Bailey's BC - Buy enough for two weeks. No pick up Aug 8.

Dear Local Eaters,

My dad and I are going to take a little break and not do the buying
club next week. Now is your chance to stock up.
My family and I are going on a get-away to Matthew's parents'
almost-working farm. My dad will stay home and feed the hens.

I also want to tell you that if everything goes as planned, I'll be
offering blueberries for the week of Aug 15. These berries are from
Simcoe, are conventional and are in bulk. I'll be selling 12 pint
flats for $32. In that trip we'll also be picking up Peanut Oil,
peanut butter and peanuts. We'll take orders for that on that same
week. I'm trying to avoid pre-orders as it is extra complicated for
everyone. Aug 15 will probably be the only day that I'll have
blueberries for sale. In case you don't know, they freeze
effortlessly. Just rinse and throw into bags of containers.
I also want to tell you that we want to have a picnic potluck here
September 20 for supper for Buying Club folks. It will be a true
potluck, no coordinating. You'll have picked up your local food the
day before and this will be your chance to share and taste other
peoples local recipes. What will be in season then? Um, everything.
So bring your food, bring your lawn chairs and picnic blankets, bring
your kids and come eat together. The 21st is the Taste Local! Taste
Fresh! local food event (which I HIGHLY recommend). The previous week
the authors of the 100 Mile Diet are in town so it will be a time of
great HOOPLAH about local food. Good hooplah. We can't celebrate local
food too much. So put it on your calendars and more details will come
closer to the time.

Night,
Nina

Bailey's Buying Club

Hi Folks,

This week may be the last of the lettuce until Fall. It's hard to keep
lettuce growing in the middle of the summer. Consider switching your
salads to spinach instead.

Selema says that they are hoping to keep us eating fresh (and
unsprayed!) sweet corn until frost hits! The price will go down in a
couple weeks. This first corn is more expensive because they plant it
in raised beds and work extra hard keeping it covered with a fabric
row-cover to protect it from early frosts.

Murray says that he'll have grape tomatoes for us next week. So hang in there.

This week don't miss the honey options, maple syrup, raspberry jam
from hail berries, and bulk spinach and beets.

If you choose "other" be sure to click in the circle and then add your
number in the box.

Happy Local Eating,
Nina

Bailey's Buying Club Aug 1st

Hi Folks,

Will you be having local feasts on the long weekend? We most certainly
will as we will be celebrating being DONE DONE DONE with making an
apartment upstairs AND it is our baby's first birthday. Hmmm, what to
serve? Corn on the cob, for sure. Pesto something... If we let Ezra
choose the menu we'll all be eating soft veggies from vegetable soup.

We'll have the same offerings as last week but no beef and adding
honey and maple syrup - and raspberry jam and vinegar! Okay, so it's
not the same as last week... The honey and maple syrup is offered
every 6-8 weeks so now's your chance to get what you need. The
creamed cinnamon honey was a hit last time and will be available
again. For those of you who like to bake with honey (granola, bread,
pies, everything!) we are offering large pails of unpasturized honey.
If you get a 30lbs pail it is only $2.00/lb while the 2kg jar is
$3.63/lb. Big difference! Honey keeps forever (two years?) in a
sealed pail. It will crystalize but if you heat it up it will become
clear and liquid again.

The maple syrup is from Naamon and Selema Martin. They got it from his
brother near Yatton (which is near Wallenstein which is near Elmira)
and they put it into jars because they have a small cannery and cider
press. They are also able to sell us local Apple Cider Vinegar! They
make it themselves from cider that is made under regulation. They put
the cider in a barrel, add the culture to it and a couple teaspoons of
maple syrup to get it started and then leave it for five months. They
then pour off the vinegar into containers for us.

The Elmira Produce Auction Cooperative is where I got the canteloupe,
green peppers, and cucumbers last week. To buy from there I need to
order a minimum of three units of each item. So three boxes of
canteloupe, for example. I'll put these items on the order form in
medium quantities (4 canteloupe, 6 green peppers, 6 cucumbers) and if
I get enough orders to meet that minimum, I can buy them. If not, I
won't have them for Friday.

Food Preserving Ideas
I have you all to thank for the fact that I have 23 frozen "muffins"
of pesto in and 4 liters of apricots in my freezer. If I wasn't doing
this buying club (AND writing these emails where I'm supposed to be a
model of local food eating/preserving!?!?) I'm pretty sure I'd not be
putting anything away for the Winter in the middle of this renovation
stress and chaos. The pesto was particularly satisfying to make
because it is all local! Peanuts and peanut oil from Kernals in
Simcoe, parmesan from Oak Grove in New Hamburg, basil from Sam, garlic
I bought last Fall (still good!) from a farmer.

I'll also have bulk amounts (half bushels) of beets and spinach. If
you want to pickle beets, now is the time. They are about 3" in
diameter so great for slices. Beet pickles are quite easy to make. The
basic steps are: cook and skin as if you're having them for supper,
put into clean and sterile jars along with garlic cloves, salt,
vinegar, and water (plus dill? cloves?). Then put them in a hot water
bath. Matthew and I canned pickled beets for our wedding 8 years ago.
I've been kind of sick of them since then but I think I'm ready to try
them again. We put in too many cloves last time - not good.

Raspberries
Were your raspberries molding? Friday evening I was freezing a couple
flats and they were beginning to mold. I called Anne Nauman to ask her
about it and she said that it is from several factors:

Raspberries should be kept in the cooler at all times (I don't have
the ability to do this and Ivan's were fine without it)
They did not spray fungicide on them so there shelf life is much
shorter - the mold more quickly
The xtra rain has left them xtra wet and juicy which makes them prone
to mold (even though they are careful to pick them only when they are
dry)

Ivan and Almeda are the farmers who didn't spray their raspberries
just so they could sell to us and then they were hit with serious hail
that destroyed their raspberries and shredded their corn. I was
impressed how Ivan did not complain, he just said how thankful he is
that they are all safe. They were in the basement during the storm and
feared that it would be much worse. They are making lemonade out of
lemons and have canned over 200 pints of raspberry jam. VERY LOCAL
raspberry jam (they live about 5k from my house) with only
raspberries, sugar and pectin in it. You can buy some of this Hail
Storm Raspberry Jam this week. They are keeping the price low enough
that I think it is cheaper to buy the jam then to make your own jam (I
haven't done the exact math so don't let me discourage you from making
your own if you like doing it!). It is $4.25 a pint or six for $23
($3.83/ea). They make great gifts with a local food story to go with
it.

Baked Goods
We'll be ordering again from Bread and Bretzel. There struedel was
divine! Now we know that if you order a struedel, bring a box or
tupperware for it. Same for the cookies. Bring your cookies jar and
fill 'er up. They were big and tasty. What did you think of the baked
goods last week? I really want to know so that I know if I should try
out another bakery or stick with this one.

Last Friday was almost relaxing with Kelly Anthony volunteering.
Anyone else want to join in as a volunteer this Friday or another
Friday soon? I'm almost out of plastic bags now so if you have some
extras, I'd appreciate donations.

Happy eating,
Nina

bulk raspberries

Ivan called to say that his raspberries were hit by hail and are too damaged to sell.

That is about a $600 loss for him. He said he was just thankful that
his buildings are fine and his family is safe. The storm was bad
enough they all went to the basement.

The good news is that Nauman's did not spray their berries this year
so I can source them from them but that changes the dates.

Can you pick up your bulk raspberries Friday (tomorrow) instead of
Monday July 28? Please email me a yes or no.

Thank you
Nina

Bailey's Buying Club-Poultry Sales

Some of you ordered a long time ago and cannot remember what you

ordered. You can use this link to go to the spreadsheet of chicken and
turkey orders and see how many you've ordered. To change your order
you'll need to fill in another form and tell me in the "comments" if
the new order is in addition to the old order or a replacement for the
old.

If you ever want to choose "other" on the form, be sure to click on the
radio (circle) and then type in the number you want in "other". If you
don't do this, it is left blank.

This IS still easier than by phone. Right?
Nina

Bailey's techno glitch

Hi Folks,

Have you ever entered an amount in "other" on our ordering form and
then when you went to pick up your order, the list said you did not
order any of that item?

I'm realizing that the order form is not reliably relaying to my
spreadsheet what you type into "other". So I'm giving you all access
to this week's spreadsheet to check if your order is what you want it
to be. If you did not choose "other" for anything, your order should
be fine. I'll extend the deadline until noon on Thursday to give you a
chance to correct your order.

I'm sorry about this!
Nina

Bailey's Buying Club - Local Pasture-Raised Turkey and Chicken

Hi Friends,

I've updated the chicken order form with the dates for pick up. Next
one is Sept 5 and then Oct 3 will be chicken AND turkeys. Some of you
may have not seen this chicken order form yet. Here is the link to it.

Do you wish you could eat local chicken and turkey but it is too
inconvenient to buy it? I've started a business: Bailey's Local Foods.
My mission is to make it easier for city folks to buy local food.
This chicken and turkey is raised by Miriam and Mervin Gingerich near
Newton (25 min drive from Waterloo). The unique thing about this
turkey and chicken is that it is raised ON PASTURE. This means that
the birds are happier and healthier than indoor birds. They also
produce better-tasting and healthier meat. The Gingerichs have the
birds slaughtered at a licensed facility. All the meat is frozen.

If you have any questions, email me at ninabd@gto.net.

The farmers and Bailey's Local Foods thank you,
Nina