Lettuce Rejoice
August 25th, 2022
A Firmly Rooted Life
Administrative Details:
As always: a reminder to please send back your cooler bags.
An apology: we were short beans this past week and substituted either carrots or zucchini (depending on which items were already in your order).
For your calendars: The next Eat Local Huron Farm Crawl will be Saturday September 10th, and we’ll be hosting our first Farm Member tour here on Thursday September 22nd, from 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. Consider changing your pick-up location to On- Farm for just that week.
Finally, if you were part of the Winter Share auto-renew please review and make adjustments to your order if needed before orders are finalized on Monday August 22nd. If you weren’t part of the winter share auto renew, you can place an order any time. If you aren’t sure if you are already signed up, please reach out to me at firmlyrootedfarm@gmail.com
In the Box
It’s August, a time of incredible bounty, and if you so choose, the time to stock up! Tomatoes, eggplant, and basil won’t be here for long so take a peek at the bulk amounts available on Harvie.
The spinach, and some other baby greens are looking a little rough for next week and either won't be available or will be available in very limited quantities. Not to worry, there is a TON of food, and those greens will be back in their glory in a week or two.
On the farm: A Firmly Rooted Life
This past week the kids and I were under the weather, and the Aronia berries were ripe. Do you know about these deep purple, deeply astringent berries? They are said to have great medicinal value, much like elderberries, but perhaps even more so according to some sources.
So, in hopes of avoiding future illness, I made some into syrup, some into tincture, and others into liqueur (you gotta have some fun, right?). Here’s hoping a shot a day keep illness away this winter.
We are getting kuni-kuni pigs in the next few weeks. Brian’s been itching to raise more animals, but prefers to limit feeing out grain for a variety of reasons, one being that we don’t grow it here on the farm. When he learned about kuni-kuni’s, whose meat is excellent and temperaments are mild, and who can survive and thrive largely on pasture and root vegetables, he was sold.
We are busy getting ready for their arrival, and preparing a winter home as they need 18-24 months to mature, and as he is planning to breed them. I’ve been tucking in extra beds of prized pig roots for them (beets and turnips in particular).
Jack celebrated his 8th birthday on Wednesday. I can’t believe he’s 8. I still remember bringing him just 6 days old to his first farmers market (I went into labour with him at market the week previous). He loves rocks, and pranks, and can make a game out of anything. I can’t wait to see who he becomes.
The farm is looking great, having finally had a few moments to tidy the mess under our stately 100+ year sugar maple, and as Brian hulked out and mowed all the weedy bits everywhere.
August has pretty thoroughly kicked my butt this year BUT we are getting closer to September and a sweet reprieve.
That's all for now, happy eating until next time,
Farmer Tamara
