Carrot Growing Project at Roots and Shoots Farm
Wow, what a whirlwind the last couple of months has been. After a bit of reflection on all this controlled chaos, I decided to lock myself up in my office this week to catch my breath and attempt to bring you up to speed on our recent Community Harvest Ontario activity in the National Capital Region. This posting only describes the progress to date with regard to the Ottawa Food Bank Carrot Growing Project at Roots and Shoots Farm. My next posting will recount all the fun that’s been had during recent produce gleaning events at other local farms such as Rideau Pines Farm, Ovens Berry Farm and Rochon Gardens - not to mention the generous amount of produce donated and the contributions of our volunteer gleaners.
How it all started
Back in early-June, Robin Turner and I, driven by a shared desire to do something good, walked the pastures of his farm trying to figure out what we could possibly grow on an uncultivated half acre of land and still yield in a sizable fall crop. We quickly settled on carrots…a lot of carrots. Soon afterwards, Robin began what was to become a month-long, weekly go round on his 79’ Farmall; turning tall grass into a beautiful sandy loam.
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| Robin Turner (proprietor) and Jess Weatherhead (Farm Manager) |
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| The trusty 79’ Farmall (left) taking a break from cultivation |
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| Danny (farm intern) and Kate (farm friend) admiring the newly plowed field #1 |
Bring in the brave volunteers!
The elbow grease and sweat began to flow on July 8th. As the tractor was unable to provide a perfect seedbed for the carrot seed, many hours of manual labour were required to finish the soil prep work. The volunteers who worked through the extremely hot days in early July - sometimes 42 degrees Celsius with the humidex - will forever be etched in my mind as the greatest superstars of all time. The task of bed prepping was completed on July 15th after a combined effort from 25 volunteers; a total of 67.5 hours of manual labour!
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| Left to Right: Allan, Jean, Freya, Dan, and Jesse bed prepping by raking out the clumps of grass, rocks, etc. |
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| Left to Right: Jean, Jesse, Freya, Allan, and Dan sporting some serious sunhats on bed prepping day 1 (July 8th, 2010) |
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| Left to Right: Andrew, Freya, Nicole, Jesse, Michael, Nancy and Natalie providing more sweat equity on bed prepping day 2 (July 14th, 2010) |
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| Left to Right: Jung-Yung, Jeremy, Justin, Jade, Hanna, Emmanuelle, and Hollis. “The Crew” bed prepping field #2 (day 3). |
Seeding and Irrigating
Next came the seeding (July 15th) and irrigation setup (July 16th and 17th). The seeding when fairly smoothly, the only issue being that I probably worked a lot harder than I needed to due my unfamiliarity with the seeder. The assembly of irrigation pipe, valves, joints, and sprinklers was my volunteer contribution to the project. Let's just say I was very lucky to get assistance from my partner Jen and Robin.
Showers had been forecast for the weekend following the carrot seeding. However, we ended up with another couple scorchers, hence, the rushed irrigation setup.
Next came the seeding (July 15th) and irrigation setup (July 16th and 17th). The seeding when fairly smoothly, the only issue being that I probably worked a lot harder than I needed to due my unfamiliarity with the seeder. The assembly of irrigation pipe, valves, joints, and sprinklers was my volunteer contribution to the project. Let's just say I was very lucky to get assistance from my partner Jen and Robin.
Showers had been forecast for the weekend following the carrot seeding. However, we ended up with another couple scorchers, hence, the rushed irrigation setup.
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| Jason negotiating the manual seeder. This job got a lot easier once I realized that the handle could be raised :: ): |
With irrigation came a crop…
...A crop of weeds that is! Once a week, for the last 5 weeks, our crews of hardcore volunteers have hoed, pinched, pulled and cursed weeds. To date, the task of weeding has involved 117 hours of volunteer labour!
...A crop of weeds that is! Once a week, for the last 5 weeks, our crews of hardcore volunteers have hoed, pinched, pulled and cursed weeds. To date, the task of weeding has involved 117 hours of volunteer labour!
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| Left to Right: Jade, Sean, Hollis, Alice and Jean-Yves hoeing those nasty weeds away on Aug 5th, 2010 |
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| Jade rockin’ the wheel hoe in field #2 on Aug 12th |
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| An evening weeding work party with Cathy, Heather, John, Alex, Kyle, Liam and Suzane-Renée on Aug 16th |
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| 13 volunteers joined the evening weeding party on Aug 16th, 2010! |
Things are looking good
All this work has certainly not been in vain; yesterday I pulled a carrot that was 4 inches long, orange, and about ¼ inch in diameter at its top. They’re certainly on their way meeting our yield expectations (10,000 to 15,000 lbs). The carrots have got another 43 days of growing to do until harvest.
All this work has certainly not been in vain; yesterday I pulled a carrot that was 4 inches long, orange, and about ¼ inch in diameter at its top. They’re certainly on their way meeting our yield expectations (10,000 to 15,000 lbs). The carrots have got another 43 days of growing to do until harvest.
Shout Out!
Here’s a huge shout to the 51 volunteers who have generously given their time and energy to this project. We couldn't do this without you. Thank you.
More to Come
Please stay tuned for more updates.
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