What’s in the box?

Salad greens, pea shoots, mint bunches, green garlic.

• Salad greens will be a big part of your CSA box this week. We have several kinds coming on now including spinach and …? (Just a reminder that all our greens have been rinsed once to remove most of the field soil. You may want to wash them more thoroughly. Keep them bagged in the fridge and they will last at least 1 week.)
• The box of pea shoots in your share is meant to be eaten – not planted!  Place the box outside in partial shade or inside near a window. Keep them well watered & let them reach about 10-12 cm. Then use as desired – cut what you need and add them to your salad or sandwiches … If you cut them about half way down, leaving a stem & some leaves, they will grow back and you can harvest them again. (Cutting them all the way down at soil level gives a larger harvest – but only once.)

• We love fresh mint! Delicious & refreshing in fruit salads, drinks etc. We often make a simple syrup with the mint leaves and add it to our iced tea.
• Green garlic was very popular last week so we’ll include it again. But don’t worry – there will be plenty of garlic remaining in the field for big, juicy garlic bulbs come fall.

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We are so close!

There are many vegetables almost ready for harvest!

Zucchini, Chinese cabbage, cabbage, broccoli, carrots, & beets, to name a few.

The warmer days are pushing them on, while the cooler nights are slowing them down. And so we wait – with anticipation.

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Around the farm this week …

Winter squash is planted.

The 1st green beans are up and growing.

Some of today’s planting, including beets, spinach, bok choy.

Some leftover spicy stir fry mix going to flower. We’ll leave it for the bees & other pollinators to enjoy before we mow it down & replant here.

My favourite wild rose bushes are blooming around the farm.

Taking time to smell the roses!

It was great to see everyone at the 1st CSA pick up last week!

Welcome to CSA 2025!

What’s in the box?

Salad turnips, spinach, arugula, spicy stir fry mix, green garlic.

• Salad turnips are small, round, white turnips that resemble radishes, but without the bite! 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 spinach has been thriving in this cool spring weather. It is one of our most popular greens. Eaten fresh in a salad or lightly steamed, it is always delicious – and nutritious!
• Arugula is a bit spicy & nutty. Use it in salads, sandwiches or wraps, on pizza … If you find the taste a bit strong on its own, add it to your salad or maybe our spicy stir fry mix.
• Our spicy stir fry mix contains kale, mustard, mizuna & arugula. When the leaves are smaller it makes a delicious salad. This week the leaves are a bit larger so we suggest stir frying it. Add the turnip greens and green garlic – the taste will be amazing!
• Green garlic is a fresh garlic plant. At this time of year the garlic bulb has not yet formed below ground, and the green top is still tender enough to eat, like a scallion or green onion. Green garlic is milder than fall garlic bulbs. Use them raw (sliced into salads or mashed with goat cheese for a spread) or cooked (sautéed with scrambled eggs maybe) anywhere you would use garlic bulbs. They are also delicious brushed with olive oil & tossed whole on the barbecue. Store green garlic in the fridge.

All our greens (including lettuce, spinach, arugula … ) have been rinsed once to remove most of the field soil. You may want to wash them more thoroughly, bag them & store in the refrigerator. They should last at least a week.

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Our fields are dotted with white tunnels these days.

While they are not the most beautiful to look at, they have a very important function – they protect our crops from pests.

The tunnels are made of a knitted white mesh fabric similar to nylon. The mesh is small enough to keep insects from getting through and munching on our vegetables, but still allows sunlight to reach the crops and let the rain through. Most importantly, they protect our vegetables without the use of pesticides. After seeding or transplanting our crops, we insert hoops into the ground every 8′ to form an arch over the bed and stretch the insect netting over. We use metal staples to secure the netting and then cover the edges with soil.

Once the crops are able to withstand some insect damage or outgrow the covering, we remove the tunnel – and reuse it on the next crop that needs protection.

The hoops & staples have lasted for many years now, and we can usually get 3 years use from the netting before it weakens and tears, making the whole setup cost effective.

Today we planted zucchini and then promptly covered it to prevent damage from cucumber/squash beetles. When the plants blossom we will uncover them to allow the bees to pollinate the zucchini.

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Around the farm this week …

Tomatoes getting mulched with straw to keep the moisture in and the weeds out.

Our warm weather crops like tomatoes, peppers & eggplant loved the sun & seasonable temperatures last week.

Our farmers’ market stall looked beautiful on Saturday with the 1st of the peonies!

We look forward to seeing our friends, and meeting our new members this week at the first CSA pick up.

Saturday was the opening day of the Downtown Georgetown Farmers’ Market for 2025.

And a cold opening day it was! The temperature was a chilly 8°C when we arrived at 6 AM, with a strong north wind that blew all morning and kept us shivering!

In spite of the weather, sales of tomato and herb plants were pretty good . And the handful of vegetables we managed to bring sold out immediately.

We are excited to be back for our 32nd year and look forward to a great market season!

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Around the farm this week ….

Peppers & eggplant are finally in the ground.

Tomatoes posts are in. Next comes mulching and then staking, pruning & tying.

Edible flowers. (These regrew from last year – bonus!)

Amy’s seeding helper!

Amy’s tractor helper!

And look what arrived today!

CSA begins next week!

CSA members please check last week’s email for all the details.

2 days of sunshine = a frenzy of planting on the farm.

Tomatoes …

… and lots of lettuces including salad mix, and 5 kinds of mini romaine. Plus other vegetables …

But after so much rainy weather, we won’t be caught up for awhile.

There are 2 trailers of seedlings waiting to be planted and plenty more coming in the greenhouse. And Amy keeps seeding & seeding …

Keep that sunshine coming!

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Around the farm this week ….

The self-serve trailer of tomato plants is parked at the road but sales have been slow so far due to the cool, wet weather these last few weekends.

The pawpaw trees are in bloom.

This guy showed up the other day – Sage chased him up the tree and made him feel very unwelcome!

When will CSA begin?

We are expecting CSA to begin the 2nd week of June.

Members can look for an email with all the details soon.

It seems a little early in the season to be feeling frustrated – but here we are!

The cause of our frustration is the weather, of course.

We wanted to plant tomatoes this week but the soil is still quite cold, and the cool & wet forecast for the week has us hesitating. The plants will languish in these conditions and are better off waiting on the driveway for warmer temperatures.

But the field is prepared and waiting …

The black mulch is laid out as well, for eggplant & peppers, though they require even warmer temperatures before we can think of planting them.

We did gamble with zucchini & cucumbers last week – gambled and lost!

Beautiful plants, good conditions (we thought), planted into black mulch for warmth, covered with row cover for added protection … All the cucumbers died and most of the zucchini.

It is what it is. Their replacements are already sprouting and we will try again in a week or two.

A storm last week dropped 40mm of rain in a short time, along with strong winds, and perhaps a bit of hail. Here, Amy is checking for damage (there was none) and fixing the insect cover that blew off.

Perhaps our frustration should be with ourselves – for being impatient. The sunshine and warm temperatures we are looking for will come. Crops will get planted and grow. We will be eating fresh greens and other vegetables soon enough.

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Around the farm this week …

The cool season crops in the ground are growing well. Most are covered with insect netting for protection. Seems the bugs are as hungry for fresh vegetables as we are!

Today’s planting included more broccoli and various salad greens.

Looking forward to the start of our CSA. We are hoping for the 1st or 2nd week of June … depending on the weather!

There were 2 trees in our front yard when I was growing up – a sweet cherry and a white birch.

The cherry was a practical & useful tree, providing us with fruit to eat and a playground for my siblings and me. Many an hour was spent climbing that tree. The best time, of course, was early summer when we could hide amongst the leaves, high in the branches, and stuff our faces with dark, sweet, juicy cherries.

The cutleaf weeping white birch was more of an indulgence – planted simply for its beauty. A Mother’s Day present from my father to my mom, it was a tiny sapling when he planted it. Mother loved that tree and nurtured it with fertilizer, water & affection. We were forbidden from climbing it, or even touching it!

The cherry tree is long gone now, replaced with a redbud.

But the white birch remains. More than 60 years after being planted, it reigns over the front yard, providing beauty for us and a haven for the birds, squirrels, and our cats.

Last week, seemingly overnight, it sprang to life – it’s tiny buds bursting into delicate, serrated leaves in the most wonderful shade of spring green.

A beautiful tree for a beautiful season!

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Around the farm …

While it has felt like a slow spring so far, everything is turning green now!

The garlic is growing.

Rhubarb is ready to harvest.

Blackberries are pruned, tied and are now being mulched.

Lots of vegetable seedlings in the greenhouse.

Vegetables planted in the field already include salad turnips, carrots, broccoli, cabbage, Swiss chard, edible flowers …

… with plenty more on the trailer waiting to be planted – mostly salad greens.

Spring flowers bring welcome color, complementing all the green.

We are well into April and here on the farm, things are progressing as they should.

In the greenhouse – where most of the activity is happening – the vegetable, herb & flower seedlings are growing well.

Our plan was to begin transplanting tomatoes & peppers this week, but the very cold nighttime temperatures we’ve had convinced us to hold off. Because our greenhouses do not have heaters (so technically they are called hoophouses), they can get quite cold at night. Warmer temperatures next week will be better for the transplants.

In the field the garlic has popped through the straw.

The rhubarb is up and the sorrel is growing.

Blackberries are being pruned.

And around the yard the 1st spring flowers are in bloom.

Spring is always an exciting time for us.

And this year especially, with all the uncertainty in our world, when nothing seems normal or usual, we our thankful and take comfort in the farm coming to life.

We are well into April and here on the farm, things are progressing as they should.

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Around the farm …

Heavy rain last week, together with some drainage issues downstream caused a bit of flooding (both on the farm and in our basement!), but by the next day this water had subsided.

Everyone is enjoying the coming of spring in their own way …

Lorie is recovering well after knee replacement surgery at the end of January. She is back on her feet and expects to be as good as new by the time CSA pick up rolls around 🙂

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CSA 2025 is looking good. Our numbers are up by more than 12% so far. And most of last year’s members signed up again – which is amazing! We are thrilled! Thank you!

If you still plan on joining, please let us know asap.

What a difference a few weeks can make.

We have moved from winter to spring – and I’m not sorry!

I have enjoyed our winter and all the snow, but this change of season is a wonderful thing!

The farm is coming to life again.

Inside our small greenhouse …

… we have kicked out the cats from their favourite napping spot and replaced them with vegetable seedlings (much to the cats’ dismay!).

Seeds are started in our germination chamber, a non-working fridge equipped with a water-filled crockpot to provide heat & humidity. This is connected to a thermostat which regulates the temperature. As soon as the seedlings pop up, they are moved into the greenhouse where they can grow in the bright sunshine. I just love opening the fridge door and sticking my head inside. The humid air & warm smell of soil & seedlings is heavenly!

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Around the farm …

The last remnants of snow.

In a few weeks (weather depending) we will begin planting outdoors. Under this black occultation tarp the soil should be dry enough and warm enough for our 1st crops.

The cats have traded the shelter of the barn for the sunshine & warmth outside. They are so happy!!

And the little guys are just happy to be outside, regardless of the weather!

We still have some spots available in our CSA program for this summer season. Please email thefarm@thiessenfarms.com if you are interested or have questions.

2025 csa information sheet (1) Download

2025 csa application Download

Our cats winter well!!

Bottomless bowls of kibble & fresh water, with the occasional treat to keep them nourished and content,

… a knack for finding the sunny spots in the barn on a cold day,

… and the warmth of the greenhouse for napping.

Rosemary is often the only one brave enough to venture out on these cold days – returning to the barn later with a full belly. Somehow she catches mice even in the snow.

When we are working in the shop, Fennel & Rue want to be a part of what’s happening – with limited success!

It’s a good life!

We have wintered well too, spending much of our time indoors resting & relaxing, and also planning and preparing for the new season.

Already it is sign up time for our CSA (community supported agriculture) program. Find all the information here.

Here are some lesser-known-facts & history about our CSA program …

• This is our 16th year with a CSA program. We began back in 2010 with 10 members – 3 of them are still with us! Other members have been with us for many years.
• CSA enabled us to gradually decrease our farmers’ markets from 4 each week to only 1.
• Our biggest year was 2015 with 150 shares. That fall we made the big decision to remove all our fruit orchards and only grow vegetables. This didn’t go over well and we lost over half our CSA members in 2016.
• COVID was a boon to our CSA as our numbers increased by around 70% from 2019 to 2020. It has since settled at around 90-100 shares most years.
• The majority of our CSA members live in St. Catharines and Lincoln.
• Our closest CSA members walk to the farm to pick up their shares.
• Our furthest members drive from downtown Hamilton. Other live as far as Stoney Creek, Grimsby, & Niagara Falls.
• CSA delivery was an option we offered for several years. We stopped because it took too much time, and we never developed a relationship with these members since we never saw them. They rarely stayed with us for more than 1 season.
• We sometimes barter CSA shares. In the past we have traded for working on the farm, meat, wine, shoes, osteopathy treatments …
• We have had a small fall CSA these past 2 years which has been very well received. With our autumns getting warmer & lasting longer, this makes good sense, and we plan to continue this.

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Around the farm …

The garlic patch, under snow & straw.

Sage also winters well! But unlike the cats, she prefers to be outdoors enjoying the snow.

We would welcome you to join us and give CSA a try.

Please email thefarm@thiessenfarms.com if you have questions.

Today we mulched the garlic.

The weather was a brisk -8°C with strong northerly winds. However, we were warm in no time!

It’s been a while since we have exerted ourselves – and it felt good even though our muscles are now sore!

We wait to mulch the garlic until the ground is frozen and there is no snow. Now the mice can’t tunnel into the soil under the straw and potentially damage the garlic cloves. This layer of mulch means the ground will take longer to thaw and warm up in spring, and the garlic will be slower to sprout, but that’s ok. It will also keep the weeds from growing – so less work for us next season!

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Around the farm …

The greenhouse needs a good cleaning before springtime – buts it’s a nice, warm spot to hang out on these cold days …

… though some of us prefer being outside in the cold & snow!

These guys like a sunny window in the barn.

Happy New Year to everyone!

CSA 2025 information coming soon.