We don’t usually give organized tours of our farm. I always feel that our farm is pretty boring – just rows of trees & vegetables .. lots of grass & weeds in between … a few chickens, ducks & 1 rabbit. Nothing too exciting.

But last week was the exception & we gave 2 tours.

On Tuesday a group of 4-H club members from Saskatchewan together with their Ontario hosts visited, and on Saturday we had our CSA open house.

Unfortunately for the 4-H group the day was rather rainy & wet. We took a quick walk through the orchards as many of these students had never been on a fruit farm before. A highlight was eating cherries off the tree. One of the trees we had not picked still had some very ripe & very sweet cherries (with a lot of rotten & cracked fruit too). We let them eat all the cherries they wanted – they did not find that boring!

Our CSA open house on Saturday was extremely hot & humid. Thank you to those members who came out to have a look around anyways! It was good to show you how we grow the fruit & vegetables that appear in your CSA box, and to visit together.

For those that could not join us, here are some pictures of how things are looking on the farm right now …

Everyone is excited for peaches! We hope to begin the harvest later this week.

Right now we are scrambling to keep up with suckering (pruning) & tying the tomatoes

They look good when we are finished – at least for this week!

The tomatoes are ripening too …

We transplanted cabbage into the field the other week. Of course the rabbits found it & started to feast, so we replanted & then fenced the cabbage patch to keep those bunnies out!

Other vegetables growing include …

onions – part of your CSA share this week,

peppers, beans & cucumbers,

Swiss chard,

fennel bulbs,

& winter squash.

What’s in the box?

Onions, zucchini, beets, snow peas, lettuce, raspberries …

• Everyone enjoys the Ailsa Craig heirloom onions that we have been growing the last few seasons. They’re still a little small, but each week the size will increase. These onions are a sweet treat!
• Zucchini & beets are a part of your box again. We hope you’re still excited to see zucchini – they are really just starting & should be around for a while.
• Snow peas don’t usually last this far into the season but the cool nights last week prolonged the harvest. We’ll see what effect the hot temperatures of the past weekend will have for the harvest later this week.
• The lettuce still tastes good, so keep eating your salads!
• We picked the raspberries today – the warm weekend made for an abundant harvest! But they are rapidly coming to an end. We hope there will be a good amount for Friday’s pick-up as well – but no guarantees!
• … we have begun to harvest some other vegetables. There’s not a lot of them yet, but maybe enough for a taste … ?

Of all the jobs that we do on the farm, the one that puzzles people the most, the one that causes head shaking, the one that is least understood, is fruit thinning. Since growing fruit is our business, why would we deliberately remove fruit – sometimes lots of fruit – from the trees. We’ve been called crazy (or worse) & it’s been suggested that we have lost our minds when people see us thinning the fruit trees.

But there are good & sound reasons for thinning fruit. Often a tree will set a lot of fruit – more fruit than it is capable of growing to a marketable size. So we remove a portion of the crop.

We thin both for tree & for the fruit. A too large crop could cause the tree to use all its energy to bring the fruit to maturity, leaving it without the necessary strength to keep growing. If there are added stresses such as hot & dry weather or too much rain, insects or diseases … the tree could die. Additionally, the weight of all that fruit could cause branches to break. Too much fruit also means smaller fruit. It is preferable to have less but larger fruit – they look better, sell better & are worth more money.

And so we thin. On our farm we thin pears & peaches almost every year & often plums too. But all fruit can benefit from thinning if the crop is heavy – pears, peaches, nectarines, plums, apples, grapes & even cherries. Before we thin we wait for the tree to do its own thinning. It’s called the June drop. Most trees will drop a portion of their crop in mid-June – often fruit that is deformed or not properly pollinated, or just because there is too much! If we thin before the tree does its thing, we risk losing more fruit than we want. But when we see little fruit scattered under the trees we know we can safely finish the job.

Large pears are what the market wants, and they grow slowly, so we thin them first. We use small clippers to cut the pears off & try to space them about 8 or 9″ apart on the branch. Yes, it’s a slow & somewhat tedious job!

Here are the pears in mid-June ready to thin …

The pears today …

Peaches are easier to thin as they can be flicked off with your thumb & index finger. (The issue with peaches is the fuzz. The peach fuzz builds up between your fingers, in your elbows & especially in your neck. Mix it together with sweat on a hot, humid day & things can get rather itchy to say the least). The early maturing peaches that ripen before the middle of August don’t have as long to grow so we thin them about 8 or 9″ apart. We don’t thin the earliest varieties until their pits have hardened. Peach pits are soft & juicy until about the end of June when they begin to solidify & turn hard. If we thin before this happens, the pits will split apart as the peach grows and the peach will be open at the stem end allowing rain to enter & the fruit will rot. Insects will also take advantage of the opening & move in. Timing is critical! Later peaches have longer to achieve their size so we thin them about 6″ apart on the branch. When the crop is especially heavy, some farmers will use plastic baseball bats or pieces of hose to break the clumps of peaches, and follow with hand thinning. We just use our hands – it’s too easy to get carried away with a hose & whack the whole crop off! Thinning can be done by feel – it’s almost not necessary to even look at the tree.  But a good thinner will look at the fruit & try to remove the smallest, the blemished & misshapen fruit.

Some peach thinning before & after shots …

We try to finish our peach thinning by mid-July. This season we are a bit behind, as all hands have been busy picking cherries & now raspberries. But we’re hoping to catch up soon. Everyone is anxious for big, sweet, juicy & delicious peaches!

What’s in the box?

Raspberries, broccoli, lettuce, zucchini, beets (red or golden), garlic scapes, basil plants.

• Raspberries are at their peak this week, so expect more of these sweet, red & delicious berries in your share.
• This is the 4th week for broccoli – and maybe the last. We hope you are still enjoying it. Has it been too much or just enough? We have included a recipe below for broccoli slaw courtesy of one of our CSA members (thanks Shelley!).
• The lettuce is tasting good so it’s part of the box again this week.
• Back at the end of May we had that frost that damaged the zucchini and set them back. Well, the plants that made it through are starting to produce now so there is finally zucchini (green, yellow, striped or patty pan) in the box.
• We will have beets this week. When we pick tomorrow we’ll see if they are red or orange or a combination.
• Garlic scapes are a favourite for many. They are the top of the garlic plant. We cut them off so the garlic puts all it’s energy into forming a nice big bulb underground. Leaving the scapes to grow would produce flowers & seeds instead, which we don’t need or want. Use them wherever garlic bulbs are used – raw or cooked. Their flavour is a bit milder than garlic. We have included our recipe for garlic scape pesto – a favourite of garlic lovers!
• Back in spring when we were offering herb plants, many of you asked for basil plants. Finally we are having basil weather – hot & sunny – so we will have basil plants available for those who want them. Plant them in the garden or in a larger pot, or just cut & use the plant as is – your choice!

Broccoli Slaw

• 1 bunch broccoli
• 1/2 cup each slivered red onion and thinly sliced celery
• half sweet red pepper, seeded and slivered
• 1/3 cup each white vinegar and vegetable oil
• 3 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 cup roasted unsalted sunflower seeds (optional)

Trim and peel broccoli stalks; chop coarsely. Cut florets into small pieces.  In a large bowl, stir together broccoli, onion, celery and red pepper.

Whisk together vinegar, oil, sugar, paprika, salt and pepper. Continue to whisk until sugar melts and dressing thickens slightly.  Pour dressing over broccoli mixture; toss well. Refrigerate salad, covered, for at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours.

Just before serving, add sunflower seeds (if using). Toss well.

Garlic Scape Pesto

Ingredients:

• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1-2 tbsp lemon juice (or lime)
• 1/4 pound roughly chopped scapes
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• salt to taste

Directions:

Puree scapes, olive oil, & lemon juice in a blender or food processor until nearly smooth. Gently stir in cheese. Taste & adjust juice & salt to taste.

Serve as a spread on bread or crackers, a dip for vegetables, or on pasta or pizza.

Store in refrigerator for 2 -3 days. Pesto can be frozen for longer storage.

Thank you for returning all boxes & containers!

Please do not leave your vehicle idling while you pick up your CSA box.

What’s in the box?

Sweet cherries, raspberries, kale, lettuce, broccoli, snow peas

• We are thankful for the support & encouragement we received from our CSA members last week. Most were very understanding, and happy for sweet cherries, even if they were cracked & damaged from the rain. We continue to pick some sweet cherries – since the rain the other weekend, the weather has been dry & we have been able to salvage some fruit. The cracked cherries rot quickly, and where the crop is bigger & the cherries are touching each other, the rot spreads rapidly.

Where the crop is lighter & the cherries less plentiful, there is not as much ruined fruit. We applied fungicides to try to stop the fruit from spoiling as well. Without these sprays there would be no edible fruit at all!

So there will be cherries in your CSA share and probably of a better quality than last week – but still expect to find some cracked ones too!

• The raspberries have ripened very well & we will harvest an abundance this week. Everyone gets raspberries in their box! There will even be extras available to purchase if anyone wants more.

• Kale has always been considered a fall crop on our farm. But we know that many of you are big kale fans & have asked for it sooner, so here it is! Expect a bunch of fresh kale in your share this week.
• Lettuce, broccoli & snow peas continue to produce. Your broccoli may be …

… a beautiful head of broccoli,

… or some broccoli florets. These grow after the primary head of broccoli is harvested – sort of bonus broccoli!

… or broccoli stems (also called baby broccoli).

While the various broccoli may look different, they all taste great!

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For our farmers’ market customers …

We will have cherries at the markets this week – some from our own trees & some that we have purchased from a neighbour.

It’s a green, green world on the farm right now … and it’s beautiful!

With ample moisture in the ground from all the rains earlier this month, and now the sunshine & warmer temperatures, everything is growing rapidly. The fruit trees, berry canes, vegetables, grass, and of course the weeds – all are lush & bright & green.

New peach leaves & branches are a bright, vibrant green, becoming a darker green as they mature.

With no fruit to ripen (due to the frigid winter),  the blackberries can put all their energy into growing new canes for next year’s crop

The tomatoes are all mulched & staked & have been tied once.

Our native shrub & tree nursery – everything’s growing well, including the weeds.

At the farmers’ markets our stall is also green. Since our markets began about a month ago, we have been selling plants only – herbs & vegetable plants, including tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, cucumbers, eggplant, kale … but all green. Most people have done their planting now, but thanks to the city wildlife & their appetite for greens, replanting is often necessary & our sales continue.

Last week we offered lettuce & pea shoots – still green but edible & our customers were happy.

Our CSA boxes are extremely green as well – and not everyone is happy about that. While most members express thanks & appreciation for the fresh vegetables, we do hear some mutterings & grumblings. Everyone is hungry for something besides green salad fixings – especially fruit. We are too! The early zucchini is ripening, but that late frost damaged so many plants that there isn’t enough for our CSA members. The first beets were also stunted & slowed and are not quite ready to harvest.

But the sweet cherries & raspberries have come a long way in the last few days. We hope to be picking by next week!

(And yes, that is already bird damage seen on the cherries below.)

What’s in the (green) box?

Broccoli, snow peas, lettuce mix, Asian greens – stir fry greens, green garlic, mint.

• Broccoli was an unexpected bonus in last week’s Friday boxes. This week everyone gets broccoli – the heads are not large but oh so delicious!
• Snow peas are always a sure thing – but this season we have been humbled again. Sown during that dry spell, they germinated slowly & poorly, then had to compete with all the weeds that flourished when the rain finally came. We still have snow peas for your share, but not as many as usual.
• The lettuce mix continues to grow & grow! Keep eating your salads!
• The Asian greens are all bok choy or pac choy or … this week. Stir fry them quickly to keep the vibrant green colour & fresh flavour.
•  Enjoy some green garlic again this week – this may be the last garlic until fall! Remember to store it in the fridge.
• Hot, humid days call for home-brewed iced tea with fresh mint leaves. Our mint is going wild so we have included a bunch in your share this week.

Thanks for remembering to return all containers & bags for reuse!

They hang on opposite walls of our workshop, hidden among all sorts of other useful stuff. They are the old & the older, the seldom-used & the     never-used-anymore. I don’t like either, and avoid them if at all possible.

The weed whacker has the date we purchased it scratched on the plastic housing – 1/96. That makes it quite old! But it still runs when needed and the heavy-duty blade on the bottom takes care of a lot of weeds in a hurry.

I hate the weed whacker. It’s loud, it’s heavy, and it vibrates and shakes. You have to wear ear protection, eye protection, foot protection, & leg protection … And so it has spent most of it’s 19 years hanging on the wall of the workshop.

The scythe is even older. I remember this same scythe (and it’s partners) from when I was growing up on the farm. I also remember my father patiently teaching me the proper way to use it. Once you catch on to it, it’s actually a very efficient piece of equipment, and can take care of a lot of weeds in a hurry.

It’s safe to say that the scythe has not been used since the weed whacker was purchased back in 1/96, or probably even longer, since we had other weed whackers before this one.

Right now, there are a lot of weeds around the trees in the orchards. We prefer to use mulch – hay or straw – to help keep the weeds at bay. But we can never cover the entire farm, so we also spray with herbicides around the trees to control weeds. Between the rows we mow the grass.

We are a little behind in both weed control & grass cutting. In our defense, the grass is growing at an alarming rate due to all the rain, and the weeds even more so. So the orchards have a slightly wild look right now! But all will be brought under control in due time.

However, when I came across a few patches of thistles the other day,  that were about to go to seed, I had to take immediate action.

The obvious solution was to use the weed whacker … or maybe the scythe.

I chose to go old school & pulled the scythe out from it’s hiding spot & sharpened it up. It felt good to be using it! The thistles were taken care of in a hurry – without noise, vibration, & no needed ear & eye protection. Plus I got some exercise.

Perhaps there still is a place for the scythe on a modern farm …

The weeds in the vegetables are controlled with cultivation by tractor, by hand hoeing, and by hand weeding. We use a lot of mulch in the vegetables too.

The tomatoes are getting mulched & staked this week .

The eggplant & peppers will be next.

There is never a shortage of vegetables waiting to be weeded.

What’s in the box?

Green garlic, Asian greens, lettuce mix, spinach,

radishes (maybe), rhubarb (Friday only).

• Green garlic is fresh garlic, picked now, before the bulbs mature underground. Perhaps a little milder than fall garlic, it has amazing flavour and can be used raw or in cooking – wherever you would use garlic cloves. You can eat the entire plant. Because it is fresh & not dried, it must be kept in the fridge.
• Asian greens can be added to salads or stir-fried. They are juicy & delicious.
• This week’s lettuce is a mix of various kinds & colours of leaves. It looks & tastes beautiful! As usual we have rinsed it once but you may want to wash it too.
• The spinach plants have regrown so we are cutting them again & spinach will be in your box this week.
• There are still  a few radishes – at least enough for Tuesday’s boxes. No promises for Friday.
• But Friday gets the rhubarb this week -last week it was in the Tuesday shares.

Here are the beautiful Asian greens …

The snow peas & broccoli are maturing & should appear in your CSA box by next week (or sooner?)

Here is something to make your mouth water!! The first cherries are making their move & showing some colour!

 Just over 2 weeks ago (May 23) we had a late spring frost – and customers (at the farmers’ markets & CSA) are still concerned & asking how the crops were affected.

It appears that the fruit was not damaged. But various vegetables were. The artichokes that were already struggling due to lack of rain were totally wiped out. This was only our 2nd attempt at artichokes – last year’s crop was quite successful – and we are disappointed at this loss. Cauliflower was damaged badly, as was zucchini. We had extra zucchini plants & replanted – they just won’t be ready as soon as we had planned. Other crops were hit less severely such as snow peas & the new blackberry canes.

Here is an update on the fruit. The blossom petals have all dropped off, leaving the fruit visible. It is growing at a rapid pace!

Pears have a heavy crop.

Most plums have a nice crop.

The peaches vary. Some trees are quite light, while others have a full crop.

The early cherries don’t have a lot of fruit, but the crop is better on the later varieties.

The raspberries are looking very good – the bees were busy in the flowers today after the rain!

What’s in the box?

Lettuce, spinach, radishes, rhubarb (Tuesday only this week – Friday next week),

Asian greens (Friday only this week – Tuesday next week).

• We first grew this lettuce last year & everyone loved it! It tastes great & looks incredible. The lettuce has been rinsed once to remove most of the field dirt, but you will want to wash it more thoroughly!
• We have received many comments on how delicious the spinach was last week. Enjoy it once more this week – there is more spinach growing, but it always tastes best this time of year when the temperatures are still cooler.
• This is the last of the radishes. Eat them fresh, or try roasting them for a different flavour.
• Rhubarb – what do we do? We don’t quite have enough rhubarb for our CSA this season, but there is too much to ignore & waste. We have decided to offer it on Tuesday this week & on Friday next week. This will allow it to regrow in between. We’re hoping there will be enough so each share can at least make 1 rhubarb crisp or even a pie.
• The Asian greens will be a mixture of colours & textures. Add them to fresh salads or use the heavier, thicker ones in stir-fries.

Here’s our favourite fruit crisp recipe. We make it all year-long with rhubarb or whatever fruit is available fresh or frozen. It’s easy, quick & delicious!

Aunt Elvira’s Fruit Crisp

Prepare fruit & put in a pie plate – about 3/4 full

Topping: Mix together –

1/2 cup brown sugar (or to taste)

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup rolled oats

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons butter

Spread this topping over the fruit and bake in the microwave for 12 minutes. Enjoy!

 The lettuce that will be in the CSA box this week.

A few pictures of our first CSA pick-up of the season, last week …

The newest additions to our farm – 30 chicks & 10 ducklings arrived last week.

Fifty millimetres or almost 2″ – that’s how much rain fell on our farm this past weekend.

It was rain that was much-needed & very welcome. (Sorry to those whose outdoor activities were messed up by all that precipitation!)

Things had been getting quite dry.

The vegetables that we seeded were growing ever so slowly – instead of reaching up for the sunshine, they were stretching their roots down in search of moisture. The transplants that we set into the ground were languishing – not only was there little wetness for their roots to soak up, but the strong, hot winds we experienced for much of last week were sucking the moisture out of their leaves & stems. Only the weeds never hesitated but continued to flourish.

That all changed with the rain.

The vegetables have sprung to life & grown noticeably. The transplants – tomatoes, zucchini, broccoli, lettuce, onions – look refreshed & rejuvenated. It does not take long to see the results of the rain. And the weeds have never hesitated but continue to flourish.

The tomato patch.

Broccoli.

These rows of spinach & beets were barely seen last week.

Broccoli & onions … and weeds!

Nice to see a puddle again. Everything is lush & green.

It’s good that the vegetables are growing because it’s CSA time. The first week of CSA is always exciting! We get to see familiar faces & meet many new people. It’s the start of a great season!

What’s in the box?

Spinach, radishes, pea shoots, plants.

• The spinach is looking good & tasting good! It has been rinsed to get some of the mud (thanks to the weekend rains) off, but you will want to wash it again. Store it in a plastic bag in your fridge crisper.
• What will the radishes taste like? The heat last week promised to make them spicy & strong, but maybe the rain & cooler temperatures have cooled them down? They will store well in a bag in the fridge – remove the leaves first. If they lose their crunch after a few days, soaking them in ice water for 20 minutes will restore crispness (it will also make them milder tasting though).
• Pea shoots – excellent in salads or stir fries. Grow them outside in partial shade or inside near a window. Keep them well watered & use as needed.
• Choose from a multitude of varieties of tomato plants, if you want to grow some of your own, or a selection of herb plants to grow or just to eat. (But don’t ask for basil – it’s not ready yet!)

The radishes are hiding under the white netting – to protect them from insects that chew the leaves & burrow into the roots.

Pea shoots – healthy & delicious.

Colourful lettuces – probably in your CSA box next week.

A family of ducks has taken up residence in our pond, and we are enjoying them hugely!

 Looking forward to seeing everyone at CSA pick-up this week!