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Items you order this week are to be picked up at First United Church on Friday July 16th between 3:30 PM and 7:00 PM. Ordering will end on Tuesday July 13th, 2010 at 8:00 PM
*** Mark Sunday, August 15th on you calendar for Bailey's Picnic Pot Luck in Waterloo Park! We have reserved the Servery by the Bandshell for our group! More details to come!
Message from Rachael:
The cherries for this week are the Regina (ruh-JEE-nuh) which are very large dark red fruit that we haven't yet gotten a chance to try as they have split due to rain in the last few years.. Apricots and early plums will also be in the order form on Friday once the prices are set.
Look for more meat from Vibrant Farms on the order form over the next few days as I add it. There will be ground beef, stewing beef and patties!
Kevin from Snyder Heritage Farms will be at the pickup to 'talk turkey' with you on Friday July 9th. You can ask him about his farm, the turkeys and his maple syrup. Want to 'hear' the turkeys? Check out Kevin's website at http://www.snyderheritagefarms.com/!
Oak Manor (flour and grains) will be closed for the month of July so stock up now! Below are the current sources of their grains:
- Hard Wheat â€" Cambridge
- Soft Wheat â€" Hickson
- Arva Hard Wheat â€" London
- Oats â€" Petrolia
- Rye â€" Ayr
- Spelt â€" Petrolia
- Barley â€" Eastern Ontario
(A little too) Warmly,
Rachael
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Message from Nina:
I talked to Eva this week and was glad to hear that her carrots are ready for harvesting. Eva, if you remember, is the carrot guru of Waterloo Region. She lives near Linwood with her family and they grow much of their own food on their land. She says the soil at her farm is clayey enough to hold the moisture and yet not too heavy for carrots. Her husband and sons run a wood shop on the farm and raise the grain crops and hay while she and her daughters do more of the food raising. She is hoping that now that the hay crop has been successfully cut and dried in this heat and baled that they “menfolk†will help with the carrot harvest. They take their carrots to their neighbour Paul Bowman to use his vegetable washer. A vegetable washer makes a long and cold labour-intensive job of washing carrots much faster. She made me want to go barefoot in the garden when she was telling me how the freshly tilled soil feels so much better on her feet than when it gets a hard crust on top.
Black Currants
At our weedy urban homestead it is currant season. Matthew picked 4 quarts of red currants that he threw in the freezer promising to make jam when it is cooler. Last year he made jam in November from frozen fruit. It's nice to not make it when it is so stinking hot. We don't have a supplier of red currants but Abner Horst is offering us black currants. Black currants make amazing jam. Abner says his family's favourite currant dish is black currant pie. I've never had it. Maybe when it cools off this weekend I'll try making it. Abner and Erma are also offering us black currant jam that is in jars and ready to eat. The ingredients are: organic black currants, organic sugar, and pomona pectin. I just googled "benefits of black currants" and found many websites singing the praises of black currants' health benefits. Here is the summary from one website:
- Anti-Inflammatory Action
- Powerful Anti-oxidant Action
- Maybe help prevent cancer
- Reduces the effects of arthritis
Thawed Cherry Pitting Proven True
After writing last week's email I had this nagging feeling I should check the freezer to see if I froze cherries with the pits in them. Sure enough, there was a bag. The kids loved them mostly frozen. When they were thawed and “too squishy†for the kids I tested how easily I could take out the pits. It was great! I opted for the method of squeezing each cherry and, pop, the pit would slip out. This is much faster than pitting them fresh and you can do it in Winter when you have more time. (Tip: Wear an apron and make a cherry milkshake when you're done to celebrate.)
If you want to save your cherry pits, Maryrose will take them, wash them and turn them into something wonderful (bring them to the pick up). She's thinking she'll use them for heat-bags. See her website. I loved reading about her grandparents' (Nonno and Nonna) urban farm. Maybe she'll include photos of their two cold storage rooms too. They obviously know how to grow a lot of food in a small space. So inspiring! It makes me want to get out there and weed our vegetable patch. Weeds don't pull well when it is so dry. Perhaps I can procrastinate until after a good rain. Here is her website: www.loopeeeee.com . Check out the sexy photo of the tomato salad with Fiore Di Latte cheese (from Local Dairy).
Cabbage Joy
This week I realized that I like cabbage again! I was really tired of it in February and March and needed a break. Now I am loving the summer slaws! I made a super easy and delicious dressing with mayo and the juice from the pickled asparagus and a touch of sugar (pickled asparagus - YUM). A friend was over for supper and asked me what I put in the "delicious" dressing. I'm not sure if he was impressed or aghast at the short ingredient list.
The other cabbage delight this week was the Tin Foil Dinner not in tin foil. It was too hot to make a fire so Matthew cut up the potatoes (from Herrle's - we'll get some soon), carrots, onions, cabbage, garlic scapes, and sausage and baked them in the oven (better to heat up the house than the outdoors??). It was one of those very satisfying meals that was perfected with ketchup and hot sauce.
Letter from a raspberry farmer
Shawn Vernon is a new farmer who is supplying us with divine raspberries and promises us nectarines in August. Here is his letter describing himself and his farm:
I have been around and growing food since 1976 on our family farm near the Thedford/Parkhill area. I am a 3rd generation fruit and vegetable grower. It is my goal to farm full-time in the not too distant future.
I am passionate about sustainable, ultra high quality Ontario, farm fresh, food production. I am very aware of the movement to support local Ontario producers.
I am a graduate from the University of Guelph. I have diploma in agriculture (horticulture major) and a Bachelors in Agricultural Science (plant protection major). I have 35+ years in farming and producing high quality food.
I am looking to develop long term business relationships with customers that allow me to go more directly to the end consumer. I am very aware of the consumer's concern for high quality, fresh, produce. I grow my produce via sustainable conventional methods. There are no GMO products on my farm and there will never be. I do not believe in that system of production. The only sustainable business model for my operations is to build the business one customer at a time and sustain that relationship for the duration of my farming career. Hopefully that could involve your group.
At present I grow the following crops: crisp apples, pears, peaches (freestone), nectarines raspberries, green bell peppers, red bell peppers, roma/beefsteak tomatoes, beets, carrots. onions, potatoes. I plan to expand operations and grow in the future: coloured carrots, fingerling potatoes, green onions, squash, spinach, melons, black currants, goose & saskatoon berries, strawberries, snap beans, peas.
I froze a few dozen pints of Shawn's raspberries on Tuesday. They were lovely. Shawn reminded us that raspberries should be eaten or frozen within 24 hours. They are one of the most fragile foods grown locally. I ate a bowl-full with fresh cream and maple syrup drizzled on top. So sensual!
This week look for:
- fresh carrots
- cherries to freeze or just OD on
- ground turkey for burgers
- peanuts for a high protein snack
- your favourite cheese for your favourite salad (mine is the goat cheese with herbs and garlic)
- fresh head of garlic (they're ready now!)
- black currants for a pie
- pickled asparagus with hot pepper, garlic and dill - not a boring pickle (just mild hot)
- fresh cabbage for summer slaws
- blueberries!!
- raspberries to freeze for the winter
Bailey's Local Foods
www.baileyslocalfoods.ca
P.S. We can use your fruit boxes, baskets and jars from preserves again if you return them.
Is this your first email from us? Read more at baileyslocalfoods.blogspot.com.
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