Garden Plans and Seedling Planting 2014

So Spring is here and we are still knee-deep in snow.  We wake up, snow is falling.  Undeterred, I move forward with our large garden expansion plans. 

Snowy scene as of March 23, 2014.  Nice fresh dusting this morning.

Snow still comes halfway up the doors - March 23, 2014

This year we're hoping to expand our gardens immensely.  With the help of Howard (Thomas' Dad), myself, Thomas, Arya, Mae, Paula and Ezra, and other friends and family, we are hoping to largely expand our garden.  We already have multiple tiers trailing down the hill, as well as lots of herb beds, fruit trees and bushes in the front yard.  Our goal is to put in a new bed below the chicken areas, large areas down below on the flatter portion of our property, nearer to m22 and expanding the herb garden into the two large front gardens.  This is going to take a lot of hard work and investment on our part.  We not only have to get the ground tilled, we have to put in compost and nutrients.  Then, since the deer love fresh produce, we will have to fence like no ones ever fenced before.  We are also hoping we might finally get some dripline in throughout the gardens, rather than traditional sprinklers (this will conserve water and help the plants do better).  If we do really well with our time and plans, we may even put in a hoop house down in the lower area.

The garden last year, prior to planting

The garden hillside last year

One of our herb gardens that will be added to this year

At the end of Fall last year, we finished expanding the chicken run area to more than double what it was.  This year we are also going to put in a new chicken area, getting multiple new breeds of heritage or rare breed chickens (check out olive egger chickens- GREEN EGGS!) and its also looking like we are finally going to be getting the pigs I've wanted for over three years now. 

Blue Laced Red Wyandotte

German Spitzhauben

Silver Spangled Hamburg, Blue Andalusian, New Hampshire Red, White Cochin

And to help us in this quest we are embarking on a mini CSA (that we've offered just to close friends and family) to share in our wacky and unique crops.  This will not only help the funding along, but also be able to share our excitement for unusual and rare vegetables.

A little explaination, CSA's are community supported agriculture.  You put money into the farm in the beginning and each week get "shares" of the produce coming out of the farm.  You are not guaranteed any vegetables - if tomatoes all die from deer or disease, sadly, no tomatoes in the shares, however if zucchini is plentiful, you'll know it.  Additionally, you can be a part of the process, if you want, or not, if you want.  You can come to our little homestead any time and help weed or plant or till or lay straw or pick vegetables and fruit or watch chickens, OR just enjoy the produce in the comfort of your own home.  

Now, we at Lord & Lady have never run a csa before - we have been in many, but never run our own.  Because we have never run one before, we don't really know how it will go, except that by the end of the summer, our friends who joined us in this quest will definitely be getting some produce and we'll alleviate our overload that always occurs.  Because we do not have a greenhouse, we are quite certain that we won't be able to start deliveries until mid-June, and in the first few deliveries, there might not be a lot.  However, if the season is somewhat normal, we will probably have produce through till October time.

We also know we will have chicken eggs available.  Our eggs will always be available by the dozen, and you could add them to any week's delivery, however, this year we will have to charge $6 per dozen if ordered week to week, as this is what we will be charging at the market.  However, we also decided that if you would like to order an egg share (that you pay all at once up front), 1 dozen eggs will be delivered to you every week and they will be only be $5 per dozen.  An investment in an egg share will help us get the new bigger chicken coop built! 

Check out our hopes and dreams for what we'll try to grow.  As mentioned, we may not get all this, but we can dream.

Lettuces/cabbage/brussel sprouts/kale/chard/etc:
Red Romaine
storage no 4 cabbage
diablo brussel sprouts
nautic brussel sprouts
red kitten spinach
salanova mix salad
ridgeline lettuce heads
five star lettuce mix
Korridor Kohlrabi
alfalfa sprouts
Bright lights chard
Flash Collards
wasabi arugula (arya picked this specifically)
Watercress
black summer pac choi
golden frills mustard greens
Spring Tower Chines Celtuce
Green Afro kale
Beira Kale

Potatos:
beauregard sweet potatoes (we have not had good luck with sweet potatoes before, giving it a go though)
gold rush potato
elba potato - this is going to be switched for something else, not sure what yet
stampede jerusalem artichokes
American Ground nuts

Squashes:
Alligator aka Jacare
6823 butternut squash
spaghetti squash
tuffy acorn squash
yellowfin yellow squash
alexandria zucchini
dunja zucchini
red kuri squash
god nugget winter squash
delicata squash
munchkin pumpkin
casperita pumpkin
dill's atlantic giant pumpkin
champion pumpkin
racer plus pumpkin
new england pie pumpkin

Melons:
Navajo Winter watermelon
Pepino Melon - very rare variety of melon look it up yo!

snow leopard honeydew
san juan melon
serenade melon
sweet granite melon

Cucumbers:
Lillie Mae's Little White Cucumber
Suyo Long cucumbers
Salt & Pepper Cucumbers
Northern Pickling Cucumbers
Mouse melons (gherkins)

Beans/peas:
Barton's Broad Bean (Fava bean)
Large Green Lentil
Large Red Lentil
Fordhook Lima beans
Cannellini Beans
Rockport bush beans
provider bush beans
shiraz snow peas
super sugar snap peas
maigolt shelling peas
sienna shelling peas

Eggplants:
Jade Sweet
Rosa Bianca
Traviata
Kermit (arya picked this specifically)

Okra/Peppers/celery:
Red Velvet Okra
jambalaya okra
Tango - Celery
ancho pepper
gourmet pepper
flavorburst pepper
yankee bell pepper
Variety of hotter peppers

Broccoli/Cauliflower:
Skywalker cauliflower
belstar broccoli

Herbs:
Anise
Ginger
Stevia - Sweetest Stevia
Saltwort
salad burnett
papalo
giant of italy parsley
mountain mint
mint
calypso cilantro
amethyst improved basil
sweet thai basil
Genovese basil
oregano
multiple varieties of sage
lovage
goldkrone dill
zefa fino fennel
thyme
arat (parsley root)
Goldenseal (not harvestable for 2 years)
American Ginseng (not harvestable for 2 years)
Feverfew
Epazote
Staro chives
garlic chives
chives
vertissimo chevril
chamomile
angelica
borage
Perfect Skewer Rosemary
French Tarragon
Red Shiso
Green Shiso
Britton
Stevia

Root Vegetables:
Salsify - Mammoth Sandwich Island
Black Salsify
Purple Plum Radish
Gobo - Japanese Burdock
Laurentian Rutabaga
Mars - Celeraic
bolero carrots
atlas carrots
yaya carrots
chioggia guardsmark beets
touchstone gold beets
moneta beets
helenor rutabaga
chiko burdock
belstar super salsify
red meat radish
nero tondo radish
rover radishes
javelin parsnips

Tomatoes/Tomatillos:
San Juanito - Tomatillo
Cuatomate - currant tomato
hawaiian currant - currant tomato
ildi - currant tomato
granadero tomato
toma verde - tomatillo
624 cherry - tomato
tomimaru muchoo tomato
german johnson tomato
defiant tomato
amish paste tomato
indigo rose tomato
artisan tomato collection

Corn (we have a terrible track record with corn, I will be amazed if we get any - this year we are going to attempt to grow it with the pumpkins, like the Native Americans did):
Country Gentlemen
Spring Leaf Corn

Flowers:
Short Stuff - Sunflower
Bees delight mix
edible flowers
Lemon Drops
Big Smile sunflower
nasturtiums
cherokee sunset sunflowers
bicolor sunflowers
procut gold sunflowers
johnnys sunflower collection
giant sungold
giant dahlia mix
Benary's dahlias
ocean pearls
bells of ireland
orange granade
bombay yellow gold celosia
ruby parfait
sun ball gomphrena
strawberry fields gomphrena

Asparagus/Horseradish/Rhubarb:
Precoce d'Argenteuil - Asparagus (takes 3 years to be harvestable)
Jersey Supreme asparagus (takes 3 years to be harvestable)
Variety of rhubarbs
Himalayan Rhubarb (takes 2 years to be harvestable)
Victoria Rhubarb (Takes one year to be harvestable)

Onions:
Bandit Leek
Colorado Shallot
saffron shallots
evergreen hardy green onions
sierra blanca onion
red zeppelin onion
candy onion
forum onion
king richard leeks
garlic
ramps

Grains/seeds (we've never done grains before, so very excited at this prospect):
Hi Yield Quinoa
Multi-Hued Quinoa
spring wheat
Hard red winter wheat

Fruits (all of these are very variable, some years we get lots, some years none):
Peaches
Raspberries
Blackberries
Apples
Plums
Tart Cherries
Sweet Cherries
Bush Cherries (if we get any, this will be a new planting)
cranberries
blueberries
gooseberries
pears
thimbleberries
rowan berries
Honeyberry (if we get any, this will be a new planting)
Red Currants (if we get any, this will be a new planting)
Saskatoons (if we get any, this will be a new planting)




Miscellaneous:
spruce tips

Chickens:
Variety of Heirloom Eggs (if you choose this plan)
meat possible (if you choose this plan)

Turkeys:
Heritage breed Meat (if you choose this plan)

Pigs:
Meat (if we get them and if you choose this plan)

So that's our quest for this Spring, Summer and Fall.  Every year I (Laura), have big ambitious plans for the upcoming season.  And every year it's great, but I am particularly excited for this year.  I will work to keep everyone updated on our exciting and undoubtedly interesting process.

So far we've still got so much snow, we're just into planting seedlings.  But even that, is thrilling, the smell of dirt, fills our home.  We're using coconut planters this year, with organic and heritage and rare seeds from Salt Spring Seeds, Southern Seed Exchange, Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company and Johnny Seeds.  We've got the seedlings in a room in the basement with windows, hopefully safe from the cats!  And some upstairs in the loft in clear tubs, with lids, again, to try and keep safe from the cats! 

Additional NOTE:  If you are super interested in joining the mini CSA and we didn't offer it to you already, email me, we might have room for one more.  And if for some reason you are interested in donating funds to the cause, but don't want any produce at all, don't let us stop you.