Rural Rainbow Ramblings

LAST WEEK: CSA - Wednesday October 12th, 2011 - Week #16

2011-10-10T13:40:00.000-04:00

Pembroke: Weekly
Farm: Weekly & Bi-weekly

This is the last week that we'll be harvesting your fresh CSA veggies for you. Stay tuned for an update via the blog for a year end wrap up - hear about our triumphs and challenges of the 2011 season and what we'll be up to in 2012. We'll also be creating an on-line survey so you can anonymously rate your 2011 CSA experience. However, if you would like to provide some feedback (what you liked, what you would change, etc.) please feel free to email anytime at rainbowheritage@gmail.com.

For now, we would like to give a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone for supporting your young-local-organic farmers!! Without you this crazy farming venture of ours wouldn't be possible.

A few photos of our squash harvest this year:

This week's harvest:

Apples

Potatoes

Red & Yellow Heirloom Onions

Sweet Fall Orange Carrots

Spinach

Leeks or Garlic

Cabbage or Kale

New this week: Jerusalem Artichokes (aka Sunchokes)

Choice Bin!

Recipes:

Jerusalem Artichoke & Potato Mash (that's a kale & caramelized onion salad beside it!)

Sunchoke, Arugula (or Spinach!) & Parmesan Salad

Jamie Oliver's Sauteed Jerusalem Artichokes with Bay Leaves & Garlic

Sunchoke Soup with Caramelized Onions

WOW - 4 great ways to try out JAs. Yum!!!

Enjoy!

Kylah

CSA - Week #15 - Wednesday, October 5th

2011-10-03T15:31:00.000-04:00

Pembroke: Weekly & Bi-Weekly
Farm: Weekly

Hi Folks,

I have to gush about my new food blog crush to you. Rebeka brought it to my attention today and I immediately fell in love (especially since there is a photo of my favourite veg - kale - at the top of the page!). The photos are gorgeous & the food to die for. Check out MY NEW ROOTS for lots of amazing ideas.

On the menu this week...

Sweet Potatoes!!! (It's our first year growing them for CSA and we are really really happy that our yields are allowing us to give them to EVERYONE this week!!)
Kohlrabi (like a cabbage but even sweeter & crisper!!.... makes a delicious salad with apples & nuts)
Winter Squash
Turnips (same Hakurei variety but you may want to try roasting them with other veggies, or mashing them up with some potatoes, carrots etc.)
Salad Mix
Garlic
Carrots
Choice Bin (we had so much great feedback on the last one that we're doing it again!)

Kohlrabi Radish Slaw

I tried in vain to find what I consider to be the 'perfect' kohlrabi slaw recipe on line. This only further reminds me that I NEED to carry a camera with me in the kitchen at all times and start writing down my own recipes.... not super easy in our teeny tiny kitchen with a toddler pulling at my leg. BUT, the best and most simple way to use your kohlrabi is to grate it or chop it up (I like bigger chunks rather than finer chunks but this up to one's own personal preference), do the same with some apples, add some raw or toasted walnuts or sunflower seeds and then mix with your favourite light or creamy slaw dressing. You could add some fresh herb like mint, cilantro or parsley but don't sweat it if you don't have these on hand. This is my version of a kohlrabi Waldorf salad. I haven't tried it, but I can imagine that the Hakurei turnips and/or the radish would make a great addition to the salad.

Cabbage & Kohlrabi Salad with Cranberries

Enjoy!

Kylah

Fall on the Back 50

2011-09-29T14:28:00.000-04:00

Just in case you missed them (because I uploaded them and then they magically disappeared...) I posted some photos on the last post from the farm tour.

A few evenings ago Dayvah & I went to the Back 50 with Zach to unload the market bins, turnoff the irrigation and pick-up some potatoes that had been harvested. While Zach ran around and did all of these small tasks I took some photos....

View from the solar garage

Covered fall veggies production

The solar garage

The beginnings of our root cellar

Pollinating bees

Apples!

Like most of our perennial fruit crops we take some and we leave some for the wildlife to enjoy

Tools of the farming trade

An old tire is the perfect frame for our new solar garage

Here come my hardworking babes!

The fall garden - lots of lettuce gone to see & lots of bounty still to harvest

Lots going on on this farm... solar energy, tractors, hoop houses...

Radicchio almost ready to harvest

I love fall - especially on the Back 50.

CSA - Week #14 - Wednesday, September 28

2011-09-26T18:31:00.001-04:00

Pembroke: Weekly
Farm: Weekly & Bi-Weekly

Looking at the Trees Ontario planting

Testing the acoustics in the root cellar

So much to eat.....

Thanks to everyone who made it out to the farm tour on Saturday! We had upwards of 80 people gathered together to tour our gardens, root cellar, orchards, tree and native species tree plantings. A big shout out to our interns who helped the afternoon festivities run seamlessly, and our story teller and our musician who all helped make the day extra special. The rain held off until the end, the food was delicious & the kids got dirty - we couldn't have asked for a better crowd or a better day. Let's do it again next year!

Matt teaches some curious onlookers about the Allis G

We have a lot going on on the farm this week trying to get in all of our potatoes, squash & onions while we still have fair weather. I'm a wee bit short on time so please look to past week's recipes for ideas to enjoy your CSA bounty.

Your CSA Harvest:

Choice: Broccoli OR Leeks
Apples
Carrots
Beets
Turnips (for cooking or eating raw)
Potatoes
Onions
Choice Bin: We'll have a bin with many different options from which you can select one item

Playing in the giant sand box

Enjoy!

Kylah

Farm Tour - Saturday September 24th

2011-09-21T13:45:00.005-04:00

Hi Folks!

We’re gearing up for our farm tour on Saturday, September 24^th. This blog post is to answer all of the questions you’ve been sending our way.

What will we see?

We’ll take you on a guided walking tour of our gardens, off-grid buildings, new fruit orchard, Trees Ontario tree planting, through our maple grove and the root cellar that we’re currently building.

Our awesome interns will also be on hand to show off the fruits of their labour and learning this season and will be able to answer most of your questions.

We ask that you stay with the guided tour and not wander around the farm by yourself.

What time does it start?

The tour leaves at 2 pm sharp. Please arrive by 1:45 as it takes a few minutes to walk up our long driveway. You can bring your food for the potluck in with you to leave in our wash station while you go on the tour.

We’ll start the potluck no later than 4 pm. This will be followed by some story telling & music. The bonfire is weather dependent (as it has been extremely dry for the past several months).

Who can come?

The tour is open to the public and all ages are welcome.

What if it rains?

Bring a rain jacket!

Where should I park?

Please park well over on the shoulder of the road and walk in our driveway (about 300 m). There is not adequate parking on the farm for the numbers we are expecting at the tour. If for some reason you need to drive in to drop off someone with limited mobility please go back out and park on the road.

What should I bring to the potluck?

Anything you want! If your dish contains a common allergen (i.e. NUTS) please write out a little ingredient list to accompany it. Please also bring your own dishes, utensils & water bottle.

What facilities are available on the farm?

Unfortunately, we don't have a kitchen that is available to the public (though we hope to set up a demo kitchen within the next year or so...) so please bring a dish that doesn’t require heating.

Can I just come for the potluck?

Sure!

Can I bring dogs?

No.

Can I bring kids?

Yes! However, our farm (as with most farms) has on-going construction projects, machinery, open ponds, as well as MANY OTHER POTENTIAL HAZARDS!! We cannot stress enough how important it is to stay with your children AT ALL TIMES to ensure their safety on the farm. Also – please ensure that they stay out of the gardens.

Will you have produce for sale?

A little bit. Fingerling potatoes, winter squash, onions, and garlic. If you would like A LOT of something in particular please let us know via email (rainbowheritage@gmail.com).

How do I get to the farm?

Plug 81 Stafford Second Line, Cobden into Google Maps. If you have problems give us a call at 613-646-7428.

See you Saturday!

CSA - Week #13 - Wednesday, September 21 (updated!)

2011-09-19T17:52:00.003-04:00

On-Farm: Weekly
Pembroke: Weekly & Bi-Weekly

Well, it finally feels like fall is upon us! We've had a few (very) cold early morning harvests, earlier this season than most - just another way mother nature has toyed with us this year. This has been a record setting year: (and not the type of records we want...) the wettest spring, the driest summer and the earliest killing frost. All of our field tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, zucchini (whoo!!), cucumbers, melons, and beans are officially done for the season. Make way in your kitchens for lots of root crops, winter squash and cold hard greens!

One of our interns (Katie) commented at lunch on Friday that this is her favourite eating season. And I'd have to agree! 'Tis the season for soups, stews, casseroles, warm autumn salads, and lots of roasted root veggies.

This week's CSA harvest*:

Winter Squash (hubbard or butternut)
Green Onions
Choice: Carrots OR Beets
Radish
Parsley
Choice: Baby Cabbage OR Broccoli
Mixed Oriental Greens (great in salad or sauteed)
Heirloom Garlic (variety: Puslinch)

*Please note that this is a tentative list as Zach has yet to do a field walk because we have a crew working on pouring the cement for the front and back of the cold room today

**Extra: We have a few baby eggplants that were harvested before frost (first come first serve)
** These 'extras' are not counted towards the 'value' of your CSA basket... they are simply extras of things that we've harvested for one reason or another (i.e. to gather the last few eggplants before they were damaged by the frost)

Roasted Root Veggies

Roasted Winter Squash with Sausage & Herbs

French Lentil & Roast Squash Salad

Roasted Butternut Squash with Moroccan Spices (also a great idea for roasting Carrots)

Braised Radishes with Kale (substitute with the Chard)

PS - Radishes are delicious simply braised in butter with a wee bit of water and sea salt to taste.

Whole Wheat Pasta with Garlic & Chard

Enjoy!!

Kylah

CSA - Week #12 - Wednesday, September 14th

2011-09-12T09:21:00.000-04:00

Pembroke: Weekly

On-Farm: Weekly & Bi-Weekly

We've had a very busy weekend, at Carp on Saturday and at the Landsdowne AND Feast of Fields on Sunday. It's not super easy to coordinate the farm (signs, tents, tables, flyers, product, people etc)being at two events at once but it allows us more exposure to the public. Especially at places like Feast of Fields where we can spend more time talking with folks about sustainable food production on the farm.

It looks like we're going to have a great crowd at the farm tour here on the 24th. We have some exciting news, two good friends (and fellow CSA members) have offered some additional entertainment for the evening. We'll tour at 2 pm, eat around 4 pm then by 5 pm Jimmy will do some storytelling (for all ages!) and Pete will do some music. Hopefully it won't be too dry out and we can get a bonfire going for a short while. You are more than welcome to participate in any/all parts of the afternoon/evening. However, if you are coming for the tour we ask that you arrive no later than 2 pm so that we don't get off to late start or have stragglers trying to find us on the farm.

CSA harvest this week:

1 (last) watermelon

1 head of cabbage

1 quart of potatoes

1 bunch of leeks

1 bunch of carrots

a couple of onions

Choice: eggplant OR radish

Choice: beets OR string beans

Simple, Sassy Slaw

Minestrone with Savoy Cabbage

Spicy Cabbage Salad with Tomatoes & Radishes

Potato Leek Soup

Watermelon & Feta Salad

I have to admit that when I first heard about this salad I couldn't imagine the saltiness of the feta with the sweetness of the watermelon. But this salad is to die for. It's great with fresh mint or basil. I love it with olives but if you're not a fan just leave them out. Some thinly sliced red onion or tomatoes is a nice addition but my favourite is just the watermelon with feta and a fresh herb. So good.

Enjoy!

Kylah

A Magical Moonlit 100-Mile Meal on the Farm

2011-09-09T17:24:00.003-04:00

A few weeks ago Heather MacMillan (my dad's intern) suggested making a 'gourmet' meal for all of us folks living and working on the farm. She was head of her class at a culinary school in Vancouver so we were all too eager to participate. While we eat quite well here on the farm as there is no shortage of fresh goods from the gardens or cooking inspiration we tend to make lots of hearty one pot meals. To sit down (and be served!!) a four course meal was exactly what Heather intended - an absolute treat.

The weather couldn't have been better. We ate outside with the sunset and then under the moonlight. My dad provided the delicious grass-fed beef and wine, while the veggies were from both our (the radishes, baby asian greens and garlic) and Heather's garden (beets, onions). Heather purchased the rest of the necessary fresh ingredients from the farmer's markets. Dayvah and I set the table and picked wildflower bouquets for the occasion.

The full menu:

Roasted pear & butternut squash soup with fresh bread croutons & fresh oregano
Black lentil salad with red & golden beets & baby Asian greens with a tarragon orange dressing & Back 40 cheese
Grass fed beef rouladin with pastured heritage ham in a fresh toamto sauce, with braised radishes and pan fried polenta
Coffee and tonka bean flavoured creme de pot with vanilla whipping cream and grated chocolate

(Unfortunately I know I am missing some specific herb and other flavourings that were in these dishes so I'll have to get Heather to remind me of those)

A little bit of kitchen (organized) chaos

Our table ready and waiting

Dayvah's wildflower bouquets and our heirloom Japanese black futzu squash

The roasted butternut & pear soup

We slowly lost our sun and increased our number of lit candles

Zach, Katie and Danielle

Baby Kale & Golden Beets

Heather puts the finishing touches on our salads

Braising the Easter Egg & Shunkyo radishes

Crispy mint

Garnishing our main course

Havin' a good time

When I looked through the lense cap at Pat (Heather's boyfriend & sous chef for the evening) he reminded me of a caveman making fire

Les creme de pots

Our moonlit harvest dinner

Our attempt at a group shot in the pitch black


Our wee thank you to Heather for having initiated and realized this amazing evening: a copy of the new cookbook 'The Ontario Table'

There are no words to describe the absolutely amazing flavours of this meal.

Thank you Heather!!

CSA - Week #11 - Wednesday, September 7th

2011-09-05T08:12:00.000-04:00

Reminder: Please bring back any of our little green pint or quart boxes please.

Pembroke: Weekly & Bi-Weekly Pick-up
Farm: Weekly Pick-up

Your harvest this week:

1 yellow watermelon
1 bunch of beets
1 bunch of green onions
1 head lettuce
1 oriental mix (for salad or saute)
1 pint of peppers
1 pint of tomatoes
1 bulb of garlic
1 quart of potatoes or 1 quart of zucchini

Recipes:

Simple Salad with Roasted Beets & Carrots

(substitute the arugula for our oriental greens mix)

Roasted Beet Salad with Goat Cheese

Roasted Beet Salad with Feta

Yes, three versions of the same salad ; ) I often steam the beets instead of roasting them. Quarter them and steam for about 20 mins. The skin easily slips off once cooked. But we usually eat the skin because it is so good for you!

Baked Zucchini Fries

Enjoy!

Kylah

Read the Article, Watch the Video, and View the Photos... in the Ottawa Citizen!

2011-09-01T14:38:00.000-04:00

A great story (by Laura Robin) video and photos (by Pat McGrath) in the Ottawa Citizen this week.

Our 'Solar Garage' (Photo by Pat McGrath)

Read the article, watch the video, and view the photos online here.

Zach picks our organic heritage apples (Photo by Pat McGrath)

Dirty Farmer Hands and Pretty Garlic Flowers (photo by Pat McGrath)

Thank you Laura & Pat from all of us at the RHG!

Matt, Katie, Heather, Zach, Kylah, Danielle, Raphael

CSA - Week #10 - Wednesday, August 31st

2011-08-29T12:46:00.000-04:00

Pembroke: Weekly Shares (4-5:30)
Farm: Weekly & Bi-Weekly Shares (12:30-6:30)

Don't forget about our farm tour on Saturday, September 24th at 2 pm. Potluck at 4 pm (bring your own dishes and utensils). What you'll see: our gardens, greenhouse & root cellar, fruit orchard, sugar maple grove, our new solar energy building and much more... Feel free to stay for just the tour or just come for the potluck, or BOTH ; )

Address: 81 Stafford 2nd Line, Cobden (please park on the road and walk in the driveway)

A bumper crop of melons! For the past five years we've tried growing melons. And cantaloupes. And they NEVER succeded. We'd get a few ripe melons or, none at all. With the cantaloupes more often than not at least half of them would mold and the other half would never ripen to perfection. And while we enjoyed the other half of those moldy cantaloupes and ate some less than perfectly sweet melons (or none at all) we never succeded in growing them for our CSA.

This is common in farming. In fact failures (as well as successes) are what help us learn, makes changes, grit our teeth, and then persevere. Though we almost did kick in the bucket with melon farming. It gets a little frustrating to put time, money, and sweat into growing crops only to receive nothing in return. But again this is the name of the game in farming. Especially when you are a CSA/market garden trying to growing up to ten different varieties of over thirty different crops.

Then we heard about this small yellow watermelon that generally does well in the north east. The variety is called Yellow Doll. And we LOVE it. It's sweet yellow flesh is even sweeter than it's red counterpart. It seems to love us too as it's steadily been producing for the past several weeks. And we are extremely happy that we're not only able to give melon once but twice! That is nearly two hundred watermelons for our CSA this year!

Your CSA harvest this week:

Yellow Watermelon
Apples (delicious for eating OR baking)
Garlic*
Head Lettuce OR Arugula
Tomatoes
Carrots
Potatoes
Onions
Rainbow Chard
Zucchini/Summer Squash (take it or leave... bonus zucchini!)

*Some of the skin on our garlic is slightly peeling away, but is still perfectly edible and delicious!

Recipe Ideas

Chard Pizza

Chard Pizza (take 2)

Goat Cheese & Swiss Chard Pizza

Enjoy!

Kylah

A Milestone

2011-08-24T21:38:00.000-04:00

For the past two years we have been researching how to store veggies on our land. Most of you know that we are off-grid and a conventional walkin cooler fueled by a compressor was not even a remote possibility. We've talked to people who have built wine cellars in Germany and cheese caves in North America. We've been consulting with an innovative alternative farming firm out of Vermont. We've talked to every farmer we know (and called up many to introduce ourselves) about their experiences in storing veggies through the summer and winter. We've diligently been researching the ideal storage conditions for the over 30 different crops we grow. Broccoli likes near freezing temperatures. Tomatoes like near room temperature. Potatoes like it cold and moist. Winter squash likes it cool and dry. Our challenge has been to find a solution to store ALL of our veggies, ALL year round, using next to NO ENERGY, and on a shoestring budget.

It's not that we intentionally try to do everything the hard way.... but we like to do things in the most sustainable way, and the most long lasting way.

So we're building something that resembles a wine cellar/cheese cave. But at about 25% cost. Yesterday, instead of building a custom concrete form into the massive hole that was dug into the side of our hill, craves lowered in 4 sections of a canceled order for a (very) small bridge.

Yes, there's still a lot of work to be done. The 'conspan' need to be 'cemented' together, sealed etc. We need to pour a front and back wall, install electricity, and build doors, shelving, and airlock etc. But we have a plan. And that plan is now materializing.

Stay tuned for updates.

Getting these vehicles in our driveway was nearly half the battle

These are the folks that build our bridges and weren't intimidated by our unique job and unique site

The footing was poured just last week

One in - three to go

Several near heart attacks later the last conspan is installed

Our crew takes in the show

CSA - Week #9 - Wednesday, August 24th

2011-08-22T13:29:00.000-04:00

Reminder: Please bring back all of your empty green cardboard pint and quart baskets.

Pembroke Weekly Shares & Bi-weekly Shares (4 - 5:30)
On-Farm Weekly Shares. (12:30-6:30).

Fall CSA basket:

Many of you have been asking about the status of our fall CSA. We're waiting for the beginning of September to finalize how many baskets we can offer and for how many weeks. Of the five years we've been farming, we more more prepared for this growing season than any of the past four (to be expected of course!). We had gorgeous transplants, lots of row cover, lots of new open land, and a great team of interns. But mother nature had other plans for us. Most of you have probably forgot about the wet spring we had, especially now that we've been in a bit of a drought the past two months. Our first seedings of beets and carrots quite literally almost entirely drowned and it was very difficult to get back into our sopping wet fields to do subsequent plantings. When things finally dried out they dried out for good and our later plantings have suffered once again due to a lack of water. Beets and carrots that were seeded early July should be double their current size. We've been diligently irrigating but it is literally impossible to water everything in our fields all the time - which is what most crops want during a drought. But our carrots and beets have pushed on through and we still have high hopes for them to grow over the next several weeks (especially since we've finally gotten a decent amount of rain and there is more in the forecast) so that we can offer them to you this fall.

That said, we have also had many, many successes on the farm this season. A lot of exciting things are doing better than ever this year - particularly crops that were transplanted rather than direct seeded. We have a great bumper crop of sweet, juicy yellow fleshed watermelons. So juicy that a few have cracked in the field that we've been snacking on this week.

Your CSA harvest this week:

Yellow Watermelon
Elderberries*
Choice: Peppers OR Eggplant
Choice: Carrots OR Beets
Choice: Kale OR Chard
Choice: Zukes OR Cukes
Potatoes
Tomatoes
Onions

*We highly recommend freezing them in the basket and then transferring them to a ziploc bag once frozen. Elderberries are a native species that are super rich in antioxidants. They are a small, dark purple, seedy berry and delicious added to yogurt, granola, oats, smoothies, and baked goods (add to an apple crisp, in muffins, scones etc.) Once frozen use a fork to easily take them off the stem. DISCARD STEM AS IT IT MILDLY TOXIC.

Recipes:

Elderberry Pancakes

Elderberry & Nectarine Crisp (you could substitute the nectarine for peaches, pears or apples)

Pasta with Italian Sausage & Kale (DELICIOUS step-by-step recipe!!)

Maybe the tastiest way to get in a good dose of your healthy leafy greens...

Italian Rainbow Chard Salad

Super Simple Sauteed Swiss Chard

Enjoy!

Kylah

Stuffing Zucchini!!!

2011-08-17T13:23:00.000-04:00

'Tis the time of year when the zukes tend to get a little carried away. We have some giants. And some monsters. I recommend stuffing them.

Here is some inspiration. But usually any grain/veg/meat/herb combo works out well.

Zucchini Stuffed with Sausage

Stuffed Patty Pan

Stuffed Zucchini (step by step with photos)

Patty Pan Stuffed with Quinoa & Sun dried Tomatoes

Be creative!

Enjoy ; )

Kylah

All Aboard at Garlic Fest

2011-08-17T11:34:00.003-04:00

Matt, Katie, Heather, Zach, Kylah, Danielle & Raph

Heather is all smiles ; )

There is but one day a year that we all go to market together - Garlic Fest at the Carp Farmer's Market (CFM). The entire RHG team was displaying, restocking, pinting (putting potatoes, zukes and cukes in pints...), spraying (carrots and beets), talking, bagging, chatting, offering cooking tips, and having fun! = We count our blessings everyday that we have a great group of folks learning and working with us this year. Here are a few action shots from the day.

Katie with her mountain of beets

Danielle sells kale

Matt cleaning garlic

Matt' beautiful garlic

Heather beside her super awesome sign

CSA - Week #8 - Wednesday, August 17th

2011-08-15T14:59:00.000-04:00

HALF WAY!!! Melons are ALMOST ready... one or two more weeks ; )

Again, lots of choice this week:

baking apples* or broccoli
string beans or carrots
cukes or zukes
cabbage or potatoes
tomatoes
red onion
garlic
parsley

*the apples are a wee bit tart so are great for baking but are also a nice compliment diced or shredded into a salad

Cinnamon Apple Pecan Blondies

Moist Apple Cake

Asian Cabbage Slaw

Enjoy!

Kylah

CSA - Week #7 - Wednesday, August 10th

2011-08-09T17:17:00.001-04:00

Sorry for such a late post this week... we are super busy building our cold room and root cellar over the next few weeks. This will be a much more ideal space for us to store your veggies. Right now we are trucking your veggies back and forth between our farm and my dad's farm where we use an old converted milk cellar to store our produce. We estimate that we have spent hundreds (if not more) of hours over the past several years just loading and unloading our truck and ferrying our harvest to and fro. Not only will our on-farm storage facility save us A LOT of time it will make packing the harvest and picking up your CSA on the farm soooooo much easier because it will be about six times as large as our current space. Our in ground cold room and root cellar is directly beside our wash station which looks out onto one of our main gardens.... we can almost taste the efficiency that awaits us!!!

Fresh from the fields this week:

Zucchini (there's some big ones!! We highly suggest making up a big batch of Zucchini bread - and maybe even shredding some zukes and freezing 1-2 cups in ziploc bags to use up when zucchini season is over ; )
Onions
Beets or Peas
Beans
Potatoes
Tomatoes (for everyone!)
Tuscan Kale (the variety most popular in Italy)
Herb Option

Farmer's Market Zucchini Bread

Chocolate Zucchini Bread with Cardamom & Coffee (yummmmmmm!)

Zucchini Ribbon Salad

Zucchini Cornbread

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Brownies

Crispy Baked Zucchini

Quinoa Kale Salad with Blueberry Vinaigrette

Kale Chips !!!!

Warm German Potato Salad

Enjoy!

Kylah

CSA - Week #6 - Wednesday, August 3rd.

2011-08-01T20:51:00.000-04:00

Pembroke Weekly & On-Farm Weekly and Bi-Weekly Shares!

Wednesday morning we'll be heading out to the fields to harvest this for you:

Broccoli
Cherry tomatoes (pembroke)
Peppers (farm)
Head lettuce or Kale
Zucchini
Beets or Carrots
Onions or Garlic
Red Fingerling Potatoes
Basil
Cucumbers
Beans or Peas

Yes, lots of choices this week!!!

Recipes

Balsamic Roasted Fingerling Potatoes

Frittata with Grated Zucchini

(try substituting the dill for basil and the goat cheese for any cheese you have on hand!)

Carrot & Beet Slaw (+18 more recipe ideas for carrots & beets)

Easiest Broccoli & Pasta Dish

Enjoy!

Kylah

On the radio and in the paper! + CSA - Week #5 - Wednesday, July 27th

2011-07-26T09:42:00.000-04:00

Pembroke Weekly & Bi-Weekly Shares & On-Farm Weekly Shares!

This has been the week for your farmer's to be in the media, to date we've done 6 interviews in the past 7 days and have been asked to do a few more in the coming weeks.

We made the 'Best' of All-in-a-Day's podcast with Alan on the CBC. Check it out here. You can also read a great article in the West Carleton review here.

Dayvah sowing a White Dutch Clover cover crop between our rows of leeks and onions

Making sure every seed gets in the ground

This week's harvest:

Carrots

New Potatoes

Swiss Chard

Cucumbers

Zucchini

Hakurei Turnips

Onions

Broccoli or Beets

Dill or Basil

Inspiration from other blogs:

Zucchini Cakes

Fettuccine with Walnuts, Zucchini Ribbons, and Pecorino Romano

Zucchini Pancakes

Roasted New Potatoes

Remember to be creative with your recipes! Very rarely do I ever have the exact ingredients on hand that a recipe calls for. Throw your fresh CSA herbs into the Zucchini cakes and skip the nutmeg, use parmesan instead of pecorino and penne instead of fettuccine in the pasta and raspberries or blueberries in the pancakes - or whatever you have in your fridge or pantry. Most importantly - food should be fun - so HAVE FUN WITH YOUR FOOD ; ) Not all of my experiments in the kitchen work out but the more I experiment the more I learn what flavours and ingredients lend themselves well with one another.

Happy Summer Eating!

Kylah

CSA - Week #4 - Wednesday, July 20th

2011-07-18T20:22:00.000-04:00

Pembroke Weekly Shares & On-Farm Weekly and Bi-Weekly Shares!

Well, that was quite the wind and rain storm we had here last night! Zach, just barely escaped the trees that came down on the Back 50 after he finished sowing fall/winter CSA carrots and beets. A few of our big beautiful maple trees came down opening up light and nutrients for our new young tree plantings to prosper.

Seeding fall CSA carrots & beets

Escaping the deluge

Watching our bins get whipped around by the winds as we take refuge in the wash station

We are very excited to harvest you a few new items in your share again this week:

new potatoes

baby carrots

broccoli

onions

garlic and/or garlic scapes

zukes or beets

surprise herb....

head of red leaf lettuce

summer saute greens (also great for a mildly spicy raw salad!)

Recipes:

Garlic Roasted Potatoes with Dill

Quinoa with Pine Nuts, Green Onions and Cilantro

Gingery Bok Choy

Enjoy!

Kylah

Premier's Award for Agri-Food Innovation

2011-07-15T17:35:00.000-04:00

On Wednesday the Rainbow Heritage Garden was presented with the Premier's Award for Agri-Food Innovation Excellence. I went down to the awards ceremony while everyone else stayed on the farm to keep our weeds at bay. It was an honour to be recognized for our off-grid farm that runs almost entirely off solar energy.

As many of you already know, our farm is not connected to the grid. When we purchased our land several years ago there was hardly even a road, no well, no infrastructure, and no electricity. We have quite literally started a farm from scratch. When hydro told us it would cost $13,000 plus OR minus 65% to bring hydro into the property it only reaffirmed our commitment to farming and living off-grid. While farming presents many challenges as it is, farming off-grid is a whole other ball game entirely. We question our energy use at every step - whether that is washing vegetables, building our vegetable washing barn or keeping our vegetables cold. We don't take any energy for granted at the Rainbow Heritage Garden.

While relying on the sun to fuel our farm can sometimes be frustrating it is more often extremely rewarding. Because we keep our carbon footprint to an absolute minimum using our mobile solar generator and other low-energy on-farm innovations we can pass on this energy savings to our customers.

The same day of the awards ceremony we successfully completed our first organic certification inspection with ECO-CERT. It was also our CSA harvest and pick-up. Phew....... busy times around here I tell you!

Here is the summary from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food & Rural affairs website:

"Rainbow Heritage Garden grows 200 vegetables, along with other crops on 5 acres in Renfrew County. They have a 12,000-gallon catchment pond where they collect water to irrigate crops. Water is pumped from the catchment pond to large water storage tanks that are located on the ridge that runs through the farm. The owners use a solar generator mounted on a wagon to pump the water to the tanks. The mobile solar generator is reliable, environmentally responsible and cost-effective. In fact, it completely paid for itself in three years. This is just part of the innovative, whole-farm thinking that is reaping benefits for Rainbow Heritage Garden at every stage of production."

We'll be hosting a tour of our off-grid farm on Saturday, September 24th. Put it on your calendar and stay tuned for details!

CSA - Week #3 - Wednesday, July 6th

2011-07-12T07:00:00.000-04:00

We're at the beginning of a hot weather week - no rain in the forecast except this afternoon. We've had a great amount of showers over the past few weeks and everything is, as we like to say, GROWING LIKE CRAZY!! This is our first year with growing tomatoes (cherry) in a greenhouse and we are quite pleased with the results - they should be ready within 2-3 weeks.

Your CSA harvest this week

Fresh Garlic
Young Onions
Broccoli
Peas
Parsley
Beets or Zucchini
Kale or Fennel
Extra item: garlic scapes (we've got lots so we're passing our bounty on to you!)

There may be an additional item or two, or a slight change of choices (broccoli for farm pick-up for sure!!). We'll find out for sure when we pull off some row covers and see how much certain crops grew with the recent deluge.

Recipes:

Summer Squash Galetta with Garlic Scapes

Kale & Banana Smoothie

Roasted Beets with Garlic Scapes

Beet Greens and Garlic Scapes Nest

Beet, Fennel & Arugula Salad

Kale with Lemon & Garlic

Enjoy!!!

Kylah

CSA - Week #2 - Wednesday, July 6th

2011-07-04T20:53:00.002-04:00

Last week we harvested your CSA veggies in the rain, and it's calling for rain again this Wednesday! We like to keep our fertile soil in our fields but when it rains it may be unavoidable that everyone takes some home on their veggies.

A big thank you to those folks who sent us messages last week telling us about how they enjoyed their veggies! IF you ever have any good tips on how to use your CSA veggies please send them our way and we'll post them on the blog.

A few reminders:
This week all weekly shares, and Farm bi-weekly shares pick-up. (please see the past blog post here about where and when you pick-up)

Please come on time and bring a box, bag or basket to collect your veggies in.

Your CSA harvest this week:

Pac Choi (delicious lightly steamed or gently sauteed)
Young Garlic (use as you would garlic and throw the peel and stocks in a soup to add flavour to the broth)
Garlic Scapes
Salad Mix
Spinach
Hakurei Turnip
Strawberries
Choice item: Green peppers or Broccoli
Choice item: Cilantro or Mint

Some folks may remember that in years past we have had carrots and beets very early on, if not in the first basket then usually by week two or three. Due to the rains this spring we are still a bit delayed on these crops, though they are now growing with a vengeance. But oh they will taste so good when they are ready!!!

Recipes:

Thai Noodles with Bok Choi (Bok Choi can be used interchangeably with Pac Choi)

Simple Stir Fried Pac Choi (just leave out the asparagus since that season is past!)

Enjoy!

Kylah

Just What the Heck is a Garlic Scape?

2011-06-29T14:45:00.000-04:00

We've been asked this question more than once by a curious CSAer or market goer.

Here is a great blurb from the Globe and Mail that offers some insight into the seemingly mysterious garlic scape:

You can use garlic scapes in any way you garlic cloves, you just need to chop it up! They are delicious in pasta dishes, pesto, soups, and even grilled on the barbecue.

Here are a few recipes just to get your creative cooking juices flowing:

Grilled Garlic Scape Pizza

Garlic Scape Pesto

Grilled Garlic Scapes with Potatoes

And a quick note about the strawberries you're receiving today.... the picking has been very slow going for us. The rains over the past week have meant that we have picked one bad berry for every good berry you receive (that's a lot of berries considering we picked nearly 150 pints for CSA this week....). Because we don't spray any fungicides to prevent the berries from molding or going soft, moisture in the air and water on the fruit has meant we have lost well over 50% of our crop this season. So rather than bringing half of our berries to market we're giving them all to CSA - because you're our number one priority! Since we have a pretty good sized patch we have still managed, albeit it took about three times as long as it should have, to get everyone two pints of berries this week. All that said, we have done our absolute best to look over your berries but there may be the odd one with a wee blemish - just cut it off and enjoy the rest of your organic strawberry ; )

Raph's Strawberry Shortcake

CSA - Week #1 - Wednesday, June 29th

2011-06-27T16:54:00.000-04:00

The moment we've all been waiting for has finally come! The first week of CSA is upon us.

A few reminders:
This week all weekly shares, and Pembroke bi-weekly shares pick-up. (please see the past blog post here about where and when you pick-up)

Please come on time and bring a box, bag or basket to collect your veggies in.

Your CSA harvest this week:

green onions
head lettuce
garlic scapes
cilantro
hakurei salad turnips
easter egg radish
chinese cabbage
strawberries!!

Recipes

If you've never tried the sweet Hakurei salad turnips we grow you are sure in for a treat! We take bites out of them straight from the garden but they also make a great addition to any summer salad or stir fry.

Greenhouse Salad with Hakurei Turnips

You may not have all the ingredients on hand for this beautiful salad that includes Hakurei but try making substitutions with what you have on hand in your pantry.

Another reason why Hakurei turnips are so special is that their greens are also edible - you can lightly cook them in just about any way you would use spinach - but they have a very faint arugula flavour.

Turnip Two Ways Pasta

Here's a great recipe for Turnip Two Ways Pasta that uses the Hakurei's delicious roots and shoots.

Cucumber and Hakurei Turnip Salad

While Hakurei are delicious added to any salad either shredded (a great addition to coleslaw), quartered or thinly sliced, we love them in a marinated asian inspired salad like this Cucumber and Hakurei Turnip Salad.

Cilantro Radish Salsa

Remember folks that CSA is an adventure in eating with the seasons, so sometimes you may want to step outside of your cooking norms and try new takes on old favourites like this gorgeous cilantro radish salsa. This is a super simple recipe that can be used as a side to any meat dish or eggs but can also be enjoyed with corn chips. You may like to further explore this fabulous blog entitled Our Share of the Harvest, all about eating with the seasons from a CSA basket in Maryland. There are many great recipe ideas for eating up your CSA veggies.

Cilantro Guacamole

Sooooooooo yum: Cilantro Guacamole

Braised Radishes

Have you ever tried braising radish? While raw radishes are pretty delicious, you will love the burst of flavour when biting into a warm one!

And here's one last recipe to inspire...

Chinese Cabbage Salad

Chinese Cabbage Salad

If you don't know how to use something we harvest from the farm for you just do a quick google search and you should get lots of hits. We also highly recommend Tastespotting, where you can do a search of the best food blogs on the web for just about any veggie under the sun.

Happy local eating!

Kylah

Scenes from the Farm (June 2011)

2011-06-23T16:43:00.001-04:00

Yep, this farming gig is pretty fun.

Laying the concrete in the solar garage.

Radish at our first Carp Farmer's Market of the season.

Heather and I with our few early crops.

Fennel.

Heather building Fennel's milking stand.

The traveling farm mechanic Thomas who called our farm home for three short days. Thank for all your help Thomas!!!

Zukes peeking out of a tear in the row cover.

A sea of row cover to give our crops a boost and protect them from pests (the organic farmer's 'pesticide').

Farm boys laying row cover.

Farm gal picking weeds.

Katie securing the sides of the row cover with soil.

Dayvah contemplating what we shall do next on our farm adventure.

We have laid thousands and thousands of feet of irrigation this year....

To ensure we have a continuous harvest of crops the seeder is never far out of sight....

The farm crew comes in for lunch...

CSA Update (please read thoroughly)

2011-06-16T16:09:00.000-04:00

Dear 2011 CSAers,

As many of you already know the months of April and May were amongst the wettest on record in many years. While there were a few sunny periods they were too short and too far between to put equipment in the soil - especially for those with heavy clay soils (like us!). What happens when you pulverize water and clay? Bricks!! As with most farmers in the North East of both Canada and the USA, most of our crops are about 2-4 weeks behind 'normal' (though what is normal when you are trying to grow over 200 crop varieties on five acres with the whims of mother nature is anyones guess!). For this reason we would like to delay the first CSA pick-up of the year by one week. Our anticipated start date for weekly shares was Wednesday, June 22 and will now be Wednesday, June 29. We will run the CSA one week later in to October. We feel that this will benefit our members as we don't have a very big variety of crops ready for harvest yet. This means you will end up getting more produce as we will have lots ready for that last basket in the fall. That said, do remember that signing up for CSA means that you have signed up, not only to support your local organic farmers, but for an adventure in local, seasonal eating! The first few baskets will consist of lots of different greens, radishes, salad turnips etc. The amount and variety will increase as the season progresses. We thank you in advance for your patience this year, the first in five years that we've had to delay delivery. We also thank you for embracing mother nature with us and for being grateful that she did finally open the skies for us by the end of May to sow and transplant our fields which are now full to the brim! Now, with all this sun over the past few weeks we have busily been laying irrigation lines to bring in more water!!

This year we have signed up almost 90 CSA members!! A big leap from our 60 member CSA last year. Thank you to our many long time supporters who helped in spreading the word. To accommodate all of our new members we're growing an additional 2 acres of crops and we have an additional 2 helpers on the farm this year. In the past all of our bi-weekly CSA members picked up on the same week. This year we'll alternate weeks for our bi-weekly CSAers between the on-farm and Kasha pick-up. This means that each week we'll be able to harvest approximately the same amount (rather than 90 baskets one week, 55 the next and so forth).

All this to say...... (insert drum roll) here is the date of your first CSA pick-up of 2011!!

Weekly: 16 pick-ups

Bi-weekly: 8 pick-ups

Kasha-Pembroke: 4-5:30 pm (526 Pembroke Street West)

WEEKLY - Start: Wednesday, June 29th, End: Wednesday, October 12th

BI-WEEKLY - Start: Wednesday, June 29th, End: Wednesday, October 5th

On-Farm Pick-Up: 12:30-6:30 pm (1907 Snake River Line, Cobden)

WEEKLY - Start: Wednesday, June 29th, End: Wednesday, October 12th

BI-WEEKLY - Start: Wednesday, July 6th, End: Wednesday, October 12th

Landsdowne: 8 am - 3 pm (though please come as early as possible as we do not have a refrigeration unit at the market to maintain your produce at top quality until the end of market... so, the earlier the better ; )

WEEKLY - Start: Sunday, June 26th, End: Sunday, October 9th

BI-WEEKLY - Start: Sunday, June 26th, End: Sunday, October 2nd

We suggest writing on your calendar all of your pick-up days as a reminder. A few of you have informed us that you will be away for certain pick-ups. The delay may effect whether or not you can pick-up so PLEASE EMAIL ME AGAIN if you will be missing a basket. We are not able to change your pick-up day or location. There are now over 90 CSA members for the 2011 season and it is too much to keep track of, especially when this extra type of administration was not factored into the cost of your CSA share. If we start making a custom pick-up schedule to accommodate everyone, every week, this will drive up the cost of CSA for all. For now, our system seems to work for most, and we'd like to keep our costs down so that we can pass on this savings to you. If you are sending a friend, family member, co-worker, neighbour (etc.) to pick-up your basket for you (or for them!), just remind them to bring a box, bag or basket for the veggies, and to sign beside your name on our list checkoff list. Anyone can pick-up your basket for you at anytime throughout the season.

As always, please follow our blog for regular updates: http://ruralrainbowramblings.blogspot.com/

All of us here on the farm are very excited to kick off the 2011 CSA season. Our crew of 5 interns (plus us farmers) have been working very hard for over two months to bed prep, sow, weed, cover crops, transplant, lay irrigation lines, put down mulch, set up our harvest and post harvest handling areas, and much much more, all in anticipation of delivering you a great variety of top quality veggies. Please provide us with feedback throughout the season so that we may always aspire to serve you better!

Happy local eating!

Kylah

www.rainbowheritage.ca

rainbowheritage@gmail.com

613 646 7429 (9 am - 5 pm)

Transplants, transplants everywhere! (And an announcement)

2011-06-06T13:17:00.001-04:00

While the wet spring has us 2-4 weeks behind planting most crops we now have at least one planting of everything and most of our transplants in the ground. Because it rained so frequently throughout April and May the ground rarely dried out enough for us to dig in. There were only a few opportunities to get in the gardens without doing damage to the earth. During these rare dry periods everyone on the farm was busy from dawn until dusk preparing beds, marking rows, seeding, transplanting, laying irrigation, covering crops and biding their time until the next dry period.

CSAers will be seeing most veggies a little bit later than usual but we're still right on target to start on Wednesday, June 22nd at Kasha and here on the farm. However, please note that we are changing the pick up time to 4-5:30 at Kasha in Pembroke. We've had a number of people request a later pick-up time and we hope this will work for most folks. If this presents a problem please email us at rainbowheritage@gmail.com to discuss alternative pick-up possibilities. Pick-up at the farm is still from 11 AM - 6 PM.

Please remember when you come to pick-up your veggies to bring bags, a box, or bin. You will be taking 'one of each' from bins (i.e. one bunch of radishes or salad turnips, or a bag of greens). Anyone can pick-up your veggies for you, just make sure they come during the designated hours. We can not leave your veggies at Kasha or in our cold room (as turn off the refrigeration unit to save energy). However, we recommend that if this is your first time participating in CSA to come to at least the first pick-up so that you know what to expect for the remainder of the season.

Any questions? Just email us at rainbowheritage@gmail.com

Potluck Photos

2011-05-30T17:34:00.002-04:00

Hi Folks,
We had a great potluck here a couple of weeks ago. Thanks to all who made it out to tour the gardens, plant and mulch trees, and share good food and drink.

CSA baskets start on Wednesday, June 23. Mark your calendars!!!

- Kylah

You're Invited...

2011-05-06T14:17:00.004-04:00

Dear Friends,

On Saturday May 14th the Rainbow Heritage Garden will be hosting our first potluck of the season and garden tour!

Even more exciting is that we'll be hosting this year's spring gathering on our new farm at 81 Stafford Second Line, Cobden, ON (this is the address to enter in to Google Maps if you need directions). We don't live on our property yet but as of this year we'll be growing nearly 100% of our crops there.

This is how the day will proceed:

2 pm - You can come join us for a work bee if you like (not mandatory but a good opportunity to get your hands dirty!)
3 pm - A walking tour of the gardens, orchards, maple sugar bush, cold room, barns etc.
4 pm - Food!!!

Please bring your own dishes, utensils, lawn chair and/or picnic blanket and a main dish to share.

If it should happen to rain on the 14th we'll proceed with the same plans on May 15th.

Please RSVP to this email: rainbowheritage@gmail.com

Also, feel free to invite family, friends, coworkers, neighbours etc. - the more the merrier!!! Kids are welcome but please leave your four legged friends at home.

We're looking forward to seeing lots of familiar faces and many new ones too!

Kylah, Zach & Dayvah

Here are a few photos of our ongoing tree plant on the Back 50...

Dayvah and I slowly make our way down to the field, exploring every puddle, stick and bug along the way.

Dayvah is intrigued by the old gnarled trees along our driveway.

And the little fairy homes that grow on them.

And she breaks out into a run when we finally sight the RHG crew hard at work.

Running at top speed to offer our help.

Auger holes ready to be filled with baby trees... cedar, hickory, black walnut, red oak, and white spruce.

Testing out the holes to make sure they are juuuuuuuuussssssst right.

Yep, they are looking pretty good.

Raph introduces Dayvah to the cedar roots.

And Matt shows Dayvah how to plant the walnut.

Dayvah dreaming of the cedar forest she will play in some day.

Heather is back this year too!

Matt lugging the auger that is helping us make 5000 holes.

Daddy and Dayvah get a few moments together.

This plantation is Zach's dream, made possible through Trees Ontario.

Taste testing the soil for the trees.

Dayvah on her new ride.

In my next posting I will introduce to our five awesome CRAFT interns who are largely responsible for getting these magnificent baby trees in the ground.

Warming Up

2011-04-11T08:36:00.001-04:00

Things are (finally!!) warming up around here.

Almost all of the snow has melted.

And even the garlic has started to sprout under it's thick winter bed of straw.

Our rich soil has been revealed, but is still too soppy to begin working.

There is much to be done!! Our solar barn needs a roof...

And greenhouses need to be erected....

Happy Spring!

Goin' Organic

2011-04-02T16:00:00.005-04:00

Yep, that's right, we're officially goin' organic.

After 4 years of 'unofficially' following organic standards we've decided to go through the paperwork and expense to be certified with ECO CERT Canada. Because we've always been 'organic non-certified' (so goes the industry jargon) we only need to be in 'transition' for one year, rather than the three it would take if we we'd started at square one - conventional production using synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides etc.

So, what does this all mean? What has changed? Well, not much really. We don't really have to change a darn thing. We've already been keeping pretty meticulous records, it just means we have to keep them a little more organized and a little bit more up to date. At any time, a certifier may drop by the farm, unannounced to review our records, and take a peek around.

Oh - and we have to pay $500 - $1000 / year dependent on how much of our land we actually decide to certify.... I'm not quite clear yet on the cost. But the fee seems worthwhile now that we are selling through a few avenues that we don't get face to face contact with the consumer. Mainly these venues are the Ottawa Valley Food Coop and a few restaurants in the Ottawa area.

So why go certified if we're not actually making any changes? Well, a number of reasons but the two main ones are:

1. There is more public scrutiny surrounding farmer's production practices and this is one quick way to assure the consumer that we follow current organic standards

2. There have been a few cases that we know of, of farms calling their products as 'all-natural' (fairly ambiguous...) or even 'organic' without even knowing what it means/takes to really be able to label your products as such. Now that organic has become so popular in the market place we feel it is important that there is a label, not just the word 'organic', that stands behind a farms production practices.

To be quite honest I was pretty surprised myself, once I really delved into the standards, at how strict they are. I'll probably elaborate in a future post. But for starters did you know you can't even share equipment with a neighboring farmer who is not certified organic unless you have good evidence through record keeping that the equipment is thoroughly cleaned/disinfected of any potential chemical residue/pathogens that may be passed from their farm to yours?

Not that I'm an expert or anything, but if you have any questions surrounding organic certification please let me know and I'll answer them to the best of my ability or at least try to send you in the direction of someone more qualified than I.

Kylah

We're Back!

2011-03-29T14:25:00.000-04:00

I can't tell you the number of times I've been asked 'what do farmer's do in the winter?' over the past 5 years.

Well, one thing we have been doing is taking time away from this space. While we LOVE writing new posts and keeping you all informed about what's happening around the farm we took some time away from the computer screen. It also have us some time to think about how we want to use this blog, what is it's purpose, and how can it's readers get the most out of it.

So, we gave it a little facelift, mostly so that it would provide some semblance of continuity from our mostly 'static' website. See, the website is hard to update because it requires a good working knowledge of writing html, which none of us here on the farm actually have. But blogging is much more user friendly for the layman and allows us to easily upload photos, recipes and links etc. So become a follower or follow us by email to stay tuned for the 2011 season.

But the question remains, what the heck have we been up to since that last post in October?

Here's the short list:

- variety selection (out with some of the old and in with the new!)

- taxes

- knitting

- crop planning (of the 100+ varieties we selected what will go where, and when?!?)

- researching tractors and implements (our walk behind rotary tiller is no longer cutting it for a 5 acre + operation...)

- writing grant proposals, writing grant proposals, writing grant proposals (yes, I meant to write that three times over)

- designing an off-grid cold storage room / root cellar

- attending conferences and workshops (Eco-Farm Day, specialty greens production etc.)

- developing Food Safety and Traceability protocol for the farm

- oh yes we went to visit Zach's family in Santa Fe, NM for a month over the holidays!!

- visiting other farms, and comparing production practices, techniques and technologies

- helping out our friends from Gemini Farms on Saturday's at the Santa Fe farmer's market

- watching our sweet little Dayvah grow and say her first word 'moo' and then her second word 'baa' (for cow and sheep of course!)

- snow shoeing

- finishing up plans on the barn that will house our solar array

- planning the 5000 tree plant slotted to happen this spring through Trees Ontario

- we started yoga classes at the fabulous new studio in Pembroke..... soooooooo good

- we've been to visit these folks a few times, hence 'baa' being Dayvah's second word

- oh and we stuffed ourselves full of the most delicious artisan goat and sheep cheeses here

- we transfered our finances from an out of date excel system to Quickbooks..... (yawn)

- but we had so so soooo much fun at their Waldorf Winter Festival

Like I said, that's our short list. It's been a busy and happy few months away from the blog. But spring is here so keep checking back and we'll have lots to share over the coming months. Happy Spring!

Pumpkin Pie!

2010-10-26T09:42:00.000-04:00

Well technically these are hubbard squash pies but when it comes to pie there is no need to get hung up on technicalities....

Yum.

Scenes from Taste of the Valley

2010-10-24T08:55:00.000-04:00

Last weekend Zach, Dayvah headed out bright (well, in all honesty, the sun was just rising) and early for Taste of the Valley in Cobden. This is the first year we participated as it coincides with market day but we sent our trusty interns, Sheila and Matt to Carp, and headed down to the road (a mere 8 minutes....) to our local fairgrounds. If you've never been (or are not from 'the Valley') this event showcases local foods, businesses, and artisans wares.

While we love our Ottawa markets, and would not survive without them (we are a young family with no off-farm income!) eventually we would like to give up one of our markets. For six months of the year (the nicest six months in Canada) we can not do anything or go anywhere with friends or family on the weekends. We don't even see each other as I go to Carp on Saturdays and Zach goes to Landsdowne on Sundays..... it is great for now but we know that someday it would be nice to participate in fun weekend events, especially when our kids (assuming we have more....) are a bit older.

So, we are really concentrating on marketing our Community Supported Agriculture baskets locally and growing for local taste buds. This year experimented with several crops we know our shareholders would like to have in their baskets (like organic sweet potatoes!) and bought a greenhouse to grow better tomatoes (our area is plagued with blight brought in on plants from Southern Ontario and the states that are sold through big box stores like Walmart.... no friend to the friendly organic farmer!).

Our main goal for the day was to talk with folks about CSA. And talk we did. Yes, we talked so much my voice was actually horse at the end of the day.... we are really trying to inform people about why CSA is so important and that it is not just about buying fresh produce like at the farmer's market but actually supporting and being committed to the long term environmental, social and financial sustainability of a local farm.

It was a bone chilling cold day but we were lucky enough to have as our Taste of the Valley neighbours, the lovely (and sunny dispositioned...) Rri and her daughter Jasmine of Rrijoice Tie Dyes.

Her funky display was the perfect backdrop for our rainbow harvest display.

The mass amounts of root veggies is a sure sign of the times - fall has descended upon us and we are now slowly but surely edging our way towards winter....

Those are Jerusalem artichokes above (aka Sun Chokes)... I'm not sure to how many people I explained that they are neither from Jerusalem nor an artichoke... I think I stopped counting at about 100. I really to need to look that up sometime.

And the rare heirloom Emerald Butternut....

Squash, squash galore....

BD toted her new little Rrijoice tie dye number as she rode a motorcycle out of Taste of the Valley in style.... after a great day had by all!

Oh yes, and if you are interested in a 2011 CSA Basket from the RHG visit our website to download an enrollment form.

Clean'n Up

2010-10-20T10:22:00.001-04:00

We have been cleaning up the gardens.

Taking up row cover carefully so as not to tear it, and storing it away for the winter with the hopes of getting another season's use out of it.

Gathering the boards that held the row cover down, loading them in the truck and then unloading them into the barn.

Harvesting the last of the winter squash.

Savoring the last of this year's harvest.

Fall tilling.

Enjoying working in the sun's warm rays.

Continuous tractor maintenance and repair...

Still lots of storage beets and carrots to dig out of the ground. We're letting them get a hint of frost to sweeten them up.

Dreaming of curried soups, and sweet pies made with these beauties...

Collecting, loading, and transporting the vines to our compost piles.

We're leaving the mulch that was used for squash this year with plans to plant strawberries during the spring of 2011.

Next up: the great garlic plant!

A Tour of Greta's Organic Gardens

2010-10-14T17:34:00.002-04:00

Yesterday we headed out on a glorious fall day for a tour of Greta's Organic Gardens.

We got there a bit early and had a few quiet moments of family time before the others arrived.

Until Dayvah discovered the hens and then it was all we could do to keep her from hopping right in the pen with them.

A wheelbarrow was the perfect perch to watch those curious beaks.

Next we went into Greta's high tunnel...

...where she was curing these beautiful pumpkins. These are the variety that commercial pumpkin seeds come from that you can buy in the store.

Our friends from Juniper Farm arrived and we shared farming tales.

Then we headed to one of Greta's seed saving gardens (she has about 2 acres in total) where she painstakingly ensures there is enough space between species and varieties to prevent cross pollination. This means that when you buy her little seed packets and plant those precious little jewels in the ground what comes up will be true to it's variety rather than a hybrid.

Dayvah entertained herself with the sunflowers while we listened on.

Next it was off to the hub of Greta's seed saving business.

There are sooooo many intricacies to ensuring proper germination, storage, etc.

Did you know that tomato seeds need a certain period of fermentation? 3-4 days in mild weather but longer if it's cooler outside.

After the seeds after been treated (not chemically... ) they are dried in the sun.

Each year Greta experiments with new varieties...

...like these ground cherries...

...and these tomatoes that taste like ground cherries but have the texture of an eggplant...

...like these yellow and green (yes, they're ripe!) heirloom eggplants that must be soaked in water to soften their flesh to extract the seeds.

Greta's husband who used to build ponds professionally has created many throughout their property. Anyone know what these pretty green plants are?

Fans blowing beans dry was a familiar sight to those of us from the RHG.

We headed back outside to continue exploring...

Greta makes very efficient use of every space...

...that's tobacco in the background.

Before heading out we enjoyed the warm fall sun, chatting and relaxing.

This was our fifth and final CRAFT tour of 2010 and a great gathering to celebrate the end of a great season .

Thanks for a great tour Greta!!!

PS - is this not the cutest daddy and baby???

Looking Back

2010-10-08T14:09:00.001-04:00

At this time of year, when we start pulling crops out (old tomato vines, pepper plants, lettuce and other greens gone to seed...) and bringing in the fall harvest we begin to look back on a season that was.

The spring started with plowing with the 'big' tractor, then cultivating with our 'small' tractor the Farm All.

Next to make a fine seed bed the rototiller was pulled out. Here's Mathew learning how to use our 'Italian Stallion' and make nice straight beds.

Sheila and Heather started the first of many rounds of weeding, in between the first of many successions of spinach, lettuce and other leafies.

And who could forget the many hours of rock picking...

...from these fields

Zach, and a (much!!) younger BD check on transplanted squash, tomatoes, zucchini, peppers and eggplant.

Back then the fields seemed almost bare with just the seed onions from 2009 making a real presence.

Most farms have their fair share of projects going on. A great deal of infrastructure is needed to support growing vegetables on a commercial scale... road networks, drainage, wells and water, irrigation, barns, storage, cold rooms, wash stations, root cellars, energy systems, weed barriers, etc. etc. etc......

A great team relishes in the glory of transplanting nearly 10,000 onions, leeks and green onions.

Happy that this time we just missed another spring rain... though we also had our fair share of working in the wet and mud.

Ditches were dug and water lines were laid.

Ponds created to water next years crops.

Many seeds flourished into edible delights.

Bed after bed was turned over to plant more and more greens.

And as the summer took over some got away on us....

The kale came out from hiding under it's protective insect cloak.

And we began to harvest peas and beets.

The carrots were off to a slow start after an unusual spring drought.

But the garlic popped up nicely despite being nearly smothered by the wheat that sprouted from our mulch.

The end of June saw the beginning of CSA.

And a gorgeous crop of strawberries.

The dead heat of summer gave way to very early morning harvests.

And our crew was out harvesting for markets and CSA by 6 AM rain or shine.

Those baby onions started to grow.

And tomatoes were lovingly staked by hand - each one banged through our hard clay soil with a post pounder.

And finally those carrots started to move upwards.

The bounty of summer was in full colour.

From rainbow chard to heirloom tomatoes.

We experimented with many varieties only found growing at a small scale, those that have been bred for flavour, colour and nutrition. These tender jewels were always harvested and transported with care.

And the great onion harvest began...

...they could be found curing everywhere. In the field if weather was favourable and then quickly put on the back of a truck, to bring to the porch or workroom for further curing if rain was imminent.

They crowded every knook and krany of our lives.

Hung from the rafters of the workroom.

Until meeting their final destination in our basement once those with signs of mold or dampness were culled.

And so began the fall harvest.

Winter Squash

Leeks

Cabbage

Melons and much much more...

But that does not mean the work is over. There are still buildings to put up, greenhouses to build, solar systems to install, fall tilling, bean chucking, the great garlic plant...

This is the time to write down the inevitable successes and challenges of the farming season. What worked, what didn't and what do we want to try differently next year?

Stepping back to look around us brings inspiration and potential for the next season.

Many thanks to those who have supported our endeavors, lent a helping hand and sent words of encouragement. We are extremely grateful.

Rural Ramble Scenes

2010-09-29T14:20:00.002-04:00

We welcomed over 300 people to the farm this weekend for Rural Ramble. Here are a few shots from our fun-filled two days...

Valley Girl Naturals and El Camino Farm

Morning Glory Farm and The RHG

The Ottawa River Institute, the Ottawa Valley Food Coop and the wagon ready for tours

Our booth!!!

Chioggia (aka Candy Cane), Burpbee's Golden and Detroit Dark Red beets

our 2011 bean crop

gorgeous Swiss Chard

'Easter Egg' radishes

fall harvest bounty

Red Kuri, Sweet Dumpling and Acorn squash

Reuben and his delicious hemp products

Robbie from MorningGlory

yummy organic pears, garlic and apple chips

MorningGlory wwoofer gets in some knitting in between apple pressing demos

beautiful jars full of delicious preserves from El Camino Farm

El Camino potatoes and tomatoes

Dayvah intrigued by the baby lambs

peering at the farm animals

this calf had a particular fondness for her

getting ready to feed the calf

in the midst of the action

the National Farmer's Union booth

Ethan defrosts some of our frozen elderberries to turn into juice

our sweet apples

making fresh cider!

bubbly!

Mathew shares his bun dipped in Bob's chile

and Dayvah savours it all afternoon long

PS - yes, it is this valley tradition, the Rural Ramble, that inspired the name of my blog...

Feast of the Fields 2010

2010-09-21T10:56:00.000-04:00

Come visit us here on the farm this weekend September 25 and 26 for Rural Ramble in the Ottawa Valley. Hay wagon tours of the farm and gardens leave at 10 AM and 1 PM. Be sure to come with enough time to enjoy the BBQ and chile and visit the mini farmer's market and Ottawa River Institute and Ottawa Valley Food Coop info booths.

This was my fourth year attending COG Ottawa's Feast of Fields, but the Rainbow Heritage Garden's first time being part of a farmer-chef team. F of F, a gourmet harvest festival, is COG Ottawa's annual fundraiser. It's a chance for the public to savour mini-meals prepared by some of the city's best eating establishments. The event is also supposed to raise awareness about local organic agriculture by providing an opportunity for farmers to interface with the public.... but while I stood there and greeted people they made a bee-line for the food not asking any questions about the farm or buying any veggies....

The premise of the day is that you pay a set ticket fee which entitles you to eat as much as you want, which is potentially a lot, considering there are 20+ farmer-chef teams, plus beverages and desserts. It's like a gourmet buffet but what it seems to have turned into is a feeding frenzy. There is also a silent auction and a number of local agriculture and community organizations there with info booths. Last year Adrian Harewood of CBC radio fame hosted the event and there was a band and dancing but I don't recall seeing either this year....

The food truly is amazing, and I think the $45 ticket price (cheaper if you buy in advance or are a student) is a great deal for the public - you would have to pay a lot more for the quality and quantity of this meal in a restaurant and you have to remember that you are also making a donation to support COG Ottawa.

We were partnered with The Green Door, by far one of the best vegetarian restaurants in Ottawa, if not THE best. They made a 'rawsome' sale with our kale, a marinated heirloom beet salad, a red pepper rainbow carrot curry, and sauteed onions and summer squash right there on the spot in their portable wok. It flavours were absolutely divine. I didn't get a close up shot of the food but if you visit the blog After the Harvest she got some good ones.

I have a few farming friends who have boycotted the event stating that it is too much work at a busy time of year with too few benefits. We've been asked to participate for a number of years now and I wanted to give it a go at least once to find out for myself. While I had fun (despite the dismal weather), it was a lot of work in preparation (with baby D in tow) and I didn't really see any other benefit to the day other than that we made a significant financial contribution to COG Ottawa since most of the vegetables from our farm were donated.

I'm not sure what we'll do next year, if we ever thought about doing a CSA towards Ottawa this would potentially be a great venue to garner interest. And I would be more inclined to participate when it's back at it's former location, Vincent Massey Park, which is currently under construction. Le Breton Flats is not nearly as quaint or pretty. This year's layout was different from past year's and the community feel was lacking as we were so spread out from one another. I know I am putting a negative spin on it all but I do feel that the whole event was somewhat lackluster compared to year's past. But don't worry, I did give all this feedback to the organizing committee so I'm hopeful that things will turn around for next year.

I suppose all in all, the event was a little disappointing and not all it's made up to be - at least from the farmer's perspective. On the bright side, we won a prize!!! Designing our display was really fun, and would not have been possible without my great friend/assistant Rachel who helped not only with the display but also was our food runner and helped pack up too. THANK YOU RACHEL!!!!

Here are a few more shots from the day....

We couldn't have asked for a better neighbour - Greta from Greta's Organic Gardens.

And here is the chef from Roses Cafe serving up a delicious curry with my dad's organic Grass-Fed Beef.

One thing is for certain, we went home with bellies full of good eats. Thanks to all the chefs and farmers who worked so hard to feed us all so well!

PS - Check out Ron Eade's Ottawa Citizen food blog to read more about the day.

Dehydrator Diaries

2010-09-17T15:02:00.000-04:00

I took an extended, shall we say, holiday, from blogging. Partly because I simply didn't have the time (though I've got a single post down to less than half an hour), partly because our internet connection here in the country is pretty wonky, but mostly because I couldn't download any photos, as I have misplaced our camera cord. But I plan to be back in the blogosphere full force now, which for me means posting about once a week. I now have a good deal of photos backlogged on my computer thanks to the visiting friends of our intern, Nick, who just happened to have a cord that fits our Nikon.

The title of this post is borrowed from the blog Crooked Moon Mama and I hope she doesn't mind.... imitation is the most sincere form of flattery after all (or something like that...). I just couldn't think of a more suiting name than 'Dehydrator Diaries' for this post as I have a good deal of shots of this nature from over the past month or so.

It probably looks like I have been dehydrating like mad, but this is far from the truth. I have done very little compared to my 'pre-baby' years. This is really just short bouts of mad food prep while the baby occupies herself with playing on our back porch. Actually, this is one of the easier ways for me to preserve the harvest with baby in tow as Dayvah loves to be outside and it is easy to plop her on the ground and start chopping with her at my feet. Canning is a little too dangerous in our small kitchen around a wee one. Plus my outdoor loving babe gets antsy inside and doesn't let me go (literally pulling at my legs) when we are cooped up indoors for any amount of time.

My father bought this nine try Excalibur dehydrator about 4 years ago to dry elderberries. He doesn't use it for much else so I have it running whenever I can. For now I am using the luxury of quick drying while we are still connected to the grid but I hope to build a solar version next summer and put it to the test. This one sucks a good deal of power while operating but I still think dehydrating with an electric machine uses less energy than freezing or canning - though still more than fermenting which I like to start doing more of.

I never have any plan for what I'm going to preserve, and basically just try to use up whatever is in surplus or comes home from the market. Above are some apricots from Warner Farms (found at the Landsdowne Farmers Market). They were in the fridge for a couple of weeks and people weren't eating them up so I quickly halved and pitted them - they make a nice addition to oatmeal in the winter. I did the same with some of our apple 'seconds' and will feature them in a future post. Dayvah LOVES snacking on these, they will keep her occupied for a good while in the car and are a sweet treat that I don't mind if she eats lots of.

You all know my borderline obsession with Kale (and my mission to convert the rest of the world on to it....). I've done a couple of batches of kale chips this summer. I just pull the leaves off the stem, roughly chop them, give them a quick massage with my hands and then toss with a little olive oil and sea salt. A couple of hours later they are melt in your mouth deliciousness. Easy to do in the oven on a low setting too.... try combing with very thinly sliced beets for guiltless veggie chips.

'Sundried' tomatoes are a little more laborious but completely worth it - plus my little helper just loves sucking on tomatoes and pulling out all of the warm sweet juices.

I worked on these off and on for an entire day. We had a bit of heat wave a couple of weeks back and it was much cooler in the shade of the porch for Dayvah than in our house so this was perfect timing to use up all of our cracked and too soft cherry, plum and roma tomatoes.

Heirloom tomatoes are like little jewels when sliced open!

My little tomato monster goes in the for the steal...

...and stuffs her mouth with a fist full!

As you can see we don't call our farm the Rainbow Heritage Garden for nothing!

The finished product. I like to rehydrate them in a little warm water and throw them in pasta sauce, on pizza or puree with olives into a tapenade. It's a nice way to preserve the flavours of summer to savour throughout the winter.

Like I said, you can do this in your oven on the lowest setting (mine is 170) and in much shorter time. I hope you are all enjoying your own local harvest bounty!!! 'Tis the season!

Growing Up

2010-08-01T10:20:00.000-04:00

Someone has been growing up around here....

I'm sure someone has been playing with our clocks and calendar.

This little angel couldn't possibly be almost 8 months old now.

It's like it just hit me.

Just the other day.

We were returning from a friends house and I had my hands full.

And as usual I set Dayvah on the ground, in the grass, one of her favourite places to be.

She was making so many faces, sitting up, and rolling around.

Plucking clover and savouring it's sweet flavours.

Laughing in the wind.

And laughing at her Dad.

Content to be sitting all by herself, discovering the beauty that surrounds her.

Where did the time go?

Young Farmers Meet (and kick back and relax!!)

2010-07-25T20:18:00.000-04:00

We are members of the eastern Ontario CRAFT Alliance. CRAFT is a group of young farmers and their interns who meet once a month to tour each others farms, usually with a specific topic, and share good food and farming tales.

It is an opportunity to see what tools, techniques and tricks save time and money, prevent pest and disease, and rebuild soils. We are all market/CSA gardeners growing a huge array of crops. We don't just grow soybeans or corn, or raise chickens or cattle, therefore we need to know A LOT about A LOT and sharing ideas, successes and challenges is one way for us all to become more efficient and more effective at growing veggies and caring for the earth and each other while we do it.

Our topic here at the Rainbow Heritage Garden this year was heirloom dry bean production which I plan to feature in a future post. I didn't make it on the tours as Dayvah was napping but I did manage to snap a few shots of the people and good eats afterwards.

A colourful array of farm fresh food. A quiche, borscht, fruit salad, breads from market, local cheeses, pasta with homemade pesto, a mixed berry pie and a rhubarb cobbler.... all served on an old door!

Not only is it informative and interesting to see how our peers are doing things on their farms but it also offers a chance to kick back and relax during everyone's busy season.

Here's a shot I took a few weeks ago under the apple tree we managed to save (dig and build around) while building our barn on the Back 50. We're getting rid of the remnants of construction and 'prettying' the area up. Zach and this year's interns built these cedar and fieldstone benches under the apple tree and seeded our little picnic area with grass and clover.

This little guy (or gal??) popped by for a visit too - a sign of a healthy ecosystem, we all rejoiced in it's presence.

The folks above were enjoying a nice cold mason jar full of Beau's - a local organic beer that bottles in these big reuseable lugs. Not being much of a beer drinker myself (can't even remember the last time I had one...) I did have a few sips... and it was very good!! Actually it kind of reminded me of my Kombucha....

This has been my preferred drink of choice. Though it's more like a meal - a raw kale smoothie. This one had raspberries, hemp seed, a banana and a tiny drizzle of agave nectar that we brought home from New Mexico last winter.

A Love Letter

2010-07-23T15:38:00.000-04:00

I love getting mail!! Who doesn't?! I especially love mail that is obviously not a bill or a form to fill out. A couple of days ago we received a love letter from a CSA member. Remember those 90 hour weeks I was telling you about in an earlier blog posting? Well, it is the sincere gratitude for what we grow that was expressed in this note that makes it all worthwhile.

This was not just your average letter on white stock lined paper. Obviously this letter-writer has some experience and a creative streak.... just look at the fun collage!!! You can click on the photo to enlarge it.

The gorgeous penmanship....

... and the sweet heart.

With a sleek black envelope and a coffee stain to bout! (which I later found out was actually part of the stationary.... LOVE it.)

With these long days this letter couldn't have come at a better time. It brought tears to my eyes that someone could appreciate our efforts so much that they would take precious time out of their day to put it on paper the old fashioned way. I have been meaning to write several letters for a long time now and knowing the joy that this one brought me I'm not going to put it off any longer.

My friend Julie has started a revolution, a letter writing revolution, check out her blog to join in the fun!

Organic Farm Tours!!

2010-07-22T08:36:00.000-04:00

My friend Juniper came to visit last weekend and we went on the Canadian Organic Growers annual Upper Ottawa Valley farm tour and dinner at Donegal Heritage Farm. Check out their farm blog, that's me way in the distance, in a pink dress, serving myself up a most delicious farm fresh dinner.

Juniper is a friend from my university days in Montreal and this was the first time she'd met Dayvah. WOW, she is a natural with babies and Dayvah took to her immediately!! With a 7-month old well over 20 pounds it was nice for my arms to have a little break while we toured around. Our first stop was a peak in the huge, beautiful old barns on their property. It was too dark to get a good shot inside the barn but let me tell you Dayvah was pretty excited about the dozen little piglets she saw.

Next we served ourselves up a most delicious organic buffet prepared by the farm owners who also operate the Red Canoe Cafe in Wilno. The flavours and freshness were sensational, I am dreaming about the curried coleslaw and the sweet and savoury cabbage dish, not to mention the fresh berry crumble topped with stewed strawberries... yum!

With full bellies we basked in the waning summer sun while we enjoyed our meal. Dayvah was happily entertained by a friend's (and fellow blogger) children who were as much enthralled with her as she was with them (and the paper cup....).

Soon all of the children were off to have a look at the chickens and laying hens.

They really are gorgeous creatures.

Next we visited the pigs.... expressing their true 'pigness' by rooting around in the mud.

First time on a swing for Grandpa. She had so much fun he will build us one at our place!!

I have known Barney, the gentleman in the red cap, since I was not much older than Dayvah. He is a local musician, artist and storyteller. Here he is entertaining Dayvah with some Ottawa Valley folklore.

The next day we headed to the Wrights farm, only about 5 minutes away from us. I headed there briefly in between baby naps and managed to snap a couple of quick shots of their sweet garden. I just love the old rail fences.

And they are growing the most glorious hollyhocks!! !

Mike Ilgert, the organizer of these tours asked Zach and I to host one next year. He says having a 'Dobson' agenda every year is crucial to it's success (ha ha!), as last year my dad's operation was featured and Sunday morning everyone headed to my aunt and uncle's at Connaught Nursery. So stay tuned for next year!!! Ours will be COG Ottawa's first tour to feature a completely off-grid operation.

Summer Salads

2010-07-17T07:56:00.000-04:00

As much as I love to eat in season sometimes I do wish we had our greens all year long. Here are a few extremely simple salads I've made lately. So fresh, so tasty and so easy!

Arugula Quinoa Salad

Broccoli Salad with Shredded Carrots and Beets

Roasted Beet Salad with Feta (on a bed of fresh greens and brown rice) For this particular salad I used heirloom Golden, Chioggia and Detroit Dark Red beets.

Because I didn't follow any exact recipes I linked to some similar ones. I play around with recipes and add and subtract with whatever I have on hand in the pantry and coming out of the garden.

Enjoy!

Tellin' It Like It Is...

2010-07-15T16:33:00.003-04:00

Right now my husband is working 90 hours a week. What's that called? Not time and a half, not a double shift.... maybe just crazy? Well, you definitely have to have a little crazy in you if you want to really survive as a farmer. And by 'survive as a farmer' I mean no second off-farm income from either you or your spouse, no government pension because you decided you would start farming as a second career, and you are not popping out 8+ kids to help you with the farm work..... you get the picture.

I'm sure keeping track of work hours is not a new concept to most of you. Most of us would like to be paid fairly for the time they put in. Sounds pretty fair, no? Well, most of the farmers I know don't keep track of their hours. They are just simply always working. Yes, we work a bit less in the winter. But, no, we don't just 'take the winter off' like most people assume. One time I crunched the numbers and we still work an average of about 55-65 hours/week. No paid vacation, no benefits (i.e. dental, eyes etc.), no maternity leave, no pension plan. Just strong muscles, the freshest, most delicious and nutritious veggies in our bellies, and smiles and laughter all around.

When I started this blog I told myself that I would show and describe all the parts of farm life - the dirt, the sweat, the flowers, the colours, the people, the weeds, the recipes, the potlucks, the markets etc - but I sometimes feel that I have to portray a picture perfect farm and a picture perfect farm life. Maybe that's because in the grocery store everything from packages of bacon, to crackers, to juice bottles are sole with neat little logos of this 'fantasy farm' (though I suspect most of the ingredients in these products came from anything but...). For some time I fell into the mindset that this is the only way that people would support us too.

Indeed it is beautiful here, but there are also weeds and fences in need of repair and a colony of rubbermaid bins in need of a good scrub....

Sometimes I don't tell it like it is or take the photo of our rubbermaid colony as I to be the 'complaining farmer' or well who really wants to see the nitty gritty of a farm anyways (don't get me wrong, our farm is very clean but it is a working farm after all)?

When I was in high school I worked at a restaurant that was a local haunt for many retired and working farmers who would gather in the afternoon to down cup after cup of coffee while complaining about one thing or another.... the weather, seed prices , etc. I always felt like they were real 'downers' and so am very aware wanting to be anything but... then again they were participating in the conventional agricultural system so I guess they did have a lot to loathe.

So my new challenge is to be less hesitant to really describe all aspects of farm life and sometimes that means talking about the crazy work hours. I feel so very blessed that I even have the opportunity to embrace the full package of rural life as it is not as easy to step into farming if you didn't grow up on a farm like me (but transitioning from one generation to the next opens up a whole different can of worms for a different blog post...!).

Growing over 150 crop varieties on 5 acres - a great diversity that neither harms the earth, the creatures living in and around it or the people who tend it, it sure keeps you on the go. We joyfully embrace the task of producing good food at an affordable price that also returns a fair wage . But what is a fair wage for a farmer? Well, let's just say that I have some very experienced (and therefore VERY efficient) farming friends who were pretty elated the first year they made the equivalent of minimum wage for each and every hours worth of farm work.

Someone the other day told me they thought our CSA basket program is 'expensive' (!!). I asked them what they were using as a comparison to deem it such. They replied 'the grocery store' of course. Oh yes... that produce they sell at the BIG BOX for less than the cost of production that comes from farms that don't fairly pay their workers, or add compost to the soil every season, and use toxic sprays to get rid of the weeds..... I guess I am still just a wee bit surprised that with all of the media attention sustainable agriculture and the local food movement have garnered such a comparison could still be made. And P.S. if you added up the cost of the veggies in the basket it would only come out to 5-15% more than what you would pay for conventional (not organic) veggies at the big box.

So here I am writing away on my little tiny piece of the blogosphere hoping to give you all a small glimpse of our farm life.... and I hope I haven't scared you away by tellin' it like it is.

As a side note, I have misplaced my camera cord to download photos so until it turns up I'm going to pull from some (of the many) photos I have archived away on the computer. Here are a few that Zach took one peaceful morning while our farm crew harvested greens for market.

A bed of Oriental Greens that was left to go to seed - so pretty though a bit harder to pull out for our compost pile or till back into the soil. Zach's Farm-All in the background.

Our 2010 interns Heather, Sheila and Matt hand cutting the greens at about 6 am.

Washing baby arugula.

Irrigation lines are laid between all the greens to ensure growing continues through dry times.

Zach seeds all of our different greens (about a dozen lettuce varieties, three spinach, arugula, a half dozen oriental greens, and chard) every two weeks to ensure a fresh crop is always coming out of the fields and that none of the greens are old enough to get too bitter in the heat of summer.

Our signature 'Rainbow' Mix... all of the above in baby form, pre-washed a suitable for a meal of fresh or lightly cooked greens.

Thank you for reading my rural rainbow ramblings.... Kylah.

A Walk Around Connaught

2010-07-05T14:07:00.002-04:00

A couple of days ago I took Dayvah on an outing to my aunt and uncle's place, Connaught Nursery, which is only about 5 minutes from our farm. We visited and wandered around for a couple of hours, taking photos and enjoying all of the sights and sounds of their gorgeous property. We'll have to go back again someday as we didn't even begin to discover their beautiful native gardens.

Here is a little peak at our afternoon....

The entrance to the shop and greenhouses.... things are looking a little sparse this late in the season but still so pretty!

One of the many display perennial beds.

Entering the herb room... notice the grapes growing around the sign?!?

The Bonsai Corner, all started my my uncle.

We arrived at watering time.

I think these are begonias but I'm really not very good with annual plant names.

Then we headed outdoors to the fields where my cousin Annise was weeding the melons.

Meanwhile Dayvah played in the grass so mama could take photos with two hands instead of one.

Red Clover blowing in the wind.

Pretty little purple flowers.

And I think this is called Butterfly BUsh.... but please correct me if I'm wrong.

I think this green cabbage would be just gorgeous in an ornamental/edible garden.

Then we were off to see the baby chicks.... Dayvah was so intrigued by them.

Next it was on to the peach greenhouse. To our knowledge my uncle is one of only two people in Canada growing peaches in a greenhouse.

Just look at that perfectly ripe, juicy fruit!

They are super productive right now!

Dayvah amidst the peach trees. Oh and we are sitting on our own now!!!

Gnawing her gums on one of those juicy peaches.

Dayvah picks peaches with Annise.

Uncle Grant picks his prized peaches....

... and then teaches Dayvah how to sort them.