Plum Hollow Farms

05/25/2026

Farmer Steve filling in for the bees today. 🐝🥒

Because the greenhouse stays enclosed, the cucumbers are not getting natural pollination, so Steve’s hand-pollinating each flower with a tiny paintbrush to help the plants produce fruit.

Has anyone successfully kept bees or other pollinators inside a greenhouse? Curious how other growers handle this.

Until then… paintbrushes for the win. 🎨🥒

05/24/2026

If you think your job’s stressful, try unpacking thousands of mildly annoyed bees after a bumpy road trip.

Huge shoutout to Steve from for delivering tens of thousands of pollinating pals safely to their new home.

They seem much happier now. 🐝🐝🐝

Thanks again Steve!!

05/23/2026

05/10/2026

A little slower this weekend.

Just a tractor, fresh soil, seed potatoes, and spring finally showing up around the farm.

We all have busy weeks ahead. We all work. We all learn. We all grow.

Maybe this weekend is a good reminder to slow down a little and enjoy some time with your mom.

Happy Mother’s Day from Plum Hollow Farms.

05/08/2026

This old manure spreader spent most of its life flinging cow s**t around fields, but now it’s entered its wood chip era.

We’re using it to spread mulch onto the forest farm mounds at Plum Hollow Farms, helping build healthier soil, hold moisture through the summer, and slowly feed the system as the chips break down.

Regenerative farming is a lot of things, but sometimes it’s just looking at an old piece of equipment and thinking: “You know what… close enough.”

05/07/2026

The Mahindra 4025. Not fancy. Just dependable.

This tractor has become the workhorse of the farm, handling everything from moving mulch and compost to shaping swales and hauling materials around the property.

Day after day, it just gets the job done.

OntarioFarms

05/03/2026

🧄🧄🧄 Garlic check in the orchard and it’s looking strong.

Planted last November, now coming up between the apple trees.

We took 1st place at the Delta Fair with our garlic last year, and the year before.

Hoping for a three-peat. 🤞🤞🤞

Next step is where it gets interesting.

Once the garlic is up, we’ll introduce elderberry.

It’s a perennial, it’ll grow along the trellis, and it starts turning this into a mixed planting system instead of a straight orchard.

That’s the change we're introducing to this part of the farm. Moving away from monoculture and layering in companion plants.

Healthier trees, better yields, more resilience if weather or disease hits one crop.

Also, elderberry is just great. Delicious, useful, and good for pollinators.

Always experimenting, always adjusting.

05/02/2026

🐭🐭🐭 Spring check with Farmer Steve and… yeah, not great.

We fenced, staked, mulched, fed, did companion planting, even wrapped some trees for winter.

Still, something got in and chewed the base of a bunch of young trees. Likely mice or voles.

We did use tree guards on some trunks. Those corrugated plastic sleeves. Not all though.

Would they have saved these? Not sure. Probably wouldn’t have hurt.

Good reminder that on the farm, if you skip a step, something notices.

What do you think did this?

05/01/2026

Year 2 on the swales and the system is starting to work.

Last year’s companion plants are now this year’s mulch. They’re holding moisture in the mounds while self-seeding and coming back stronger.

Borage, mint, garlic, rhubarb. No replanting, no inputs, just the system doing its job.

This is the goal at Plum Hollow Farms. A forest farm that feeds itself.

Natural fertilization, built-in pest control, and water retention through design, not chemicals.

We’ve got seven of these swale rows now, and we’re learning how to scale it.

Plant once. Let the system take over.

04/30/2026

Our Spring 2026 sale of Bare Root Cortland Apple Trees is now in full swing.

We have had amazing reviews for these trees and are down to the final few for sale.

Just $19.99 per tree with discount for larger orders.

Pickups from our farm in Delta, Ontario start soon.

Order from our website:

plumhollowfarms.ca