Active Pastures at 451 Fernhill Rd

I'm selling Green Tomatos at $2.00/lb for Chutney. Many tomatos are also ripening, so I'll have winter squash as well as suprise Celebrity Tomatos for Market on Saturday, $4.00/lb. The kales are doing better than all summer and chard may be making a comeback. The 1st deer of the season got through my fence and ate 2 kale plants. I am fortunate that he didn't eat all 200. See you at Market, rain or shine. I'll be there.

This season has been a great success. I've appreciated the support of all the wonderful people on this island who know the value of local organically grown food. But, as some may already know, I've decided not to continue on with my project here at 451 Fernhill. I've realised that I cannot farm on my own. The property here certainly has potential, and George and Marylin (the owners) will be moving forward with new plans, which makes me happy as I have put a lot of work an...Continue reading

I havn't been very active online lately, and as many have seen I've dropped off in my variety at the stand. This year was a research year into the potential of the soil and water on the property. At the height of the draught, and due to other uncertainties, I did not plant any fall crops. I do have some things growing in the garden though. Spaghetti Squash will soon be joined by Acorn, Musque D'Hiver and Galeaux DEsyines (they're big storage winter squashes). My tomatos are rather brash, and have now finally begun to blush in the September sun. Cucumbers are very near the end, so I'll try to have them up when I can. I'll also be putting Kale up consistently. If anyone is iinterested in dried Tulsi/Holy Basil give me a call.

It's Fall Fair Market day tomorrow. I'll have Spaghetti Squash, Beans, Apples, Cabbage, Kales, Chard and a few more suprises. See you there!

We're in for a heat wave over the next few days. I'm harvesting tomatos for Deaconvale tomorrow morning and won't get to my own beans until 10am, so they'll be up by noon. Everything else will be up early. Squash coming soon. I'm going to have a bunch of suprises for the fall fair too.

Many people have asked me for recipes for various vegetables. At the moment advise on how to consume what seems like a daunting 3 lbs of red cabbage. I've rarely followed recipes myself having taken cooking as a variation on a theme rather than a set instruction. My culinary style is almost entirely intuitive, but I managed well in fine dining settings based on my ability to feel what needed to be applied to particular foods to make them delicious. The most important part ...of any cabbage slaw is to let the vegetable speak for itself. I'll cut and shred a half a cabbage and eat the whole thing tossed in salt and left to sit with weight on it to start the fermentation process which is the action of existent bacterial cultures on the vegetable to release the vitamin and enzymes which are so good for you, and also break down the fibre that is the cause of indigestion and bad odors. Anything outside of that is just a dressing up of the sweet crunch and peppery notes of the cabbage itself. Today I put mustard seed, coriander, salt and black pepper in my mortar and pestel and massaged that crushed mixture onto half a red cabbage. I let it sit with a bowl of apples to weight it down, and then tossed it with chopped fresh dill and the tiniest amount of mayonaisse or sour cream. Let the flavours mingle for a while and then bite into the tender cabbage as a whole range of flavours and complimenting notes fill your mouth. Many more variations exist than you may think. Clove, cranberry, cinnamon, carrot, turnip, apple, white pepper and on and on. Also, always work with the vegetables shape. Cut a cabbage in half and then remove the core with a v-shaped cut. Then you have a flat working side to rest on while you shred from on end to the other. For wider cabbages quarter and flatten the inside edge of each quarter for easier cutting.

Had a great tour yesterday with the garden club. I'll have plenty of beans at market tomorrow along with Red Cabbages, Kales, Chard, Kohlrabi, and I found some second growth on my broccoli plants. It's in limited quantities so first come first serve for the last of the Broccoli, for real this time. Squash and tomatos are still in the sidelines. They haven't blushed enough yet, but they'll be ready for the Fall Fair.

Tour today at 2pm. Hope to see you there.

I have lots of Red Cabbage, so if anyone wants to stock up on a few (they keep well) or process them into saurkraut I'll do $2.00/lb if you buy 6 or more cabbages.

Another great market. Monday morning more variety will be back out on the Farm Stand including Beets, the 3 colours of Beans and Red Cabbage. This Thursday August 11th at 2pm the garden club is coming for a tour of the farm. Everyone is welcome to come. If you need to, drive your car down the driveway to park on the property, but space is limited so parking on the street is also good, so that the closer parking can be saved for those who may need to avoid the walk. Bring your grocery bags if you're interested in the freshest produce possible during the tour. There may even be Spaghetti Squash ready by Thursday. Hope to see you there. Give me a call about any questions.

Just put the vegetables to bed for the night. It will be a big day for many of them tomorrow. I'll be harvesting Burgundy, Golden and Jade Beans, Super Red Cabbages, Olympian Slicing Cucumbers, Red Ace Beets, the Kales, Rainbow Celebration Chard, Purple and Green Kohlrabi, Calendula and more. See you at Market, and the Farm Stand's open all weekend afterwards.

Monday took me by suprise at the Farm Stand. They are usually slow, but all of a sudden at 3pm many of my boxes wree empty. My apologies to anyone who came by after that. I've stocked everything up high today including fresh Beets, Cabbage, Chard and Cucumber. Enjoy.

I've got lots of Calendula flowers bursting out at the moment. I've been using them to deal with headaches. If anyone wants a non-advil remedy for headaches, I'll pick you a bunch from the garden.