Spring time at Spring Tide!

This is not going to come as a surprise for you but your farmers have been busy! We have been back into farm work since April and since the beginning of May, we have welcomed a new employee: Julie. You will hear more about her very soon but I can already tell you that we are thrilled to have her, not only for the additional hands but also for all the knowledge, good spirits and energy she is adding to our team.

Before the bed preparation

Raising the beds

We checked on our bee hives and were able to identify the queens in each of them; they are doing well. There is already a bit of honey. Jessie and I (Raphaëlle) took a beekeeping course during the winter and we’re excited to manage the bees more closely this season.

We are currently preparing a whole new block for our squash and melons and cover cropping some big parcels to give the soil a well-deserved rest. We have cherry tomatoes transplanted in one of the tunnels and slicer tomatoes will join them very soon as well as the peppers. Onions are all in the ground and we are now planting the leeks. What a difference with a team of 4 people!

With the mulch and the onions planted!

We are quite happy with the decisions we made at the end of last season, in order to make things easier for us in the spring. For example, we moved our polytunnels (pounded all the rebars in the ground, put the hoops in place) so we just had to put the plastic back on them as we started the season. It saved us a lot of time and energy.

And as we raised most of the beds last year, we won’t have to do it again and that’s another big time saver. As a result, we can tackle the weeds the way we want to and work to make our bigger projects happen. It feels awesome!

Rebecca has started making bouquets for the Petite General Store

Of course, it wouldn’t be a true farming spring if we didn't have a few struggles - our beets didn’t come up well at all, the big tractor is still painful to get going and hard to maneuver considering the size of the fields, not to forget our black flies friends that makes us feel a bit crazy throughout the day.

But it’s also exciting to see the progress we made compared to last spring: being able to plant in the raised beds without seeds rotting in them because they’re not too wet anymore, the first carrots coming up very nicely, or the seedlings doing great in the greenhouse that is now hooked to a propane tank, keeping them warm at night. 

All that to say, we are on track to be at the Lunenburg market within the next couple weeks (stay tuned to know when exactly, we will keep you posted!) as well as the beginning of our CSAs in Halifax and Bridgewater for the first week of June. 

We can’t wait to see you again/meet our new customers!

I hope you are all having a beautiful spring.

Raphaëlle