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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Fresh harvested red potatoes |
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Farm Update
Last week we met two major seasonal milestones by beginning potato harvest and finishing garlic harvest. In contrast to most other things we grow, both potatoes and garlic are planted in one succession, meaning, planted once per year. These crops are planted and stored in very different ways than most of our other crops. That novelty also makes them feel extra special.
Even though we grow a fair amount of potatoes, the process is still pretty manual. We plant and harvest them all by hand. Our potato digger (attached to the back of the tractor) helps bring tubers to the surface, but each and every one is picked up and hauled out of the field by us. It’s a running joke in the crew about which is the favourite vegetable to harvest - potatoes or zucchini - both very heavy lifting jobs!
On larger farms, the potato harvest process would be more mechanized. With more acreage in potatoes, we would probably still pack them for orders by hand, but picking them out of the field could certainly be done by machine. This is one place where our scale is a little awkward. The amount of local families we grow for means that potato harvest is no small task. To justify tools that would make the job more accessible, we would have to grow a lot more potatoes. But, to grow the diversity of crops we do, we can't dedicate more space in our fields to potatoes.
Garlic has some similar challenges in that every plant is planted, harvested, hung, and processed by hand. It's a little easier to handle because garlic doesnt weigh as much as potatoes, but for the amount that we grow, cracking cloves for planting is a big job and finding enough good ventilated areas to hang for curing can be tricky.
This is all to say, we love having our own garlic and our own potatoes. We love growing them for our community, ourselves, and….they taste great! With our facilities and resources, we are able to have our own carrots more days of the year, so maybe that also makes potatoes and garlic feel more unique. We are pretty happy with this years crop so far, looking forward to sharing them with you all!
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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Siska helping Chris at Kitchener farmer's market this past Saturday. After a few weeks of sitting Chris' ankle is feeling better and he's back at market! |
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FARM STORE NOTES
FROM OUR FARM:
New potatoes!
Fresh (uncured) garlic!
Hot peppers are here: jalapeno, serrano, green cayenne, shishito, and poblano
Potatoes: We are starting potato season off with our faster-maturing variety called Norland. Norland has a red skin and white flesh. This is a waxy-type potato that is delicious prepared in any way. "New potatoes" are the first, early harvests from the season's planting. The skin is still really tender and the texture very fine. We send them out unwashed to protect the skins and recommend washing gently right before cooking. We love cooking them in ways that highlight this special new crop, like roasted or in a French-style potato salad!
Fresh garlic: Straight out of the field! Garlic is usually cured after harvest by laying out or hanging, allowing the outer papers to dry and protect the cloves in storage. Fresh garlic hasn't been cured, so it stores longer in the fridge and has a sharper garlic flavour.
From the Fields:
Bunched: Beets (red, golden, white and chioggia), sorrel, kale, chard, radish, carrots, green onions, torpedo onions, fresh onions, fennel.
Bagged: Salad mix, spicy mix, mustards mix, arugula, spinach
Heads: Garlic, cabbage, choi, mini lettuce heads, magenta lettuce
Herbs: Green or red Genovese basil (lots right now if you want to make pesto!), tulsi (holy basil), Thai basil, mint, oregano, marjoram, dill seed heads, cilantro, flat parsley, curly parsley, rosemary
Baskets: zucchini, summer squash, eggplant, red new potatoes, Serrano chilies, cayenne peppers, shishito peppers, poblano peppers, jalapeno, tomatillos
From the Greenhouse: Cucumber, beefsteak tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, eggplant, sweet pepper.
From Hoophouses and Tunnels: Basil, cucumber, zucchini, eggplant, pepper, beefsteak and heirloom tomatoes in quarts
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FROM OUR SUPPLIERS:
PRODUCE
Bluegroves (Eagle): Clamshell pints. (uncertain at time of writing!)
HOPE Eco-Farms (Aylmer): sweet corn!!
Through Pfenning's: Broccoli and Cauliflower. Ontario mushrooms. Canadian tofu. From further away, citrus, ginger, turmeric, 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): 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 !!NOTE!! Seth will be off for 2 weeks starting next week for a summer vacation, consider ordering an extra loaf for the freezer this week!
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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| Seth's Sourdough Bread - Sesame Nigella |
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| Seth's Sourdough Bread - Baguettes |
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PICKUP/ DELIVERY OPTIONS
Farm pickup: Thursday 4pm-8pm.
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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Community Solidarity Box Program
This Program aims to make healthy food more accessible to economically-vulnerable families in our community.
In the Solidary Program, families in our community who need a little extra support can receive a medium farm share every week. Fresh, local food, grown with care — at just 1/3 of the cost. The remaining 2/3 is covered by the farm and community donations.
To learn more or donate, click the link below!
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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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