Getting small greenhouse ready for spring.

Small greenhouse after being broadforked. 

500 feet of carrots sown February 21st.

Homemade Infrared Flame Weeder

Here are a few pictures of a prototype flame weeder I constructed to aid in weed control this summer. Although the model worked satisfactory in trials, I am already planning small changes to make it work even better. Changes will include larger tires, rear bumper and side heat shields to protect plants.

Soil Improvements by Broadforking

Broadforking loosens and aerates the soil to a depth of 11 inches while maintaining soil structure. After broadforking a hole can easily be dug by hand to the full 11 inch depth.

Broadforking the Small Greenhouse

This is a short video showing the use of a broadfork in preparing our greenhouse for spring planting. This tool loosens and aerates the soil to a depth of 11 inches allowing plant roots to more easily access nutrients at lower levels. The broad fork preserves natural soil structure by not mixing soil stratum. We have found this method of "tillage" to be far superior to our walk behind rototiller which; only works to a depth of 5 inches, damages soil structure, destroys earthworms and other soil creatures, and spreads perennial weeds(by chopping up rhizomes).

More Pictures of Root Cellar being Constructed.

Seeds are here!!

We have started to seed trays for greenhouse production.  Green onions, basil, broccoli and chinese cabbage are already growing.  We are hoping to change things up a bit now that we have the larger greenhouse to work with this spring.

 This year we processed a lot more produce.  We had an abundance of tomatoes from the greenhouses.  We were able to put up 20L of tomato sauce and 15L of salsa.  As it turned out it wasn't enough to last until our next harvest. 

 We seeded ten varieties of potatoes last year.  The colours look great in a CSA bag.

2011 was the second year we made homemade suaerkraut.  This is a picture of our littlest one helping to bring the juices out of the cabbage.  Once again we did not make enough to last until next year.  We made 10L but it was consumed by January.