Our Garlic Strategy this Year |
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Have a veggie subscription with us? You are getting this email because you do not have a box scheduled for this week, but can still make a regular order through our store. If so, please complete the checkout process to submit your order.
Order vegetables before Wednesday at 12pm for pickup and delivery this week.
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Weeding Hoophouse 2, which was planted in fall greens, herbs and radish about 2 weeks ago |
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FARM UPDATE
We have started preparing area for planting garlic! Finding a spot has become a little difficult because garlic is supposed to have a 14-year break before re-planting an area. We’re in season 12, so we are starting to run out of spots to plant it! Our experience with flooding this summer has also left us a little hesitant to put this long-season, single-succession crop in a vulnerable place. We’ve settled in a spot that we hope is far enough away from any low areas that might flood in the spring.
The whole Allium family (garlic, onion, leek and sometimes green onion) are planted together and rotate into a new spot each season. In the preceding fall, this starts with garlic and, in the new year, the other Alliums follow into the same area. We have struggled the last few years with leek moth, which like to make a home in all-types of Allium tops. Usually they’re a minor issue, but this year it was a lot worse. We think that, although we put the Alliums in a fresh spot, it was physically too close to where they were the previous year. The leek moth very quickly found our planting this year and had time to settle in, causing a lot of damage. Our new spot is as far away as we can possibly get, so fingers crossed that protects us a little.
We often plant garlic from our own stock, but we we’re actually a little disappointed in our harvest this year. The garlic was good quality, but the bulbs were small. To get big bulbs, it’s often recommended to plant the largest cloves, but we gave up on this a few years ago because we didn’t think it was making a big difference and thought we might save time sorting cloves in the fall. We decided that larger bulbs are worth it, so we’re going back to planting the largest cloves to help hedge our bets for a better harvest.
In other news, we have cleared out a bed of peppers in Hoophouse 3, making room to plant salad mix in there today. That pepper clear out means: lots of green and part-coloured peppers are available! Next week signals the true farewell to pepper season, as we plan on removing the rest of the plants and fill out that space with more winter greens.
Have a question or something you would like to hear more about in a future newsletter? Let us know at the market, farm pickup, or send an email!
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Multi-coloured greens! We mix these mustard greens (centre) with salad mix (left) to make our Spicy Salad Mix. It's a cool-weather specialty! |
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FARM STORE NOTES
FROM OUR FARM:
Green and part-coloured Sweet Peppers:
Some of the last of this season!
Celery! Stems are cut and bunched together
Salsa (mild and hot), Tomato sauce, Marinara, and Tomato soup! Made from our vegetables and canned by C'Angelina, a London-based family business
FROM THE FIELDS
Bunched: Celery, leeks, root parsley, sorrel, kale (green, red, and Toscano), collard greens, chard, radish, carrots, green onions, hakurei turnips.
Bagged: Salad mix, arugula, spinach (limited), mustard greens, spicy mix (salad mix plus mustards and endive)
Heads: Celeriac, cabbage (round, caraflex, tendersweet, red), napa cabbage, choi, kohlrabi, broccoli (limited), broccoli, cauliflower (white and romanesco), garlic, curly endive, escarole, radicchio, fennel, lettuces
Herbs: Sage, thyme, rosemary, parsley, basil (green, red, Thai and tulsi (holy basil)), dill, cilantro, mint, marjoram, lovage. Herb bundles (XL bunch with a mix of parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme)
Baskets: Carrots, beets, rutabaga, potatoes (yellow, mini), parsnips, root parsley. Daikon (purple and red), Black Spanish radish. Sweet pepper (green or part-coloured), tomatoes (Roma or salad), green (unripe) tomatoes, habanero, tomatillos, salsa verde packs.
FROM HOOPHOUSES, TUNNELS and GREENHOUSE
Sweet pepper, basil (green, red, Thai and tulsi (holy basil)), chard
PANTRY
Salsa (mild and hot), Tomato sauce, Marinara sauce, and Tomato soup! Made from our vegetables and canned by C'Angelina, a London-based family business.
OTHER
New t-shirt and toque designs by Amanda!
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FROM OUR SUPPLIERS:
Tetsukabuto squash from HOPE Eco
Fuji and Golden Delicious apples from Great Lakes
Artisan Bakery Seasonal Granola: Cardamom Currant
PRODUCE
Daryl Myny (Vienna, ON): Spanish onions, Honeynut squash. Family owned and operated organic farm specializing in alliums and squashes.
HOPE Eco-Farms (Aylmer): Acorn, Tetsukabuto, Buttercup/ Kabocha, Delicata and Butternut squash. Red onions and sweet potato. A cooperative of Amish families using both time-honored and innovative techniques on their organic farms.
Pfenning's Organics (New Hamburg): Potatoes (yellow and red), onions (yellow and red).
Tansy Orchard (Duncan): Empire, Northern Spy, Red Delicious, Spartan. Grown on their family farm, the first organic orchard in the Beaver Valley.
Great Lakes Farms (Port Stanley): Fuji, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Red Delicious, Ambrosia, Mutsu, Jonagold, Empire, Cortland, Sunrise, Paula Red, Honeycrisp, Gala, and McIntosh apples. Grown on their family farm, just down the road from us.
Forrest City Microgreens (London): Singles and microgreen blends. Grown and hand-harvested without the use of pesticides.
Organic, sourced through Pfenning's: Ontario: garlic, mushrooms, Royal Gala and McIntosh apples, Luscious and Asian pears. Canada: tofu and cranberries. Imported: bananas, citrus, ginger, turmeric.
DAIRY and EGGS
HOPE Eco-Farms (Aylmer): Eggs raised in small-flocks by a cooperative of Amish families Seasonally pasture-raised with non-GMO feed.
Mistyglen Creamery (Belmont): Whole milk, chocolate milk. Plain and flavoured cheese curds. Vat-pasteurized and in glass bottles. Raised and handcrafted on their farm.
Organic, sourced through Pfenning's: L'Ancetre pasture butter and certified grass-fed cheeses.
Gunn's Hill (Woodstock): Handeck and Five Brother's cheese. Handcrafted cheese made with milk from their farm.
FROZEN
3Gen Organics (Wallenstein): Ground pork, sausage, bacon, ham, tenderloin, chops. From their multi-generational family farm, producing organic pork and feed.
YU Ranch (Tillsonburg): Ground beef, beef patties, stewing beef. Grass-fed and finished beef raised on pastures on their family farm.
New Leaf Foods (London): Plant-based beet burgers. Handmade with locally sourced ingredients.
BAKERY
J&D Peters Tortillas (Aylmer): Corn, spelt, whole wheat and unbleached flour tortillas. Made by this family-owned local business with organic flour.
La Houlette de vie (St. Thomas): Sourdough bread and pastries with organic and organically grown grain that Seth fresh-mills himself. (Available bi-weekly. On this week)
Artisan Bakery (London): Sourdough bread and pastries made with local Arva Mills flour. Other handcrafted goods: granola, mustard, and chili crisp.
PANTRY
Aldred Maple (West Lorne): Amber or dark, maple syrup. Produced on their family farm.
Wildflowers Honey (St. Thomas): Unpasteurized honey harvested from hives all over Elgin County. Some of the hives are at our farm!
Mat's Fine Oils (Staffordville): Fresh, organic and cold-pressed sunflower oil. Grown and processed on their farm with a small team of farmers and draft horses. Store in the refrigerator.
From the Land Fermented Products (Port Stanley): Fire cider, elderberry syrup
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| T-Shirt: Grown Like it Matters |
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PICKUP/ DELIVERY OPTIONS
Farm pickup: Thursday 4 pm to 8 pm.
Home delivery: Thursday or Friday in London/St.Thomas, Saturday in KW region
Western Fair Market pickup: Saturday 8 am to 3 pm / Sunday 10 am to 2pm
Kitchener Market pickup: Saturday 7 am to 2 pm
RETURNING CONTAINERS
We love to re-use wherever possible! We can take our CGF boxes and liner bags, strawberry and blueberry baskets/boxes, milk bottles, and egg cartons.
For deliveries, please leave these return items out where you would like your order dropped off. Thank you!
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Community Solidarity Program
Our Solidarity Program aims to make healthy food more accessible to economically-vulnerable households in our community by making our produce boxes available at a reduced cost. The program splits the cost three ways: 40% is covered by community donations, 30% is covered by the farm, and 30% is paid by the recipient.
This program has been running since June, and we’re really happy with how it has being going so far. Every week, between 4 and 15 Solidarity boxes are purchased by households in our community. We are really proud to strengthen our community by working together to help our neighbours access good, local food.
We’ve updated the system to accept individual and subscription donations. There is a link to donate below, but don’t hesitate to email us if you would like help adding either type of donation. We are looking forward to continuing this program together!
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Why am I on this list? At some point you signed up for our previous "farmstand" list or our newsletter list. Want to get off the list? No problem: . Common Ground Farm 6986 Middle River Road St. Thomas, Ontario N5P 3S9 |
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