Monday, September 26, 2016

CSA Newsletter ~ Week 16

The Frost arrived on the overnight of Saturday into Sunday morning. Our market garden is a sea of floating row covers to protect the most sensitive crops.  Sweet potatoes got hit the worst but after digging it was the leaves that got the damage and not the root. It will be a chore this year digging the sweet potatoes as the soil is like concrete and the yield will be down.  It is sad as the potatoes would have had a good yield but they are all really small! If only we had had a bit more rain! 

Field clearing continues along with prepping beds for next years growing season.  So far we have over 2000ft in cover crop to help build the soil.   Our cover crops add organic matter, nutrients and also hold the soil together so that we do not lose the precious topsoil to gusting winds.

We have started to pull crops that have not come to anything which is really sad! We have taken out over 400ft of cabbage as it is not heading, we are hoping the savoy might get a little bigger and we do have one row of cabbage that is looking quite promising! Storage beets are looking amazing. I have not dug any of the storage carrots yet but we are hoping they will be just as good as the beets.
We will shortly be making the garlic beds ready for next years crop and we will also be putting up our winter hoop house to protect the kale and spinach we have seeded.

This weeks basket:
Onions
Sweet potatoes - Lisa sent me in this recipe a while ago and changed the parsley in the dressing for basil this week you could swap it out for cilantro Turmeric roasted sweet potatoes.
Carrots
Acorn Squash - This recipe requires zaatar seasoning.  This is the same seasoning we use for the carrot zaatar. stuffed zaatar roasted acorn squash with lemon tahini sauce
Kale
Rapini - Cime di rapa (turnip tops) descends form the wild mustard plants that have carpeted the heel of Italy's boot since the ancient times.  Here in North America we tend to call it rapini or broccoli raab.
Use the whole plant! We love to keep it really simple so we chop up a few cloves of garlic heat some oil in a pan, chop all of the rapini including steams! Saute garlic for a few moments add the rapini and saute until wilted.  We have also found, for a little more punch, adding a few anchovies and some chilies to the mix is amazing!
Hakurei Turnips - Please remember these yummy little turnips can be eaten raw!
Asian Greens
Cilantro - I feel like this is a bit of a "Woo Hoo" moment! For some reason we have always struggled to grow this.  It either bolt or does not germinate.  This year I directed seeded it and hoped for the best and it has not done too bad at all!
Tomatillos - Last week of these until next years so enjoy!
Sweet Peppers
and maybe
Ground Cherries or Arugula




Monday, September 19, 2016

CSA Newsletter ~ Week 15

We finally got a little bit of rain on Saturday, just under a 1/4 inch, which is a bit of a relief as our capped spring is now under a lot of pressure.  We are only able to run our watering system for the market garden for 90 minutes as the water level is dropping so fast and rather than watering every night we are only able to do every other evening as on the other days we have to run water to all of our livestock.  This little farm along with so many others in our community really needs some major rain fall.  
It has been so sad to hear of other growers that have lost crops or who have already had to close for the season due to this drought.  Every time we turn the pump on to irrigate the gardens we thank our water supply for holding on as long as it has!
Not sure if everyone saw the Editorial from last weeks Community Press.  The editorial not just highlighted the drought and the need to reduce our water usage but focused on supporting your local farmers http://www.communitypress.ca/2016/09/06/editorial-support-our-farmers Thank You to all our CSA families and to all consumers who choose to either shop at the local farmers markets in this community of Hastings county or support a CSA farm like ours.

This week basket:
Onions
Carrots
Potatoes
Beets
Sweet Peppers
Kohlrabi
Kale
Hakurei Turnips - These turnips are best eaten raw but can be cooked.  The tops are also really nice at the  moment so add them to your salads.
Arugula - Has a peppery taste to it.  Great eaten raw or added into pesto.
Garlic
Asian Greens
Beans
and maybe
Zucchini or eggplant - If we are able to do these it will be one or the other and this will be the last week for them.
Hot peppers- We always see these as a bonus and not part of your share so just take what you need!

Monday, September 12, 2016

CSA Newsletter ~ Week 14

Cool evenings and some cooler day time temperatures and it is finally starting to feel like September!
We had a bit of rain last week.  Tuesday evening through to Wednesday we saw just under 1/2" of rain and sadly the storm that was meant to be here on Saturday just seemed to roll in and roll over and was full of lots of wind but not much more than that! Our total rain fall from Saturday to Sunday was two tenths of an inch! Here's hoping we get some more on Wednesday. 


This week basket:
Garlic
Leeks - Leek and feta fritters
Potatoes - This recipe also uses leeks! Kale and Potato cakes
Beets - Chocolate beetroot brownies
Onions
Kohlrabi
Ground Cherries
Sweet Peppers
Kale - Kale and potato soup
Beans
Zucchini (If we do not have enough for the whole week it will be replaced with the last of the eggplant) Thank you to some of our CSA members who have been sending me recipes. Lisa sent in a great zucchini lasagna and  Irene sent in this great recipe that you can use up your eggplant and her top tip is to also add some zucchini and roast both the eggplant and zucchini as it uses less oil and has a richer taste!  Pasta alla Norma
Tomatoes - Enjoy these as we think this will be the last week!
and maybe some Braising Greens

Monday, September 5, 2016

CSA Newsletter ~ Week 13

Rain to the west of the farm!
Wishing everyone who is heading back to school this week a wonderful year of learning!
We have spent most of last week watching storm clouds roll around the farm, while the farm just sat bathed by sunshine!!
Several of our members asked about our stream? "It is still very dry and has actually (some how) started to sprout some grass!" and also for an update on rainfall amounts, so here is a list of what we have received at the farm over the last 5 months!
Rainfall @ Strattons Farm.
April 1 inch
May 1/4 inch
June 3 inches
July 1 1/4 inches
August 1 1/2 inches
Our capped spring is now starting to feel the pressure and is taking longer to recover after use which is now effecting how long we can water the market garden for.  We are still praying for rain!



Storm clouds to the east!
This weeks basket:
Ground Cherries - We are lucky that one of our CSA members is also a chef! Top tip from Chef Chris is to soak your ground cherries in Grand Marnier and a little sugar or honey and then serve over ice cream! If this does not tickle your taste buds then how about Ground Cherry Salsa
Tomatillos - Lisa sent in a great recipe for Chicken with Tomatillos
Onions
Leeks - We plant a lot of leeks and it will be interesting to see how they have all done in the drought! One bed is looking amazing but the others are still looking rather small! If you do not want to use your leeks straight away then all you need to do is chop into chunks place into a ziploc bag and freeze! They can then be added to soups and stews during winter.
Garlic
Eggplant - Thank you to our CSA families who have been sharing recipes and photos this week.  We seem to have a theme of eggplant curries! Debbie made an eggplant, bean and broccoleaf vindaloo and Irene and Andrew made Eggplant and cherry tomato curry and added a few potatoes to it as well.

Sweet Peppers
Zucchini
Tomatoes
Beans
Broccoli
Braising Greens or Kale -The braising greens are a mixture of mild Asian greens. They have been sporadic with growth but they need to be harvested! We are hoping to have enough for the whole week, if we do not then we will replace it with kale. The braising
greens can either be cooked or eaten raw.