Went up to inspect the plastic on the greenhouse today on account of the large wind/storm we had a few days ago. There were a few small holes that we taped up with clear duct tape (yup they have clear now). There wasn't any real damage but the plastic has loosened/stretched significantly and if it continues to stretch, it might tear open. The inflation fan stopped working over a month ago and without it running the plastic is able to blow in the wind. We also noticed that the plastic is buried over a foot under the ground so its going to take a fair bit of work to remove it without damage. We are hoping to salvage the plastic for at least another year of use, the cost per sheet is $400 and 2 are needed. Looking forward to taking this apart and setting it up on the new property.

I took a trip down to Dundas, Ontario to visit William Dam Seeds, one of the oldest seed companies in Ontario. I read somewhere that William Dam seeds has been selling only untreated seeds since the owner got sick some 40-50 years ago. Inspired by a new encyclopedia that I picked up featuring vegetables, edible flowers, herbs and fruit, I bought a bunch of edible flower seeds and planted them in the greenhouse the next day. (Vegetables, Herbs & Fruit An Illustrated Encyclopedia by Matthew Biggs, Jekka McVicar & Bob Flowerdew)

Well the title gives it all away. The ladybugs have been eating the aphids, and the odd white fly which came home with a few mint plants I got from Richter's Herbs last week. There's still a few aphids on the tomato plants, the ladybugs don't seem to like being on the tomato plants very much but most of them are gone and the slightly damaged plants seem to be making a come back. So far it took 3 releases of ladybugs, roughly a couple hundred each time, they tend to fly away when the door and windows are opened for ventilation (except for the dead ones). Do they fly back to the place I bough them? Probably!

Yesterday to my horror, I discovered that there has been some significant pest damage to several Tomato and Borage plants in the greenhouse. They were not yet beyond recovery but I needed to do something fast. After looking through a few books and taking some close up shots, (I have included one here), I discovered that the pest in question is a type of Aphid known as green peach. Aphids have two stages of life, most commonly they are seen flying around as tiny black fly's with rather large wings for their body size, but in the first stage they are little green insects that crawl all over your plants sucking the life out of them!



So, today I drove up to Brampton to a warehouse that specializes in selling beneficial insects to large greenhouse operations, and bought the smallest quantity of ladybugs they would sell me. The cotton bag in this photo is filled with 3,000 ladybugs. After driving back, I released a few hundred of them into the greenhouse and put the rest back in the foam cooler they came in and placed it in the fridge. As this was my first time, it was a bit creepy intentionally opening a bag with 3,000 bugs in it! At first sign the ladybugs don't seem to be doing much, just crawling around, I even put a few right on the aphids and they just kept walking as if uninterested. I was told the ladybugs would survive in the fridge for 4-8 weeks. I will release some more in the next few days into the greenhouse and continue to monitor the infestation problem. Don't worry, I will end up releasing the left over ladybugs outdoors instead of letting them pass away in the fridge.

Its been interesting researching beneficial insects, there's many natural predators to common insect problems, its very encouraging (in theory) to know that "good" can prevail over "evil" without the use of pesticides. I will update the blog on what happens. There are other bugs I can get if the ladybugs don't work out, worst case scenario there's always the praying mantis, although the idea of a few dozen 5-inch bugs crawling around in the greenhouse sends shivers up my spine (and not the good kind!). Also praying mantises will eat the beneficial bugs as well not just the ones that damage crops.

Haven't written in a while but things have been moving forward very fast. We completed registration for several websites that host volunteering on farms info. Got some temporary business cards made, we still have to work on a logo we like, received and began filling out the paperwork for Organic Certification. Just in the process of getting our final seed orders for lettuce mixtures and sprouts together for the year. I am looking forward to taking soil and water samples from the property on Wednesday and delivering them for analysis to the University of Guelph. It feels so good to be finally doing what I have been dreaming of for so many years!

The seedlings in the greenhouse are growing well. The Micro-green and sprout tests continue, and there's lots more planting to be done. I have received all of the edible flower seeds that I ordered from Richters Herbs, there's about 20 different varieties that we are starting with this year in our salad blends.

Our friend Dean went to a farmers auction last night to get us some implements for the tractor, not sure how he made out yet but there will be plenty more auctions to get good used equipment from for a low price.

This week will be busy getting all the paperwork together for organic certification and running around tying up loose ends. I also need to work on the tiller and get it going this week.

I cant help but wonder, is anyone subscribed to this blog and is anyone reading what I am writing?

Today we began the process of getting Kind Organics on the Map of several farming and community organization websites. WWOOF Canada is a member of the International World Wide Opportunities On Organic Farms and provides a website where volunteers can look up farms and contact farmers for short or extended apprenticeship programs in exchange for food and shelter. C.R.A.F.T. Ontario (Collaborative Regional Alliance for Farmer Training in Ontario) is a great resource aimed mostly at college and university students here in Ontario, similar to WWOOF it provides information on farms where students can get training in exchange for free labour (room and board). International Communities is an international directory of communities and community minded groups with one focus being on visits and volunteering. The outcome hopefully will be to get some volunteers or apprentices for the summer. We sure could use the help, the to-do list is very long for this year.

These two trays are filled with Golden Frill Mustard, Red Russian Kale, Purple Radish, Suehlihung, red Cabbage, Arugula, Kogane, Giant Garnet, Tatsoi, Daikon Radish, Curly Cress, Brown Mustard, Red Clover and China Rose Radish. The timing and methodology behind both of these trays is different but neither is the intended finished product, just in the experimental stage. The intention is to grow these sprouts to about 2 inches tall and then cut them for consumption.

Its been an exciting and fear filled start to the year as Kind Organics has no official home and while we are still looking for a farm we needed to start some of our seeds so as not to be too late for the season. With the help of my dad and the kind extension of my sister and brother in-law's place we erected this small greenhouse. I bought the greenhouse off of Craigslist for $200, its a 6'x8' that could be purchased from Home Depot new for about $800, we put a small space heater in there to keep the plants from freezing at night. We have had -5C temperatures a number of nights in a row here in Toronto. Planting began in mid march, but there is still lots more seeds to germinate for this year. I just got the order I had placed with West Coast Seeds (from Vancouver). I have not ordered from them before but they have a few rare heirloom varieties of tomatoes that I just couldn't resist. The delivery came almost a month after placing the order, not sure that I will be ordering from them again, unless the results are exceptional in which case it was worth the wait.

I began ordering Organic and Certified Organic vegetable and herb seeds for the year back in February. Although February seems early enough, I would have felt less rushed had the seeds been ordered in January. It took from 2 weeks to a month to get the seeds in the mail and it took considerable time and effort to organize them all by planting dates.

The majority of my seeds were bought from the Cottage Gardener. I like to get seeds locally when possible. In theory locally grown seeds will acclimatize quicker and therefore produce a better harvest. The theory remains to be tested and I will post the results at the end of the 2009 growing season. A large portion of my sprouting and micro-green seeds were purchased from Mumm's and from Johnny's. Johnny's seeds has a very large selection of micro-greens all tested and untreated but not necessarily certified organic, their prices are much higher then Mumm's. Ordering from Mumm's is a real treat, you can order 2.2lb's of seeds for less then the price of a quarter pound of seeds from other seed companies. Mumm's is also Canadian and most if not all of their seeds are certified organic. The only problem with Mumm's is that they don"t have much of a selection, but I have been told they will be adding some more micro-greens to their line-up "as time goes by". I would have liked to order from William Dam Seeds also but I got their catalouge too late...there's always next year. I ordered some rare heirloom varieties from the Seed Saver Exchange and from another small seed company in B.C.

While we are on the topic of seeds let me just say a few words about Monsanto. Those guys are the great pirates of the 20th century, complete criminals who should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law!!! Seriously though, rent the documentary "The World According To Monsanto", watch "The Future of Food", or several other great documentaries on the Wide Eye Cinema web site, there's hundreds of others and many to be found on Youtube. Take it upon yourself to do the research, its not a question of; is GMO good or bad or should we be playing god, its about lies, deceit, manipulation of our government which is supposed to be representing our interests not that of corporate America, poison (Round-up), and lack of good research. Until we know more, stick to organic and non-gmo foods whenever you can. Its more expensive, but in the long run its about your health and it will be cheaper.