Fermentation workshop

We had a great fermentation class here a few weeks ago.  This is a favourite class around here, that we offer several times per year - since making kraut is so simple, so healthy, and really great hands-on fun.  In the class we made a mixed winter root veggie kraut with every local winter veggie we could find (leeks, red cabbage, green cabbage, kale, daikon, black radish,  carrots, onion, garlic, beets...)- honestly, this is the BEST tasting kraut I have ever had (and the richest colour - beet purple!).  One of our workshop participants took fabulous photos.. here are a few, courtesy of the talented local photographer Natalie Nunn.

Annual Seedling Sale May 20

We recently had Angie from Fertile Ground Farm here to lead the annual workshop on Starting Seedlings.  Participants learned about soil mixes, seed sourcing, seed germination, transplanting, and lots of tips for keeping seedlings healthy until they get planted out.

Angie has been leading this Seedling Starting workshop here at Little City Farm for many years.  She has also been our partner in the annual Organic Seedling Sale on the May long weekend.  This year will be the 15th year that this sale takes place. 

For the first time in 15 years, the sale will not be held at Little City Farm.  It has simply outgrown our location!  Thank you to all the customers and volunteers from all the previous years who came to take part in this sale here!  It was so much fun to host it.  However, there is so much demand for the seedlings, that our little homestead yard cannot hold all the vendors, seedlings, and customers for the day.  The sale is going to take place in a nearby location - at the parking lot of Extend-a-family off of Moore St in Kitchener - on May 20 from 11-2.  Angie is taking the lead in the sale this year - we are so happy to pass this on to her and wish her well with the seedlings!  This allows us to focus our attention onto other homestead projects, including our own gardens and classes.  Come join us for a workshop to tour this spring instead!

Find out more about the 15th Annual Organic Seedling sale - go to Fertile Ground Farm or their facebook link to read more updates.  Thousands of seedlings to be had - many heirloom tomato varieties, plus other garden veggies (everything you need!), herbs, perennials, flowers, and more!

Kids art classes - nature inspired art

This has been a full month again - with lots of activities going on.  The kids Waldorf-inspired art group is winding down, with only a few more sessions until we start our next spring round of classes.  Find out more about our upcoming kids art classes, or sign up here.

Here are some scenes from the past art weeks - making painted branch-slice necklaces (lots of little hands were busy sanding, painting, threading, gluing), and framed nature-inspired silhouettes to hang in a sunny window. 

Waldorf-inspired art classes - embroidery, drawing, constellation cards

Again, the days are passing quickly around here!  Two weeks of our Waldorf-inspired art classes have passed, and there are many beautiful moments from these classes that could be shared.  The children are relaxed, working intently at their projects, and many times we look around amazed at the quiet concentration in the room.  In the past week the handwork project was embroidery, working toward a larger finished project of a pouch to hold a set of small story stones that each child will make for themselves.  This week the younger children (Young Acorns) used block crayon drawing to inspire or "illuminate" letters of the alphabet, a nice way for them to practice forming their letters.  S for "swan", R for "robin", O for "owl", and so forth.  The older kids continued with sketching exercises in their journals, studied star constellation charts and then made their own constellation cards that can be viewed by candle or against a sunny window.

End of February in the greenhouse

These warm sunny days bring our passive solar greenhouse temperatures up over 30C, and it's such a joy to go in there and feel the heat.  The microgreens and baby greens are thriving - we have our raised growing bed that runs along the south-facing greenhouse windows filled with sprouts of lettuces, chard, kale, mizuna, arugula.  The counter is full of small seedlings growing quickly, soon ready for transplanting.  The grow rack is full of trays of luscious pea shoots and buckwheat sprouts (grown with seeds from our favourite Canadian sprouting seed source Mumms), everything growing full force and a pleasure to eat in mid-February.