Sal Dominelli 12/19/24 Sal Dominelli 12/19/24

Seasons Greetings, A farm Update, and More!

Seasons greetings to everyone from all of us at Sweet Rock Seeds. It has been a long time since I have last updated you folks about the farm and there is of course much to tell!

Our growing season this year was a learning experience for us. We had huge ambition this year, wanting to grow more seed than ever. We no longer grow for our local Farmer’s Market, wanting to focus just on growing the best seeds we can, and to that end we are all in. Except… as they say, “Nature bats last.” Normally, the East Coast of Vancouver Island is a premier seed growing area for dry-seeded crops like spinach, beets, all of the Brassicas, etc., not just in Canada., but in the world! This area rivals the best seed growing regions for dry-seeded crops on the planet. Why is it so good?

The East Coast of Vancouver Island usually has mild winters and dry summers, which are perfect growing conditions for certain crops that need to dry down their seeds in the heat of the summer and not get rained on, which can ruin the seed. For example, Kale can live through our winters and reliably dry down a crop of seeds in July and August. In much of the world the winters can be too cold, and the summers too hot, or too wet to grow the seeds out.

This year we had a rainy August, which was a disaster for some of our crops. We lost our entire onion seed crop. The seed heads, which were late to bloom because of our unusually cold, wet spring were in full flower, and the dampness let to a fungus that molded all of the flower heads. Our broccoli crop had a similar problem and was a total loss. Yet, we had large, beautiful broccolis just a month earlier. Oh well. These are the vagaries of seed growing, and we lost a few seed crops.

On the positive side, we had some great successes too. We had stellar harvests of squashes, corn (a sweet corn!), peas, and even the tomatoes did wonderfully. They seemed to appreciate the August weather. The wonderful thing about having a diverse farm is that something almost always thrives!

We have several new varieties on offer this year: Two new tomatoes great for both growing in pots and in the ground, a tasty and good-keeper winter squash, a funky and awesome cucumber, a new sweet corn, a fiery pepper for those who like the heat, and a couple of interesting herbs. You can check them out here if you like.

If you have a gardener in the family and are not sure what to get them, our gift card is a great idea. Easy to use, secure, and redeemable at any time.

In the spirit of Christmas we are offering a 15% discount on everything in the store until Christmas Day. We promise to ship all orders within a day of receiving them, but realistically with the postal strike just ending, I would’nt count on getting your seeds by Christmas. But— we don’t need to plant anything now. Spring is coming….

Thank you for continuing to support small-scale, local agriculture. Merry Christmas!

Sal Dominelli 4/10/24 Sal Dominelli 4/10/24

15% off Spring Sale. Peas, beans, our garden heritage

Spring greetings to all! It finally feels like Spring, and it is about time. Even though the nights are still a bit cool, it is time to plant the hardier crops outside: Peas and Broad beans, for example.

I know that the really keen gardeners are scoffing, having started multiple trays of greens inside weeks ago, and they are transplanting into the ground now. Excellent! That is the goal. Timing is everything, and if you have nailed it perfectly this year then congratulations to you! I have (like usual) timed some things perfectly, and missed the boat on others. My broad beans are already poking through the soil, and it looks like every seed sprouted. If you are new to gardening— or even if you are experienced, but get frustrated with occasional failures— then you have to grow Broad beans.

There is a reason that Broad beans (also called Fava beans) have been grown for thousands of years, and are one of the oldest of our cultivated crops. They are easy to grow, for one. They are the highest nitrogen fixer of all the legumes, for another. In fact, if you grow a crop of broad beans, you can plant another vegetable crop after with no fertilization, as long as it isn’t a nutrient hog like corn. Lettuce, chard, kale, all of these would be fine.

Peas can also be planted right now. Snaps, shelling, soup peas, or snow peas. Peas have been planted since antiquity, enjoyed by the Egyptians, the Romans, and every other culture since, as a dried pea for soup or dal, but also for its edible shoots, as animal fodder, as a field crop to maintain fertility (as a nitrogen fixer like broad beans), and only recently since the 1800’s for its edible pods.

Did you know that when you plant peas in your garden you become part of a tradition that goes back over 9000 years? That’s when we started growing peas! Think about that.

our peas

A friend of mine gifted me with some tomatoes that he started in early January. This was a few weeks ago and they are a good 3 feet tall now. My windows were being shaded by tomato foliage as the only place I had to put them was on the windowsills but they were getting too darn large, so I had to put them outside in our potting greenhouse. It is still cool at night so I thought they would suffer terribly. Nope. After two days they were still perky and ready to go so I planted them in an unheated greenhouse. They are as happy as can be, and many of them are already flowering, so it looks like we will have early tomatoes if we don’t get any freaky weather, which isn’t guaranteed of course.

Spring is the season of promise, of new beginnings, and here at our farm we are excited to spend the days outside, even if it is still a bit cool. The earth smells fresh, birds are staking out territory with beautiful song, all of our lambs have been born except for one yew, who is taking her own sweet time. If you can be outside enjoy it.

Everything in the store is 15% off for the next two weeks. We have run out of some seeds as usual, but still have lots of varieties left. Not only peas and broad beans, but kale, mustard, carrots, and parsnips can all be planted outside too. I always recommend planting carrots and parsnips right before we get a warm wet rainy spell. That gets ‘em going!

Finally, three people notified me that the Ardwyna tomato seeds didn’t sprout for them. I retested their germination, and sure enough, the seed went off. This isn’t common, but it does happen. If you bought Ardwyna seeds and they didn’t sprout for you please get in touch with me via email and I will refund your money or give you a store credit.

Here’s a few pictures from around the farm of goings on: lambs, early spring crops, overwintered seed crops like parsnip and onions, and our garlic crop.

Plant seeds, grow food. Be a part of our agricultural heritage.

Sal Dominelli

Sweet Rock Farm Seeds

Sal Dominelli 2/7/24 Sal Dominelli 2/7/24

All About Growing Onions and Leeks. 15% off alliums!

Hi Folks,

I am moving a little slower (quite a bit slower actually) these days as I broke my ankle last week playing basketball at our local school. It seems that I am playing too hard for my age—at least according to my son— and I need to “tone it down”. Whatever the reason, I landed wrong after trying to block an opponent’s shot and broke my fibula. Ouch!

I now have ample time to read, write, and fill seed envelopes, which is okay, but I need to move! On the positive side, it wasn’t a terrible time to do this. The gardening season has barely begun, but begun it has. Now is the time to plant your onions and leeks!

If you want big onions you need to start them pretty quick— early to mid February is good, but no later than early March for the best onions. Why? Onions like a long growing season with steady moisture. They have shallow roots compared to many other garden vegetables, so they won’t do well in drought-like conditions. This also means that they won’t compete well with weeds, so you have to keep them weeded. Grass is their worst nightmare.

With steady moisture, regular weeding, adequate fertility— and an early start— you will have no problem with onions. The trick is to make sure they are a good size by summer solstice, because onions are daylight sensitive, and as soon as the days start to get shorter, onions start to bulb out, and it doesn’t matter if they are 6” tall, or 2’ tall. So this is why an early start is essential.

Here is how I grow my onions and leeks. It is not the only way, and may not even be the best way, but it is a good way and it works. Fill a garden tray with good potting soil. It can be your own mix, or something from the store as long as it is good. I believe in giving my seedlings the best start possible. Once they are in the ground they have wind, bugs, rampaging dogs, and sneaky weeds to deal with.

A tray like this can hold a couple of hundred onion seedlings until they are ready to go into the ground. I sprinkle them all over the top of the soil, trying to keep them evenly spaced about 1cm apart each way, but it’s okay if they are too close or too far apart. By the way, if this tray is too large because you only want a few onions, by all means use something smaller.

Once I have sprinkled all of the seeds about, I spread a little more mix in until the seeds are all covered. I then water them (warm water is good!), and put them in a warm place. If you have a heat mat this is perfect. If not any warm space will do.

Keep the soil moist and warm until the onions sprout, then place the tray in your sunniest window or under lights. Water as needed. When they get to about 6” tall, give them a little haircut, and use the trimmings in scrambled eggs if you like. Trim as needed, keeping them about 6-8” tall. You will notice that they will get stockier. This is good. If your onions get yellow they need food. An organic liquid fertilizer should help.

In April, when it feels like spring has begun in earnest, transplant your onions into a well-prepared bed about 6” apart, in rows 1-2’ apart. They will need to be weeded! This is your main chore. Otherwise they are usually pest-free. By July you will see bulbs developing, and by late August they will be drying down nicely.

Harvest your onions when the tops have died down. Pull them up, and lay them in the sun for a couple days to cure. This process is really to dry out the roots and let the outside wrappers dry out and “seal” the onion so that it stores well. For best storage they need cool and dry conditions. Your kitchen is a terrible place to store onions for any length of time! Don’t keep more than a weeks worth in the kitchen at any one time. Our onions live in my shop where it is cool but dry.

The variety of storage onion we grow is called Newburg and it is awesome! It is well-adapted to our latitudes and does really well, reaching a good size and reliably drying down every year. Check it out.

That’s it folks! Treat leeks the same way, except they stay in the ground until you need them. Onions and leeks are on sale right now. Save 15% on them until the end of the month.

Finally, we will be at the Port Alberni Seedy Saturday this weekend, at the Echo Center on Wallace Street, from 10-2. Drop in and say hi if you like. I’ll leave you all with this— because its the truth and I love it!

Sal Dominelli 1/22/24 Sal Dominelli 1/22/24

January Blues, Making a Garden Plan, and a Subscriber-only Discount

Greetings Folks,

I hope this newsletter finds you all warm, dry, and enjoying this slushy, messy weather— from the comfort of your armchair I hope, or if not, and you work outside, then soldier on! Spring is not far away.

As for me, instead of doing farm chores, I would rather be here:

Alas, needs and wants don’t always line up. While I really, really want to swim in tropical waters, what I need is to do my farm plan for the year. The farm, or garden, plan is really simple in theory: it is what you want to plant, where you will plant each crop, and when you will start them. It can be as simple or as complicated as you want as long as it has the basic information of what, where, and when.

Even if you have a small garden I recommend that you make a garden plan. Why? You will harvest much more food because you will be organized, and will avoid (hopefully) the panic runs to the garden store to get transplants of something you don’t really want. And you grow only what you like instead of stuff that doesn’t get eaten.

Here is a simple way to make a plan. Get a blank piece of paper and a pencil. Draw out your garden area roughly, with all of your beds, or rows, marked out “A” “B”, or 1,2,3… You get the idea. Title the paper something like “2024 Garden Plan”. Now in each bed pencil in what you want to grow in it. For example, in bed 1, Kale (10 plants) and broccoli (5 plants). It is good to keep plant families together. Do this for every bed or row. If a bed will have more than one crop, note that simply: First spinach, then tomatoes after.

Once that is done, get another piece of paper and write down all of the crops you are going to grow again, and beside them write down the date you are going to start them, noting if they are getting started inside as transplants or if they are going to get started in the bed. Obviously, if the weather is terrible on the outside starting day edit in the actual sowing day when you do it.

You’re almost done! Now, make a note beside each crop on what (if anything) will be added to each bed. For example, if you going to add lime and compost to the kale and broccoli bed, make a note of it.

In the end it will look like this:

Bed 1: Spinach first, then Tomatoes.

—Start Spinach inside March 1st.

—Start Tomatoes March 15th.

-—Add compost for both spinach and tomatoes.

Bed 2: Kale and Broccoli

—Start both inside March 15th.

—Add lime and compost to bed.

Bed 3: etc.

Some people will only need the plan written down like above, but I like to also have a visual aid as well, which is why I draw out the beds. You will figure out the best way for you. As I mentioned above you can make the plan as complicated as you want, and add more information: harvest dates, transplant dates, crop failures, even weeding schedules. This is just a basic guide to get you going, but even a simple plan like this is super helpful and will make you a better gardener. And after even just a few years, you will have a detailed record of best starting dates, what has worked and what hasn’t, and so on.

Finally, in the spirit of getting the season going, we are offering a subscriber-only offer (which you are, since you are getting this newsletter!) of 10% off for the next two weeks, to inspire you and help you plan this years garden. Type “Gardenplan” in the discount code at checkout to receive your discount.

I will do my plan as well, and try to cultivate some winter serenity.

Sal Dominelli 11/30/23 Sal Dominelli 11/30/23

Fall Greetings and Seed Updates

Hi Folks,

We’ve been getting a few inquiries about when our seed catalogue will be updated, so I imagine that more people are wondering too. Well, the website is up to date! Other than a few stragglers finishing their germination tests, we are mostly updated— with a dozen new varieties added this year, and over 100 vegetable and flowers in total! That may not seem like too much compared to the “big seed guys”, but take note that all of this seed is produced on Gabriola Island, is locally adapted, and supports our local economy in a small way.

Enough small farmers = big changes

So what are germination tests anyway? Just like school, all of our seeds have to “make the grade”, which in this case means to meet or exceed Canada Number One germination standards. We do this by literally sprouting a bunch of seeds of each variety on germination paper, or in some cases by actually planting them in trays. This determines the vigour of the seed, and this is mostly what we have been focused on these last weeks on the farm.

We have made some major changes at the farm this year; chiefly, we have transitioned to seed growing exclusively. Every other year has been a struggle to juggle our seed growing operation with growing vegetables for the local Farmer’s Market. And inevitably, I drop some balls. Sometimes I would raid the peas or the beans that are growing for seed if I need extra for the market, or I would miscalculate and not grow enough of, say, tomatoes for seed and hoard them, shorting the market. We don’t have enough land or labour to effectively do both operations. We also have to make sure our animals have enough grazing land, and that there is space for our “family garden”.

The long and short of it is that we have tons of seed available this year! Yes, we will still run out of some varieties, like Fortex Bean , or Cascadia Pea, or Ardwyna Tomato. I never grow enough of these and several other varieties, and I am always asked, “Why not?”. As I mentioned, there is a tradeoff with space and what I can grow. I could grow literally tons of peas, and nothing else, but I would hate my job. I grow a huge diversity of crops every year, because it is fun and interesting, but also because the farm is more resilient to weather and pest problems. If I lose my pea seed crop to an infestation of pea weevils (which happens) it only affects a small part of my income. Also, some crops (like Fortex and Ardwyna) produce very few seeds per plant compared to other varieties, but they are so good I grow them anyways and hope that people start to save them on their own. So if you want a variety that has sold out in the past, don’t linger too long. I have lots, but not endless amounts of seeds.

A full wheelbarrow load of overripe, ugly cucumbers way too far gone eat, but perfect for a seed crop.

If you are already gearing up for the gift giving season, we (unashamedly, of course!) recommend giving the gift of seeds. We have a gift card that is quick, safe, and easy to use. Just click on the link and you will be guided through the process. If you are not sure what kind of seeds to give, check out our Seed Collections page. We have a variety of collections to suit almost any gardener, and they are on sale, for all of December. You will receive 10-20% off of each seed collection, depending on the package.

Finally, we are keeping our packages at the same price as last year—$4.50— even though inflation is making everything much more expensive. This is what we can do to help you, our gardener and farmer friends, to grow as much as you can. Growing food is one really great way to beat inflation. Grow your own. We know that you can’t grow all of your food, but if you make a goal of growing, say, one full meal a week for the entire summer, that adds up to real money. If that is easy for you, make it one full day’s worth of meals a week. Start small and do what is realistic for you and you will succeed!

Best wishes from our farm to you and yours this holiday season.

Some seed crops in full flower in one of our gardens this summer.

Sal Dominelli 4/20/23 Sal Dominelli 4/20/23

Spring 15% off Sale, But is it Really Spring?

It is April 20th as I write this, and I know that it is officially Spring as of almost a month ago, but outside a winter storm is raging. It isn’t actually snowing, although it feels like it could, and just to the south and north of Gabriola it did snow two days ago. It appears that we are having another cold, late Spring like last year.

Rather than get too down about the weather though, I prefer to think about the things I’m planting or about to plant that inspire or excite me.

For example, every year I grow sweet potatoes, and some years they do well and I get a significant amount of tubers for little effort, and in other years I barely get enough to overwinter and try again the next year. Why plant sweet potatoes? I love them and want to get a variety well-adapted to our climate, even though we are at about the most northerly tip of its grow zone. It does love heat and a long growing season.

Nevertheless, in the ten or so years since I started growing them, it has definitely adapted— somewhat. When I first started growing sweet potatoes here, I needed to have them either in a greenhouse or covered or they wouldn’t produce any tubers. Now, I start them inside and plant them out in the field about the same time as my tomatoes or squash, and they always produce at least some tubers. In the summer of 2021, I harvested these from one plant!

This was a huge, unusual harvest which is why I took the picture, but It is so exciting to imagine the possibilities of growing sweet potatoes in our temperate climate. They will gradually adapt to growing here, and maybe, in a generation or so, they will be a staple crop.

I’ve also planted four types of peas already, both in the ground and in trays. They are all doing well, having sprouted up and grown to a few inches already, despite the weather. There is something about pulling a pea right from the vine and popping it in my mouth that stirs me, every year. So I grow huge amounts to eat and for seed, but never have enough.

And oddly, the Mizuna that overwintered in the field and has now put out bright yellow flowers is inspiring me. The plants are getting pummelled by the wind as I write this, but they keep springing up, defiant, against the onslaught. They are a truly hardy crop and I love having them in the garden.

The end of April is fast approaching and even though the weather sucks, once things warm up a bit anything you have in the ground or in pots will take off. Get them in as soon as weather permits. And if you haven’t got things going yet, it’s not too late but the clock is ticking! You can still get a late harvest from tomatoes if you start now, and maybe peppers too, depending on the summer we get— but it’s pushing it. Otherwise the timing is right for peas, carrots, parsnips, beets— the cool season crops. Hold off for a few weeks with beans, squash, and the warm weather stuff, unless you start them inside and transplant them out.

We’re offering seeds at 15% off for our Spring sale, and we are selling out of many varieties so don’t delay. (We are growing more seeds this year to meet the demand; in fact, we are not selling at our Farmer’s Market this year and are devoting all our space to seed growing. So thank you for your support!)

Happy upcoming Earth Day everyone,

Sal,

Sweet Rock Farm Seeds

Sal Dominelli 3/1/23 Sal Dominelli 3/1/23

Another Seed Offering and Chicken (Mis)Adventures! (Copy)

Greetings Folks,

I want to pass on to you, my subscribers, a special seed offering, but before I do I have to relate an extraordinary occurrence that happened to me a couple of days ago.

I had finished my morning chores and was enjoying breakfast when I heard our chickens going crazy! The rooster was super loud, calling out, warning of danger, and even the hens were making a louder-than-usual ruckus. At first I thought it was our neighbour— who also has chickens— but with a jump up I remembered that he doesn’t own a rooster. Plus, our two dogs were barking and eager to get out, a sure sign that something was up.

We ran to the back of our property (about 600 ft.) where the chickens are being housed in the big greenhouse. They really like it, as it is warm and dry and there is lots to pick at in there, being 20’ by 100’ long. The greenhouses work pretty well for housing chickens in the winter, as they clean up crop leftovers and fertilize at the same time. But occasionally a raven or raccoon slips in.

I thought it was a brazen raccoon, come to hunt during the day, but no, I could see from afar something flying in the greenhouse and dropping like a rock every few seconds. “Damn those ravens!” I thought. They are a constant threat to our birds, and we have had to actually cage them in a mobile chicken tractor during the warmer months or we lose one every couple of weeks. Chicken tractors are okay— they are safe and we move them every other day, but I do prefer for them to be completely free range. However, in my area of Gabriola, nobody free ranges their chickens. The predation is too intense.

When I entered the greenhouse I was shocked to see of all things, a massive Red-Tailed Hawk in full pursuit of whatever chicken it could get. Of course it was chaos. The dogs went ballistic, the chickens continued their screaming and squawking with feathers flying, and the hawk, after a few more unsuccessful dive bombs, tried to escape by flying through the greenhouse covering. When that didn’t work it decided to go on the offensive and swoop by me (being the tallest I suppose) with talons fully extended.

Now I don’t know where you all stand with respect to dealing with “pests” on the farm. Many farmers have the “SSSH” approach. Shoot, Shovel, and Shut up. Me, I try to avoid that if possible, and in any case I could not imagine hurting this magnificent bird.

As you can see he is absolutely beautiful— and really pissed off at me for ruining his morning! I was in a quandary though: How to get this bird out of the greenhouse and on its way without getting hurt myself (or my dogs), and without damaging him.

Luckily, on the way down to the greenhouse I had grabbed a leaf rake and was using it as a shield as the hawk flew by. I saw my chance as it bounced off the plastic again and jumped up—trying to be as gentle as I could— and used the fan part of the rake to force it to the ground. ( As an aside, the wingspan on this hawk was 2-3 feet and those talons and beak are big and sharp. It was pretty scary! He moved very fast and it had no problem with hurting me.)

Once it was on the ground it stopped moving and just lay there with its talons pointing up, daring me to get close. I reversed the rake and slowly, gently, slid him out of greenhouse over the next few minutes. Interestingly, once he was on his back he didn’t move at all, and allowed me to slide him forty feet and out the door. The picture is just after he got back up, and a few seconds before he took off. Unhurt, I believe.

The chickens were all fine too. Whew! Now, to the seed offering.

Last year I did a grow out of several kinds of sweet Italian frying peppers. I mixed them up in the bed and let any bees cross them. Peppers are self-pollinating, but they can be crossed by bees moving the pollen from flower to flower. So some of the seeds would be just like in the picture— the ones that weren’t crossed— and some will be mixes of what you see above. Why do this?

I do this this because it is fun, and this is how new varieties have come down to us over the last ten thousand years. Also, in a time when diversity is decreasing, in favour of bland supermarket varieties, I say we should create more varieties. I offer this to you because I want to encourage more people to be comfortable with diversity in their garden, when growing a pepper, or a tomato, or whatever, and get away from the monotony of hybrids. It may also embolden some of you to become seed savers yourselves.

Who know what kind of crosses might come from this? If something unique comes out, just save the seeds! This is a first come, first serve deal that wont last long because I only have a small amount of stock. You can find it below.

Sweet Pepper Mix

Until the next time, “keep calm and farm on”.

Sal Dominelli 3/1/23 Sal Dominelli 3/1/23

Another Seed Offering and Chicken (Mis)Adventures!

Greetings Folks,

I want to pass on to you, my subscribers, a special seed offering, but before I do I have to relate an extraordinary occurrence that happened to me a couple of days ago.

The chickens were all fine too. Whew! Now, to the seed offering.

Sweet Pepper Mix

Until the next time, “keep calm and farm on”.