What I would avoid as he has done in this video is adding the compost.  He does say well composted but animal manure can lead to potato scab which we've experience.  In some ways the straw method is one that helps us to avoid potato scab because its a cleaner method. 

It also stands to mention that straw is great for the garden for the organic matter it adds to the soil.  However, you will need to pay attention to fertility since when the straw breaks down, the carbon will tie up much of nitrogen.   Finally, in our climate if you are doing this method in early spring, be prepared that it might delay the sprouting somewhat since it will keep the soil cooler.  To help get things going, you can put some black plastic or a tarp over the straw or hay to help increase the temperature.  Just be careful that if you have a few warm days you don't accidentally "cook" your potatoes.  You can lay the tarp for a week or two before you plant.

A few other things to keep in mind is:

• They are very tough so pruning them first thing in the spring helps to ease the pressure from your other gardening tasks later in the season.
• Get good tough gloves that can withstand the thorns and w​ear long sleeves.
• ​Once all the dead canes have been removed, keep the 5 strongest canes per meter (or yard).  This allows for good airflow and seems to make harvesting better (in my opinion).

As also mentioned in the Pruning Haskaps post.  

1.  Prune with clean and sharp pruners.
2.  Keep a disinfectant in a spray bottle handy.  A 10% solution of bleach or rubbing alcohol works well to spray on between bushes.
3.  Always begin with the 3Ds of pruning...Dead (although that is usually the main point of pruning raspberries), Diseased, Damaged and then move on to thinning.

​On May 10, 2025, we are hosting the Ardrossan Recreation and Agriculture Society in conjunction with the Strathcona County Library Bookmobile for a pruning workshop.  If you're looking for some hands on information on pruning, come join us at 10:00 on the farm.

As always, when pruning consider a few beneficial practices to ensure that your bushes remain healthy.

1.  Prune with clean and sharp pruners.
2.  Keep a disinfectant in a spray bottle handy.  A 10% solution of bleach or rubbing alcohol works well to spray on between bushes.
3.  Always begin with the 3Ds of pruning...Dead, Diseased, Damaged.  Once you take care of those branches, you are well on your way to having a bumper crops of haskaps.

On May 10, 2025, we are hosting the Ardrossan Recreation and Agriculture Society in conjunction with the Strathcona County Library Bookmobile for a pruning workshop.  If you're looking for some hands on information on pruning, come join us at 10:00 on the farm.

If you're seed packet says something to the effect "plant as soon as the soil is workable" then it is probably a good candidate for this method for setting out in the winter and early spring.  You can still do this method with warm season crops like tomatoes and peppers but you will need to find a warmer place to have them germinate inside (and possibly a place to put them when you transplant them.

However the following vegetables and flowers are great candidates to start seeds this way, without a concern for the temperatures.
​
Popular Vegetables

• Beets
• Broccoli
• Cabbage
• Cauliflower
• Carrots
• Kale
• Lettuce
• Onion
• Radish
• Spinach
• Swiss Chard

Popular Herbs

• Chives
• Cilantro
• Lavender
• Lemon Balm
• Oregano
• Rosemary
• Sage
• Thyme

There are many great tutorials across the internet on how to do this process.

Winter Sowing - The Reid Homestead
How to Use Milk Jugs to Sow Seeds in the Winter - Finch and Folly
​

We recently started carrying a grown and made in Alberta fertilizer called Ovis Aries made by an entrepreneurial friend of ours.  So I could be biased since this year was the year we decided to get a bottle baby lamb but I'm thrilled with this new fertilizer I've been using for several reasons.  I have tried it in our greenhouse and in some of my pots and in as I was putting it in with one of my flower beds to test it out in a variety of scenarios.  I didn't get too scientific but I put about a tablespoon in every hole for the greenhouse tomatoes.  I also added a bit of bone meal to round out the macronutrients.  In the same greenhouse on the same day I did my standard slow release fertilizer with the same variety of tomatoes in a bed right across the aisle. 

At this point I can't tell a difference in terms of size of the plants, but where I'm noticing a difference is how they're managing with this recent heat wave (and what looks to be another one coming up).  One of the additional benefits of this fertilizer is that it can retain moisture and release it back into the soil.  You can imagine in a greenhouse how things can heat up but one of my indicators to water has been the beds with the slow release fertilizer.  If I only looked at the beds with the Ovis Aries fertilizer, I could probably go another day or two.  I'm interested to see if it influences fruit set or even taste of the tomatoes.

In the pots I've been really impressed with how they've held up in this heat as well.  Hanging pots are notorious for drying out and ours get the benefit of the drying westerly winds.  However, I mixed in several tablespoons in when potting them up and they are the best I've ever been able to grow in this location (so far).  The other hanging baskets (which the plants came from the same nursery) did not faire so well with this last round of heat and I'm not trying to remediate them for hopefully some blooms by August.  

The fertilizer supposedly has benefits with slug control too, but that is yet to be seen - one can only hope that we have enough rain to test it out.  I would like to try it out in my row crops but that will have to wait for next spring.  Either way this is a definite must for all potted arrangements and the greenhouse crops from now on at this farm.  

We have rhubarb ready for picking this weekend. To make sure we have enough supply and are in line with all restrictions we ask that you call for an appointment. We should also have some later today in the roadside stand.

We have a little bit of sun poking through, happily melting the snow.  Everywhere you go in our local communities, people are out and buzzing with this first sign of spring.  In our cold climate though, we have to remember that it is only a hint of things to come and that some cold weather is likely to still come our way.  I always like to think of the things that I can still do to prepare so that I am the most efficient during our short growing season.  If you haven't already, you still have time to start some seedlings before planting them out.  We still have 10 weeks before most plants will be put out in the garden depending on what you're looking to plant.  It is always so satisfying to tend to your plants inside when it is wet and cold outside.   Here are a few great resources to get you (and your future harvests!) started.

I really like the tips in the beginning of this video on how to organize your seeds.  I find that the better you are at organizing and seeing what seeds you already have, the less I'm running to the store to get that one variety I forgot.  On our farm we do it a little different though.  We organize by when it is planted first and then location of where we do the seeding.  We start some of our flowers and herbs in December/January and we continue planting until early August in the garden.  Here is how I would choose to organize my seed:

• January - Grow room (herbs and some flowers)
• February - Grow room (herbs, flowers, peppers, tomatoes, onions)
• March - Grow room (herbs, flowers, peppers, tomatoes, tomatillo cruciferous crops)
• March - Greenhouse (peas, radish, spinach, swiss chard, flowers that need a cold treatment)
• April - Grow room (quick growing flowers, lettuce, squash, pumpkins)
• April - Greenhouse (peas, beans, onion, radish, spinach, swiss chard, cruciferous crops)
• April - Garden (radish, beets, carrots)
• May - Grow room  (lettuce, squash, pumpkins)
• May - Greenhouse (cucumbers, flowers)
• May - Garden (peas, corn, beans, onion, radish, spinach, swiss chard, cruciferous crops etc)
• June - Greenhouse (usually perennials for next season to be planted out in August/September)
• June - Garden (cucumbers)
• July - Greenhouse (usually perennials for next season to be planted out in August/September)
• July - Garden (carrots, beets, radish, lettuce, peas, beans or anything else that lis good to have a succession planting)
• August - Garden (carrots, beets, radish, lettuce, peas, beans)
• August - Greenhouse (usually fall crops to last us into November/December)
• September/October - Greenhouse (perennials that need a cold period and will sprout the following spring - it's a great way to use up any seed you may have collected throughout the season)
• September/October - Grow Room (greens to take us through the winter months, reseeding as needed)

You can see the great little rotation of crops and the best use of space (which always seems to be my limiting factor).  Granted, not everything at the beginning of the season makes it when planted in April in the garden but I always plant a little just in case we have a warm spring and it will make it through.  

I'm a big fan of tables since I can get lots of information together on one page (or just a few).   I really like this table for the temperatures that the seeds germinate from Boondie Seeds.  I find it is really helpful to know how long something may take to germinate and what temperatures is best for germination.  Since this table originates from Australia the months to sow the seeds are off for our cold climate but there is still so much useful information on this chart.  It appears that the web has many charts for germination in degrees fahrenheit but not as many with celsius temperatures.  Leave a comment below if there is a crop that you're looking for temperatures and can't seem to find them.

Ok, maybe a shameless plug for another one of our blog posts, but I think there are lots of practical points in what was written here that most people don't always think about.   

Not sure where to start?  Get the best tips from The Farmer's Almanac.  Such a standby resource with literally decades of knowledge backing them up.  This article is just the tip of the iceberg of resources that they have on their site.

If you're curious why some seeds need different treatments, this great video from Fine Gardening that really explains the different reasons for pretreating seeds.  Fine Gardening also has a great overview of seed starting tips that you might not have seen everywhere else.
​

I hope this helps to inspire you and give you a bunch of great information that is more novel than typical seed starting guides.  It is so satisfying to see the transition from seed to full harvest.  If you run into any roadblocks in your seed starting journey, be sure to comment below or ask us on our social media.