Van Oort Tiny Farm

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Van Oort Tiny Farm

Growing food and living sustainably on a "tiny farm" Welcome! We moved here 2.5 years ago and are now entering our third growing season on the property.

I have started this page to document our attempt to grow most of our own food on our 1/3 acre "tiny farm". Many of the structures and beds that came with the property are old and a few have had to be removed for safety reasons. We are rebuilding and modernizing what we feel we will need to effectively continue to "farm" our small space. Our intent is to inspire others as we share what we do throug

hout our year-round growing season. We hope that more people see that growing your own food is a very achievable way to obtain fresher, healthier food with a much smaller ecological footprint.

14/04/2025

Jobs on the top of our list

With everything growing so fast it's becoming more of a challenge to get all of the tasks done! Each day we decide what can't wait, and start with that.

This weekend planting out the cool weather crops made it to the top of the list. Mr vO planted out 2 kinds of kale, spinach, broccoli, red and green cabbages, and collards.

He is trying out a new kind of netting to protect the brasiccas from the cabbage moth.

The lettuces and onions are probably next on the list to plant. The golden beets, chard, brussel sprouts and cauliflower need to get a bit bigger.

The tomatoes came outside for a few hours during the nice weather on Saturday to get a watering of fish fertilizer. It's not something we like to do inside! 🫢 Lol

Now is a good time to start pulling the more stubborn weeds while the soil is still slightly moist. I have been going around tackling different beds focussing on getting the weeds out before they go to seed. Our hairy bittercress isn't exploding seeds just yet and the dandelions haven't turned to puff balls, but I know that it's not far off!

Today the bed under one of the peach trees and the herb garden had a thorough weeding. I will be swapping the soaker hose for a proper irrigation system in the herb garden. Now that the weeds are gone I can make a plan for placement but I may have to move some plants around. All of the plants in the herb garden are perennials so it's nice to have a bed that doesn't require anything but a weeding in the Spring. We have green and purple sages, oregano, rosemary, chive, parsley (which I think I will move to a pot as it seeded itself everywhere!), Welsh onions, common thyme and lemon thyme. My sister in law has some garlic chives for me to add in as well.

I also cleaned up the "tea pots", trimmed the dead stalks and pulled the weeds that somehow make their way in. I was pleased to see that the chocolate mint, spearmint, licorice mint and lemon balm are all coming back strong. I will just have to plant the chamomile seedlings into the last pot when it warms up a bit more.

We also have an unusual cologne mint which was given to us last year by our neighbour. It was apparently used to make cologne before chemical scents.

And the other important job that had to be done this weekend was pouring the remaining posts for the wisteria arbour. The cement will need to cure over the next week and then we can add the side and top supports.

So a productive weekend overall! I hope that you have all had some enjoyable time in your gardens. What jobs are at the top of your list these days? 🐞

11/04/2025

Small signs of Spring progress

Mr vO tidied up the holey greenhouse recently. He pulled a bunch of weeds and last year's kale and celery to make room for new kale, spinach and lettuce plants.
The chard has come back strong this spring and we'll be eating leeks until they start to bolt. I think I will let 1 leek flower so that I can save the seed.

The wisteria arbour project is top of the list because we have to have it up and the plant retrained before the buds start to open up.

Loving the Spring bulbs and primulas that spread much needed colour throughout the Spring gardens. The previous owner loved to plant bulbs, thanks Joe! 💚

This is the second year that I overwintered the fuschia. It didn't grow very large last year but that may have been because of the cold late Spring?

After shuffling a whole bunch of trays of seedlings out to the greenhouse I had more space inside to pot up the tomatoes. This year I grew a ton of Roma tomatoes to make sauce with.

Also inside I have planted basil and more broccoli seeds along with sweet potatoes. I have never tried this before but I read that slicing sweet potatoes and partially burying them in a tray of soil will encourage rooting. These are a variety of sweet potatoes grown by a local farmer. Our own saved Russet and Milva potatoes are also inside so that they will sprout.

Yay Spring is finally in the air! 🐞

10/04/2025

Spring starts

Gardening jobs aren't only for the summer months! I start a majority of our seedlings from seed in the basement under grow lights months before.

Due to limited space, I have to plant in stages with the hope that the weather cooperates. Temperatures need to be warm enough for the cool tolerant plants to relocate to the unheated greenhouse when the next phase of indoor seedlings need to be potted up.

So far this year temps have worked out quite well.

Phase 1 (now relocated out to the greenhouse) - broccoli, cabbages, kales, spinach, lettuces, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, onions, leeks, beets, cilantro, celery, chard, chervil and lupins.
Night time temp may dip to 5°C.

Phase 2 (still inside, still a bit too cold at night in the greenhouse) - peppers, tomatoes, chamomile, spearmint, licorice mint, white sage, Welsh onions, more broccoli babies, and dill and basil just sown. Marigolds still to be planted.

Phase 3 (starts about late April - early May when all of phase 1 is planted into the garden and phase 2 moves out to the greenhouse with a night time temp of 10°C+) - plant zucchinis, cucumbers, pickling cukes, butternut squash, pumpkins, gourds, melons inside. Phase 3 seeds only take about 3 weeks before transplanting out to the garden.

Direct sown plants

Broad beans - sown in early March
Potatoes - currently sprouting indoors - will plant out in a couple of weeks
Sweet potatoes - first year! Trying to get them to sprout indoors.
Pole and bush beans - sow in early May when soil temp is warm.
Peas - oops, should have sown much earlier but will plant some in the next few days
Garlic - another oops, should have planted last Autumn but I did plant some cloves in March for a small crop.

Our goal is to grow as much as possible from seed so we do not have to buy seedlings for the basic food crops. This year I will be buying a lemongrass plant and maybe a stevia (although we have grown this from seed in the past).

Perennials like sage, rosemary, oregano, thyme, Welsh onions, Bay leaf, chive, parsley (self seeds), spearmint, chocolate mint, lemon balm, rhubarb, the berries, grapes and fruit trees keep their own schedule and just need to be tidied up this time of year.

I hope that your seeded starts are doing well this year and that this growing season is highly abundant! 🐞

28/03/2025

How many Spring plants did you correctly identify? (answers in captions)
🐞

27/03/2025

Let's play a game while we wait for Spring! ⏳️

Can you name all of these plants that are starting to awaken in the garden?

****Don't post your guesses in the comments, just leave a note if you are playing along.****

I'll post the correct answers tomorrow and we'll see who gets the most correct! Have fun! 🐞
PS. There is one that is meant to trick you. 😉

21/03/2025

Welcome Spring!!
It may not feel like Spring with the cold, wet weather but there is still lots to do to prepare for the longer, warmer days.

We visited Dinters Nursery in Duncan the other day. On the way we encountered snow but that didn't stop us from getting what we needed.

We were looking for another nectarine tree to replace the apricot tree that died last year. We wanted a dormant bare root tree as they are considerably less money than potted trees. We also picked up our first rose bush (also bare root) for the perennial garden as well as some interesting coloured primulas. Bare root plants must be planted right away as the roots are exposed and vulnerable.

The greenhouse is now able to maintain a temperature above 0°C so some of the seedlings that I started inside have been moved out. Broccoli, kales, cabbages, celery, and spinach.

I have kept the bulb onions, leeks and Welsh onions inside along with the cauliflower, parsnips, peppers, tomatoes, lettuces, licorice mint, chamomile, lupins, white sage, beets, chard, golden sesame, chervil, cilantro and cumin.

There are so many jobs that I am eager to start on if the weather would just get better!

Enjoy Spring and all that it brings! 🐞

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