Van Repairs, Library Windows, and Sunshine

Radishes and Carrots and Silhouette - Van Repairs, Library Windows, and Sunshine

Hello,

Sometimes on a beautiful April morning instead of working in the garden one has to hang-out in Stirling while their van is being repaired, this is one of those mornings.

Thankfully, Stirling has a lovely Library, the perfect spot for newsletter writing. Usually when I come to the Library these days it’s with my kids, but it is kind of nice to sit upstairs by the big windows and feel like I’m a student again. Although I must admit I’m glad nobody is grading my newsletters!

Since I last wrote, we certainly have had a rollercoaster of weather. As I’m sure you all can imagine, the July weather last weekend meant the fields did indeed dry out enough that I was able to get some early field prep done.

Two hundred feet of Peas, sugarsnap, snow and shelling, went in, along with some Cilantro, Spinach, Carrots, and a bed of mixed greens and radishes that are already showing their little green faces.

The salad mix in the greenhouse is growing nicely and should be available on the online store as early as next weekend along with a few other early things like green garlic and radishes. You can follow us on social media for farm-store and other updates too.

The tomatoes, peppers and eggplants that I potted-up last week enjoyed that heat and have had a nice growth spurt, I will be potting them up again in no time.

Those of you, who, like me, enjoy their eggplant, will be happy to hear that our eggplant curse from last season seems to have lifted and we had almost perfect germination this year. I’m also trying a new-to-me, Ontario-bred variety from Kitchen Table Seedhouse on Wolfe Island. My former right hand woman Kate Garvie told me it is the only eggplant she grows at her farm near Ottawa with her shorter growing season, and boy did it come up quick. I’m looking forward to seeing if it keeps up that vigour.

Speaking of new-to-me varieties, I am also trying two new peppers that the folks at Urban Harvest recommended a little yellow pepper called Doe Hill that I’ve been meaning to try for a while and an Italian heirloom from the 1800’s called Jimmy Nardello, Colette the owner of Urban Harvest told me it’s one of her favourites, so how could I not?! I’m looking forward to sharing them with you and hearing what you think.

Alas, it will be a while yet before we can have fresh peppers, but thankfully there will be lots of other delicious things to enjoy in the meantime.

Thanks to everyone who sent along payment over the past few weeks and welcome to our new members! We now only have six shares left, so if you are still thinking of joining us this season, don’t wait, remember you can always pay in installments! If you have signed-up but haven’t sent your deposit, kindly do so to secure your spot.

We also still have subsidized shares available, so if you know anyone who might need a little extra help accessing fresh veggies please let them know about our Community Food Fund.

I hope everyone has a nice weekend and of course we all know that every day is Earth day, but it’s a good reminder that this is a good time of year to plant a tree, Happy Earth Day to all of you.

Sincerely,
— Jenny