Cold and Busy

Due to the snow that has suddenly started to fly we have had a busy few days on the farm. What has kept us busy you ask? Well on Friday night (yes night in the dark) we put plastic up on two of our unheated winter hoop houses. We use these houses to store greens for the winter. All of the varieties that we grow are frost hardy they however do not like to be repeatedly snowed upon.

Below I will most some mostly undistinguished photos (its was really dark and I was using my cellphone).

This is inside the hoop house after we just got the plastic on.
The light in the distance is Ryan hard at work

We are also keeping busy with Winter CSA which is actually a lot of fun when you are not freezing your fingers off!

Here are a few pictures of harvesting and what was in our baskets last week.

Carrots that had to be dug out of the frozen ground

Mmmm brussel sprouts. Don't knock them if you have not
tried them!

Fresh Onions

Ryan hard at work!

Butternut Squash

Well the recent neglect of our blog (although not a new problem) is due largely in fact that we are run off our feet trying to stay on top of all the farm work. What you may ask keeps two young farmers busy in the winter season? Well let me tell you.

First we are as usual running our winter CSA program and are already heading into our 4th week. So far the weather has been great which means it has not been too bad harvesting up to this point. Once we really start getting into the cold weather I tend to experience very cold hands on picking days. This is due to the fact that wearing gloves just is really not possible for a lot of the harvesting process. Could you imagine trying to pick leaves of lettuce with a bulky pair of gloves?

You may also be asking yourself what goes into a winter CSA. Well despite the fact that many people think all they are going to get is a bunch of squash and potatoes we offer a good variety of veggies.

For example this week a full share CSA included the following:

Bunch Carrots, 2 quarts of potatoes, bunch onions, garlic,pie pumpkin, baby rainbow chard and mixed greens.

Not too bad for the middle of November if I can say so.

15 Baskets heading out for delivery!

Number two and three can really blend together so I'll just write about them at the same time. The first part would be that we now are selling veggies at the farm Tues-Sat  in our new sales shed. You can find almost everything you might need to make a tasty diner. We stock all our own veggies including: squash, potatoes, fresh greens, garlic, onions, kale, carrots and more! 

The on farm sales Shed

Along with this we are also now selling veggies at Upper Canada Cheese in Jordan. We are there every Saturday from Noon-4:00. We stock all the same items as on the farm and are there selling in our veggies van. 

The inside of the veggie truck

Needless to say all of this is keeping us very busy but we are loving it. Come out and enjoy some winter veggies we would love to see you.

Amanda

As usual it has been far too long since we have posted anything on the blog. I will blame this on our enthusiastic plan for the up coming winter season which has kept us very busy here on the farm. As usual we are running our winter CSA program (see previous post for more info). We are also however expanding with the addition of a sales shed that will be opening this Saturday (October 19th). We have lots of beautiful fresh produce that will be available and the shop will be open Mon-Sat every week until we sell out for the season. What else do we have on the go? Well Ryan in between putting the final touches on the shed is working hard to get our new sales van up and running. It has been nicknamed the blue potato and will be popping up around Niagara with our veggies inside (locations TBA).

All of our winter crops are doing really well and we are excited to start the winter harvest soon.
We are obviously also due for some photo updates but I have misplaced my phone (just in the house) so I don't have photos on hand to upload.

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'Winter CSA brought to you by Creek Shore Farms This is just a reminder that registration for Winter CSA is still open. If you are interested in signing up please let us know as soon as you can. Registration forms can be found on the website at http://www.creekshorefarms.ca/csa.html. Also to answer a few common question about Winter CSA. NO you are not only going to get squash and potatoes. Yes we do grow squash and potatoes however we also have a wide selection of fresh greens ALL winter long. What else do we have?? The selection this season includes: leeks, onions, garlic, carrots, beets and more! If you have further questions please feel free to contact me via emial at: amanda@creekshorefarms.ca P.S. If you have already signed up please disregard this message.

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Week Nine

It's week nine of our summer CSA program here on the farm. Wow how time is flying we only have seven weeks left before we wrap up. Of course wrapping up is all relative a we will be heading into a busier season with winter CSA. 

Our customers are literally about to show up for this weeks great veggie selection. What comes at the end of July? Well this week the basket include: kale, lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, summer squash and corn.  A pretty tasted line up if I do say so. Check out the picture below to see how our CSA table looks. 

Updated Scape Recipe

Below you will find the original scape pesto that we shared with you last year. If you have tried both why not let us know what you think!

Ingredients

• 6 garlic scapes, chopped
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup pecans
• 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Place the garlic scapes, Parmesan cheese, lemon juice, and pecans in the bowl of a food processor. Drizzle the olive oil over the mixture. Blend until the pesto is a brilliant green color and smooth in texture. Season with salt and pepper.

It has been another busy week so far but thanks to some great help yesterday from two volunteers the picking for CSA went quickly. Its getting to be the time of year where there is lots to pick. Yesterday it took three people two hours just to pick beans and peas. Needless to say that was only two of eight crops that were being picked for today's CSA pick up.

Beautiful fresh beans. We have four colours this year: green, yellow, blue (purple) and purple spotted (dragon tongue).

As a regular part of our CSA we often include kale. It is a pretty prolific grower and people are always asking for suggestions about how to use it up. So thanks to Tina who shared this kale salad recipe.

Kale Salad

½ cup raisins (optional) soaked in balsamic vinegar overnight

Large bowl of cut up kale

Can of mandarin oranges

½ c toasted sliced almonds

Dressing:

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar (if using raisins, can use the balsamic they were soaked in)

¼ cup olive oil

2 tbsp maple syrup

S & P to taste

½ the juice from can of mandarin oranges

Dress in advance to soften kale. Top with toasted almonds and orange slices (and raisins) just before serving.

2013 Winter CSA Registration Now Open

2013 Winter CSA

Registration Now Open

visit www.creekshorefarms.ca for more information

Cooking Supper Outside? Yes Peas!

So I know Amanda already posted about loving peas, but you know what I love?  Grilling my food outside on the barbecue or over an open fire....peas just happened to be my victim this week.  It doesn't matter if you eat 1 serving of vegetables twice a year or you live on a strict vegan diet, everything tastes better over fire.  Not only does it taste great, but usually the meals can be simple and quick, something often important on the farm.

This delicious selection was made over the fire pit you see in the background.  The sausage while delicious was nothing compared the homegrown goodness up front.  Cooked over the fire in a cast iron fire pan was the simple concoction of peas, summer squash and garlic shoots mixed with a little olive oil.

So if you like good food, just grab a cast iron pan, find any veggies you have on hand, mix with some oil and enjoy!

I love peas!!!

Its true I really do love peas and not just eating them fresh. I love them cooked too and I really love them in creamed peas on toast (yes it is really delicious!). Currently our pea plants are working overtime churning out  a huge amount of peas for our CSA. This week each member is getting 2 liters of peas and there will be more that will go to our local food bank.
What else is growing right now you may ask. Well we had our first harvest of kohlrabi today and summer squash will probably be going gangbusters soon. Its great to see everything growing so well this season.

As per a request from one of our CSA members here is a recipe for garlic pesto!

Basil & Garlic Scape Pesto

4-5 fresh garlic scapes, cut into 2-inch-long pieces
(discard the bulb)
1-2 cups fresh basil leaves
½- 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
½ cup walnuts or slivered almonds, toasted
⅓-½ cup extra-virgin olive oil or cold-pressed canola oil

Put everything but the oil into the bowl of a food processor and pulse, pouring the oil in a thin stream through the feed tube and scraping down the sides of the bowl, until the mixture is as smoothly puréed as you like. Makes about 2 cups.

http://www.westernlivingmagazine.com/FD/0713.How-to-Cook-with-Garlic-Scapes-Basil-Garlic-Scape-Pesto.html

I'm not sure if this is the one we have previously shared as I cannot find it but hopefully its close!

Check out this one for another variation using swiss chard

http://jeanetteshealthyliving.com/2012/06/garlic-scape-cilantro-swiss-chard-pesto.html

Week four CSA

It seems as though the weeks have just been flying by here. The crops are looking great and we had another nice CSA basket going out this week. There were two new additions to the basket this week, peas and scapes. Everyone seemed pretty excited to get the peas.  The taste of summer as one CSA person put it. 

If you have never had scapes they are what would be the flower of the garlic plant. They are removed before blooming to encourage bulb growth. They have the same flavour a garlic but are more mild. 

If you are not part of our CSA watch your local farmers market for there appearance. They usually come in bunches and are long and green. 

This weeks CSA items

Fresh batch of lettuce!

Things are bursting

Well I just took a lovely walk around the farm and things are looking fantastic! There are tiny cucumbers bursting forth off the vines and loads of little summer squash. We are also hoping for a big haul of peas this week as the plants all look heavy with delicious peas. 

The lettuce that was decimated last week is also starting to perk back up which is great news. Those sad little eaten carrot tops are also starting to grow. Nature is pretty resilient which is good news for us. 

That's Sydney munching on a fresh pea. She is pretty sneaky and just eats the super sweet tiny peas inside and discards the shell. 

Little Critters

We have been enjoying a great season so far with a nice selection of summer greens. It's exciting to see how fast things can grow. Today we saw the first tiny summer squash emerging. We are also pleased to see the first peas of summer! 

Despite all of the great stuff that has been going on we have had a small set back. A family of ground hogs has decided to make our lettuce patch it's primary food source.  

It's not that easy to tell but just a few days ago this was full sized heads of lettuce.

They also had a munch on our growing carrots and peas. 

Tomorrow we will be heading into our third week of CSA and despite the setback in our lettuce the baskets will still have a nice selection of items. 

This is a photo of week 2. It included spinach, lettuce, garlic, turnips, radishes, and onions. 

Cooking with your CSA box

Well people often ask me how to use certain items that they receive. We try and be helpful and offer suggestions and recipes. However we are always glad when a member shares up some tips! This week I'd like to forward on a handy recipe to use up your radish and turnip tops.

I'd like to thank Susan for sharing the following recipe:

I made soup with your turnip and radish tops, along with two of the red onions, four cloves of garlic and three little turnips.

I sauteed some spices in olive oil (one dried chili, snapped in half; half a teaspoon of coriander powder; a quarter-teaspoon each of black pepper and turmeric; and a very small piece of cinnamon bark) and added the chopped onion and garlic, continued frying until the nice smells seemed to mingle. Then I added the chopped turnip and one small chopped orange sweet potato from my never-ending bag in the basement. In a separate pan, I quickly blanched the turnip tops and radish tops, then poured off the water (pity for the vitamins but I thought the greens might otherwise be a bit bitter). I then chopped the barely wilted tops and added them to the soup pot. I added salt to my taste (maybe half a teaspoon), and floated the whole batch with hot water from the kettle. Simmered the pot until everything was soft, let it cool, then whizzed it with an immersion blender.

With bits of homemade bread dumped in, this made a great soup for a raw, damp Thursday. The pot made about 4 cups of soup.

This was accompanied by a salad using some of your tender red-leaf lettuce and spinach leaves, dressed with some homemade yogurt flavoured with a mashed garlic clove and salt, and toasted sunflower seeds on top.

Many thanks!

Susan

A New Season

Well we are excited to be diving into a new season of harvesting. Today marked the first day of our summer CSA program. The baskets looked great sporting a selection of fresh produce picked fresh. 

We are always excite to start a new season and to meet all the great people who will be joining us on our culinary adventures. 

It looks like its going to be a great season and we hope that everyone enjoys the fresh produce that we dish up. 

Check out a few pictures of what went into this weeks baskets. 

Things growing on the farm

Well we have had some terrific weather so far this year and that has led to some nice growth so far. Check out the following pictures to see what is growing on the farm.

Starting a new season

Well it is about to be that time of year when we work longer days, sweat more (shower less) and eat more vegetables. Yes that is right it is the start of a new season. With this season will come new challenges ( a new  member of the family, and a new farm location) but as always we are up for anything so we are diving in head first.

Pardon the photo but i just snapped it from the kitchen window.
This is a small view of our new farm. The field is covered in straw
for soil improvement.

So what are the first things to get done in the ever increasing warmth? Well we really never stopped doing things but today I pulled out plastic from our winter mini hoop houses (we grew lettuce, carrots, onions, and kale all winter for our CSA) and tomorrow the first veggies will be planted. In the greenhouse we will be starting lettuce and broccoli. Ryan is adventurasly thinking of planting some peas outside which of course he will do.
At the new house we have erected a barn/greenhouse, torn out an orchard (pears and sour cherries), picked up lots of sticks from the torn out orchard

The next coming weeks will hold lots of planting and tilling and we hope you follow along with us.

First plants up

I am excited to say that the first sprouts of the season can be seen. Our first planting went in one week ago today. Both onions and broccoli are showing.

Today more planting is underway with the help of our friend Lisa who is a pro and only on her second week of farm life!!

Today leeks, tomatoes, lettuce, carrots, kohlrabi and broccoli were planted.

2013 Summer CSA

Registration for our summer 2013 CSA program is now open.  Please click the image above or visit www.creekshorefarms.ca/summer2013.pdf for more information and to register.  While the deadline is April 1st, space is extremely limited so register soon to hold your spot.

Things Are Heating Up

Check back soon for some big updates on what has been happening on the farm in the last 6 months...