“How was your year?”
“Did you have a good season?”
These are questions we get asked all the time in fall. They are asked by farmers & non-farmers alike, by friends & neighbours, relatives, acquaintances, customers & CSA members, even by strangers.
I sometimes wonder what people consider to be a “good season” ?
- To us a good year means we grew and sold some good crops – healthy, delicious & beautiful. We did that!
- We had good employees. Dependable, capable, cheerful workers on the farm & at market are essential to the smooth running of the farm.
- The weather co-operated – mostly.
- Sales at our farmers’ market were up again. And spending Saturday mornings at the Georgetown market and seeing all our friends – vendors & customers – is always a highlight of the week.
- Our CSA program was a success. We had the numbers needed to make the program worthwhile, and our members were great! They showed up week after week to grab their box and were appreciative & kind, and generous with their conversation. Our new fall CSA worked well too.
- We all managed to stay healthy and injury/accident free all summer – no small feat during this time of COVID and as our bodies age. Farming can be challenging & strenuous – both physically & mentally.
- We were able to spend a lot of very enjoyable time with our grandsons on the farm. They love it here, playing and learning.
So yes, overall it was a good year.
Thank you for asking!
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Around the farm this month …
We are still picking greens for our own use – amazing how much cold they can tolerate.
Our kids from BC were finally able to visit, and these cousins got to meet each other for the 1st time!
thiessenfarms.com 
November 30, 2022 at 9:32 am
Thanks for sharing. After all this years we feel a tiny bit like family.
November 30, 2022 at 9:53 am
Thank you ever so much for sharing your year with us so generously. Your photography is a feast for the eyes as your artistic bent shines through. To have documented such an “up beet :)” year is no mean achievement. What a rich legacy it is!!! Praise be for what is and what’s possible in Niagara!
From one who is well-stocked with your garlic,
Hedy
November 30, 2022 at 9:54 am
I moved to this area at the end of March and right away subscribed to your CSA. I never stop bragging to people I talk to about the 17 weeks I was able to pick up ‘farm fresh’ veggies – not from a supermarket where nobody really knows where they came from or how old they are. Yours were right from the farm. I loved it. I was also so impressed with the newsletter letting me know in advance what will be in my box. To be greeted by ‘Mrs Thiessen” with that huge genuine smile and be given cooking tips for vegetables I was not familiar with – was the icing on the cake. I live alone and was not able to use all the vegetables each week – so I have a freezer full of soup and pasta sauce (as well as fruit from the farms around) to last me all winter. In case we get snowed in I will not go hungry. Thank you so much for inviting me to join this wonderful programme.