Preparing for Winter in the Middle of Summer |
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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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Misty harvest this morning. We're very thankful it's fog and not wildfire smoke. Zucchini to the left, pickling cucumbers in the front-centre, eggplant and peppers on the right. |
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Farm Update
Believe it or not - this week we are seeding produce we’ll eat in March! We’ve already started planting a few crops for cold storage (like cabbage), and last week we seeded the first of our storage carrots. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be seeding lots more carrots, beets, daikon, watermelon radish, turnips, and planting cabbage, kohlrabi, napa and kale. All of these storage crops are timed so that they’ll be harvested at the very end of the season, right when we start to see some light frost. The frost exposure and last-chance timing improves both the storage quality and flavour of all these crops.
We are often asked if we can grow these crops in our greenhouses and hoophouses. Really, they need the warmer days and longer light hours of late-summer and fall to grow well and taste good. We also grow acres and acres of these crops for storage, but our greenhouse is quite small. We could expand the greenhouse, but that amount of infrastructure would diminish the financial and ecological sustainability of these winter crops. Instead, we save our winter greenhouse space for fast-growing crops that use a small footprint, like greens and herbs.
Essentially, we are trying to have a steady flow of vegetables going into boxes and to our farmer’s markets every week of the year, but transferring the seeding, planting and growing labour to summertime. Every year this causes an extra pinch in our summer production and a lot more to our to-do list. In terms of workload, putting vegetables into cold storage means you basically harvest them twice: first from the field and then again from the cooler on the week you plan to use them. We don’t change our prices to reflect the extra work that goes into cold storage, so for it to be financially viable, we have to make sure our process is efficient and the crop is good quality. With extra complexity and more variables on the path to success, we could shy away from being a 4-season farm. The benefits, however, are massive. Cold storage means we can offer more sustainable employment and opportunities for crew to learn and grow their skills. It also, of course, means contributing to a sustainable local food system in our northern climate.
Winter storage planting means our minds are in two places in time. We are here now, trying to manage an avalanche of weeds, trellising, planting and harvest, and also preparing ground, carefully calculating and recalculating quantities and crop varieties, trying to anticipate what we'll need in March. We're looking forward to those extra-sweet carrots!
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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We started pulling and hanging our garlic last week. About half of the planting is still needs to come out. |
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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, 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
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FROM OUR SUPPLIERS:
Early Sugarbaby watermelon from HOPE Eco-Farms
PRODUCE
Blueberry Hill (Rodney): Fiber pints and flats (12 pints)
Bluegroves (Eagle): Clamshell pints. Variety this week is Blueray. Sweet and flavourful. Good for eating, freezing and baking.
HOPE Eco-Farms (Aylmer): Sugarbaby watermelon, green beans, Galia melons
Through Pfenning's: Ontario mushrooms. Canadian tofu. From further away, citrus, ginger, turmeric, celery
Our Fields Farm (Aylmer): Savoy cabbage
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.
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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