According to the general principal that stuff doesn’t usually break when you aren’t using it, it makes sense that when temperatures plunged in the later part of last week would naturally be the time the geothermal heat in the shop would fail. Quite a bit of sense really, but inconvenient regardless. As it turned out, the two circulating pumps for the ground loop were a bit weak, so a cold few days was all it took for the system to run just long enough to trigger a low temperature cutout. And also, naturally, as it would go, we got it fixed just in time for the cold snap to break and return to hovering just below the freezing mark. Oh well. Such is the nature of things.
This Wednesday we are planning to be back in person at Montgomery’s Inn. Conversely, to make this possible, we are taking this Wednesday off of the delivery route we have been running the last few weeks for our Dufferin people. The delivery route will be back on the following week.
This week in CSA we have Parsnips, Lettuce, Beets, Garlic, Carrots, Cabbage and Rutabaga.
So far this year we’d had enough mild days for washing storage vegetables outside, but this week that wasn’t going to be popular with whoever was washing. So we chipped the root washer out of the frozen mud and hauled it inside. It’s been part of the long term vision ever since we took over the space, but this was the first time we brought that machine inside. It worked fairly well so we will probably be doing that again. With some modifications, but what would farming be without things to fix.
Slowly but surely we are making progress on hooking up the new greenhouse controller to a second greenhouse. Most of the wire has been pulled, and some connected at one end or the other. Next step is to get another box connector to fit the extra wires through. And we have finished and hooked up the longest wire all the way through two greenhouses and back to the shop to the alarm so if the temperature strays too far the controller can call me about it. It is a project a long time in the making, and we are thankful for our previous foresight to instal an extra conduit for future communication wire needs. It made this project possible.
We are also steady making progress on the manure spreader repair. Currently about done the taking apart phase, and not yet putting anything back together, but it all has to happen in its appointed order. Hopefully this week I can at least take some rusty bits to the local welding shop and see if he can make me some new parts.
Well it’s a busy day again. Day two of the Environmental Farm Plan today, and we have some lambs at the butcher today as well so I’d best be going.
Until next week,
Happy ordering!
Nathan and Aleta Klassen
https://www.localline.ca/nith-valley-organics
