WEEK 11

Good morning everyone!

Were you worried about your weekly newsletter? I, Marie-Luce, was in Québec visiting my family with the kids for the last 10 days. Duncan was alone with the garden and all... I guess the newsletter was not in the priority list for either of us. Sorry... 

Sure feels like fall is coming up here on the farm, veggies are growing slower as the days are getting shorter. And there is not much we can plant now except for the really quick stuff like spinach, radishes and lettuce. But end of August also means Tomatoes and winter squash season, these have been in the ground since June.

So this week in your basket: 
Tomato: Sure you know what to do with them!

Acorn Squash: We like to keep it simple, cut in half, remove the seeds, ut a bit of olive oil/butter salt and pepper in it, flip it on a cookie sheet, put it in the oven for 30-40 minutes at 400° and voilà!  For a more detailed recipe follow this link: Acorn Squash

Leeks: Time for soup! Or try them grilled on the bbq.

Mix Peppers: Peppers again!  It must be pepper season. :P

Parsnips: Great roasted, or wait for a rainy day and make some stew.

Carrots: As usual! Soon you will be back to the tastless grocery store carrots....

Cucumber: Great for some Tzatziki 

WEEK 9

 

Hi, 

Here's what NOT in your basket this week ;)  Lettuce Mix.... 

The heat has been really hard on it. Heat makes everything, including lettuce, grow really fast. But it also slows down the grow of the newly seeded lettuce... As a result, we are short on this good stuff as the mature ones are now too big and the baby ones are growing slow. Keep your fingers cross for next week! 

But you will have all this good stuff in your basket: 

Radishes: We have finally found some varieties that grow well in the heat.

Cucumber: Are you cool as a cucumber? 

Our cucumbers this year have done really well! For some reason, the cucumber beetles didn't find our plants till their were already mature so they had a really small impact on their growth. Perhaps Duncan's crop rotation finally worked... 

Patty Pan, Gold Coin Onions: It's squash season... Both are great with for spaghetti sauce, or top your pizza with it.. We've been having it just fried in butter and olive oil with some salt. 

Green Beans: Yummy and you know what to do with them!

Beets: Always good and sweet. :)

Kale: Kale salad, Kale chips, kale smoothies... so many options. 

Parsley: Add it to anything! It will keep good for a long time in the fridge if you put it in a plastic bag. 

WEEK 8

This week in your basket: 

Purple Cabbage: This variety of cabbage is so vibrant! Cabbage will keep for weeks in your fridge, and will stay fresher in a plastic bag. 

Cauliflower: This year the best improvement for our farm was to built a cool room, one of the advantages of having it is that we can harvest everything when it's ready.  In the previous year, it was always hard to get enough cauliflowers exactly for CSA day, it needs to be harvested within a day or two when its ready. We've been picking a few everyday for the last few days so all of our members will get a some.

Green Peppers: The wonder of the recent heat wave! 

Yellow Beans: They won't last long, it seems like everyone has their favorite way to eat them. And for the green beans fans, don't worry they will come soon... 

Summer Squash:   Patty pan squash are great on the barbeque,  sliced on pizza or in a stirfry, and raw in a salad.  They stay firmer than other summer squash when cooked and have a buttery flavor.

Cucumber: Some people in our house just eat the whole thing just like that, no peeling, no cutting and it's delicious! 

Celery: A bit more crunch for your week! 

WEEK 7

 This week in your basket: 

Celery: We heard that it wasn't enough celery last week to last more than a day, so here is a little bit more! 

Carrots: At our house, we love them raw straight out of the garden but we also like to add them with other veggies in stir fry or to make carrot soup. 

Salad Mix and Hakurei Turnips: For a great salad this week. The salad turnips can be sliced but also grated on top of your salad. 

You can also try to roast them following something like this recipe: Roasted Hakurei Turnips (this recipe calls for a mix of radishes and turnips, just turnips is good too, we picked this one because they use the turnips and their greens so no waste and a colorful side dish) 

Fresh Shallots: These are to be used just like a yellow onions, they are fresh so they prefer to be kept in the fridge. Soon, we will pick all of them from the garden and cure them for a few weeks, then you'll see them in your basket with their dry skin on. 

Beets: As yummy and sweet as a veggie can be!  Just steam or roast, no need to peel!

Rainbow Chard: Always amazed by the colors in this! 

And a glimpse at what is coming soon....

WEEK 6

This week in your basket: 

Celery: The first of our celery this year. The stalk will remain crunchier if you cut the leaves off, but don't throw them out, they are perfect for making bouillon. They are also easy to freeze if that hot weather doesn't make you feel like a batch of soup. 

Salad Mix and Radishes: They are back!

Leeks: These would pair really good with the broccoli for a delicious soup. If you like following a recipe, here's a simple one: Leek and broccoli soup. The leeks are also easy to freeze, we like to slice them up and put in a Ziploc for the next rainy day. Leeks can also replace any onions in your favorite recipe.

Broccoli Florets: Brocoli is green this week, and all cut into florets. Broccoli is super versatile, let us know what's your favorite way to use it. 

Sugar Snap peas: Because we know the ones from last week disappear way too quickly! Enjoy as they are the last of the season. 

Duncan ready to give a wash to the leeks.

As we've mentioned in last week newsletter, weeding is one of the keys to
keep the veggies growing well.
Here's Zac and Phoenix weeding away at 25°C today! 

WEEK 5

Hello,
Week 5 already! Summer is going fast! 

We took a few pictures from 3 of our gardens today. Interesting to see the production is in all stages even in the middle of July. So as soon as a row has been harvested, something else get planted or transplant into it. 

In the pictures, you can see the newly transplanted brocoli right beside the full grown one. The beds that look empty are our freshly planted carrots, and hopefully Rutabaga, might be to late?!  To grow lots of veggies on a intensive scale, succesive planting is one of the keys, that and lots of weeding. :)

Baby broccoli planted in landscape fabric

Soon to be carrots

This week in your basket: 

Purple Gobe Turnips: Great roasted, in soups, stews or grated on salads.

Sugar Snap Peas: Super good snack, these are the ones you can eat the whole pod. 

Dill: Cutting that dill today made me crave a good potato salad but it's also great for seafood, especially salmon.  Dill will keep for a week or 2 in the fridge (in a close plastic bag), but if you feel like this bunch is too big, you can easily freeze some and use it later. I'm sure Duncan will make a great Dill/Ceaser dressing.

Beets: No need to peel these fresh beets, the skin is just as good at the rest. The greens are also good to eat on these. If you feel like something different for the hot summer days, try something like this salad to go with your dill beets, feta and dill salad

Romaine lettuce: Crunchy and delicious as always

Green onions: Did you miss them last week? Remember they are good raw in salad or sandwiches but they also can be throw in to give some taste to any meat or fish you are cooking and they are great in scrabbles eggs. 

Carrots: Snack time! or soup maybe? or grated in your salad... So many options with this sweet treat. We love them roasted in a pan in butter on the bbq, and you can add your turnips too!

Hampton Hill Family.        

WEEK 4

 

Here's what you will get in your box this week: 

Romaine hearts: Perfect for some crunch in your sandwiches or for an amazing ceasar salad. Here's Duncan's dressing recipe lately for our ceasar salad: feta cheese, mayo, lemon juice, garlic, salt, pepper mix with your hand blender. If you know Duncan, you'll understand that there is no precise recipe. Just wing it! 

Cilantro: Time for salsa! Lots of great (and precise) recipes out there... 

Tiara cabbage: The flavor of this kind of cabbage is mild, not peppery, with a buttery, tender, juicy crunch. It has a long shelf life too, so no stress to eat it all this week. It's good cook or for colslaw. 

Purple broccoli: The stems are long but super tender. It is good cook or raw. If cooked it will keep its great taste but loose its purple color and turn green. 

Basil: What about a pesto this week? It's good on pasta or to substitute the tomato sauce on homemade pizza. The broccoli would also be a great addition to one of these dishes. 

Carrots and radishes: Perfect for snacks. 

Chard: Either you love it or hate it, worse case scenario, share it with your neighbor! ;)

Hampton Hill Family.        

So beautiful! 

What to expect tomorrow. 

Coming soon in your basket....