Brassica mix

lettuce mix

the new tiller

On Friday Jessica and I bartered some labour for an almost-new tiller. It is smaller than our last machine, but works very well now that the part that sucks fuel into the carburator has been removed (I’m not sure of the technical term for this part – I’d call it a “vertical fuel uptake straw” if it were my job to name such things).

I really, really wish this piece of aluminium hadn't decided to split

I used to be convinced that no-till gardening would solve all of my many problems. I’m still very interested, but now feel that tillage has it’s place, particularly in the establishment of new beds in rough ground. New beds that will eventually be transitioned into reduced tillage/no-till systems, which is our plan for much of our field. We were given a beautiful thirty year old tiller last summer, and yesterday, right after I spent a pleasant hour working on the tiller, an important piece of metal, responsible for holding the carburator and air filter onto the engine, broke. We’re going to replace the broken part, but this tiller is going to enter semi-retirement and become a backup machine, as we’ve decided to purchase a new (used) tiller we’ve been considering purchasing for some time.

oyster mushrooms on a dead red alder

Yesterday evening Jessica and I found some pristine, grade-A oyster mushrooms in one of our productive spring oyster mushroom spots. They were unbelievably delicious stirfried with purple sprouting broccoli. It is a good life.

Don, Mike, and Sandy Nassichuk in Powell River

I’m back on Quadra now. On Sunday we held our third public event at the farm, a workshop led by none other than my own father, Mike Nassichuk. He led an enlightening seminar about mason bees, and it was one of the most rewarding classes I’ve ever experienced. It was also quite possibly the rowdiest mason bee seminar ever held: There was lots of laughter, yelling, and sexual innuendo. Everyone seemed to have a great time. Next year we’ll repeat the performance, but in March rather than April, and we’ll have bees and bee houses to sell. On Monday I visited my grandparents and some Nassichuk relatives in Powell River, and I Tuesday I went down to Vancouver to attend to some important, exciting business. I’m back now, and everything is growing, and it’s shaping up to be the best growing season ever.

my uncle Sandy's impressive 2012 crop of Powell River garlic

brand new 150-square-foot beds in the new section

Today we had a work party in the field. Jessica and I were joined in our toil by Terry and Yoko, who are living on the farm and working alongside us. I am thrilled to have them along on our agricultural journey, and they deserve their own blog post, which will hopefully be forthcoming. We were also joined by our friends Lauren and Annie. It is amazing to watch how powerful the field work of a cohesive, happy group of friends can be. We worked on this, and by the end of the day had almost half the area trenched, de-stoned, forked, amended, tilled, and graded. More land ready for planting, and just in time. Everything grows at this time of year.

'White Star' overwintered broccoli

Most of the 24 overwintering broccoli plants we sowed last June were killed in the flood, but a few made it through alive, and these precious survivors are now providing us with great harvests of sweet, delicious buds. Pictured at right is ‘White Star’, a late variety. A solution to the flooding problem is decided upon and will plan will be implemented soon, so I expect all two dozen overwintering broccoli plants we put in this summer to survive the winter. The solution to our winter flooding problem will be dramatic and exciting – Hopefully I’ll be able to capture some of the drama on this blog.