Best of both worlds

We have had some pretty interesting weather the last few days,

to quote from a recent Eric Van Lustbader novel...

"one of those days when winter and spring, for a short time evenly matched, fought one another to a standstill."

Three days ago we had 2 inches of snow overnight, of course, it isn't permanent, and melts in most places very quickly.

Three days later we have this...

and this!

Isn't spring wonderful... the best of both worlds!

Of course my son isn't too happy that the snow is permanently gone at home, for him winter is a time of play and fun.  Between sledding and skiing he's kept quite busy all winter.

By the way... anyone out there have an opinion on whether it's called sledding or snowmobiling or skidoo'ing?  There is a great debate on in my family on what to call it.




Sledding in the Big Bar Lake area

 


View from Hunters Range in the North Okanagan



In BC it is called sledding, in Alberta it's called snowmobiling, and when I was a kid (long time ago) it was called skidoo'ing.

Wow!

Wow!

Thanks to all of you who commented on my start in blogland.

When I started writing I didn't know what kind of response I would get, and was happily surprised that anyone noticed at all.  Hopefully I can come close to the standards set by all the other blogers out there.

I love reading some of the other farming and gardening blogs, as well as the home theme ones.

I guess I'll keep changing my page until I get to the look that I like best. 

Thanks to you all for dropping by, and leave a comment if you have the time, as I'll mak sure I visit those that do.

Snow!

We have had bursts of snow today! Just as I was thinking spring was well entrenched, that wonderful white stuff was blowing in the wind.

The cooler weather seems to be holding all of the flowering plants back in our area.  Luckily I got a taste of what is to come on a trip to Victoria last week.  My Mom, Sister, and I made a trip to one of the warmest, mildest, parts of Canada (eat your heart out Toronto).

We had a great time staying at one of the oldest hotels in the city, The Bedford Regency.  I've stayed there a few times now and have had a good experience every time.  Of course a visit to the Empress Hotel for high tea is a must, especially if you are with your Mom. 

dirt in your eye

The Okanagan, but especially Armstrong, has a certain look to the sky in the spring that you just don’t see at any other time of year; it seems so immense and wide open. The towering clouds are high and fluffy and a beautiful combination of white and stormy grey. 

 This is the turf portion of our farm -Armstrong Turf Farm

You can just see a strip of dirt on the opposite side of the grass which is our existing asparagus field.

Last year we were harvesting 15 acres of mature high density plantings.

This year we are adding another 10 to 16 acres of crowns which will be available for a limited one week harvest next season.

There is a certain satisfaction in working outside at this time of the year. The thought of new shoots getting their first glimpse of sunlight. The feel of the soft cool soil, letting it trickle through your fingers, and the sunshine on your face with the wind ruffling your hair.

Of course my family doesn’t always have such a romantic thought process to the whole chain of events.  We try to take it all in stride, go with the flow and get things done as quickly and efficiently as possible (of course with a smile on our face...lol). 

There are some days when the wind howls, the rain pours, and it feels like ice has reached your bones.

  

But for now, we have had a week of incredible weather for our planting. A little wind, a bit of dirt in the eye, but overall a great week!

 





Here are some of the crowns we are planting, that's a sharpie pen for size relation, these are nice sturdy root systems

If you are planning on planting some of these delicious spring perennials in your garden you can't go wrong.  It's quite easy to do, and are available at most garden centres.  Some of the best are the Jersey varieties, these are juicy and tender and produce more than the older varieties.

• Make a trench in well drained soil (asparagus doesn't like wet toes or heavy clay soils) in a sunny location about 10" deep and 12" wide and amend with compost if you have it. 
• If you are going organic, you can put some bone meal in, or otherwise a fertilizer with a high phosphorous content (middle Number). Make sure that you have a low nitrogen content or the fertilizer may burn the crowns.
• Place the crowns in the bottom about 12" apart and cover with about 3" of soil, you don't want to cover the crowns with any more soil than this, as you will be filling them in gradually as the new shoots grow throughout the year.  The trenches should be filled to the top by the end of the year.
• Fertilize a couple of times a year with a high phosphorous fertilizer and water every once in a while. 

 It might seem to take a long time to reap the benefits of your asparagus planting, but in two years you will be getting adequate amounts for a delicious feast.

Our older field, tended, and ready for harvesting.

a new Spring

After following a few blogs over the past three years and with a whole lot of encouragement from my sister Muddy Boot Dreams, and others, I decided to take the plunge and start a blog of my own.  Isn't this how everyone starts? Yes/No?

Well, where do we start?  Not at the beginning, but as of today!  The beginning was quite a few years ago and another farm, another lifetime ago.

The great thing about farming in Canada, but especially the Okanagan, is the change in the seasons.  Spring time brings a whole new start, a whole new chance to get things going again.  There is always that feeling of excitement and anticipation of what the new year will bring.

This year on the farm we are starting off with more asparagus!  New plantings in our beautiful sandy loam soil.                                                                                                                                                                          

Our little JD tractor is just right for planting, it's just like using a ride-on mower, and purrs like a happy cat

This is the little antique planter mentioned in Jens blog, Tractors and Lipgloss.  It looks really very decrepit, but looks can be deceiving, this little gem has lasted for decades and planted acres of asparagus in it's time.  It is owned by some very good friends of ours at Frederick Farms just down the road.