We had an amazing crew of volunteers come last Friday to help us plant our windbreak trees. This project is funded and approved by MAPAQ, the agriculture department of the Quebec government. We still have about 500 trees to go in so we will be having another volunteer day this Friday, October 8th. We start at 9am and will work until 3:30pm with a break for lunch. We'll be serving all the volunteers homemade soup and bread with coffee, tea and cake!!
Farm News from Jess
I LOVE this time of year. The bugs have buggered off, it’s not too hot and the colours are transcendent.
The Farm team has been working away harvesting your veggies and transitioning the farm to winter. The cover-crop is looking ace, all the beets are in the cold-room and we have about 20 tonnes of squash curing.
Flor bringing in the Kabocha and Sweet Dumpling squash!
This week we’re sending LEEKS to our CSA members. Leeks are delicious, obviously. Here is a tip on how to wash them- the dirt really gets in the layers! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njMtD7Hnlb8
I don’t really love turkey at thanksgiving, but I do love my mom’s leek and rice stuffing. It’s more of a side dish as most of it doesn’t make it in the turkey. Here’s a recipe that comes close to replicating hers: https://www.rachaelraymag.com/recipe/wild-rice---mushroom-stuffing.
Tim, our wonderful field manager trimming up the leeks. Not a bad office view!
My mom, Colleen, has been working in our kitchen, transforming our vegetables into delicious things like salsa, cowboy candy and soups. She’s a farmer and an amazing cook, so everything is extra nice and all available in our onsite farm store.
Cowboy Candy (candied hot peppers) These are spicy and delicious, try them as a topping for a baked brie. Yum!
In other farm news, Robin scooted down south of Montreal last week to pick up this second hand onion cleaner. It was a fraction of the cost of a new one and will pay for itself in no time! We love finding deals like that! So instead of relying on our staff to hand clean each onion, we’re flying through the bins with this machine! This means we will be giving bulk discounts on onions this coming weekend. They range from $2.50-$2.00/lb for small quantities, but we will be selling 10lb bags for $18!
A game changer!
Squeaky clean onions!
This will be the last weekend in our fall festival series. In an ode to Farmhop we have been doing a little extra in the store including hot homemade soups and pastries, warm drinks, bulk squash, and more. We also ordered in bushels of low spray and no-spray apples from Barkley’s Apple Orchard, in Morrisburg Ontario.
This is Thanksgiving weekend and we will be well stocked with all the veggies, including leeks!! Come walk around the farm, enjoy a snack and beverage and visit our other farm friends on our farm-hop route, Ferme Juniper and Ferme et Forêt.
Kat all set up with weekend treats!
Sweet Dumpling Squash, these have an edible skin like Delicata, delicious roasted as a side for your Thanksgiving feast :)
We have a few watermelons that are not fit to sell. If you come to the farm this weekend you can smash one on the ground for the chickens to eat!
Please note that starting next week our store hours will change :
Thursday: 1-3:30
Friday: 1-5pm
Saturday: 10-3pm
Sunday-Wednesday : closed
It's a great time of year to pause, reflect and express gratitude. A huge thanks to our farm team for all the hard work they've put in over the last many months and to our CSA members and local community for they love and support of the farm.
We hope you all have a wonderful weekend eating some yummy fall food!
-Jess