🗣️📣🚨 Subscriptions 🥗 Memberships 🦅 Early Bird Bonuses & 💲Fundraising💲 Oh My!

It’s that time of year again!!! In honour of CSA Week we’ve got an amazing Early 🦉 Bird Special – Memberships are 15% off until February 28th!! That means you’ll pay $425 for a $500 Membership or $212.50 for a $250 Membership!! Did you know that we grow year-round? That’s right, Fresh & Local all year long! You can buy a Membership by visiting locallygerminated.ca . See more info about Memberships & why buying local is so important at the end of this post.

Subscriptions

Do you struggle to eat a healthy, balanced diet every week? Do you want help to stay committed to healthy eating? Some of our current Members wanted an easier way to get Fresh & Local every week so … we created Subscriptions! Easy peasy, you’ll get Fresh & Local veggies every week, automatically, all year long. You can buy a Subscription at locallygerminated.ca/subscription 🍅.

Here’s what you need to know about how the Subscriptions work:

• You choose from a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly Fresh & Local bag
• You can change the frequency after you’ve started
• You choose pay-as-you-go or prepaid
• You choose home delivery** or pick-up on the farm
• All prepaid subscriptions (and memberships) come with free home delivery**
• The pay-as-you-go subscription is $5 per delivery**
• With a prepaid subscription you save 10%
• With a pay-as-you-go subscription you save 5%
• You have your own portal where you can control your subscription:
  • You can pause at any time
  • You can change the payment method
  • You can cancel (after 2 orders)
• You can add extra products or make substitutions with each Fresh & Local bag
• Members + Prepaid Subscribers will start receiving our Fresh & Local weekly veggie bag in April.
• Pay-as-you-go subscribers will start receiving our Fresh & Local weekly veggie bag in May.
• All subscriptions will be paused until the Fresh & Local weekly veggie bag begins.

There are 5 different Fresh & Local bag options that you can subscribe to:

• The Farmer’s Choice, which has 3 different sizes to suit your needs
• The Grab ‘n’ Go Frittata Kit
• The Grab ‘n’ Go Salad Kit
• The Grab ‘n’ Go Stir Fry Kit
• The Grab ‘n’ Go Green Smoothie Mix

Find all the details @ https://locallygerminated.ca/collections/membership

** 🚚 We only offer delivery to Tilbury & to communities within a 20 km radius around Tilbury

Are you outside of our current delivery zone (20 km radius around Tilbury)? We’re working with folx who want to host a neighbourhood depot in these outer areas. Each depot would need to have a minimum of 20 members or subscribers for us to deliver. If you’re interested contact us & let’s see if we can make it happen in your neighbourhood!

Merchandise for our Farm Fundraiser

Do you live too far away or can’t buy a membership or subscription right now? You can still support us through our new Merch store! We’ve designed a number of T-shirts, tank tops, hoodies, children’s tees, mugs & tote bags as a way to fundraise for specific things we need at the farm (like better ways to grow more veggies year-round!). Check it out @ Bonfire & enjoy the examples below.

6 reasons to Buy Local

Please tell us what your reasons to buy local are by commenting below 👇! We’d really appreciate it if you shared this with your friends & family to help us get the good word out 💖.

1) 🤝🏼 TRUST. Buying a Membership to our Fresh & Local weekly food bag is like having your own personal Farmer! Neighbours tell me they don’t trust where their food comes from, they don’t trust the safety of their food because it all seems to come from nameless corporations that are far away. One member shared: “I don’t know how my food is grown, and that makes me nervous. I feel disconnected from the whole food system. I want to look my farmer in the eye, so I can trust my food is safely grown. I want to be able to feel like I have some control over what I’m eating. Knowing my farmer gives me security and peace of mind that what I’m feeding my family is safe. I also want my farmer to show me the story of farming, so I feel like an educated consumer.” Whether it’s 🥶, 🌧️, 🌬️, ❄️, or especially 🥵, we’re always working hard to make sure you have the freshest veggies for the most delicious meals all year long. Let us be your friendly neighbourhood gardener 🕸️🦸👨‍🌾. We are a small family farm straddling Tilbury & Lakeshore.

2) FLAVOUR. 🥕 We all know we should be eating more fruits + vegetables, right? But they’ve become so flavourless over the years. Do you know why? To survive the trek from California to Ontario, fruits + veggies are bred for travel, not flavour, and they’re picked unripe. By the time you make a purchase your food is already several weeks old. It’s no surprise that the next problem you have is that your veggies go bad before you can even eat them 😠. And it’s no wonder we struggle to get the daily recommended amount! On our family farm your taste buds matter 😋. We harvest only at peak ripeness & veggies travel from our field to your home in less than 24 hrs 🥦. We’re a community of eaters who love to share cooking ‍ tips + tricks, because we know that while everyone *wants* to eat healthier, sometimes we need a little help along the way. As one member said, “I couldn’t believe the flavour difference with my local veggies! I really started enjoying making homemade meals again and my family can’t believe how delicious everything tastes! We have saved a good amount of money by not eating out all the time!” 🥗

3) 🧒🍉 VEGGIES CHILDREN WILL EAT! All parents want their children to be safe + healthy, and we’d looooove to get our children to eat fresh fruits + veggies from an early age 🚼. But there seems to never enough time or 💲💲 to figure out who to trust, or to make delicious meals that children will *actually* eat, or to go to the farmers market, and on and on. The struggle is real. And we’ve been there. That’s why we started feeding hundreds in our community with our Fresh & Local weekly box. It’s all fresh, all the time, all grown on our family farm, but best of all it’s veggies that kids love to eat (before it even gets to the fridge!). A bonus is that when you eat what’s in season it costs less! We invite you to join us as we Eat The Rainbow 🌈 together .

4) 🥢🍛🍜🍱 INSPIRED + ADVENTUROUS COOKING. Do you love to cook? Does your mouth water seeing our Fresh & Local veggies? Can you taste the flavours through your screen? If you’re an adventurous eater & love trying new things, we’ve got you covered. We grow all the staples, of course, but we also grow for the people who loooove to cook & know how to use Bok Choi + Kohlrabi & love to plate a purple Carrot. If that’s you, then you know that the better the quality of your ingredients, the better your meal will taste. With our freshness guarantee – from our farm to your door in 24 hours or less – you’ll get the satisfaction of harvesting a backyard tomato 🍅 without all the work. Completely customizable, online ordering, on-farm pickup or home delivery – all to make your life easier + more enjoyable so you can keep being the 🌠 of your kitchen! Join & get your creative on in the kitchen.

5) 👩‍🏫 EDUCATION. This is way more fun than it sounds 😂. Long story short, we guide you on a journey from newbie to 🌟 of your kitchen with fast + easy tips, tricks & recipes. Does adventurous eating intimidate you? You’re not alone, most of us aren’t at-home gourmet chefs. Our vision for Fresh & Local is to inspire a love of cooking by making it accessible, convenient, and fun for everyone. You get more than food when you become a Member of our farm, you’ll also learn how to store, prepare + cook our veggies because we love guiding everyone to be stars in their own kitchens! We help you discover fast + easy ways to eat + preserve a huge variety of veggies so that you stop wasting food & level up your skills. Did you catch that? FAST + EASY, we’re not going to teach you complicated techniques.

As a sole parent to 3 children, I know how important it is for dinner to be fast, easy & something they’ll eat. Eating healthier doesn’t have to be hard & it doesn’t have to mean subtracting items you love to eat (no deprivation diets here!). By adding more 🥬 to your diet – not to replace something else, remember, no diets here – you’re feeding your body the vitamins + minerals it needs to thrive 💪 without feeling like you have to deprive yourself!

6) 🌍🌳🦋 CARE FOR OUR PLANET. You could say the Earth is my religion, there’s nothing more sacred + important. I could tell you all about how we grow but unless you’re a plant + soil 🤓 like me, using words like organic 🐝, regenerative, industrial agriculture, biodiversity 🐞, or conservation won’t mean much to you, and they don’t fully convey our commitment to causing the least harm (to all our human + non-human kin) while producing the most nutrient-dense food we can. Having no environmental guilt is a happy side effect of eating #LocalFood #LocalMeals. But, it’s more than that. Eating local reduces food miles, which reduces carbon emissions & the use of finite resources (oil won’t last forever!). Buying local is the shortest food chain you can get!

Reducing food waste is important to us. Did you know that 51% of the garbage we send to landfills is food scraps? Or that food never composts in landfills but rather creates methane gas (read up on anaerobic conditions if you’re interested in learning more)? Not to mention all the food that gets thrown out because it doesn’t look “perfect”, and I’m talking about the waste that comes from farmers directly, before it even hits the grocery store, so much delicious food that could provide healthy meals to people made vulnerable in our community. Buying a Membership or Subscription allows you to completely customize your weekly veggies, from the comfort of your home, have it delivered to your door 🏡 at no extra cost, and with NO environmental guilt! #TheBestWayToCombatClimateChangeIsBuyingLocalFood

Long Live Local Food! 🍅🧄🥬🥕🥗🌿🍳🥦🍯

Now is the MOST IMPORTANT TIME to purchase a Membership or a Subscription.

If you care about local food, now’s the time to show up 🎯.

Visit locallygerminated.ca to keep our local food system strong + resilient, and to keep your grocery bills low!

☮️✌🏽 + ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🫀

Subscription for Tea

We’re excited to announce a new project we have going on at Locally Germinated – Tea Subscriptions! Keep reading below for details & if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to send us a message by replying to this email, leaving a comment below, or sending us an email @ locallygerminated@gmail.com

*** We’re only offering a small number of subscriptions for 2022. When the spots are all filled we cannot guarantee that our Herbal Teas will be available for non-subscribers. ***

Below is a list we put together, answering the most common questions about how our Tea Subscription works.

Why your loose-leaf Herbal Teas?

All of our ingredients are wild-crafted + hand-picked from Terre Tremblay Farm + rashel’s backyard in Tilbury, using strictly organic methods. We leave our ingredients as whole as possible & dry them at low temperatures before creating our small-batch blends. This method keeps their medicinal properties** + flavour intact.  

How many loose-leaf Herbal Tea blends do you have available?

We currently have 7 Herbal Teas – Calm, Resilience, Cold Comfort, Fortify, Immune Boost, Chamomile & Rosehips. New ingredients are already on their way & we’re working on two new blends to offer in 2022. Currently, we harvest up to eleven different plants to use in our Herbal Teas.

How many loose-leaf Herbal Teas come in a subscription?

With your yearly subscription you’ll receive a total of 8 loose-leaf Herbal Teas. Most of our Herbal Teas have approximately 23 servings per bag.  

What is the cost of the Tea Subscription?

Each yearly subscription of 8 Herbal Teas is $80*. Choose Yearly Subscription to select this option.

We encourage you to pay the full subscription amount in advance. Your support helps our small farm when our costs are the highest (Winter) & before we have anything to sell (late Spring). We rely on these resources to:

🌿 Purchase seeds, soil, greenhouse supplies, compost, tools & the materials needed to grow Herbs + Veggies for our community.
✍🏼 Plan out crops to avoid unnecessary waste.
🌱 Start growing seedlings indoors in January.
🌱 Transplant seedlings outdoors in early March.
💳 Quite literally, continue farming. Without our Membership + Subscription fees we would not be able to continue growing food.

When can I expect my Herbal Teas to arrive?

Your first Herbal Tea will be ready for you in April 2022. Along with the first Herbal Tea of your subscription, you’ll also receive 2 FREE Teas!  Subsequent Herbal Teas will be ready in June, September, October, December, and February 2023, for a total of 6 subscription dates.

Do you deliver?

We currently offer delivery within a 20 km radius around Tilbury. The cost of delivery is not included in the subscription price. 

We also have a no-contact on-farm pickup option. 

What is the cost for delivery?

If you have a Farm Champion or Farm Friend Membership, delivery is FREE.

If you buy 3 or more Herbal Tea Subscriptions, delivery is FREE.

On average, delivery is $5 for each delivery, with a minimum order of $10, within 5 km of the farm. This is an estimate only, please contact us for an accurate delivery price for your situation. 

What if I want to buy all 8 Herbal Teas at once?

If you’d rather get all 8 Herbal Teas in our subscription collection all at once (versus six times throughout the year), chose the Full Collection option.

What if I can’t pay the full $80 subscription fee? 

If you can’t pay the full subscription fee, choose the First Month Deposit For Yearly Subscription option to secure your spot as a subscriber.

With this option you pay the first of six $15 instalments right now, as a deposit to hold your spot. After you receive your first Herbal Tea you will be billed $15 just ahead of when the next Herbal Tea is ready. Payment is required before the next Herbal Tea goes out. 

Can I cancel?

We’re confident that once you try our loose-leaf Herbal Teas, you’ll want to share them with all your friends + family! If for any reason you need to cancel your subscription, let us know ASAP so we can open up your spot for the next person on our waiting list. If you paid in full, we’ll refund you a pro-rated amount for the Teas you haven’t yet received. 

How do I renew my subscription?

If you paid in full, your subscription will automatically renew for another year in April 2023. We will contact you in advance with an invoice, from there you will choose to renew or to cancel.

If you’re on the payment plan, your $15 bi-monthly subscription fee automatically renews until you cancel it. You will always get an invoice ahead of the next date, from there you can choose to continue or to cancel.

Can I buy an Herbal Tea Subscription for someone else?

🎁 Yes! Tea subscriptions make the perfect gift to let someone know you care about them + their well-being. If you’re purchasing a subscription as a gift please let us know so we can make arrangements to get the Herbal Teas to the right person.

If you have any questions please send us an email at locallygerminated@gmail.com or send us a direct message on Instagram or Facebook.

 ** We are not in the business of giving medical advice, we are not certified Herbalists. Customers must do their own research on the uses + benefits of each Herb + Herbal Tea Blend. Even though most of our ingredients are gentle & have little to no contraindications, we strongly suggest you consult your personal medical practitioners to see if any our Herbal Tea ingredients will negatively affect any medication you may be taking or any health problem you may have.

 * Delivery is extra

BIG NEWS! Locally Germinated presents the Fresh & Local box, coming May 2021🥗

We have exciting news! Locally Germinated presents … the Fresh & Local weekly veggie box! And we’ve got a new website, too! Check us out at https://locallygerminated.ca

We will still be posting here on this blog & you can now also join our email list for exclusive offers, recipes, and our quirky veggie info by visiting ~ https://bit.ly/3kp8yP7. Or you can go to our website & create an account to stay in the loop ~ https://locallygerminated.ca/account/register . See more info below 👇🏽

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Because this is a relaunch, some things are different (and exciting!). 

1. 🍅 You no longer have to buy a membership to take part. All you have to do is create an account on our website, put veggies in your cart & voila. There are no commitments necessary. You have complete control over what you get each week.
2. 🧄 We still also offer memberships for those of you who want to get all the perks of our Fresh & Local box program & you can find all the details at https://locallygerminated.ca/pages/membership . Ordering is done online once a week & you have complete control over what veggies you get.
3. 🥕 We now offer home delivery to Tilbury & within a 15 km radius around Tilbury. But don’t worry, we still have contactless on-farm pick-up, too.
4. 🥦 We’re running year-round! That’s right, the Fresh & Local box doesn’t have to end just because the frost arrived. This also means we’ll start offering other locally-made products on our website. As we make connections with the community, we’ll be adding more + more items to the website & not just food items.

*Note: When you visit our Shop (https://locallygerminated.ca/collections/all) you’ll notice that almost every item says it’s sold out. That’s because we’re not taking orders yet but wanted folx to see what we’ll have for sale in the first few weeks of May, when we start delivering Fresh & Local 🥗.

We hope to see you on this new journey & new chapter of Locally Germinated. We can’t wait to serve our community again! 🍄🐔 🐥

~ rashel tremblay 👨🏼‍🌾

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September in the Gardens

Fall has arrived but it seems the weather has decided that we need more Summer and I’m happy about that.

By September we see what experiments and new techniques have failed or succeeded in the gardens.

Big failures were Cucumbers, Squash, and Melons. The companion planting technique of growing radishes nearby didn’t stop the voracious appetite of the Cucumber Beetle, not even a little. Without a Winter-kill these insects have HIGH numbers and they not only munch on blossoms (so that fruit doesn’t set) but they also eat tender fruits. Cucumber beetles enjoy the whole Cucurbit family which includes Cucumbers, Zucchini, Squash, and Melons like Cantaloupes. The Squash Vine Borers put the nail in the coffin of any hope of having Squash and Pumpkins this year. It seems that the best strategy will be to not grow any of these crops for a number of years in order to discourage the insects by not giving them their favourite foods to eat.

It was also a bad year for Watermelons and a sad year for us as we grew out the last of the seeds that Farmer Faenin has been saving for 8 years. Not sure what happened with the Watermelons – raised bed, too much shade, not enough water, something else? – but they were a failure.

Fortunately other techniques and crops worked out very well.

These Marigolds successfully kept away insects from the Pole Bean seed crop.

Alyssum made a wonderful companion in many beds, to many veggies.

This was the first year that Tomatoes and Peppers were grown in the raised beds and at first I was skeptical that they would turn out due to the high nitrogen in the beds (which encourages leafy growth and discourages fruit production). I was very pleasantly wrong!

The Sweet Peppers were a bumper crop again this year! They love the heat and don’t mind not getting rained on!

We theorized that we wouldn’t have many Hornworms this year, as the Tomatoes were planted quite far away from any place they’ve been planted ever, but they arrived anyway. It wouldn’t be Summer without a pic of these creatures.

The Tomato plants and fruits were the largest we’ve ever seen. Tomatoes that should have been on the smaller size were as large as any other Beefsteak. Some grew like Tree trunks!

In Fall we see new blossoms and new blooms.

From the Wild Area….

Some unknown flowers

Rudbeckia (Black-Eyed Susan)

This wildflower has really taken off and spread despite 2 years of drought.

Colourful Yarrow still producing blooms. Two different colours on the same stalk.

There are many new creatures, and food for the creatures.

The Lemon Balm is also thriving despite 2 droughts and getting frost-bitten in April.

Hummingbirds enjoy visiting this Nasturtium Forest.

Fennel is planted as a host plant (food source) for Swallowtails and a late season treat for humans.

Fennel fronds are beautiful and tasty.

Behind the Fennel you can see a small “tunnel”, it’s a way to protect crops from insects but also from frost. We have a small patch of Red Cabbage, Napa Cabbage, and Cauliflower that we’ll be harvesting and eating in to November.

Can’t get enough of the Praying Mantis. This female is in her Fall colour and looking for a suitable place to lay her eggs.

From the Veggie-Table….

Our beautiful Garlic can’t be beat, be sure to stock up and get bulk amounts to last until next June!

Farmer Andrea having fun with Peppers …. “Hello, Operator? These Peppers are off the hook!”

Despite what heat alerts say, Fall has indeed arrived and we are getting less and less Sunlight every day …. There’s something about Fall shadows ….

Monarda (Bee Balm) in Fall colours.

Yarrow flowers in Fall colours.

Soft and fuzzy Yarrow leaves.

My last chance to get dirty and enjoy the heat before Winter sets in …

 

 

August Adventures

The big excitement on the farm recently has been the discovery of a Fox Snake nesting site. We estimate there are 100 eggs laid by 8-10 adult female Fox Snakes in one location. Fox Snakes are Endangered with 70% of their population in Ontario. Luckily for us, and them, they are very common on our farm, and it pleases us greatly to know that we have been providing them with the right conditions to mate, hatch, feed, and overwinter.

Photo of newly hatched Fox Snakes by Andrea Nickerson

August in our Family Garden has been more munching on veggies, and weeding, and watering (such a dry Summer, with every Rain Storm passing over our farm), rather than picture taking. Also, family adventures off the farm. Here are some shots of various Summer Squash with interesting shapes and colours. All photos by rashel t.

One of the only Winter Squashes to produce any fruit – a Delicata – but we’re only going to get 2 Squash from a number of plants.

The pest pressure on Summer Squash (Zucchini etc), Winter Squash, Pumpkins, and Melons has been the worst in recent memory. Between Cucumber Beetles who eat and destroy blossoms before the plant can set fruit and the Squash Vine Borer ….. these plants didn’t have a chance. Thankfully we didn’t grow them counting on them for food. They were planted in troublesome spots to help control Thistles (which they’ve done) and in areas with fresh compost (where other plants wouldn’t grow), so they have served their purpose. Still, it’s not easy to see them decimated by high insect populations, despite our efforts to control their numbers.

Below are the eggs of the Squash Vine Borer, usually laid on the underside of a leaf.

Adolescent Squash Vine Borers.

These aren’t the adults who bore in to the vines and kill the plants but they do grow up to be them. The adults resemble moths or hornets and they are pleasant to look at to watch …. if you don’t know who they are.

A big downside of using any kind of plastic in agriculture is having to dispose of it. There are pros and cons to any method of agriculture and we continually strive to make more sustainable and ecological choices. We buy more expensive plastic so that it can be used for several seasons (and a surprise benefit is that it creates habitat for moles, voles, and snakes) but there are weed pressure issues that still need to be worked out. And when it comes time to remove the plastic …. well … we start to search for alternatives. We got together a large group of young people to have a “party” to remove most of the plastic. Their highlights were the creatures they found.

Highlights of farmer Andrea’s Veggie-Table this month …

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Colourful Carrots.The first of the Heirloom Tomatoes.Plum Trees that finally produced a bumper crop were a wonderful surprise!Spicy Salad Mix.Colourful Tomatoes.

Summer’s almost over! Some of us are happy about and others of us are not. May the veggies continue to be plentiful for all!

Sunshiney July

Some highlights of our gardening adventures in July

A mid-July harvest of Kale, Collards, Radnips, Carrots, Beans, and Romaine Lettuce.

Happy Smiling Sunflowers.

 

Photo by Andrea Nickerson

Farmer Andrea’s Kales are Trees.

Farmer Andrea’s Companion Planting of Beets and Broccoli is thriving.

The heat of Summer brings on goodies like Tomatoes (variety: Bosche Blue), Eggplant, Summer Squash (Zucchini + Patty Pan), Winter Squash (like this Acorn Squash), and Watermelon.

Farmer Faenin is proud of how large his Onions are, these are early ones.

A Pear Tree planted for baby Lennon 17 years ago has it’s first Red Pear; a lovely Butterfly is sipping sweet juice from rotting fruit.

‘Seal’ Lavender throwing up the largest spears of all our varieties.

First time growing Wild Tobacco, for ceremonial purposes.

View of perennial beds of Sorrel, Onions (for seed), Chamomile, Plantain, Calendula, Horseradish, Chives, Strawberries, Asparagus, and Raspberries, with some Ground Cherries thrown in.

One of only a few successful Cucumbers.

It might be time to stop trying to grow Cucumbers outdoors. Between the insects and the mildew it’s a whole lot of work for nothing most years. We keep on trying because we love the taste of field Cukes in varieties not found in any store.

July is Garlic harvesting, and hanging to dry time. Many thanks to Paul + Andy for getting most of these beauties out of the field.

pretty little garlic all in a row

Farmer Andrea’s mom came to visit and they harvested some monster Kale!

Farmer Andrea also introduced the Veggie-Table. Held outside an art studio she shares with her partner, they are bringing Fresh, Local Veggies + Art to downtown Tilbury.

 

June around the farm

June has come and gone too quickly. The rain has mostly missed us, besides a few gentle showers. Every day it looks like it will rain but the gardens are so very thirsty. Others who live not far from here are experiencing the opposite. We do our best to be adaptable to whatever the weather brings.

Farmer Andrea started the CSA this month, here are some highlights …

Veg-Head Andrea

Garlic Scapes, Peas, Lettuce, very HOT days

Photos by Andrea Nickerson

The most beautiful Kohlrabi I’ve ever seen, ‘Azur Star‘, pictures cannot do it justice.

Photo by Andrea Nickerson

Market Set-up for Week 1 of fresh, local produce

Photo by Andrea Nickerson

The Farm Toddler helping with the Garlic Scape harvest + cleaning

Photo by Andrea Nickerson

Andrea also took some beautiful panoramic pictures of the raised beds …

Our family gardens are coming along nicely. We’ve eaten our fill of pea shoots and sugar snap peas and are leaving the plants as a seed crop. We’ve also been collecting onion seeds. We found this beautiful surprise in our ‘Rattlesnake‘ Pole Beans, little leaves that resemble the seeds and bean pods …

A look at our Pole Bean bed, using a re-purposed swing set, with marigolds as a companion plant to deter bean beetles …

And the view from the other end of the bed …

Most of the beans in this bed will be a seed crop as we need to grow out the ‘Trail of Tears‘ beans we started saving in 2008, and we’re starting to save the seeds from other varieties so we have seeds that are regionally-adapted. Beans are the perfect starter seed-saving crop as they’re super easy to save.

A teeny tiny Lunchbox Pepper on a tiny little plant …

A new favourite, an heirloom Lettuce “Grandma Hadley” from Seed Savers Exchange

Another example of companion planting that Rashel has wanted to try for many years, but couldn’t make feasible on a larger scale, is using radishes as a trap crop to protect Cucumbers from flea beetles, cucumber beetles, and squash bugs. The radishes will be left to go to seed and be another seed crop.

In the trellised Cucumber bed we’ve also planted Lettuce as a companion but there were these beautiful “weeds” – 2 Sunflowers and a blooming Cilantro – that we decided to leave in the bed because they were just too nice to pull out.

While we’ve seen many Insect friends – especially a variety of Swallowtails – we only got this one picture is a newly hatched Praying Mantis.

We’ve had our first Lavender blossom harvest of the season …

A medicinal plant harvest of Yarrow, Wormwood, Bergamot, St. John’s Wort, Red Clover, Plantain, and Comfrey. Most of these will be dried for later use and some will be infused in oil for later use. All but the Comfrey have come from the new wild area Rashel started in 2016.

We are harvesting Chamomile and Calendula every couple of days, and dehydrating them to use later in teas and salves. In honour of the Summer Solstice why not try some of these recipes using a variety of edible blossoms ~ Sweet Magic: Honey Cookies

 

 

May On The Farm

Farmer Andrea has been busy this Spring getting ready for the 2017 CSA + Market Season! Spreadsheets, Seed Catalogues, Sterilizing Seedling Trays, SEEDS, Planting, all part of the Farm Lyfe.

Photo credit: Andrea Nickerson + rashel t

Seedlings Indoors …

Photo credit: Andrea Nickerson + rashel t

Seedlings Outdoors …

Photo credit: Andrea Nickerson

Over-wintered and self-seeded Spring surprises …

Scallions, Gorgeous Lettuces that popped up in beds, outside of beds, gorgeous Lettuce everywhere! Photo credit: rashel t.

Every year we let a couple of broody Hens hatch out a clutch of eggs. We don’t purposely breed them so they become Tremblay Farm Mixies. Farm child Oddy wanted to make sure we had some new chicks this season and Farmer Mike (Pepe) helped get them all set up before his major heart surgery this Spring.

These Mamas are very protective of their babies. Here they are showing their newly hatched offspring how to scratch and forage for grains and seeds. After eating very little while incubating their eggs these Mamas are ravenous! Photo credit rashel t.

 

Interesting things found around the farm in May …

Wallflower, ancient Pear Tree covered in blossoms, Wild Ginger, Fungus, Lilac, Chives with Busy Bees, Kildeer eggs, Scat, Insect Eggs. Photo credit: rashel t.

While Farmer Rashel is taking a break from Market Gardening they are turning their focus towards creating and maintaining a new Wild Space in an awkward part of the farm. This will serve as an Insectary (habitat) for beneficial insects + pollinators, as well as a space for Medicinal Plants. The focus is primarily on Indigenous Perennials and self-seeding annuals with the goal of having the space be self-sufficient and diverse, as well as a place to learn from and harvest medicines.

Plantain infusing in oil, Chamomile, Nettles. Photo credit: rashel t.

This blog will have a different focus in 2017. Instead of being a weekly round-up of farm happenings and seasonal veggies it will be a monthly update of interesting things found around the farm, musings on gardening with children, current experimentations in permaculture and sustainable ecological food growing.

Our “little” garden this year – only 15 4×18 ft beds – and our new little helper. Toddler S is a natural forager! Photo credit: rashel t.

More fun around the farm in May …

The big farm children take the toddler on adventures, pea shoot snacks, plants in flower / seed saving, rainbow, potatoes planted by Rashel + Toddler S in an experimental hay bale bed, carrots, flooding. Photo credit: Mike Tremblay, rashel t.

Unsurprisingly Rashel’s favourite bed is the most diverse one. Lettuce self-seeded, Parsley over-wintered, Sunflowers showed up, and Rashel didn’t want to remove anything so they planted seedlings in the available spaces. Trying out Celeriac + storage Kohlrabi for the first time. Also planted Collards, Brussel Sprouts, and Radnips.

Photo credit: rashel t

A new experiment this year is Trench Composting. This bed was in need of remediation so it was the perfect first experiment. A trench was dug out of the middle of the bed and in it’s place we placed unfinished compost and seaweed. Various squashes have been planted in to the middle where the compost is. If this is successful we will do a variation on this in years to come. Each year one third of a bed will be dug out and composting materials thrown in as the season progresses. The following year we will plant on top of the trench, rotating which area gets the compost from year to year.

Photo credit: rashel t

We are also experimenting with more Companion Planting, with plants in closer quarters in our 4 by 18 foot raised beds. Some friends include: Peas + Carrots with Lettuce; Cucumbers + Squash with Radishes + Beans; Alyssum all over but especially near Lettuces; Garlic + Tomatoes with Basil; Marigolds + Pole Beans.

Looking forward to sharing more Cute Creatures, Garden Stories, and Farm Lyfe with everyone 🙂

Newly hatched Praying Mantis in a pot of Succulents. Photo credit: Andrea Nickerson.

 

 

Membership is OPEN for 2017!

Fresh, local, sustainably-grown food for your health, your family, and your community.

Registration is now open!

Get to know your farmer, get to know your food, and enjoy eating the rainbow! All vegetables are harvested within 24 hours of market + deliveries for peak freshness that is a feast for your senses.

After 2 seasons of working at the farm Andrea is ready to take over managing the CSA and we’re very excited to see what she has in store for 2017! Andrea brings creativity and vitality and has exciting new things planned for this season.

New this year we are offering HOME DELIVERY for anyone within a 20 minute drive from the farm near Tilbury!

Space is limited and will be on a first come, first serve basis. Reserve your spot by paying the $200 non-refundable deposit. Your $200 deposit is deducted from your total share cost. You can pay in cash, by cheque, by email money transfer, or by using a major credit card. The balance of your share cost is due on the 1st week of the CSA season (approximately early June), payment plans are also available.

For the 2017 season we are offering 2 share options.

Basic Share: a traditional CSA share of pre-packaged produce. Seasonal veggies are chosen weekly by the farmer but you can also let us know what veggies you hate or love. This is the most economical share option and is the only option available for home delivery. Pick up weekly at our Wednesday Farm Market or get Home Delivery for a $5 weekly fee (this is billed at the end of the season to reflect actual weeks delivered). Choose either the FULL weekly share for $500 ($25/wk for 20 weeks) or the half, bi-weekly share for $250 ($25/wk for 10 weeks, every other week during the 20 week season).

Farmer’s Market Share: allows for complete control of the veggies you receive each week.. Shares start at $200 and you decide how much more you want to add. For example, $300 total for 2 people, $400 total for 2 veggie lovers, or $500 total for a family of 4. Members have told us that they appreciate not having to think about carrying cash when they come to our Farm Market. Unused credit does not roll over to the next season but does allow you to miss a week or two and to stock up on extra veggies when you need to.

We encourage you to purchase a larger share and to take advantage of our in-season produce by preserving it. Make your locally-grown, organic produce last longer – you’ll be glad you did once Winter comes! This blog provides tips for easy to difficult methods of food preservation – canning, dehydrating, freezing, and fermenting.

We are located at 20600 Morris Rd (Canal St West), Lakeshore (outside the town of Tilbury), only 30 minutes from Windsor. The weekly Farm Market, CSA pickup, and Home Deliveries will be on Wednesdays from 3:30 pm to 6 pm.

For more information on our farm, our CSA, and what veggies to expect weekly please see Membership Info, About, and Veggies!

For inquiries and to register please email – neovintageartistry@gmail.com

Farm Manager, Andrea + Delivery Driver, Tavis

Week 22 and the Season is Through

The end of the season is always bittersweet. We love growing food and working with the Earth and we’re also ready for some rest when the nights get longer and the days are colder, or in the case of today’s weather colder and wetter. We also miss the routine and seeing familiar faces every week as we also look forward to spending more time with our families. Before we can rest we still have a lot of Garlic to plant for next season, and a lot of beds to put to sleep to be ready to plant next year as well. The season doesn’t end when the veggies do.

As this is the last week we thought it was time to make an announcement about changes for next year. Farmer Rashel is taking a leave from farming. As some of you know a small child came in to our care just before the growing season started. As a family we’ve all made sacrifices and worked very hard to keep the farm afloat while also raising a baby, we did what needed to be done. Some days and weeks it felt like all we were doing was treading water but we managed to keep the plants alive and delivered every week. It almost feels like a miracle. In no small part due to farmer Andrea, who we are happy to announce, has decided to continue running a CSA from the Tremblay Family Farm in 2017! Please keep an eye out on this blog and/or on Facebook for details about Andrea’s CSA plans for next season. Farmer Rashel will continue to grow food for and with their family, and continue to experiment with sustainable farming techniques and sharing that joy on this blog and on Facebook.

Now on to the final Vegetable list of the season:

We’ve had a bumper crop of Peppers this season and we’re offering Green Peppers for only $4 a pound and as a 2 for 1 deal – 2 lbs of organically-grown Peppers for only $4!

We still have a lot of Scallions ready to go so we’re offering those as a 2 for 1 deal as well!

If the frost holds off we’ll have Hot Peppers, Cherry Tomatoes,  and Heirloom Tomatoes.

There will also be Green Tomatoes (to use for fried green tomatoes or to let sit and ripen, other recipe ideas on Veggies!), Sunchokes, Salad, Kale, Chard, Broccoli, Garlic (for planting or for eating), Celery, a variety of fresh and dried Herbs, Shepard’s Purse tincture, and bee pollen.

A big THANK YOU to all of our loyal and appreciative members – you keep us going when things get difficult and we couldn’t make this happen without YOU!

Only these 4 Pears grew on 16yo Lennon’s baby Tree this year, each 1 the same relative size as each of the 4 farm children ❤