Rain Rain

Its seems that after the dry start to the season we are now making up for it with literal buckets full of rain. Syd has a kids pool in the backyard and after our weekend of rain it is literally full to the top with rain water. She of course played in it right away with her muddy boots on so now it is a big muddy water pool.

Despite the rain everything is growing  really well and we are blessed to have sandy soil so that most of the water drains fairly quickly. Of course we are also having an explosion of weeds on the farm. This morning Liliana and I were out in the muck weeding our peppers which are blooming and some even have tiny peppers on them.

This week for CSA we will be having the following items:

Available This Week:

Kale
Snap Peas
Cabbage
Broccoli
Lettuce
Spinach
Summer Squash
Radishes (try us roasted or fried!)

Possibly:
Beets
Kholrabi

Our rainy day set up at Welland market, and boy did it rain!

Another CSA

Well we are heading into the end I our third week of CSA here on the farm and we have been hearing great feedback (thanks everyone!). A top favorite this year has been our buttercrunch lettuce. It's a very hardy variety and has great flavour and texture.

This week we had a delicious selection of lettuce, snap peas, pea shoots, radishes, garlic scapes, kale and Swiss chard. Oh and we also had some kombuchi on offer to sample. 

                            

                                             CSA goodies all ready to be picked up

                            

                            

                                                   You can see some easter egg radishes

                                                     waiting to find a home behind the 

                                                                     garlic scapes. 

If you are interested in picking up some of our produce come and check us out tomorrow at the Grimsby farmers market from 3-7. 

  

CSA underway

We have just finished up the second week of our summer CSA program. We are really pleased that we have had a great selection of greens to start off the season. So far we have had Swiss chard, spinach, buttercrunch lettuce, pea shoots, kale, and a small selection I turnips and radishes. 

Next week we are hoping to start the harvest on our snow peas. Our summer squash are also starting to show signs of small fruit. Almost every week now we will see something new popping up in the garden. 

                   Week One CSA

Below you will see a dreadfully weedy picture of our hoop house. Despite the heat Lilliana and I weeded the entire thing   We did the work at 9 am but it was already well over 30 degrees. The hoop house will now be moved so the eggplant can finish their growing outside. 

              Eggplant before Weeding 

                    After Weeding

Mucha Kombucha

As my fellow intern Tessa mentioned before, I've been working on brewing kombucha and since it turned out well, I'm going for my second batch.

For those who don't know what it is, you are not the only ones! Kombucha is a fermented tea that helps the digestive system. Basically, you put in a jar the Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast (SCOBY) on green, black or oolong tea with a bit of sugar, which is the food for the Kombucha mushroom and leave it in the shade at a warm temperature.

I decided to start this project because is pretty neat to see the fermentation process happen just in a couple days and despite its funny name and vinegary smell, it's very refreshing and tasty. It is one of those unknown longevity elixirs.

I'll be brewing this "living tea" during my stay at the farm and looking for some victims to try it! If you feel curious about it, don't hesitate. The next time you visit us, try some!

                                                                                                                                         L

Rainy Days

Well after the dry start to the summer we are not complaining about the rain we are currently getting. I feel pretty certain our Swiss Chard has grown since this morning! With the rain of course the weeds are also growing. We are working hard to keep up with them but its three people versus millions of weeds.
Yesterday was a busy day here Ryan and I drove an hour from the farm to pick up sweet potato shoots. We followed this with a couple of hours putting them all in the ground. We the assistance of our family not only for planting but child care and supper we made in through. The rain is a huge reason that we planted in a hurry sweet potatoes would not fair well in dry soil.
Last week we also put in about 8 row of onion sets. Sydney was actually helpful with this job and planted onions down the row from her little basket for some time. Eventually she was just hanging out in the dirt but whatever keeps her happy makes everyone happy!

Don't forget to come and check us out the Grimsby market 3-7 pm Every other Thursday (June 11 we will be there)
Also we are at Welland market every Saturday 6-12 (yes am!)

Sweet Potato Fields

              

Apples starting to grow

Planting Onions

Tasty

When your farm is growing lettuce, spinach, kale, swiss chard and other greens sometimes it can be a little overwhelming to try and eat them all.

One of our favorite things to do with a fresh head of lettuce is to make a chicken caesar salad ( also delicious with chick peas and black beans for a veggie version). Below you will find our very handy homemade caesar dressing that is dairy and gluten free. I will also include a quick diy crouton instructions.

Caesar Dressing:

1 clove of Ontario garlic
1 tsp of lemon juice
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (omit for dairy free)
1/4 cup olive oil
3 turns fresh ground black pepper

Simply put all the ingredients in a lidded jar or container and shake vigorously. Store any leftovers in the fridge. Also makes a great veggie dip!

Crouton:

4 cups of cubed bread
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Basil

Cube stale bread (any kind will do), toss lightly with olive and herbs. Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 400f for about 8 min or until bread has crisped.

Enjoy!

Rain day continued

Today started as I hoped it would. I woke up to the sound of heavy rain outside. And although we've had rain a couple times already a constant rain like this will absorb into the soil better compared to a fast heavy rain fall. 

Since it's raining we planted 6 trays of seeds of tomatoes, gourds, squash and spearmint. The rest of the trays in the picture above are all plants that will be ready for fall and winter :) 

We will continue planting more seeds and if there is a break in the rain today we will be out in the fields pulling more weeds and getting ready for the first CSA day. 

Until next time,

Tessa 

Project Mondays

During our internship at the farm we are given a day to work on any subject we would like to embark on while we are here. It could be from making products to building something for use right on the farm.

So far me and Liliana have worked on a few things since we started. We have three projects on the go now that we are moderating. We are currently trying to growing shiitake mushrooms. We are trying two different methods seeing what works better. This is a project we are working on together. Our indivudal projects are: kombucha brewing and dandelion fertilizer which both are going well.

Until next time,

Tessa