It is always good to see the farm from a new perspective.

For example …

These pictures were taken in mid-August – notice how green everything is thanks to the abundance of summer rain.

(Thank you to our friend Carter from Vacant Inn Productions (www.vacantinnproductions.com) for these great shots.)

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Around the farm this month …

Our last fall CSA pick-up back on Oct 26 – still a good selection of vegetables!

The manure & compost is all spread and the fields are now resting for the winter.

We are always happy to receive leaves which are great for the soil. I spread these the other day – though the wind today is respreading them, I’m sure.

The cover crop has grown nicely and will provide adequate protection for the ground over the winter.

Found growing in the fields this week – dandelions, and 1 brave flower in our edible flower bed still hanging on.

We left a bed of salad greens for us to eat this fall and into the winter – weather permitting. As of now they are still fresh & delicious!

We planted the garlic in late October, on a beautiful, warm, autumn day.

We had our first frost of the season overnight and this morning.

This is later then usual – 3 weeks later than last year.

Then it was a beautiful sunny & cool fall day.

It was quite a heavy frost. The ground was white – roofs too – and the truck windshield had to be scraped.

The vegetables looked beautiful!

By mid-morning the sun had burned the frost away and all was good – no harm done to any of the vegetables remaining in the fields.

What’s in the box?

Chinese broccoli, salad turnips, cabbage, salad greens, green onions, sweet peppers, squash …

• Broccoli was a surprise in the box last week. This week it is Chinese broccoli also called flowering broccoli. The purple stems with green leaves are succulent, tender and have a mildly spicy flavour. Enjoy them in a salad, or gently stir fry or sautee them.

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Around the farm this week …

The dahlias were stunning this morning, the blooms edged in frost!

But by lunch they looked like this. Now I can mow them down, dig up the tubers and store them until planting time next spring.

But the dahlias along the barn were unscathed.

And the sunflowers didn’t seem to mind the frost at all.

Thank you for being a part of our fall CSA!

We hope to see everyone next spring. Details of CSA 2024 will be out in late January.

The 2023 season is quickly coming to an end.

We picked the last of the eggplant, peppers, cabbage and beans last week and then mowed the big vegetable field clean.

Saturday was our final farmers’ market in Georgetown. Despite a forecast calling for showers we had nice weather – cold & breezy but no precipitation. As usual the good people of Georgetown came out & supported their market and the closing day was a success – a great way to end our 30th year there!

Thank you Georgetown!

There are only 2 weeks remaining in our fall CSA – this week and next.

Growing conditions have been favourable – some sun, enough rain and most importantly, no frost – so we have been able to keep the CSA boxes full each week.

Here is last week’s CSA table ready for pick up.

What’s in the box?

Squash, salad turnips, salad greens, sweet peppers, green onions, beets.

Extras – cabbage, hot peppers, kohlrabi.

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Around the farm this week …

How about that!

Finally we got some coloured peppers & even some red shepherd peppers – at the last, clean-up pick! Too little, too late, but we’ll take them anyway!

And continuing that thought …

Here are the last sunflowers finally beginning to bloom – the patch that was supposed to be harvested for the Thanksgiving market!

But in anticipation of this possibly happening, I did plant them close to the house, so at least we can see them & enjoy them daily.

Under this white, insect cover is the fall cauliflower crop. Big, beautiful, healthy plants – but no heads yet!

The baby broccoli is coming. Will it mature in time for CSA next week?

There is lots of salad greens though – spinach, lettuce, mini-romaine, arugula …

Because we have not had a frost, the dahlias are still blooming and giving us pleasure.

Thanksgiving Monday was a very windy & chilly day – so we stayed mostly indoors and enjoyed a day off.

But by late afternoon I was craving fresh air and ventured outside to grab some photos for this newsletter and check on the vegetables.

The sun was shining, the colours were bright – a glorious autumn day!

What’s in the box?

Chinese cabbage, salad turnips, lettuce mix, spinach, edamame, fall radishes, sweet peppers, green onions.

• We have some beautiful Chinese cabbage this week! One variety is green with a pale creamy centre and the other is more frilly and looser with a more yellow centre. Both are delicious and excellent in salads, coleslaws, stirfries …

• Salad turnips (remember them from spring?) are small, round, white turnips that resemble radishes, but without the bite (usually)! Mild in flavour, crisp, and quite tender, they are best eaten raw – simply wash, cut off the tops and enjoy! They can also be stir fried, sautéed, or steamed – both the turnips & the green tops.

• The salad greens – lettuce mix & spinach – are loving the cool temperatures and the rain over the weekend.
• Enjoy the final batch of edamame for this year. Edamame freezes well, if you want to preserve some for the winter. Boil the pods in water for 3-5 minutes then pop the beans out, and freeze them in a freezer bag. We like to add them to our winter salads, soups or casseroles …
• Fall radishes, sweet peppers (weather permitting) and green onions complete this week’s box.

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Around the farm this week …

The weather has been awesome of late, and we have been picking some amazing vegetables – especially for October!

The last planting of 2023 – our lettuce mix. Will it mature in time for the last CSA at the end of October? Under the white insect cover is some Chinese broccoli.

The fall cover crops are germinating nicely – hoping for a carpet of green before winter.

We have enjoyed some beautiful fall skies lately.

Heading out behind the barn to feed the chickens this morning, I caught a whiff of another autumn aroma – pawpaws!

Altogether more pleasant than the manure smells I mentioned last week, pawpaws smell of ripe bananas, pineapples and mangos – a thoroughly delightful & delicious scent!

Today was the 1st time I could smell them. That means some are ready!

I have been anxiously waiting for them to ripen, checking the pawpaw patch every few days for the past couple of weeks, hoping they would be ready before Georgetown market ended on Oct.14. Our customers have been even more anxious, asking about pawpaws every week too.

So it is very good news that we should have some – probably only a very few – pawpaws this Saturday at market!

For more info on pawpaws, check out our blog post from a few years ago …

Haha Pawpaw!

What’s in the box?

Cabbage, sweet peppers, radishes, squash, green onions, green beans, lettuce mix, spinach.

Extras – hot peppers, kohlrabi …

• We have some lovely cabbages growing in the field – green, red & the curly leafed savoy. (And some beautiful Chinese cabbage too – for next week.)
• Sweet peppers have been frustrating & disappointing this season. As they ripened and started to turn colour, they rotted – mostly due to the wet conditions earlier. That is why we have been picking them all green. There’s nothing wrong with green peppers – they just don’t have the sweet flavour of a red, yellow or orange pepper. Now that the rains have stopped, the quality of the peppers is improving, but the cooler nights have prevented them from ripening & colouring up. However this week we are back to very warm temperatures. Will we get some coloured peppers yet?
• Fall radishes have been in the box the last few weeks, but this week we will have spring radishes – in October!
• There will be another winter squash in the box this week. Squash stores well – keep them dry & at room temperature. But watch them carefully. If any soft spots appear, eat them quickly.
• Green beans, green onions, lettuce mix and spinach are also in the box this week.

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Around the farm this week …

Lots of vegetables. Lots of weeds!

There’s a new pup in the neighbourhood – a Red Heeler named Tucci. Sage is not too sure about him, but the Flynns are quite certain they don’t like him, and hope he doesn’t come around the farm much.

Sage – passenger princess!

More autumn colours on the farm …

Happy Thanksgiving!

Fall is the season of colour …

… and of smells!

Today that smell was manure – dairy cow manure, guinea pig manure (from a neighbour who breeds guinea pigs), and mushroom compost. Manure is our farm’s main source of nutrients & fertility. I spread this mixture over the first of the empty vegetable fields, then seeded a cover crop (our other source of fertility) of oats, clovers, peas, vetch … We are hoping for a bit of rain to encourage these seeds to sprout and grow enough to cover the ground with a protective layer of green for the fall & winter.

I’ll continue to work my way through these manure piles in the coming weeks as time permits. While our summer CSA is finished, the fall CSA begins this week. Pick-up is only 1 day each week (Thursdays) instead of 3 which will give us more time for this and other work. And only 3 more Saturday markets to pick & prepare for.

This is also the last week for seeding. Amy has been seeding vegetables each week since late February – that’s over 6 months – so she is ready to pack the seeds away for awhile!

We still have lots to do, but we’ll take more time to enjoy the colours of fall, and to smell the roses … and the manure!

What’s in the box?

Bartlett pears, fall radishes, salad greens, winter squash, kohlrabi, green beans, sweet peppers, onions.

• This summers’ fruit share (from Pineview Orchards) was very well-received by so many of our CSA members, so when Amy saw pears at Pineview the other day she thought – why not! So there will be a basket of Bartlett pears in the box this week. They appear green but will ripen quickly so keep them refrigerated until you’re ready to eat them.
• How did you like the fall radish last week? They certainly can add a bite to a salad or sandwich! Also delicious roasted with other vegetables – roasting mellows the flavour.
• There will be 1 or 2 salad greens in your share this week – probably lettuce and maybe spinach too.
• As we said last week, winter squash is in short supply this year, but we have enough for this week (and maybe next?).
• Kohlrabi, green beans, sweet peppers & an onion complete the box this week.

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Around the farm this week …

The first leaves to show some colour on the farm.

The final pick-up for our summer CSA.

What is still growing in the fields?

Lots of salad greens, and cabbage, Chinese cabbage, cauliflower, baby broccoli, beets, green onions, salad turnips, green beans, edamame, peppers …

Fingers crossed that the beautiful weather continues and all these vegetables keep growing, mature and can be harvested and enjoyed.

Our animals enjoying their own down-time.

1st fall CSA pick-up Thursday from 3-6pm for those who signed up!

This is the final week of our summer CSA for 2023.

The 17 weeks have gone by quickly. We have enjoyed meeting and getting to know everyone.

Thank you for joining us this season. We appreciate your support of our farm, the confidence you have in us to supply your fresh produce, and your commitment to coming out to the farm (or the market) each week to pick up your box.

What’s in the box?

Winter squash, fall radish, salad greens, green beans, kohlrabi, sweet peppers,

edamame, onions, garlic.

Extras – beets, hot peppers …

• It is not a good year for squash on our farm. We decided to grow only the large heirloom squash and a few other unusual kinds – the ones other farms don’t grow. They turned out mostly ok. We had a neighbour grow the common squash varieties for us – but he had a crop failure. The weather this summer wasn’t great for squash – it prefers hot & dry conditions, which we did not have. But we were able to buy some, and together with the few we grew there will be a squash in the box this week.
• Fall radishes are large, beautiful and delicious. They have the same flavour as spring radishes – but slightly stronger & sharper. Slice them thinly into salads or slaw, or roast them along with other vegetables. Check for recipes at http://www.cookwithwhatyouhave.com. (Look under daikon or watermelon radishes.) Choose from 3 colours – pink, white or purple. Wrapped in a plastic bag in the fridge they can keep for a month or more.

• Salad greens – probably lettuce, beans, kohlrabi, sweet peppers, edamame, onions & garlic complete this final box of the season.

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Around the farm this week …

Still lots of vegetables to pick for fall CSA and the farmers’ market …

… but more empty fields on the farm,

and yet more seedlings to be planted.

At Georgetown Farmers’ Market on Saturday.

Cutting down the last row of fruit trees remaining on the farm – sweet cherries that we left only as a windbreak. (Anybody need some good firewood?)

Sage enjoying the fresh, just-delivered manure pile.

Looking for treasure on the train tracks!

• Please recycle your CSA box (or drop it off at the farm if you’re passing by).

• Details for CSA 2024 will be emailed to you in late January.

• For those who joined our Fall CSA, it begins next Thursday. (sign up for fall CSA is now closed)

We disappointed a lot of our customers at market on Saturday. (Never a good idea!)

The cause of their disappointment was our tomato display – or lack thereof.

Instead of our usual display …

… we had only a few pints of cherry tomatoes. And these sold out quickly.

This week, we will disappoint our CSA members. No tomatoes in the box!

We have about reached the end of our tomato season. For tomato lovers this is a sad time. For us it is bittersweet.

Tomatoes are one of our biggest crops – both in terms of income, and also time invested.

Amy seeded the first tomatoes more than 6 months ago. Since then she has transplanted them into pots, and then planted them into the field. They have been mulched, posted, tied & pruned (several times), and then harvested – usually 3 times each week – for more than 10 weeks. We sort them, pack them, display them and then finally sell them.

It has been a good tomato season. We picked an abundance of delicious & beautiful fruit. But now the plants are tired and diseased and the tomatoes lack flavour. We might scour the patch again this week to try and find those last few tomatoes worth picking & eating. Or, we might not.

We enjoy everything about growing tomatoes – including the end of the season!

What’s in the box?

Edamame, kohlrabi, lettuce, carrots, green onions, shishito peppers, sweet peppers, garlic.

Extras – hot peppers, eggplant, beets.

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Around the farm this week …

Today’s planting – lettuce, spinach, arugula, baby kale …

Under the white insect cover are radishes & salad turnips for our fall CSA.

Mini romaine lettuce, more salad greens and cauliflower & cabbage.

We hope to have some winter squash in the box next week (our last week). Weather conditions were not favourable for squash this summer so the crop is smaller & later.

But our nut crop is great! Walnuts, hazelnuts and heartnuts – usually the squirrels harvest them all, but there appears to be lots for us this year. So far …

Someone loves blackberries!

Only 1 more week left in our summer CSA.

One thing I really love about our kind of small scale, market farming is how the farm changes – seasonally for sure, but also monthly and even weekly.

Crops are planted, they grow, are harvested and often something else takes their place. Things are never static. It makes it very interesting!

Here’s an example – zucchini, cabbages & sunflowers – in June, August and today. Only the cabbages remain.

Or this vegetable patch – 1st planting in early June and ready for harvest at the end of that month.

Here are the same beds, replanted in early August, and today, ready for picking.

Now it is early September and more & more beds and whole fields are harvested and empty.

Some will continue to be replanted for our fall CSA crops.

Others will not be replanted again this season (except to a fall cover crop which will “cover” the soil and protect it over the winter from erosion).

Fall brings a whole new look to the farm – again!

I love it!

What’s in the box?

Cabbage, carrots, fresh herbs, lettuce, tomatoes, sweet peppers, green onions, blackberries.

Extras – beets.

• The first of the fall cabbages are ready – mostly green, but also a few red heads are available. (Our fall CSA will include more red & green cabbage.)

• There will be another bunch of carrots in the box this week.

• The choices for fresh herbs will include basil, cilantro, dill …
• We are picking 3 kinds of lettuce this week – our salad mix, mini romaine and some beautiful summer crisp heads. Lettuce does not do well in the extreme heat we are experiencing these days so we are not sure which kind will make it into the box this week.
• The tomato patch is looking poor. We have been harvesting tomatoes for 2 months now, and the plants are weary & showing disease. The good news is that there are still some good plants producing good fruit. Enjoy them while they last!

• Sweet peppers, green onions and blackberries complete the share.
• Extras this week – beets.

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Around the farm this week…

Another planting of mini-romaine lettuce.

Labor Day Monday – an extremely hot & humid day – was celebrated in various ways around the farm …

The countdown has begun!

Only 3 weeks of summer CSA remaining after this week (followed by our fall CSA for another 5 weeks).

And just 7 more Saturdays at the Georgetown Farmers’ Market.

It’s not that we are anxious to be finished.

This countdown is necessary for our seeding and planting schedules.

What vegetables can we still plant that will mature in time?

It is too late for beans and sunflowers – we seeded the last of those already the other week. We might try one more round of beets, kohlrabi and even Chinese cabbage. We continue to plant greens – lettuce, spinach, arugula, baby kale, bok choy – every week, and we will for several more weeks yet. Spring radishes & salad turnips are possible too. Even baby carrots!

We are limited not only by the calendar, but also by our ambition or lack thereof!

But we finally nailed down the details of our fall CSA and sent out the email earlier this afternoon. The response was immediate! People are signing up. That is so encouraging and gives us the energy we need to keep going. Thank you!

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some seeding to do.

What’s in the box?

Carrots, eggplant, garlic, fennel, blackberries, tomatoes, onions, sweet peppers, green beans.

Extras – beets, hot peppers.

• Another planting of carrots is ready. They are the perfect size – not too big & not too small!

• We have a bumper crop of eggplant this season – it really likes all the rain we’ve been having! Eggplant can be used in so many ways – http://www.cookwithwhatyouhave.com has lots of useful information about eggplant & at least 25 recipes to start you off.
• The garlic has been dry and ready for a few weeks now, but we have not had the time to clean & trim it … till now. Enjoy a bulb in your box this week and every week until the end of CSA.
• Fennel is another vegetable that is amazing us this season. Even if you are not familiar with it, please give it a try. The bulbs this week are small and tender – perfect for grating into a salad or slaw. The flavour is so light & refreshing. It is also great in a stir-fry or roasted with other vegetables.
• Blackberries – not too sweet, not too tart, but so delicious! Want to enjoy some in the winter too? Blackberries freeze very well. Gently wash the berries, spread them on a baking sheet and freeze overnight. Then bag them up and enjoy all winter – on ice cream, with your morning cereal, in a smoothie, baked in muffins …

• The tomato plants are struggling. Blight & other diseases are taking their toll on the plants and reducing the crop – the bigger tomatoes especially! But the cherry & grape tomatoes should hopefully be around for a few more weeks.
• Onions, sweet peppers & green beans complete the box this week.
• Extras – hot peppers and beets. As many of you have been beat by the beets we are not including them in the box but they are available as an extra again for those who might still want them.

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Around the farm this week …

Lots of vegetables still growing.

Checking out tractors!