The farm stand has been up and running since Mother’s Day weekend! We started with just Friday afternoons and Saturday morning. We are now open most days of the week for flowers!
Farm stand
Wrapped Bouquets
Our bouquets are a mixture of focal, spike, airy and foliage florals. We have dahlias, zinnias, sunflowers, gladiolus, sweet peas, cosmos, celosia and mints this summer season. The colours are amazing and the fragrance is delightful!
Wrapped bouquets
Honey, beeswax and lip balm
Summer Rain Farm has 3 hives this year and they are doing great. We look forward to harvesting our honey in August.
Our chicken flock
We have about 30 chickens that roam our property and enjoy all the grass, bugs and worms that they can find. We feed them omega layer ration as well as veggies and fruits from the garden as treats.
They lay one egg on average every 25 hours so we get about 2 dozen eggs a day to package and put out at the farm stand.
Summer Rain Farm stand goals for this year are to have enough items to draw a crowd to our farm. I’ve had this goal in the back of my mind since we started having bees in 2015.
We have 2 hives of bees that gather nectar from nearby wildflowers. Summer Rain Farm harvests the honey every fall making sure to leave enough for the bees to overwinter. Our honey is delicious and we put it in 1 kg and 500 ml jars.
Now I’m ready to bring something of even more value to the farm. Summer Rain Farm stand goals for this year are to grow beautiful flowers from seeds, tubers and bulbs as well as the many perennials we have already have on our property.
The flowers will benefit the pollinators as well as our customers. I’m researching all about the flowers and how to harvest, condition and wrap into lovely market bouquets.
Our flock of chickens lays delicious brown eggs and we would have dozens of eggs ready for customers each week.
Flowers will be the beauty that draws the customers to our farm stand and gives them something to enjoy on their dining table as well as having delicious eggs and honey for their meals.
We will have beautiful seasonal market bouquets wrapped in kraft paper. They will be grown on our property and hand picked by me less than 24 hours before. These flowers will be grown without the use of chemicals and conditioned for long vase life for you to enjoy once you bring them home.
We were a little slow to put in our orchard. We started this in our third year of ownership. we did have one fully grown apple tree from previous owners but it needed to be renovated slowly although we did get apples from it.
Planning and research
First, check your growing zone. It’s no sense trying to grow something that doesn’t work in your area like lemons in the north although that would be great to have!
Find a reputable nursery to buy your plants from, either online or in person. Research what fruit or nuts grow in your area. We started with apples and pears. We have added plums, nectarines and hazelnuts to our orchard area.
Greenhouse or nursery
Find the best place on your property to grow your trees and bushes. Orchards usually need full sun and enough room to have space between the trees. We chose to plant in the older traditional planting with about 8 to 12 feet between our trees. We wanted it for the look as well as for picking and having a wide range of fruit. Some people plant in long rows of trees close together but that is usually for commercial properties to make it easier to get mechanical pickers in the rows.
Planting
Now that you’ve decided on your fruit of choice and ordered and brought home your plants it’s time to plant. There are two ways most plants come to you. The first is in a pot. This plant can be put in the ground almost any time from spring to fall. The second is bare-root. These plants should be planted during their dormant period which is early spring or late fall.
Planting trees
Potted trees
For a potted plant dig a hole slightly deeper and about 2 times wider than the pot. Break up the native soil and release the plant from its container. Gently place the root ball into the hole and make sure the plant is at the same level that it was in the pot. If you need to add some soil back into the hole then do that. Now refill the hole with the native soil that you dug out previously. Water this in and then you can top this up with compost or good bagged soil and water this in again. Place a garden stake about 6 inches away and tie it loosely to the trunk of the tree.
Planting trees in spring
Bare-root trees
If your plant is bare-root then place it in a bucket of water to rehydrate well as you dig the hole. Look at the plant and see where the roots spread out from the trunk. Make the hole big enough that all the roots can be spread out in all directions. It is best to build a small mound to place the roots around. Do not plant too deeply as you want the trunk just above the ground level. Now cover the roots with native soil and water well. Fill in with compost on top and water again.
I find it best to use your native soil so the roots have a reason to continue to grow out searching for nutrients and water. If you fill this hole with all the good soil the roots will curl around themselves and not try to spread out leaving the plant vulnerable to blowing over or strangling itself.
Mulching
You can now mulch around the tree to help keep weeds down and help the ground retain moisture. Just be sure to keep the mulch at least 6 inches away from the trunk of the tree. Keep the tree well-watered, at least 1 inch of water a week or more for the first year and during droughts in later years.
Spring blossoms
I’m always amazed each spring when the trees that look like dead sticks all winter start to break dormancy and leaf out in spring. What fruit trees are you planning to have in your orchard?
Our property had some fencing for horses that the previous owners had put up and enclosed about 2 acres. We decided to devide this area into 2 pastures allowing us to rotate the horses as the grass grew. This was a good start. We added a third acre parcel later as well as another half acre temporary field. This is still an ongoing issue.
Types of fencing
We used wood fencing with electric rope, chest high to prevent the horses from chewing or pushing against the wood. The electric fence was solar powered.
There was also a small lot enclosed in front of the barn but it got too muddy for the horses so it became our pig pasture. Therefore adding field fencing on the inside and a line of electric rope at 6 inches up from the ground, keeping the little pigs enclosed.
pigs on pasture
Our gates are all 10 to 16 feet wide metal attached on our largest wooden posts. Therefore allowing it to support the weight.
The fencing around our chicken, turkey and geese areas are made with hardware cloth along the bottom 4 feet with overlapping 1 inch chicken wire up to 5 feet high.
Maintenance
Fencing will always be an ongoing maintenance job. Painting, replacing boards and electrical hardware as well as solar batteries. Walking your fence line on a regular basis is always a good idea, checking for any repairs that are needed.
Luckily no damage was caused by the fallen tree
We fenced our garden area therefore we were able to keep out rabbits and our dogs from trampling the beds.
Raised bed garden surrounded by fence
Why not free range?
We tried free-ranging our chickens at first but they ended up on our neighbour’s deck! Luckily our neighbours were friendly and thought it was cute. Again fencing makes for good neighbours.
All our fencing took time to go up and didn’t all go in at once. Just keep in mind where you would put your fencing as you plan out your property.
What fencing are you thinking of putting up on your country property?
So you’ve found your little(or big) slice of heaven. Congratulations!
You’ve moved in and looked at all that space. What can you do with it now?
I’m going to list some ideas for you to pick and choose what interests you most. A few things should be first if your looking down the road. These are just general suggestions. I will go more in depth for each suggestion in later posts. Check in the categories for updates.
List of ideas
Orchards should be planted first as they take a little time to establish. If you want to grow fruit, I advise researching your zone and get planting.
Vineyards also need to be planted a couple years until you can harvest grapes and make wines or jellies.
Berry bushes and strawberry patches usually produce in the second year.
Gardens can start to produce right away.
Animal shelters and fencing should be thought about before bringing that first cute animal home.
Shelters can be as little as a 4′ x 6′ shed for a few chickens or ducks or as large as a full size barn for horses, cows or goats and everything between.
Goose house
Think about where the fencing will go. Fencing makes good neighbours as well.
Take a real look at your property and see what is already there. Is there a shed that would work, or fencing already installed? Can it work for what you want?
Is there a water source close enough to use for plants or animals or will you have to truck buckets around?
Pastures
Is the land flat, sloping, rocky or forested? All these attributes have uses such as pastures, gardens or tapping for maple syrup.
I would love to know what your property will be used for.
