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We’ve got Merch.
To get you started, recipes that use multiple veggies:
A large collection from Open Hands Farm
Baked Vegetable Chips from Mother Earth News
Spanish Fried Rice from Recipe Adaptors
How to cook and to prep a variety of vegetables from Cook Smarts
31 Things To Do With Confusing CSA Vegetables
A blog full of Seasonal Food Ideas from the website Seasonal Ontario Food
How To Cook With Food You’d Normally Throw Away from the website Epicurious
For those who are into beneficial bacterias like those found in Kefir or Kombucha and who are more adventurous here is a Cold Kefir Soup that uses a number of veggies
20 No-Heat Summer Potluck Dishes for Everyone from the Kitchn
23 Hearty Vegetarian Dinners from the Kitchn
Summer Solstice Cookies using a variety of edible flowers + herbs
27 Of The Most Delicious Things You Can Do To Vegetables
Wondering if you can freeze a vegetable? Check out this great resource – CanYouFreeze.Com
Tips on how to Eat With The Seasons
The CSA Cookbook ~ Make the most of your CSA membership—or your garden harvest—with simple yet bold, inventive yet nourishing meals from acclaimed blogger Linda Ly. Read a review from Grow Hot Peppers. This book is a “tail to nose” for veggies!
In no particular order, this is the produce we lovingly grow.
Heirloom Tomatoes (Slicing, Sauce)
This includes bulk tomatoes for canning as sauce, paste, ketchup, or whole tomatoes. We make a beautiful mix of tomatoes for sauce that can’t be beat!
Our favourite varieties: Bellstar, Japanese Trifele, Eva Purple Ball, Lemon Boy, German Gold, Captain Lucky, Polish.
*Many of these tomatoes have lovely stories attached to them, click the links to find out more!
Storage tips: Do not refrigerate Tomatoes unless you cannot eat them before they spoil. Refrigeration negatively affects the flavour of Tomatoes. Store at room temperature, out of direct sunlight. Will keep for up to one week. Can also be frozen whole and used during the Winter to make a delicious roasted tomato sauce.
Recipes: Sundried Tomato Pasta Bake from Once a Month Meals, 10 Ways to Drink Tomatoes, 5 Ways to Use Over-Ripe Tomatoes, Tomato Butter.
Recipes for Green Tomatoes: Pickled, 25 Ideas from Tipnut, Recipes from the kitchn.
Candy Cherry Tomatoes
Our most popular item!
Our favourite varieties are: Black Cherry, Peacevine, Cherry Bomb, Bronze Torch, Supernova, Esterina, Moonbeam, Blush, Pink Bumblebee, Sunrise Bumblebee, Peach (from “Pepe” Paul Tremblay).
*Many of these tomatoes have lovely stories, click the links to find out more!
Storage tips: Do not refrigerate Tomatoes unless you cannot eat them before they spoil. Refrigeration negatively affects the flavour of Tomatoes. Store at room temperature, out of direct sunlight. Will keep for up to one week. Candy tomatoes are also enjoyable dehydrated or “sundried” and eaten like chips or in recipes that call for sundried tomatoes.
Recipes: Tomatoes are best enjoyed as a raw snack and on sandwiches. Tomato Butter.
Wild Rainbow Salad Mix
The Rainbow Mix is an ever-changing blend of cultivated + wild greens that are nutrient-dense & packed full of flavours such as spicy mustard greens, sour sorrel, bitter dandelion, wild spinach, savoury arugula, red + green lettuce, parsley, chives, fennel, dill, mint, purslane, or edible flowers.
Storage tips: Store unwashed lettuce in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. To store lettuce that you have already washed and dried with a spinner, place back in a plastic bag with a dry paper towel in the bag, and place the package in the vegetable crisper bin. Use within 4 days. More from Nutrition Studies.
Recipes: Enjoy on sandwiches or wraps, or with your favourite salad dressing. Cooking With Edible Flowers.
Purslane
Found as a stand-alone item or in our salad mix, Purslane is by far the tastiest weed you will ever eat. Purslane: a weed worth eating.
Storage as you would lettuce.
Recipes: 45 Things To Do With Purslane, “Spinach” Pie using Purslane instead of Spinach.
Loose-leaf Herbal Teas.
When this blog was last updated (circa 2017), herbal teas were a pipe dream, almost an after-thought (because it was my own wild dream). Now they have their very own section of our new online farmers’ market website & their own subscription *squeee*.
Garlic Scapes
Garlic scapes are a limited time item, available for only 2 weeks in late June/early July. They are the part of the Garlic plant that would eventually make seeds. Removing them ensures a large Garlic harvest and allows us to enjoy garlicky goodness early in the season.
Storage tips: Will store in a the fridge for up to 1 month. Can be dehydrated to make powder (see below) or used in soups. Can also be frozen.
Recipes: Enjoy as you would Garlic, replacing Garlic in any recipe that calls for it. Can also be roasted whole. Or used to make Garlic powder (dehydrate the scapes, then process in a coffee grinder). Garlic scape pesto. 7 Ways To Use Garlic Scapes, Pesto from Stephanie Fisico: Plant Based Wellness Coach, What Are Garlic Scapes And What Can You Do With Them?
Rainbow Leafy Greens (Kale, Chard, Collards)
Rainbow Chard comes in red, orange, yellow, pink, white & striped.
Kale comes frilly, flat, or “dinosaur” (lacinato) & in red, green, blue & purple.
Collards are a large, flat, plate-sized Kale-link green that comes in green + blue. They make great gluten-free wraps.
Storage tips: If your Rainbow Leafies are wilted put them in a glass of water on the counter to perk them up. They can be stored this way for a week. Or wrap them in a plastic bag, letting out the air, for up to 2 weeks. They can also be frozen whole and easily used later in green smoothies, stir fries, soups, etc.
Recipes: Go Green With These 19 Chard Recipes for Fall, Kale: Beyond Chips and Smoothies, Paleo recipes for Chard, How to make the BEST Kale Salad, A Visual Guide To Cooking Greens from Epicurious, Chard and Feta Pie.
Sugar Snap Peas
Storage tips: refrigerate in a plastic (or alternative) bag, keeps for 1-2 weeks. dry the peas some before storing for a longer life.
Recipes: Eat ’em just as they are! Seriously, this short season crop is a top notch snack in its prime, in early Spring.
Cilantro
Storage tips: in a glass of water on the counter, or in the fridge; in a plastic (or alternative) bag.
Recipes: You either know it, or you don’t.
Parsley
Storage tips: in a glass of water on the counter, or in the fridge; in a plastic (or alternative) bag.
Recipes: Put this on everything.
Fennel
Storage tips: Cut off the stalks where they emerge from the bulb, and if you want to use the feathery foliage as an herb, place the dry stalks upright in a glass filled with two inches of water. Cover the glass loosely with a plastic bag and store in the refrigerator for few days. Can be hung to dry & used as a loose-leaf tea ingredient. The unwashed bulb may be kept in a plastic bag in the refrigerator drawer for 2 weeks.
Recipes: Fennel from Allrecipes, Fabulous Fennel from Canadian Living, from Martha Stewart.
Basil
Our favourite varieties are: Italian Large Leaf (for pesto), Rosie + and Tulsi (Holy) Basil.
Storage tips: treat like a bouquet of flowers, in a glass on the counter (can keep covered in plastic (or alternative) bag). does NOT like the fridge or handling!!! it’s such a tender crop.
Recipes: Classic Basil Recipe, Vegan Pesto Recipe, Top 10 Ways to Use up Pesto; note that the nuts in the recipes can be replaced with sunflower seeds and/or pumpkin seeds
Other Herbs we may have to harvest, or as a u-pick for members or prepaid subscribers: Rosemary, Mint, Oregano, Thyme, Sage, Lemon Balm.
The Easiest Way to Revive Wilted Herbs by the kitchn
Garlic
Allium Family – From Wikipedia
Our Ontario-grown Garlic always sells out quickly, we cannot grow enough of this!
Storage tips: NOT in the fridge, like most other vegetables mentioned in this list.
Recipes: Maple Roasted Root Vegetables, Garlic Confit (vegan friendly) Is the Magic Secret to Loving any Vegetable.
Also knows as green onions and spring onions. Overwintered for a late Spring treat.
Storage tips: loosely in the fridge in a plastic (or alternative) bag. can cut most of the greens off & keep the roots in water to let re-grow!
Recipes: Health Benefits of Alliums, Maple Roasted Root Vegetables.
Radishes.
Rainbow Radishes may be red, pink, white, purple, green, large, striped, wasabi / horseradish – like. Winter Radishes include varieties such as Watermelon (or Red Meat), Ostergruss, Daikon, Black Spanish, Shunkyo Semi-Long, KN-Bravo.
Storage tips: cut most of the leaves off (save them for smoothies or stock, or stir fries) & put in a plastic (or alternative) bag; will store for 2-4 weeks, winter radishes even longer.
Recipes: Radish Butter from thekitchn.com, More Radish Butter. Winter radishes are perfect candidates for pickling, fermenting, and roasting.
Broccoli.
Varieties we’re growing: Blue Wind, Di Cicco, Belstar.
We used to grow these colourful Cauliflowers (below). They’re hard to grow! Broccoli itself, but the whole ‘Brassica’ / Cruciferous family is hard! (Cabbage, Cauliflower, Broccoli, Brussels Sprout, Kale, Kohlrabi, Radiesh + Radnips, Bok Choy) They have insect pests that require exclusionary methods to control them (netting) radishes + radnips, ) AND they like it cool and it’s just so hot here!
Recipes: Fried Cauliflower Rice.
Cabbage.
In our experience the red varieties of Cabbage have better defenses against the White Cabbage Moth and therefore require less interventions and are easier to grow. We aren’t growing this in 2022. We are growing different types of Cabbage for personal (and experimental) use only.
Napa Cabbage.
Only growing for personal use in 2022.
Recipes: Easy Kimchi from the Kitchn.
Savoy Cabbage.
Brussels Sprouts.
Not even growing for personal use anymore, even though they were fun to grow!
Storage tips: 5 Essential Things To Know About Brussels Sprouts.
Recipes: Best Brussels Spouts Recipes.
Kohlrabi.
We grow green & purple (of course, if it comes in purple then i’m growing it).
Storage tips: Will keep for 2 – 6 weeks in a plastic (or alternative) bag in the fridge.
Recipes: Kohlrabi Bistro Salad.
Bok Choi.
Also known as Joi Choi, Asian Greens and other names from their historic lands.
Storage: Store Bok Choy in the refrigerator in a well sealed plastic bag for a week. Don’t wash until ready to use.
Recipe and Preservation Ideas: If you have an abundance of Bok Choy chop it up and put it in the freezer to take out later and add to stir fries or soups.
Golden Berries.
A unique fruit, that cannot be beat when it’s in season & pre-warmed by the Sun.
Storage tips: do not need to be refrigarated. do not take husks off until you’re eating them, they will store better. wash before eating.
Recipes: Just a sweet, nice little snack.
Tomatillos.
No longer growing, not even for personal use. They were great + easy to grow but after leaving our Windsor pickup sites, the demand plummeted.
Recipes: 5 Things to do with your Tomatillos from Canadian Gardening.
Sweet Corn.
We only grow corn for ceremonial, personal purposes, in 3 sisters mounds.
We do occasionally buy some from other local growers, like Jardins Boardwalk Gardens.
Celery.
No longer growing, not even for personal use. This is one HARD to grow, it needs constant moisture & cool temps for a long time (longer than we have in this area). We may try growing it again though, it’s a fun one to eat!
Snap Beans.
Also known as bush beans, or just plain beans. One of our personal favourite veggies to eat ever! We grow a large variety of Beans including the always popular Dragon, as well as Tongue of Fire, yellow, green, purple, and Trail of Tears.
Storage tips: will keep for 2 – 4 weeks in the fridge in a plastic (or alternative) bag.
Recipes: I just love them as they are, I crave that crunch. If you prefer to cook them, try Vegan Chinese Green Beans.
Peppers.
Large Bells (including – surprise, surprise – purple) + Snacking / Lunchbox Peppers.
Our favourite varieties are: Lunchbox Mix, Islander, Carmen, Glow.
Hot Peppers
Ring ‘o’ Fire chilies that we sell fresh & mostly dried. Not what is pictured.
Storage tips: How To Preserve Chili Peppers.
We grow the large Italian type & a slender, sweeter Asian Eggplant, which we choose for it’s smaller, more manageable size, and for it’s increased sweetness.
Storage tips: can store on counter for a few days.
We grow the large Italian type & the slender, sweeter Asian Eggplant (which is a more more resilient & productive plant!).
Recipes: How To Make Eggplant Bacon, A collection of recipes from the blog, More blog recipes.
Okra.
We no longer grow this, not even for personal use. We may do a trial with the EFAO though, because it’s easy to grow, prolific & a pretty cool plant! When we left our Windsor pickup spots, the demand fell.
Storage tips: doesn’t like the cold.
Recipes: A collection of recipes from this blog.
Cucumbers.
We continue to try & grow these, for personal use only, and one of these days we’ll be able to grow them for everyone.
Recipes: 5 Secrets for Crunchy Pickles.
Watermelon.
A family favourite, we only grow a few to sell. They’re sprawling + yield is low. But who can resist the Moon and Stars variety pictured?!?.
Storage tips: Watermelons can store, without refrigeration, for up to one month, but are best eaten fresh + Sun-warmed!
What’s the difference between seeded and seedless Watermelons?
Recipes: Watermelon rind can be fermented to make a delicious and crunchy lacto-fermented “pickled” treat.
Cantaloupe.
Easier to grow than Watermelons (shorter season, larger fruit). We trialed True Love & it turned out to be tough conditions but this Cantaloupe thrived, a keeper!
Storage tips: best eaten fresh, or at least within 3 days of receiving. must be refrigerated after peeling / cutting. can refrigerate if you know you won’t be able to eat within 3 days.
Winter Squash.
Farmer Mike keeps trying to grow these but rashel does not so there are only a limited amount each year. It’s more of a personal project, this is another crop that has a lot of insect issues but covering it with insect netting is hard because the plant sprawls. My Pepe “Paul” Tremblay was an expert at growing HUGE Pumpkins & he taught me a lot! He used insecticides to keep the pests away & we haven’t found an organic alternative yet, there aren’t many “organic insecticides” that we think are actually safe to use. We’re growing our Insectaries to build up habitat for beneficial insects that will prey on and eat the troublesome pests. We need more balance. Prevention is key.
Cute tidbits. Wonderful World of Winter Squash.
Storage tips: Storage and Optimal eating tips from Johnny’s Seeds.
Recipes: Roasted Delicata Squash Salad, Thai Peanut Spaghetti Squash, Vegan Butternut Squash Mac ‘n’ Cheeze, Maple Roasted Vegetables, How To Freeze Spaghetti Squash, Roasted Delicata Squash (easier + tastier than butternut).
Zucchini.
Aka Summer Squash. This includes green, striped & yellow Zucchini, yellow, green & cream Patty Pans & Crooknecks. Storage tips:
Recipes: Fried Patty Pan Squash, Zucchini, Squash, and Potato Curry, For the Love of Summer Squash, Crispy Parmesan Zucchini Fries, A collection of recipes from the blog, An Ode to Summer Squash, More blog recipes, And yet another blog collection.
Pumpkins.
We don’t grow these, not even for personal use. Much easier to get them from the store. The seeds are the best part, freshly roasted with a bit of olive oil + salt is *chefs kiss*.
Turnips.
Not much of a demand on these, can’t say that I disagree.
Recipes: Maple Roasted Root Vegetables
Radnips.
If you’ve never tried one of these, what is your life actually?
Storage tips: will store for 2-6 weeks in the fridge in a plastic (or alternative) bag.
Recipes: You just eat them. Slice them to dip or chop them for a salad, for extra fun.
Beets.
Like everything else, these pretty much only come as a blend of red, yellow, candy striped (chiogga), and elongated.
Storage tips: will store for months in a humid, cool place.
Recipes: Raspberry Beet Muffins from Once a Month Meals, Maple Roasted Root Vegetables.
Carrots.
Our own unique mix of a variety of coloured Carrots. Red, Yellow, Orange, Purple, Red + Purple Dragon.
Storage tips: you know how to store carrots.
Recipes: Maple Roasted Root Vegetables, Raw Cake, Raw Carrot Pasta with Peanut Sauce, Check out the Carrot Museum!
Sunchokes.
Formerly known as Jerusalem Artichokes. Cool Indigenous Root Crop that’s in the Sunflower family. Find our more at our post – Notes on Sunchokes. Information from Eat The Seasons.
Storage tips: will store for months in the fridge in a plastic (or alternative) bag.
Recipes: Sunchoke Recipes from Serious Eats, Sunchokes and Orecchiette, Maple Roasted Root Vegetables.
Salsify + Scorzonera.
Great these specialty Fresh roots for Ben the Chef back in 2015. Not much demand otherwise so we don’t grow them anymore. We have to devote precious root-growing-soil to carrots.
Storage tips: like carrots.
Recipes: Find some great tips on our blog post, Notes on Scorzonera, Maple Roasted Root Vegetables.
Other items we offer in smaller quantities & infrequently (some not grown on our farm) include:
portabello mushrooms (once a reliable staple, since 2020 these are no longer available)
Portabello mushrooms: best stored in a paper bag. Recipes: Simple Grilled Portabellos.
greenhouse mini-cukes (local organic greenhouses got out of cukes)
potatoes
sweet potatoes (local organic farmer)
pickles + fresh asparagus (which we’ll hopefully harvest soon from our farm – see our fundraiser!).from local farm organic Sunshine Pickles.
local honey + bee pollen from Sun Parlor, local bee pollen
seedlings in may (limited until we can find a good location to sell them from again.)
hickory nuts (if the squirrels feel like sharing)
crab apples
salves (would be nice to make these again, is there interest?)
last updated on 25/02/2022 by rashel after smoking cannabis & wondering if anyone in the world will ever see this 😂 so if you do, let me know!
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