Chain Reaction Urban Farm Newsletter

FARM NEWS

If you are looking for the Summer Market order form, just scroll down to the bottom. Since this is the first Wednesday of the month, I will start things off with a farm update for you all.

It's hard to believe that it's September already because I feel like I am still waiting for it to warm up. I guess I will have to break the news to our crops and let them know that was all the heat they are going to get this summer, like it or not. Almost every other gardener I talk to tells me that their tomatoes are still green! The consistently cool nights this season have slowed the growth of tomatoes and other heat loving crops like peppers, cucumbers, melons, and squash. We are fortunate to have room for a few of these crops in our high tunnel, but the cool temperatures haven't gone unnoticed even in this cozy environment.

The perk of having a diverse crop selection though is that other plants have been quite pleased with the cooler temperatures this summer. The fall plantings of broccolini, cabbage, and beets have been growing very comfortably this year and they usually struggle in the typically hot dry days of August. You can see the large fall broccolini patch in the photo of our boulevard plot below. Our small test patch of broccolini went well so I planted a lot more and we will start harvesting this month.

One plant you almost can't see on the boulevard anymore is grass! I am pretty excited about this because, well, I can't sell grass or eat grass. What's worse is that maintaining even just the small portion of boulevard grass in good order was requiring my time, and that time is precious in summer so the grass had to go! In case you're wondering why we didn't just plant more vegetables, a condition of the city in allowing us to use the boulevard is that we leave a meter of space along the road to allow space for pedestrians. I am sure that designating a walking space also helps keep traffic out of the garden so I am happy to leave it open.

The method I am using to get rid of the grass is a lot simpler and less labour intensive than the original preparation of the growing beds. In this case, time is on my side, so I can just cover the grass thoroughly and wait. There is no need for the use of dangerous sprays, digging, or even tilling. If I just stop light from getting to the grass, I will win the battle eventually. I feel a little lighter looking at this progress already.

The labour consideration wasn't the only reason I wanted this grass gone. It also attracted and harboured wireworms. Wireworms are the larvae of the big black click beetles. They live in the soil for several years and feed on the roots of carrots, potatoes, and lettuce. I would love to grow lettuce in this boulevard but I haven't been able to because of the wireworm. Hopefully, this grass eradication will help change that going forward.

Some of you have started to ask about whether or not you'll still be able to get our vegetables heading into the fall. Yes, you will. My plan is to continue offering a weekly order form as long as we are harvesting weekly, and that could stretch until late September, depending on the weather. After that, I hope to switch back to a monthly "Winter Market" format as we have done in the past where we offer bulk quantities of storage crops as long as we've got them. I have already started preparing for this. In fact, the focus of farm work in September will be shuffling the harvest of storage crops like potatoes, beets, carrots, onions, and winter squash to bring them in safely before the first frosts. Some of these crops need to be cured before storage, so that adds an extra step, but if all goes well, we'll have a healthy stash of vegetables to share with you all heading into the winter months.

SUMMER MARKET

We'll keep offering weekly markets into September as long as the weather allows. Just click the big blue button below to see the full list of produce available and submit your order. Orders placed by Thursday at midnight will be ready for pick up at our farm on Saturday from 9:00am to 12:00pm at 434 Ave D South.

Some of you have been asking for potatoes so here is an update on the potato front. We planted lots and expected to be offering them starting this week, but the first beds that I dug up were infected with scab. This is blemish on the surface of the potato skin caused by a type of bacteria in the soil. As a result, 63% of our potatoes will not be fit for sale. I am hoping that some of our other potato varieties have fared better. If so, they will be on the list as soon as they are available.

There is a new item on the order form for this week only called "Baby Broccoli" and it is shown in the photo below. It's not really broccoli and it's not really broccolini, but it's tender and delicious. They are the first baby crowns that we harvest from broccolini plants before they start producing the longer more asparagus-like stems you know as broccolini. Since this is a one time harvest, we will only be able to offer them this week.

Summer Market Order Form

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Chain Reaction Urban Farm · 434 Avenue D S · Saskatoon, Sk S7M1R4 · Canada