Winter Snow

must get to greenhouses

must clear the doors

I did it

and this is why - these guys need to be taken care of,
they were cheering me on from inside the greenhouse

Snow

Snow

Snow

Shovel

Ice – fall down

Snow

Shovel

Snow and ice

Shovel

Build a Wall of

Snow to block the

Snow

Snow covered van

Snow covered greenhouse

Snow

Shovel

Snow

S’no keeping up with the snow

Sow more herbs and flowers

Up-pot pepper seedlings

Snow

Shovel snow

Eat: 

Garlic  $2 large, $1 small or $10 /pound mixed 

Herbs, fresh:  Cilantro (growing indoors), Citrus Thyme, Thyme  $2/bunch 

Hot Peppers, ground dried   $2.25 /100 grams  - varieties are D’espellette, Hot Portugal, Red Cayenne, Thai

Applesauce (organic apples gently simmered with a cinnamon stick)  $4 /500mL jar

Granola, with fruit  $8 /500mL jar  

Granola, with nuts and fruit  $10 /500mL jar

I make the granola fresh when you order - between shovelling snow

  

Shoots/Microgreens

Kale  $2 bag

Pea  $2 bag

Sunflower  $2 bag

Sprouts  $3 /bag

Sandwich Booster  (clover, alfalfa, radish and mustard)  

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

I’ll grow Crunchy Bean Mix and/or Ancient Eastern Blend sprouts or Wheat Grass for you if you order in advance – I need to know this week to have them ready next week

Remember, no order is too small.  I’m out near you anyway and always happy to see you. 

Day Brighteners is a non-certified organic farm, where we practice sustainability and environmentally-friendly farming.  We always use non-GMO and organic/heirloom seeds.  You are very welcome to drop by most days, but if it’s picking/packing/delivery day you take your chances on getting the tour.  Calling or emailing first is a good idea.  We do appreciate your business very much and would like to hear from you with any comments or questions you have.  

If you'd like to purchase any of the above items, I'm happy to provide them if available after our regular customers have ordered.  If you want to know how to receive delivery of our nutritional goodness, see Contact information and email or call me.  Thanks.

Until next post, have a great every day.  

Jo 

Sunshine amongst the cold

Promotion Time

My super-star (like a sunshine star) this week is Nancy Morgan of The Workshop Dance Studio, located downstairs at the Raina Mall, 215 Sanders Street in Kemptville – 868-9062.  Six days of the week, Nancy greets every customer with a huge smile and knows each by name, asks how our weekend or our week was, enquires about our family members and shares bits of her own life with us regularly.  Her husband and kids have been known to attend some exercise and dance classes.  And she does this over and beyond helping us take care of our bodies each time we go there.  We all exercise facing the wall-to-wall / ceiling-to-floor mirror so she can see if we’re keeping up with her or if anything is amiss.  She constantly watches her exercisers to make sure knees are bent or legs are straight or backs are in the correct position when they should be.  She also makes note if someone seems to be favouring a knee or shoulder and discretely checks up on them during the class or when our hour is done.  The lights in the room are low.  She starts each class by telling us no one else is watching you and it’s not a competition, we’re all here for our own reasons.  She’s absolutely right.  However, I can’t help but notice the other “dancers” as Nancy calls us and how happy each of them looks and how comfortable we are in our own bodies.  Most of us are smiling while we throw our arms up to the music, jog or walk quickly backwards around the room and listen carefully to learn why Nancy is having us move our toes and fingers in various ways.  It’s all about being strong.  The music is great and you lose your thoughts while noticing each time you go there that it feels good to move so freely.  We are all there to feel better.

I go to Nancy’s Workshop Studio, not to lose weight (although there are those extra little pounds that have attached themselves to my waist between Christmas and now) but to gain strength.  I need to be strong for my upcoming market garden season.  I can’t be popping a rib every time I lift something heavier than I am, nor can I stop pulling weeds or bending while transplant or hauling soil or compost simply because I might be tired or achy.  I need to walk, run, lift, bend, pull and push every hour of every day for several months.  Since I started back at Nancy’s classes I’ve noticed my overall strength is returning and I feel generally wonderful.  Trudging through the ice-covered snow is not an effort.  My forearms are stronger so I can spritz my hundreds of plants twice daily without taking a break.  One of the best things to do is to participate in a dance class just before grocery shopping.  It’s amazing how your freshly toned and energetic body migrates towards the produce department and you crave fresh greens and fruit – mmmmm spinach and kale and apples. 

I woke up this past Sunday morning thinking to myself “Oh boy, tomorrow is Monday and I exercise Monday.”  I try to get out Wednesday evenings too, which can be tricky, but Friday mornings are a sure thing.  Check out the schedule and perhaps you’ll find yourself there too.  And it’s not just exercise, there’s so much more. 

Sowings

As promised, new Sunnys are ready this week.  Pea Shoots will be ready next week.   They take longer than the sunflowers.  Almost all of the peppers, leeks, onions and edible flowers sown are now up with their perky first leaves craving light and their roots digging deep for water.  I’m almost out of space in the house so have started various lettuces and herbs on heat mats in the Greenhouse. 

We’re in between basil plants currently but the new ones are growing nicely. 

Pictures

I love to show you a few pictures so you can get excited about stuff growing here too.  

 

Good eating this week looks like this:

Garlic  $2 large, $1 small or $10 /pound mixed 

Herbs, fresh:  Cilantro (growing indoors), Citrus Thyme, Thyme  $2/bunch although the -21C tonight might affect them

Hot Peppers, ground dried   $2.25 /100 grams  - varieties are D’espellette, Hot Portugal, Red Cayenne, Thai

Applesauce (organic apples gently simmered with a cinnamon stick)  $4 /500mL jar

Granola, with fruit  $8 /500mL jar  

Granola, with nuts and fruit  $10 /500mL jar

I make the granola fresh when you order 

  

Shoots/Microgreens

Arugula  $2 bag

Kale  $2 bag

Sunflower  $2 bag

Sprouts  $3 /bag

Sandwich Booster  (clover, alfalfa, radish and mustard)  

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

I’ll grow Crunchy Bean Mix and/or Ancient Eastern Blend sprouts for you if you order in advance – I need to know this week to have them ready next week

Day Brighteners is a non-certified organic farm, where we practice sustainability and environmentally-friendly farming.  We always use non-GMO seeds and products and take pride in all we do.  You are very welcome to drop by most days, but if it’s picking/packing/delivery day you take your chances on getting the tour.  Calling or emailing first is a good idea.  We do appreciate your business very much and would like to hear from you with any comments you have.  

If you'd like to purchase any of the above items, I'm happy to provide them if available after our regular customers have ordered.  If you want to know how to receive delivery of our nutritional goodness, see Contact information and email or call me.  Thanks.

Until next post, have a great every day.  

Jo 

My go-to meal - Frittata

As you may know, we have chickens, 11 now.   They are laying hens.  They are silkies and d'uccles. Silkies are beautiful birds but they don't lay too many eggs and our d'uccles are really really cute but they don't lay too many eggs either.  Oh dear.

When we do have eggs, my favourite dish to make and eat is frittata.  It is so easy and a great way to clean out your vegetable drawer before re-filling it.

Our chickens are little so they lay little eggs.  When baking I use 3 little eggs for every 2 in a recipe.  No two frittatas have ever been the same here.  This particular one is made with potatoes and kale.

I had 10 eggs, so I used 10 eggs.  I usually use a dozen, which
allows for a couple of dinner-sized portions of frittata plus a
lunch-size portion for the next day.

I peel and cut the potatoes into pieces to fry up quickly in olive oil.  I like to use an herb infused oil unless I have a large amount of fresh herbs on hand.  In mid-winter, I don't always feel like putting on my big coat, boots and mitts to go out to pick fresh herbs.  I also add chopped onions or leeks.  A little later, I toss in kale broken into smaller pieces (spinach or chard could be  used in place of kale).  I gently fry all of this until it's cooked.    

I whisk the eggs in a bowl with some milk, salt, pepper, a little
dash of ground hot peppers and some shredded cheese.

 Then into the frying pan goes the egg mixture, cooking it slightly so it's not quite liquid.

It's not much to look at before it's cooked, but wait.

I put the frying pan into the oven and bake at 400F for about 25-30 minutes or until the top is browned and the entire mixture is firm.

Scatter some chopped green onions or chives on top.
Now it's beautiful.  

Remember the handle of your frying pan is hot for a long time!  I leave a hot mitt on it so I won't forget.

I usually serve the frittata with homemade salsa and a salad.  It is an excellent meal which isn't complicated.  No need to go out and buy special ingredients to make it.  Use whatever is in your kitchen.  You can start by frying up broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, celery or pretty much any raw vegetable along with your onions.  You can add your favourite cheese with the eggs.  Sometimes I sprinkle crumbled feta over top of the frittata before it goes into the oven rather than adding cheese to the mixture.  Or I put slices of brie on top before baking.  Ninety per cent of the time I do have fresh herbs and I chop them, then sprinkle them on top after the pan comes from the oven.  Leave the whole thing for a few minutes to let the frittata absorb the flavours of the herbs, just like when you make pizza - ah pizza, that's another blog-to-be.

Enjoy.  

Growing a Business

Promotion

I’ve been thinking of everyone with whom we do business regularly in this small community.  I’m a fan of promoting someone I think does an excellent job and is hard-working.  How about you?  If you have a business and you use someone’s product, do you tell people about it and “promote” them or do you not say a word unless a customer specifically asks about that product or “Where would I be able to buy . . .“?  If you use let’s say a painter, do you tell your friends and neighbours about that painter or only if you know they’re looking for one?  I think we could all do a wonderful thing for our fellow business owners by speaking out before being asked.   Let’s do it.  I’ll start.

As I’m typing here at our dining room table our living room and bathroom are being painted, as well as our wooden doors being finished.  Phil of Morotti Painting (613-769-8038 or on facebook Morotti Painting) started yesterday.  Phil has been here in the past, many times.  As I look around I see his wonderful clean corners and intricately straight ceiling/wall lines.  He leaves no mess.  As a matter of fact, I caught him sweeping the dust and various lost items from behind the piano which I had meant to do before he arrived this morning.  He brings his own coffee and lunch, although I can usually talk him into a fresh cuppa just after lunch.  He works quickly and quietly and gets the job done.  His estimates in paint amounts are right on.  He’s now putting the outlet covers back on, which I wouldn’t have expected him to do at all.  I’m glad Phil is back painting again.

Another excellent way to promote someone, so I’m learning, is on the Internet.  Most businesses have websites or blogs.  I was asked, and gladly accepted the task, to write a testimonial for the bed and breakfast we love in Picton.  I wouldn’t have thought to do this had I not been asked by the hostess.  Mine was added to the many guests who have crossed their threshold and I trust this has added to their business.  By the way, it's called the Bee & Bee Bed and Breakfast.  

So, if you like someone’s services, what a great idea it is to let them know and even more than that let others know about them.  You can help that person to grow his or her business. 

Seems like a good idea, right?  Small town entrepreneurs can always use more help. 

Hot peppers, Ground Dried

Dried hot peppers are now for sale.  

Jar Return

For anyone new to our delivery service or in case you forgot, if you don’t have a use for the jars I supply to you once you’ve eaten the goodness inside, I’m happy to take them back – I’ll give you 50 cents for each tiny jar and $1 for each larger one.  I need to buy new ones anyway so I’d rather see yours being used again instead of going to the recycle bin. 

Pictures

I'm attaching a few pictures so you can get excited about food too.  

Lovely dried and ground d'espellette peppers

The Kale is happily growing

Sunflower Shoots

Sunnys should be ready next week.  

Eats this week are:

Garlic  $2 large, $1 small or $10 /pound mixed 

Herbs, fresh:  Citrus Thyme, Thyme  $2/bunch

Hot Peppers, ground and dried   $2.25 /100 grams  - varieties are D’espellette, Hot Portugal, Red Cayenne, Thai

Applesauce (organic apples gently simmered with a cinnamon stick)  $4 /500mL jar

Granola, with fruit  $8 /500mL jar  

Granola, with nuts and fruit  $10 /500mL jar

I make the granola fresh when you order 

  

Pesto, basil - $4.50 /125mL jar

I make fresh each week from basil grown here, right now

Shoots

Cilantro  $2 bag

Radish  $2 /bag

Sprouts  $3 /bag

Sandwich Booster  (clover, alfalfa, radish and mustard)  

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

Day Brighteners is a non-certified organic farm, where we practice sustainability and environmentally-friendly farming.  We always use non-GMO seeds and products and take pride in all we do.  You are very welcome to drop by most days, but if it’s picking/packing/delivery day you take your chances on the tour.  Calling or emailing first is a good idea.  We do appreciate your business very much and would like to hear from you with any comments you have.  

If you'd like to purchase any of the above items, I'm happy to provide them if available after our regular customers have ordered.  If you want to know how to receive delivery of our nutritional goodness, see Contact information and email or call me.  Thanks.

Until next post, have a great every day.  

Jo