It's the first week of the 2020 season and I am thrilled to be back in the swing of seeding, planting, and harvesting! As many of you know, this is our first year offering a spring share so typically I have a few more weeks to settle into farming before the share deliveries start. But with everything that is different with life right now, it only seems fitting that my schedule on the farm be a little different too.
Before I tell you more about what is happening on the farm, I wanted to say that I hope each of you is doing OK with our new normal at-the-moment. We may be more limited in our interactions at each pickup but I do hope that each pickup and delivery of vegetables can offer a sense of community and same-ness that I know many people are missing. I have found that the actions of being in nature, hands in the soil, face to the sky, and helping plants grow to be particularly comforting when other things seem chaotic. I also wanted to extend a big thank-you to all of our share members who are working on the front-lines - your work is not unnoticed.
For the next couple weeks, you will notice that it is SALAD SEASON! Spinach, arugula, salad mix, radishes, mint, and green garlic are sweet, tender and delicious and we will be enjoying lots of these as the season starts. And then, give it a couple more weeks and we will start to see salad turnips, kohlrabi, garlic scapes, green onions, kale, and all-time fan favourite, sugar snap peas. I have enjoyed seeing as everyone enters their vegetable preferences and snap peas are the number one highest rated vegetable of all the vegetables! I knew they were popular but I will admit that I am surprised they beat the runners up of spinach, carrots, cucumbers, and tomatoes.
Lest you think the only thing you can do with these ingredients is make salads, there are many other great ways to use these items. You probably don't need any ideas on how to use spinach but I love it in smoothies, tossed in pasta sauce, or made into a great Saag Paneer. Arugula makes a great pesto and I also love it as a topping on pizza. In fact, for dinner tonight we are going to have homemade sourdough focaccia topped with arugula, feta, and the last of the roasted peppers from the freezer. Yum! And did you know you can roast radishes? If you don't love the heat of radishes, roasting them is a great way to mellow the flavour and amp up the sweetness. Green garlic is a new item for us - it is the immature garlic plant harvested in its entirety. Think of it like green onions but with a garlic flavour. Delicious!
You will notice that your share value for the first week or two is slightly below the weekly average. This is simply because there are fewer things available this early in the season. This decrease in value the first week or two will be made up for in the last two week of the spring share as more items are ready for harvest. Luckily, the Harvie system allows me to track precisely what you have received and what remains owing to you.
I have previously sent emails with details on changes we are making to accommodate social distancing guidelines so I am not going to rehash it all here, except to say:
- Mount Forest and Escarpment Lab members will receive their shares in much the same way as previous years: pre-packed. The primary difference is that I will not be entering any buildings when dropping off the shares. Please leave a cooler or box outside for me to drop the share (or I will leave the bins, in the case of Escarpment Labs).
- Guelph members will receive their shares pre-packed. The area under my tent will be for me only and I will bring your share to the edge of the tent or to your vehicle, depending on your needs. The share will be packed in a bin lined with a plastic bag. You can just pop out the bag and leave the bin behind for me.
We have many new members this year so please bear with me while I learn everyone's name and find you share in the large pile of shares we will be bringing! I'm sure there are going to be some growing pains as we sort this new system out but I think overall it should run smoothly.
One downside to this new system is the increased use of plastic bags. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a cost-effective solution that would also preserve the quality of the vegetables without using some plastic. To start, I am using up my supply of plastic bags for items like spinach. Once my supply is out I will be switching to biodegradable bags. For items that don't need to be sealed, I will be using paper bags as an alternative.
Those of you that signed up for all three seasons should see the farm credit owing to you in your Harvie account. This credit can be used to purchase additional items like our raw wildflower honey, frozen chickens, eggs, and additional produce. For the first week of deliveries these additional items will be limited as I won't have enough space to bring them along with all the vegetable transplants. Looks for more items throughout the season! Please note that these credits expire at the end of the season (November 2020).
Last thing! I mentioned previously that I would not be reusing egg cartons this season but I am changing my tune. It turns out that in addition to panic buying toilet paper, seeds, and laying hens, people also bought all the egg cartons! My supplier sold 18 months of egg cartons in 2 weeks and now cannot find a source in Canada! So, I am going to need any egg cartons people can return to me - if you have any lying around your house I'll gladly take them off your hands. For the Guelph pickup I will have a bin where you can deposit used cartons. My plans is to let them sit for 2 weeks before using to ensure they are clean.
Looking forward to seeing new and old members soon!
Lorraine
