Harvesting

Gourd blossoms

We are at the time of year again where the growing season is winding down, days getting shorter and nights getting cooler.   The tomatoes have produced a lot of fruit this year and they are really starting to ripen.  Our little furry friends (chipmunks, gophers and squirrels) are enjoying the ripening fruit, so we pick the tomatoes before they are fully ripe.
I came across a couple of tips for managing your tomatoes at this time of year when the nights are getting cooler.  
Pick the leaves off around the tomatoes so the sunshine can reach the fruit and they will ripen quicker.
There aren't enough warm growing days ahead to ripen newly emerging fruit, so stop the growth of tomato plants by pinching out all growing tips.  This will force energy into enlarging and ripening the fruit.

Wedding bouquets

Our Cayenne peppers and Jalapeno peppers have produced plenty of peppers and they are hot, hot, hot.  It has been a good year for celery production with all the rain.  They are crisp, juicy, sweet and strong celery flavored, unlike the grocery store celery.  The garlic is being harvested today and the onions will be dug in the next few days.

The flower harvesting has been fantastic.  We cut approximately two hundred stems of dahlias three times a week and every stem is sold.  The zinnias are also cut three times a week and are in high demand.  The sunflowers are just starting to show colour and the brown and red sunflowers are proving to be quite popular with the florists.  We have Amaranthus, Sea Holly, Ageratum, Celosias, Cosmos, Broomcorn, Millet, Wheat, Grasses, Rudbeckia, Poppy Pods, Scabiosa, Crocosmia's and many others.

We have had a wwoofer staying at the farm for the last three weeks helping us out and learning a few things about flower, vegetable and herb growing.  Wwoof stands for World Wide Organization on Organic Farms and connects people whom are interested in learning about organic farming with farms whom practice organic farming.  The extra hands have been much appreciated and she has helped out with many tasks associated with the growing and harvesting of the vegetables and flowers as well as creating flower bouquets.    Thanks so much for all your help, it has been a pleasure spending time with you.

This weekend is customer appreciation days at the Saskatoon Farmers market.  To show our appreciation we are providing a discount on all of our plants.  The perennials are 50% off the marked price and the succulents and planters are 25% off the marked price. 

Days are getting shorter.

It has been a flurry of activity the last couple of weeks.  We are cutting the flowers three times per week, delivering to flower shops twice a week and cutting for the market once per week.  We are also providing flowers for private requests, dinner parties, weddings etc.  I believe our flowers are playing a small part in brightening peoples lives in the area, be it through the flowers we sell at the Saskatoon Farmers market or arrangements created at the local florists we supply. 

Did you know...... The mere presence of flowers in a home can change a person's mood.  Behavioral research conducted at Harvard University shows that people are measurably less stressed and anxious when flowers are nearby.  So flowers are not only attractive, but healthy too.

This week we are getting the gardens back into shape, weeding, deadheading, pruning etc.  Lots of work as I think every weed seed in the ground has germinated this year.  The rains have been less frequent now and the mulch is keeping the soil damp.  We fertilized the dahlias again this week with the new organic fertilizer we are trying this year.  We are noticing a difference, so we may invest in this product again next year.  The home gardener can purchase their products at Early's Farm & Garden.  The name of the company is Orgunique or Bio Fert.  I believe the products sold to large operations are under the Bio Fert name and the home gardener products are sold with the Orgunique business name.  The website is www.orgunique.com.  They are based in British Columbia and they have a wide range of organic fertilizers and soil amendments.

We are hosting our first Flower Garden Tours this Sunday.  The times of the tours are 10:00am and 2:00pm Sunday Aug 19th.  We have always toured our family and friends around, but this is the first time we invited the general public.  Looking forward to sharing our gardens with other gardeners.

Garden Tours

Everyone is welcome to participate in Flower Garden Tours at Mistik Acres on Sunday August 19.  We will have two times available, 10:00am and again at 2:00pm.  It takes approximately 2 hours to walk through all the gardens, stopping to discuss various plants and picture taking.  We are located 60 kilometers North East of Saskatoon.  Directions from Saskatoon - take highway 41 to Alvena, turn right (east) onto grid 777.  Travel four kilometers on the grid and you will see our house from the grid road.  Watch for balloons.  Weather permitting.
Hope you can join us!