What’s in the box?

Beets, Chinese (napa) cabbage, mini Romaine lettuce, zucchini, fresh herb bunches, garlic scapes.

• The first beets are ready. Freshly pulled, early season beets are tender, juicy and sweet. We often forgo the cooking and eat them fresh, usually shredded into salads. But whether you eat them cooked or raw, don’t bother to peel them! The skin is tender and full of nutrients that you don’t want to miss out on.
• Chinese or napa cabbage has a mild, slightly sweet flavor and a crisp, crunchy texture. The oblong heads have crinkly, pale green leaves and the inner leaves are a light yellow/white colour. Chinese cabbage is versatile and can be eaten raw in salads, slaws, and wraps, or cooked in soups, stir-fries, and stews. We are also growing a beautiful, dark purple variety called Merlot.

• Mini romaine lettuce looks like regular romaine – just smaller. It has the same crunch and the same great flavour.
• Zucchini loves the hot weather. We are getting good picks from our 1st planting and the next patch is almost ready as well.
• Choose a bunch of fresh herbs this week – either dill, cilantro or maybe basil.
• Garlic scapes complete the box.

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It’s enough to give a farmer nightmares!

The weed situation, that is. Right now, things are out of control in certain parts of the farm.

A combination of circumstances gave the weeds an unfair advantage over us – and they took over! Firstly, we have been short-handed. Until now there have only been 2 of us in the fields most days, which is not enough to maintain control. But with school out for the summer, our 3 students are back and the weeds will soon meet their match! Secondly, the weather – hot temperatures & periodic rainfall – has been ideal for weed growth.

And this is the result …

And here is our plan …

• Vegetables that will be picked soon such as salad greens, might not get weeded at all. Harvesting will be slower but the quality of the crop will not be affected.
• Vegetables that will be in the ground for awhile will be carefully weeded so they can continue to grow & mature without competition from the weeds.
• Other beds (such as beans & sunflowers) will be mowed instead of weeded. This gives quick results and is actually better for the health of the soil. The crops are not affected as long as we mow regularly.
• In a few cases we might even decide the crop cannot be saved and we mow everything down. But that happens rarely.

It is going to take some time and effort but we will regain control and get the weedy areas of the farm back in decent shape.

Of course other parts of the farm are looking just fine!

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Around the farm this week …

The petals are falling from the blackberry blossoms revealing the little berries.

Edible flowers adding colour to the fields.

The field where we grew vegetables last year is resting this year. It is planted to a mixture of cover crops – crops that cover the soil and will be worked back into the ground rather than harvested. There are clovers, radishes, oats, peas, vetch etc. Some provide nutrients to the soil. Others loosen the ground, or smother weeds. Each crop has it’s own purpose and all work together to improve the soil for next season when we will again grow vegetables here. Right now the field is swarming with butterflies, moths, bees and other insects.

Our stall at the Georgetown farmers’ market on Saturday.

What’s in the box?

Zucchini, cabbage, garlic scapes, salad greens, radishes?

• The official start of summer is when we pick the first zucchini – at least to me. And here we are! We managed to find a few for market on Saturday, but then today, after a hot weekend we picked a lot of zucchini – enough for CSA!
• The first cabbage is also ready – a smaller size, delicious, crisp cabbage, excellent for slaw, salad, or stir-fry.
• First it was green garlic. Now there are garlic scapes. Scapes grow out of the top of the garlic plant and curl around in a loose coil. If we left them they would eventually flower and go to seed. But we prefer that the plant uses its energy to form large garlic bulbs underground instead, so we remove the scapes. They are delicious! Use them wherever garlic bulbs are used – raw or cooked. Their flavour is a bit milder. They are also great on the BBQ. Coat the whole garlic scape with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt & pepper. Grill for a few minutes on each side until well charred & tender.  Garlic scape pesto is also a good way to use the scapes. Here’s a link to an interesting article, “12 ways to add garlic scapes to your spring cooking routine”. https://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/ingredients/article/garlic-scapes 

• Your CSA share this week will again include 1 or 2 salad greens. You may question why we do not specify which green it will be. It’s because we are not always sure. Especially in extreme weather like we are experiencing right now, salad greens can mature faster than expected – or also decline faster than we would prefer. Lettuce, for example, can be tender & delicious one day, but tough & bitter the next due to heat. Spinach can go from being too immature to being the perfect size overnight. So we wait until the morning of CSA pick-up to make a final decision on what to pick, based on taste, size, quality, quantity … It means we might be traveling around the farm, tasting a lot of greens very early in the morning, trying to make our decision on what to pick for CSA that day (salad for breakfast – is that a perk or a drawback of our job?).
• Radishes – maybe – complete the box this week. See below for more details.

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What is the easiest vegetable to grow?

I would say radishes. If not the easiest, they are certainly right up there (along with beans & peas).

Except radishes have NOT been easy for us this season. Our first planting got pelted with a heavy downpour just after seeding. They never even germinated. Same with the second planting. A few managed to sprout, but the ground was so hard after the rain that most never made it. We ended up harvesting about 25 bunches – not even close to the couple hundred we expected. The third planting is ready now and will be in the CSA box this week. The French breakfast type which is long & thin will be ready for Tuesday, and the common round, red radish will be in the box Thursday & Saturday. But the quality is poor. These tasty little roots were damaged – whether by insect or disease – despite being covered with insect netting.

We’ve been humbled & even embarrassed by the easiest vegetable to grow! But that’s the way it is sometimes. Grab a bunch at CSA pick up if you want. Fingers crossed that planting #4 turns out to be amazing!

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Around the farm this week …

The beginning of a hot day today.

The question today was whether to transplant vegetables or not. Two trailers full of seedlings ready to go – but the weather was so hot.

I chose to plant but the vegetables are struggling despite being watered several times. Hoping they make it.

The blackberries are in full bloom.

Our tulip tree is blooming for the first time!

Pea shoots & salad turnips – favourite vegetables for these guys!

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