What’s in the box?

Winter squash, Chinese cabbage, sweet peppers, salad greens, kohlrabi, garlic, fresh herbs.

• Autumn Frost is the name of the winter squash in the box this week. This beautiful & decorative tan coloured squash has a bluish-white bloom that makes it look like it is covered in frost. The vibrant orange flesh is rich, sweet, & nutty in flavour, similar to a butternut squash. Enjoy it roasted in the oven. Also excellent in soups, pies, purees and cubed in harvest salads. Autumn frost stores well for up to 4 months.

• The Chinese cabbage in the box might be green or red – actually a burgundy/purple. Both are beautiful and taste amazing. Not ready for another Chinese cabbage yet? Put this one in the fridge in a plastic bag and it will keep for many weeks – if not months! (Just remember to check it periodically for signs of spoilage.)
• Sweet peppers, a salad green, kohlrabi, garlic and a fresh herb complete your final box for this season.

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Around the farm this week …

Next year’s vegetable field – worked up, compost & manure spread, winter cover crop seeded. I left a strip untouched for the insects, moths & butterflies and birds. (I’m enjoying the bright purple flowers of the vetch too!)

The pleasures of autumn include …

… beautiful skies,

… leaves changing colour,

… final flowers,

… and berries,

… frosty mornings,

… warm sunshine,

… bare feet.

Thank you for being part of our CSA this season!

We appreciate your support of our family farm, the confidence you place in us to supply your fresh produce, and your commitment to drive out to the farm (or the market) each week to pick up your box.

For those who joined our Fall CSA – 1st pick-up is next Thursday, October 8 from 3-5:30 pm. See you then!

What’s in the box?

Stir fry mix, radishes, sweet peppers, beans, garlic, salad greens.

• We have various kinds of fall greens thriving in these cooler autumn temperatures. Many are ready for harvest now, so we combined a selection into a delicious stir fry mix for you to try. Included are Chinese broccoli, bok choy, kale and a new one for us – Chijimisai greens. Chijimisai are a beautiful Asian green, with velvety textured leaves and a mild, slightly sweet taste. High in minerals, protein and Vitamin A these greens are excellent in stir fries, and also salads, soups, lasagna and as a pizza topping. (We have included our favourite stir fry sauce recipe below in case you want to try it.)

STIR FRY SAUCE

5 tablespoons oyster sauce

2 tablespoons chicken broth

1 tablespoon dry sherry

1 tablespoon packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

1 teaspoon fresh ginger grated

1 teaspoon corn starch

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Around the farm this week …

Sage is always happy when we get a load of mushroom compost!

Freeing a killdeer that got inself trapped in the insect netting.

Next week is the final week of our CSA!

What’s in the box?

Chinese cabbage, green beans, fennel, sweet peppers, shishito peppers, garlic, fresh herbs (dill or cilantro).

Extras – Hot peppers.

• This is our first harvest of Chinese cabbage this year – and it is beautiful!

• Chinese (or Napa) cabbage is one of those vegetables that prefers cool & consistent temperatures, thus growing best in spring and fall. Our spring crop failed. It went to flower just before harvest due to heat & fluctuating temperatures. So we are especially pleased with our fall crop (yes, there’s more to come!). This weeks’s variety, called Little Pagoda is known for it’s tall cylindrical shape. The outer leaves of the cabbage are a rich, dark green. Inside, the creamy white leaves are crisp & tender. Enjoy them fresh in a salad or slaw, or use them in soup or a stir fry.

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Around the farm this week …

This is the last patch of ground where we are making our final plantings of the year.

The weather has been good lately – mostly seasonal temperatures and adequate rainfall – and the vegetables are responding & looking great!

Last call for Fall CSA. Talk to Lorie at CSA pick up or email thefarm@thiessenfarms.com this week.

What’s in the box?

Chinese broccoli (Tuesday only), bok choy, shishito peppers, sweet peppers, carrots, beets, fresh herbs, garlic …

Extras – cucumbers & hot peppers.

• We didn’t plan it this way, but it turns out that this is the week for Asian vegetables including Chinese broccoli, bok choy and shishito peppers. Chinese broccoli (also known as gai lan) might be new to some of our CSA members. As the name would suggest, it tastes like broccoli – but stronger with perhaps a slight bitterness. Everything gets eaten, the stem, leaves and flowers. Blanche it quickly in boiling water and drizzle with oyster sauce or soy sauce. Or stir fry it with garlic and oyster or soy sauce. Chinese broccoli was already in the box last Thursday & Saturday so this week Tuesday pick up gets it. Please let us know how you like it.

• We have to mention cucumbers. Often we have difficulty growing good cucumbers – but not this year! We have had cucumbers in the box for 5 of the last 7 weeks, which is a record for us! Some of you have even mentioned having too many and have turned them down. Our 2nd planting of cucumbers is almost finished but there are still some for this week – probably as an extra, for those who still want them. The final planting of cucumbers is growing well, with harvest expected to begin in several weeks (weather permitting).

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Around the farm this week …

Another tree fell down this past week, the 3rd one this summer (plus another one we took down before it fell on our chicken coop)! This one was growing along the train tracks and fell on vegetables causing some damage. All these fallen trees were volunteers or weed trees – not the strongest or most stable trees. And because the ground is so soft & saturated from all the rain, it just takes a bit of wind and these trees come tumbling down. This tree was also covered with wild grape vine that contributed to its downfall – and made clean up more difficult.

We are still accepting sign ups for our Fall CSA – check your email for information or contact us at thefarm@thiessenfarms.com for all the details.

It rained again today so we did not spend much time out in the fields. This is what we think will be in the box – but things could change once we get picking tomorrow!

What’s in the box?

Sweet peppers, carrots, lettuce, green onions, zucchini, cucumbers, beets, garlic.

Extras – hot peppers.

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Around the farm this week …

Our last planting of zucchini & cucumbers is in the ground. They are transplanted into a heavy, reusable, black plastic mulch, then covered with insect netting and further mulched with straw. When they get too big for the insect netting we remove it and have a (mostly) weed-free row of zucchini & cucumber plants. It’s a bit more work now to set it all up, but less work later – when we are on our own and have no students to help us.

Now we need some pleasant fall weather so these zucchini have time to mature!

How about some colourful, cheerful pictures to brighten up a dreary, wet day!

Our beet greens are a hit with these guys! (They are not ours – they belong to friends :))

Please check your email for information on our FALL CSA. Or contact us at thefarm@thiessenfarms.com for all the details.

Sign up is happening now!

What’s in the box?

Sweet peppers, carrots, green onions, edamame, lettuce, tomatoes (big & small), blackberries, zucchini, cucumbers.

• Sweet peppers are ready. We are picking mostly green bells, along with a few red and yellow shepherds. The recent rains have been hard on the peppers, rotting most of them as they ripened. With more sunshine expected, the quality & quantity should improve.
• Carrots are back in the box! Great tasting and a nice size – not too big & not too small. There should have been carrots almost every week lately but we lost a large bed of them due to all the rain earlier in the month. They sat under water for a day and again another day a week later. After the water soaked in the carrots appeared to be ok. When we began to dig them, they still looked fine. But when we grabbed them, instead of a nice firm carrot, most were mushy and oozed slime. Yikes! The bed I dug today was located on higher, drier ground and the carrots are much better.

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Around the farm this week …

With more sunshine and less rain recently our vegetables are growing well.

Our fall vegetables – including cabbage, Chinese cabbage, sprouting cauliflower, mini broccoli – are doing well under the protection of the white tunnels.

Picking some nice tomatoes – though the plants are failing fast!

What’s in the box?

Edamame, blackberries, tomatoes – large & small, cucumbers, zucchini, beans, garlic, salad green?

Fruit – Peaches **This is the final week for fruit in the CSA box.

• Edamame are fresh green soybeans. They have been grown in China for several thousand years ago and more recently in Japan. There, it is a traditional bar snack eaten lightly steamed and sprinkled with salt. Edamame are full of protein, fibre and loaded with vitamins & minerals – a very healthy vegetable. And they are easy to prepare! Simply boil the pods in salted water for 3-5 minutes. Drain. Then squeeze the pods to pop out the beans and enjoy as a healthy snack. We like them sprinkled with lime juice and salt. Or they can be added to soups, stews, salads, and noodle dishes.
• We are picking a plethora of blackberries. With all the moisture in the soil the berries are large & plump and sooo delicious!
• Our beefsteak tomatoes are also coming on strong now. Enjoy several in your box this week along with some cherry tomatoes as well.
• The next plantings of cucumbers & zucchini are producing quality fruit.
• Beans – green or yellow or both ??
• The garlic is now dry. Store it at room temperature in a dry area and it will last many months.
• We hope to find a salad green for the box. With plenty of beds of greens scattered around the farm and many covered with insect netting, we have to do some exploring & discovering tomorrow …

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Some of our CSA members have been unsure how to use the eggplant that has been in the box the last few weeks. Here’s our new favourite way to prepare eggplant. Give it a try!

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Around the farm this week …

The fields of cover crops are a blooming delight! We are behind in keeping them mowed and they are in full flower – white buckwheat, red clovers, bright purple vetch and more. The fields are swarming with birds, butterflies and every sort of insect.

And rows of sunflowers – too far open to harvest, but perfect for us to enjoy as we go about our work.

A colourful display at Georgetown Farmers’ Market on Saturday.

What’s in the box?

Blackberries, Swiss chard, patty pan summer squash, jalapeno peppers, shishito peppers, green beans, tomatoes, eggplant, garlic, fresh herbs.

Extras – beets, kohlrabi

Fruit – Peaches

It’s blackberry season!

• Blackberries are big, black, beautiful berries! They are a bit sweet & a bit tart. If they aren’t quite ripe they can be sour. Too ripe and they are soft & mushy – but incredibly sweet. We try to pick them as ripe as possible but still firm. To achieve this we pick the patch every Monday, Wednesday & Friday – unless the weather disrupts our schedule.
• Unlike raspberries, blackberries are not hollow but have a soft edible centre core. The only way to eat a blackberry is to pop the whole thing in your mouth. Try to take a small bite and you will be covered in dark, staining juice. While best eaten fresh, blackberries also make great jam, juice, sauce & ice cream.
• Hanging throughout our blackberry rows are these yellow sticky traps – the bright colour attracts bugs and then they get stuck on the extremely sticky paper. It is a simple & easy way for us to see what insects are in our blackberry patch.

• What we are especially interested in is the spotted wing drosophila. This invasive vinegar fly causes extensive damage to many fruit crops, especially soft and dark coloured fruit – like blackberries. It is found throughout much of southern Ontario and most of the fruit-growing areas of North America, and has become a chronic pest in berry and tender fruit crops. There are cultural practices that we use to help reduce the insect populations, but the most effective control is chemical. So we spray regularly to protect our blackberries & keep them free of worms.
• Swiss chard – now here’s a vegetable that seldom appears in our CSA box. We have learned that most of our CSA members prefer other greens such as lettuce, spinach, arugula … over Swiss chard. But there are no salad greens this week, due to the recent rains so Swiss chard it is! (We also know there are members who really enjoy chard and will be excited to see it.)
• Patty pan summer squash is similar in taste & texture to a zucchini but with a different shape. Use it as you would a zucchini, or go wild and cut the top off, hollow it out and stuff it with mushrooms & vegetables or rice or …

• There are 2 kinds of peppers in the box this week and they look somewhat similar. But don’t get them mixed up! Shishitos are (usually) sweet while jalapenos are very hot!
• The rains have not been kind to our green beans. Several patches were under water briefly and are looking rather yellow and stressed. The bed we are picking now faired better and these beans are just fine.
• We are picking all our tomato varieties now including Big Beef, the large, red field tomatoes that you have been asking about. Unfortunately our tomato patch is already showing disease & stress from the recent heavy rains. It may be a short season. So enjoy your tomatoes while they last!
• Eggplant, garlic & fresh herbs complete the box.
• Beets & kohlrabi are available for those who still want these vegetables. 🙂

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Around the farm this week …

We are anticipating a drier week finally – and that has us really excited!

Most of the vegetables that went into the field in the last couple weeks are growing well …

2 trailers of vegetable seedlings needing to be transplanted into the field – yesterday!!

What’s in the box?

Shishito peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, carrots, fresh garlic, beets, green beans (Tuesday only).

Fruit – Nectarines, Vampire plums & Early Golden plums.

• These are the vegetables we are sure will be in the box this week – shishitos, tomatoes, eggplant, carrots, fresh garlic, beets.
• We are less confident in the following because they are under water in the fields today – romaine lettuce, fennel, kohlrabi… Perhaps by tomorrow they will be on drier ground and we can harvest?

• Our green beans surprised us last week. They were ready to harvest and we managed to pick them and include them in the box for Thursday & Saturday pick up. This week Tuesday members get their green beans. (The next planting may be ready by next week.)

• Cucumbers have only been around for 2 weeks and already the plants are dying back and producing only a few fruit – not enough for everyone. Fortunately the next planting is growing well and showing blossoms, so we will have more cucumbers in a few weeks.
• Similarly, our zucchini row is declining rapidly (picture on the left) but the next planting is not far away (picture to the right).

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Around the farm this week …

Another week, another severe storm with lightening, thunder & a lot of rain! Actually make that 2 storms this past week – 90mm last Monday night and more than 110mm yesterday & overnight. A lot of rain!

Fortunately most of the vegetables that we have planted in the last while have been on higher ground and were not much affected by the heavy rain. However our pepper plants and sunflowers did get damaged by the storms

This is a bald-faced hornet nest that we found in our blackberries. These hornets are particularly dangerous as they are aggressive and very protective of their nest. They can sting several times and also spray venom at their victims. Not something we want in our blackberries! We had them removed by a professional.

CSA pick up last week .

Our farmers’ market stall on Saturday was colourful with the first sunflowers of the season.

What’s in the box?

Tomatoes, eggplant, cucumbers, zucchini, carrots, fresh garlic, beets, green onions.

Extras – kohlrabi

Fruit – Peaches

• Tomatoes, eggplant, cucumbers, and zucchini! We are surely approaching the height of the summer harvest. We know you have been waiting for tomatoes especially. This week we begin with cherry tomatoes – of many colours. Medium size fruit will follow soon with the large beefsteak in a couple of weeks.
• Our next planting of carrots is ready.
• A reminder that the garlic is freshly harvested and not yet dry. Keep it at room temperature, and in a place with good air circulation. You can leave it there and it will slowly cure & dry. Or enjoy it right away in your cooking – but once the bulb is broken open, it should be used within a few days.
• Beets and green onions complete the box.
• Kohlrabi is available as an extra for those who want it.

*What is not in the box this week? Lettuce. The hot temperatures of these last few weeks have caught up with us (we lost several plantings from the heat) and there is not enough lettuce for our CSA boxes. But we continue to plant lettuce (both head lettuce & lettuce mix) and should have some again in a week or two – weather permitting.

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Around the farm this week …

Last week’s big story was the intense rain & thunderstorm that occured during Tuesday’s CSA pick up. We received about 70mm or 2 3/4″, most of it falling within 2 hours. A lot of rain!

This is the bridge that leads to Amy’s house – over the ditch that is normally dry this time of year.

But the next day there were not any puddles on the farm. The rain had totally soaked into our sandy soil. I was even able to plant out some vegetables – on a small knoll (pink circle) where the ground was perfectly dry enough. But most of the field (blue circle) that had recently been cultivated and prepared for planting remained too wet for several days as the water ran off the knoll and pooled in the lowest spots before soaking in.

However, the fields with cover crop growing absorbed the rain immediately – a good reminder that looking after our soil and keeping it covered with a growing crop is beneficial and certainly the way to go.

I recently mowed the buckwheat cover crop leaving the residue to add organic matter to the soil. One strip of blooming buckwheat was left for all the various insects & birds to enjoy.

The garlic is all harvested. There are a lot of big, beautiful garlic bulbs drying all over the barn. The smell is amazing!

Blackberries are almost ready!

A great day at Georgetown market on Saturday.