In 2019, we have much to be thankful for.
Alex & Virginie’s son, little Yanou, was born in May, less than two weeks before the beginning of the Local Food Box Program. This little spring cabbage came right in time for harvest (best crop ever!).
2019 has been our most intense, love-filled and sleep-deprived season to date. We are deeply grateful to local food box members for their ongoing support and commitment, the 2019 Wind Whipped Farm crew for their friendship and hard work, and our partner farms for continuing to supply great quality foods & flowers. Last but not least, a big thank you to the many loving friends and family who have visited us, offered caring thoughts, and gifted us baby treats. We are a lucky family.
Below are some highlights and photos from the 2019 season at Wind Whipped Farm. We always enjoy hearing from members and we value your feedback, so please contact us if you have any questions or comments. We will be in touch to launch 2020 registrations, and we always give priority to returning members.
Season overview
To get an early start in the spring, half of our garden beds are shaped, composted and broadforked in the fall, and covered with a plastic tarp overwinter. We pull back the tarps to seed or transplant as early as march. It will take about 1 month for these beds of transplanted lettuce heads to become salad mix, a much appreciated veggie box staple.
At peak season, the harvest is done twice a week by a team of 4. This year the harvest crew included Emily, Erin, Yvonne, Yvette, and Petra. Leafy crops are harvested first thing in the morning, ideally before the field heats up.
Fruit and vegetable production was a bit more challenging this year. Running a farm with a brand new baby can be overwhelming at times…who knew, right?
The leeks, ginger and kohlrabi just didn’t get the attention they needed to make it to your food box. The hakurei turnips were overtaken by club root, a plant parasite that deforms brassica roots and makes them unusable. Our orchard produced a grand total of 5 apples, as it was a bad year for apples all over the region.
Still, because we always plan for extra produce and because other crops were prolific, we feel we were able to provide a good value, well-balanced box. Below is a mid-season on-farm pick up. We had a good beet crop in 2019.
This summer we bought a used 100ft greenhouse. We hope to install it in 2020 to grow more heat loving crops like the ones below, and diversify the crops available in the shoulder seasons.
As usual, there is very little left over Wind Whipped Farm produce at this time of the year. However, if you want local produce for this holiday season, we suggest you check out the Winter Abundance Box offered by Saanich Organics. These one-time, $50 or $100 boxes of organically grown vegetables are festively wrapped and delivered to your doorstep in December. All orders must be in by Dec 9th. Check out this Facebook post for more information, or email boxcoordinator@saanichorganics.com.
We hope you will join the Local Food Box program in 2020, and we wish you all the best for the winter ahead.
Alex, Virginie & Yanou
No comments yet.