Hello all you housebound persons!

Want to get out? We are opening a strawberry and Vegetable U-Pick on the farm this year as part of our farm development strategy. We hope to start in mid to late July onwards for strawberries and vegetables. We will tentatively open Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 9-4 and see if we have too many or too few berries. Information is available at https://hillanddale.farm

Check it out and thank you to all the people who ordered seeds this year. Your support means a lot to us!

If we can, we will supply what you need for your garden needs. But if you cannot find something on our site, please check out this site for other listings:

https://gardensavvy.com

Thank you to all who have purchased seeds from us so far. We are still receiving and filling orders like mad and are hoping that you all get a great garden in this year. Might be the year to start if you don’t have one!

In case you are wondering, please check out our list of sold out items. The catalogue is not updated to display these, as I am busy doing orders. So to add to the list:
Micro Tom tomatoes, Moneymaker, and Black Cherry are sold out but we have PLENTY of others that can fill their place. If you are a greenhouse grower or market gardener we will do a special deal for you if you need larger quantities. Just call or email me specifically.

We are also sold out on Magnolia Purple Snap, Edna’s Russian Climber, Risser Sugar, Sugar Snap (though we have Cascadia and Amish Snap which are great), Schweiser Rissen, Rheinische Zucker Erbse, Bolero and of course Olympia. We have lots of Laxton’s Progress, Homesteader, Mammoth Melting Pod, Top Pod and a few others.

We have sold out of most of the squash and pepper mixes, but lots of great kinds left to choose from.

We are sold out of mustard greens but have Snowball Cauliflower, which I forgot to put in the catalogue, as well as lots of the collard greens, gai lohn (great in stir fries), and sprouting broccoli. They also freeze well for winter smoothie use, without adding a lot of taste to the shake. Unless that is your goal.

I am surprised that you all are not ordering kale, swiss chard and the like, as the cruciferous vegetables are very high in nutrients, phytochemicals and sulpheric compounds which are known to be helpful in preventing lots of chronic diseases and lung infections. You may find them most enjoyable lightly steamed with just a drizzle of oil and lemon, salt and pepper. Very tasty and good for you.

As always, stay safe and take care of each other, and let us never lose our humanity in the face of crisis. We are here to assist at 780-785-2622 or email smileyo at xplornet dot ca.

For the ‘greater good’, all seedy events have been cancelled for this year. But do not despair! We are still here and working hard to get everyone’s seed orders to them come hell or high water!

You can order online at our shopify page, now that I have it sort of set up, but not all products are listed there, as it is somewhat time consuming to list all of our 450+ varieties, so download the catalogue on the main page, print off the order form and call me if you have any questions about availability at 780-785-2622. email is still the best way to send your order, and we can do payments with etransfers. Smileyo at xplornet dot ca. I write it out this way to avoid spam web bots. We will persevere.

If you are ordering bulk potatoes, one or two orders of 1 kg size will ship separately from the seeds at a cost of $17.00. Any more than that might be more and you should contact me for information. Especially if you are not in Alberta. All seed orders over 5-7 packages of flat type of seeds will be shipped at the $14.95 costing, as more materials, time and shipping is applicable. Seed packets of 5-7 flat items are $3 shipping and handling. Contact us if you are unsure.

Live plants will be delivered for a charge or available for Pick up at our farm store in May/June. We have all the mints listed; apple, ginger, orange, peppermint, Mohito (spearmint) mint, and chocolate peppermint. We are seeding peppers, tomatoes and eggplants now with some bedding plants including dahlias. We may have extra flowers for bedding plants also, and potted strawberries. The mints are $5 each as will be the strawberries. Peppers, tomatoes and eggplants are $4 for a 4 inch pot, $6 for a 6″ potted plant.

We have had a lot of orders for Jerusalem Artichokes, so we may be sold out, depending on what the spring brings and what is down there overwintering. IT was very wet going into the fall, and so many might have succumbed to disease. We will wait and see and post the results and availability some time at the end of April.

If you are a greenhouse or market gardener requiring Organic seeds, we can provide you with a Non-GMO affidavit and statement of organic seeds as needed.

Wishing you all a great spring and continued prosperity,

Denise

So we have sold out of the following tomatoes:
Bulls Heart Oxheart, Black Oxheart, Lutescent
Peas: Bolero and Olympia, Edna’s Russian, Golden Sweet, Magnolia Purple,
Beans: Neckar Konigin pole, Herronbohnli pole, Limelight, Red Valentine, Blue Jay (though we have Oma’s)
Favas – Black fava, and Kabouli Black chickpea, Jubilee and Masterpiece
NOTE: Golden Beets and Touchstone Gold beets should be $3.50 and not $2.50
Carrots: No more Scarlet Nantes (though Nantes 1/2 longs are just as good or Bolero), out of Shorty Mix, Spectrum Blend, and Nash’s Rhumba
Corn – out of Golden Bantam for this year. Returning next. Whipples White, Strawberry Popcorn, and Field of Dreams
Cucumbers – out of Double Yield
Herbs – out of Spearmint but have plants for $5. Same for Rhodiola.
Lettuce – out of the following: Red Blend, Black Hawk, Cracoviensis, Grandpa Admires, Marvel of 4 Seasons, Rouge D’Hiver.
Peppers – Large Bell Mix, Doe Hill, Czeck Black
Squash – Jack O’Lantern Medley, Winter Mix, Squash Mix, Ambassador, Japanese Black
Chard – Orange and Bright Lights are sold out.
Tomatillo – Sold out of Aunt Molly’s
Tomatoes – as above and Ildi, Oxheart Giant, Black Icicle, Russian Heart.
Trees – One package left of Mandy’s Huckleberry

I am also sold out of Climbing Nastirtiums, but Golden Gleams is similar. And small Black Seeded Sunflower is gone.

As we mentioned we sell out fast, so if you come to the seed sales you will still find lots to look at but always best to email your order in for pick up if you are wanting something special guaranteed.

Also my friend in Lac La Biche has Red Norlands, Gold Rush (a russet kind and not related to Yukon Gold, sorry), and Warba’s. Other potatoes are not available until 2020 in the fall.

Any tomato, pepper, eggplant, or other bedding plant orders are due by March 15 to ensure availability of what you want and other than that I will have a year end greenhouse plant pop up sale at the end of May, beginning of June. Stay tuned for that or visit https://hillanddalefarm.wordpress.com

https://hillanddalefarm.wordpress.com

Onward and Upward

In 2020 we will add a strawberry and Vegetable U-Pick. Being our first year, we are not sure about the volume of berries that might come by June. I have a deep concern not to disappoint anyone, especially if travelers are coming from farther away. I would ask everyone to follow along the Hill and Dale Farm site for postings, as we might have to set up picking the first year on an appointment basis. We will keep you posted on the site https://hillanddalefarm.wordpress.com

“Tis the season to be Jolly…”

2019 Wraps up as a year to remember in many ways. The weather was gloomy and raining mostly, low temperatures for much of the long days of summer. Not much for growing things, but then, we take what we get and always with a mind to the future. Many things grew abundantly and well. It was well loved by spinach, being planted in June and harvested all the way through to September without ever bolting (a first in my years of gardening here), and the brassicas in general loved the cool damp weather. And yet, some things happened that should not have, such as still having ample grasshoppers to devour whatever tender plants they could wrap their mandibles around. Usually the damp weather gives them a fatal fungal infection, but not this year! Weird.

We enjoyed the warm days when they came and grew the majority of our garden under row covers throughout the year and into the fall. Many things did well, but none of the hot weather crops faired well. Cucumbers, or any other squashes, tomatoes and peppers, basil, etc. suffered at the hand of mother nature or human intervention in the weather (yet to be determined). But we took what we could get and here we are. Thankful, joyful and looking forward to another growing season!!

We hope you will stay tuned as we update the page further, adding in the new additions and the catalogue. We will as always be referring you to our sister site Hill and Dale Farms, where in 2020 we will be expanding our farm fresh delivery options and farm workshops and events. We are hoping to become a destination of peace and tranquility for those wishing for a little more of that in the life of hectic pace and roiling progress. In the meantime, love and laughter to you and yours in the holidays to come, and in 2020 and beyond.