CSA #6 Fall and Winter

November 19 2016

Such a beautiful day yesterday... and you better believe we were out there from sunrise to sunset.  While daylight isn't really that long this time of year, we're feeling it but we're nearly there and I can't wait!  Above all, I can't wait to visit my daughter who recently moved to Toronto for school. Until now she had been commuting nearly 6 hours a day and so, we were really happy for her! Unfortunately, the timing was really bad for us and she's had to do so much on her own for which we are extremely proud but i just can't wait to get up there and spend the day eat some food and see what we could help her with!

In your baskets this week:

Chez salad Mix
Broccoli Shoots
Red Onion
Kale
Carrots
Mint (for tea, just let dry in bag)

Extra Greens: Salad Mix and Asian Greens Mix (looks like salad but not chopped, no lettuce and no Napa)

 Some beautiful red onions in the baskets today.

Brocoli Shoots 

A strutting carrot! 

Finishing the last of the structural pieces, for which i do not know the names, but here he is adding in the highest  piece along the peak.  

The sun is setting, the rain is coming, this needs to get finished because once it rains the scaffold will sink too deep in the mud.

I'm harvesting Kale for the market while Rick gets those last pieces.

Textures...

This girl is done.  Rick still needs to get the scaffold out.  Time for dinner...market mornings come real fast!

See you tomorrow Duck Duck!

Shirley

CSA #5

November 12

I appreciate my husbands interest in and understanding of, the world around him.  His mother would often laugh and tell me about how when Rick was a kid, he would take e-v-e-r-y-thing apart ...to see how it worked.   Not sure what my response would have been if my child would have torn open all the toys i bought him but thankfully his mom was good with it because it's been a blessing in his life. Last week, we bought my nephew a toy and later on in the evening my husband says I figured it out, I know how it works!   And then, he needed to explain it to me, as he always does and I try to understand but I usually don't.  Sometimes I'll ask him about something, some piece of machinery, just for the heck of it and he always seems to know what it's for.  His understanding of things has transferred onto our natural environment and now he spends time figuring out the soil and the weather etc...  He sure is handy to have around!

On the other hand, I walk around oblivious to how anything works but it doesn't mean I'm not watching or thinking, actually i'm often very distracted by what I see.  My eyes see photos and my mind tells stories and I just love the beauty of it all. My husband often makes the comment that i have seen a butterfly again! And when you're working with so many beautiful vegetables it can be a challenge.  Sometimes, I just have to stop and run for my phone or camera because I just can't let that one get away, not that i am a professional photographer in any way but i do really enjoy it.  This weeks celery was insanely gorgeous and I was happy to get a few shots of it.

Two very different people, working side by side, making it happen.  It's so important to love and appreciate our differences.

In your baskets this week:

Chez Nous Salad Mix
Kale
Sweet Peppers
Red Celery
Arugula

Extra Greens: Salad Mix and Swiss Chard

Who decided that we should focus on breeding only green celery? This stuff is gorgeous.

I love this picture because...Rick is explaining to me how this greenhouse works...I am taking a picture and the look on his face probably wondering why i am taking a picture when he is explaining something to me makes me laugh! Plus, look at all the awesome greens growing in the greenhouse.

The celery will be a challenge to fit in your fridge! It's huge!

Homegrown celery is different than what you may be used to...it definitely has a stronger celery flavour and there are some stringier pieces.  

Super happy to have received a small grant to help build our market greenhouse. Thank you Carrot Cache!!!

Have a great week!
Shirley

CSA #4 Fall and Winter

November 5

Bless this weather.  It's been a really comfortable working environment and great for the gardens also, with nothing but minimal light frost.   We presently have some help on the farm and what a difference it makes, things have moved along nicely this week.

This week, the rest of the garlic was planted, all greenhouse peppers were removed for the last of the greenhouse spinach, lots of greenhouse work was completed, our small winter lettuce house was planted and a good amount of winter clean up was done.

In your baskets this week:

Chez Nous Salad Mix
Mustard Greens
Jalapeno Peppers
Garlic Slivers ( big cloves get planted and small cloves are great for cooking)
Kohlrabi
Carrots

Extra Greens: Chez Nous Mix and Kale


We also dug into the carrots this week.  We are still waiting for a few more sweetening treatments from frost but a little thinning didn't hurt. What beautiful carrots!



So more hot peppers in the baskets.  It's a blend of Green Jalapeño and Green Serrano.  They are of varied size as they were the final harvest of the outdoor Hot Pepper House.  Many recipes only call for small amounts of Jalapeños and depending on your heat level you may want to freeze a bit.You can freeze them whole and then chop them partly frozen when your ready or just chop them all now and freeze on a flat surface then pop into a freezer bag.
However, they do keep for quite a while in the fridge and they do taste so nice and fresh chopped and added to dish raw.

Here are a few, not so common recipes, on my list to try. I am especially excited about the deep dish pizza as it also gives recipes for some vegan cheese, sounds like quite a long recipe but it can easily be adapted to use dairy! And the corn Dip with a side of salsa sounds relish!

corn and Jalapeno Dip

Garlic Jalapeno Pasta

Deep Dish Jalapeño Pie

Basil Jalapeno Corn fritters

And last here's a very non vegan recipe! Jalapeño Cheeseburger Pasta

Strange creatures...Kohlrabi

2 Beds so far and one more to build.  This is our seedling sale house during spring, Our scorching hot pepper house in summer and our lettuce beds in winter.  It also houses any potted plants to overwinter (pepper plants in background). To date only our Piri Piri peppers have survived the winters but we are trying again this year.

I have loads of Piri peppers drying from our pepper "trees" that grew from our overwintered peppers. 

The cool weather is bringing out all the lovely colours in Kale.

Some crazy big spinach in the greenhouse and chopped up in your salad mix.

Making progress.

Have a great week

Shirley and Rick 

Chez Nous Farms

CSA #3 Fall and Winter

October 29th

We hope you are enjoying your Fall baskets so far, I know the cooler weather had us craving soup this week and i think we made a different one every other day.  We are halfway done planting our garlic which should be done this week.  The focus now will be getting our greenhouse finished before the weather gets too bad.  We have some new items in baskets this week.


In your baskets this week:

Chez Salad Mix
Celery (green)
Poblanos
Flower Sprouts
Kale
Radishes

Extra greens : a double salad bag and an extra kale

Celery Harvest 

We grew 2 celery varieties this year red and regular.  The red seems sweeter while the green has a stronger celery taste.  

Harvesting radish

I grew a lemongrass this year and am hoping to multiply it over the years to offer in baskets.

Greenhouse crops are getting large.  

Poblanos were the star of one of the soups we made this week.  The recipe doesn't call to puree the peppers but you can if you want an even heat instead of the odd spicy bite.  Had to pick out the pepper pieces for my non heat lovers but i was more than happy to add them to my bowl! Also you can use whatever milk you like i had almond on hand.

http://www.makingthymeforhealth.com/vegan-roasted-poblano-corn-chowder/

CSA #2 Fall and Winter

October 22

This week's mission was garlic.  When we saw days of rain coming we knew our time was limited because once the beds get saturated in the fall they almost never dry up and that makes it hard if not impossible to work the beds.  We grow 2 full gardens of garlic and one was still home to the tomato field which is quite a job to clean up.  By Wednesday night the garden was cleaned and prepped and then luckily covered with a giant tarp just on time to keep out the rain.   These tarps have been extremely useful on the farm and for the time being they will keep these spots workable until all our garlic is planted.  We are planting 3 varieties Music, Siberian and Northern Quebec.  Northern Quebec is a variety we began with but almost lost and this summer none was for sale as we were rebuilding our seed stock. We'll be happy to be able to offer this beautiful large porcelain garlic again next year.

In your baskets this week:

Cherry Tomatoes
Chez Nous Salad Mix
Flower Sprout Leaves
Anaheim peppers (med heat)
Sweet Peppers

Extra Greens: Chez Nous Salad Mix and Flower Sprouts

As the weeks go by the baskets will get greener and greener. This week is the last of the cherry tomatoes from the greenhouse and today they are replaced with winter spinach.  Enjoy!

Flower Sprout leaves which are very similar to Kale Leaves but thicker can be steamed for about 15 min when they become tender and are ready for a scoop of butter and some smoked ham or whatever you'd like.  My lunch for the last 2 days.

Anaheim peppers for the most part are pretty mild but every so often you hit a hot spot I'm assuming the seeds or membranes.  I roasted a large batch to freeze for winter use.  There is a lot of peppers this year and if your having a hard time keeping up i suggest freezing them.

Mesclun can be found here and there on the farm.

Hoping to harvest some radishes this week.

Flower Sprouts from a large majestic plant to an awkward stump of developping flowers. 

The field

Arugula

Mustards and Kales coming your way!

More greens growing along well with the grass carpet.   If it were summer we'd make sure to weed those paths but at this point the beds are very wet. 

A future garlic bed.

 Thanks
Have a great week!
Shirley

CSA #1 FALL and WINTER

October 15 2016

We were kinda surprised by the frost this week upon our return from a few days up north.  I noticed the minimal damage Tuesday afternoon, a reminder that it's just a matter of time. Some years are quite forgiving, like last  year, which really allowed us to get everything properly cleaned up and put away. Other years have gotten cold really fast, covering everything up with snow before we were ready.  This CSA will take us to mid February, what will the next 18 weeks bring?  Thanks for joining us on this journey.

Growing food during the off season has been one of the most surprising discoveries in becoming a small scale farmer.  Most people still think we have the winters off.  Some days the work is crazy, trucking through the snow which is blasting at your face just to get out back, frozen cheeks...frozen fingers...frozen water, survival days.  Other days, are mild with the sun nearly blinding you....quiet and peaceful outside, hot and summery in the greenhouse which is bursting with life.  And the food grown or subjected to the cold elements of nature are not the same, as you already know... or will learn this season.  They are sweeter and crisper....winter candy.

In your baskets this week:

Chez Nous Salad Mix
Sweet Peppers
Eggplant
Hakurei Turnips
Parsley
Flower Sprouts

Greens extra: Kale and Kohlrabi


This is the time of year I really enjoy my salads.  There are so many available greens in the garden and they are at their best.  I miss the subtle flavour the lemon basil of the summer offers but welcome the sweet and spicy arugula and mustards, the crunch of the Napa, diversity of the Asian Greens, sweet Spinach, parsley, celery etc...   I would love to know the nutritional value of this mix.  After all the years I still love it best with Mme Karolynn's Dressing ( named after a lovely co-worker from years ago). Here's the link to an old post with the recipe. http://www.cheznousfarms.com/2013/09/the-best-grass-i-ever-had-chez-nous.html

Flower Sprouts....cutest little things...cross between Brussels Sprouts and Kale.   Just boil or steam until steam is just tender...butter and salt.

Here's the Flower Sprouts field after the plants have been topped.  The next step is to remove the leaves and then the sprouts grow faster.

Harvesting some of the nice leaves as they store for quite a long time and can be used as kale.

Below are different stages of growth from pea size to full.  There are 3 colours...green, multi and purple.

 

 Rick breaking off the leaves with a stick....boys. lol! They actually come off quite easily that way.

 You can expect some peppers for the next few baskets.

 The greenhouse was filled with transplants except for 2 rows in which we germinated more turnips and Arugula.

See you next week.

Shirley