Trying New Strategies to Support Healthy Soil |
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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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Ayla holding freshly harvested pickling cucumbers. In the background is the first area we were able to experiment with straw mulch in |
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Community Solidarity Box Program
We are very excited to introduce our 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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Farm Update
It’s nearly July and definitely feels like it! Weeds are sprouting really fast and heat is setting in this week, but really we're just glad to be seeing more and more crops ready to harvest. Starting this week are: red peppers, zucchini and summer squash, parsley and rosemary, peas, pickling cucumbers, cabbage, fennel, radicchio, carrots, and field basil. Though the volume of these crops will be limited for a week or two as the plants get going, that’s okay with us for now. It usually takes us a few weeks to fully settle into the summer harvest routine, especially with new crops like the peas and pickling cucumbers. But, even that anticipated learning curve feels small compared to how happy we are to see the fruits of our labour - literally!
We are also very happy to see some experiments coming to life in the field. We are taking on both new and re-newed approaches to boosting our soil health. We have lots of experience with cover cropping and last season we began experimenting with undersowing. Undersowing is when a cover crop is seeded into a bed with an established vegetable crop, instead of being seeded into an empty area. The idea is to start establishing a cover before the crop is finished, saving time and soil manipulation. This year we’ll cover crop and undersow again, but experiment with new varieties and species of plants in the cover, which we hope will work better in our system.
We’re also using more organic mulches. We’ve used straw and woodchips a lot in the past and use them as our standard on garlic. Now we’re looking to increase our mulched area. This season we’ve taken a big step in that direction and bought a-new-to-us hay bale chopper. In essence, it's a giant blender pulled by the tractor, which breaks up large bales and spews them out. This implement is normally used to feed cattle, but we’ll use it to spread mulch. Organic mulches will help manage moisture and weeds and eventually the mulch itself will feed the soil.
Our most recent experiment is one we think will significantly reduce tillage on the farm. We’ve updated some of our equipment, and with a few more tweaks, we think we can mostly eliminate the tillage which is the last step in our bed preparation process. We feel great about this because less manipulation of the soil will better protect its structure and health. Not only does this reduce work for us, but it improves sustainability.
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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Peas! We haven't grown peas in years and are very excited to have them again. |
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FARM STORE NOTES
FROM OUR FARM:
New this week: Red Peppers, Oregon Giant Peas, Zucchini, Summer Squash, Carrots, Parsley, Rosemary, Pickling Cucumbers, carrots, Radicchio, field basil, Cabbage, Fennel
These are limited to start, but we'll have more in the coming weeks!
THREE types of basil: Green Genovese, Red Genovese and Thai
Oregon Giant Peas: Sweet, crisp and excellent for snacking or cooking. This variety sits somewhere between a snap pea and a snow pea
Mint:There is a ton of beautiful spring mint right now! It loves these cool nights and spring rain. Perfect for sweet or savory dishes, food or drink! Mint has the best flavour this time of year, so don't miss out! We love adding it to salads with cilantro and basil, sauces and pesto, with strawberry fruit salad and fresh-leaf tea. If you really want to celebrate mint: we've also enjoyed the best-ever mint ice cream made with our fresh mint!
From the Fields:
Bunched: Fennel, Red beets, golden beets, sorrel, curly kale, chard, radish, carrots
Bagged: Red Russian kale, spinach, salad mix, spicy mix, mustards mix, arugula
Heads: kohlrabi, cabbage, choi, mini lettuce heads, magenta lettuce, romaine, endive, escarole, radicchio.
Herbs: Green or red Genovese basil, Thai basil, mint, oregano, marjoram, dill, dill seed heads, cilantro, parsley, rosemary
Baskets: garlic scapes, peas, pickling cucumbers, zucchini, summer squash
From the Greenhouse: Cucumber, beefsteak tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, eggplant, sweet pepper.
From Hoophouses and Tunnels: Basil, cucumber, zucchini
From storage: Sunchokes
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FROM OUR SUPPLIERS:
PRODUCE
HOPE Eco-Farms (Aylmer): rhubarb, sweet potatoes, broccoli.
Pfenning's Organics (New Hamburg): Strawberries, asparagus.
Through Pfenning's: Ontario mushrooms. Canadian tofu. From further away, citrus, ginger, turmeric, carrots.
Our Fields Farm (Aylmer): caraflex cone 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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| Donate to our Solidarity Program |
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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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