New Roof on the Cob House

This summer our friend John Paterson reroofed our cob house with beautiful cedar shingles. Here’s a photo-

miso, honey glazed radishes. (takes about 10 minutes to make

Bring to boil in a fry pan

1 bunch radishes with tops

1/4 cup water

1 T. honey

Turn down the heat and cook for about 8 minutes until the radishes are getting soft and liquid has boiled off leaving the radishes with a bit of a glaze.

Add

1/1/2 T/ butter or olive oil mixed with

1 T. miso

radish tops

Cook for another 2 minutes and serve.

Seeding soil blocked trays in January

We seeded these greens mid-January and germinated them in our germination chamber. Now they are in an unheated greenhouse on tables waiting to be put into the ground.

This is napa cabbage that has been soil blocked.  We started it in our germination chamber. 

They are on tables in our unheated greenhouses right now and we will plant it out along with the other seedlings in the background - tatsoi, spinach, mizuna, dill - into our unheated greenhouse in about 2-3 weeks.

If you would like to learn more about soil blocking, go to this video which was made at our farm by the Sooke Region Museum

<https://youtu.be/EYpI798wCdc>

Vacuum seed cleaner

Here is a Vacuum seed cleaner which has helped me to clean more seeds with less work and dust. I got the plans for building it from Jen Cody who is a member of the BC Eco-Seed coop to which I also belong. The parts cost abotu $1000 Canadian $. I bought the Light Feeder/Drive for $550 and the light feeder controller for $375 from WAJAX Industrial Components headoffice in Calgary, Alberta.

Seed cleaning screens

These are 8 great seed cleaning screens I bought using a Bauta Family seed grant in 2015. I bought them from Horizon Herbs in Williams Oregon for about $170 US dollars. They have graduated size screens and are very strong. I’ve used them for 5 years and they’ve stood up to quite a bit of use.

Opening up new land and building a new pond

With Nick Young's help we have extended the northwest field, constructed a new fence and new pond. We planning to extend our orchard into that area.

Mid-May at ALM Farm

Summer squash are looking perking peeking out of a row of black plastic.  We transplant the small squash from 5" pots in through holes in the plastic where we have dug a hole and filled it with compost.  We water them in well; lay drip irrigation under the plastic and then cover tehm with floating row cover to keep them warm and free from the harsh winds.  Once they are about two feet tall and bursting at the seams, we take off the floating row cover.  Timing for seeding them is important to get the earliest zukes at market.

A row of young zucchini plants in early May

ALM Organic Farm's new harvest building

We are so happy with our new harvest area.  It works so well and the new walk in cooler keeps our produce fresh.  Up until this year, we have depended on the passive cooling of our old harvest building which could barely keep our produce below outdoor temperatures.  The new cooler will insure that our salads, berries, greens and other produce will be in top condition for much longer.

You can still purchase our produce on Saturdays and the Winter Moss Street Market

The markets are shorter but there is still lots of fresh produce - carrots, potatoes, kale, chard, leeks, parsnips, beets. and  more.  Catch us from 10 to 2pm at the Moss Street Market or email/phone us if you have never been to the farm to find out how you can get fresh produce at the farm during the week.

What's new at Moss Street Market

Today we brought 60 bunches of asparagus and fresh rhubarb and lots of Italian parsley

ALM's Seedy Saturday Schedule

Mary Alice at Salt Spring's Seedy Saturday

Howdy folks! We're touring yet again to share ALM's wonderful seeds across the great West Coast. We've already had two great Saturdays in Qualicum Beach and Salt Spring island, and more is yet to come. Now that the snow has receded, spring is approaching fast, so come on down and get your seeds and start plantin'!

Our schedule for the coming Seedy Saturdays is:

- Saturday, Feb 18: Victoria - Moss Street

- Saturday, Feb 25: Sooke - Community Hall

- Saturday, Mar 04: Courtenay

- Sunday, Mar 05: Nanaimo

- Saturday, Mar 11: Cobblehill

See you there!

Saint Victor's Leeks

Look at the beautiful flower of the Saint Victor's Leek! These kooky leeks are being meticulously observed by Reilly as a seed trial for The Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security.

Wrath of the Pea Weevil

Here is evidence of the pea weevil on our Sugar Ann peas. Our pea crop this spring has been having an extremely hard time as it is being stunted by pea weevil damage. We have tried battling them with concoctions of 'rhubarb tea' but much of our crop has experienced too much damage to be revived.

Is anyone else having this problem or have any tips for fighting the blasted pea weevil??

Don't forget that our Plant & Seed Sale is THIS Saturday! Everything is growing so quickly on the farm, we are running out of space for all the seedlings. Drop by this weekend and take some of these cucumbers and zukes off our hands!

Our farm crew for the 2016 season! Rachel and Reilly are to the left of Mary while Anas and Jordan are on her right.

Photo taken by our talented friend Sheila

ALM Plant & Seed Sale

Our annual Plant & Seed Sale is fast approaching. Come join us on our farm on April 30th to shop for organic seeds and seedlings that we've been growing on the farm! It will be a great day to prepare your gardens for the spring and to meet and greet with fellow gardeners in your community! Be sure to come on time as we sell out quickly of our popular varieties!

Date: April 30th from 10 am to 2 pm

Location: ALM Organic Farm, 3680 Otter Point Road, Sooke

Seed Saving 101 Workshop

Come learn foundations of seed saving in your home garden! A workshop hosted by the Victoria Seed Library.

Thursday, June 4, 2015, 7:00pm  8:30pm

Victoria, GVPL Central Branch, 735 Broughton Street

Free but registration is required: www.gvpl.ca/seedlibrary

Seedlings Available

Take a look at the seedlings we have available for Plant Sale, Moss Street Market and through the farm.

Planting Calendar