CSA Again...:-)

I am picking my CSA shares a bit early this week, as I am actually going away! I haven't been away anywhere, in so long, I can't even bear to think about it. Reckless and I are competing in the AAC Agility Regionals in Abbotsford. We are not really ready for regionals yet, they came up way too fast, but it will be good experience for the both of us! I've been going crazy all week, making sure the dogs are all taken care of, the schedule is set, everyone knows what dogs are coming and going, and so on and on and on... takes a lot of work! I'm sure I've forgotten a thing or two, but hopefully I've managed to cover all the major bases. I think I will be just be glad to get home next week and relax.... if there is such a thing! Dog boarding is non stop busy right now (which is wonderful, I can actually pay my bills!) and the gardens need constant tending and planting and slug-controling. We are FINALLY supposed to get some sun starting this weekend, so hopefully things will really start growing out there.

This weeks' shares:

mild mesculin
chives
peppermint
pea shoots (sounds odd, but this is my new favourite veggie... I go out daily and munch on pea shoots... they are delicious!!! Try it sometime!)

First Snow

Our first snow arrived 2 days ago. Lasted a day, then rained like crazy and it's all melted already. Typical of the island! Plus, it's the kind of snow I like- doesn't last long! I am hoping like mad that we don't get a repeat of last year where we had 3 feet of snow on the ground for over a month. People back east may think that's wimpy, but I live on the island because of it's typical mild winters... although, we haven't had a true mild winter in quite some time now. I think we are due!! Oh, and we are also due an early spring- last spring bit the big one!

It hasn't stopped raining since the snow the other night- it is torrential again. I am already cabin-feverish. I am just dying to get out into the garden. I am trying to do some indoor projects- Christmas baking, making soup stock from the chickens, and I tried my hand at making my own salsa with the remainder of my Roma tomatoes. The salsa turned out ok- I just made up the recipe- I made 21 jars, and then put them in the freezer. Some will go into my Christmas baskets that I'm making for my family, the rest will feed me for a while. The only thing really missing from the recipe was the fact that I couldn't seem to find any hot peppers... salsa really needs some spice to it!

Kybosh exiting the agility tunnel in the snow. Snow is Fun!!

I have also been going over my seed catalouges making up my orders for the spring. I am ordering WAY too much, but my enthusiasm this time of year is hard to control- I have no outlet for it! I am getting some things in that I have never grown before, so I can hopefully have some surprises for the CSA members in the summer.

Oh! Good news! I applied for my farm to be Certified Naturally Grown, and recieved confirmation last week that I succeeded! The only thing that remains to be done is sometime in the spring/summer, there will be another local farmer coming to check my farm out and do some soil testing, etc. That should be interesting, and hopefully I am doing everything correctly! I decided to go the CNG route instead of the Organic route, as it is WAY more cost efficient (by donation) and WAY less paperwork. With C Organic, you have to document every seed and every crop you grow, which is too much for a small farmer growing multiple crops- it is more for a larger farmer growing one or two crops. Plus, I have to admit, I don't really like anything government regulated- I think it's too much red tape for something that should be relatively simple.