Open House and Plant Sale this Saturday! |
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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 and seedlings before Wednesday at 12pm for pickup and delivery this week.
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A small section of the seedlings we have on-the-go right now! To the left are cucumber and tomatoes plants that just started producing. Behind the seedling tables are peppers and eggplant. |
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Pre-Order Plants for this Week
Ordering open until this Wednesday at 12pm
for pickup/delivery this week
Start your 2026 garden off with healthy, organically grown seedlings from the farm! Seedlings are grown by us, with care, and the varieties are ones we know and love.
Farm Pickup: Thursday 4pm-8pm or at our Open House this Saturday 10am-3pm
Home Delivery (London/St. Thomas): Thursday and Friday
Home Delivery (KW area): Saturday
Western Fair Market (London): Saturday 8am-3pm
Kitchener Market: Saturday 7am-2pm
If you miss the pre-ordering, we will have plants for sale this Saturday at our Open House and both markets, then the following weekend (May 23rd) at both markets.
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Visit the farm and see exactly how we’re growing this season’s harvest.
Walking tour starts at 1pm!
If you have pre-ordered from our plant sale, this is the perfect time to pick up those seedlings for your home garden. Whether you're picking up or just curious about local farming, everyone is welcome.
If you would like to pick up your subscription box or vegetable order at the open house, send us an email and we'll keep it in our cooler on Thursday!
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Farm Update
Between the seedlings for our plant sale and the seedlings for our own fields, the greenhouse is bursting at its seams these days! Our seedling tables are getting greener by the day. After such a cold winter, it has been both exciting and relieving to see future harvests taking shape.
Some cold hardy seedlings like those in the onion family had sprawled out of the greenhouse a few weeks ago. More sensitive crops and others that we would like to grow a little faster have been enjoying the warm greenhouse so far. Especially since we are tight on space, we are really looking forward to moving some of them out this week, including sending out plants for your home gardens!
In preparation for the plant sale, the past month has been a flurry of seeding and potting up. We first sow seeds in an open tray of soil and use a combination of our germination chamber, heat mats, and for some crops, a cool corner of the greenhouse to help seeds germinate. While the plants still only have their seed leaves (the plant equivalent of baby teeth!), we pot them up by transferring them each into their own pot. We prefer this process rather than seeding directly into pots because it saves a lot of time and space during the germination period, and it ensures that all the pots are full and only with the healthiest seedlings.
Potting up is a simple process, but a lengthy one! We have about 2, 500 seedlings potted up and ready for the plant sale, plus lots of our own potted up crops. For our own production, we also pot up tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, herbs, celery, and celeriac, bringing the total up to over 12, 000 little seedlings that we’ve stepped up in the last month. Potting up “season” is finishing up now with only have a few field crops left on the list.
In addition to sending home pre-ordered plants, we are preparing to plant our second group of cherry tomatoes and eggplant, third group of cucumbers, and first group of zucchini this week. And, of course, getting ready for our Open House and Plant Sale happening on Saturday! We are really looking forward to welcoming folks to the farm this weekend!
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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Tomatoes, peppers, herbs, eggplant, lettuce, beets, green onions all potted up and ready to start heading home to your gardens this week! |
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FARM STORE NOTES
FROM OUR FARM:
From the field: Spinach, spring kale, lovage, thyme, sorrel
From the Greenhouse: Cucumber, cherry tomatoes (limited)
From Hoophouses and Tunnels: Salad mix, arugula (limited), basil, dill, cilantro, red radishes, choi, bunched beets, green onions.
From storage: Sunchokes, kohlrabi, and winter radishes.
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FROM OUR SUPPLIERS:
PRODUCE
HOPE Eco-Farms (Aylmer): Green garlic, wild leeks, rhubarb, romaine, sweet potatoes.
Great Lakes Farms (Port Stanley): Gala, Summerland Sunset, Golden Delicious, Spy.
Pfenning's Organics (New Hamburg): Carrots, rutabaga, cabbage, yellow onions, red, yellow, and russet potatoes.
Through Pfenning's: Ontario mushrooms and red delicious apples. Canadian tofu. From further away, citrus, ginger, turmeric, broccoli.
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): Corn, 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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PICKUP/ DELIVERY OPTIONS
Farm pickup: Thursday 4pm-8pm. Email us if you'd like to pick up your vegetables on Saturday at the Open House
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
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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Middle River Music Fest 2026
Early Bird tickets now available! We are excited to host the 6th annual Middle River Must Fest on August 29th, 2026 right here on the farm.
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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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