It’s been a busy week here so we’ll dive right in with what’s new!
This week we have a few product updates. First, lettuce should be back this week at market. If we have a lot of cloud cover this week it might not be much, but we are hoping to have enough growth that a decent amount should be available. The first Bok Choi should also be available this week! We still have dandelion available this week, and possibly next before we are headed for another gap between plantings. And the parsley is doing nicely so we should have good availability on that for a while now.
This is our delivery week for the Dufferin area which means pickup only this Wednesday at Montgomery’s Inn. So get those orders in by tonight!
This week we finally upgraded the lighting in the packing house. We are now using high efficiency LED lighting, but the efficiency wasn’t even the main point of the upgrade. Until now the lights have been Metal Halide which while far more efficient than incandescent, have the significant downside of taking about five minutes to warm up to full brightness. So if we need to make a quick trip in to get something at night it isn’t even worth turning them on because they take too long. Anyway, as an example, a few weeks ago I went to get something from the cooler (where we already have LED lighting) and figured I could make it the thirty or so feet from the door in the dark to get there. But people move things, and I walked straight into a plant cart and bruised my hand. It’s just the sort of thing that happens more often than it should because the lights are slow. Well not anymore! It is nice and bright at the flick of a switch! No more stumbling around in the dark or backing the van into a dark building after an evening market! And all this at 30% of the energy usage of the old lights.
CSA this week we have Baby Kale, Carrots, Beets, Cabbage, Garlic, and Delicata Squash.
We got the sheep sheered! Everyone looks ok, and it is nice being able to see the actual baby shape to know how everyone is doing. We normally trim hooves as well at sheering, but after doing a bit of reading on pre lambing sheering decided it was better to keep them on their backs for as little time as possible. Our sheerer is great for that – three minutes for a full haircut, but adding hoof trimming would double that. So they will have to wait until after lambing for their mani pedi. But for now, if anyone wants a whole bunch of dirty wool, we have fleeces for sale.
We have Eggs! The new flock is laying a significant amount and we are starting to see more medium and even a few large and fewer peewee day by day. So it is time for the old flock to leave and the new hens to move into the main henhouse. So this Saturday we will have fresh soup hens available! And lots of eggs of most sizes and duck eggs available too so start dreaming egg recipes and soup!
The onions we planted last week have germinated and the seedling house is getting full. Before too long we will be moving the first tomatoes to the production houses, but before that happens seedlings will be overflowing into the second greenhouse as the big spring seedling push gears up. From now until May we will be filling space faster than we can empty it.
It’s looking like another busy week this week again. We are having some renovations done for accessibility on the house and that is supposed to start today. And while we have equipment on site we are hoping to add gravel a few places by the front of the greenhouse and by the fuel pumps. Getting the van stuck in the mud in front of the pumps a few weeks ago helped remind us that is still a project that needs completing. And then Wednesday we have egg grading and deliveries as usual plus this week chicken processing so between the two of us that will be a lot of driving for one day and an early morning for both of us. And somewhere between that we somehow need to keep up on all the other daily and weekly tasks so it should be a full week.
Until next week,
Happy ordering!
Nathan and Aleta Klassen
https://www.localline.ca/nith-valley-organics
