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SVGA 2009 Field Tour

June 24, 2009 at 1:48 pm · Filed under Uncategorized

Last week we had an opportunity to ‘get off the farm’ to attend the annual Saskatchewan Vegetable Growers Association Field Tour. Each year members of SVGA and the general public are invited to tour vegetable grower operations around the province. Lincoln Gardens has hosted this event several times in the past. This year SVGA went to the Yorkton area and toured several Horticulture and Agriculture businesses.

Our first stop was the Garlic Garden owned by Darrel and Anna Schaab. This is a relatively new farm but they have done wonderful things in a short time. The family grows only garlic and sells at their farm and at the Yorkton Farmers Market. Their farm is very well organized and growing each year. My only wish is that they grew enough to sell wholesale so that Corn Maiden could offer their great product to our customers!

The next stop was the Parkland Greenhouse for lunch and a look at their Garden Centre and Cafe. We were treated to a wonderful lunch with a delicious veggie soup (a special request as I am vegetarian and never get to eat anything on group tours!). The garden centre was huge and very well designed. Most of the people on the tour do not grow and sell flowers, but we do so it was very interesting for us.

After Lunch we went to the Kangro Gardening greenhouses and market garden. Kangro started as a retirement project, but owner quickly found out that there is nothing relaxing about market gardening and it has grown into a full time job! They grow tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers and peppers in small hoop-house style greenhouses. Kangro also has a few acres of field crops. They have been selling their products in Yorkton and are now branching out to sell in the Regina Farmers Market as well.

Our last stop was Prairie Dome Seed Potatoes and U-Pick. Prairie Dome is a long established farm with a really well organized and landscaped u-pick berry operation. Lincoln Gardens has been expanding our u-pick for several years, so it was very interesting for us to see what another farm is doing. Prairie Dome has around 5 acres of strawberries and saskatoons. They require pickers to make appointments and come at schedules and supervised times. Like all u-pick operations, it is important to have order and rules for customers to follow and some of the practices at Prairie Dome may be implemented at Lincoln Gardens. We have been struggling with keeping our 10 acres of u-pick organized and maintaining proper picking practices because we have not required pickers to make appointments, but this may soon change. The family at Prairie Dome treated the visitors to homemade muffins at the end of the tour.

So it was a successful Field Day. I encourage any vegetable farmer to attend these events. Although Lincoln is larger than most of the farms we visit, there is still interesting things to see and no matter how long you have been operating your farm, there is always something new to learn.

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weather and waiting

April 26, 2009 at 12:44 pm · Filed under Uncategorized

Where is spring?? That is what we have been asking ourselves. We can’t get out to do any land work because it is still to wet in the fields. So we are waiting, and not very patiently.

There is still lots to do however. We have been transplanting some seedlings into larger growing flats so they have room to move. Potting up the garden centre flowers. Cleaning and preparing the staff accommodation. And still working on taking down the greenhouses in Mouse jaw that we purchased.

Today is cloudy and cold again, it really doesn’t seem like spring.

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Welcome!

February 17, 2009 at 4:22 pm · Filed under Uncategorized

Many of our customers ask about the history of the farm and what all is involved in growing the food they eat. This blog provides information, photos and stories about the farm and our growing practices. We hope it will give readers a glimpse into our lives and the daily happenings of Lincoln Gardens.

We will post info about the Local Food Movement, events in the area and anything else we find interestng. Check back often as we will try to update this site regularly.

Also check out our official website at http://www.cornmaidenmarket.com

cheers

Kim & Wayne

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New Hours for October

October 2, 2008 at 1:39 pm · Filed under Uncategorized

Lincoln Gardens and the Corn Maiden Market is open daily from 9:00 to 6:00.

We reduce the hours due to the weather (it is darn cold in the store in the evening!) and the darkness of October.

Cheers

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Summer storms

July 23, 2008 at 12:20 pm · Filed under Uncategorized

Rain and more rain. We had a major downpour but luckily we missed getting any hail.

Lets keep our fingers crossed that we don’t get hail, because we do not want a situation like Tabor Alberta is facing with ruined corn crops.

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June 18th and we are still planting

June 18, 2008 at 1:32 pm · Filed under Uncategorized

Things are moving along well, now that it has finally warmed up. However there are still many transplants that need to go to the field.

The SAWP workers are getting along fine on the farm. They organize their own time, learning what need to be done and how they want to go about doing it. Because it was raining for so many days, we had time to finish the covered deck on their house, so now they can relax on the deck after work. Their home is the nicest house on the farm now!

We are in need of sales staff. It is always a struggle to find enough people to work indoors. At the moment there is one full-time sales person, who has returned for the second year with us (yay!) but her and I can not do everything ourselves and we need another day person for a couple shifts per week and an evening person so that I can get out of the shop before 9 each night.

Our first WWOOF volunteer is wrapping up his stay today. It has been fun working with him and sharing our home/farm, plus he is a good worker! We got a number of projects that are usually left until the end of the year completed now, so there will be less to do later on.

the remainder of this week will be spent finishing up our transplanting, cleaning the veggie market, landscaping and paperwork. The paperwork has been neglected this month so I really need to focus on that.

cheers

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SAWP Staff have arrived

May 19, 2008 at 1:47 pm · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged , , ,

Saturday night at 11:50pm we met our SAWP program workers at the airport. They have had a long trip. They spent one day waiting in the airport in Mexico City because they were bumped off their first flight. Then flew to Vancouver to meet the MX representatives and get their papers etc. They connected to Regina through Calgary. I am sure they were very tired but they didn’t show it.

We drove them the 30 minutes from the airport to our farm and showed them around their accommodations. My main concern is that they will be comfortable and happy with their house. We did a lot of work to make it welcoming for them.

On Saturday i was checking the internet for producer blogs about the SAWP program. I didn’t find any but I did come across a website that pointed to some abhorrent living conditions that have been reported to occur in this program. I believe the offenders were from Ontario.

This program has been running in Canada since the 1970’s. I am sure over the years there has been a few very inappropriate circumstances. Like any industry, there will be a some bad apples. Our experience is that the program is run very well in Saskatchewan. We have met with both Canadian Federal government representatives and Mexican officials. We have had the Saskatchewan Health inspectors go through the accommodations to ensure the home is clean, safe and healthy. We must comply with water testing on a regular basis to ensure the water is bacteria free. We know the other producers in the program and know that they too are concerned about the safety and the health of their SAWP workers.

The infractions sited by some people as the ‘norm’ for this program are actually few and far between and those employers in Ontario who have not followed the standards have been eliminated from the program. SAWP workers have the same rights that Canadian agricultural employees have. They have health insurance, are covered by workers compensation, get days off (although often they don’t want too take time off) and free accommodation. Many workers in this program are collecting CPP because they have worked in Canada for so long. As employers, we have invested a large amount of money to be in this program (housing, airfare, visas etc) and it is in our best interest to ensure the health and safety of our employees.

Yesterday we told the four SAWP workers to take the day to rest, get to know the farm and some of the other staff. They spent much of the day walking around the farm, looking at the greenhouse operation, checking out our mexican imports, and even met our neighbours. Wayne took them to Lumsden to get chicken and other meat (I forgot to buy some because I am a vegetarian!) and gave them a cash advance so they will have a little money before their first pay cheque. We also bought them some “Welcome to Canada” beer, and Wayne and 2 of our staff went over to visit on the SAWP worker’s deck.

We learned that our workers have been in this program for 10-16 years. They are all married and have kids. They like this program because there is little work in their regions. They have worked on commercial vegetable farms, greenhouses, wineries and orchards. They have not worked on a market garden and seemed a little daunted by the variety of products that we grow. I told them that we do have other employees and they wouldn’t be doing this all by themselves! They bring a lot of experience and are eager to get to work. On top of that they seem like really great guys who will be fun to work with.

Today they will transplant the strawberries that we have in cold storage. And then we will start transplanting the cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower.

I also have to thank my friend Christine who has invited our staff to a fiesta she is hosting for her family. We are going pass on her invitation and drive them to the city if they want to attend. Her invitation made me think that Regina’s Mosaic Celebration would also be fun to take them to.

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SAWP – Seasonal Worker Program

May 12, 2008 at 1:37 pm · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged ,

We worked late into the night to finish the renovations to the employee accommodation. The inspector comes today to have a look, and then our new employees arrive this week.

We have completely renovated the home they are going to live in. It went from ugly 1970’s mobile home to cute modern home. The whole place is painted with bright cheerful colours, modern “Ikea” style furnishings and a few pieces of Mexican decor to make them feel at home. We will be purchasing a BBQ for them this week to put on the deck. We are pretty pleased with how the place turned out.

Must thank Larry & Carol for all of the work they did. Larry (kim’s dad) built the bunkbeds and Carol (kim’s mom) did almost all of the renovations herself.

I am going to the import food shop this week to purchase familiar condiments and corn flour for them. We are supposed to give them an advance to purchase food when they get here, but we are also going to stock the house with some basic supplies. It is always a little strange to be in a new place, with new food, different plants, smells, customs etc. But with all of the Mexican imports that we sell on the farm, maybe they will think they are still at home!

It is exciting to finally be ready to greet these guys at the airport this week and we hope they will be comfortable in their temporary home. Both of us have travelled and worked overseas so we can relate to the feelings they might be going through when they get here.

It is going to be another busy week!

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Square pumpkins?

May 8, 2008 at 1:06 pm · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged

My brother has come up with a project for me; growing square pumpkins. I know it can be done, I have seen special molds that grow a pumpkin into a pre-carved face and there was rumours at one point that watermelon was being grown in Asia into square shapes to make them stack-able. I am willing to give it a try.

I am already planning to grow a few atlantic giants this year. In order to get them ‘giant’ one needs to devote their life to feeding and coaxing them. I am not sure how much time I will spend with them, but I would like to get a few that are really large, not prize winning large, just “impressive”. While I am tending the giants I can watch the progress of our experiment.

My brother is going to find or make the growing containers for the square pumpkins. I will have to do some research about this whole process.

we will see if it works

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Food prices going up?

April 25, 2008 at 2:12 pm · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged , , ,

There has been considerable coverage of escalating food prices around the globe. The prices that people in the developing world are facing is at a crisis level. With draught, civil unrest and redirection of food crops for the production of fuel, many areas of the world are experiencing shortages and high prices.

Not in Canada

Of course we do have major concerns about the distribution of adequate food to the poorest citizens of this country; many of whom are First Nations. This is a very real problem. But, rising prices should be expected just as we expect other costs of living to rise. The price of food has been artificially held at a low level, to the detriment of food producers.

Farming is a business. If one can’t make money at their business, they will look to other means. Farming is expensive and the bills need to be paid regardless of how much money was made. That is one of the factors contributing to the transition towards growing grains for ethanol production. Farmers have been receiving inadequate payments for grains for too long. It is only natural that they would look towards other markets that will pay them what their product is worth. Consumers in this country can blame themselves for their expectation of cheep food.

The amount of food that is thrown away everyday in this country could likely feed the world. Go to any major grocery store and see how much fresh food is thrown away daily. These corporations do not send edible foods to food banks, they put it in a compactor and send it to the landfill along with broken electronics, seasonal decorations, plush toys and household products. The waste that we produce in this country is disgusting.

Consumers are paying more for food. But the growers are not the ones benefiting. Consumers are purchasing ready made, pre-cooked, packaged foods like microwavable rice and powdered potatoes in plastic pouches. The processors of these foods are demanding low cost food so that they are able to make huge profits off of the processing. The farmer is still loosing out. The profits being made in the food sector are in the processing, packaging, marketing and transportation of these ‘foods’. Consumers can save themselves considerable money of they just stop purchasing these low quality, high cost foods and start to focus on staples such as whole grains, legumes, FRESH vegetables.

I don’t even want to think of the long range health implications of relying on these types of foods. With the daily publicity about the dangers of plastic, it is difficult to believe that anyone would actually purchase foods that are stored on a shelf in a plastic bag and then put that plastic bag in the microwave to heat and cook it in the plastic. Now we can even purchase special plastic bags to ’steam’ vegetables in! How difficult is it to steam vegetables on the stove? Well, I don’t even own a microwave so maybe I am biased.

But I am getting off topic. The only fresh foods that are getting in on the price increases are those that are also pre-packaged such as packaged lettuce and green onions. Notably, those same products that environmentalists hold up as the answer to our food security. Major brand organics. No other green onions in my grocery store are sold in a plastic bag, but those coming from the major organic player are. One has to wonder if the plastic bag is necessary. Not to mention that when ever I have purchased their packaged lettuce it has an identifiable plastic taste that I do not get when I eat my own farm grown lettuce.

Back to food prices. People seem to have no problem paying extra money for name brand clothing and electronics. They seem to have no problem paying for expensive coffee drinks. But threaten to raise the price of lettuce and people freak out. It is consumer priorities that we need to focus on. I would gladly give up new shoes if it meant I could purchase high quality food. Everyone is talking about “Fair Trade” but that sentiment seems to end when it comes to the necessities of life. Those are things people continuously expect for next to nothing. Maybe if we started paying the TRUE price for our fresh foods and our water we would solve some of the problems that are associated with excessive consumerism.

Two years ago our farm did a cost analysis of the pickling cucumber production. What we found was that with the cost of the purchase of seeds, hand seeding, hand weeding, hand picking, hand sorting and time spent calling customers for pick-up, we were loosing money. Big time. So we raised the price. People complained. A lot. Even after we explained how time consuming it actually is to grow those little cucumbers that people want for their special family dill pickle recipes. We kept the price up. We still have a very slim profit margin on that product. The point is, that if the consumer is not willing to pay the price needed to make growing your food worthwhile, we will stop doing it. All farmers will stop doing it. And we they will grow food for oil. Simple.

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