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.