Sitting around doing nothin' - NOT

Doing Nothin' is not a likely option around here.  

Been turning this:

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Into this:

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I can tell you, my days are full, between soaking seeds, planting seeds, building and rearranging shelves, inserting lights and heat mats and bringing trays and cell packs in from the Greenhouse.  The weather has certainly been co-operating for these tasks.

The seeds I sowed Monday afternoon germinated by Tuesday afternoon!!!!!  These were arugula and mesclun mixes (aka Salad Greens).  As I was saying last week, I sprouted some peas and sunflowers.  They’ve been planted as well and have shot up, should be ready in another week. 

I’m attempting to grow turmeric and ginger this year, the roots have been planted in large pots until they can be put outside in Spring.  This’ll be an experiment and experience, hopefully good ones.   

Yesterday, I started all of the hot peppers (a few hundred: hot Portugal, Hungarian hot wax, thai, long red cayenne, jalapeno, d’espellette) and paprika peppers.  Today is computer day.  Tomorrow I’ll start the sweet peppers. 

The hens are all doing fine, except one was inside for a couple of days with a sore leg.  I brought her back out today since it’s warmer so she can be with her buddies.  We feed the girls a special treat of mealworms every few days.  The little red hens actually fly up at me to get to the container when they see it.   The silkies can’t fly or they would I’m sure.  They just jump and they can jump pretty high if it’s mealworms they’re after.

At the risk of sounding boring, the following is what I offer you this week:

Herbs, fresh:  Rosemary, Sage, Thyme and Citrus Thyme, $2 bunch 

Leeks  $3 /bunch 

Onions  $2 /pound

Tomatoes, frozen  $2 /pound  excellent to plop into soups or sauces, you can smell summer when you cut open the bag - ahhhhh, summer

Granola:  with cranberries, pistachios and almonds (or cashews in lieu of pistachios)  $10 500mL jar

                 with fruits  $8 500mL jar

Salsa  $8 500mL jar  Warm or Quite Hot

Sprouts:  $3 bag

Ancient Eastern Blend (fenugreek, lentils, kamut & adzuki) 

Crunchy Bean Mix  (peas, lentils and garbanzos)

Sandwich Booster (clover, alfalfa, radish and mustard) 

Spicy Lentil Crunch  (lentils, red clover, alfalfa, radish & mustard)

Spring Salad Mix  (broccoli, radish, alfalfa & clover)

Tomato Sauces:  $6 500mL jar

Caesar (Celery added)

Crazy Green (made with ripe green zebra tomatoes, looks unusual, tastes great)

Crazy Green Hot

Hot (a few hot peppers tossed in)

Hot Plus

Just Nice  (the right amount of everything, just a pleasant tomato/pizza sauce)

Roasted Onion 

Warm (just a little bitty bit of hot pepper)

Vampire Buster (deliciously garlicky)

If you'd like to purchase any of the above items, I'd be happy to provide them if available after our regular customers have ordered.  Perhaps you might like to be added to our Weekly Delivery List.  I send my email out every Wednesday, collect orders Thursdays and deliver Fridays (or another day convenient to us and you if you're not too close to home).  

And remember some of Day Brighteners Farm produce can be found at Heather's Healthy Harvest in Kemptville.  

Until next post, have a great every day.
Jo

Sprouts are extremely good for you

I'm happy to have Carol Pillar as my guest blogger this week.  Here's what Carol has to say about Sprouts.

Carol Pillar, R.H.N.

Nutrition Coach

   I am thrilled to be invited to ‘guest blog’ for my friend at Day Brighteners Farm. We have a certain enthusiasm in common for foods that come naturally from the earth. The beauty of the topic today is that you don’t even need dirt to reap the benefits!

   In the words of Dr. Elson M. Haas, of whom I continue to be in awe of his boundless knowledge and insight, “…growing and eating sprouted seeds, grains and beans is truly creating and using your ultimate food.”

   Adzuki, lentils, clover, garbanzo, radish, mustard and sunflower are some of the many possible choices that, as the shoot and greenery begins to develop, provide protein, vitamins, chlorophyll and fiber. The carbohydrate food source is converted to protein, while beta carotene, vitamins B, C, E and K increase. Rich in active enzymes that aid digestion, sprouts are considered ‘living foods’ and so are good to consume as fresh as possible in salads or sandwiches. Broccoli sprouts contain as much as 50x more sulforaphane (a health protective phytochemical) than its mature form. Remember to keep your sprouts refrigerated to avoid spoilage and use within a week.

   Mixed bean sprouts can be eaten raw, but are best lightly cooked with other dishes. According to Dr. Andrew Weil in ‘Eating Well for Optimal Health’, raw beans and some other edible roots, seeds and plants contain natural toxins that can be destroyed simply by cooking – more on that another time.

  I must also pass on a word of caution for those with Lupus, there is some evidence that Alfalfa sprouts may cause an increase in symptoms (they also contain some plant toxins).

 The general consensus is that these low calorie, high nutrient foods can be eaten in abundance with other fruits and vegetables year round to promote health and vitality.

A Nutrition Coach provides information and support for a variety of health concerns. For more information please visit www.wholesumapproach.com or email support@wholesumapproach.com

Thanks Carol, your wisdom is always appreciated.
Jo

SPROUTING SPROUTS

It's not difficult, you just need to remember to rinse them regularly.  

I use Mumm's Sprout Seeds, they have a great variety,
which you can buy pre-mixed or separately to make your own blend.
 I use 1/3 cup in a 1.9 litre jar.

Following the instructions on the package, I cover with nylon mesh
(I tried cheesecloth to be more "natural" but it separates and the tiny seeds fall through).
Add a strong elastic and let set for the recommended time.
It's hard to believe these teeny tiny seeds will sprout and fill this huge jar in a few days.

After sitting for the recommended time, rinse, drain and lay up-ended slightly
so they're not sitting in any remaining water.

Seeds have sprouted, the jar isn't so big afterall.
They will sit in this north facing window (no sun at all)
until they fill the bottle with their size.  

Close-up of two days, after rinsing
about every 7 or 8 hours each day.

After the recommended days of sitting and rinsing and the first leaves
 turning a little green, the sprouts are ready for consumption - yum.

Go ahead, just do it, you can.
Jo

Is it Spring yet?

Here we are, a week closer to Spring – oh ya.  If you follow me on facebook, you know that the seeds I ordered arrived in the mail the other day.  I inserted their info into my Inventory and am ready to start seedlings.  Leeks will come first, I can’t believe how long it takes for leeks to become their thick sweet wonderfulness in the Fall.   I’ll plant some Salad Greens and little green onions right away and pretty soon will begin the Hot Peppers (they live indoors for a long time before getting set outside), then the Sweet Peppers, then the Eggplant and Tomatoes (some of the same lovely paste tomatoes as last summer and a few different heirlooms).  The first day we (it will be we by then rather than I) can get a spade or trowel into the soil is when the carrots, parsnips, beets, onion sets and enormous amounts of lettuce varieties and spinach seeds will be carefully spaced into their rows.  In the meantime the online Garden Planner will be visited by me and changed frequently over the next several weeks, until it’s all perfect. 

I’ll up-pot the basil seedlings this week and starting some new herbs.  I’ve soaked some peas and sunflowers to start shoots for us all.  I understand they will take 7-10 days to be ready for eating.   These are very popular in the “City” you know. 

I checked the Salad Greens in the Greenhouse an hour ago.  They are growing, very slowly, but they are growing.  I removed more snow from the roofs (why is it hoof and hooves, but not roof and rooves).  It`s very unnerving in the greenhouse to hear the snow sliding down the sides on the outside.  That’s a lot of weight and a lot of noise.  Good to have it done though, again, until next snowfall.   

``What`s available`` you ask.  Let me tell you:

Herbs, fresh:  Rosemary, Sage, Thyme and Citrus Thyme, $2 bunch    

Leeks  $3 bunch  They're not as thick as in the Fall, it was necessary to remove many outer layers which had been frozen, the frost makes them sweeter, tastier though.  

Granola:  with fruit and nuts (cranberries, pistachios and almonds)  $10 500mL jar

                 with fruit (barberries and currants)  $8 500mL jar

Salsa  $8 500mL jar  Warm or Quite Hot

Sprouts:  $3 bag

Ancient Eastern Blend (fenugreek, lentils, kamut & adzuki) 

Sandwich Booster (clover, alfalfa, radish and mustard) 

Spicy Lentil Crunch  (lentils, red clover, alfalfa, radish & mustard)

Spring Salad Mix  (broccoli, radish, alfalfa & clover)

Tomato Sauces:  $6 500mL jar

Caesar (Celery added)

Crazy Green (made with ripe green zebra tomatoes, looks unusual, tastes great)

Crazy Green Hot

Hot (a few hot peppers tossed in)

Hotter Hot (ring-of-fire peppers - oooh that even sounds hot)

Just Nice  (the right amount of everything, just a pleasant tomato/pizza sauce)

Kale?  Why Not.  -one left, must make more when the kale starts growing faster

Roasted Onion 

Warm (just a little bitty bit of hot pepper)

Vampire Buster (deliciously garlicky)

If you'd like to purchase any of the above items, I'd be happy to provide them if available after our regular customers have ordered.  Perhaps you might like to be added to our Weekly Delivery List.  I send my email out every Wednesday, collect orders Thursdays and deliver Fridays (or another day convenient to us and you if you're not too close to home).  

And remember some of Day Brighteners Farm produce can be found at Heather's Healthy Harvest in Kemptville.  

Until next post, have a great every day.
Jo

the sun makes so much of a difference

inside and outside - beautiful daylight coming in through the windows on these noticeably longer days and the warmth of the sun on your face as you rush from one place to another in the severe (I know we're in for worse than this) cold.

I found myself lingering in the Greenhouse with its 17C today.  There's not much to do in there ... yet.  I check in every now and then to make sure mice haven't moved their families into some warm cushy corners.  We try not to have closed drawers or folded covers stacked up or they'll just get as comfy as can be and start eating our produce.  A couple of winters ago I watched a bold-faced mouse or vole or shrew (whichever) chew down on the carrot tops as if they'd been planted for his consumption alone.  Silly critter.  

We did seed inventory last week.  I've attached a picture of our seed saving method - hooray for garage sales to pick up tupperware, particularly if the garage sale seller is a past-tupper-lady.  

I have now ordered all seeds for the 2016 Day Brighteners Farm gardening experience.  They'll be here next week.  Then the heat mats, grow lights, shelves upon shelves and some space in the greenhouses will be occupying my time.  It's confirmed we'll be supplying Wilf & Ada's Diner with hot peppers again this year.  In March I'll make my way up to Make It Green in Kanata to pick up onion and shallot sets.  In the meantime, I'll be starting little green onions from seed very very soon.  Greta's Organic Gardens will supply me with rosemary plants, rosemary is almost impossible to grow from seed - my experience anyway.   I hate to jinx it, but the rosemary we put into pots in the greenhouse and in the house are still doing okay,  

Speaking of jinxing, it seems whenever I tell you how many eggs we're getting, the egg production goes down drastically.  We were getting 3 1/2 dozen a week for the last month, of course using them over the Christmas baking season, and now we're getting about 2 or 3 a day!  And that's if I get out there to bring them in before they freeze.  These cold days find me putting on many layers of warmth about every hour to replace the girls' iced water buckets with fresh warm water containers.  We do have a heated water bowl in the Coop, but once the girls go out to the Pen, they - um - forget that there's water inside.  Did you think chickens are smart?  Not so much.   I've learned that water is vital to chickens, almost more than food.  Without water they can't lay eggs and it doesn't go so well for them after that.  

And oh yes the Salad Greens, they have mostly survived.  I think I expect too much from them.  I planted the seeds in the warmer weather, the seeds germinated, I watered regularly all Fall up until last Thursday when it was mild enough to get water from the outside tap.  Now it seems they want me to keep that up - really.  So, I covered everything up with frost blanket yesterday, which blocks out about 10% of the light, which in turn takes things longer to grow, but if they stay alive, that's a good thing.  I seeded some ruby streaks mizuna in a tray before Christmas, see pic attached, and will toss these into the Salad Greens for some added zesty flavour.

The perennial Herbs, sage and thyme, are doing great, I use them every other day.  The basil I seeded before Christmas is doing well and I'll be up-potting the little plants in a few days so we'll have full-fledged basil plants (think pesto) in several weeks.  See photo of cute little basil-ettes attached. 

It looks like it'll be a bomby -7C tomorrow so I'll pick as much edible greenery as I can.  So it's on the menu, but I make no promises as to volume - what can I say - it's January.  I was out picking leeks on the very warm Monday this week, got really wet and really muddy.  I was chilled right through to my bones, but now have leeks for us.  I had to leave a couple of rows due to depth of water between the rows and not having my wading duck hunting boots handy.  And my cold hands said "enough is enough already".  

Here's what's good for us this week:

Herbs, fresh:  Rosemary, Sage, Thyme and Citrus Thyme, $2 bunch    

Leeks  $3 bunch  They're not as thick as in the Fall, it was necessary to remove many outer layers which had been frozen, the frost makes them sweeter, tastier though.  

Onions, mixed  $2 pound

Salad Greens  $5 bag 

Granola:  with fruit and nuts (cranberries, pistachios and almonds)  $10 500mL jar

    with fruit (barberries and currants)  $8 500mL jar

Salsa  $8 500mL jar  Hot or Quite Hot

Sprouts:  $3 bag

Ancient Eastern Blend (fenugreek, lentils, kamut & adzuki) I have one bag, was just finishing up a bag of seeds.  

Crunchy Bean Mix (peas, lentils and garbanzos)

Sandwich Booster (clover, alfalfa, radish and mustard) 

Spicy Lentil Crunch  (lentils, red clover, alfalfa, radish & mustard)

Spring Salad Mix  (broccoli, radish, alfalfa & clover)

Tomato Sauces:  $6 500mL jar

Caesar (Celery added)

Crazy Green (made with ripe green zebra tomatoes, looks unusual, tastes great)

Crazy Green Hot

Hot (a few hot peppers tossed in)

Hotter Hot (ring-of-fire peppers - oooh that even sounds hot)

Just Nice  (the right amount of everything, just a pleasant tomato/pizza sauce)

Kale?  Why Not.  -one left, must make more when the kale starts growing faster

Roasted Onion 

Warm (just a little bitty bit of hot pepper)

Vampire Buster (deliciously garlicky)

If you'd like to purchase any of the above items, I'd be happy to provide them if there are any left after our regular customers have ordered.  Perhaps you might like to be added to my Weekly Delivery List.  No obligation to you up front, you'd be in on what's growing on around here sooner, that's all.  I send my email out every Wednesday, collect orders Thursdays and deliver Fridays (or another day convenient to us and you if you're not too close to home).  

And remember some of Day Brighteners Farm produce can be found at Heather's Healthy Harvest in Kemptville.  

Until next post, have a great every day.
Jo

A Very Happy New Year to all and each of you!

Well, all that sitting around eating chocolate, watching movies, visiting and being visited certainly throws one out of sync, doesn't it?  I, for one, am happy to be back into some kind of routine.  I was starting to get used to sleeping in until 7.  

I had a "duh" moment Monday when I decided to get the leeks started extra early this year so they'll be nice and fat by fall.  Enthusiasm is a plus but not having seeds to start the leeks is definitely on the negative side.  Note to self:  must order seeds this week.  So, it begins, again.  I'll be ordering all of the seeds for this year's gardens in the next few days.  When they arrive, inventory will be updated, the Garden Planner will be re-instated so I can change it several times before putting the first trowel into the ground, discussions will begin with possible part-time weeders-planters-pickers, and seed packages will be stored in their appropriate containers with the leek seeds being kept out so they can be planted into trays to start their journey of growing.

It's 20C in the greenhouse right now, it was 10 degrees the other day when it was too cccccold to be outside - it's just a nice place to be.  The smell of the celery, chard, parsley, greens, fall rye and kale growing is very comforting.  My neighbours driving by must think I'm daft.  I was out digging up leeks in the field an hour ago.  I could hear some cars slow down but I didn't look at them.  To me, it's perfectly normal to be digging leeks out of my garden, whether or not there is a foot of snow to trudge through to get there or to move aside.  :)

Just before that bitter cold the other night, we brought in all of the onions stored in the garage, I didn't want to take any chance of losing them.  When they're compiled together, there are a LOT of onions.  So, they're back on the menu now.  I read an article that suggests using the entire onion once you cut into it.  The gist of the message was that onions were once used to "soak up" illness in the room of a sick person.  So, if you cut an onion and leave it you might be making yourself sick next time to you go to finish using it with whatever "badness" that onion is absorbing.  That makes sense to me.  I've used or sold to restaurants all of our big onions and I love little onions to use for little recipes.  

I'm also pleased that I'm still using tomatoes, peppers, garlic, onions and herbs grown here on the Farm to make the tomato/pizza sauces and salsas. Storing and/or freezing the veggies has worked out very well.  

For the fresh stuff, there's a little bit of each, not too much, after all, it is January.  The Salad Greens have survived this week's bitter cold but I've decided to let them have another week out there so there'll be enough for everyone by then.  Oh, and we're getting 3 1/2 dozen eggs a week now, silly chickens.  I made a lovely Tomato Sauce with a good amount of the onions and started some sprouts for you - you'll see these on the menu, which goes like this:

 

Chard  $2 bunch   

Eggs  $2.50 6/pack  

Garlic  $1 each

Herbs, fresh:  Mint, Rosemary, Sage, Thyme and Citrus Thyme, $2 bunch    

Kale  $3 bag

Leeks  $3 bunch

Onions, mixed  $2 pound

Tomatoes, cherry: roasted way back in summer time in olive oil & sea salt, then frozen  $2 bag 

Granola:  with fruit and nuts (cranberries, pistachios and almonds)  $10 500mL jar

    with fruit (barberries and currants)  $8 500mL jar

Salsa  $8 500mL jar  Hot or Quite Hot

Sprouts:  $3 bag

Ancient Eastern Blend (fenugreek, lentils, kamut & adzuki) I have one bag, was just finishing up a bag of seeds.  

Crunchy Bean Mix (peas, lentils and garbanzos)

Sandwich Booster (clover, alfalfa, radish and mustard) 

Spicy Lentil Crunch  (lentils, red clover, alfalfa, radish & mustard)

Spring Salad Mix  (broccoli, radish, alfalfa & clover)

Tomato Sauces:  $6 500mL jar

Caesar (Celery added)

Crazy Green (made with ripe green zebra tomatoes, looks unusual, tastes great)

Crazy Green Hot

Herb (fresh garden herbs, mostly oregano and parsley)

Hot (a few hot peppers tossed in)

Hotter Hot (ring-of-fire peppers - that just sounds hot)

Just Nice  (the right amount of everything, just a pleasant tomato/pizza sauce)

Kale?  Why Not.  -one left, must make more when the kale starts growing faster

Roasted Onion 

Warm (just a little bitty bit of hot pepper)

Vampire Buster (deliciously garlicky - about 20+ cloves per pot instead of 2 or 3 in this sauce)

Please keep in mind that I deliver to my customers weekly.  If you'd like to purchase any of the above items, I'd be happy to provide them if there are any left after regulars have ordered.  Perhaps you might like to be added to my Weekly Delivery List.  No obligation to you up front, you'd be in on what's growing on around here sooner, that's all.  I send my email out every Wednesday, collect orders Thursdays and deliver Fridays (or another day convenient to us and you if you're not too close to home).  

Until next post, have a great every day.
Jo