Soil is the key….
Where have we been?
Free Range and Pastured Poultry chickens and eggs
Whether the weather be fine...
It's Your Choice
Is 1 bird per square metre 'free range'? Is no grass / insects to feed on the way you want your chickens treated? Here at BurraBee Farm we have about 7 chickens to the hectare, or to put it another way, almost 1,500 square metres per chicken. That's about 4 times more area than the standard block size for a family in Googong!!! What does free range mean to you?
Seeds of time...
Is there a spring in your step?
COMMUNITY starts here
t's time to build COMMUNITY! Why, because 'no man is an island' and because it's another piece of the produce model that we would like to give to you.
What is COMMUNITY? It's about sharing, sharing our produce and our reasons for doing what we do and why we do it. It's about hearing your stories, why you choose our produce, what you do in your day to day lives and how we can help each other strive for bigger and better things.
Helping to build a community...
Compost = Community. The formula to build compost is just like the formula to build a thriving community.
The ingredients for fabulous vitamin rich compost are green (grass clippings, vege scraps, eggshells etc.) and brown (straw, twigs, dry leaves) materials as the main ingredients, add oxygen and water and you have the perfect environment to break down the main ingredients into something that is truly magical.
What ways would you like to connect with BurraBee Farm, and how can we connect with you?
Growing great ideas...
Short and Sweet
Where's the content?
Today's newsletter is a little (lot!) shorter than the usual. We've had a super busy week catching up after being away at the Deep Winter Agrarian gathering and attended a new market in Turner on Saturday, a big thanx to all the new faces we met and to Patrick from Sly Fox Coffee for putting on an awesome day.
Garden Tip
Even on a cold day the sun can still cause sunburn if you're out for long periods in the garden. Days like today are a prime example. Always remember to Slip, Slop, Slap; keep yourself covered and be sure to wear a wide brimmed hat.
Harvest Bag
Orders are open for this weeks harvest bag. The goodies included this week are...
12 Eggs Warrigal Greens (bag) Broccoli Salad Leaf Mix (bag)
Brussels Sprouts (12) Brown Onion (4) SilverBeet (bunch) White Cabbage (half)
All for only $40 - Order online on the website or message us on Facebook, pickup at the Farmers and Foodies market on Friday - you might have to look for us because we've been told we'll be in a new position for this week only.
Next Week
We'll be back to normal with lots more content and pictures and everything else - and maybe even a rundown at what we got to learn at the Deep Winter Agrarian gathering.
Last month of Winter...
As we approach the last month of winter we're assessing, obsessing and planning. It seems like time is getting away from us as we lead into the busy Spring and Summer seasons. We know, however, that time hasn't gotten any quicker it's just that we're assessing time prospectively - what did we achieve/do today, and retrospectively - what did we achieve/do last week/month. Time hasn't changed at all! It's us, we've changed, we've learnt something new, we've adapted, or we've followed our daily routines.
The Farmer's Edition
Rain, Rain, Rain
Brave
Jump back....
Thank you!
This month has been full to the brim. The changing season brings a fresh start to new winter seedlings and the progression of our second market garden patch. We've met amazing customers at markets, and while out and about. We have wonderful supportive for our Harvest bags, and with that support have raised $140 for the Give a Fork campaign. I sound like a broken record sometimes but the support we receive from our customers ensures we can continue to grow and produce food for you and the local region. That's inspiring and we thank you.
Where you will find us this week...
We'll be at the Farmers and Foodies market on Friday, 22 April 2016. A new farmers market at the Kingston Foreshore between 3pm - 7pm. Why not get your weekly shop on a Friday night, it's a great location and there are a variety of farmers and producers to choose from. For more information about the market check out our Facebook post for details.
We'll also make deliveries to our Queanbeyan Harvest Bag customers on Saturday.
In the garden...
The tomatoes have almost finished and we are preparing the beds for the next crop. This is what we are up to in our garden patch...
First, if there are any tomato plants still in the ground with unripe fruit on them, we've pulled them out and hung them upside down on our fence. The stress on the plant forces the fruit to ripen, and the remaining goodness in the stems is focused on the fruit.
Now it's time to prep the bed. For us this means adding a layer of compost, a touch of bio-fert, a quick once over with the rotary hoe and then double digging the bed (digging down approx 600mm). If you're not into double digging then after the rotary hoe you can loosen the subsoil with a broadfork.
A soil test to determine the soils PH is required after a long summer growing season. The test allows us to perform any corrective actions to keep our market garden soil delicious and nutritious for vegetable growing. We give our garden beds a light rake to dress them ready for planting out seedlings and seeds.
What we're planting at the moment. We use the Root - Fruit - Leaf - Legume rotation cycle. For example in the beds where tomatoes were grown, we are now growing a leaf crop. For those beds waiting to be planted out, we cover to reduce/stop weeds growing, and also give the soil a quick tickle with the rake again when we're ready to plant.
We've kicked off!
We give a Fork!
The Give a Fork! campaign, put together by Sustainable Table, kicks off on 1 April and we're going to get Drop Dead #grexy (sexy greenie).
It's a fun and important campaign that is close to our heart. We hope through this campaign that we generate vibrant and productive conversations on fair food, ethical production, food for health and sustainable growing habits. Sustainable Table says that 30% of our personal eco-footprint is embodied in the food we buy or consume, and by changing the way we eat will change the world!
