Raspberries

The raspberry patch is in full colour right now with berries at all different stages of ripening.  We really enjoy fresh raspberries, but our most enjoyable is chocolate and raspberries.  I want to share a recipe with you that we make every year at raspberry harvest.  I tore it out of a magazine more than ten years ago and still have the tattered page.
Chocolate-Raspberry Streusel Bars
Base:
1/2 cup butter softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
4 ounces of semi sweet/bittersweet chocolate melted
1 & 3/4 cups all purpose flour
With electric mixer, beat together butter and sugar (I use less sugar).  Beat in egg and vanilla.  Add melted chocolate (I use fair trade chocolate) and mix until well blended.  Stir in flour.  Pat evenly into an ungreased 13 x 9 inch baking pan.  Bake at 325F for 15 minutes.

Topping:
1 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 cup raspberry jam or fresh/frozen raspberries
Mix together flour and sugar (I use less sugar).  Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Spread jam over base.  (I use 1-2 cups of fresh or frozen raspberries with a little sugar, that have been cooked with cornstarch to thicken.)  Sprinkle with topping.  Bake for 15 minutes or until lightly browned.
I prefer using fresh or frozen raspberries instead of jam in this recipe.  Enjoy!

This year's growing conditions have been unlike anything we have ever experienced.  The hot humid conditions have challenged a lot of plants and yet some plants are thriving.  Our tomatoes are not producing much fruit at all.  We have had a few cherry tomatoes ripen but usually those particular plants are loaded with fruit, but not this year.  The pepper plants are not producing and in some cases the blossoms are rotting off.  Everything seems to be later in maturity.  The Dahlias are usually full of blooms by the end of July, but their production has probably been cut in half.  The sweet peas are not as productive and some of my Godetia plants are dying along with a few other things.  Have been noticing a few annual flowering plants infected with Asters Yellow disease already, where in past years it showed up later in August.  The Yarrow is spectacular and the Monkshoods are striking.  The delphiniums were fabulous with huge flower spikes and the Globe Thistles are a beautiful shimmering blue.  The colours of all the flowers are very vibrant, but in most cases the bloom count is down.

Pink corn

Today we will be harvesting onions, potatoes, beets, and raspberries for the market.  The flowers available this week will be lilies, gladiolas, globe thistle, delphinium, sweet peas, rudbeckia, and lots more.

Pesticides

Things are doing pretty good on the farm despite the very wet conditions.  We are having to monitor disease caused by the rain and hot/humid air.  So far it has not been too serious.  The annual flowers are all starting to show blooms and the perennials are on track.  The monkshood's are growing non stop and some of them are about six feet tall with the flower spikes.  The lilies have started to bloom and I love to go out to the field and take in the kaleidoscope of colour.  I have been enjoying watching the new annuals we planted, Cerinthe - Pride of Gibraltar, Icelandic Poppies, Celosia's of different shapes and colours, which are doing very well this year, Love Grass Ruby Silk (will post pictures later in the season),  Drumstick flower, and Dianthus - neon purple and cherry.  Watch for their debuts at the Farmers Market.  Some cuts will be in bouquets this weekend.   One of our Passion Flower Vines that is in the greenhouse has developed flower buds.  This particular plant is destined for a new home this weekend.
The birds have been leaving their nests and a lot of species leave the yard when the babies are grown up.  The Bluebirds have left, which in past years they raised a second brood.  The Tree Swallows are gone, sometimes making an appearance in the evening.  We now rely on the Dragonflies to help out with mosquito control, which they seem to be doing a great job.  We have not had any bats take up residence in our bat houses we installed this Spring, and we have not seen any glimpses of them.  
Today we will be busy harvesting vegetables, raspberries (first picking) and lots of fresh cut flowers.

Bells of Ireland

Karl Foerster Grass

Delphiniums

I came across this article written by the Saskatchewan Environmental Society and they asked that we share it with everyone.  There is lots of really good information in the article.

Be Pesticide Free-Pesticides and Human Health
Have you heard? Pesticides aren’t needed for a beautiful lawn!
What is a Pesticide?
A pesticide is a chemical or microbiological substance that is designed to kill pests. Pesticides are by definition are toxic because they poison the pest. Pesticides include insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and rodenticides.  Common examples are RoundUp, Killex, Weed and Feed, and 2,4-D.  Lawn pesticides do not prevent pest problems, they only try to control them once they are present.

Exposure
Pesticides are all around us. They can be found in our soil, air, food, and even mother’s breast milk.   If a pesticide is being applied to a lawn, it can be detected 15 metres away. Anyone living in an urban area in Saskatchewan breathes air with measurable quantities of 15-19 herbicides in late spring. Pesticides are also found in water. Drinking water in six Saskatchewan communities was tested and found to be contaminated with an average of seven pesticides.

Human Health
The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety has identified acute health effects in humans including nausea, eye, skin, respiratory and throat irritation, muscle spasms, and even death. Repeated exposure to pesticides has been linked to neurological problems, brain and lung cancer, immune suppression (which creates environmental hypersensitivity), leukemia, Parkinson’s disease, kidney damage, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and reproductive disorders, including endocrine disruption, low sperm count, and sterility. Children are most at risk as they typically play in grass and dirt, and put toys and hands in their mouths, activities that significantly increase their exposure to pesticides.

How to Protect You and Your Family
·Do not use pesticides on your lawn and garden.
·Pesticides are toxic. Be aware when they are being sprayed in your neighborhood.
·Keep kids and their toys indoors when pesticides are being applied and afterward, clean exposed surfaces.
·        Do not spray your pets (flea powder).
·        Use pesticide-free insect repellent like citronella.
·        Buy local organic food.
·        Wash all produce with a mild detergent.
·        Work with local school boards, daycares and sporting complexes to go pesticide-free.
·        Avoid pressure-treated wood.

To learn more about alternatives to using pesticides, please visit:
http://www.environmentalsociety.ca/main/resources/publication/pesticide-publications/

Hot, Hot, Hot!

Wow what a fabulous week it has been.  We are just amazed at the low wind speeds accompanying the hot weather this week.  I do not recall having this many days in a row with no wind and yes, wouldn't it be nice if we had wind with these temperatures.  Yes, yes I know, I will stop this nonsense blubber and enjoy the warm weather.  Just think of winter, when it's hot and humid and we may appreciate it a lot more, I keep telling myself.  This week we are busy weeding and then laying the mulch in the gardens.  We have one more garden to do and it is the biggest, so a lot of work ahead.  Due to the warm temperatures we have been rising early and working till noon and then staying out of the heat till after supper.
Some of the plants are growing so much this week.  There is a lot of moisture in the soil, so in combination with the mulch the soil stays cool and their is no evaporation of the moisture.
There are so many flowers that are starting to bloom.  We will have lots of different things this weekend at the Saskatoon Farmers Market.  There will be Dahlias, Echinops, Rudbckia, Heliopsis, Lilies, Sweet Peas, Sweet William, Cosmos, Love Grass, Delphinium and many more.  We will have ready made bouquets but we will also have an assortment of flowers for people to create their own bouquets.  We have a lot of customers whom really enjoy putting together various flowers for their vases at home.  Vegetables will include new potatoes, green onions, beet leaves and fresh herbs, dill, mint and cilantro.

Hens & Chicks blooming

The rock garden is so beautiful this year with lots and lots of the Hens and Chicks blooming.

Monarch Butterfly

The picture below is a Monarch Butterfly caterpillar that has grown up in the last couple of weeks.  I am sure it is probably almost ready to enter into the chrysalis stage.  We have a lot of these little guys on our Milkweed plants.  Sure hope they will survive to make the trip to Mexico or the States this fall.

This week has passed by very quickly once again, with a lot of our tasks uncompleted due to the rainfall we had this week.  With the predicted temperatures for the upcoming week it sure will be nice for the plants to have all the moisture that will be available to them.  We have continued with the mulching of the gardens and have started making our weekly trips into Saskatoon with flowers for the florists.

The Delphiniums and Sweet Peas are starting to show their flowers and the lilies should be starting this week.  I do not think the lilies will last long this year as hot temperatures really speeds up their bloom time.  The Peonies are almost finished blooming now and we have a  large number stored in our cooler for the upcoming weeks.

We harvested garlic scapes today and sauteed them up for supper.  Wow they were awesome.  Pat cut a lot for the market this week along with fresh herbs and green onions.  Flower bouquets of Peonies, Delphiniums, Sweet Williams are in the cooler waiting for tomorrows market.  The Peonies and Delphiniums will be available by the stem as well.

A lot of the young birds have left the nest and are flying around the yard.  They seem to be taking care of the mosquito's for us, as I think they should be a lot worse, with all the water standing in our valley.  Have a great week, and enjoy the wonderful temperatures predicted.

The week of wild weather.

We had another storm roll through here this week which brought lots of wind, about an inch of rain, and left us without power for about 40 hours.  No tornado activity in our area, which we are thankful for.  We pulled out the generator and kept our fridge, freezer and cooler running.  The gardens all fared very well and everything looks very green.

Angelica

The flowers of this biennial attract parasitic wasps which help us control thrips and aphids.

The Monarch butterfly eggs have hatched already and they are busy munching the milkweed plants.  I do not have too many plants and they show growth later in the spring, so there are not a lot of leaves for these little fellas to eat.  Hopefully the plants will start growing with the moisture and warm weather ahead. 

Progress in the garden.

Peonies

The peonies are now being cut so we will have lots of stems at the market on Saturday along with Sweet William, Bellflower, Yarrow and more.  We will also be offering green onions and fresh herbs.

We experienced our first storm last week with strong winds and heavy rain.  We had almost two inches of rain in about half an hour.  The plants all seemed to take it in stride, except for the cucumbers.  Some of them  could not tolerate the soggy cold soil, so we planted a few more seeds.
Our lilac bushes are so beautiful this year and this morning they were all a buzz with honey bees, bumble bees and butterflies.  We have observed several Monarch butterflies and I started checking the milkweed plants and sure enough, there are eggs laid all over the various milkweeds we grow.  The male Tiger Swallowtail is back now enjoying the lilac blossoms.  Will try and keep our eyes peeled for the female.  The females look totally different than the males.

Since the soil is very wet we have stayed out of the gardens until today.  Started weeding and mulching and I transplanted in the rock garden and in front of the house.  Should be able to proceed with planting into one or two other gardens tomorrow.  Have a good two days of transplanting to do yet.  Checked out the raspberry patch today and I have never seen so many large bumblebees in one place.  There had to have been in excess of a hundred bees all busy pollinating the raspberry flowers.  Thanks to them we should have another bumper crop of fruit.

The Bluebird family is in the yard.  The young ones have fledged the nest and we think that one or two Tree Swallow families is also out and about now.  While weeding today I was watching a Yellow Canary land on a peony stem close to the bud and eating the insects on the buds.  Our natural pesticides.

Speaking of peonies they are looking so grand right now, starting to show colour in the buds.  Will have some stems cut for the market this Saturday along with several other flower bouquets, onions and plants.

Transplanting into the gardens.

Last week we transplanted approximately half of the plants into the gardens.  One of the gardens is now planted with Dahlia's, Ageratum, Zinnia's and some of the heirloom tomato plants, seeds which were so graciously offered to us by a friend in Alvena.  Looking forward to observing them over the summer and tasting the fruit, which will be various colours and sizes.  One variety dates back to 1889, called Matt's Wild.  The seed company describes it as possibly an originator of the modern tomato which can grow up to 10-12' producing small tomato's, like eating raspberries.

Decorative corn planted as windbreak.

Valley garden

The valley garden is my favourite garden because the birds hang out in the trees adjacent to the garden.  We are serenaded with their songs while we tend to the plants and this is where we see a lot of the antics of the birds.  We planted the Beefstake, Brandy Wine, and Early Girl tomato's in this garden along with Crocosmia, Craspedia (Drumstick flower), Dianthus (annual neon purple and cherry), Dahlias, Scabiosa, Orlaya, and Icelandic Poppies.  We also seeded corn, zinnias, sunflowers and amaranthus.  Once the soil dries somewhat we will finish the transplanting in this garden with Gomphrena's and whatever else we can stuff in. We received an inch and a half in this weekends two day rain, so the transplants will settle in nicely. 

Shooting Star, one of my favourite perennials.

Delphiniums in the valley garden.

The valley garden is home to all of the perennials, Peonies, Monskhood, Heliposis, Sweet William, Red Feather, Delphiniums, Yarrow, Veronica, Mums, Echinops, Campunala Freya,  plus many more.  A wide variety of plants, with a lot of birds taking care of the insects for us.  This year we are laying onion peels around the Delphiniums to deter aphids.  This Spring there were a couple of Delphiniums that were hosting the aphids so I cut those plants down and put them in a pail of water to drown the aphids.  We have had a few more on other plants but I keep picking off the foliage and placing it in the water, and maybe along with the onion peels it may be keeping them under control.  Would love to hear feedback if you are going to try this in your Delphinium garden.

The birds are busy tending to their eggs and feeding the young ones.  The Raven family have fledged the nest and are visiting the yard area.  The young ones are very vocal, so they always catch your attention whenever they are around.  They are very interesting to observe.

This weekend at the Saskatoon farmers Market we will have fresh green onions available along with the selection of plants and cut flowers.  The purple Allium's were very popular this past Saturday in the flower bouquets.