Category: Gardening

Our Briden Farm 2023 Potatoes Are Planted

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Planted 2023 Potatoes

Imagine, two years ago this garden was forested. Woodlands comprised mostly of Ash and Poplar. Using our Goats, Pigs, Chickens, and jokingly, sometimes Dogs, we’ve managed to make a Garden out of it. This year it’s going to be mostly Potatoes. It feels good to have it planted. 

I’ll leave it be for a bit, then add in some companion plants. We interplant Bush Beans, Green and Yellow Beans, to help deter Potato Bugs. In two years here, and one in Clementsport, we’ve not had a Potato Bug. We’ve also not planted on the same ground two years in a row! So, this year will be the real test, having had at least part of this garden in potatoes last year. Will we have Potato Bugs? Time will Tell. 

Click Here to Watch The Video 

It’s been funny to watch Roscoe this year, He remembers last year, how I’d get after him if he walked on the rows! I think, watching Him lick his lips, that he might also remember the great tastes we got from the garden last year!

Categories: Gardening Vegetables

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Rootin, Tootin, Garden Tillers At Briden Farm

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Rootin, Tootin, Garden Tillers

We worked this ground in the Fall, and need it reworked this Spring. So, we’ve put our rootin, tootin, garden tillers, to work! They’ll soon have it all plowed up!

Then, later, we’ll apply our natural fertilizers! It’s a real bird brain way of doing things! No good to be chicken! The whole thing quacks me up! 🦆 

Categories: Gardening Natural Fertilizer Pigs Planting Tilling

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Soil Testing, Is It Necessary?

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Garden

Honestly, I don’t think it is necessary! I really don’t think you need to test soil in order to grow a good garden. Great even! I’ve done it! I have planted many gardens, and few are the times I’ve used a Soil Test! Mainly because it’s difficult to justify the price of having a garden soil test done on a small, or family, garden. Or at least for me it is. Although I do know it’s handy, especially knowing the acidity, or PH level of the Soil. So, I kind of wish I’d discovered this Soil Tester sooner…

4-in-1 Soil pH Tester

It’s affordable, and it also measures Soil Moisture, Plant Temperature, and Sunlight Intensity! Without it, it’s kind of all guess work. Kind of like working in the shadows! So Surely that’s worth $20 … Right? 

Having this should help take some of the guess work out of the soil preparation both here at Briden Farm and over at the Barn Property.

As you can see here, I’ve already started spreading some Firewood 🪵 Ashes on the garden plot. 

Getting this Soil Test Meter now will not only help me get a clearer picture but will also help me see the before and after results. The suspicion is the soil is acidic, and my hope is the lime in the ashes will help create a more neutral soil. 

Vegetables such as peas, beans, corn, cabbage, lettuce, spinach, and other greens should benefit from this, and there are also other trace minerals in wood ashes. The University of Saskatchewan has a post onUsing wood ash in the garden that mentions some of them such as, “iron, manganese, boron, copper and zinc”.

If you’d like to learn more about our gardens or the methods we use at Briden Farm contact Brian to Book Your Farm Tour. Call 📞 902-907-0770

Categories: Gardening

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