asparagus, how too....

Asparagus....the vegetable that teaches us patience. From seed to full harvest it takes three long years, gently encouraging them to grow along.
In February of 2015 these tiny little seeds were seeded into trays and placed in a propagation house where every day we eagerly watched and peeked to see if any would delicately pop out from the soil and reach for the beautiful sun. After two and half weeks, we were ecstatic to discover the first few doing just that. With careful mist watering and nice warm humid temperature they took off

They were extremely fragile but they thrived and grew taller each day. Now came the job of transplanting them all into 4" containers and the pressure was on. ( I also was due with our 4th child in the beginning of April). But first we had to finish building our own greenhouse were they would spend the next 3 months while continuing to grow. (They were currently propagating in our father's greenhouse)

(I won't say how pregnant I was on this picture....:-)

Then, 2 days before having another beautiful son join our crazy crew, we got up super early and started the long tedious task of carefully pulling every very fragile plug of asparagus and transplanting it to give it more room to grow. We worked for 2 very long days, but those are the days that brings the best memories of family life, teaching our children so many lessons along the way.

Little Samuel joined our family on April 9, 2015

 

 

The next couple months we continued to eagerly watch them grow, each week pulling a plant out of a pot to inspect how the roots were growing, since asparagus needs such a strong root to survive its life span. Then in June we spent a whole entire day with many of our little nieces and nephews, transplanting them into the field.

                                   Opa also joined us, and we put him on tractor duty.
After they were planted and the water was turned on, they took off once again, but joining them was the lovely never ending weeds as well, and so together we spent many hours this past summer weeding on our hands and knees while our kids happily played in the shade of the trees.
Throughout the summer they continued to grow and soon they were reaching our face, with soft ferns reaching in all directions.

 

Right now as you can see, they still are very skiny, but each year the roots will grow wider and deeper creating a thicker plant and thicker asparagus. That is why it is so very important to leave them alone as much as possible the first three years.

This past fall we cut everything off at the ground once the ferns turn yellowish. The roots were then covered in a thick layer of compost and mulch and are currently sleeping the winter away, and we are crossing our fingers they will wake up to nice warm soil this spring and eagerly reappear and once again reach for the sky.

This year we will be picking our whole field only once, and don't fret, we will let you know when that will happen!!!

Last year my hubby and I couldn't resist snapping a few off, and chewed on them while we worked. You will never find a more delicious tasting piece of asparagus that has been thought, cared and loved on every single day, that is picked fresh out of local organic soil!!!

Here's to many more asparagus years, as this crop will hopfully last us for the next 20+ years.

new beginnings

Wow, where to start!! In the fall of 2013 we sold our little starter home and set out on a new 'road' that we had no idea where it would bring us. Since the day we met we knew we wanted to pursue the dream of owning acreage and sustaining ourselves as much as possible. Why it was the fall of 2013 we decided to take this big step into the unknown, only providence can explain.
We moved into a one room cabin on the Smits farm were Peter (my hubby) worked. That in itself was an experience with three little children and one wood stove!!! But we will always be grateful for those cozy months of close family togetherness, while we wrapped our heads around the crazy situation we had put ourselves in. We spent many hours by the fire crunching numbers and putting ideas on paper only to discover we might just be in over our heads.
It was during that summer while living in the cabin that we grew almost an acre of all different kinds of vegetables, and fell in love with this back-breaking, yet very rewarding experience. We also added to our crew a couple milk goats, baby goats, a little calf and some chickens.
We were up before the sun and went to bed after the sun did, but through this summer we found our real passion and calling for our life together.
First Peter would milk the cows, (since that is his job) while i would get up, milk the goats and feed the other animals. After getting the children up we spent our days in the vegetable patch seeding, hoeing, picking, and selling our produce. Only to finish the day with milking, feeding, cleaning up and getting ready for the next day.
So when a older lady that lived just a few houses down from the farm approached us to see if we would like to buy her place privately we jumped through the roof at this oppurtunity. We knew we were going to take a giant risk with our young family to prove to farm credit canada that we were worthy of the oppurtunity they had give us.
After much research it was decided upon to grow oragnic asparagus as our main crop, and to continue on in the lifestlye we had started. We also felt in our hearts to open up our place to the community and to document about our journey to raise awareness of where our food comes from, how it grows and how thankful we should be for the wonderful blessings we can enjoy each day. So often we as humans underestimate the neccesity of teaching our next generation the importance of eating healthy and how we as a community can sustain ourselves.

So as we still have a steep learning curve ahead of us, we are super excited once again for a crazy busy summer of growing fruits and vegetables, raising eggs and chickens, raising our own beef and pork, and having our little road side stand open to the public, complete with fresh fruits and veggies, eggs, canned goods, breads, icecream cones and a petting zoo.



There is no greater legacy to leave our children, than the one they helped us create.