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 ❤

 

 

 

 

 

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Week 21 and We’re Almost Done

Produce anticipated to be available this week at ShopEco in Windsor: Sweet Bell Peppers, Green Peppers, Hot Peppers, Cherry Tomatoes, Green Tomatoes, Scallions + other Onions, Celery, Salad Mix, Kale, Chard (lots and lots of it!), Squash, Garlic, fresh herbs, dried Herbs + Teas, Sundried Tomatoes, Shepard’s Purse Tincture, and small amounts of Broccoli and Eggplant. New this week we’ll have available SUNCHOKES (link to a previous blog post).

These are a short seasonal delight and highly sought-after in France. They are indigenous to our Carolinian zone and can be found in wild areas. You can plant the root for your own supply of these edible tubers, or as perennial Sunflower. Eat them any way you would eat a potato – roasted, fried, in soups, or raw – experiment with them! Recipes can be found on our Veggies! page, our previous blog post on Sunchokes, a blog post where Chef Ben from the Iron Kettle used Sunchokes to make a soup and a bread, or on this link we came across this week.

Photo by Ben Leblanc-Beaudoin

2 new Herbs we have available in small quantities are Mugwort and Motherwort.

Mugwort can be burned as a smudge, sewn into a sleepy dream pillow, or drunk as a tea. More information (including warnings) –http://happyherbcompany.com/mugwort ; http://www.witchipedia.com/herb:mugwort ; http://www.susunweed.com/herbal_ezine/May09/wisdomkeepers.htm

Motherwort can be added in small amounts to tea when you feel like you need a hug from a mother. Information (including warnings) – http://www.susunweed.com/Article_Motherwort.htm ; http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-126-motherwort.aspx?activeingredientid=126&activeingredientname=motherwort

Celery

A shout out to Black Cherry Tomatoes – not only are they always the hands down favourite for flavour but every year they produce the largest amount of tomatoes and they keep on going until a hard frost kills them. These are the best tomatoes ever!

One more week left – weekly vegetables end on Saturday October 22nd for farm members and Wednesday October 26th for ShopEco Windsor members.

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Giving Thanks

We are approaching the time of year when we give thanks. Reflecting on all we have to be thankful for is a wonderful practice. A big THANK YOU to all the folks – big and small, human and non-human – who co-create and conspire to bring us a bounty of food to eat every day.

I am incredibly grateful, if not in awe, of my own little farming family. It’s amazing to watch small children be as competent + knowledgeable as any adult in almost every area of our little farming operation. It’s even more amazing to be working alongside my awesome children each and every day. We are blessed.

We’ve had a veritable ABUNDANCE of veggies in the last two weeks! From our Wednesday on-farm market the last week of September 2015.

This is also a time to reconnect with our roots and with the teachings of those who inhabited this land before colonization, the First Peoples.

The abundance of Fall produce is the perfect time to re-commit to another year of good health by securing yourself a spot in our CSA for the 2016 season. By signing up you commit to: feeding yourself and your family FRESH, ecologically-grown food you can trust; eating well by enjoying the fruits of our labour every week; a healthier community by buying local and by supporting our farming family.

You can also help build a strong local food system within our CSA program by being a part of our “core planning group” and providing input in to our planning for next season.

A reminder for those who might have missed it: We have a new pickup time at Take Back The Farm for the rest of the season – 4:30-6:30 on Thursdays.

I came across an interesting article this week about the plight of small-scale local farmers – from the farmer’s perspective – on growing for a local, ecological market … Manure and Markets.

Our harvest list is very similar this week as last week so if you need information on certain veggies or are looking for recipe ideas you can reference last week’s blog post, Looking Towards The Future.

What we are harvesting this week:

Rainbow Beets – red, chiogga (candy cane), golden

Wild Rainbow Salad Mix (the lettuce is just gorgeous and sooooo tasty right now!)

CSA member J shared this simple yet beautiful salad. Our mixes are perfect to just put in to a large bowl and add whatever dressing you prefer. Can’t get easier than that. A plethora of taste to please the palate!

Rainbow Kale + Leafy Green mixes

Snap Beans – dragon, purple, blu jay, fillet

Broccoli florets

And hopefully a few Cauliflower, too. This is ‘Cheddar’ – fresh in the field, complete with insect poo.

Green Tomatoes

Dried Basil + other dried herbs

Tomatillos

Calendula Seeds

Parsley

Rainbow Radishes – including some specialties like Ostergruss, Watermelon, Shunkyo, and Black Spanish.

In limited supply:

Cherry + Beefsteak tomatoes

Onions

Salsify + Scorzonera – yummy root alternatives to parsnips + carrots

Sage Smudge Sticks

Okra

Hot Peppers

Sweet Peppers

Squash

Summer Squash

Summer Squash in a raised bed; Carrots in the forefront.

Eggplant

Sun-dried Tomatoes – only a couple of bags available at each location

Hickory Nuts – only a couple of bags available at each location

Bee pollen + Pickles – until supplies run out

Horseradish root – you can also plant this root in your garden for a perennial supply

Turnips – almost done until the next batch are ready

We have super awesome dedicated farm friends.

Scallions

Fennel

And there will certainly be surprises, like perhaps Sunchokes…..

What is to come before the end of the season…..crops we are still hoping will produce before the end of the season – Cauliflower (orange, purple, green), Brussel Sprouts, Leeks, and Rutabagas – as well as more Beets, Turnips, Salad (Hakurei) Turnips, and Kohlrabi. How long the season goes will depend on the weather. If the weather holds and we still have veggies we will keep bringing them until we can’t anymore.

A great salad preserving share from Facebook – Mason jar salads to-go! Farm friend Marie W has tried these and said they worked wonderfully so we had to share!

A snapshot of the abundance we’ve had and shared and the abundance still to come….

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Looking towards the future….

As the sunlight hours shorten and the nights get cooler we look towards rest and towards the seasons that lay ahead ….. If you enjoyed being a part of our CSA this season and know that you want to sign up again next year we are accepting membership renewals and new members for the 2016 season. There will be changes to the program and to some of the current locations but the deposit is still only $200. We will provide the updated information as soon as the changes are confirmed.

Veggie offerings at Take Back The Farm in late September.

We will also be forming a “core planning group” of devoted local foodies who want to create the best CSA experience possible. This group will help us with our planning by providing input and suggestions for future seasons. The time commitment will be small and can be in person or over email. If you are interested in being a part of our core planning group please let us know.

Wednesday night veggie market at our farm in late September.

***An important note for those who pick up at Take Back The Farm*** – the store is transitioning to their Winter hours starting next week (Thursday October 1st) and we will be transitioning with them. Please note – Thursday pickup at Take Back The Farm is changing to between 4:30 to 6:30 pm until the end of the season.

Now on to the produce we have available for you this week!

Special treats, while supplies last:

Onions – grown by Brandner Farms in Ruthven

Sun-dried Candy Tomatoes

Sage Smudge Sticks

Foraged Hickory Nuts – hand-harvested + hand-shelled by farm child Oddy. The Flavour Is Worth The Hassle ; Recipes for Hickory Nut Cake, Pie, Refrigerator Cookies, Apple Crisp, and Wild Rice Stuffing.

Okra (red and green)

Hot Peppers (red rocket, maya, black hungarian)

Tomatillos

Squash and Pie Pumpkins

Summer Squash

Chinese Eggplant

Bee Pollen – small and large sizes

Pickles

Fresh Garlic – we found a bit more but this really is the last of the Garlic

Fennel – bulbs + fronds

Beefsteak Tomatoes + Cherry Tomatoes – Next week we can make available the last of the tomatoes but they will be green. These can be used as green tomatoes or left in a windowsill or warm place and they will ripen up. Please let us know if you want green tomatoes because if there is no demand for them we won’t take the time to pick and to transport them. Some ideas for how to use green tomatoes can be found HERE.

Fresh Horseradish Root – the main ingredient in the spicy sushi condiment of Wasabi. We have kept these unwashed to better preserve the root. Simple Horseradish Condiment, Holiday Horseradish Recipes, Serious Eats.

Salsify + Scorzonera – These delicate delicacies can refrigerated in a perforated plastic bag for up to a week. Do not wash before use, best consumed fresh. Nutritional Information HERE. Some recipes ideas – GrowVeg, Slaw + Pancakes, Garlic Soup, Fritters + Tempura + Gratin, Forgotten Plants. See what Chef Ben from The Iron Kettle made with Salsify and Scorzonera…

From Chef Ben from The Iron Kettle B&B : “Poached in milk, sauteed in butter with baby zucchini, served as a side dish to duck confit.” He also suggests peeling the whole root with a vegetable peeler and deep frying it. The blossoms are edible and smell like vanilla.

Some meal ideas that use up a variety of your CSA veggies include the Ratatouille dinner we had on the farm this week. All ingredients except the wild rice were grown on our farm.

Garlic, Onions, Eggplant, Summer Squash, Tomatoes, Peppers, Parsley, Basil, Thyme.

This share from a farm friend uses Summer Squash, Onions, Peppers, Broccoli, Collards/Kale/Chard, Garlic, and Pesto – CSA Pasta Recipe

Scrambled eggs are a favourite way to use a variety of veggies too!

Available in larger quantities from the gardens this week ….

Turnips

From farm friend Siobhan: “Turnips and garlic from Locally Germinated lacto-fermenting to become those yummy Lebanese turnips you get in your shwarma.”

Wild Rainbow Salad Mix with assorted edible Flowers, Sweet Peppers, Rainbow Radishes (an early surprise!).

Fresh Herbs like Basil, Thyme, Oregano, Sage, and Rosemary. Idea for a nut-free pesto.

Dried Herbs  – We air-dry our herbs and leave them whole in order to preserve their flavour. Only crush them when you are ready to cook with them. Serious chefs know that crushing or grinding, even with your hands, provides the best flavour. After you purchase our dried herbs we recommend you store them in airtight glass jars to further preserve their delicate flavour.

From http://dish.allrecipes.com/dried-herbs-and-spices/ – “You can tell if a dried herb is still useful for cooking by rubbing a small amount between your fingers and smelling. If the herb still gives off a strong scent, it’s good. A weak or faint smell means it’s probably time to replace it.”

Rainbow Kale

Collards

Rainbow Chard

Rainbow Beets

Rainbow Beans

Broccoli Florets

Our produce has been featured by The Beacon Alehouse in Amherstburg. Here’s a salad with our farm-grown Peppers + Fennel, also featuring Ontario Feta and a Fire-Roasted Tomato Vinaigrette. They have also been using our Kale and Chard in their dishes.

With many more blessings and veggies to come before the season is done….

Sunchokes blowin’ in the wind.

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Week #15

Pick List this week (varies by location) :

Squash!

A variety of mini-Squash – variety names to come next week!

Surprise Squash (aka Unknown)

Fragrant Parsley

Rainbow Chard, Rainbow Kale, Salad Mix with Nasturtiums

Baby Beets

Eggplant, Summer Squash, Cucumbers, Sweet Peppers

Watermelon!

Scallions, with looong green, edible stems.

Mayan Habanero

 

 

The very last of the Tomatoes, mostly unripe.

You can leave the Tomatoes out on the counter to ripen or you can try some of these recipes with the green Tomatoes: Fried Green Tomatoes, Pickled Vegetables (Tursija) (link provided by a CSA member), 25 Recipe ideas from Tipnut, and recipes from thekitchn.com.

We love hearing about how you are using your fresh, local produce to make delicious dishes! Please share here on the blog or on our facebook page so that others may get new ideas for using their veggies and thank you to those who’ve already shared.

Pictured: Crimson Sweet Watermelon, Eggplant, Scallions, Hot Peppers, Squash, Tomatoes, Sweet Peppers, Parsley, Rainbow Chard.

 

 

 

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