sosnicki organics

Getting some blogging done before I have baby #3 and things go quiet on my end for a bit ;) The kids and I went out in the field on the quad last evening and took some pictures of the crops to post an update on our veggies!! Field 101: Clockwise: Black and Green Kale, Lettuce, Sweet Onions, Summer Cabbages. Our front field 101 is split in two sections.  We've planted early items such as peas, kale, lettuces, cabbage and sweet onions. These are bare ground transplants, (except for the peas that were direct seeded) and are thriving nicely.  Green kale is already being plucked and lettuces start coming off this week.  Yes, the fields are clean.  Ben has one word for that: wages. We have booked/logged many many hours of cultivating, hand weeding and hoeing and investing in paying wages to have such clean fields.  Our men have the time right now - we are only harvesting a small amount from the greenhouses, therefore the majority of all days can be spent on ma...

We know that April is a volatile weather month.  So unpredictable. Last week the family went to Easter breakfast wearing winter coats.  By the afternoon my 1 year old was outside going barefoot in the grass for the first time this season - sun was out and hot.  Now, exactly one week later there has been more freezing rain and snow covers the ground.  Temps hovering around -5 degrees C.  Oye.  But, we roll along here and just ignore it all!! The cost of running the furnace is offset by the custom grow we do, so this is always a good feeling going to bed while the furnaces keep humming away. We use every square inch of greenhouse space to the max of either our own field crops or seedlings for buyers. The heirloom tomatoes are awesome!  This example above will be hardened off and shortly planted directly into the soil in our 'covered fields' (aka greenhouse #1 and #2).  This allows us to offer the late June early July tomatoes we offer at marke...

Everyone is anxious to receive word when we'll be back at markets and what is coming.... well folks - not for a while. It's cold and a bit late this year. (That's the field crops- better news in the 'covered fields'.....) Good news is we've broke soil! Ben plowed and cultivated readying the ground for seedlings.  We have to watch it, as you don't want to jump the gun. If you can't smell the soil and the earthworms aren't around, your early plantings are just going to sit and not grow too well. Peas will go in, but I think we'll wait a few more days for onions, lettuce, kale etc. even with row covers (that are a must for us this year) the plants will thrive sitting on the wagons, drinking fish and hanging out for a few more days. MarketBaby Sadie has been tractor riding a lot with Ben ;) Market veg is going along the east side of the house this year. My absolute favourite place for the veg! Looks amazing when I walk out the door and have a monster...

It would be easy for me to whine about the hard winter, cold spring, all our various hardships - but I'm not going to do that. Ben and I decided that we would kick ass the best we could paying off the mortgage and deal with all that farming brings so that when we are 60 years old we can inspire young farmers and show them how to get through the rough patches.  We are going forward with optimism about the rest of this growing year :) Just check out the plants! Whooo!!  These giants are the heirloom tomatoes  that will be planted once again in our covered fields (this time two greenhouses full!) Seeded in between the tomatoes are beets for extra early bunches. Usually these toms would be in the ground by now but it's just too cold. It was below 6 last night and the water pipes were frozen so I had to wait until mid morn to water. Ben had to drain the big water tank and the pump to ensure they didn't freeze last night. Warmer temps from now on I hope!  We've created the...