March-ing into Planting Season! |
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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 for pickup and delivery this week.
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Some beautiful spinach transplanted into a caterpillar tunnel in the fall. It has grown slowly all winter long and is now ready to harvest.
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Farm Update
Spring is close on the horizon, and we couldn't be more excited. Though we have planted a lot in the last 2 weeks, the greenhouse is still full of seedlings queued up to be transplanted. With the seedlings growing rapidly, we were relieved to see a warmer forecast.
With that warmer weather, rain will come. Spring rain is critical in waking up our local ecosystem from winter dormancy, and we (in addition to our community, who are eager for the new season's harvest) want to plant. Heavy rain and snowmelt make fields wet and harder (or impossible) to prep and transplant into.
Though the fields might become so saturated that our first field planting is delayed, we are glad that rain will help fill our ponds. In last year's extreme drought, we totally ran out of water mid-season. Planting became a lot more challenging, and we were forced to make some very difficult decisions about which crops to prioritize, resulting in the loss of others.
Though it's a new year, there is no guarantee that regular rainfall will refill the pond in full, meaning we are still vulnerable to another season without enough water. When the pond was dry, we hired an excavation crew to expand it. While snowmelt and groundwater have started filling the now-larger pond, we’re hoping spring rain willalso contribute. So, a rainy spring might delay field planting, but in filling the pond, it could improve the outcome of our late-summer/fall crops.
We are not at odds with seasonal rainfall. The reality is that by trying to increase the availability of good, local food, we are also stretching our growing season. Stretching the season will inevitably make the work more difficult, providing unusual hurdles to navigate. Careful planning and best-informed decisions are key here, but spring planting requires the presence of mind to notice how the soil, seedlings, and environment respond to our choices. That is a lot of responsibility.
We plan to plant the next field tunnel before the rain begins late this week. With lots of seedlings already in the ground, we know there will be lots of weeding to do before too long!
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Zoomed-out look at the spinach tunnel: Spinach (centre back), arugula and radish (side beds) didn't make it through the winter and were turned over and planted in lettuce last week, green onions (centre foreground) need a few more weeks. |
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FARM STORE NOTES
FROM OUR FARM:
Living basil plants available!
From the Greenhouse and hoophouses: Spinach, arugula, winter salad greens. Flat and curly parsley. Living Genovese basil plants.
From storage: Carrots, sunchokes, celeriac, rutabaga, kohlrabi, and winter radishes. Dried herbs from the farm!
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FROM OUR SUPPLIERS:
NEW: Artisan Bakery products, including Roasted Garlic Foccacia, Wholegrain Mustard, and Chili Crisp
La Houlette de vie: Stock up on Seth's bread this week! He will be away next week (March 9th).
We are out of cabbage and beets and are sourcing them from Pfennings in New Hamburg
PRODUCE
HOPE Eco-Farms (Aylmer): Sweet potatoes.
Great Lakes Farms (Port Stanley): Empire, Gala, Honeycrisp, Ambrosia, Sunpunch, Golden Delicious.
Pfenning's Organics (New Hamburg): Beets, cabbage, red and yellow onions, leeks, red, yellow, and russet potatoes.
Through Pfenning's: Ontario mushrooms, garlic, and red delicious apples. Canadian tofu. From further away, shallots, citrus (incl. grapefruit), ginger, turmeric, broccoli, celery.
DAIRY and EGGS
HOPE Eco-Farms (Aylmer): Eggs.
Through Pfenning's: L'Ancetre butter and grass-fed cheeses
Gunn's Hill (Woodstock): Brie, Handeck and Five Brother's cheese
FROZEN
3Gen Organics (Wallenstein): Ground pork, sausage, bacon, ham, tenderloin, chops
YU Ranch (Tillsonburg): Pasture-raised ground beef, beef patties, stewing beef
New Leaf Foods (London): Plant-based beet burgers
BAKERY
J&D Peters Tortillas (Aylmer): Spelt, whole wheat and unbleached flour tortillas.
La Houlette de vie (St. Thomas): Sourdough bread and pastry with grain that Seth fresh-mills himself
Artisan Bakery (London): Sourdough bread and pastries made with local flour
PANTRY
Aldred Maple (West Lorne): Amber, dark, or whiskey barrel-aged maple syrup.
Wildflowers Honey (St. Thomas): Unpasteurized honey from hives all over Elgin County, including our farm!
Mat's Fine Oils (Staffordville). Fresh, organic and cold-pressed, hemp and sunflower oil. Store in the refrigerator.
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| Artisan Whole Grain Mustard |
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PICKUP / DELIVERY OPTIONS
Western Fair Market: Saturday 8 am to 3 pm / Sunday 10 am to 2pm
Farm pickup: Thursday 4 to 8 pm
Kitchener Farmer's Market: Saturday 7 am to 2 pm
Delivery: Thursday / Friday in London & St.Thomas and area, Saturday in KW / Cambridge (schedule will be sent out Wednesday night)
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 delivery, please leave these return items out where you would like your order dropped off. Thank you!
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Middle River Music Fest 2026
Mark your calendars for August 29th, 2026! We are so excited to host the 6th annual Middle River Must Fest here on the farm. Look out for early bird tickets that go on sale in May!
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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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