Strattons Farm

Ground Hog Day at the Farm!!!!

2012-02-02T08:32:00.000-05:00

It's been a strange winter so far at the farm. We have seen very little snow, but lots of freezing rain, rain in general and very mild temperatures.

We decided this morning to go in search of our ground hog "Stratton's Stew!". Luckily it did not take too long to find him and he was already dressed for the occasion!

According to folklore if Stratton's Stew sees his shadow and retreats back to his burrow we still have six more weeks of winter.

As you can see we have no shadow and he did not retreat to his burrow so Stew says "it's going to be an early spring!"

Registration is now open for the 2012 CSA Vegetable Baskets

2012-01-20T17:56:00.002-05:00

This is our fourth year at Strattons Farm and our third year running the CSA, we are excited to announce that we will be expanding our CSA Vegetable box programme for the 2012 growing season. The boxes will once again run for 18 weeks from Mid June to Mid October and we will be offering whole or half shares.

What is a CSA?
The CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) consists of a community of individuals who pledge support to a farm on an annual basis where the grower and shareholders share the risk and benefits of food production. This then connects the shareholder to fresh, local, sustainably grown, herbicide, pesticide free food in their area.

Why join a CSA?
Keeps food local rather than it being picked unripe, then being gassed in a storage container to ripen while it travels thousands of kilometers to get to your table.

Stopping the large corporations taking over the food system.

Learning to explore the delights of eating seasonally.

Supporting a local farm helps to stimulate the local economy.

Giving you the security of knowing where your food has been grown and it has been grown in an environmentally sustainable way using as little fossil fuels as possible.

Having a relationship with the farmer that grows your food, rather than heading into a food store picking up food that has been handled by many hands, wrapped in plastic, that has already been cleaned and prepared for you and may have already spent several weeks sitting on a shelf.

New for 2012: This year we will have an exchange basket if there is a vegetable that you don't particularly enjoy or you need some extra garlic you will be able to exchange one of your weekly items out with something else in the basket. For example: For the kale lovers you could have more kale and for the kale loathers you could exchange it for extra carrots or cabbage.

If you are interested in joining our garden, then please see the following link to read more about the programme and some of the feedback we have received from our members.

http://strattonsfarm.blogspot.com/p/csa-veggie-baskets.html

Boxes are limited as our aim is to be able to manage everything here at the farm between Michael and I (with a lot of help from May & Lily) and also to produce high quality naturally grown vegetables for you all.

If you would like more information or are interested in joining this years CSA then please either contact us at the farm and we can e-mail or post your brochure and application form to you.

2012....

2012-01-06T16:47:00.002-05:00

The farm has slowed down over the last month as we just have the horses, pigs, goats and our egg laying chickens to care for.

With winter being here it allows us to catch up with all the paperwork, accounts and start planning for our fourth season here at Strattons.

Seed catalogues have arrived and the planning for the CSA Vegetable boxes has begun. This is our third year running the CSA and we are excited about the vegetables we are growing and to see the garden expand.

Planning the CSA does take a little bit of time. We start by reviewing last years season and then we start by choosing what vegetables we want in the baskets each week, what type of vegetables we are able to get a head start on in the solar passive greenhouse, and then all the calculations start on the amount of seed we need to purchase, the bed lengths required for each crop we grow as well as creating a planting schedule to follow.

This year Strattons Farm joined a CSA! We joined a seed CSA which is offered by High Mowing Organic Seeds. As our customers support us through the CSA and receive 15-20% more vegetables than you would if you brought them at the farmers market we follow the same principle in purchasing our Organic seeds.

2012 is not only the year of the Dragon but is also the year for birth here at the farm!

In spring we are hoping for our first kids, as Elly,(standing in the background in the photo) is showing all the signs of being pregnant. We will also be breeding Ina and Nigella our Berkshire gilts and we hope to start the search for a suitable Suffolk Stallion for May and Lily.

Michael will also be enlarging our Apiary this year by making his own splits as well as purchasing a few more nucs. Our aim is to have 10 hives at the farm but this will also mean making changes to our farm, by re-introducing the hedgerows that were removed before we came here and starting to grow more specific plants on our farm to feed the bees. Of course this will mean that we will remain the lunatic farmers in our neighbourhood as other farmers remove their hedgerows.

I think it is easy to say that we are in for another exciting and busy year at the farm filled with new challenges!

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T16:10:00.000-05:00

From Michael and I and of course all the animals at the farm, we wish all our customers, friends and family
a very Happy, Healthy and "Green" New Year.

We thank everyone for their continued support in 2011 and we look forward to providing everyone with "nutritionally dense food" from our fields to your table in 2012.

Hoping we are pregnant!

2011-12-09T13:17:00.000-05:00

Don't get too excited about the heading especially family and friends!

Here we are 22 days after we bred Elly and for some reason we are all walking around on egg shells, hoping that she is not going to start flagging her tail and yelling like she normally does as she comes into heat! So far so good!

We really do hope she is pregnant as the experience of arranging her date was a bit like e-harmony for goats!

On the day it meant taking Elly on a short drive and she is the goat to take on a short drive, she settles quickly in her cage and you never hear a peep from her. After our arrival at Spring Meadow Farm we had a few quick introductions with the owners of Aspen as we had only ever chatted on the Internet! Elly was rather good about it all especially with having an audience for the occasion. Not having taken a goat to be bred before (we have elected to not keep a buck at our farm, due to smell and housing) we were relying on information from goat books and they all say "attach a long lead to your Doe and stand in the paddock with the Buck and 15 minutes later you will be heading back home." Lets just say they really are not that far from the truth!

So here's hoping for spring kids and what will be the first birth at the farm.

Cedar Glen Elly & Cedar Glen Aspen

I have included a picture of the event, the "cleanest" shot possible! Elly does not look that impressed about it all! I think she thought she looked clean enough but Aspen felt she did need a little more licking!!

December is already here!

2011-12-05T10:16:00.000-05:00

Not sure where the time really goes but we are already in December and counting the days down till Christmas.

This year has ended with lots of rain which is great as we have a full cistern in the basement heading into winter! The water table is back to where it should be plus a little extra! But lots of rain and mud does make for some rather grumpy animals around the farm!

Life at the farm at this time of year is one of reflection of the past years growing season. It's time for us to catch up on the comments from our CSA members about their experience, making plans and changes for next year, reading through seed catalogues and planning for next years garden. Taking reservations for pastured poultry, fattening up our Christmas turkeys, doing the accounts, winterizing the animal housing, taking a goat on a date, collecting more pigs and trying to fly one in from Nova Scotia. Getting hay and straw in for the animals, building the goats a permanent top paddock for winter, discing and cultivating the growing area in between several days of rain at a time, wrapping bee hives, cutting fire wood and also time to attend a few farm auctions, find a manure spreader and catch up with friends who we really don't get to see during the growing season.

Our new but old Cockshutt Manure Spreader

We can actually cross one item off the list which is find a manure spreader! Ours finally came home this week after a long two year search we finally found one in pretty good condition. Woo Hoo!!

Michael has a little bit of work to do on our 70 year Cockshutt relic but all being well we will be spreading our animals manure with our own manure spreader in the Spring!

Field Clearing...

2011-11-03T17:11:00.001-04:00

The CSA and farmers market have come to a close and the major work of clearing the field begins.

Last week one of our CSA members came over to help with clearing the tomato area. All the Velcro ties had to be removed before we could cut the trellis strings and pull the vines out. This year we invested in metal poles to create a vineyard of tomatoes which really made a huge difference in yield and picking. Only one problem is that it is back breaking work trying to pull 6ft metal poles out of the ground and we had about 100 to remove! That is if you don't have a Michael in your life.

Michael with his invention!

We did start trying to pull them out with a wiggle back and forth and then a lot of grunting but the soil was holding on and it was going to take a month of Sundays to do, Michael thought he had seen a post puller but after a few phone calls thought it was a figment of his imagination. Well lucky for us he does have the imagination as he created his own one in 10 minutes with a bolt, two pieces of 4 x 2's and a heavy metal pole. With the placement of the bolt in the pole and the correct leverage it made lifting the poles out of the field easy work.

Within a week we have cleared all of the field bar the brassica bed, as we still have crops growing there. We are in the middle of processing several crops for our larder and the other root vegetables we are storing in our basement.

May & Lily have been watching the field clear up in great anticipation of getting out on the field to work. The girls will start discing this weekend. We are not sure how we are going to spread manure yet as we are still looking for a horse drawn spreader, fingers crossed Michael might have another one of those great ideas!

Road Trip...

2011-10-23T20:03:00.000-04:00

After much discussion at the farm we made the decision to purchase another Nigerian goat as it will be another year before we can breed Eva. After a few days of searching we found Black Jack Stables in Campbellville, Ontario and sent a few e-mails to the very patient Sue who answered loads of questions and e-mailed loads of pictures of her doe she had for sale.

Today was the day to take a road trip to go and see Elly! Being the type of people we are we new it was going to be a 3 hour drive there so this week we made a few changes to the goat house to create a quarantine area just in case we came back with Elly. After morning chores we headed out onto the open road for what we new would be a long day in the truck!

So after nearly 6 hours of driving and two hours out of the truck we arrived back at the farm and not empty handed.

We are very excited to introduce our newest member of the Knotty Ash Herd Cedar Glenn Elly.

Elly

Autumn is just around the corner...

2011-09-19T21:10:00.000-04:00

Fall has already started to show it's face, as the leaves start to change colour. The days are getting shorter and the nights are getting colder and we have already had our first three nights of frost at the farm!

We start to change gear from seeding and transplanting to clearing the field of plants that have finished, allowing us to get the field ready for fall discing, manure spreading(if we ever find a horse drawn one!) and cultivation. Most evenings at the farm at this time of year are spent preserving, freezing and canning vegetables for winter use and it is always nice to see the pantry shelves re-stocked with vegetables from the garden.

May & Lily working hard!

Over the last few weeks we have had the opportunity to test drive a new piece of horse drawn equipment. It is called the "homesteader" and is designed and manufactured by Pioneer in Dalton Ohio, USA. All being well it should be available to purchase as of 2012. And for a small scale market garden it has great potential.

The homesteader with cultivator attachment.

It has been an interesting experience especially with having Suffolk Punch's as they are shorter in length and height and we have had to adjust the equipment slightly to accommodate this. We love the cultivator attachment and May & Lily seem to enjoy working with the homesteader. The nice thing about this piece of equipment is the interchangeable tools. It also has discs, a potato digger, and plough and hopefully more attachments will be made. It took me a while to get used to being seated in a lower position and I had to get used to having a blind spot where I can not see anything directly in front of me when driving which has been funny as I nearly ran Michael and Kim over the other day while we where making adjustments. To be very honest most equipment I have sat on and used so far has not be made for people with long legs and the homesteader has pedals which means for me I have happy hip flexors and happy long legs! I get to rest my feet on a set of pedals which helps to steer the wheels and adjust the line you are working on. We will just have to wait and see if it becomes a permanent feature at the farm as everyone is still waiting to see how much it will cost to purchase! But in the meantime we have enjoyed the opportunity of being able to test drive one.

August is here..

2011-08-07T12:31:00.000-04:00

A rainy, cold wet spring to a blistering hot summer, who ever thought this season would change so dramatically in such a short period of time.

As we are learning and growing with our farm each year we start to realise that one season will never be like the last and this really has been a testing season for us at the farm.

Some vegetables have suffered with the heat/draught conditions as we do not have irrigation but others have done incredibly well. We have more rain today which is always welcome, but sadly when plants have spent so long without water, when we have lots of rain it then causes yet another set of problem as vegetables are now starting to split!

The CSA is in full swing and our members are enjoying the bounty of the garden. We keep our fingers crossed it will continue being fruitful 'till the end of the season.

Last month also saw the arrival of our two Berkshire gilts Ina and Nigella. They will be the founding breeding stock for "Le Cochon Volant" herd. Registered stock and wieners will be available for purchase in 2012.

Eva and Soren are growing each day and have brought a new dynamic to the farm. Soren is generally rather quiet and still a little shy, where as Eva likes to stand at the back door of the goat house and scream down the valley to hear her voice echo around the farm. "Knotty Ash" is now our official herd name and we hope to be breeding Eva towards the end of this year or early next year.

To Bee or not to Bee that is the question.........

2011-06-17T06:22:00.000-04:00

We rarely have watches on while working on the field so we gauge the time by daily events on the road. It is always around 7am and 3pm when the school bus goes by and our mail lady tends to drive by anytime between 12-1pm. Once she has been we tend to stop for lunch. Before heading back to the house we collect eggs and check on all the animals which is a pretty easy and uneventful chore. Accept for Tuesday! As I made my way down the field I heard a noise that makes me want to run in the other direction! I shouted for Michael and I have a certain tone that Michael knows something is wrong! He came heading over and did the same facial expression I had and then muttered about the weather! All these goings on means one thing the Bees had started to swarm!

Michael jumped in the truck, headed over to our neighbours to borrow the tractor as it was to high in the tree to reach from the ladder, suited himself up, collected a box and off we headed to catch the bees. I remembered the camera this time! Michael gave me another quick lesson on how to drive the tractor and in the bucket he climbed. He caught the swarm but after re-homing them they all ended up going back to the hive they left, so it may have been a mating flight rather than a swarm. Michael will have to keep a close eye on the hive over the next few days as this happened in our first year of having bees and a few days later they did swarm.

Update: 24 hours later they did swarm and settled in a tree in the horses paddock. Michael managed to get up the tree on a ladder with a box and caught them again! He has put them in a new hive and at present they seem rather happy.

The Suffolk wears Prada!

2011-06-09T14:07:00.000-04:00

As many of you will know Lily had a rather large abscess last year and thanks to the great work of our farrier it has grown out really well. After their last trim the actual crack in her hoof was getting near to the end and started to flex. After chatting with Robin and another teamster we all felt that the best course of action was to shoe her to support the crack growing out and allow us to keep working her at the same time. Today was the day! Robin gave us a call so we could give Lily the magic powder from the vet to sedate her which she actually enjoyed as she got to be fed twice in one day!

I think we were all a little worried at how Lily would do but she did a great job and it was actually a lot less painful than we all thought. We did have to shoe both back hoofs otherwise she would have been off balance, now she is having to get used to the extra weight on her back feet! Our lovely Lily is sporting a rather nice pair of shiny shoes which are not quite the latest fashion from Prada but she is not to know!

All being well the crack will have grown out in the next 6-12 weeks I think the best bit of our day was the concerned look on May's face as I think she thought she was up next!

May is finally here, again...

2011-05-16T14:46:00.000-04:00

I am having a sense of de-ja-vu as I write this for the second time this month! For some reason the original blog entry had disappeared after it was published, so fingers crossed this entry stays up longer!

May & Lily hard at work

I am not sure if Spring is really here? We were busy on the field last week discing and cultivating with May and Lily who after having two months off because of the inclement weather did an amazing job, but this last weekend has brought another dose of cold wet weather to the farm and with this an abundance of grasses and weeds have already re-grown on the field. My theory to this is you know that we do not use herbicides when you see the lush grass and weeds growing!

I am actually impressed that all the animals are doing really well but all of us would like to feel a little more warmth and see a little more sunshine.

Before the rain started on Saturday we did manage to plant the first 400ft of snap peas, get 300ft of potatoes in the ground and move all the white rock chickens out onto pasture.

Garlic Patch

The greenhouse is filling up rather fast with crops and all the succession planting we have to do for the CSA. Everything is thriving and looking amazing but we would rather see all the crops in the garden than in the greenhouse. Last year Michael and I built raised beds around the greenhouse and this allows us to plant crops out when we have seasons like this that stop us from being on the field. The beds are filling up with Chinese cabbage salad onions, radicchio, shallots, Chinese artichokes, radish and top setting onions. The garlic patch is thriving and fingers crossed for another good crop this year.

Soren & Eva

We have seen several new arrivals to the farm over the last few weeks including our day old Oprington Buff chicks who will become our new eggs layers. We have finally welcomed Soren and Eva our two Nigerian Dwarf goats. They have been here for 5 days and finally Eva has learned the power of the inner voice. For the first 24 hours she did prove for such a little thing she has a rather large set of lungs. After all the screaming we think she did give herself a very sore throat by Thursday. They are both doing really well and love attention, Soren has taken to sitting on our laps, and Eva likes chewing on all our clothing. Eva will become our milking goat in the future and our founding goat for the "Knotty Ash" herd at Strattons Farm.

Power Outage....

2011-05-02T19:54:00.001-04:00

chicks staying warm by the stove.

Thursday brought a huge windstorm to most of eastern Ontario and for us a day without power and several days without internet.

The power outage brings a little bit of panic when you have day old chicks under heat lamps in the brood house! We decided the best option for the Orpington Buffs was to bring them into the house and light the wood stove to keep them warm.

Michael chose a more Victorian approach when it came to keeping heat in the brood house for the older chicks. This was to place several metal trays on the floor filled with candles. We were both surprised at how much heat tea lights can create. It also smelt lovely as Michael used all my scented candles!

We where rather lucky as the electricity came back on at 17.30hrs. We are not sure what we would have done if like some of the homes in this area who reached today, Monday, 4 days after the storm and still had no power.

First new arrivals of the year....

2011-04-20T18:54:00.000-04:00

As they say "April showers brings May flowers" and what an April it has been so far!! From freak thunderstorms to heavy rain, snow and bone chilling temperatures which makes for some rather grumpy animals and humans at the farm!

Looking on the brighter side we collected the first of our chickens today, but this has to be the first time in all the years we have raised chickens that we have needed three lights in the brood house and have had to make a roof to keep the heat in. We have been checking on them throughout the day and they are having a wonderful time running around and jumping in and out of food bowls. As the chicks get bigger and start to feather out we reduce the amount of heat and within the next three to four weeks they will be heading out into their pens on pasture. Once they are out on the fields we move their pens everyday onto fresh grass. The nicest thing about this is when you look a year later at where last years chickens went they have fertilized the field and we have lush green grass growing back.

Spring has sprung...

2011-03-26T13:40:00.001-04:00

March sunrise at the farm

It feels like it has been a long time coming but Spring has officially arrived. After the dump of snow the next day, and the sudden drop in over night temperatures, I don't think any of us are convinced about Wiarton Willies preditciton of 6 weeks till spring!

But that is March's temperamental weather patterns and winter not really wanting to let go.

March has seen two more of our Berkshire pigs leave the farm, seeding starting in the greenhouse, a trip to see baby Nigerian dwarf goats, greenhouse workshop, a speech at our local horticultural society and sadly the loss of some of our bees and lots of spring flooding at the farm.

Spring cleaning has started at the farm, even though we clean all the animal housing out during winter we only every remove the top layers as it helps to keep the heat in if we allow a thick bed to develop so this is the time of year when everyone's home gets a good clean and scrub out and we start our manure piles for Fall spreading. There is nothing better than using what the animals create to add fertility back into the growing field.

One of our goals on the farm is to slowly take the land back as we need it and to become more sustainable so this year we are going to be frost seeding one of the paddocks/fields for May and Lily. This will give us hay for the girls but also give them bigger paddocks to graze over on their days off. Michael and I measured the field. Michael had a good laugh as I managed to walk over the ice and not glide, resulting in me falling through into 12 inches of frozen water. This led to my boots sitting by the stove to dry out for 4 days!

Shallots

The CSA vegetable boxes have been reserved at a tremendous rate this year and we are know creating a waiting list for this season. We always grow more than we need, this allows us to still attend a farmers market and also for any loses that might occur during the season. We will be offering a few additional boxes nearer to the start of the season so please contact the farm if you would like to be placed on the waiting list.

I attended a great workshop this month on greenhouse extension and offering a Winter CSA. Michael and I are planning to offer a small one this winter 2011-2012 as a trial to allow us to see how well it will work. We have set up a survey for everyone to fill out to gauge the amount of interest for this. Click here to take the winter CSA survey.

Seeding has started in the greenhouse but with the sudden drop in temperatures we have spent a few days not going inside. The greenhouse is solar passive, which means we do not pay for heat, we allow the sun to do all the work. Even on a cold day like today it is very warm inside, the raised bed tunnels hold their temperatures really well, but when it does get a bit cooler we tend to leave it all locked up so the heat remains in. With the sudden thaw and rain we did have several rivers running through the greenhouse this year which made for some interesting digging and drainage.

1.5" soil bocks

This season we are learning to grow in soil blocks. This is allowing us to reduce our plastic plug tray usage, fingers crossed producing even stronger plants to be transplanted out into the field. The soil blocks are made from a wetter than normal soil mix and the extra water and roots hold the blocks together. Once tap roots emerge it is time to place them in the next size block. It means we have less wastage, the roots never wrap around so it means there is little to no transplant shock and as the roots reach the end of the blocks they send all their engery back into growing stronger plants (called air pruning). We are very excited about this and will keep you updated on how they do.

We can get 300 3/4" blocks in a tray!

3/4" soil blocker.

Sad news on the farm is the loss of some of our hives. This is something that all bee keepers expect but it is always very sad to see. It can be caused by lots of different things but many are saying it was the early spring last year that has caused some of these losses. Fall flowers came in summer and the queen bees stopped laying eggs sooner so this meant there where less bees to survive through the winter. We have still been very lucky as we know of other bee keepers in the area who have had greater losses than us.

Nancy Drew and her triplets - 1 Buck and 2 Does

But with death comes birth on a farm and our friend and breeder of Nigerian Dwarf goats invited us to see her new arrivals. Nancy Drew gave birth to 2 does and a buck. We are waiting for Velvet to give birth and then we will be choosing a compainion or two for Soren. Once the little ones are big enough and we have the new housing built they will be moving to the farm.

CSA Vegetable Boxes, only two shares left for the 2011 season!

2011-02-26T14:48:00.001-05:00

March is only a few days away and already we have had a huge response to this years CSA Vegetable Box programme.
We only have 2 shares left for this season, don't leave it to long to register if you would like to enjoy fresh, tasty, locally and naturally grown vegetables for an 18 week season.

Please remember shares are limited each year as this allows Michael and I to maintain a high quality of produce for you all.

What is a CSA or CSA Farm?: CSA farms receive a set fee from the consumer prior to the start of the growing season. In return you receive a share of the harvest on a weekly or bi-weekly basis, but you also share in the risks due to weather and other factors beyond the control of the farmer.

The Season: Will run over 18 weeks from the the week of the 13th June and will finish the week of 10th October Thanksgiving week.

What can you expect in your basket over the season: Arugula, Bush Beans, Runner Beans, Beets, Cabbage, Cucumbers, Chard, Chilies, Eggplant, Herbs, Kale, Kohlrabi, Lettuce, Peas, Peppers, Potatoes, Radish, Rhubarb, Salad Leaf, Summer Squash, Sweet Corn, Winter Squash, Turnip, Tomatoes, Tomatillos and lots more to look forward to.

Pick-Up Location: Boxes will be available only from the farm and pick up days are either Tuesdays or Thursdays between 11am-6pm

Share Size: We offer two types of shares. Whole Share weekly basket and a Half Share a bi-weekly basket. A whole share will feed a family of four for a week or two adults who love veggies, love to cook or to preserve or can for winter. The half share is the same size box of veggies but you only collect your box every two weeks. This means if you are on your own, or don't eat as many veggies as some this will keep you happy and contented over a two week period.

How Much will it cost?: A whole share is $477 for the season, A half share is $238.50 for the season. This works out at $26.50 per box.

Payment Options: With your application you will need to enclose a $25.00 non refundable deposit cheque. You can pay for the season in Full or in 5 cheques which will be deposited over the season. All payments whether in full or installments are due by the 30th May 2011. If you choose to pay in installments over the season there will be an additional admin charge to each installment.

How do you apply?: Either e-mail or call the farm and we will get an application to you.

If you have any questions on the CSA scheme please do not hesitate to contact us, or read one of our earlier posts about the CSA.

Farm Update...

2011-02-04T18:46:00.001-05:00

The farm after Wednesdays storm

It's been a busy winter so far. Michael has been working at a local dairy milking and I continue to teach. I am the lucky one as my job still allows me to work from home, so I am able to look after the animals that are with us through winter.

After the snow storm on Wednesday we spent yesterday grooming trails with May & Lily's help. It only took a few laps for the girls to clear the pathways to the chickens, ducks and of course their run-in, which would have taken Michael and I a good day to shovel.

Seeds are starting to arrive and the greenhouse preparations are all underway, we will start building low tunnels in the next week and shortly after that seeding will commence.

Lily & May grooming trails

CSA vegetable boxes are filling up fast and we only have 7 shares left for this season. So don't leave it too long if you are interested in reserving a fresh weekly or bi-weekly basket of veggies.

We are also taking Turkey orders for Thanksgiving and Christmas. We only have a few left for this season as with many other things we are limited to how many we are able to raise being a small farm and not buying into quota. We are looking at raising the Bronze Orlop this year.

As many know Michael sustained a horrible eye injury last summer and as of this week he was given the all clear by the eye doctor.

Girls working hard to pull the tyre through the snow!

Donnie Brasco!

2011-01-28T12:02:00.001-05:00

So this is nothing to do with the person or the movie but everything to do with a 19lb ham we had in the freezer!

Aromatic Shoulder of Pork 'Donnie Brasco" by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall from The River Cottage Meat Book, cooked by Michael!

1 Shoulder of pork on the bone (we used a whole Berkshire ham)

5 Large cloves of garlic

5cm piece of fresh ginger

2 teaspoons of dried chili

2 teaspoons of ground ginger

1 tablespoon of brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon of flaky salt (we used sea salt)

1 tablespoon of sunflower oil

1 tablespoon of soy sauce

THE FIVE SPICE MIX

2 star anise

2 teaspoons of fennel seed

1/2 cinnamon stock

4 cloves

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

Score the rind/fat of the pork with a Stanley knife in parallel lines about 1cm apart, to a depth of 1/1-1cm.

Grate the garlic and fresh ginger into a small bowl and mix to a paste with the chili flakes, ground ginger, brown sugar, salt, oil and soy sauce. Pound the 5 spices in a pestle and mortar (or grind in a coffee grinder) and mix 1 tablespoonful into the paste (any left over will keep in an airtight jar; you could make larger quantities, if you like and store).

Place the pork, skin side up, on a rack above a large roasting tin. With your fingertips, rub just over half the spice paste into the scored rind of the pork. Place the joint in the centre of a very hot oven (450F) for 30 minutes. The remove from the oven and, using oven gloves or a thick dry cloth, carefully turn the joint over to expose the underside. Using a knife or wooden spoon this time (the meat will be very hot), smear the remainder of the paste over the underside of the meat (now facing uppermost). Pour a glass of water into the roasting tin, turn down to 200F and replace the joint. Leave for anything from 16-24 hours (we cooked ours for 24hours), turning it skin side up again, and basting with the fat and juices in the tin, about half way through. About 45 minutes before you want to eat, whack up the heat to 450F again to crisp the crackling/fat.

To serve with simple starch, such as noodles, plain buttered macaroni, boiled rice or even mashed potatoes.

Have to say it was delicious, and the smell in the house for the 24hours it was cooking was amazing!

CSA Harvest 2010

2011-01-13T13:45:00.001-05:00

July pick up day

I am in the middle of planning the 2011 CSA Vegetable box garden and have been looking over last years harvest and the amount of produce that Michael and I picked for the members over the 18 week season.

Our CSA members last year consumed the following amounts/weights of vegetables. I have not put all vegetables on the list only a selection as we grow 47 different vegetable groups on the farm!

The amounts listed do not include what we harvested for the farmers market or farm gate sales!

133 Heads of Lettuce

72 Fennel heads

83 Heads of Cabbage

192lbs Tomatoes

(we would have had more tomatoes if it had not been for the hail storm damage)

584 Beets

157lbs Tomatillos

401 Zucchini

250lbs Potatoes

76 Eggplant

125 Sweet Peppers

Our girls laid over 2532 eggs in 2010

Mid August pick up

September - pick up day

If you are interested in joining the 2011 season to receive fresh, local, chemical free vegetables for 18 weeks then please click on this link and contact the farm for your application form.

Heritage Berkshire Pigs.....

2011-01-10T13:50:00.000-05:00

Even on a bright but chilly day the Berkshire's love to be outside. They have free range of the barn filled with hay and straw to bury into at night but we never lock them in. The have a paddock to the south of the barn that they are free to roam around if they choose to and on a sunny winters day you will often find them all laying out against the back wall fast asleep in the sun.

Today we gave them an extra treat from our winter vegetable stores of squash and pie pumpkins. Most days in winter we cook them up a veggie stew either for morning or evening feed! Yes our pigs are spoilt!

Happy New Year......

2011-01-01T09:21:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year to all our family, friends and customers.

A huge Strattons Farm thank you to everyone who has supported our farm over the last 12 months. We feel very lucky to have met so many wonderful people over this last year who have provided support, help, encouragement, advice and laughter!
Looking forward to sharing more adventures with everyone through 2011.

Berkshire Pork is back....

2010-12-22T16:51:00.001-05:00

Our Berks in their paddock!

Our pigs are raised slowly on pasture (for a minimum of 8 months), veggies, hay and non medicated grain.

Our pigs are allowed to be pigs, they romp in the grass and roll in the snow. The Berkshire breed has been revered for it's outstanding flavour, texture, tender dark juicy meat with high marbling. What Angus is to the beef world then Berkshire meat is to the pork world.

More information on the breed can be found on our Berkshire page.

Pork is sold in 20lb mixed packages for $120. Your packages will include a selection of roasts, ground, chops, bacon & hocks. We do individual cuts as well, please contact the farm for pricing.

Soren....

2010-11-30T18:12:00.000-05:00

On a wet November afternoon we headed out to Campbellford Vets to meet our newest addition Soren.

Soren is a Nigerian dwarf goat our first member of our herd. We have everything crossed to have two doelings join him when he moves to the farm next spring.

You may be wondering why introductions at the vets? (boys you may want to skip the next line!) Soren was being neutered as he will just be a companion to our girls when they arrive.

It was all rather quick and he was back out with us a few minutes later and was rather happy to receive cuddles from everyone at the office. A huge thank you to everyone at the vets and Marcy his breeder who will be caring for Soren until next Spring.

Soren, our first NDG!

Community Supported Agriculture 2011 - Registration is now open!

2010-11-20T08:01:00.004-05:00

August bounty!

We are delighted to announce we will be expanding our membership for the 2011 growing season. Membership will still be limited as this allows Michael and I to maintain the workload on the farm between the two of us as well as maintaining high quality produce for you all.

Have you ever wondered what a CSA is?
It is a great opportunity to become more connected to where your food comes from. We grow nutritious vegetables without using any GMO seed, pesticides, herbicides or synthetic fertilizers. Each year we grow for a predetermined group of members, who pay an annual fee to purchase a share of our harvest. This allows you to claim back a connection to the production of your food, learn how to eat with the seasons and to support a local farm rather than your food travelling thousands of miles and being picked before it is ready and who knows what in between?.

For more detailed information about the CSA, including share size, vegetable variety and pricing please click here.

Do remember space is limited, so don't delay in contacting the farm for your application form so you can reserve your share of the harvest. We can also provide gift certificate's if you choose to purchase a share for a friend or another family member.

Helping hands and hoofs...

2010-11-03T20:52:00.002-04:00

Lily & Jerry with Kim

Yesterday was a learning curve for all at the farm. Kim and Jean came by to help not only May and Lily but also to help Michael and I improve our driving skills.

Trailers arrived, horses where unloaded and then introductions of our girls to Kim's boys needed to be done. I think Michael and I where a little stunned at the intial noise and hoof stomping to follow, but it did only happen for a few minutes and then all seemed to settle quickly.

We hitched Lily to Jerry and May to Tom and the day began.

I have to say it was a day filled with new noises and expereinces for all here at the farm. May did an amazing job of learning how to deal with the noise of the muck spreader, Kim's is PTO driven as he has more land to fertilize with his horses. So May not only had to pull a different load she also had to get used to the engine noise. She did a great job but did not like the initital start up of the motor and we had a little dancing around but she stood fast and pulled her load. Lily learnt how to share the load with the culitvator as at the start of the day she let Jerry do all the work. She also had to get used to a tractor driving by to collect manure to load the spreader and then she had to follow the spreader and cultivate. It's amazing to see how much our girls dealt with yesterday and we look forward to be able to use them more and more on the farm.

Lily & May at the end of a long day.

At the end of the day we had only spread a small area of the garden and have done a shallow cultivation. We are going to borrow some discs from Kim as we need to break up the mulch more before we do any other cultvating on the field.

Kim Hadwen offers driving seminars at his farm and for anyone wanting to learn how to drive and handle a team of horses it is a great learning experience. Kim & Jean Hadwen can be contacted on 613-969-1345

Giant Puff Ball

2010-10-08T18:56:00.004-04:00

Last night we headed out to do evening chores, I noticed Michael was doing a bit of a jig in the hedge row!

I looked over my shoulder to see a rather large white football sitting in the grass. For a man who is not a football fan (sorry soccer fan) I thought this rather odd. On closer inspection it was not a football but a giant puff ball.

After morning chores today Michael went armed with a bread knife to extract his ball.

Giant Puffball Mushroom Facts

The latin name for the giant puffball is Calvatia gigantea. An older term, Langermannia gigantea, is no longer used.
Giant puffballs are saprotrophs, meaning they feed on dead organic matter. They're more likely found in meadows and grasslands than in the forest. They are always found growing on the ground rather than up in trees.
They often re-appear in the same place each year. This has caused some people to suspect they may be mycorrhizal rather than saprotrophic, but this has not been proven.
Puffballs are sometimes found in a large circle called a "fairy ring".
These mushrooms fruit in late summer to early fall. Despite their large size this happens quickly. The fruit body will appear in about a week's time.
Young giant puffballs have a white, fleshy interior. They become brown and discolored when past their prime and ready to release spores. They are also not edible at this stage.
All puffball mushrooms bear spores inside the mushroom rather than through external gills.
The exterior of the mushroom will eventually crack to release spores. This process is usually hurried along by weather, animals, and humans.
A mature giant puffball contains trillions of spores!
There are many types of puffballs but the giant variety are mainly found to the east of the Rocky Mountains. They are spread through the central and eastern United States, Canada, and Europe.
Giant puffballs are well named! They typically grow between 10 and 70 cm (around 4 to 27 inches). One of the largest specimens on record was 150 cm (59 inches)!

All information & facts about Giants Puff's balls came from the following website:

http://www.mushroom-appreciation.com/puffball-mushrooms.html

Check the link for more interesting information on mushrooms including recipes.

Harvest

2010-09-22T14:25:00.000-04:00

The days are getting shorter and the nights are getting cooler. This time of year has such mixed emotions for us. You have the sadness that the season is coming to an end but then you have the excitement of discovering the wonders of fall in the field and the delights of not only harvesting fall's bounty but also the preparing of the field for next years vegetables.

I love Winter Squash and pumpkins, they start to peep through the grass and corn with such wonderful colours and textures and bumps and lumps and this really is the time when you see how well they have or have not done.

We have had a bumper crop of Spaghetti Squash this year, they seem to be everywhere. We have also grown Boston marrows, musquee De Provence, sugar dumpling, butternut, acorn, Turks turban, mini pie pumpkins and the list could go on! One of the things we like about heirloom/heritage vegetables is the history that comes with them.

The Boston Marrow (pre-1831, pictured to the left) - According to Fearing Burr, John M. Ives of Salem, Massachusetts acquired a Boston Marrow (which he named Autumnal Marrow) from a friend from Northampton who claimed it originated with a tribe of Indians near Buffalo, NY. It became very popular around Boston for making pies hence the name Boston Marrow. The beautiful squash ripens to an orange colour and is Hubbard shaped. The very productive vines produces fruit up to 20 lbs. and the flesh is golden orange, fine-grained and makes the best pumpkin pie ever, we have been told! A very reliable squash that store well if properly cured.

Highs and Lows...

2010-08-24T21:08:00.002-04:00

It's a wet and rainy Monday and about time we did a farm update with all that has been going on at the farm over the last few weeks. It really has been a wild season so far.

I don't think we have gone a week without several heavy down pours of rain since the hail storm in July. Thankfully most of the plants have done an amazing job of recovering from the damage and then others have been slower or have held up their leaves and fruit and said enough is enough.

With all this rain and high humidity we do have an abundance of weeds, grasses and purslane on the field!

Some days it's been hard to get out on the garden as it has been like a bog and you are sinking to your knees in the mud. With such a season you do start to reflect a little earlier and start to think of different ways to grow and mulch for next year. This could mean adding an additional hoop tunnel for the tomatoes and more raised beds around the greenhouse. We may also use rye as a mulch for pumpkins and squash and developing our own low tunnels for the field to keep the birds and cabbage white butterflies off the cabbages, broccoli and cauliflower. We are also looking at alternative mulches for the field, we do not like to use the papers or plastic sheeting that is available as some of the chemical compounds that are used to bind them together can leave a rather yucky oil slick on the fields for the following years. At the moment we use a mixture of straw, old pigs bedding (which so far we love as the pigs eat all the seed out of it) and also old hay mix which has already started to compost. All the planning and ideas just makes us more excited about next years growing season.

A few weeks ago we took a morning away from the farm and visited Marcy and her lovely Nigerian Dwarf Goats. We met Marcy at a workshop this year and she was telling us about her NDG's. Michael has always wanted goats but I have never really been that keen until I heard, small, milk, and great cheese! Then I became a little more interested. The NDG's have great personalities and will produce enough milk for Michael and I. Where a cow would keep us tied to the kitchen making cheese and they are the ideal size for our farm.

All being well we will start establishing our own heard next spring. This will also bring us a step closer to our dream of being self sufficient.

The last two weeks I have been running the farm on my own with the help of some great friends who have been coming out to help with the garden and to help me with the pastured chicken. Michael sustained an injury to his eye, and was unable to do any heavy lifting for a while. An old wheel barrow's plastic wheel exploded and caused blood clots and lesions on the eye, this is resulting in surgery tomorrow and fingers crossed a working husband in the very near future. Update as of 7th October, Michael's eye after surgery is doing much better he has his final check up at the end of October so fingers crossed the Doctor gives him the all clear.

To top this off we also had May & Lily lame at the same time with abscesses. May is our strong girl, never complains and barley limped, where as the lovely Lily made out it was the end of the world. I think she does this every so often so we have to call Dr Bruce. As soon as he arrives the eyes start to flutter and she is the perfect patient.

I have been salt soaking and poulticing both girls who where wearing rather nice pink and purple bandages for a few days and with great delight both abscesses are draining. For me there really is nothing more satisfying then seeing an abscess ooze. This has also meant keeping May & Lily off the hill and moving the fence around the garden to give them fresh grass. The girls have adjusted well to the new paddocks but it was slightly odd having them so close to the house and greenhouse. A couple of times I thought they had broken out the paddock!! We hope that in the next week or so we can start to put them back out on the hill. A Huge thank you goes out to our Farrier Robin, Kim Hadwen and Dr Bruce from Campbellford vets for all their advice and help with May & Lily. We could not have got through the last few days without you all.

Our duck house has been rather empty this season and I do, every so often, miss the noise our Pekings used to make. So we are excited that in the next few weeks we will be receiving 6 Rouen ducklings. These will be with us for a while as rather than raising them for meat we are raising them to have duck eggs. Which will be rather yummy bonus for us.

The Berkshire pigs are doing amazing and we are about to extend their paddock. They love the surplus veggies off the field, especially the purslane, fennel tops and cabbage.

Solar Oven

2010-07-30T12:37:00.001-04:00

One of our CSA members has recently lent us her Solar Oven.

Weather forecast finally gave the thumbs up to no rain or cloud cover and preparations for dinner started the night before on a rack of our Tamworth Ribs. Michael made up a dry rub and let the ribs sit coated over night.

Ribs went into the oven at 8.20am, with the oven facing south east.

Within an hour the temperature was up to 200F, which the oven maintained for most of the day. Michael turned the oven a few times to make sure it kept an optimal angle to catch the suns rays.

A couple of our CSA members where very interested in the process yesterday, and as we all stood watching the temperature and oven you could smell the ribs cooking.

At around 3.30pm we opened the oven to discover the ribs where cooked, and the meat was just falling off the bone.

Our ribs where served later in the evening with braised pac choy from the garden. Yummy!

We will be cooking chicken, duck, ham roast and a cake over the next few days. If the rest of the meat cooks as well as the ribs I think we might be putting a solar oven on our wish list.

The SOS Sport oven

Thank You

2010-07-23T10:32:00.001-04:00

A huge thank you from the Strattons Farm team to everyone who has given their support either through e-mails and phone calls and an even bigger THANK YOU to everyone who have given up their free time to help on the farm over the last week after the storm on Saturday.

Scott and David have helped stand the corn, weed and mulch, Heidi has been busy weeding our beans, Margaret has been weeding the onions and Jasmine and Jade have been grooming May and Lily.

Storm!

2010-07-19T11:43:00.000-04:00

Michael and I have both been in Monsoons but neither of us have experienced a storm quite like the one on Saturday. One of our friends described it as a "Florida Hurricane".
We were transplanting lettuce out when the black clouds started to roll in. With most storms they tend to roll either to the North or South of the farm, this one stayed centre. The wind was blowing from all directions and even now I am stunned at how few trees we lost. I have never seen trees bend quite like that and still remain standing. I think the market garden would have been fine if it had not been for the hail, and it was not just a little bit of hail. The hail has left its mark all over the field, from ripping holes through leaves to physically marking the tomatoes, to putting holes into the beans and tomatillos. The wind did a great job of flattening the corn, but with the help of friends on Sunday we have fingers crossed managed to save some of the plants.

Even the greenhouse suffered damaged but this was just on the floor where the rain had ran under the base and washed the floor away.

Just as a double whammy we had another heavy rain storm through the night which has left most of the land like a mud hole and this will slow down our rescue operation of the vegetables.

A huge thank you to everyone who have helped us over the last two days and the offers of help that are coming in. I think it will be a good couple of weeks till the farm is looking normal again and until we see the real extent of the damage.

Garlic Harvest

2010-06-30T19:11:00.002-04:00

On a rather cold and windy day at the end of June reminiscent of the day in October when they were planted!

We have harvested our first garlic here at the farm. It's rather exciting digging into the ground removing a huge ball of soil with roots shooting out and then to carefully remove the earth to discover such wonderful bulbs of Organic Music and Heirloom Fish Lake garlic. This is the first time we have grown garlic and we are both delighted with the results. The smell in the air of fresh garlic, for me brings back memories of being at my Grandparents, when my Grand Dad would eat a few raw cloves of garlic along with his lunch each day.

The drying process now begins. This process should take about 2 weeks if we get a little more heat...Please!

We are already planing where we will be planting the garlic for next year and will start preparing the bed in the months to come.

The Magnificent Seven!

2010-06-06T16:14:00.001-04:00

We have collected our new Berkshire piglets today. Chris, Vin, Bernardo, Lee, Harry, Brit and Chico are finally settling into their new home. We did forget how small a 9 week old piglet is until they broke through the rather large holes in the fence and made a run for it in the barn! As in true magnificent seven style they did return to fight another day!

New Bees have arrived...

2010-06-06T07:56:00.001-04:00

This week Michael has been as busy as a bee!

Painting and building hives for our new arrivals. If you ever get to view the bee yard the rather lovely Teal hives are named the "DeeJay" hives, after a kind donation of latex exterior paint.

Thursday evening we collected two new nucs from Peter Mewett.

Nucs (nucleus colony) is essential a miniature starter colony. Nucs contain a laying queen, workers of all ages, open and sealed brood (lavae), drones of all ages and drone brood, stored honey and pollen.

Michael placed the bees into their new home on Thursday evening, while I got stung yet again!

The bees have settled well and Michael will be checking their progress tomorrow as long as we have a warm, sunny day!

We presently have supers on three hives for honey collection. The teal hive in the top picture was the swarm Michael caught this year. We have not started to collect honey from this hive yet as they have a lot of work to do to fill the brood chambers.
Michael also attended a bee workshop on Friday in Lakefield where he learnt about Integrated Pest Management for bees.

We have been busy!

2010-05-23T22:02:00.002-04:00

The field has finally been cultivated and the planting has began.

We are planting in 100ft rows this year and every so often you look up to see how much further you have to go and the end never seems any nearer.

In the last week we have planted out over 700ft of potatoes, 6 different varieties of bush beans, tomatillos, over 200 hundred tomato plants and we think we have about another 400 plants to go!

Kohlrabi seeds and transplants, onions, shallots, leeks, beet transplant and seeds, carrots, turnip transplants and seed and more multipliers. We will continue the planting out for a few more weeks yet and then it will be time to start all the weeding.

Sally & her magic runner beans...

2010-05-16T21:38:00.001-04:00

With a week of up and down temperatures and two frosts it really has been April in May!

Michael and I started to build our runner bean frames today and of course as ever I have got rather carried away with the bean orders.

The seeds of some varieties remind me of Jack and his magic beans, Michael thinks they are more like jelly beans.

We are growing the following Heritage varieties this year, Cherokee Trail of Tears, Scarlet Runner, Sunset Runner, Lazy Housewife, Purple-Podded, Kentucky Wonder & Painted Lady. In a few months the flowers will be feeding the bees and humming birds and then after that we will be have some wonderful tasty beans.

The Greenhouse..

2010-05-09T19:33:00.002-04:00

This time last year Strattons Farm was a hay field! The garden had not been harrowed, we had not built the bird housing and the greenhouse was a base and frame.

This year we are so excited to have so much already growing in the greenhouse, from heritage tomatoes, celery, kale, cabbage, herbs, eggplant, sweet peppers, hot peppers, lettuce, kohlrabi, and the list goes on.

Outside the dipping broccoli is already in a raised bed with a fleece over the top to prevent flea beetles and cabbage butterfly from attacking it. We do not use any sprays on the farm even those approved for Organic use can still harm the insects and creatures we welcome to the farm. A small bed of lettuce has been transplanted out, Multipliers and shallots are growing well, the peas are starting to break ground and the garlic bed is going from strength to strength.

Once the rain has stopped we hope to do the last bit of cultivating on the field and then the transplanting of hardy plants will start. We will also start direct seeding summer turnips and carrots and planting our potatoes.

The greenhouse on May 8th 2010, Michael is transplanting a few tomato seedlings.
The trays to the left on the floor are leeks, red and white onions and salad onions. This is the first time we have grown onion from seed and we are looking forward to seeing how they develop. I gave the onions a haircut yesterday which is rather rewarding as you get to eat the tops you trim. The taste is amazing.

24hours later we have had a frost warning so we have had to rebuild low tunnels in the greenhouse and cover all the delicate plants with fleece to keep heat in over night.

Mother Nature

2010-04-27T08:11:00.000-04:00

It started around 3am this morning with the wind blowing in from the North. Michael and I actually got up as we new the tarps where not tired down at the back of the horses run-in.

The wind was cold and the air was full of a light rain, we tied the tarps down, checked on May & Lily, and the little chicks and all was good so we headed back to bed.

We woke this morning at 6.30am to see the fields around us covered in wet snow. Lets hope that everything outside is happy with this sudden change in weather!

I am sure it will not be with us for long, it is just a little poke to remind us that we are still in April.

A great week of learning at the farm...

2010-04-24T19:23:00.007-04:00

We have had a busy week and it has not all been about planting. May & Lily's previous owner/breeder, Don Roi came to stay for three days at the farm. Don has a wealth of knowledge and experience, and Michael and I have had a great few days learning from him.

We have learnt how to trim and file the horses feet, Don has also given us tips on how to develop the girls strength and endurance for the months ahead. This has involved the forecart, a rather large tire, and several hills! I have spent the last few days getting May and Lily to drag the tire around the paddocks. I have to be very honest Don had to drive the girls down the hill as I lost my nerve as it is rather steep. I did take the girls back up the hill which was great fun.

Hoof trimming and filing was very interesting, We now have to purchase some horse size files as mine will never do!
Both May and Lily have lovely manicured feet, and we have a great collection of toe nails!

Don has also helped Michael instal our new solar water pump. This means we are now able to pump water from our spring to all the animals and the garden.

Water this year is going to be critical if the last month is anything to go by. I think we could be looking at a rather dry summer.

We have a cistern and a well for the house and as many know I managed to run the well dry last year due to over watering the ducks! Having the pump means we will not have to tanker water in to fill the well as it will come from our own Spring.

Yesterday while we were finishing May's feet we had an unexpected visit from a local teamster Neil Whitton. It was rather specutacular watching Neil drive over the fields with his stunning pair of Belgium's, who at the ages of 21 & 23 years old are still wining pulling championships across Ontario. Neil takes all his horses out each day for a 10 mile drive to help build their stamina for competition.

First Morning of Cultivating..

2010-04-13T08:46:00.000-04:00

Yesterday morning was our first day out with May & Lily and our new but old cultivator.

We have to slowly re-condition the girls back into shape so yesterdays cultivation was done with the teeth at the highest setting so the girls did not have to work as hard. Over the next few day we will set the teeth lower each time and also spend longer periods out on the field.

It was a nervous start for us all but after a few passes, myself and the girls started to feel a little more comfortable and even our lines got a little straighter.

Being a long legged person the seat position was not really made for me!

Last night Michael replaced the old suspect seat with a rather new Pioneer one. Lets hope it makes for a more comfortable ride.

Bee Inspection

2010-04-11T20:21:00.010-04:00

Michael unwrapped all three hives today and did his first full inspection of each hive.

This is our second winter on the farm but the first winter with the Bees.

Michael removed the cozy's from each hive, and checked for honey, pollen, and for brood. Michael did not spend to long on each hive as it was a little windy today on the farm. Two of the hives are situated just down a hill so they miss most of the wind but our third hive which was from a swarm is situated at the top of the hill.

All hives are looking really strong at present which is great news for Michaels first year as a beekeeper.

Ryan Stewart from Loyalist College Multi media course also was here today to film and take photos of Michael with the bees.

We are going to be adding an additional three hives to our yard this year.

Farm Sign..

2010-04-07T22:09:00.000-04:00

Michael has been off farm working for the last few weeks at the Russett's Apple Orchard, helping to prune the apple trees before the blossom arrives. He only has a 5 minute cycle to work which has been great. He has learnt a lot more about pruning, thank you Pete.

Yesterday was his last day of work so today was the official dig the hole for the sign day. Between the rain showers we managed to get the post in the ground and erect the farm sign.

All the wood used was found around the farm. We have made individual produce labels, which we will hook up depending what we have to sell.

We have more visitors to the farm next week which we are really looking forward to. Joel Beland and family run Covenant Farm a CSA in Clarence Creek. We are all getting together to share our passion for heritage pork, Suffolk Punch horses and of course organically grown veggies.

Visitors

2010-03-31T21:56:00.000-04:00

We have already had a busy week at the farm and its only Wednesday.
Yesterday Ryan Stewart who is a photo journalist from Loyalist College came out and visited the farm for one of his multi media assignments. He spent the morning taking photos and filming May and Lily in harness, and also did some filming and photos of Michael feeding the bees.
A huge thank you from us to Ryan for choosing the farm for his assignment.
Today we had Natalie and Terry Perry visit the farm from PEI. They actually came to visit May & Lily. The Perry's have work horses at the moment, but they are looking for a team of Suffolks. It was really lovely to spend the afternoon with the Perry's and we wish them lots of luck in their endeavour.

Farm Sign and Social Media...

2010-03-23T18:14:00.000-04:00

It has been a cold, windy, wet day here at the farm. So what do you do on a day like today? We made a nice yummy soup for dinner and we finished the farm sign. We recycled a piece of wood we found in the garage and Michael also managed to find an old cedar post that it will be attached to. We just need to dig the hole for the post and get the sign hanging. There will be no excuses for missing the farm now!!!!

Yesterday I attended a social media course which was ran by Hastings County and Bryna Jones from Engine Communications in Belleville. An interesting day spent learning about all the different aspects of social media and thanks to the course Strattons Farm is now on Twitter and Facebook! We are a little nervous on how we are going to keep everything updated. We are thinking of harnessing the Laptop to either May or Lily when we are out in the fields so we would be able to give live tweets while we cultivate.

First Bee inspection of 2010.....

2010-03-02T22:07:00.000-05:00

On Sunday with the mild weather we noted a lot of activity around the bee yard. The bees were taking a cleansing flight. Just say the snow went from a lovely white blanket to having yellow/orange spots all over it. Yes bees do poo! and poo a lot!

We are members of the local bee association and the monthly meeting was last night and the bees leaving the hive on Sunday for a short flight is actually a very good sign.

Today Michael went out to do a very quick inspection of all the hives and gave all the bees additional feed of sugar syrup.

We are learning it becomes a family farm affair when we do anything and both May and Lily found Michael rather interesting in his bee suit.

Farm News...

2010-02-27T17:43:00.000-05:00

Over the last two weeks we have started seeding for the harvest garden. With the greenhouse being unheated I have to wait a little longer until the overnight temperature is above freezing before I can start planting outside. This year I have taken over one of the bedrooms to start our seeds. I have been seeding onions, celery, celery leaf, and celeriac. I have planted over 1500 onion seeds so far some of which have started to germinate but I still have a few more seeds to plant!!

We have been working with May & Lily on a regular basis, getting them used to walking over the garden and also getting them used to the cows across the road. May does not seem to mind the mooing but Lily is still a little unsure. We have been without the forecart as it makes for a rather bumpy ride over the planting field at the moment and also with the ice on the hay fields it has been a little slippery. I have been line driving them which is good practise for us all, especially for me as I am not very good at staying in a straight line!

Tamworth pork will be available from the middle of March. The pork is sold in mixed 20lb bundles, There is also some Berkshire pork still available.

Slow Roasted Berkshire Hock..

2010-02-18T19:16:00.002-05:00

Apologies for anyone who is not a meat fan! I will be including a raw meat photo with this blog.

Last night I unwrapped one of our hocks and was delighted to see just how meaty it was. Rather than the normal hocks you get in the supermarket ours weighed 4lbs and had the most amazing marbled meat. So rather than just make a split pea soup I decided to slow roast it in the new wood stove!

It all started at around 11.30am this morning, we lit the stove and got the oven up to 400degrees. From there we roasted the hock for 30 minutes uncovered, (In theory I am following Jamie Oliver's recipe but doing the whole thing in the wood stove).

I covered the hock with a double layer of foil and placed the roasting pan back into the oven. We allowed the temperature in the oven to drop to around 325 degrees and then maintained this heat for the next 4 hours.

Michael then added a little more wood to help bring the temperature back up to 400degrees. We removed the hock from the pan added some partially boiled potatoes, chopped carrots and celery, placed the hock on top of the veggies and cooked uncovered for another 75 minutes.

Not only were Michael and I looking forward to dinner as the smell through the house was rather yummy but Jorja and Zampa also spent most of the day laying by the stove!

Of course to enjoy Berkshire Pork you do not need a wood stove! I will try another roast in the oven and see how it compares to cooking with the wood. One of the benefits of cooking in the oven rather than the wood stove is you don't spend half the day looking like a beetroot from the heat. You can also keep most of your clothing on, we have spent today peeling layers off as it has got rather hot in the house.

The Stove!!!!!

2010-02-17T11:10:00.000-05:00

It took Michael nearly a yearly to convince me we should get a Wood Stove. I finally said Yes in the middle of January and within the week I had a 500lb Pioneer Maid wood stove sitting on the front porch of our farmhouse!
I am still rather impressed that we managed to move the stove between the two of us, the delivery company only delivers to curb side!!.
After getting the appropriate building permit, Michael making several large holes in the floor and ceiling and having Rene install the chimney we had the final approval yesterday from the building inspector.

We spent most of yesterday just looking at the stove not really sure where to start! We conditioned the stove after reading the instructions for the 10th time! While heating the stove up we thought we should not waste the heat, Michael felt this was a great opportunity to boil a kettle and have a cup of tea, we then baked a tray of cookies in the oven and finally rather than turning the electric oven on I cooked our dinner on the stove top.
The heat the comes off the oven is incredible and the heat through the house was lovely, not really sure if I am ready to give up the electric stove and use the Pioneer Maid all year round.
The grand plan according to Michael is that not only will we get heat from the stove and cook our meals but it also has a water coil in the fire box that will connect to our hot water tank...free hot water too!! Solar hot water in the summer, wood stove hot water in the winter.

Just wondering....

2010-02-15T13:31:00.006-05:00

While cleaning out the girls run- in, Michael was wondering if we could fit both the girls in the back of the pickup?
It would mean not having to purchase a trailer for them!
May seemed quite keen to get in the back but Lily was a little more undecided!

CSA Veggie Boxes, only two shares left for the 2010 season!

2010-02-10T12:47:00.004-05:00

We are just approaching the middle of February and already we have had a huge response to this years CSA Veggie Box scheme.
We only have one full share and one 1/2 share remaining for the 2010 Harvest.

If you would like an application please contact the farm and we can either e-mail or post the application to you. If you are interested in enjoying fresh, tasty, locally and naturally grown vegetables for an 18 week season you are sure to enjoy the delights of a Veggie Box.

Please remember shares are limited and this allows Michael and I to maintain a high quality of produce for you all.

The Season: Will run over 18 weeks from the the week of 16th June and will finish the week of 10th October Thanksgiving week.

Pick-Up Location: Boxes will be available only from the farm and pick up days are either Tuesdays or Thursdays between 11am-6pm

How Much will it cost?: A whole share is $450 for the season, A half share is $225 for the season. This works out at $25.00 per box.

Payment Options: With your application you will need to enclose a $25.00 non refundable deposit cheque. You can pay for the season in Full or in 5 cheques which will be deposited over the season. All payments whether in full or installments are due by the 28th May 2010. If you choose to pay in installments over the season there will be an additional admin charge to each installment.

How do you apply?: Either e-mail or call the farm and we will get an application to you.

If you have any questions on the CSA scheme please do not hesitate to contact us, or read one of our earlier posts about the CSA.

Turkey Lurkey.....

2010-02-03T19:21:00.003-05:00

We are now taking orders for Thanksgiving and ChristmasTurkeys. As with all our animals, Turkeys will be raised slowly on pasture, veggies and grains.

We are raising two breeds of Turkey on the farm this year the Broad Breasted Bronze and Large White.

If you would like to reserve your Turkey then please contact us, we only raise a small number each year so please book early.

Rather Yummy Chops....

2010-01-29T18:40:00.000-05:00

This is a nice quick and easy recipe for Pork chops which will have you wanting more.

Heat your oven to 425F

Place a skillet on a burner with a nice glug of olive oil in the pan, while the oil is heating season your chops with some salt and pepper and press a few Sage leaves into the chops.

Once the oil is hot place your chops in the pan.

This is the bit where we all get tempted to lift the meat too soon and have a look! Best thing to do is walk away and let the pan and the heat do it's thing..

You will start to see the meat edges lift and and it will become lose in the pan, at this stage have a look and it should be golden and yummy looking on the underneath.

Turn your chops over and then place the skillet in the oven and leave to cook for about 10minutes..

Serve your chops with your favourite veggies.

I had all best intentions of having a lovely photo of them cooked but Michael had the plate out my hand before I could even get to the camera.

Jamie Oliver's 6 hour slow roasted pork shoulder

2010-01-24T10:50:00.000-05:00

Serves 4 to 6

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 6 hours

ingredients

• 2kg bone-in shoulder of pork

• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 2 red onions, halved

• 2 carrots, peeled and halved lengthways

• 2 sticks of celery, halved

• 1 bulb of garlic, skin on, broken into cloves

• 6-8 fresh bay leaves

• 600ml water or vegetable stock

This is a proper old-school Sunday roast. Leaving the bone in adds a bit of extra flavour well marbled pork helps to keep the meat nice and moist as it roasts. This isn’t the kind of joint you carve into neat slices. If you’ve cooked it right, it should pull apart into shreds with a couple of forks.

Preheat your oven to 220°C/425°F/gas 7.

Place your pork on a clean work surface, fat-side up. Rub salt and pepper over the covering of fat on the joint.

Brush any excess salt off the surface then turn it over. Season the underside of the meat with a few pinches of salt and pepper. Place your pork, fat side-up, in a roasting tray and pop in the preheated oven. Roast for 30 minutes. At this point, turn the heat down to 170°C/325 F/gas3, cover the pork snugly with a double layer of tin foil, pop back in the oven and roast for a further 4 and a half hours.

Take out of the oven take the foil off, and baste the meat with the fat in the bottom of the tray. Carefully lift the pork up and transfer to a chopping board. Spoon all but a couple of tablespoons of fat out (save it for roast potatoes!)

Add all the veg, garlic and bay leaves to the tray and stir them into the fat. Place the pork back on top of everything and return to the oven without the foil to roast for another hour. By this time the meat should be meltingly soft and tender.

Carefully move the meat to a serving dish, cover again with tin foil and leave to rest while you make your gravy. Spoon away any fat in the tray, then add the water or stock and place the tray on the hob. Bring to the boil and simmer for a few minutes, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon to scrape up all those lovely sticky tasty bits on the bottom of the tray. When you’ve got a nice, dark gravy,pour it through a sieve into a bowl or gravy boat, using your spoon to really push all the goodness of the veg through the sieve. Add a little more salt and pepper if it needs it.

Serve the pork with your jug of gravy and some lovely roast potatoes (As a treat you can try roasting them in the fat you spooned out of your roasting tray. Some stewed red cabbage and a dollop of apple sauce will finish this off perfectly).

Heritage Berkshire Pork for Sale...

2010-01-20T22:04:00.006-05:00

We have spent the last seven months raising our Berkshire pigs. They have had a lovely pasture filled with grass, dandelions, and lots of other vegetation to romp around in. In Fall they got to enjoy pumpkins, squash and apples and in the snow they have snow bathed, eaten hay and even more apples, and unmedicated grain. We have allowed our pigs to be pigs and do all the things that piggies like to do.

Berkshire's are a rare breed of pig originating from Britain. Said to be 'Britain's oldest pig breed'. They apparently became popular after being discovered by Cromwell's troops while they were stationed at Reading during the English civil war.
Berkshire's where introduced to Canada in the 1830's and as quoted in the Canadian Farmer in 1867 "for quality of pork & bacon, the modern Berkshire still stands unrivalled"

They produce tender, dark juicy meat with high marbling and exceptional flavour.

Click here to read a food critics article on Berkshire pork.

Pork can be purchased as either individual cuts or a 20lb mixed selection which will include roasts, chops, ground, and bacon.

Customer's Comment on our Berkshire Pork...

Hi Sally and Michael

Just had to tell you that we had a pork- filled dining experience this weekend. The kids and I had bacon and eggs for dinner on Saturday. Richard missed out as he had work to do, so I'd like to get more bacon from you if you have it. Sunday we had chops. Now I have to tell you that I really don't like pork chops, BUT these were fantastic. I just made a quick marinade with olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper. Only had time to brush it on and threw them in the oven on really high heat for 20 or so mins, turned over for another 10 min. They were tender, sweet and delicious.

So here is my official feedback - Great stuff and I need more bacon!!!

See you Saturday,

Rita

"Evelyn loves the eggs, She loves the pork too. She really enjoyed having the bacon with her eggs. I had to stop her at three pieces she kept saying "a little more Mommy".
From Evelyn 3 years old and her Mommy

First Day of School for May & Lily.....

2010-01-16T21:45:00.002-05:00

On a cloudy Saturday morning Owen & Jackie Harder of "Harder's Heritage", came to help us hitch May & Lily for the first time since their arrival at Strattons Farm in December.

Michael and I have been harnessing the girls on a regular basis and getting them use to standing in harness but today was the first official drive out of the paddock.

We replaced the wheels on the fore cart with skis, which made going over the ice and what little snow we have a little easier on our behinds.
We will continue taking the girls out on a regular basis so they get used to us and this will help to condition the girls for Spring ploughing and cultivating.

If you are driving by the farm, take a look over the fields as you never know you may see us out for a drive with the girls.

Seed Planing....

2010-01-09T10:02:00.000-05:00

It is that time of year again when the snow falls and the wind blows, and all the seed brochures have arrived........

I am sitting down with my cup of coffee, brochures and my garden plan and getting the best job of selecting what we will grow this season. As ever I promise to grow some weird and wonderful veggies.

We will be increasing our range or Heirloom Vegetables, I have added Sweet Potatoes, Chinese Artichokes, Rapini and a greater selection of fall/winter veggies.

If you have any suggestions of things you would like to see in your boxes or at the market please do let us know. We are always happy to try.

We will be establishing a proper herb garden this season and last year we planted additional Rhubarb and Asparagus plants, ready for spring picking.

Happy New Year.....

2009-12-30T08:39:00.005-05:00

Reflecting over the last year at Strattons Farm!

We thought we would share some of the out takes with you all from 2009!.

Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year and Best Wishes for 2010.

Strattons Farm will be powered by Horses for 2010 and beyond...

2009-12-27T09:25:00.025-05:00

On the 22nd December we had an early Christmas Present arrive at the Farm. Don & Anne Roi drove from Owen Sound to the farm with May & Lily our two new Suffolk Punch Mares.

They had a good drive down and we placed them in their new paddock. After about three hours on the farm our two Berkshire and two Tamworth pigs thought it would be a great idea to run around their paddock and bark and woof as they normally do in the snow. Of course this spooked the girls and nothing would stop them including the electric fence. Just say after a rather long run up and down the hills around the farm we found both of them located South of the farm on a neighbours pasture. The girls are now settling in well. Michael and I are still walking around with stomachs in our mouths and spent most of Christmas day sitting in the kitchen on bar stools watching them in the Paddock.

May & Lily will be helping us with the Market Garden, and we also hope to do some logging with them in our small woodlot. We all have a lot of learning to do and we are very lucky that we not only have Don Roi, and Hastings County has a wealth of of knowledge via the Quinte Draft Horse Association.

A huge thank you to our friend and fellow Suffolk Punch owner Ken Holmes for the fantastic photos of the day. This was the one occasion that Michael and I did not have our cameras at the ready!

Merry Christmas.........

2009-12-20T18:17:00.000-05:00

Michael and I would like to Thank Everyone for their support in our first year at Strattons Farm. We feel very lucky to have met so many wonderful people over this last year who have provided support, help, encouragement, advice and laughter!
We are both very excited about what 2010 will bring to the farm and we look forward to providing you all with lovely Veggies, Meat and lots more laughter and adventures for the year to come.
We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Pigs In Snow......

2009-12-08T17:53:00.004-05:00

While completing May and Lilly's run-in, we have been entertained by our lovely Berkshire and Tamworth Pigs, who have been romping and snow bathing today.

Santa Claus Parade & Farmers Market....

2009-11-30T17:49:00.001-05:00

Friday the 4th December is Stirling-Rawdon's Santa Claus Parade and Farmers Market. The Farmers Market will run from 4pm till 7pm, the Parade starts at 6.30pm from the Recreational Centre.

Strattons Farm will of course be at the Farmers Market. For the Evening Market we will be selling a variety of our Jams, Chutneys and Preserves, We will have Winter Vegetables at the Farmers Market on the following Saturday the 12th December from 10am-2pm during the 4H Nativity.

Make sure you put your thermals on for Friday night!

Eggs....

2009-11-21T09:33:00.002-05:00

If you are ever just passing by the farm we will always leave the Fresh Eggs in a Basket on the doorstep.

Eggs are $3.00 a dozen, please leave money in the basket and we are always happy to have your old egg cartons back.

Introducing our New Horse Power.....

2009-11-09T10:20:00.034-05:00

We are very excited here at the farm, though it does not take much to excite us these days!

We have been in a bit of a whirlwind for the last 3 weeks. Due to some amazing people who recently came into our lives, we are delighted to say we are going to be seeing two new arrivals at the farm.

May & Lilly are 6 year old Suffolk Punch Mares. They will be helping us with the Market Garden over the years to come, and we also hope to learn how to log with the girls, though how they will pick up the Stihl we are not too sure!

I have been in Owen Sound for the last three days working with May and Lilly and also their mothers Rose and Chelsey and their present owner Don, who is a very patient teacher and skilled teamster.

Suffolk Punches are the oldest breed of heavy horse in Great Britain with records dating from the sixteenth century. If you are interested in learning more about Suffolk's please check out the links on the blog.

All Hallows Eve Farmers Market.....

2009-10-31T16:17:00.004-04:00

A huge Thank-You to all who braved the rain and wind to support the Stirling Farmers Market & All Hallows Eve Celebrations.

The Farmers Market will return for the Santa Claus Parade December 4th from 4pm-7pm. We hope to see you all there, but do remember to bundle up and bring along your Hot Toddies!

All Hallows Eve Farmers Market.....

2009-10-24T16:50:00.008-04:00

October 31st is The "All Hallows" Eve Farmers Market at the Covered Bridge from 10am-2pm. Wear your costumes to the market and enjoy pumpkin carving and painting, a candy filled haystack, and a haunted maze!

The Lions are hosting a BBQ from 11am on Mill Street.

We look forward to seeing you there.

2010 CSA Veggie Boxes.....

2009-10-07T13:45:00.014-04:00

Application for next years CSA (community supported agriculture) Veggie Boxes are ready.

We can either e-mail or post the applications to you so please get in contact with us at the farm if you are interested in enjoying fresh, tasty, locally and naturally grown vegetables for an 18 week season. You are sure to enjoy the delights of a Veggie Box.

Please remember shares are limited and this allows Michael and I to maintain a high quality of produce for you all.

The Season: Will run over 18 weeks from the the week of 16th June and will finish the week of 10th October Thanksgiving week.

Pick-Up Location: Boxes will be available only from the farm and pick up days are either Tuesdays or Thursdays between 11am-6pm

Share Size: We offer two types of shares. Whole Share weekly basket and a Half Share a bi-weekly basket. A whole share will feed a family of four for a week or two adults who love veggies and love to cook. The half share is the same size box of veggies but you only collect your box every two weeks. This means if you are on your own, or don't eat as many veggies as some this will keep you happy and contented over a two week period.

How Much will it cost?: A whole share is $450 for the season, A half share is $225 for the season. This works out at $25.00 per box.

Payment Options: With your application you will need to enclose a $25.00 non refundable deposit cheque. You can pay for the season in Full or in 5 cheques which will be deposited over the season. All payments whether in full or installments are due by the 28th May 2010. If you choose to pay in installments over the season there will be an additional admin charge to each installment.

How do you apply?: Either e-mail or call the farm, or drop by the farmers market this weekend to pick up an application form.

If you have any questions on the CSA scheme please do not hesitate to contact us, or read one of our earlier posts about the CSA.

Garlic Planting..

2009-10-06T17:57:00.005-04:00

On a bright Autumn day, with a break in the rain we have managed to plant our first crop for 2010!

After a last minute panic we did find two really nice Organic varieties of Garlic. We have planted about 300 cloves of Music and tomorrow we will be planting a very small batch of Heirloom Fish Lake that we managed to get from the Sisters of Providence in Kingston.

We have placed the garlic in a well manured bed near to the Greenhouse. We have added a 4" covering of Straw to keep the warmth in and help set the roots. Then we have to keep everything crossed for Spring.

Thanks Giving Farmers Market.....

2009-10-04T19:05:00.011-04:00

Saturday 10th October 8am-1pm, is the last official Farmers Market of the season, but not to worry we are all returning for a Halloween Special on 31st October from 10am-2pm. All your favourite vendors will be there fancy dress is of course optional!

Squash!

2009-10-01T21:32:00.000-04:00

We have spent the last two days and one evening picking Butternut Squash, Mesa & Table Queen Acorn Squash and also Uchiki Kuri, which is a orange-red skinned squash from Japan. The fruits are tear drop shape with a sweet, creamy yellow flesh with a nutty flavour.

We have started to pick a few of the Rouge Vif D'Etampes or Cinderella pumpkins which have turned a lovely blood-orange colour.

Michaels ornamental gourds are doing well and we have covered them all with buckets to allow them to dry on the vine and keep the frost off. We have everything crossed that they will dry!

Five days Five Eggs!!!

2009-09-29T21:10:00.000-04:00

At long last we are starting to see eggs at the Farm. We have had an egg a day for the last five days. Sadly the other 12 chickens have not started to lay yet!

The eggs are still small but over time they will get larger.

We enjoyed eggies in their baskets this week even if they where tiny baskets!

CSA 2010

2009-09-25T20:38:00.000-04:00

With the season drawing to a close, and only two more weeks left for the Stirling Farmers Market we are already looking at 2010.

In the next week we will have 2010 CSA Brochures ready for you all. As ever there are a limited number of places. We are offering two different types of shares. A whole share weekly and a whole share bi-weekly. If you are interested in CSA Boxes for next year please do e-mail or call and make sure we have your contact details so we can get the applications to you.

We will be increasing our range of Heirloom Vegetables for next year and if I am left in charge of seed orders again you can trust to see some weird and wonderful Veggies in your boxes or at the farmers market.

Friends have already made suggestions of some additonal vegetables they would like to see, so if you have a favourite that we have not grown this year please do let us know and we will see what we can do.

Name our new arrivals!!

2009-09-22T15:33:00.000-04:00

We are very excited to share pictures of our new arrivals, our two nameless Tamworth Piglets. Ham & Bacon have become foster parents and are doing a great job at looking after the piglets. The Tamworths have a much longer nose, and longer body than the Berkshires. They are also a little more vocal!

If you can think of any pork related names for our two Tamworths, then please e-mail your suggestions to us.

Fall Harvesting, Planting & a Frosty Weekend..

2009-09-17T20:29:00.000-04:00

Fall is truly on its way when you see the pumpkin patch start to die back. With this comes the joy of finding out what delights have been growing through the summer in the patch. So far we have spotted some lovely Butternut and Acorn Squash the Cinderella Pumpkins are turning the most fantastic blood orange, and we have a few Howden's in the field. Sadly the stink bugs did kill several of the plants! We also have varieties of ornamental gourds that have grown well.

We have started to harvest the cabbage this week and these will be stored in the cellar of the house. Potatoes will be next!

If you ever need any of the staple vegetables during fall & winter it is always worth calling to see what we have in the cellar.

We have managed to find the most amazing Organic Music & Fish Lake Garlic. Planting will start towards the end of September, once we have decide where to plant the 500 cloves!

We did have a bit of a shock very early on Saturday morning as we left the house to pick veggies for Market. Small areas across the garden and been hit by a Frost! We lost several rows of tomatoes, Eggplant, Okra, sweet and hot peppers.

We where happy to see it did not hit all the plants, not sure if this is due to the garden running over a slight hill? We will take any break we can get!

Gurning....

2009-09-14T09:31:00.000-04:00

We spent most of Sunday harvesting and processing , but did get slightly distracted when we found a few Zucchini that had got a little large in the garden. This of course led to Michael then partaking in his own Gurning competition.

Gurning contests are a rural English tradition. They are thought to have originated in 1297 at the Egremont Crab Fair, when King Henry III granted the fair a Royal Charter. Crab apples are bitter, and so in celebration of the event, people pulled faces. Gurning was born. The competitions are held regularly in some villages, with contestants traditionally framing their faces through a horse collar known as "gurnin' through a braffin'." The World Gurning Championship takes place annually at the same crab fair in Egremont, Cumbria. Those with the greatest gurn capabilities are often those with no teeth, as this provides greater room to move the jaw further up. In some cases, the elderly or otherwise toothless can be capable of spectacular gurns covering the entire nose. Peter Jackman became England's best-known gurner, winning the world championship four times, beginning in 1998 with a face called the "Bela Lugosi." He had his teeth removed in 2000 to make his features easier to manoeuvre. Three years later, he died playing golf in Spain when a cliff face collapsed underneath him.

Our little helpers..

2009-09-03T20:58:00.000-04:00

These are two of many little helpers in pest control on the farm.

We have had our fare share of pests this year. From hornworms, stink bugs to aphids but we also have a great team that helps fight the battle. Michael and I have become quite the pro's at spotting Hornworms and the Chickens get rather excited at the extra protein they are about to receive.

We are very lucky at having lots of toads on the farm and I have several in my greenhouse who have got rather large over the summer and today we where delighted to find a Praying Mantis in the field.

Bee Mazes..

2009-09-02T20:26:00.000-04:00

Today Michael placed the bee mazes on two of the hives. The mazes can only be left on for the next two days this gives the bees time to leave the honey super and doesn't give time for the wax moth to take residence.

We hope to start extracting on Friday, not sure how much honey we will have from the hives as we made the decision to leave a super on each hive to give the bees extra honey for their winter stores.

Sunrise at Strattons Farm

2009-09-02T20:12:00.000-04:00

Thought we would share with you the sunrise we got to enjoy over the farm this morning as we did our morning chores.

Go Buff in Stirling

2009-08-30T20:12:00.000-04:00

August 29th 2009 saw the first "Water Buffalo Festival" in Stirling. Even though the day was filled with rain, enjoyment

was had by all as 9 talented chefs cooked various dishes using several different

Italian cheeses that are made from the Buffalo Milk which is produced in Stirling by the Ontario Water Buffalo Company owned and operated by Martin Littkemann and Lori Smith.

The farmers market ran along side the Festival with all your favourite vendors. Jeremy Taft of Cobblers Gate and David & Cathy Baynes of La Dolce Vita used Tomatoes from Strattons Farm in their Salads.

La Dolce Vita Crispy Kale

2009-08-30T18:44:00.001-04:00

If you want to try something different with kale and you love Crispy seaweed then you are going to be in for a real treat.

Rinse Kale and slice, toss in olive oil, sea salt and pepper.

Spread the kale on a lined cookie tray and broil until it starts to crisp and change colour, turn the kale once and leave for a few more minutes under the broiler and serve.

It is simply yummy.

Thank you David and Cathy from La Dolce Vita Bed and Breakfast for sharing this recipe.

End of August CSA Vegetable Basket..

2009-08-26T17:48:00.001-04:00

What is a CSA?

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program is a system that connects you the consumer directly to fresh, locally grown organic food in your area. In a CSA, farmers grow food for a predetermined group of consumers who pay an annual fee to purchase their share of the harvest.

This allows you to claim back a connection to the production of your food. Knowing it is grown within your community rather than traveling thousands of kilometers.

CSA's are locally sustainable and are shared risk agriculture.

Sadly we cannot control Mother Nature, but we will use all our farming knowledge and experience to make sure that you will receive a wide variety of vegetables each week. However, the farmer knows that if all else fails the CSA member will agree to give their continued support.

If you would like to try a Vegetable basket this season, then please do not hesitate in contacting us, or if you are interested in the 2010 season then send an e-mail to us at the farm and we will place you on our mailing list.

Tomato Harvest

2009-08-25T21:27:00.000-04:00

Even with the Hornworms we are delighted to see a bumper crop of fruit ready for the picking.

Tomatoes are not just for summer. This is the best time to start your canning for winter stores of home grown tomatoes.

Top Tips for Freezing..

We recommend medium size fruit that are slightly firm and unmarked.

Rinse well, place into freezer bags and freeze.

When you are ready to use remove tomatoes and run under a warm tap to remove the skins.

Canning Tomatoes..

Place five 1 litre jars in a canner, bring to the boil and set timer for five minutes then add lids and boil for another five minutes, then remove canner from heat. Remove jars from canner. In each jar place a teaspoon of salt and a clove of garlic.

Use plum or paste tomato varieties. Use a sharp knife and make a cross on the bottom of each tomato, place them in a bowl and pour boiling water over the top.

Leave for several minutes till you see the skins peeling away, remove skinned tomatoes from water and place into jar. You need to pack your jars tightly with fruit. Pour boiling water over the top leaving 1/4" headspace. Place lids on top, and return jars back to the canner. Bring the water back to the boil and keep it on a boil for another 10 minutes. Remove all jars from canner and let cool. As long as the lids pop your tomatoes will keep for up to a year.

Tomato Hornworms

2009-08-25T21:12:00.000-04:00

The farm has seen a rather large infestation of Tomato Hornworms, which is a bit of a shock to us, as we never experienced these in Quebec!

We have become very good at finding them, we follow the trails of pooh!

Berkshire Pigs have arrived..

2009-08-23T21:56:00.000-04:00

We are very excited to introduce our first two Berkshire Piglets, Ham & Bacon.

After two weeks of running around the barn they have started a new adventure outside on pasture. We discovered having a few tomatoes in hand made the transition a little easier from Barn to field.