Big Ducklings and Fresh Peas

The ducklings that only a few short weeks ago were small and cuddly have now grown into very large ducks. Really sometimes it is hard to tell them apart from there parents. They also eat like pigs. I would say that we are easily feeding them 10 cups of food a day plus fruit and veg. They also probably drink liters of water a hot day even more. They will probably be ready to eat come august. Also snowball our first sheep is ready to go to the butcher today. We 'weighed' her today (on a bathroom scale to needless to say the weighing was a bit subjective) and she came in around 77lbs. Ryan says that will be about 50lbs dressed (or once she has gone to the butcher).
Fresh peas are abounding right now and tonight Ryan and I had barbecued potatoes with peas and peppers (and some chicken). It all turned out really well and we ate a delightful super. Overall things keep moving on and tomorrow will be another busy.

Good bye Beets

So we had a tragic event this week. Now don't worry because it is not an injury or anything. Our beets which were not really doing that well to begin with got mowed down due to some extreme weed issues. We did manage to save a few zucchini plants and some tomatoes (the ones that self seeded from last year). I was really sad to see them go because we had some really great varieties going. Hopefully we'll have a second crop in the fall.

The Burger

As some may know we have been growing a spring crop of kale. It is I would say not a really well known vegetable. It is part of the cabbage family and can be used in loads of different ways. This week we gave away kale chip recipes at the farmers market. Kale is a very healthy vegetable so if you have not given it a try I would recommend that you look for it at your local farmers market. It is usually more readily available in the fall. Kale is also popular in mashed potatoes but on the 14th of June we gave it a whirl on burgers. What we did was to chop up some garlic and onion along with the kale in thin strips (and some olive oil). I put the onion and garlic in a the pan with the olive oil and cooked them. Once the onions and garlic are nicely cooked add the kale which will quickly become soft. Then you are ready to top your burger (of course home made with local beef). Over all I would say this gets 5 starts!!

Moving the Sheep

Okay so there has been a lot going on here. There is really so much that I am absolutely sure that I will leave something out. I will try and go in chronological order as best as I can remember. So looking all the way back to June 11 we moved the sheep into a new part of the field. Being the positive people that we are we assumed that this would go smoothly. But as usual the transition did not go smoothly. It turns that sheep can be very stubborn ( I know shocking) and they didn't feel that the lovely fresh grass on the other side of the fence was really where they wanted to be. With a large amount of corn and some wild chases around the field, all of the adult sheep found there way to the new field. However Ted, Lamaroo, and Friday felt that they were exempt from moving over. Here is a picture of how they got moved!

The 100th Post! And Food Co-ops!

Well I feel I should have something special to say about the 100th post, but I don't. We are always trying to update the blog, but it gets really hard in the summer months as things get busy.

On some more exciting news we are now on board with the Niagara Local Food Co-op. Basically it is like an online shopping basket that members order from, then we get the information and on Tuesdays bring it to the Trinity United Church in Thorold where the customers will come and pick it up. It is very exciting for us because it will another outlet to not only sell our product, but to get our name out there to a large number of people.

There are currently about 30 producer members selling everything from fruit and meat, herbs, baked goods, honey...the list goes on. At the moment there are not very many vegetable members and this gives us a bit of a niche. Hopefully things go well for us as we are finding the St. Catharines market on Tuesday a bit of a tough sell as most people likely wait for Saturday when things really pick up.

If you are interested in learning more about the co-op you can check them out at www.niagaralocalfoodcoop.ca. There is a $50 lifetime membership fee for consumer members and then they add 5% to the bill for administration, but the great part of it is that you can do a whole bunch of your local shopping in one place without having to drive around all over the place. Currently they only have one pick-up location in Thorold, but if membership numbers increase they will move to more branches.

Thanks for checking in with us and look back for more picture updates in the near future (I am thinking maybe tomorrow since it is supposed to rain so much).

a photo update

c

Here photos included what our market stand in St.Catharines looks like, a fuzzy picture of my figs growing and so much more! Some of the pictures are from a few weeks ago which is why everything looks so small.

We're getting FRESH

Well that's right we are getting fresh here on the farm. Whats fresh
you Ask? Well lots of things, we have hired a summer employee (her
name is Chloe), we have kale ready to be eaten by you, peas are
growing (i ate my first ones today), and the greenhouse tomatoes are
getting huge. The Ducks are all growing like weeds including chirpee
the newest member. Tomorrow promises to be another beautiful today
which makes Market even that much more enjoyable.
Saturday was a busy day here as I went to market Ryan with the aid of
a few helpers worked at the high farm. They completed a lot. The
irrigation system is in, mulching against the ever riseing weeds,
beens were planted, and oh so much more. Needless to say everyone was
very tired at the end of the evening and we all enjoyed a mr. Freezie
together.

Things just poping up

So today we had a new baby duckling born. Just one so far but he/she is very cute and noisy already. I have brought it inside due to some possible squishing issues. The little guy is all dry and soft and fluffy now after being under the heat lamb. More duckling should follow in the next day or so (and I will do my best to post some pictures).
For anyone who doesn't know last year we had a medium sized garden here at our house as a project for the youth at our church and most of the produce went to community care. Well in that garden we had a plethora of tomatoes which has garnered a surprise for this year. That surprise being that we have a load of tomato plants sprouting all over! We also have what we believe are pumpkin plants sprouting all over. We did not grow any pumpkins last year but another youth event that we like to call Pumpkin Olympics is the culprit for that one.
We plan to keep the pumpkins and some of the tomatoes. So come fall we will have some organic pumpkins for sale. I think that will be pretty fun.
Everything in the greenhouse is growing like crazy. We have actually taken all the tomato plants outside because they have been growing too fast. Soon they won't fit in the market van.
Its another beautiful day and I am off to enjoy it!