Summer Crops are Hanging On! |
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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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Still crates and crates of Roma tomatoes coming out of the tunnels |
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Solidarity Program Update
and Call for Donations
Our Solidarity Program has been up and running for 2 months now, so we wanted to share some insights about how it’s going so far.
If you’re not familiar with it, the Solidarity Program aims to make healthy food more accessible to economically-vulnerable households in our community. The program splits the cost three ways: 40% is covered by community donations, 30% is covered by the farm, and 30% is paid by the recipient.
Immediately after it began in late June, the program sent boxes to 4 households. The usage accelerated substantially, with 19 boxes in July, and 30 in August. Solidarity boxes have gone to over 20 homes, and about 50% of recipients have purchased a box more than once.
Since it began, this community has donated over $1400 to fund the program and help their neighbours access good, local food. As of now, over $1000 from that donation pool has been used to pay the community funded portion of each box. With the current usage rate, we expect the rest of the donation pool will be used up before the end of September.
We’re really happy with how it has being going so far, both excited and grateful by how the community has contributed. We’ve updated the system to accept individual and subscription donations. There is a link to donate below, but don’t hesitate to email us if you would like help adding either form of donation. We are looking forward to continuing this program together!
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FARM UPDATE
We are moving along in the process of turning over tunnels from summer fruiting crops to fall greens. Last week, the oldest tunnel beefsteaks were removed right as their production had slowed down. We added compost, worked it in, and hand transplanted salad mix. A similar process happened in the greenhouse, with one half now planted in celery, chard, dill and cilantro.
This week, we’re removing the cherry tomatoes in Hoophouse 2. We’ll be sad to see cherry tomatoes finish for the season, but the plants are really slowing down, so this is good timing. The transplants we’ve seeded for this hoophouse are 2 weeks away from planting stage. However, clearing the old tomato plants now has the benefit of encouraging pests to leave and giving us another opportunity to get rid of weeds before we have a crop planted there.
Most other tomatoes are slowing down except Romas. Though, we’ve had enough cold nights now that we expect them to slow down very soon. Our ‘tomato-geddon’ is nearly over for the season. We’re doing a bit more canning for winter while we still have lots.
Good news: the first of the fall crops are finally here. We’ve already been enjoying the return of celeriac, rutabaga, collards and leek. Today we’ll also be doing our first big harvest of fall cabbages. Since the whole planting is ready at the same time, we’ll ‘bulk harvest’ the heads, keeping them in cold storage over the next few weeks. Cabbages (a biennial plant) naturally go into dormancy during cold storage, staying fresh in storage until we need them. With this harvest, we’re just dipping our toes into bulk harvest season. There are lots more crops ahead that we’ll be tucking away for winter!
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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No crate? No problem!
Harvesting and placing crops directly into a crate does follow the efficiency law of 'Touch It Once'… but, sometimes you run out of crates in the field and have to make it work!
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FARM STORE NOTES
FROM OUR FARM:
Last few weeks of basil! We have a 4 for $10 deal on bunches, great for freezing in oil or as pesto
Fall crops starting: Leeks, Celeriac, Root parsley, Collard greens
FROM our FIELD
Bunched: Leeks, root parsley, sorrel, kale, collard greens, chard, radish, carrots, fennel.
Bagged: Salad mix, arugula, mustard greens, spicy salad mix (lettuce + mustard greens), spinach
Heads: Celery, celeriac, cauliflower, broccoli, garlic, cabbage, choi, kohlrabi
Herbs: Green or red Genovese basil, tulsi (holy basil), Thai basil, mint, marjoram, dill, cilantro, flat parsley, curly parsley, rosemary
Baskets: Sweet peppers, tomatoes, roma tomatoes, salad tomatoes, green tomatoes, beets, beans, Serrano chilies, cayenne peppers, shishito peppers, poblano peppers, jalapeno, tomatillos, Salsa Verde packs, rutabaga, potatoes, parsnips
FROM HOOPHOUSES, TUNNELS and GREENHOUSE
Beefsteak tomatoes, Roma tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, sweet pepper, basil.
PANTRY
Tomato sauce and tomato-vegetable soup made with our produce.
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FROM OUR SUPPLIERS:
Butternut and Delicata squash from from HOPE
Jonagold and Cortland apples from Great Lakes
PRODUCE
Field of Greens Farm (Dutton): Everbearing strawberries.
Great Lakes Farms (Port Stanley): Jonagold, Empire, Cortland, Sunrise, Paula Red, Honeycrisp, Ginger Gold, Gala, and McIntosh apples. Bartlett Pears.
Daryl Myny (Vienna, ON): Spanish onions, Honeynut squash
HOPE Eco-Farms (Aylmer): Red onions and sweet potato. Spaghetti, Buttercup/ Kabocha, Delicata, and Butternut squash.
Through Pfenning's: Ontario: mushrooms, Royal Gala and McIntosh apples, Luscious and Asian pears. Canadian tofu and cranberries. From further away, citrus, ginger, turmeric.
DAIRY and EGGS
HOPE Eco-Farms (Aylmer): Small-flock raised eggs
Mistyglen Creamery (Belmont): Whole milk, chocolate milk, and seasonal Mocha milk. Plain and flavoured cheese curds. Vat-pasteurized and in glass bottles. Raised and handcrafted on their farm.
Through Pfenning's: L'Ancetre pasture butter and certified grass-fed cheeses.
Gunn's Hill (Woodstock): Handeck and Five Brother's cheese. Handcrafted cheese made with milk from their farm.
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 Arva Mills 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 sunflower oil. Store in the refrigerator.
From the Land Fermented Products (Port Stanley): Fire cider, elderberry syrup
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BULK FRUITING CROPS
Now available:
Habanero and other hot peppers
Roma tomatoes
Organic, local, and downright delicious! Bulk fruiting crops will be available now through the end of October. Inventory is updated every Monday. Order until Wednesday at 12pm for pickup/delivery options later in the week.
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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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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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