North Star Orchard Blog

Farmer Zippy's Notebook: All About Carrots!

Today I’m going to tell you all about growing carrots. I learned all about it this season. I learned that it’s really easy to do, and that it’s much simpler than you think it’s going to be, and that it’s really fun. I also learned that there are five steps to growing carrots. Do you want to know what they are? I hope you do! Because I’m going to tell you!

Farmer Zippy's Notebook: Apple Tasting!

Last night I got to go to an apple tasting! Farmer Ike and Farmer Lisa had one here on the farm. What is an apple tasting, you ask? Good question!

Farmer Zippy's Notebook: Going to Market!

I got to go to market on Saturday!

Saturday market days start really early. We start loading the trucks at six o’clock, before the sun is even up! We have three Saturday markets we go to, which means we have three trucks to load in the morning before we head out. Everybody helps to load up all the trucks, because there are a lot of things that need to go on! We take tons of food to some of the markets . . . crates and crates of fruit and vegetables! You have to pack the trucks carefully, so that nothing slides around on the long drive to market . . . and you have to make sure that you don’t forget anything important!

Farmer Zippy's Notebook: Packing the CSA

We pack CSA shares on Mondays, Tuesdays, AND Thursdays, and it is really busy! We pack CSA shares early in the morning . . . before I’m even really awake. We pack CSA shares fast . . . and we pack a LOT of them.

We have both fruit and veggie shares to pack. We do fruit shares on Mondays and Thursdays, and veggies on Tuesdays. All together, it’s a lot to keep track of!

Farmer Zippy's Notebook: Fall Planting

Look at the picture. See me? See the trowel I’m holding? Isn’t it an AWESOME trowel? I love how shiny it is. Really – don’t you think it’s just the best?

Farmer Zippy's Notebook: In the Washroom!

I got to work in the washroom today! I was really excited, because I’ve wanted to work in the washroom ever since the season started. My thoughts, after helping out there all day: it’s much harder work than I thought it would be. BUT, it was still fun. Lots of fun.

Farmer Zippy's Notebook: Gold Rush Thinning

I got to work with Lisa in the orchard recently. We were thinning apples, which I’ve never done before. These in the picture are Gold Rush – everybody’s favorite!

Farmer Zippy's Notebook: Garlic Harvest

I’ve gotten to try lots of cool jobs while I’ve been here on the farm, and there are lots of things to do here that I love. I love planting and washing and thinning and even sometimes (shh, don’t tell!) . . . weeding. But my favorite job, out of all the ones I’ve gotten to try, is harvesting.

Farmer Zippy's Notebook: Training Tomatoes (Part 2)!

Just like Farmer Ike promised, today he taught me how to train determinate tomatoes! (In case you missed it, he taught me how to train indeterminate tomatoes last week, and about the two different kinds of tomatoes, and you can find out all about that here)

Farmer Zippy's Notebook: Training Tomatoes (Part 1)!

Today, I learned all about tomatoes. Did you know that there are two different kinds of tomato plants? I didn’t until Farmer Ike told me.

All tomato plants are divided into two categories: determinate and indeterminate. Those are big words, aren’t they? They’re hard for me to say! Try saying them slowly . . . it helps. After you figure it out, it’s not so bad. I promise.

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