It happens every week at the farmers’ market.

Someone will buy a bunch of beets and ask us to remove the tops. They will acknowledge that the greens are edible – even delicious – but apologize for not wanting them. We tell them not to worry – someone else is sure to come along and ask if we have any extra beet greens. It usually works out.

We are all aware of food waste these days, and want to do our part to reduce or eliminate it.

Our CSA program is one way we reduce our food waste.

Since we know how many boxes have to be filled each week, we can grow vegetables accordingly. In season we harvest exactly what we need for the boxes each day. (That’s why we like to know if someone isn’t planning to pick up their box that week.)

We often set up a table with “extras” that people can help themselves to. It might be vegetables that we have in abundance or less popular vegetables (hot peppers, eggplant …) that not everyone wants. Sometimes we will include blemished or insect damaged vegetables in the CSA box – providing they are still edible – along with an explanation for our members.

For the farmers’ market we keep accurate records of what is sold each market day which helps us determine how many vegetables to bring. When we do bring product home we will often give it to the neighbour’s work crew. Or if sales were bad for some reason and we return with a lot, we will donate it to the food bank.

And then there are our chickens – always willing to look after any vegetables that still remain. The compost pile is the final step for spoiled & rotten produce – and even that really isn’t wasted. It becomes fertilizer that is returned to the land to provide nutrients for next year’s crop.

What’s in the box?

Kale, salad greens, arugula, green onions, garlic scapes,

zucchini (or broccoli or beets or kohlrabi).

• Kale is the new green in your box. We could call it baby kale as the leaves are small – small enough and tender enough to eat fresh in a salad. Our kale is a mix of several varieties with different colours and leaf shapes. Enjoy this beautiful, tasty and healthy green!
• We’ll just say salad greens this week. It may be lettuce, spinach, mini romaine, mixed salad or … depending on what is ready to be harvested on your pick-up day.
• Arugula, green onions and garlic scapes are also in your share this week.
• The big news is that we are beginning to pick zucchini. So far there is not enough for everyone – but we all know how fast zucchini comes on … If we are short on zucchini there are a few heads of broccoli. Back in the 1st CSA newsletter of this year I mentioned that we had lost our entire broccoli crop due to insects damage. However there were a few plants (maybe 30) that I put with the cabbage so they were protected with the insect cover and spared. Now they are producing some lovely heads of broccoli (next year we cover ALL the broccoli!). We have also been picking some beets – again, not enough for every share, and kohlrabi is about ready to pick as well. So, surprise!! Your box will contain 1 of these new vegetables!

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Around the farm this week …