Hi farm friends!
DON'T FORGET TO CUSTOMIZE YOUR SHARE
Highlights: pickling cucumbers, broccoli, cauliflower, mini cabbages, flower bouquets
Growing Broccoli and Cauliflower
Cauliflower and broccoli are here!
All winter I've been buying broccoli from the grocery store, since it is a favourite of Rosemary's (believe it or not, she is currently not that into veggies, unless it is a carrot, a cucumber, or a tomato). It's pretty easy and always available.
Growing broccoli on our farm is another matter - and same goes for cauliflower. First of all, they are notoriously difficult to grow. They require a lot of nutrients in the soil (read: many buckets of compost to be spread), they are susceptible to flea beetles and slugs and probably other bugs that (knock on wood) I am not aware of and they need to be covered with insect netting. They are one of the first plants to be seeded in the greenhouse. They take a really long time to grow, and they are heat sensitive. So by the time they are ready to mature, it's quite likely that it'll be too hot for them and they'll go to seed or turn brown (still tasty, but less appealing for sure). They take up a lot of space! In the end, you grow a giant plant and just harvest the tiny flowering bud of that plant, which is maybe a pound or less. And then, that's it. Two or three weeks of harvest (because they also don't all finish ripening at the same time), and you're done. By that time, it's time to plant the fall broccoli and cauliflower.
Compare these to something like cucumbers or zucchini which will thrive even under unfavourable conditions and produce pounds of fruit every day for weeks on end.
So, when you see farmers like us proudly flaunting our beautiful heads of broccoli and cauliflower, maybe now you can understand. And maybe you'll savour those sweet florets just a wee bit more. I think I'll start freezing our own broccoli and stop buying broccoli in the winter, because with the amount of work that goes into growing it, I want to be VERY VERY excited when the broccoli is ready again.
My beautiful baby! And Rosemary ;)
Veggie Highlights this Week
Well, obviously cauliflower and broccoli are our highlights for the week. But we also have sweet mini cabbages - green, and a few red as well! Large cabbages are also available to add on to your shares. Once these are gone we won't have more til the fall.
Our early summer fennel is ready! It succumbed a bit to weeds and wet soil so we're picking it small and bunching it together. I love adding it in to roasted vegetables, it adds a depth of flavour and goes from a strong licorice taste to a mild sweet taste.
Basil and parsley are available as well to add on to your shares, as is garlic (individual, or get a price discount for buying 3).
Pickling Cucumbers
We are swimming in cucumbers now, so we are adding a half bushel option for those who would like to get pickling. $40/half bushel. We don't have any dill at this time (but dill seed works well too). You can add the half bushel as an extra to your share.
Green Bee Flower Bouquets
Have you tried ordering one of these beautiful bouquets? I don't know a better way to deliver joy to your home. Brittany and her team at Green Bee Floral Company (https://greenbeefloralco.ca/) grow all the flowers for these arrangements. They change weekly with the seasons, just like our veggies. Follow them on Instagram and Facebook to see what sort of flowers they are offering each week!
Well, the zucchinis are calling me, and I must go.
Happy eating!
Your farmer,
Kim
