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Order vegetables before Wednesday for pickup and delivery this week.
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Harvesting green onions for market last week! |
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Farm Update
This is the week our cold weather preparation really begins! We aren’t into the real-deal frost mitigation yet, but this week we are planting crops that will be harvested well into freezing temperatures outside.
The first planting is Swiss chard in our greenhouse. Although it can’t handle being totally frozen like kale or spinach, chard (unlike lettuce) is pretty hardy to winter greenhouse conditions. We can add extra heat in the winter, but it would be difficult (and very resource intensive) to replicate spring or summer temperatures. Either way, the biggest challenge for crops in the winter greenhouse is light (which would also be resource intensive to supplement). The most sustainable option we’ve found for winter greens is selecting crops that are naturally suited for colder environments. A great thing about chard is that we get multiple harvests from the same planting, so as long as we manage the planting well, we should be able to harvest this chard until next March!
We will also be getting a head start on winter spinach this week by direct seeding it in the field. We normally seed winter spinach as seedlings in soil blocks and transplant them into a field tunnel. Since we plan to move all out field tunnels this fall we are seeding the spinach directly into the field and then rebuilding the tunnel on top of the established plants (and hoping this saves time!). It is a week earlier than we would normally seed this spinach, but the conditions for germination are colder (slower) in the field than it would be for transplants starting in the greenhouse. Our most recent spinach planting looks really good, so finger’s crossed for a nice thick planting this week!
We’re hoping the warmth holds out a little longer in September to carry the hot weather crops a little further and help these winter crops get well established. The recent colder weather is causing some of those crops to slow down, so we are glad to see more fall variety now ready to harvest.
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Awesome artwork by Aurora (6) of the stage at Middle River Music Festival this year. We love all the details in it. Thank you for sharing, Aurora! |
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FARM STORE NOTES
FROM OUR FARM:
Purple daikon: A little spicier than they are after frost, but the same juicy and crunchy bite!
Watermelon: Some of the last of the season!
Field: Carrots, beans, zucchini, tomatillos, salad tomatoes, eggplant, hot peppers, summer squash, potatoes, herbs (dill, cilantro, parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, oregano, marjoram), salad mix, beets, arugula, cabbages, kohlrabi, head lettuces, green onion, W kale, and chard.
Greenhouse and hoophouses: Cucumbers, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, eggplant.
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FROM OUR SUPPLIERS:
PRODUCE
Field of Greens CSA Farm: Strawberry pints and flats
HOPE Eco-Farms (Aylmer): Sweet corn, watermelon, red onion, shallots, butternut, honeynut and delicata squash.
Great Lakes Farms (Port Stanley): Gala, honeycrisp, ginger gold, sunrise, paula red and zestar apples.
Forest City Microgreens (London): Fresh microgreens
Daryl Myny (Aylmer): Spanish onions
Through Pfenning's: Ontario mushrooms. From further away; lemons, limes, ginger, turmeric.
DAIRY and EGGS
Mistyglen Creamery (Belmont): Non-homogenized and vat pasteurized milk, yogurt, and cheese curds.
HOPE Eco-Farms (Aylmer): Eggs.
Through Pfenning's: L'Ancetre butter and grass-fed cheese
Gunn's Hill (Woodstock): Brie, Handeck and Five Brother's cheeses
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
Seth/La Houlette de vie (St. Thomas): Organic sourdough bread made using local grain that Seth mills himself.
Artisan Bakery (London). Sourdoughs and pastry made with local flour.
J&D Peters Tortillas (Aylmer):Corn, spelt, whole wheat and unbleached flour tortillas.
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, organic hemp and sunflower oil. Store in the refrigerator.
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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)
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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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