Update from the Garden

Our 2018 CSA Season has come to a close now, after 18 weeks of fresh garden veggies! I can’t thank you all enough for the amazing commitment you have made to this farm.

Each year presents its own challenges and this year was certainly no exception. I have never had a season with this year’s combination of factors. We had, what seemed like a late and wet spring, which quickly turned into a dry spell lasting into July. This was a huge problem because May and June are the months where I had been seeding most of my crops and without water, many had poor germination or were stunted. Hence the few carrots and then small parsnip and garlic for example. The dry weather had me scrambling to water everything – not for them to thrive, but to just keep everything alive!



We have limited water at the farm and so we had to get creative with accessing a 2nd well on the farm and pumping/transferring water, then we re-purposed our old milk bulk tank for holding water and put an eavestrough on the barn to collect the little amount of rain that we did get. It was a little crazy. Each year brings a new major challenge and when I decide that I’d rather not struggle like that again, I make a new investment for the business… so for next year, we plan on having an irrigation pond on the farm, which will serve as a reservoir of water for us over the season. On to the planning for that…!

The goal is to build resilience as a farm, especially in the face of climate change and all the extreme weather that we are now regularly experiencing. It’s challenging but also exciting to have your livelihood dependent on the weather – a factor that is completely unknown and unpredictable. Or maybe it’s a little nuts. Either way, I’ll be back next year.

Garlic Planting Party

This is my first time hosting a garlic planting party so here it goes. I have over 7,000 cloves to slam in the ground and if you want to come see how that happens – and plant a bunch – come join me on Sunday October 14th, from 1pm – 2:30pm (or so). Being a fairly German family, there will be a gorgeous Torte with coffee and even beer (dad’s suggestion). Kids are welcome and we have tricks for having them help plant garlic… from my own experience with my kids 🙂 Would LOVE to see you Sunday if you can make it! 🙂

This week’s share

1 bag Spring Mix OR Spinach

1 box Potatoes

2 Peppers

1 bunch Parsnip

1 Cabbage OR 1 bunch Leeks

1 Choice of Squash

1 bunch Chard OR 1 bunch Kale

Large ONLY: 1 kohlrabi, 1 bunch radish, 1 Romaine

Parsnip and Squash Soup

I have made this recipe 2x in the past week. The original recipe called for carrots but I only had parsnips in the fridge and the substitute worked great. I used a butternut squash for this but you can use pretty much any other squash or pumpkin. I came up with my own typical soup seasonings and they worked great. Just add to taste.

1 sprig Rosemary, chopped fine

4 small Parsnips – chopped small

2 small Onions – chopped fine

3 cloves Garlic – minced

2 sprigs Celery – chopped small

1 small squash – chopped bite size

1 L. stock

Seasonings of: tamari sauce, lemon juice, grated parmesan, salt, pepper, splash of cream

Heat a couple glugs of oil in a soup pot. Add the rosemary and let it sizzle for a minute. Add the parsnip, onion, minced garlic and celery. Saute it for 10 minutes.

Add the chopped up squash and saute that for a few minutes until you start to see it softening.

Add the stock and scrape the bottom of the pot getting all the flavour mixed in.

Simmer for 30 minutes.

Blend 1/2 the soup and then add your seasonings. I used a splash of tamari sauce, juice from 1/2 a lemon, probably 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, a few pinches of salt (my stock was low sodium, so be careful with the salt), loads of cracked pepper, and a splash or two of my coffee cream to lighten the colour a bit. Voila!