We hope that you enjoyed your first farm share! Please always let us know if something wasn't right with your box so that we can fix it to the best of our ability.
It has been incredibly warm and dry on the farm this year and so our plans to build our first no-till beds have been delayed by the more urgent need to irrigate and manage what we have planted. Things are growing fairly well in spite of the hot, dry weather and this is due to the attentive care from our whole team.
Many of you received Napa Cabbage from us this week, and it looks different from the tight, light coloured heads that you might find in the store. These cabbages do something called bolt, or go to seed, when the weather is extra warm. When we saw this happening, we harvested what we could before the heads had a chance to form. By doing this we were able to save a crop from being entirely wasted - something that we, on a small-scale non-industrial farm are able to do because of our ability to respond quickly and to circumnavigate the industrial food outlets by selling directly to you! Please rest assured, the green leaves are very tasty sautéed with garlic and onions or in any kind of stir-fry - we have eaten them often already and can attest to their deliciousness!
Ten years ago (or even five) it was hard to imagine our kids being helpers on the farm, but these days (after a fruitless job hunt in the nearby town of Gibbons) our two oldest kids are working part time to give us a hand in the fields. We love having them work with us and hope that they can also see it as a valuable and joyful part of their lives as we. Our youngest keeps busy visiting with his grandparents down the road and running around outside with his friends that love to visit the farm.
Our oldest two boys, Silas and Eli, helping to weed our final planting of carrots
A few more important housekeeping items before we sign off:
- July 22 is our first farm tour. We are opening this up to our farm share members only! You are invited to come at 10:30 and we will walk around and tell you about some of our growing methods and show you our facility. We will wrap up at around noon and you are welcome to find some shade and eat a picnic before heading back home. Check your inbox this week for a sign up email.
- When customizing your box, you have the opportunity to swap items or to add extras. Sometimes the item you want to swap is worth more or less than the item you are swapping for. If you have credit, you can add an additional item, and if the total comes to more than $1 greater than the base value of your share, the credit card that you have on file will be charged. All extra items (not swap items) will be charged to your card.
- Please note that some items (especially in the early part of the season) are limited and it is first come, first served for those.
- When picking up your share, double check your label to make sure that you are getting everything you are meant to. Occasionally there is more produce than we can fit into one bin, so we use two boxes (or bags for the Fort Sask and Eastgate/King's locations). We mark these shares with a notice saying 1/2 and 2/2 as well as two boxes/bags, so please check for this to make sure you are getting everything.
- Those of you picking up at Breadlove are encouraged to order Laura's fabulous baked goods ahead of time so that you have peace of mind. The link for online preorders is www.breadlove.ca/buy-breadlove (Cutoff for preorders is 48 hours!)
- Uproot Food Collective is generously offering our farm share members a 10% discount for all online orders! To take advantage of this, use the discount code SUNDOG. The link for ordering from Uproot is www.uprootfoodstore.ca
- Well done with bringing reusable bags to pack your produce into!
We wish you a wonderful week and we look forward to harvesting for you
