The Acadia Community Farm

Well there has been a flurry of activity in and around the garden of late.  A second planting of seedlings at the Irving Centre are nestled comfortably in their recycled paper seedling pots thanks to Dan and his team. Have a look at “Recent Posts” on the right sidebar and click on Adopt -a-Seedling Update to see how to make your own seedling pots. Brilliant idea and the paper pots go right into your plot  There’s no plastic containers to dispose of and  the newspaper will biodegrade in your garden. Best of all  your seedling doesn’t have a traumatic transplant!

Have a look at the ‘Events’ link above to see what has been happening and  to see what is ‘germinating’        http://wp.me/Pd7yx-4 

Spring clean-up is planned for Saturday at 1:30 . We can use as many hands as possible. This is a great way to meet some of your gardening neighbours and if you are new to the garden,  a great time to get down and dirty with your new garden home!

More details can be found under the Events  page     http://wp.me/Pd7yx-4 or check us out on Facebook.    http://on.fb.me/dHHArB

Stayed tuned for our upcoming ACF Workshop series!   We are very excited about what we have planned for the 2011 season!

About thirty people attended our Sign-up Meeting this past Sunday, and about two-thirds of our garden plots are now taken! Emily is underway pairing novice gardeners with more experienced mentors. We’re aware of three plots where youngsters will be helping out, and will make sure those plots are beside each other. Let us know if there will be any other young gardeners, and we’ll add you to the corner. More fun that way!

We plan to be at the Seedy Saturday at the Wolfville Farmers’ Market this weekend. If you still want a plot, or just want a chat, this is where to find us!

Seeding Session

Afterward, we had a Seeding Session, where we planted all the following within an hour, for the communal plot!

Tomatoes:

Cherry – Black Cherry,  Red Alert, Golden Cherry

Full Size – Yellow Brandywine, Tomande, Scotia

Green cabbage, Cauliflower, Broccoli, Kale & Pac Choi

Basil, Fennel & Leeks

Yesterday, the order arrived from Johnny’s Selected Seeds! This means that we have Eggplant and Sweet Peppers to plant in the next week!

More than eighty students living in Tully, Seminary, and War Memorial residences are currently caring for beautiful seedlings to be planted in the communal portion of the Acadia Community Farm. Hopefully the cauliflower and Nicandra seedlings are thriving on windowsills all over campus!

The seedling pots were made from old copies of the Athaeneum using a method found here:
How To Make Newspaper Seedling Pots

Acadia students are encouraged to adopt-a-seedling for our 2011 planting season.  A great idea to get our seedlings started with a touch of personal TLC and as well as introducing Acadia students to the farm! The event is being held at Seminary House on campus Sunday Mar.27th at 1:00. For more information see “Events” (tab above) or check out our Facebook page at Acadia Community Farm  (see Links in sidebar)

Spring is sprung!

“Through the long winter, I dream of my garden. On the first day of spring, I dig my fingers deep into the soft earth. I can feel its energy, and my spirits soar.” Helen Hayes

The first day of spring and that is just what we are doing here on the farm, digging our fingers in the soil and planting a few seeds at the Irving Centre; rosemary, celery, leeks and a few cole crops. Can there be a better way to celebrate the burgeoning season? In the weeks to come the greenhouse schedule includes peppers, and some new introductions  – romaine, melons and ‘garden jewellery’ – eggplants! You can join us Sunday April 3rd after the plot signup in the Irving Centre greenhouses to plant tomatoes and the majority of the cole crop seedlings. Rain or shine what a fine place to be to enjoy a taste of spring with fellow gardeners! http://valleyevents.ca/event?id=8730

March 31st, “The Economics of Happiness” is being shown at the Al Whittle Theatre with Av Singh presenting. If you have never had the opportunity to hear Av speak , then you will want to attend this film event!

The garden may have been laying dormant all winter but the ACF managemnt team have been very active! Planning , organizing, preparing, fundraisers and most importantly just enjoying getting ready for the 2011 season – our fourth!

Over the next few weeks we will continue to share what is happening. This season we are all very excited about having a ready source of water. We are sorry to disappoint any of you who enjoyed the ‘process’ of the wheelbarrow trip to the arena, filling your jugs, skillfully attempting to maneuver your wheelbarrow and jugs over the athletic fields and arrive back at the garden with 50% ( or better if you were a seasoned water toter)  of  the water remaining. The hose is  in place and the taps ready to be turned on to keep the large totes filled for ready access. The totes are also conveniently placed mid- garden.

Some other exciting changes will be evident in the garden layout Individual plots are now going to be at the back of the garden with easy access to the shed for tools.

Signage is currently being created so each plot holder will have  their own sign to personalize! We will also use signage to designate rows and the various stages of growth and what tasks might be done by volunteers whenever you are down at the garden. For example  you may see a rustic sign that says ” we’re germinating -  please water”  or “it’s crowded in here – please weed!” We are also hoping to create a few living teepees of beans or peas for our younger gardeners to  have fun in.

Have you started planning what produce you hope to plan this year? Seedy Saturday is April 9that the Wolfville Market. It’s a great opportunity to join in workshops, demonstrations and purchase local seeds.

http://www.wolfvillefarmersmarket.ca/component/content/article/19-event-news/200-april-9-seedy-saturday

Stay tuned for more exciting news down here on the farm!

Happy Spring

Check out our ‘Events‘ tab above for details!!

It is always so hard to say farewell to summer but Mother Nature is kind. Like a loving parent she eases us into the next stage by distracting us from our favourite seasonal pastimes with the amazing cavalcade of colour of  turning leaves, the fruit  ripening on the trees and even the ‘changing of the guard’ with migrating birds!

The garden has given us the best it had to offer this year . The most recent activity at the garden has been exciting…

In September two classes came for a farm tour. Colin Bell and his microbiology class and Kelsey Kennedy with her class from  Nutrition and Dietetics. It was great to see the enthusiasm of the students and always fun to show off the garden!

As rapidly as the town is expanding  with new and returning students filling the halls and coffee shops on these glorious end of summer days, so our garden is bursting with an abundance of produce. Zucchini and summer squashes triple in size overnight! Tomatoes are being delivered to meal hall, food bank and the womens shelter and the next day we could do it all over again as they ripen faster than we can pick them!

This year we have had some little critters take up residence in the garden. It would appear that voles also love our tomatoes and invited their extended families from abroad to come and stay  too! Still our pest problems are very manageable this year, the usual beetles and flies but nothing that needed  to be addressed with much more than a hand ‘removal’. The most exciting news is that we are so very close to finally having a water source after three years! This season we have had the arduous task of having to go down to the garden  to obtain the water jugs; wheelbarrow them up to the arena; fill them ( very heavy!) skillfully wheelbarrow them – without tipping over all the way back down to the garden and then fill the watering cans to hand water the entire farm. Needless to say our plot holders became quite discouraged and we saw plots abandoned.  Their frustration is understandable. Two 4 by 5 large water totes were purchased and filled with kindly water delivered by our local fire department. The day before the hurricane  Earl threat,  our totes were empty and we had to very quickly make another request for water just to secure them from potentially blowing across the soccer pitches. The fire department graciously ‘came to our rescue! thanks to our fire chief who we met in line at our local hardware store You have to love living in a community like this.

We have purchased 1200 feet of 1 ” diameter hose and on the hottest day of the summer no less unrolled it to be connected to a water source the university identified as no longer in use! Other than connectors we are almost ready to go. We have run into a bit of a snag with an unexpected crossing of a pedestrian trail that we hope to have resolved soon though.  We will then be able to use the hose to fill and store water in the totes.  Accessible water source is obviously integral to the success of the garden! So we are hopeful that we will have a renewed interest by community members again when they know they have an accessible source. Needless to say we will be especially grateful for this water source in the larger garden portion for food bank and meal hall!

Theft also continues to be a problem sadly. One of our plot holders was so very disappointed and saddened when she discovered that the night before she was going  to pick her cantaloupes she had lovingly nurtured for the whole season,  someone had helped themselves .The next day she was devastated to make the discovery. Many of us have lost produce this way and it is most discouraging. We are discussing various ideas  how we might address this problem.

On a much happier note we are very excited about the new farm management team that we formed mid-summer.  Our dedicated and ‘fearless leader’ Heather has left to pursue further studies and we are extremely grateful for her remarkable dedication and commitment to the ACF.  We had a send off potluck dinner at the garden prior to one of our mid-week work sessions. Our hats also go off to Dewey who also showed great commitment and hard work up until his departure for New Zealand also pursuing further studies at the end of spring. We wish them both much success.

Another exciting development is the discussion around curriculum integration with the University as well as some local school board initiatives. This is a natural partnership we anticipate will  benefit everyone. Stay tuned!!

July 1^st morning and it is the quintessential ‘perfect day’. Blue sky , light breeze , warmth of the sun on your back as you  survey the seemingly overnight growth in the garden. Despite some minor setbacks such as the lettuce bolting before it was even mature and heavy rains that delayed planting beds ( but not the weeds!) the Acadia Community gardens are looking great.  Could there be a better place to reflect on what Canada Day means than working in the soil that was reclaimed by the Acadians and the Founders more than two centuries ago. Today we have the privilege of  growing own our food  not out of necessity but by  choice. We also are not reliant on our gardens exclusively as we know that at any time throughout the year we can supplement those ‘essential’  items such as avocados or bananas, butter and  even local food from a variety of sources. Our ancestors’ ability to grow their own food was for their survival.  We also need to be mindful about the diversity of our gardens. The first settlers were very limited in what they could grow. If you find yourself feeling less than inspired about leftovers…again…try eating cabbage and rutabagas for six months of the year!  Did you know that the flavour of tomato plants  is enhanced by growing basil along with them? Or that many of the herbs we enjoy act as flavour enhancers and bug repellents to their companion plants?  With diversity our gardens are richer and certainly more interesting.

A little like our fellow Canadians …eh?

Summer solstice is almost upon us. Where did spring go already? At the farm we are seeing  signs that indeed spring has firmly ‘rooted’ herself.  After a very wet week the soil was reminding us of its  history ( dare I say roots?) as part of the salt marshes and dykelands. We experienced the thick red mud from the abundant rain that made tilling new beds nearly impossible.  Some community gardeners were concerned about the seed they had recently sown.  Glorious sunshine then replaced the rain and before we knew it we were complaining of hard packed conditions! Ah the yin and yang  of the urban farmer -  too much rain – too much sun!

Still we are seeing exciting things happening in the garden.  It is easy to share the joy of your fellow gardener as you recognize their forward-bend stance then their smile as they discern a hint of a green thin line appearing in their beds. We are hoping to encourage the sharing of stories and questions through our website.  Please consider adding comments or questions to your fellow gardeners. Perhaps you have an abundance of zucchini to share or barter for parsnips, or perhaps you would like to split an order of straw with someone. Recipes for those unusual herbs or new line of heritage dried beans you are growing would also be most welcome.Links you have found interesting such as we have posted on our web page  side bar or literature you have found helpful would also be  appreciated.

If you haven’t been able to attend a work session Wednesday or Sunday consider coming out to lend a hand and meet some of your fellow ACF members.  It is another great way to learn more about gardening as there are always interesting discussions going on as we work together.

Hello!

We’ve got plants in the ground, gardeners have claimed their plots, and everybody is moving to get seeds in the ground. Our first work-party of the year will be Wednesday, May 26th from 6-8pm, but until then – come down and check it out! Things will be greener in a few weeks, but it’s still exciting to see everything ready for another season down at the Farm.

Also, Thanks to Rene Prefontaine and Tyler Boucher, we’ve got some long overdue photos back on our site. Check out our photos page, or see some of the highlights below.