Let me explain all the excitement here

It’s time to shake it up around here.  I woke up the other morning with a revelation!  What?  I was thinking that we start many seedlings for the growing season indoors at the end of January and bring all those seedlings outdoors in April.  Then we start more seedlings in April, May, June and continually until about now.  Why, oh why, are we selling our wonderful non-GMO, “cide” free, organically-grown food to you only one day a week?  With full-time help now, there’s no reason we can’t deliver most products to you every day we work which is Tuesday through Saturday.  I need some time to take care of the house, grocery shop (not that I need many groceries) order new supplies and do a bit of catching up on fallen-behinds.  As you’ll see on the Local Line site, I need at least twenty-four hours’ notice for your order.  That way I can pick fresh for you.  The only thing that wouldn’t be available daily is Salad Greens as they are a full-day process once a week needing all hands on deck.  We never know how many bags we’ll have at the end of the day.  Sometimes we get twice what we need.  Other times we have exactly the amount we need for those of you who pre-ordered.  Weather is a big factor in how fast and well things grow, as you know.  You’ll see if they are available when you check the catelogue.  It changes every day, sometimes more than once each day.  

With the new Local Line ordering system you should be able to enjoy our foods when you like and order when convenient for you.  Some of your towns are not recognized by Google Maps.  In that case, you can put Ontario as your address.  Select what you want to order and your delivery day.  It’s best to keep payments as they are right now: cash, cheque or e-transfer.  We can set up more options when we get rolling. 

Day Brighteners Farm Online Store.  I’ve put a lot of effort into pictures (more to come as we make more food) and descriptions of each item for you.  I’m always open for suggestions to better the system for all of us.  There’s also a YouTube video Local Line prepared for us at https://youtu.be/AzrhTNY_1GA to make it simple – I need it to be simple. 

I do have to tell you though that the tomatoes and cucumbers are coming in fast and furious now, onions are superb, kale just keeps growing and growing, garlic is ready and everything else is growing as it should.   We’ll be adding fresh salsa to the list in a few days.  I have a summer cold right now and don’t really like to handle food while I’m all sniffly and sore throaty but will be wonderful again in a day or so. 

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, no pesticide, herbicides or fungicides (“cides”) or chemicals here.  You are very welcome to drop by most days.  Calling or emailing first is a good idea so we’ll be here for you.  We do appreciate your business very much and would like to hear from you with any comments or questions you have.   

Thanks.  

Until next post, have a great every day.

Jo

To wash or not to wash

What are we telling you on those labels?  Salad Greens are always washed and table-ready which means we have cleaned them back and forth and up and down until the water they are in is crystal clear and spun-dried them until your greens are clean, dry enough and ready to eat. 

Sometimes we’re pressed for time and not able to wash some vegetables thoroughly (like kale or chard) for a number of reasons:  one of our team is away so we’re under-staffed; rain the night before or early morning has splashed up a lot of dirt from the ground onto that vegetable; we get too busy picking one vegetable and don’t want to not have a particular item available due to washing another thoroughly.  However, we do remove 95% of anything undesirable from all vegetables, they’re just not quite “table-ready”.   We communicate this to you by printing “Washed” or “Please Wash” on the label.  This will happen more frequently as a larger amount of produce becomes available.  We don’t want to lose the nutritional value or freshness by picking too many days before delivery so we leave everything in the ground as long as possible and scramble to get everything picked, washed and packed.  So read your label to see the best action to take. 

Speaking of under-staffed I’m looking for someone to help us here Thursday and/or Friday mornings for the rest of August.  If you are that person or know of someone please have them email or call me.  Thanks. 

Tomatoes are looking great for everyone next week.  We do have some ready now, more by Friday but it’s a first-come/first-served game this week.  In a week or two we'll have so many and you will know about it for sure.  I almost fell over when I went to pick a few cukes for an order and picked FOURTEEN – wow.  We pulled all the white onions yesterday which are now sitting washed and awaiting your order.  They don’t keep like the other onions.  Some red onions are ready now.  I’m afraid the beans are pathetic this year.  I have never had problems with beans in the past – we’ll put this year down to a fail in that department.  We’ll still keep trying.  What can I say?

Garlic will be nicely cured and prettied up for you by next week. 

Order OnLine

This past week, I've been working diligently to set up my Local Line store.  Local Line is an ordering system that makes it easier for you to select the products you want and place an order every week. I’m making life easier for you.  This also helps me keep track of your orders and my own inventory levels.  There you’ll see my catalogue with pictures and a little description of some of the items.  It was fun to spend some time doing this and I’ll be adding more as we go. 

The Local Line store makes it easy for you to select your products, choose pickup or delivery, and easily checkout with a few clicks.  For a video to show you how easy it is to place an order, go to  https://youtu.be/AzrhTNY_1GA. 

Click here to visit my new online store - Day Brighteners Farm Online Store.​

Let’s see how it works.  Let me know your thoughts. 

Until next post, have a great every day. 

Jo

New Foods Available - finally

Quickly, here’s what is available for eating this week – it just keeps getting better.

Baby Carrots  NEW  $3 bunch

Basil  Pesto  $4.50 125mL jar 

Basil Plants:   $2 each 

Celery  $2 bunch

Cucumbers  NEW  $2 each

Edible flowers   $3 bag

Green Onions:  $2 bunch of 10

Herbs, fresh:  bay leaf, citrus thyme, dill, lemon balm, oregano, sage, savory, thyme  $2 bunch  

Herb Mix: a mix of several fresh herbs  $3 bunch   

Kale  $3 bunch

Mustard Greens   $3 bunch

Orach, red  (spinach better for you than spinach)  $3 bag

Peppers, sweet  NEW  $4 pound

Romaine Lettuce  $2

Salad Greens, washed and table ready:  includes arugula, strawberry spinach, orach, arugula, mini-mustard greens and various soft and crunchy lettuces and other green stuff growing on the property, herbs and edible flowers  $5 bag   

Sunflower Shoots  $2 bag 

Swiss Chard   $3 bunch

White Onions  $2.50/pound

Mind you, the carrots, cukes and peppers above-mentioned are not plentiful, but some are ready now, with many more to come in the near future.   Also keep in mind you don’t need to order items by the pound, it’s just the base price I set.  For example, you can order one or two peppers if that’s all you need.

The purple basil is doing so well I made the pesto with it this week.  How cool looking is that.  Same great taste, entirely different look.

Garlic is curing for another week.  Peas and beans are taking their time.  The tomatoes are coming along nicely colour-wise and size-wise.  I’m hoping they’ll be on your plates next week – hooray for the summer heat. 

I grow sprouts for those who have regular weekly delivery.  If you want me to grow some for you, please let me know.  It’s certainly do-able.  I don’t like to waste the seeds if the sprouts aren’t going to be delivered to someone. 

  

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 (Friday) 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.  

We deliver to Kemptville and area Friday afternoons to and to Merrickville and Ottawa Saturday or Sunday.  We start picking Thursdays, so please email me or call me by Thursday afternoon for delivery to you.  If you’re outside our delivery range, we’ll make a special plan for you. 

Thank you.  

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