It’s been a really good growing season on the farm in spite of the drought. While the trees around the garden, across our quarter section, and around the province have suffered terribly (boreal mixwood forests especially are less adept than nearly any other type of forest at adapting to climate change), the market garden has been thriving. Here’s the harvest tally so far:
-600 lbs. of potatoes
-15 lbs. of garlic
-15 lbs. sweet Gypsy peppers
-75 lbs. of paste tomatoes
-40 lbs. of beans
-40 lbs. of shelling peas
-60 lbs. of sweet corn
-30 lbs. of yellow onions
-30 lbs. of leeks
-50 lbs. of white cabbage
-30 lbs. of Scotch kale
-100 lbs. of pumpkins (pie and carving jacks)
-250 lbs. of carrots
German Butterball Potatoes
There are still acorn squash, carrots, runner beans, barley, oats, and wheat in the field, plus assorted herbs in the herb garden. We didn’t count any crop failures this year except for the sunchokes, a new crop for us, and on their second year of growth. We were definitely not impressed by the thumb-sized tubers we harvested as a return for the amount of growing space they took up in the herb garden. Live and learn! We’ll replace them with something else in 2016, perhaps some hardy sweet potatoes, and try again. Gotta love northern small farm life! It’s all about trying something new and seeing where it takes you.