EFAO Conference week
While we plug away at our work here on the farm this week we are also plugged in to the Ecological Farmers' Association of Ontario (EFAO) conference taking place online for the second year in a row. While we are disappointed not to be with our farmer friends, we are once again saving travel and hotel time and cost. On the up side, there are a bunch of new apps helping make the conference experience more interactive. Plus we get copies of the resources, including recordings, to re-listen and absorb over the Winter.
EFAO is an organisation "which supports farmers to build resilient ecological farms and grow a strong knowledge-sharing community." We've been members for several years, and receive regular updates which inspire and inform us to be better farmers. We enjoy our time with other farmers, and can't get enough of conversation, eating together (usually!), idea-sharing, commiseration, and laughing together.
While we're topping carrots, braiding and drying garlic, sorting out veggies and providing activities for our 3 farm kids, we'll be listening online, contributing, re-thinking our farm, watching movies, engaging with other farmers, and discovering new sources for tools of the trade. For example, we discovered a new carrot at one conference, got our BCS tractor at another, and met Simon from Harvie at another!
Veggie notes
Potatoes are packed in a rainbow assortment of varieties and available in two sizes this week. And, there are pints of single varieties in the Extras if you want to swap out and try a whole pint of one kind or another.
Carrots are coming to you in a larger size for the same price this week with a caveat: they display some damage from the 2021 vole invasion. The rodents were not only plentiful on our farm, but had a boom year in this region, leaving many farmers scratching their heads at bed after bed of nibbled veggies.
Cucumbers are out of season, but you can get your hands on our delicious Bread and Butter pickles this week in the Extras and relive the taste of summer.
