Happy Labour Day & Back to School everyone! You can bet we were back at it today. The vegetables wait for no one! Today the beans were still looking great. The spinach crop must have lacked for rain when it really needed it, because it hasn’t grown a wink since last week. Luckily the savoy cabbage was looking wonderful, and the yellow doll watermelon finally ripened! It’s not a bumper crop like in previous years, but it means everyone can get a little something sweet, whether a yellow doll melon, a honey dew melon, or ground cherries. These little sweet treats fall to the ground when they ..read more

And… That’s a wrap! Crazy good weather this weekend! Thanks so much for going on this journey with us in 2022. We hope you enjoyed all the veggies, eggs and fruits. 2022 was an odd growing season, starting out with a couple months of drought, followed by a July with some of the coolest nights I’ve seen. A lot of plants like peppers, eggplants, leeks and celery were just coming into their own when some pretty serious September frosts caused slow growth and even plant death. I saw in envy that some people in Markham/Thornhill still had tomato plants alive when ours had been eliminated by frost ..read more

This past week I couldn’t help but stare in awe wherever I went! The fall colours are just incredible on the quick little jaunts between farm properties. Certainly, it’s one of the perks of rural life to behold such beauty all the time. The rich colours of vegetables in the field add new layers to the spectacles. With the chill in the air, this season of farm share is coming to a close. This week and next are the last ones of the season. Beautiful fall colours on the farm We are concluding this season with skinny bodies and tired backs, but with lots of gratitude and fond memories. I can’t s ..read more

Hello everyone! Hopefully by now you are all cleaned up from the day and happily digesting turkey (or a fabulous vegan feast). You farm workers and essential service workers out there working hard today- I see you! And I am so thankful for your service to the people around you. I’d like to offer a special shout out to our medical service workers- nurses, doctors, specialists, support staff…we all hope to avoid visiting you by staying healthy, but boy are we glad you are trained and able to help when we need you. You are all amazing! Farm Store Thanksgiving Weekend Cross Country Race at the ..read more

Happy Thanksgiving! It snuck up on me this year. Would you believe I thought it was next week? Oops! I did some pivoting and changing of your farm share veggie items and ordered some fresh cranberries for our fruit shares for our Wed, Thursday and Friday members. I’m hoping the Tuesday fruit people needed lemons more :). frosted brussels sprouts covering the peppers worked!               Wow, did frost ever get us today. It was more like a punch in the face than a kiss of frost, especially at one of our properties that still housed tons of gorgeous beans ..read more

Fall is officially here! The weather seems to know it too, as temperatures have suddenly dipped. It was go time Thursday, harvesting sensitive crops like tomatoes and covering the peppers and eggplants, which seem to be finally getting going. Even my mom came to bring in the abundant tomato harvest. Despite the warnings, only the tiniest kiss of frost seems to have touched the plants, which means the beans, tomatoes and peppers live on until the next time the night temperature goes down to the low single digits. Did you know frost is more likely to hit on a clear night? The clouds, as well as ..read more

I can be a bit of a taskmaster. When I set my mind to a task, I am very focused. This has served me well, but there is a time to throw that all out the window for what really matters. Today I was in the middle of a field as usual, dodging rainclouds in my rubber boots and jacket, when I got a call with a medical concern for one of my kids. Those of you who are parents know that your sole goal in those moments in to make sure your kid is okay. That road to the school seemed terribly long today, and you can bet I dropped my to-do’s like a bunch of hot rocks (into the capable hands of the farm st ..read more

It’s like the fields are just figuring out it’s September. beans for days! L-R melons: honey dew, yellow flesh watermelon, cantaloupe, red flesh watermelon                 The first sweet red peppers were harvested this week and we hope to have even more next week. The watermelon did not live up to our hopes in its new field, and sadly we lost most of it. We are sending a variety of yellow flesh and red flesh watermelons, cantaloupe and honeydew melons, and ground cherries, so there is bound to be something sweet in your farm shares this week. Beans ..read more

So I might be jumping the gun a little. I know everyone is still trying to squeeze some more fun out of summer. The mix we harvested from some of our properties today I thought seemed an odd combination. Seeing the rich green of fresh beans and the striking orange of a pie pumpkin together…a little odd, but I’m all for it. I know some of you pumpkin spice people are already dreaming about it and even surrounding yourself with the scent and the sight of it. So here’s a pretty pumpkin (for our whole shares), to gaze at longingly until the urge to make some muffins, soup or pie takes over! A lot ..read more

It’s been an amazing reprieve for my family camping this week. Farmers don’t get a great deal of time off, especially when the weather is nice. We spent the past week at Presqu’ile Provincial Park in Brighton, Ontario. We had an amazing time with the family, saw many barred owls and ducks, got to learn about turtles and how to protect them and handle snakes. (I spared you all the pictures of that evening). We learned amazing things like that snapping turtles won’t snap you in the water (because they have no natural predators in there and feel confident as apex predator there), and that to help ..read more