We grew our garden again this summer by double.  It's now about 40ft x 14ft filled with beans, corn, radish, onions, cucumbers, turnips, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, pumpkins, lettuce and for the first time this year, potatoes. 

Since this was the first year, I wasn't sure when exactly I should dig them up.  Reading online and talking to others it was suggested to dig them up in early September, or before the first frost starts and the foliage turns black and starts to die off. 

The foliage on my Yukon Gold potatoes is dying off now and unfortunately we had our first frost warning last night so I decided to dig up the first of 3 rows planted.  I was pleasantly surprised with about 10lbs of potatoes in a 15ft row.  I'm not sure if that's good or not, but I did have some lessons learned.  I'll dig up the rest in the next week or so as I keep an eye out on them.

Next season I will prepare the plot better and plant the seed potatoes in about an 8 inch trench and cover with 4 inches and work up the mound.  This should ensure a plenty bounty as this first planting seemed to have potatoes popping out of the ground, which I would attibute to not planting deep enough.

Another option I'm going to try next season is a potato stack... but more on that later ;o)  For now I'm pretty happy with the experience and will definately grow a couple varieties of potatoes next year.  If anyone has any tips or tricks I'd certainly love to hear them!

While browsing my local Chapters store, I was delighted to see a new magazine: Urban Farm.  Flipping through the premiere issue I decided to pick it up along with my copy of Home Power.  The Urban Homestead movement is definitely picking up which is exemplified by a dedicated magazine.

Urban Farm magazine comes from the editors of Hobby Farms with a focus on those of us who live in the City and/or Suburbs.  Filled with DIY and articles about raising chickens, goats and bees, along with gardening, composting, raised beds and recipes... there is something for everyone. 

My favorite article in this premiere edition was "The Sustainable Live" by Lynda King.  The article is a great list of ways we can all do our part, large or small, to get on the path of living a more sustainable life in our (sub) urban environments.  You don't need an acre of land to start a raised bed garden, compost, power conservation, support local farmers and such.  The best message of the article is to "Start Small"... you don't need to change everything at once which is overwhelming.  Pick an area that is close to your heart and start there... nuf said!

Another of my favorites is "Beekeeping in the 'Burbs" by Susan M. Brackney.  This is a great introductory article for those of us who are facinated by the option of beekeeping and definately got my attention to do more research.  I've always been interested in beekeeping and do plan on introducing this to our homestead within the next 2 years.  We have a few other projects and many more hours of research on the subject before then.

There are many other great articles and DIY projects like self-irrigating planters, turning lawn to garden, recycling, composting, community gardens, etc... If the editors keep each issue packed with this much great info, it will be a must have for any (sub) urban farmer out there.   

Obviously i loved it... check it out... what do you think?

On Saturday morning, one of the 32 wind turbines that makes up the Kent Hills Wind Farm in South Eastern New Brunswick. This wind farm is about 30 minutes from my house! I unfortunately didn't get to see it as we were spending the weekend at my parents house, but you could see the smoke from high vantage points in Moncton.

The turbines are Vestas V90 3MW units on 80 meter towers with 45 meter blades with an estimated cost of just over 4 million dollars... ouch!

It must have been something to see.  Investigators are still looking into the root cause and Vestas will have a team onsite today (Monday). 

Local news article courtesy of Moncton Times & Transcript: Turbine catches fire

**Update**
Nice YouTube video courtesy of Newschaser