Pemberley

Spring Plants for Sale

February 25, 2018 Jenn Flora - Pemberley

It’s been awhile, but the farm is growing. Here is this year’s offering of plants, please contact me if you’re interested. You’ll have to let me know very soon so that I can plant them for you. Note: I order all of my seeds from Baker Creek, so I have used their description of the plant.

Tomatoes:

-orange icicle: Sweet, rich and flavorful with strong citrus overtones. Sweet, orange, icicle-like fruits that are like an extra long paste tomato. This variety also makes a lovely orange ketchup and a superb salsa. Seeds from the Ukraine.

-cheroke purple: An old Cherokee Indian heirloom, pre- 1890 variety; beautiful, deep, dusky purple-pink color, superb sweet flavor, and very-large-sized fruit.

-amish paste: Giant, blocky, Roma type tomatoes have delicious red flesh that is perfect for paste and canning.

-martino’s roma: Determinate. The paste-type fruit is dry-fleshed and very meaty with few seeds. Great for sauces, salsas and pastes.

-blue beauty: Fruits are modest beefsteak-type slicers, weighing up to 8 ounces. Gorgeous, deep blue-black with red.

-black vernissage: 2 oz ‘black’ tomato, perfect for salads and snacking.

-black cherry: Beautiful black cherries look like large grapes; sweet but not too sweet.

–chocolate pear: pear-shaped in a gorgeous brown-purple. Sweet and perfect.

-yellow pear: Very sweet, 1½” yellow, pear-shaped fruits have a mild flavor, and are great for fresh eating or for making tomato preserves.

Tomatillos: Deep green fruit; a standard, richly-flavored type. Huge yields.

Peppers:

-black hungarian jalapeno: Unique, black-colored fruit that are the shape of a Jalapeno. They are mildly hot and have a delicious flavor. The tall plants have beautiful purple flowers that make this variety very ornamental.

-tesuque chili: Fruits ripen fairly early, with medium-sized, thin-walled fruits mainly used for drying; makes a fantastic and authentic red chili powder! Heat is variable but fruits are often very hot. Good yields on rather small, well-branched plants. The traditional chili pepper cultivated for generations at the historic northern New Mexico Pueblo of Tesuque.

-poblano: 3- to 6-inch heart-shaped fruits are usually of gentle heat, at around 2000 scovilles. Used green, after roasting and peeling, it is the classic pepper for chili rellenos. Dried, the fruits turn a rich dark red-brown and may be ground into an authentic red chili powder. Plants reach 2 feet or so and require a long season.

-sante fe grande: Spicy, 4” peppers, glowing gold in color and quite warm; makes pretty pickles and salsa. Ornamental plants give heavy yields over the entire summer, making this a perfect choice for home or market gardens. Introduced in 1965.

-estaceno: A genuine Northern New Mexico chili. Pods are thin walled and hot; size varies, up to 10”. Use green in chili verde or salsa, or dry them to dark red for chili powder. Named for the Espanola Valley village of Estaca.

-tabasco: This famous heirloom was introduced into Louisiana in 1848 and became the main ingredient in Tabasco Pepper Sauce. This pepper is very hot and has a delicious flavor. The plants grow up to 4’ tall and are covered with small, thin peppers.

-paprika: A lovely drying pepper that comes from Matrafured, Hungary. It has been grown there since the 1800s when it was brought from Leutschau (Slovakia). The medium-hot paprikas have great flavor, are terrific for drying, and make a delicious spicy powder.

Not Spicy:

-king of the north: Early, good-sized peppers of a heavy yielding habit. The variety thrives in the cooler summer weather so prevalent in New England and yields crisp bells, green ripening to red, right up until frost.

-corno di Toro Giallo: The traditional favorite in Italy. Long 8-inch tapered, bull-horn shaped golden-yellow peppers are sweet and spicy. They are great fresh or roasted. Large plants yield well. Among the best peppers you can grow and so delicious. Pure Italian seed.

-corbaci: A unique and wonderful sweet pepper. Very long 10-inch fruit are curved and twisted, very slender, like a Turkish scimitar. This rare heirloom from Turkey has a very rich flavor, perfect for pickling or frying.

-paradicsom alaku sarga szentes: One of the truly great Hungarian peppers. Yellow, flat, ribbed, pumpkin-shaped fruit have the tremendous flavor that peppers from Hungary are famous for. The flesh is very thick, crisp and juicy.

-red mini bell: Tiny, red bell peppers are only about 1-1/2” tall and wide; they have thick red flesh that is very sweet. 2’-tall plants produce loads of these little winners, and early, too. Great for stuffing.

-lipstick: A delicious pepper with 4” long tapered, pimiento type fruits that are super sweet. This fine pepper is early and ripens well in the North. A flavorful favorite with thick, red flesh.

-etiuda: Blocky, thick-walled orange fruits are crisp, very sweet and juicy. These mandarin-orange bells can reach up to a half-pound in weight, and are lavishly produced on tall plants. Originally a Polish commercial variety.

-oda: Very strong, compact plants crank out tapered, pointed bells from early summer on. The fruits are the loveliest shade of plum purple, ripening to a lustrous red-brown. Crisp, juicy, thick-walled fruits are very sweet.

Cucumber:

-boston pickling: An old heirloom dating back to 1880. Vigorous vines give large yields of smooth green fruit. It is excellent for pickles; very crisp and good quality. A very popular variety at the turn of the 20th century.

-tendergreen burpless: Burpless slicing type, free from bitterness, that has been popular for over 80 years! Fruits are medium-dark green, 7-12 inches in length, and quite plump and smooth compared to Japanese long slicing types. Excels as a slicer, because each fruit yields so many slices of uniform diameter, but the tender skin makes great pickles as well.

-early fortune: A super dependable garden cucumber, sweet and almost never bitter. Slicing-type fruits grow 7 to 8 inches long, 2 inches in diameter.

Broccoli:

-waltham: Standard type, produces 4-8” green heads that are nicely flavored. Compact plants also produce some side shoots. Introduced in 1954.

Cabbage:

-glory of Enkhuizen :Introduced in 1899 by Sluis & Groot in Enkhuizen, Holland. Has medium-large, hard round heads. An early, excellent-keeping variety that is a good producer and good for kraut.

-brunswick: A large drumhead cabbage, very cold hardy. A fall/winter type cabbage, stores very well.

-red express: Newly released open-pollinated red cabbage, the first in many years! Specifically bred for Canada and northern tier of USA. Compact plants, extra early production of solid, split-resistant oval heads to only 2-3 pounds.

-violacea di verona: A vintage heirloom cabbage that originated in the region of Verona in Northern Italy, with stunning, lightly savoyed violet and green leaves that get more vibrant as the cool fall and winter weather set in. Medium sized round heads mature 120 days from seeding. With violet colored wrapper leaves and yellow-green inside leaves, they are an ideal choice for a fall/winter harvest. It is frost hardy, and in warmer areas can be harvested until New Year.

Cauliflower:

-purple: Beautiful, brilliant purple heads weigh 2-3 lbs and are of a fine, sweet flavor. The heads cook to bright green. Insect-resistant variety that is easier to grow than many white varieties; rich in minerals.

-amazing: It is a classic American favorite and can be harvested either at the “baby head” size or when fully mature at 10”. Brilliant white, self-blanching heads are covered by large abundant wrapper leaves that protect them from sun, heat and cold; easy to grow in the North or South. It keeps well in the field and heavy bearing, so pick as needed and prepare for a large harvest.

Melon:

-collective farm woman: This heirloom from the Ukraine was collected in 1993 by Seed Savers Exchange. Very popular on Island of Krim in the Black Sea. Melons ripen to a yellowish-gold and the white flesh has a very high sugar content, a favorite among heirloom gardeners and growers alike. Ripens early, even in Russia, and tolerates comparatively cool summers—known to do well in Canada.

-golden jenny: Short vines just go wild producing these succulent, sweet 2 lb. beauties.

-blacktail watermelon: One of the earliest watermelons we know of; superb for the North, but it also grows well in heat and drought. The flesh is red and deliciously sweet. Fruits have a dark rind and weigh 8-12 lbs each.

-early silver line: Beautiful, oval-shaped yellow fruit weight 1-2 lbs with silver stripes and white flesh.

Squash:

-jack-be-little pumpkin: This tiny, cute pumpkin weighs just 8 ounces; flat and ribbed. These are highly popular and a top-selling fall crop. The flesh is good to eat, and the skin is bright orange.

-butternut: An old favorite. Good yields with excellent-tasting, rich, orange-colored flesh.

-spaghetti: This is American strain of this popular Japanese squash, with stringy flesh that is used like spaghetti. Introduced to America before 1920.

-galeux d’eysines: This flattened, round, 10-15 lb fruit has gorgeous, salmon/peach-colored skin covered with large warts! The deep orange flesh is flavorful, smooth and sweet, making it good for baking. It’s also popular among the French for making soup.

-cocozella napoli zucchini: Long, slender fruit, ribbed, pale greenish- yellow, striped with dark green; very firm and flavorful flesh. A unique Italian heirloom and tasty.

-straight neck: AAS Winner from 1938, uniform lemon-yellow, club-shaped fruit; firm flesh is of excellent quality, tasty.

-lemon zucchini: The shape, size and color of a lemon. Adorable zucchini.

Herbs:

basil, lemon basil, cinnamon basil, thai sweet basil, blue spice basil, lettuce basil…

My Girl

March 30, 2016 Jenn Pemberley 1 Comment

She died on a Wednesday.
It had been planned for a week.
The grave would be dug that morning, as we had to rent a jackhammer to break the crust of the frozen earth. The digging would be soft after that. The area chosen behind the garden already had soft, rich, dark soil.
She loved the garden, probably as much as I did. Sneaking in among the purple peas, their fat pods too tempting to not pluck and devour. The tiny tomatoes in jewel tones of ruby red, glittering gold and dusky blue could not be hidden from her. I would scold her for eating them and then laugh as she would drop her head momentarily and then look peek up at me to see if I was watching.
I could never be angry for long. I simply loved her too much.

She was on painkillers. We were warned that they were a temporary fix and would only allow her a few days of joy, as the strong medicine would hurt her internally. We agreed that the doctor would come out to us. Less stress that way, and we wanted her last day to be filled with love and comfort.

But a winter storm came. The roads would be treacherous. We had to make a decision. Would we take her in or would we wait a few more days. Could we prolong her leaving us just a little while longer?
The idea of waiting made me feel better. But I could see her sickness. I could see her struggling and she wouldn’t sleep. She knew something. I think.
On her last night, we cooked up her favourite treats. We played fetch for as long as she would play. She stood completely still for half an hour while I brushed her over and over and over, repeating that I loved her.
I tucked her in on our bed, as I had the past 13 years, the purple blanket surrounding her like a cocoon. I scratched her head and willed her to die in her sleep so that I wouldn’t have to bear any guilt of choosing when she was to die. But I wasn’t given that satisfaction.
The next morning she ate, let me brush her a bit more and I clipped on her bright green collar and invited her onto the passenger seat of the van. I snuggled her purple blanket around her and sniffed her black fur one last time. I told her she was a very good girl. That she did her job well, protecting us, loving us and keeping away the chipmunks and deer. I thanked her for being my best friend. I told her not to be scared. I told her that she wouldn’t miss us at all.

And I closed the door.

I went inside and I didn’t look back. I collected her chewed up dog toys, her old bone, her fuzzy bed, still slightly warm from her bony black body. I put them all into a large garbage bag and dropped it into the basement. I hung up her red sweater on a hook at the front door, where a bright green collar and pink leash would be added two hours later. I washed out her red water bowl and put it away. I took her blankets and washed them with bleach, vacuuming out the dryer afterwards as her fur always clogged the vents. I vacuumed the carpet in the kitchen where she always lay as I made meals.

I went outside and did some chores, the usual daily feeding of the chickens and egg collecting. As I returned to the front door I turned to call out for her to come in. But of course she wasn’t there.

In the afternoon I came down the stairs to let her outside, to go for our daily walk to the mailbox, but she wasn’t in the kitchen waiting for me, her tail thumping the floor.

At bedtime I locked up the house and went upstairs, and I turned to call her to invite her on the bed. But of course, I’d be going to bed alone.

The house is so empty.

Autumn….

November 19, 2015 Jenn Fauna - Pemberley

I can’t get enough of this view… We also have chickens now…they aren’t terribly clever, and they shriek at me whenever I open the back door, but they are beginning to lay yummy eggs, so I can’t complain.

Lately…

June 9, 2015 Jenn Flora - Pemberley

It’s been busy around here. Getting ready for the Farmers’ Market…

getting ready for the market with a plethora of tomatoes…

Getting the vegetable garden ready with seeding and transplanting…

Planting corn in the ground to see it sprout a week later…. strawberry popcorn

My gorgeous white wheat has sprouted…

Collecting large rocks to create borders for vegetables…this rock wall is outlining many tomatoes

Using minion to build brick walls around fragile asparagus…

Taking walks to see the farm change seasons…

And finding strange things…such as this large asparagus on the side of our driveway…hubby thinks a deer pooped out a seed? Sadly, we didn’t notice it until it was already too late to pick…

So I take these few rain days to plant more vegetables into the ground and see if I can encourage my basil to grow more quickly to sell this Saturday…

The Dragon

February 13, 2015 Jenn Pemberley

We inherited an old furnace to go with our old house. Granted, it was installed in the ’90’s, but by today’s standards, it’s old.

When we purchased Pemberley, we agreed that it needed a new furnace. A wood/oil combo so that we could regularly heat with wood, and the oil would kick on when we were away. We booked our furnace man (FM) and it was settled.
Except…
We are now going on week 5. And it isn’t close to being finished.
First, there was the issue with our old furnace. Perhaps we should install a new one, one that was more efficient. That took two weeks. Actually it was 12 hours, but there you go. Then they had to redo the vents because when they installed the old furnace, they only put in three vents upstairs and they ran through much smaller pipes, therefore, the master bedroom usually sits at around 16C at night. So they redid the duct work. That took a week – 4 hours.

Then they installed the wood furnace and had to have it wett-certified. Well, that was done quickly, although they rescheduled twice and then showed up on a day without calling. That took 10 minutes. But then we needed our chimney cleaned out by wett-certified chimney cleaners. So they came out. But our chimney is wrecked. There are tiles falling on each other and it needs a new liner. They said to get a new 5″ liner. Someone else told us to get a 5″ liner. But the FM said, no, it has to be to code, it has to be 6″. So we ordered a 6″ liner, and picked it up ourselves, 10 days ago. But the tiles are still messed up and they need to be smashed out of the way. No one will smash our tiles.
So hubby goes up on the ladder, 40′ straight up, with an axe on a pole, trying to smash tiles.

frost on bedroom window. pretty, but brrr…

Today we found out that the wiring is all messed up. The electrical contractors came this morning and realized that they had no idea how to wire the two furnaces up to match each other, but the information is all in their book, but they don’t want to charge us while they read the book, so they’ll come next week.
And FM is here, in the -35C weather, and hubby is back on the roof, smashing tiles. Trying to. He’s even shot into the chimney three times with a .22, trying to dislodge some of the tiles, because we cannot rent a tile smasher.

And all of this makes me wonder why we didn’t look up the chimney to make sure it would work. Because today, we will not have wood heat. So while we are warm because they installed a rotor fan to blow extra hard into the master bedroom, we are paying over $250/week in oil. Oof.

But the coolest part is when the furnace comes on. It sounds like a dragon, breathing heat into our home.
So for now, I will just trust the God will work this all out, and help us find the cash to keep our Pemberley warm.

Anew

January 1, 2015 Jenn Flora - Pemberley

And now a new year.

We have recently purchased a gigantic amount of land, and my mind runs amok when I think of all the possibilities. I have magazines galore, most of them from Mother Earth News and Urban Farm. I’m researching permaculture, biblical planting, square-foot gardening (big shout out to Mel Bartholomew!), planting in rows…it’s exhausting. Especially when you know what you want to do, but aren’t too sure if it’ll actually happen.

So here are the goals for Pemberley Farm this year:

1- vegetables

2- herbs. Many herbs. Many which will bring in the honeybees.

3- apple trees. Not sure how many to buy, where to plant, or what to buy.

4- propagation. I’m huge into propagating. We have black cherry trees that are getting to big. We need more black cherry trees = propagate! And some gorgeous yellow birch. And ironwood.

5- plant wheat and quinoa and amaranth

6- chickens. Layers and meat birds.

7- a greenhouse. Maybe something off the third door. Or something you don’t heat. Not sure yet.

8- harvest food and sell, store, eat.

To be clear, Vesey’s is a great seed company and they’re Canadian. I have purchased bulbs, fruit trees and seeds from them and have yet to be disappointed. I like Baker Creek because their more into non-GMO seeds, it’s run by a small, young family, and their selection is incredible.

Happy Seed Selecting!

Love and Oregano

Creating Pemberley Farm

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