Hi Folks!
It's been another hot, hot day on the farm! We are feeling the exhaustion of working in the heat these days for sure. The day begins at 7 so that we can get our hustle on during the cool morning hours, but by day's end, we are wiped. We've found ourselves harvesting more produce this year than previous ones (a great thing!), but we are, as I mentioned last week, somewhat understaffed (not great). It has been a challenge to keep up with some important tasks, such as weeding, and also building our next set of no-till, permanent garden beds. The big harvest of winter storage crops is also looming ahead of us.
To help get some of these important tasks done, we are taking a three week leave from the Strathcona farmer's market from Aug. 27 to Sept. 10, with a return to the market planned for Sept. 17. This impacts all of you who have selected the Strathcona Market as your preferred pick up location. We are in the process of looking for an alternate location near the market for you to retrieve your shares. Another option we are considering is to redirect your shares to one of our other convenient locations for those three weeks. We will provide you with the necessary information no later than Wednesday, but hopefully sooner. Please standby!
We've had some issues with the beans that we've sent out last week. They are admittedly not the finest bean crop that we've had. They've been hit by hail twice, making them susceptible to spoilage, and they didn't grow as well as we like due to a bit of a low spot that they are in. If you've had issues with them, don't hesitate to let us know and we can provide you with a credit.
Our beans this week are coming from a new patch that is producing nicer beans overall, so please give them a try - we have a lot and they are definitely IN SEASON! Sadly, our corn is mostly done, though we'll be able to harvest a moderate amount for this week's shares. Tomatoes are coming in really nicely though, and we are really happy with their texture and flavour! Remember that they are heirloom and field grown, so they don't look as uniform as what you may be used to, but are gloriously unique!
tomatoes ripening on the vine
Juan Carlos harvesting romaine lettuces
General Tips
Please remember to let us know if something is not right with your order. We want to know how we can improve, and it is important to us that you receive excellence from us.
Here are some links to help documents created by Harvie for you to learn how to navigate your farm share account more easily. You will find information about swapping, rescheduling, pickup location changes etc.
https://harvie.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/categories/115000048773-Harvie-University-Members Link to Harvie help documents if you are not signed in to your account.
https://www.harvie.farm/contact Link to Harvie University for members (found in your accounts)
What To Do if You Are Away
This is a question we get asked often. You have three options:
1) Have someone else pick up for you. In our experience, friends assigned this job sometimes forget, so help them remember!
2) Cancel your share for the week. This can be managed on your Harvie account page. It must be done before the Wednesday morning cutoff time of 6 a.m. The disadvantage here is that you lose whatever you have invested into that share. So if you've paid 50%, then you forfeit that amount.
3) Reschedule your share. This is our recommended option because it means you get your full value. What we suggest is that you reschedule your share to a week near the end when you will get more storage-friendly items that will last longer in your fridge, though you're welcome to reschedule to any date that works best for you. When you reschedule, you will get the scheduled share as well as the rescheduled share or shares, so be prepared for a lot of food.
Pick up Location Days, Hours and Flexibilities
King's University (East Edmonton)
Friday pickups, 12-4, some flex if you have to come a bit later. We will not retrieve any shares left here.
Breadlove Artisan Bakery (St. Albert), Saturday pickups, 10-2, no flex & closed on Sunday.
Awn Kitchen (Southwest Edmonton), Saturday pickups, 10-2, no flex, we will bring missed shares to farm.
Uproot Food Collective (Central Edmonton), Saturday pickups, 10-2, some flex, but please respect the pickup hours.
Strathcona Farmer's Market, Saturday pickups, 8-3, no flex, but we bring missed shares to farm. TEMORARILY SUSPENDED
The Butcher Block (Sherwood Park), Saturday pickup, 10-2, some flex
The Fort Distillery (Fort Saskatchewan), Saturday pickup, 10-5, no flex
Sundog Organic Farm (near Gibbons), Saturday, 9-2, flexible
As always, you may contact us with questions or concerns at jamesandjenny@sundogorganicfarm.ca or 780-447-3025 or 780-974-6249. Our preferred method of communication is email.
Be well,
James and Jenny
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onions drying for storage in one of our no-till beds
