Future Generations

We don’t want to be alarmist, but the conclusions of a recent study from France on daily levels of food contaminants are worrisome, to say the least. The study was undertaken by the French environmental non-profit organization Générations Futures (www.generationsfutures.com) to assess the nature and quantities of chemicals ingested by children in a single day.…

Thirty Acres

Photo is of June Afternoon, by Konstantine Rodko, from the cover of the 1991 edition of Trente arpents by Flammarion. Trente arpents ( translated into English as « Thirty Acres, » but « Twenty-Five » would have been more accurate) is the tragic story of the rise and fall of turn-of-the-last-century farmer Euchariste Moisan, as told by québécois novelist…

Turnips to taxis

We should have known this before embarking on our agricultural adventure, but it is only recently that we learned that the patron saint of gardeners is Saint Fiacre (Fiachra is an ancient pre-Christian name from Ireland). Apparently he was as effective at healing haemorrhoids as he was at growing turnips. Saint Fiacre, represented more often…

Happy Holidays

With the mercury dipping below 20 degrees Celsius in these parts, we can speak in earnest of winter delights (albeit sans snow). Our cold room is empty, the farm implements are stored and the few chores remaining to be completed without getting frostbitten have been ticked off our list. And so we resume writing, after…

First Frost

The first fall frost welcomed us in the fields this morning. You know there is no turning back to summer once frost has hit, even if, as they are forecasting this Thanksgiving weekend, it is followed by a balmy Indian summer spell. While some vegetables resist, and even relish, frost (brocoli, jerusalem artichokes and lettuce,…

Mechoui

A week ago we held our first formal farm event for our CSA members, a méchoui . The weather couldn’t have been more perfect, after a couple of weeks of on-again, off-again rain – a balmy, sun-filled afternoon with nary a cloud in sight. We hadn’t really planned it when we chose the date, but…

Summer’s End Already…

But half the basket season still to go! Indeed, this week — Week 8 — marks the midpoint of the official 2011 growing season,  even though the end of summer is just around the corner. The annual Perseid meteor shower peaked last week, our late season tomatoes are ripening on the vine, we’ve picked our…

Midsummer Madness

The month of July was exhausting, with yo-yoing temperatures and countless fires to put out. August looks promising in comparison. We have begun harvesting the season’s first melons – they are truly delicious – as well as those summer stalwarts: eggplants, peppers and the quintessential tomato, which weighs heavy on the vine in great abundance…

Eggsplanation

We are often asked how our eggs get their color – so thought it would be nice to set the record straight: our white hens (Leghorns) lay white eggs, our others (Plymouth Rocks and Rhode Island Reds) lay brown eggs. When young (i.e. 18 to 24 weeks), hens produce smaller eggs; older hens produce larger…

A Farmer’s Day’s Work is Never Done

Not much time to write, as we prepare for the deliveries of our first baskets before the Saint-Jean weekend…A few pictures are more telling than words : while we will continue to start plants from seed in the greenhouse through July, our recent focus has been on planting and transplanting in the field. Many mid- to…