It is the start of a new year, and we have experienced some major changes here on the farm!
Most notable is the arrival of our first born, Harry, entering our lives on November 15th of 2018. We have been very much enjoying the somewhat quieter winter scene getting to know each other, and adapting to our new normal. But of course, life on the farm continues, and Harry has already had a taste of things to come, helping Meghan weed the winter spinach in the hoophouse.
Meghan and Harry giving the winter spinach a quick once over in the unheated hoophouse. 
Jesse, Meghan and Harry out for their first family stroll through the new heated greenhouse.
And of course, another huge improvement to our farm is the (near) completion of our large heated greenhouse!! This cathedral will provide fresh tender greens and salad crops all winter, grow our seedlings and transplants in the spring, and will be a safe place to get a head start on our summer trellised crops of tomato, pepper and cucumber. We are still working at getting the heating sources installed, and look forward to spending some sunny afternoons out of the cold wind, getting the soil into growing shape ahead of this year’s crops.
We have also planted the first of our fruit trees and shrubs into what will become our perennial orchard strips. We will plant these 12′ wide windrows with mixed fruiting trees and shrubs, perennial herbs and flowers, bioaccumulators, and beneficial insect attracting companion plants in order to establish biodiverse windbreak strips, all mulched with wood chips. We hope these orchard strips will eventually flourish, and provide habitat and food sources for all of the various pollinating species, as well as insects beneficial to protecting our vegetable crops. The perennial root systems, wood chip mulch and undisturbed soil will act as a mycorrhizal fungi reserve, further supporting the health and success of our neighbouring annual vegetable crops.
The snow came a bit earlier than anticipated, but family pitched in to help get the first orchard trees and bushes tucked in safely. 
We mulched the surrounding area with a thick layer of wood chips to keep weeds down, retain moisture, and encourage soil mycorrhizal fungi populations.
We also received our brand new logo (featured at the top of the page) courtesy of the very talented Amanda DeVries (http://www.amandadevries.com), and are excited about having our own visual identity to distinguish us at the market. We hope this symbol will become familiar to you in the future as we grow!
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Milky Way Farm 