Let’s all take a moment to appreciate the hard work of our farmers and thank Ontario’s agri-food sector for the incredible bounty of fresh, safe & nutritious food we get to enjoy everyday 🙂 
BACKYARD POULTRY — ORDER FORMS & PRICE LISTS
Our 2019 backyard poultry season orders are finished for day-old chicks, ducks, turkeys, goslings, guinea keets and pheasants.
We may still be putting together one more Ready-to-Lay hen order if sufficient quantity/interest warrants it — Please contact us asap if you are looking for laying hens for this fall.
Ready-to-Lay Pullets — Order Form & Price List Download our order form & price list for pricing and pick-up dates of ready-to-lay pullets. We anticipate monthly pick-up dates throughout spring, summer & fall — TBA
Place an order for your desired month’s waiting list and we will contact you when we know when order pick-up date to our store will be — You can decide then if the pick-up date works for you. Order frequency depends upon adequate order volume, the availability of pullets from supplier and timing of third-party delivery services. NB: Birds must be picked up in Blackstock on confirmed pickup day – Sorry, no carry-over of birds to the following day or beyond. Please bring poultry transport crate(s) or large cardboard box(es) for the transport of your birds.
***PLEASE NOTE: New policy that payment is due when ordering for all Backyard Poultry Orders of day-old birds and ready-to-lay hens.
For your Information: In Ontario, backyard laying hen flocks may have up to 99 hens without purchasing quota. Ungraded eggs can only be sold from the actual farm gate location; Graded eggs (through a licensed grading station) may be sold anywhere, even from small flocks.
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BACKYARD BIRDS:
For feeding your feathered friends, we have a great selection of bird feeders for wild birds, hummingbirds and Baltimore orioles. We also offer our Wright’s Premium Wild Bird Seed Mix, black oil or striped sunflower seed, safflower seed, peanuts, suet and other backyard wildlife supplies to keep them visiting your back yard. Follow this link: ‘YOUR BIRDS & WILDLIFE’ to visit our page where you’ll find valuable information on both feeding/hosting and also deterring backyard wildlife.
BACKYARD WILDLIFE:
For those who enjoy seeing deer graze on their property, Wright’s Feeds ‘N Needs manufactures their own custom Deer Mix that will attract deer to visit plus we stock whole corn, grains, deer & salt blocks — ***Watch for our custom deer mix available during fall & winter seasons when there is less access to food for deer in the wild.
We are now offering ‘Rack Stacker’ line of deer feeds, minerals, licks and blocks — Be sure to ask us about this exciting new product line for Wright’s Feeds ‘ N Needs.
LAWN & GARDEN:
THINGS TO DO THIS MONTH — with excerpts from gardening gurus Mark & Ben Cullen’s Newsletter
The gardening season isn’t over yet! Here are some of the things we expect to be getting into in the coming days:
Plant Spring flowering bulbs. One bulb Mark is particularly excited about this year, is the Liberation 75 tulip, which is part of a campaign to plant 1.1 million tulips across the country to honour the 1.1 million Canadians who served during WWII. $1 from every bag goes to support the Royal Canadian Legion and the balance of funds goes towards supporting the Canadian Tulip Festival. There are still bulbs available – get yours at https://liberation75.ca/
Back-filling holes with asters, mums, rudbeckia, butterfly bush. If you haven’t been to the garden center since May 24 weekend, give them another visit! Not only are the fall colours beautiful, leftover perennials are likely on sale and happy to be popped into your garden at this time of year.
Thickening the lawn. Grass is a cool season crop, so this is the perfect time of year to cover patches and improve your lawn’s competitiveness against weeds. Where thin spots exist, spread quality lawn dresser mix 4 cm thick and rake smooth. Broadcast quality grass seed at the rate of 1 kg per 100 sq. meters. (~ 1 lb. to 200 sq.ft.) Rake this smooth, step on it with a flat-soled shoes and water to keep seed moist until germination. Remember that during drier times, keep watering the new seedlings if rain is scarce — don’t let dry out as it will kill them when they are young/small.
Top-dress with compost. Remember, ‘digging in’ compost is a thing of the past – all that disruption is just bad for the soil. Simply apply the compost to the surface of the soil and let the worms do the hard work of pulling it into the root zone.
Fallen leaves: mulch & rake. That is, mulch them with the lawn mower and rake them into the garden. Per above, the earthworms are more than happy to feast on these and turn them into beneficial organic matter.
Harvest. Any time now, frost is going to finish off your veggie garden, so start collecting those pumpkins and squash. By now, your pumpkins will be pretty maxed out for size, so take a minute to appreciate what you’ve accomplished. If you’re especially proud, see if there’s time to enter your local veggie growing competition. We always get a kick out of pumpkins and squash at the fall fair.
If you’re looking at an excess harvest, remember to check with your local food bank whether they’re participating in the Plant a Row, Grow a Row program (https://www.growarow.org/).
Apply Fall Lawn Fertilizer which is formulated to build up the natural sugars at the root zone of grass plants. You will get a faster green up come spring, less snow mold and a stronger, healthier lawn. The later that you apply this in fall, the better. So, the timing of application varies from region to region. Wait for a few ‘killing frosts’ which will slow down the metabolism of grass plants, creating the perfect conditions for application.
Dig and divide. Perennials that flowered in early to mid summer can be dug up and divided. Replant the divisions around your yard in the appropriate places or give them away if you have run out of space. Be sure that the soil is moist when you dig up the mature perennial. If you’ve been keeping on top of weeding through the summer months, you will find September not too bad — Stay on top of it.
Compost: a. empty b. fill. Not to oversimplify this, but your garden needs the natural goodness that is contained in your backyard composting unit and your now-empty composting unit will provide a valuable service this autumn when the leaves fall and you yank your spent annuals and veggie plants out of the ground.
GARDEN HOW-TO VIDEOS:
Canada’s gardening gurus, Mark Cullen & son, Ben, had a great time shooting new videos in the garden. Here are a few gardening videos that will inform and entertain you — Check them out:
How-To Deadhead Annuals and Perennials
The Benefits of Mulch
Plant Selection for the East Side of Your Home
Upcoming Events:
- Oct. 2 – 4 — Canadian Plowing Championship
Competitors from across Canada, who have qualified from their respective provinces, will come together to determine a Canadian Senior Conventional Plow Champion and a Canadian Reversible Plow Champion to represent Canada at the 2020 World Contest in Russia. More Info
- Oct. 5 — Gates Open: Find Your Flavour
See what life on the farm is like, get hands-on experience with fun farm activities, and discover one of Durham’s largest industries through this unique self-guided tour. More Info
- Oct. 16 — OFA Regional Meeting – Durham
Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) encourages all members to take the time to attend their local meeting, engage in discussions about the issues and priorities for the farm sector, and support your local agricultural community. More Info
- Oct. 25 & 26 — Meat Industry Expo
This is your opportunity to network with colleagues, learn from industry experts, and keep up to date on trends and issues in the industry. More Info
- Oct. 26 & 27 — Advancing Women in Agriculture Conference
The Advancing Women in Agriculture Conference is created for women who are passionate about agriculture and food whether you are a university student studying agriculture, producer, entrepreneur, representative of a grower association or corporate agri-business. More Info
The Durham Region 5 Million Trees Program is part of the Durham Community Climate Change Local Action Plan, with the goal of increasing forest cover in the region by approximately 2,800 hectares. To be eligible, landowners must have 2.5 acres of non-agricultural land to plant. Forests Ontario plants the trees at a highly subsidized rate and checks their survival at various intervals in the following few years. Learn more about Durham Region’s 5 Million Trees Program.
The On-Farm Childcare Program, offered by Durham Farm and Rural Family Resources (DFRFR), is designed to provide quality child care for farm families who reside in Durham where at least one of the parents’ primary source of income is through a farm operation. The program operates from May to September and allows parents to concentrate on farm work during peak times, without having their children in the workplace. Learn more about the On Farm Childcare Program.