In this newsletter:
What is happening at the farm?
Other news and events
Fall CSA
Farm store and what is available this week
Weekly farm fun fact
What is happening at the farm?
Well folks, we made it to the first solid frosts. Definitely no more flowers and frost intolerant veggies in our fields, aside from a few well row-covered crops including bok choy and cilantro. The chard definitely took a hit, but the kale will be sweeter! Speaking of frost, have you tried our Autumn Frost squash? It's a type of butternut with a slight creamy pumpkin-like texture. A fun alternative to the classic butternut.
Above: Theo & Lys harvesting leeks / Autumn Frost Squash / first real snow fall at the farm
Here is a little overview of what we have been up to:
We tucked in our new strawberry patch, which involves adding straw mulch to insulate those babies during the cold months and to help with weed pressure next season.
Above: Matt and Lys mulching the strawberries
We're still filling up the greenhouses with little green and purple plants including spinach, arugula, salad mix, lettuce, parsley, cilantro, dill, bok choy, kale, chard and more. You can find lots of chickweed amongst those but fret not! It is a delicious edible weed. Check out the weekly farm fun fact below for more on chickweed.
Above: Ginger harvesting green onions / salad mix and arugula / head lettuce
We had our end of season wrap up potluck with most of our amazing team: Andrea, Tim, Matt, Lys, Theo, Anna, Ginger, Bryan, Christine, Robin, Jess, and myself (Kat). A special shoutout to the others who worked hard to keep the farm going this season: Colleen, Lily and Janet, and our wonderful regular volunteers Andrea, Valérie and Leaf!
And perhaps the biggest news is we completed our first week of our fall CSA! So much fun seeing all the variations in the customizable orders while I packed your boxes this week.
Above: CSA orders in the process of being packed... see below for more pictures!
Other news and events
Two wreath making workshops coming up!
Join us for a morning of creativity in our warm greenhouse. We will provide a variety of greenery and dried flowers, ribbons, a base and wrapping wire. We'll guide you through how to make a one-of-a-kind, gorgeous wreath! (beverage and holiday music included)
Sign up here:
Holiday chocolate has arrived in the farmstore.
Hummingbird is my favourite handmade artisanal single origin chocolate. We have several flavours including London Fog and Gingerbread Spice for gifts and such. Its getting cold, come on and treat yourself to something sweet !
Fall CSA
Friendly reminder that our CSA boxes are customizable so you can order vegetable boxes that are fit for your unique household. Here are some pictures of a few orders from this week (three layers per box):
Above: red onion, potatoes, fresh ginger, red peppers, parsnip, leeks, celery. bok choy, spinach and chicory
Above: red onion, carrots, red pepper, ginger, parsnip, butternut squash, bok choy, leeks, two kinds of kale.
Above: egg share, potatoes, parsnip, red onion, shallots, garlic, fresh ginger, bok choy, leeks, chicory, peppers, tatsoi
Farm store and what is available this week
New arrivals!
* Thai squash soup (Farm-made)
*cowboy candy (Farm-made)
Roots:
Beets
Carrots
Parsnip
Garlic
Kohlrabi
Onions (red, yellow and shallots)
Potatoes
Hakurei Turnip
Red radish
Daikon radish
Watermelon radish
Rutabaga
Celeriac
Greens:
Spinach
Salad mix
*bulk greens are available if you bring your own containers.
Herbs:
Rosemary
Thym
Sage
Cilantro (if it bounces back from the frost)
Parsley Curly and Flat
Other Veggies:
Celery
Leeks
Fennel
Chickory lettuce (endive: great roasted and raw!)
Kale
Chard
Napa cabbage
Caraflex cabbage (a tender sweet variety great for slaw and amazing roasted !)
Squash
Classic butternut
Autumn Frost butternut (butternut flavour with a more pumpkin like texture)
Kabocha: winter sweet (sweet nutty flavours reminiscent of roasted chestnut)
Testukabuto (low moisture content; rich notes of hazelnut and browned butter.)
Delicata (Edible skin makes for easy prep!)
Pie Pita Pumkin (great for pies/deserts and the seeds are especially tasty!)
Fruits
Peppers (sweet - red, yellow, orange and green)
Tomatoes (red, yellow and green)
Apples from Peter in Wakefield! (Russet, Kidd Orange, Liberty, Super Nova)
Flowers:
Dried Flowers
Eucalyptus
Wreaths
Garlic braids
Farm-made preserves:
Salsa
Passata (Italian tomato sauce)
Kimchi
Chilero
Pickles (facto-fermented)
Our version of a Sriracha hot sauce
Frozen soup: tomato
Other:
Decorative pumpkins and squash
Above: store display, squash soup, fresh thyme and spinach harvest
Above: Dried flowers, roasted salsa, Kat harvesting fresh ginger for the store
Weekly farm fun fact
Chickweed is edible and nutritious and is sometimes grown as a salad crop. Our greenhouses are filled with it during the colder months. We try to leave it out of our harvest but it may appear in small quantities in your mixed greens. It is tasty so go ahead and eat it! Some say large quantities can cause an upset stomach, so I wouldn't necessarily make a salad with only chickweed unless you know your stomach really well. Small quantities are a lovely little addition to any salad. It has a mild, light lettuce like flavour!
Keeping in touch
Our farm-store hours are
Wednesday-Friday 11h-5h
Saturday 10h-3h
*Check us out on Facebook and instagram to get a daily glimpse of the Roots and Shoots Farm life.
Happy Autumn Frost to all!
-The Roots and Shoots Farm Team
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