the seedlings that had been so carefully nurtured would be very large & gangly and would be much more difficult to transplant and would take longer to recover from the trauma of their resettlement. Right now was the best time!

The reason for the waiting, the delay to get everything planted, was the weather – the showers & rain specifically! Oh how the farmers hated to whine about the abundance of precipitation. Why just the other week this same rain was desperately wanted & needed, hoped for, even prayed for. Now the prayers pleaded for sunshine and drier soils.

The fields were wet, weedy & waiting – still unprepared to accept the strapping seedlings.

Ideally, the farmers planned to mulch the newly planted plum trees with hay, then disc & cultivate the ground between, and then transplant the waiting vegetable plants. If all that does not happen in time, it might become necessary to skip the mulch and just get the plants into the ground. But this would mean using a herbicide later to control the weeds around the small trees – a much less desirable choice.

Of course the farmers are not new to this scenario, having been through many seasons already. They know better than to waste time & energy on worry, and stressing about something they can do nothing about.

There is always other work to be done. Or they could simply throw up their hands and go for a coffee. Such is life!

… to be continued …

The vegetable crops already in the ground are mostly loving the moisture!

The tomatoes are growing like weeds …

… as are the other vegetables … and the weeds themselves!

What’s in the box?

lettuce mix, frozen blackberries, herb plants

• Our lettuce mix is ready – colourful, crisp & delicious. It has been rinsed once to remove field dirt. You will want to wash it before eating.
• The blackberries were frozen last season at their peak of ripeness. Enjoy them in smoothies, over ice cream, in muffins, or cook into a sauce for pancakes/waffles.
• Choose a herb plant from our many varieties – plant it in your garden or in a pot, or use it up in your cooking.

The snow peas are almost big enough to pick! Friday’s box may contain snow peas already – certainly you can expect them next week for sure.

I am always amazed at how fast things can move on the farm in spring.

Last week there were still blossoms on the trees. Suddenly there is fruit!

Always a welcome sight, it is even more so this year following the empty trees of 2012. The potential is there for a very good crop of all fruit this season. We are optimistic and thankful.

 apricots

 peaches

 cherries

These pictures were taken yesterday and if I took more photos tomorrow, the increase in the size of the fruit would be very noticeable – that’s how fast they move.

I’m always amazed at how slow things can move on the farm in spring.

It seems like the snow peas, lettuce & spinach have been in the ground forever – but are they even growing? (Certainly the weeds are!)  We’re in a hurry to begin the CSA season, but I guess that is still a couple weeks away.

And some things barely move at all.

We found this swarm of bees in a cherry tree last week. Our bee man explained that a young queen bee had left the hive and the others followed her to this branch and surrounded her. He came and collected them & put them into a hive. Because the weather was cool, they hardly moved and we could get right up to the swarm and examine it closely.

Something else that rarely moves!

Fruit trees don’t live forever.

I wish they did.

But they do last a long time.

Pear & apple trees live the longest. Our old block of pears was planted in the early 1950′s.

These old trees have a lot of character, but they are definitely showing their age now. We still harvest some really good pears from them – but less all the time. Our “new” pear orchard was planted in 1999, so it still has many years of production ahead of it.

Cherry trees don’t live quite as long. Our oldest cherries are around 50 years old. Right now they are beginning to blossom and look so beautiful!

Here’s one tree I’m keeping a close watch on.

It’s been split down the middle for some years, but I hesitate to cut it down because it stands right in our yard just in front of the barn. We would really miss it. But if it becomes unsafe or unproductive it will be removed.

We have several rows of plums that were set out in 1994. Their most productive years are behind them and they should have got the axe (or chain saw) already. We’ve kept them while their replacements were maturing, but when we lost most of our other plums last fall due to black knot it became necessary to keep these even longer. How much longer …?

Peaches & nectarines have the shortest lifespan – 10 to 12 years is average, and 15 is usually the limit. But at this time of year – when they are in full bloom – it doesn’t matter the age. They all look great!

Because trees don’t last forever, we have to keep planting new ones. Most fruit trees take between 3 to 5 years to begin producing a crop, meaning we have to be planning well ahead and set out replacement orchards long before the old trees are removed.

This past week was tree planting time here at Thiessen Farms.

Here is how the process goes …

Staking out – using a combination of measuring in one direction and sighting in the other, we mark out where each tree will be planted with a wooden peg.

The field all staked out and ready to go.

Holes are dug with the tractor and an auger.

The fruit trees come from the nursery bare root and in bundles.

The actual planting is done by hand - and by foot!

If we measured and sighted correctly, augered the holes accurately, and planted the tree properly in the holes … then the result is a straight row of  small trees. Presently we have not filled in all the soil around the tree in hopes of a rain to settle the dirt around the roots and get the trees off to a good start. Then we will completely fill in the hole and hill up around each tree. The trees will be pruned – most branches removed or cut back to 1 or 2 buds. Later in the summer we’ll return and prune each tree again to shape it into a sturdy, well branched specimen.

Meanwhile, we’ll enjoy the blossoms and dream of eating fruit!

While visiting with friends recently the question was asked,  “How does this spring compare to a normal spring?”

I said it was probably about average, though everything certainly seems later, especially compared to last year.

When I got home I decided to check and see exactly how this spring does compare. So I looked in my  journal.

I ‘ve been keeping a farm journal now for 16 years – since 1997. It’s nothing elaborate or complicated, just a daily appointment book where I record the weather, what we did on the farm that day, and anything else that I feel like putting down.  Some days I fill the page, other days I forget to write anything. An interesting thing about these journals is that each one is blank from the beginning of June until the end of October. That’s when we’re the busiest on the farm – busy with harvest & marketing – and I never take the time to write down anything. At least not in my journal.

But we certainly do keep a lot of other records. Sometimes it even seems like that’s my main job. I keep records of all our seed, chart all of our seeding & transplanting in the greenhouse & outside. There are maps of the farm with all fruit, varieties, ages, and spacing marked, as well as maps of the vegetable plantings. During the fruit harvest I keep a picking schedule & record which trees were picked each day. I have these picking records all the way back to 1985. Lorie keeps careful CSA records, noting what is in each share every pick up day, along with quantities and a dollar value. For every day we attend a farmers’ market, we have a chart detailing what we took, how much we sold, the prices, the weather and a few words summarizing the market day. We have these farmers’ market records for about 20 years. I have fertilizer & manure application records for almost 30 years on our farm, and pesticide application records back to the early 1980′s. And of course employee records are kept daily – time worked & jobs accomplished, along with the weekly payroll records. If all of this isn’t enough, I carry a small notebook & pen with me at all times to write down anything else that seems necessary & important.

All of this information is put to good use – answering our questions, reminding us of past failures & successes, keeping us accurate in our planning, growing & marketing. Without it we would have a whole lot more difficulty farming.

So, how does this spring compare to a normal spring?

Records show that we are right on track. (Here is an interesting example … Lime sulphur is an organic fungicide that we apply to raspberries each spring when the leaves are just starting to show their first hints of green. In 11 of the last 15 years, we have sprayed the 3rd week in April. This year I sprayed on Monday – pretty normal I’d say!)

Here is how things are looking on the farm right now …

Peach trees

Peach buds swelling

Cherry buds

Apricots

Blue plums

We finished pruning raspberries earlier in the week. Today we wrapped up blackberry pruning & tying.

None too soon – they’re already starting to leaf out.

The garlic is popping out through the straw mulch.

And today the first snow peas have finally sprouted (too small to photograph yet).

Guess I better write that down in my journal!

The days are longer,

The sun feels warmer,

Temperatures are rising,

It must be spring!

Compared to last year, spring is arriving in a much more leisurely manner, too leisurely for many. But for us farmers – with last year’s too early spring still fresh in our minds – it’s just about right.

Check out the difference between last year & this year. Here is what our apricot trees looked a few days ago on March 29, 2013 …

… and the same trees last year – same date – March 29, 2012.

We are optimistic that the fruit trees will blossom at a more normal time in 2013,  and escape the damaging frosts that devastated last season’s crops.

Spring means there is plenty of work to do. Our activities this past week included …

… working the ground. There is always something special about turning the soil for the first time in spring. I kept stopping the tractor and jumping off to feel the soil in my hands and inhale the earthy aroma.

I seeded the first 200 foot row of snow peas …

… while Amy was busy pruning raspberries.

All the branches from pruning the plum & pear trees during the winter are waiting to be burned. I picked up a burn permit from town hall and now we’re just looking for a calmer day.

In the greenhouse, the seedlings are getting crowded. Next week we’ll begin transplanting and moving them to the big hoophouse. I think the nights will be warm enough that they can handle it there.

Everything has been germinating and growing well until last week when a mouse moved in to enjoy a smorgasbord of tomato & pepper seedlings. He did an awful lot of damage in a short time. Now I’m scrambling to reseed those varieties that were eaten. As for the mouse, he couldn’t resist the peanut butter I left for him – in a trap. He won’t be bothering us anymore! I suppose if Oliver had been allowed in the greenhouse, he would have looked after the mouse problem sooner. But he’s been banished since I found him sleeping on the seedlings.

But don’t feel sorry for Oliver – he found a spot almost as comfortable on the south side of the house, sheltered from the wind, and warm from the sun.

At least someone has time to rest in spring!!