Life is busy!!

The CSA wrapped up with a successful last pick-up and it was great to see everyone take home extra veggies to keep their fridges stocked up. We still have a few veggies left in the fields and I'm hoping to have an on-farm u-pick soon for the members who may want to get carrots or beets for winter storage. The carrots are so delicious right now, super sweet. A big thanks to everyone who filled out the CSA survey, what great comments and suggestions. We really appreciate our members and the effort they put into making our program a success.

We have been busy getting the new land prepped at the new farm for next years plantings. Seems like there is never enough time in the day with Derek working full time and with me chasing the monkeys and keeping them entertained but I got the garlic planted this week with help from Kim & Natalie and my Mom who tediously separated cloves. Dad was kind enough to plow the new ground
which was a big help.


Freshly plowed ground


My new soil


Some of the 2500 cloves planted this week before the rain


The view towards Summerside


Natalie working away

Ben & Jake have been enjoying all the trips to the "new house" and I think are starting to feel pretty much at home. We are planning on moving within the next few weeks so hopefully they will still feel the same when we get there!! Just a picture to end off the blog of my sweet little Halloween cutie pies!!

Final CSA Week

It's hard to believe another CSA season is wrapping up this week. I feel truly blessed to have such a great supportive bunch of members, it really feels like I grow food for friends!! I was very surprised & touched today to receive some lovely parting gifts such as flowers, fresh hot biscuits and super cute muffins, which apparently I have to share with the rest of my family : ) I also got to see a super cute baby who's going to grow up to be a real heart breaker, watch out Ben & Jake!!!

This weeks large share had beets, carrots, parsnips, turnips, potatoes, kale, green cabbage and bok choy. The grab bin had Chinese cabbage, mizuna, winter squash and lots of extra carrots, potatoes, beets, turnips, parsnips, kale & garlic.

A new recipe I saw this week that was posted by another farm for parsnip soup. Looks like a great way to use up this weeks final parsnips.
Here is another great recipe that I saw on heart beet organics web site for kale.

I celebrated my 31st birthday this week and what better way to spend the day then harvesting farm fresh veggies. The weather was beautiful, sunny, low winds; just awesome. I also got to spend a small part of my day being filmed by a local film maker who is currently working on a documentary for the National Film Board of Canada about organic farming on PEI. It will be interesting to see the final work of art!!!

Just a few pics of my super thoughtful end of CSA season thank-you treats!!

fresh from the oven, still steamy!!


Two bigger muffins for Derek and I and two smaller ones for Ben & Jake. Mine already had a bite out of it and two minutes later it was gone!!


Beautiful bouquet of flowers given by some very lovely ladies!!

So, what will we be up to now that the CSA is over for another season? We will be in fall clean-up mode trying to get the gardens all finished up and put to bed and getting ready to start on our new farm in the spring. The to do list seems frightfully long but I guess we can just pick away at it one item at a time. I often think a nice mid-day nap is in store but I'm sure my restless spirit will win and out to work I will go!!

Just a few pictures of my little men as we enjoyed a nice sunny day last week exploring around the farm. They are growing up so fast!!

16th CSA Week

The weather continues to be quite lovely this fall which makes for pleasant harvesting. The garden is quickly wrapping up and we've decided that next week will be our final CSA harvest and deliveries. We still have broccoli, cauliflower, purple cabbage and some lettuce heads that are still growing and if we get enough ready we will either have another pick-up later on in the fall or have an open farm day for members to come and pick-up some more goodies.

This weeks large share has carrots, parsnips, red onion, kale, beets, leeks and bok choy. The garb box had winter squash, pie pumpkins, dill, cilantro, chinese cabbage, small green cabbage, summer turnips and more of the above mentioned veggies.

As next week is the final CSA pick-up it will be a big one so make sure to bring an extra bag. We will have pretty much the same veggies as today but there will just be more of them. There should be lots of winter squash and garlic for winter eating.


Bok Choy - My favorite way to enjoy this tender yummy vegetable is very quite simple. Remove the greens from the stalks and set aside. Chop the stalks into 3/4" piece and saute in melted butter, onions and garlic for about 5 minutes. Add in the greens and stir until wilted and then put on top of rice or noodles with a splash of soy sauce. Yum yum yum!!!


A look at the grab bins


Farm fresh kale


Chinese cabbage and regular green cabbage all up for grabs

I'm going to make this weeks blog entry shorter this week as I've been battling a head cold and an early night is definitely needed!!! Enjoy your veggies

15th CSA Week

I'm typing away to the warmth of our wood stove. My fingers were absolutely frozen by the time I got home tonight from the pick-up and I was some excited to see the smoke curling out of the chimney as I drove up the driveway. They are calling for frost tonight with temperatures going down to -1 so bring on the heat!!!

Kim and I cleaned up all the pumpkins, winter squash and cucumbers today in anticipation of tonight's weather. Last week's nasty weather did a number on many items in the garden but in particular it killed all the cucurbit families foliage (zucchini, cucumber, winter squash & pumpkins) so tonight's frost would definitely have done some damage. They are now all tucked away nicely in the greenhouse shed. Last weeks weather was particularly hard on the greens. We had winds over 100km/h for most of the day on Wednesday/Thursday along with hail and snow for most of Thursday. The Summerside CSA did not see any greens in their shares last week as they were still looking very unhappy on Friday. I was very glad to have pushed off the Summerside pick-up till Friday as the weather turned out to be very nice, although I was still lucky enough to have been able to harvest all day Thursday during the lovely hail/snow.


The car early Friday morning, brrrrr. Hard to believe that it was 23 degress on Sunday!!

The garden is definitely slowing down but the shares today were still very diverse. The large share had potatoes, carrots, parsnips, beets, onions, leeks, garlic, mixed greens, arugula, winter squash and bok choy. The grab box had brussel sprouts, dill, cilantro, parsley, leaf celery, sweet and hot peppers, eggplant, chinese cabbage & gourds.

We dug the last of the potatoes on the weekend so this will be the last week with our potatoes. We were able to provide potatoes for 10 weeks of the CSA which is by far the longest we've ever been able to go. Seeing as this year was so crappy in terms of weather and disease I think we did pretty good. We topped the plants quite early so they did not get a chance to get as big as I would have liked but we followed a strict blight control program which resulted in a clean crop and no blight.

Need another recipe for leeks? Thanks to Shannon for passing this along. Courtesy of allrecipes.com!
Leek Apple Soup
1 tablespoon butter
2 teaspoons curry powder
3 leeks, chopped
3/4 cup diced potatoes
2 or 3 apples -- peeled, cored and chopped
3 cups vegetable broth
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup plain yogurt

Directions

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in curry powder and cook 1 minute. Stir in leeks, potato and apples and cook 5 minutes. Pour in broth and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes.
Puree in a blender or food processor, or using an immersion blender. Season with salt and pepper and serve with a swirl of yogurt.

Just a few photos for your amusement!!

Jake inspecting Derek's wash technique


Ben stealing a parsnip


Carrots, potatoes and parsnips


Boss getting a hug


Wash station


The boys really think that Boss should enjoy carrots as much as they do

14th CSA Week

The weather for the next few days sounds down right miserable. Heavy rains, high winds and chilly temperatures all make up for some crazy weather warnings. I sure hope the garden can survive the next few days. We have decided to push back Thursdays CSA pick-up to Friday just to try and avoid harvesting in the nasty weather. I find I have to harvest for about 2-3 hours the day prior to the pick-up and even though I have great rain gear I don't think it will keep me dry in 100km/h winds along with pounding rain they are calling for. I'm just hoping its all calmed down for Friday.

Today turned out to be a pretty nice harvest day weather wise but it also felt like a rushed day. Kim and I just could not seem to get ahead. I had the carrots, potatoes and parsnips harvested and bagged up by last night so we should have had all kinds of time but the greens are very slow going. Our current mixed greens are made up of six different kinds of greens and our wash barrels are not big enough to mix everything up at once so it takes quite a bit of time sorting through them and then spinning them. Then they also need to be weighed and bagged up which also takes quite a bit of time. I never even got a chance to clean up onions for today's shares, sorry to everyone about no onions today. But even though it felt like a rushed day the pick-up went very smoothly. Everyone was there by around 5:45 and I was pulling out of the parking lot at 5:55, excellent. Ben & Jake were giving Derek a bit of a hard time so I went right home to hang out with my little men. They have decided they no longer wish to nap at the baby sitters so they are quite the handful as they are super tired. Luckily they still nap here which is a life saver for getting work done.

Today's large share had carrots, potatoes, parsnips,mixed greens, zucchinis, cucumbers, leeks, garlic, beets and baby turnips. The grab box had spinach, radish, arugula, gourds, parsley, cilantro, dill, winter squash, pie pumpkins and more of the above goodies. I had hoped for a pie pumpkin for everyone but I only had about 10 that were ready. It was great to see the kids get all excited over the gourds!!




Golden and red beets mixed


Baby turnips, great roasted with other veggies, eaten raw or cooked like regular turnips. I like a bit of brown sugar mashed in for extra sweetness.


First parsnip harvest - They are still a bit small but still very tasty. Their flavour will improve with some frost but I'm hoping that won't happen for a few weeks yet!! Great added into soups or with a roast.


Showing off their new hair cuts - big boys now!!


They were quite happy as their blankets and puppy and bunny had just gotten out of the dryer and Mommy let them watch a movie and eat their snacks. Jake still is munching on his carrot we picked on our morning adventure in the garden, silly boys!!

If your looking for a fresh chicken for Thanksgiving Barnyard Organics will be doing a Charlottetown drop off at the Charlottetown mall on Friday Oct 7th from 4-5pm. Certified organic chickens weighing aprox 7-8lbs. $3.50/lb. If you want more details or to touch base with Sally or Mark their e-mail is info@barnyardorganics.ca or check out their face book page
If your in the Summerside area you can pick them up at their farm in Freetown.

13th CSA Week

We sure have been getting some great September weather. Yesterday was a corker of a day and today was beautiful and sunny although a tad bit chilly towards the end of the afternoon and down right cold by the end of the CSA pick-up. They are calling for a chance of frost tonight but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it'll miss us once again.

This weeks large share has leeks, carrots, potatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, dill, garlic, sweet yellow onions, red onion, arugula, mixed greens (tatsoi, kale, purple mustard, mizuna), winter squash, radishes and some cauliflower. We harvested the last of the cauliflower today so there won't be any for the Thursday crowd. We have more growing in the field so hopefully the nice fall weather will continue and we'll be able to all munch on the yummy white goodness again. The grab box had broccoli florets, parsley, cilantro, leaf celery, hot peppers, a few sweet peppers, beets, spinach, cabbage and more of the above veggies.

I'm having a bit of trouble with my onions. I have them curing up in the barn and yesterday when I went to grab a few bins I noticed that some of them looked to be rotting. So I started to sort through them and I ended up chucking out about 1/3 of them. So, make sure to check your onions and best to store them in the fridge until you get to use them. The red ones seem fine, so far its just the sweet ones (variety name Walla Walla) that seem to be affected. Fingers crossed that the storage onions will be ok.

We are harvesting the last two rows of potatoes. I was so pleased I was able to grow such a great crop and be able to provide spuds mostly through the season. I was really impressed with the reds but wished the whites could have been a bit bigger. We topped the plants back in the middle of August as the threat of blight was just too great. We did follow a strict 7-10 day blight spray schedule with our organic allowable product called Parasol but this seasons weather was just so crazy that we decided better safe than sorry and so the tops had to go. I'm hoping to have potatoes for at least 2 more weeks.

The zucchini have really slowed down. We no longer have bins filled with extras but everyone was able to get at least one in their share. The cucumbers are still going strong so hopefully the frost stays away for a bit yet so they will continue to produce.

A great way to enjoy your radish this week is my new favourite sandwich. "Radish Sandwich" For lunch today we had left over leek and potato soup, fresh sliced tomatoes and an open faced radish sandwich. For those of you who have not had a chance yet to try it its super easy and yummy. Just toast a piece or two of toast, butter, layer with thinly sliced radishes and top with a bit of salt and pepper, then enjoy.



Loving the leeks yet? If you haven't had a chance to make the potato leek soup I posted last week its worth taking the time. Many members commented today how much they enjoyed it and how easy it was. I made a double batch Saturday and we have been enjoying it so much. The boys actually request soup every day when I ask them what they would like for lunch. The leeks are also great sliced into rounds and sautéed with garlic and butter until soft and added to pasta or mixed into mashed potatoes. If you want to wait for a bit to enjoy they freeze really well. Simply slice into 1/4" rounds and put on a cookie sheet or casserole dish and put in the freezer. After a few hours put them into a plastic freezer bag and they are all ready to use when you need them.

I had a variety pack of winter squash at the pick-up today. Members got to pick from spaghetti, acorn, buttercup, butternut, delicata/dumpling, and hubbard (red kuri). I cooked a spaghetti squash on the weekend and I really enjoyed it but unfortunately Ben & Jake did not feel the same way. They are usually pretty good eaters but they were not big fans. I found this website on the weekend which explains pretty well the art of the spaghetti squash http://www.sprinklemassacre.com/2011/09/06/italian-sausage-spaghetti-squash/

I found these websites which help describe the different kinds of winter squashes and a great looking recipe.

Butternut Pudding Cups
Squash Reference


Spaghetti squash


Butternut


Acorn


Buttercup


Delicata


Baby hubbard (Red Kuri)


Winter squash assortment

A few recipies sent by members for everyone to enjoy. Thanks Lori & Marti for passing those along
Carrot Salad

"I roasted Zucc chunks for about 15 minutes in oven after marinating in Greek Dressing. Actually I threaded them on Skewers with red pepper and red onion and meatballs - it's a recipe from the Sobey's magazine, that free seasonal one? The zucchini was AMAZING, so sweet."

12th CSA Week

What a beautiful day today!! The temperature was just nice at 18 degrees, no wind and full sun. Awesome.

This weeks large share has regular cucumbers, lemon cucumber, zucchini, carrots, red and yellow sweet onions, garlic, leeks, potatoes, cauliflower, radish and a bag of gourmet mixed greens. There are eight different types of baby greens mixed together to make a delightful and ultra healthy salad including tatsoi, kale, swiss chard, arugula, mizuna, bulls blood beet greens, regular beet greens and purple mustard. Beautiful and delicious!!

Greens getting all mixed together in the wash station

Picture perfect

Mizuna

Regular beet green

Bulls Blood beet green

Tatsoi

Arugula

Purple mustard

Swiss Chard

We pulled about half of the onions on the weekend and they are all up in the barn curing for fall/winter storage. There are lots of onions!! We had some great help on Saturday afternoon, thanks to Martin, Nicola, Sofie & Lucie who did a great job putting the onions in the crates, weeding the peppers and entertaining Ben & Jake. We still have a few onions in the ground that I'm hoping will grow a bit bigger but its hard to tell at this point if that will happen.

The winter squash are the next item on the list. They do not like cold temperatures and anything less than 4 degrees and they could get chilling injuries which would shorten their storage life. I have quite a few varieties but they are not as big or as mature as I would like so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the cold and especially the frost will stay away for awhile yet. We have some lovely looking spagetti, butternut, buttercup, acorn, delicata and hubbard coming along just nicely.

I've officially declard it "soup season" around here and in my opinion a good soup is not complete without lots of onions and some leeks!! Here is one of our favorites.

Potato & Leek Soup
3 cups chicken stock
1 cup beef stock
2-3 leeks (white and light green parts, I don't use the leaves but some people do add till the soup is done and remove before eating for more flavour)
3 medium potatoes, cut in small cubes (I peeled them but you would not have to)
2 carrots, cut in small pieces
1/2 onion
salt & pepper, to taste
summer savory, couple of shakes
thyme, couple of shakes
Fry the chopped onions and leeks in a bit of butter for a few minutes along with the salt, pepper, thyme and summer savory. Add chopped potatoes, carrots, chicken & beef stock and bring to a boil. Simmer for 1/2 to 3/4 hour or until veggies are soft. It can be eaten just like this or pureed as well. I often will puree about 3/4 of the soup and leave a bit for a chunkier feel.

Thanks to Jennifer for the following blueberry zucchini muffin recipe. If you have a few zucchini kicking around or if loving neighbors have decided you need their extras its a great way to use them up!!

Blueberry Zucchini Muffins
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 c vegetable oil
1/2 c applesauce ( I used motts blueberry applesauce since it was the only applesauce I had in the cupboard)
3 tsp vanilla extract
2 c white sugar
2 c shredded zucchini
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 1/2 c wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1 pint fresh blueberries ( I used frozen )
(Optional topping: Oats sprinkled with cinnamon sugar)
Preheat oven to 350F.
In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, applesauce vanilla, and sugar. Fold in the zucchini. Beat in the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Gently fold in the blueberries. Transfer batter to greased or lined muffin pans. If you are using the topping, sprinkle on top of batter.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean.

For all our farm facebook followers you've probley already seen these pictures but here are some of the latest farm fun photos!! Enjoy and have a great rest of the week.