Onions, Shallots & Leeks, Oh My!

YAY! The much awaited Allium (onion family) exodus into the field is complete! It's a big project that we undertake every year, around late spring. We transplanted thousands of little baby onion, shallot and leek transplants over 1/8 of an acre (that's a butt load of onions!). Double the production we had last year. Which is good because we couldn't keep the onions on the table, people were buying them up so fast.

We did a few different varieties of onions this year; a white storage, a red storage, and a white fresh onion. As well as our coveted shallots (always a favourite at markets). Onions do really well in our climate, which is what prompted us to plant more of them this year.

It was a full days worth of work, with Mom and several volunteers helping out (thanks for your help guys n gals!!!!). But, to get it all transplanted in one day is a great accomplishment (as it normally takes us several days). Hip, hip, hooray!!!

Look for these tasty treats to be ready starting late July, early Aug. And then we'll have them right on through into January :)

Shauna preparing the baby onions for transplanting

Look at all those healthy roots!

A tray of bundled transplants ready to go into the field

Couldnt have asked for a better day! Cloudy and cool :)

One of our happy helpers, Laura, digs in and gets started transplanting

Go go gadget arms! Once you get the rhythm of transplanting onions, it goes quickly!

Wow, what a spring!

Hi Everyone,

Well, its been one heck of a spring out here on the farm (busy, busy!). We've got 31 beds of vegetables in the field already (transplants and direct seedings), and the 2 acres of garlic is looking superb! We've also got thousands of little transplants in the greenhouse, waiting their turn to be transplanted into the field.

We've had a warm dry spring so far (lots of irrigation required!), which has been great for our early direct seeding's in the field. With carrots, beets, peas, spinach, salad mix and greens well on their way already (earliest germination ever!).

We've been plugging away, getting mountains of work done over the past month and a bit. Its been a lot easier for us this year, with the help of our full-time worker Nicole (she's definitely been rocking it!). We've installed a filter system and tank for our greenhouse, as the water from our farm well is quite high in iron (but not as high as others in the area, so our water guy tells us). We've done some upgrades to our Farm Centre; paint, plumbing, appliances, etc. Getting ready for temporary workers this summer. And we've hauled 250 tonnes (yes, you read that right!) of some of the most beautiful composted horse manure from our friends at the Okanagan Show Jumping Stables, right up the road.

Our CSA Harvest Box program is full (with 45 excited members!). And only one month left to go before the start of the program. We've got a wide array of super fresh, tasty vegetables planned for our members this year :)

• Beans
• Beets
• Bok Choi
• Broccoli
• Brussels Sprouts
• Cabbage
• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Celery
• Corn
• Cucumbers
• Fennel Bulb
• Greens
• Herb: Basil
• Herb: Cilantro
• Herb: Fernleaf Dill
• Herb: Parsley
• Kale
• Kohlrabi
• Leeks
• Lettuce, Romaine
• Onions
• Parsnips
• Peas
• Peppers
• Potatoes
• Pumpkins, Pie
• Radishes
• Rutabagas
• Salad Mix
• Scallions
• Spinach
• Squash, Summer
• Squash, Winter
• Swiss Chard
• Tomatoes, Heirloom
• Watermelons, Mini

 We're super excited about this year, and hope you all are too! More updates to come soon, so stay tuned! :)

The garlic is looking great!

Mmmmm, look at all that beautiful composted manure!

Our Red Russian garlic is looking particularly gorgeous :)

Look at all those beds already planted!

A beautiful Orb Weaver Spider on the farm :)

Nev's excited about trying our new sprayer to spray compost tea on the garlic and field crops.

First, put a lotof organic worm castings in a large sock, and fill the tank 1/2 full of water...

Next, put in a couple of Air Stones (just like in your fish tank, only bigger)...

Then stir in some organic Molasses, till dissolved...

Add more water, and let brew for a couple of days. Once it's frothy, its alive. You want to spray when its at its frothiest, for best concentration. And voila, Compost Tea :)

Yay! Salad Mix is here again :)

Shauna & Nicole transplanting crops into the field.

Shauna rocking the transplants :) Did I mention we're in love with these soil blocks? SOOO much easier to transplant with compared to cell trays. We'll never go back :)