Weeding on Our Organic Farm
How and Why We Do It!
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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 for pickup and delivery this week.
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Weeding the first field lettuce planting with scuffle hoes |
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Plant Sale is Open for Orders!
Online seedling orders are for delivery/pickup May 14th-16th
Start your 2026 garden off with healthy, organically grown seedlings from the farm! Seedlings are grown by us, with care, and the varieties are ones we know and love. Order online for Best Variety: Secure your favourite seedlings early to help us plan for the season.
Ordering closes May 13th at 12 pm, and delivery or pickup will be later that week! We will have extras available at our Open House on May 16th and at our farmers market stands on May 23rd.
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Visit the farm for a tour and see exactly how we’re growing this season’s harvest.
If you have pre-ordered from our plant sale, this is the perfect time to pick up those seedlings for your home garden. Whether you're picking up or just curious about local farming, everyone is welcome.
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Farm Update
Our crops are growing, and so are the weeds! We have been out in the field with scuffles, hand hoes and walking tractors working on our first field plantings.
We start weeding one week after transplanting. We weed about once a week, until the crop is large enough to shade out future weeds, or close enough to harvest stage that we decide not to weed it anymore.
We manage weeds through manual weeding (hoeing, pulling, flame weeding, solarization, and occultation), and physical barriers. Physical barriers are great for certian crops, and when we mulch with organic matter (like woodchips or straw) we gain the benefits like moisture management and organic matter in our soil ecosystem. However, mulch does come with some challenges, including that it's resource and labour-intensive to use and maintain.
Where preventative mulch isn't the best fit, we use manual weeding. The key to organic weed management is doing it when the weeds are tiny. We cultivate (disturb the soil surface) with our tractor, walking tractor, and skilled crew, equipped with several types of hoes. The smaller the weeds, the easier they are damaged by cultivation. The same is true for solarization (cooking weeds under clear plastic), flame weeding (cooking weeds with a fancy flamethrower), and occultation (covering with opaque material like landscape fabric).
Why do we weed our crops? Can we eliminate the draw on resources and time by just letting weeds grow?
Weeding is essential to the success of our crops. Weeding gives our crops full access to water, light, and nutrients so that they can reach their full size and production. Weeds can make harvest challenging and long, sometimes meaning we have to abandon a planting. Some weeds are susceptible to the same diseases as our crops, becoming vectors of harmful bacteria and fungi. Weeds can also be breeding grounds for damaging insects.
Do we eliminate all our weeds? Absolutely not! Even if we stay on top of our weeding list, new seeds will always find their way here on wildlife, in the wind, on equipment, and so on. It's all about keeping the bank of weed seeds on the farm to a manageable level!
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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Jorge is using our flame weeder to cook tiny weeds that came up in a bed seeded with carrots. We do this a day before the carrots germinate. |
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FARM STORE NOTES
Lots of first harvests this week:
Cucumbers! Spring Kale! Bunched Beets! Lovage! Sorrel!
Field spinach has regrown with nice thick leaves and great flavour.
FROM OUR FARM:
From the Greenhouse and hoophouses: Cucumber (limited),Salad mix, arugula (limited), basil, dill, cilantro, red radishes, choi, bunched beets, green onions. Living Genovese basil plants.
From storage: Sunchokes, celeriac, kohlrabi, and winter radishes. Dried herbs from the farm!
From the field: Spinach, spring kale, lovage, thyme, sorrel
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FROM OUR SUPPLIERS:
Green garlic, wild leeks, rhubarb and romaine lettuce from HOPE this week.
PRODUCE
HOPE Eco-Farms (Aylmer): Green garlic, wild leeks, rhubarb, romaine,Sweet potatoes.
Great Lakes Farms (Port Stanley): Gala, Summerland Sunset, Golden Delicious, Spy.
Pfenning's Organics (New Hamburg): Carrots, rutabaga, cabbage, yellow onions, red, yellow, and russet potatoes.
Through Pfenning's: Ontario mushrooms and red delicious apples. Canadian tofu. From further away, citrus, ginger, turmeric, broccoli.
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): 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
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)
RETURNING CONTAINERS
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 delivery, please leave these return items out where you would like your order dropped off. Thank you!
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Middle River Music Fest 2026
Mark your calendars for August 29th, 2026! We are so excited to host the 6th annual Middle River Must Fest here on the farm. Look out for early bird tickets that go on sale in May!
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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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