Greenery in December - oh yes

So here I am wandering around the house aimlessly wondering what to do with myself – hang on, that’s not true at all.   Every hour is packed full, it’s just not as rushed as in summer and fall.  

I dug out some sage, thyme and savory from under the snow yesterday, brought them in, cleaned them up and am drying them in preparation for your turkey stuffing in two and a half weeks.  I’ve also been drying some hot peppers to grind them for powder.  

For the last few days I was clearing snow from the roof of the small greenhouse with the dome roof, shovelling, shovelling and shovelling.  The new Greenhouse has a peaked roof and is eleven feet tall so I won’t need to clear any snow from that one real soon.  

All the onions that will be coming out of the field rows are out.  They did start to re-grow in the ground so the plan is to plant them in the Greenhouse, hopefully tomorrow.  I’m hoping that the ones we left will grow again in the spring. 

Organizing saved seeds is now a small part of my every day routine.  

AND every single day I check on the Greens we planted about a month ago.  They are doing great!  These Greens combined with the micro-greens growing in the house right now will make wonderful salads for us all at Christmastime.  I could squeak a few bags out this week but it would take them too long to grow back.   Me thinks the smarter thing to do is let all salad fixings, indoors and out, grow another week in order to provide you with some for the Christmas weekend.  I’ll get back to you to see if delivering Friday the 16th or Wednesday the 21^st would be best, or maybe both – we’ll see. 

The best thing going on here, besides the Sprouts of course, is the Shoots – Pea Shoots and Sunflower Shoots – which I learned are also called micro-greens.  You taught me last week that you really love shoots so I doubled the amount I grew this week.  Sunflowers take one week.  Peas take two weeks.  They’re growing under lights so they need air circulation and hydration one to three times daily so I spritz, water and fan at various intervals each day.  

happy sunnys, peas, kale and mesclun mix 

I’ll make granola and applesauce this afternoon from organic apples I bought last week.  Barkley’s tells me they have no organic apples left on their farm.  They were very popular this year.  I’m happy for that and hoping this will convince more growers to not spray their trees.   

I picked so much chard and celery for you last week, it’ll take them another week to recuperate.    

I started basil plants and will let you know when they’re ready.  

If you would like me to grow extra sunflower or pea shoots for you for the holiday season, let me know this week so I can plan that.   

This week, I can provide you with the following:

Garlic  $2 and $1 each or $10 / pound   (who wouldn’t be happy to receive garlic for Christmas?)

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

Pea Shoots  $2 bag OR $4 bag

Sunflower Shoots  $2 bag OR $4 bag

Applesauce  $3 /500mL jar

Granola, with fruit  $8 /500mL jar  

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

Sprouts:  $3/bag

Crunchy Bean Mix  (peas, lentils & garbanzos)

Sandwich Booster  (clover, alfalfa, radish and mustard)  

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

any of which I might have some left after the pre-orders are packaged up.  

Day Brighteners is a non-certified organic farm, where we practice sustainability and environmentally-friendly farming.  We 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'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).  See Contact information and email or call me.  Thanks.

Until next post, have a great every day.  

Jo 

It's what happens ...

... ...when you don’t take the time to follow instructions.  

It’s been a while since I grew sunflower shoots and pea shoots.  We started moving them out to the greenhouse in the Spring to realize the chipmunks preferred the seeds we’d started in trays were better scattered in various gardens on the property, so we stopped growing them for the summer (a.k.a. active chipmunk time).  We’re growing them in the house now on shelves, hopefully the chipmunks don’t get in and take over.  

I’ve not grown kale and arugula micro-greens before.  They germinated a couple of days after sowing – exciting - then they started to grow too fast and fell over before getting their true leaves, the ones we eat - fail.  So . . . back to the drawing board.  We’ll try again this week and see what happens when I actually follow the proper directions for growing them – sigh.  I noticed a blog from someone on my facebook about micro-greens.  It was good to hear she also failed on her first attempt.  Not so much her failure, but just that I don’t need to seek therapy now – it happens to the best of us.    

The Fab Fall Colours Dine & Discover was great fun, as usual.  You missed the following wonderful flavours:

Creamy Garlic Celery Soup

Kale Salad

Roasted Chicken Breast sprinkled with Fresh Herbs 

Spaghetti Squash with Tomato Sauce

Pumpkin Sage Scones with a Side of Applesauce

Warmed Apple Cider avec Cinnamon Stick

We provided some useful growing and cooking tips as well as loads of nutritional information for these and other fall foods.

Here’s a confession.  I have never cooked chard until last week.  I’ve been growing and selling it for years but have not had the chance to actually cook it.  It’s good, real good and now a main staple in our fridge, replacing the spinach I used to buy regularly for ourselves when mine wasn’t co-operating.  The same was true about kale a few years ago, until I had an opportunity to eat it and we like it tremendously now.  This summer, I sold everything picked so, aside from the kale salad at Tom’s birthday party at the end of June, we didn’t get a chance to have some ourselves until last week.  

Oh, I was able to buy up some organic apples at the Farmers’ Market on Sunday for a good price.  I’ll be making new fresh organic applesauce this week.  

Salsa Verde is also on the list of foods to make before the tomatoes get bitten by frost. 

The arugula and spinach are growing v e r y  s l o w l y  in the field rows, but they are growing.  I go out and give them a pep talk every day, they seem to be in pretty good spirits.

The carrots are still enjoying living in the ground, maybe next week they’ll be big enough to come in out of the cold.  

The salad greens and mustards planted in the Greenhouse are doing well, but not in a hurry to grow, I’ll keep you up to date on those.  

If you ordered sunflower shoots last week, I’ll include them in your order this week.  The pea shoots seem to be working on their own schedule.  If you ordered them last week I’ll also include them if they choose to be ready.  

Garlic gets planted this week.  

For your no fuss meals this week we have:

Celery  $2/bag

Chard  $3/bag

Garlic  $2 each   If you’re buying more than 15 at a time, I’ll sell them to you for the recommended Organic Price Tracker price of $10 / pound.

Herbs, fresh:  Citrus Thyme, Marjoram, Mint, Oregano, Parsley, Sage, Savory, Thyme  $2/bunch or $5/mixed bag

Kale   $3/bag 

Mustard Greens  $3/bag

Onions, white and/or multiplier and/or yellow  $2.50/pound  

Tomatoes, Green  $3/pound 

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

Tomato Sauce  $6 500/mL jar:  (tomatoes, onions, garlic, sweet peppers, hot pepper, basil and/or parsley and/or oregano all grown here, organic olive oil and sea salt)  The sauce is sealed in jars and will keep for a year on the shelf.

Granola, with fruit   $8 / 500mL jar  

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

Salsa, sealed in jars  (heirloom/organic tomatoes, onions, sweet peppers, apple cider vinegar, organic lemon juice, Tomato  paste,  jalapenos, garlic, oregano, cilantro, cumin, brown sugar, paprika, sea salt)  $8 / 500mL jar

Salsa VERDE, sealed in jars  (heirloom/organic green (unripe) tomatoes, onions, jalapenos, sweet peppers, garlic, fresh cilantro, lime juice, lemon juice, vinegar, sea salt, cumin, oregano, pepper, cayenne, sugar)  $8 / 500mL jar

Day Brighteners is a non-certified organic farm, where we practice sustainability and environmentally-friendly farming.  We use non-GMO seeds and products and take pride in all we do.  When I need to buy ingredients for sauces I prefer to buy organic.  If organic is not available I try to buy local.  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'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).  See Contact information and email or call me.  Thanks.

Until next post, have a great every day.  

Jo

Snow on the ground? Seriously - sigh

I don't really mind the snow, if I don't have to go out in it.  Snow tires on going on next Tuesday.  But, tomorrow's high is 15C - it's hard to keep track.

We've been pretty busy around here.  I'll copy/paste the last couple of weeks' worth of emails to catch you up.  

October 12, 2016

IT'S SEED SAVING TIME

We are saving seeds from both flowers and vegetables.  It’s pretty time consuming so I’m really glad for this warm spell.  

It seems those plants which survived the two really chilly nights have sent out their SOSs accordingly.  The last of their fruits have tried so hard to ripen and start new buds and flowers before their ending.  Although some tomatoes on the vines grew larger, there just isn’t time for them to turn their true colour.  So – we’re going to pick every unripe and green tomato tomorrow and make Salsa Verdi.  I made this a few years ago and it was delicious.   I’ll let you know in a week or so how that goes.  

We get pretty excited around here when we find a praying mantis on a plant or a mantis casing on a stem or stake in the garden.  Well, this morning I bumped into one of those green girls on a hot pepper plant in the Greenhouse.  She moved slightly so I didn’t harm her by mistake.  I took a picture of her and what should peek around another leaf on the same plant but another green praying mantis!  One thing I learned this summer is that we have green and brown praying mantids.   They are one of the best predators to keep bugs at bay.  I’ve never seen so many in the gardens as this year.  

Do you see her, upside down on the branch in the middle?

Now see the one on the left as well - they are so wonderful.

I have not taken educational courses on gardening, farming, horticulture, agriculture or any culture at all.  I learn as I go, but have been learning for most of my life.  I’ve always been fascinated by plants and how they progress in their lifetime and how you really have to neglect a plant for it to die on you.  They are pretty self-sufficient and strong.  The cold days and nights basically stopped the plants in the Greenhouse for a time being and then with the warm sunny days and with my help keeping them warm at night they’ve produced clusters of new leaves and sometimes flowers.  That’s pretty cool, but cold is cold.  When the temps drop drastically as they will in a few weeks, that’ll be it for the peppers and tomatoes.  

The cherry tomatoes are holding their own.  It must be because they’re protected by so many leaves.  The leaves are damaged now but the cherries do go on.  We’ll pick all that we can for you tomorrow.  Several of the pepper plants in the north Nightshade Garden have been frostbitten, particularly the rows on the west end from where the wind blows hardest.  

So that’s the sad part I spoke of several weeks ago.  

It is, however, time to move on with our next plans – some in the gardens, some inside the greenhouses and inside the house.  Last week we seeded arugula and spinach in the east Roots Garden now that two rows of carrots and several turnips and beets are gone.  Call me crazy but I couldn’t resist knowing how warm it was last Fall.  The Chard and Kale are thriving.  The pumpkins we didn’t plant are doing great.  The last full section of carrots should be ready in a week or two and will taste wonderfully sweet from the cold nights they’ll have been snapped with by that time. 

Other than the sprouts which I’ll keep producing for you, I plan on experimenting with different types and growing more shoots and micro-greens regularly.  I have the setup for starting seeds so I may as well use what I have rather than letting all that equipment sit for several months.  I found out more about those carrots sprouts.  Apparently they need to be treated differently than the other sprouts I grow so I’ll be working on that too.   

I must share something with you about the Quebec apples we bought last week.  I peeled, chopped and cooked the first bag of about 100 apples last Tuesday.  I emailed you with applesauce on the menu Wednesday and you ordered Thursday.  After that Carol and I were peeling the next bag of apples and discovered a few had labels on them.  We’re at a loss as to why the person packing these bags would have put store bought apples in the mix.  Was it to top up the bags?  We wonder if all the apples were store bought which would make no sense or money for them.  All I can say is that the first bag had no labels and no evidence they were store bought.  I do apologize if this freaks you out since the labelled apples are not organic.  When I buy apples during the winter months I buy as many organic as possible, next I turn to local, either Ontario or Quebec.  I was told by Niagara Region fruit growers at the Ottawa Market that this spring was so dry they didn’t really need to spray for bugs, so I’m going with this thought and hoping our apples were as good for us as we’d like.  If you know of anyone nearby growing organic apples, please let me know.  

October 19, 2016
A PLEASANT SURPRISE

You may not believe this, I hardly do.  We have Salad Greens this week.  Removing the old patch of Greens has been on my To Do List for weeks now but no one has had the time to actually do it.  Lo and behold I was watering in the greenhouses and spotted the Greens patch and it looked so lush I plucked a few leaves, bit into them, then picked some more, added some flowers and herbs and sorrel, washed them and drizzled some balsamic vinegar over the whole affair.   Tom and I tested them for you at supper and they taste fine.  The thing is the little Salad Greens are only picked for about three weeks, a month tops, before they start to taste bitter.  We then move on to the next available patch of new leaves and keep up the routine as such.  This particular area of Salad Greens had its leaves come to an end many weeks ago BUT with the lovely cool nights and all the warmth we’ve been having new leaves have sprouted from the old stems and they’re as good as if they were from fresh seeds.  Again I say “go figure”.  I say that a lot.  

We have a new Dine and Discover dinner scheduled – it’s Saturday October 29, 4:30 p.m.  

Every day I try to bring a dish down to its simplest form.  This is the best one yet.  When I roast the tomatoes, onions, garlic, peppers and herbs in olive oil and a bit of salt for our tomato sauce, I now save the “juice” drained before the veggies go into the food processor.  I used to throw it out.  What a waste.  Last night I made tomato rice soup.  It’s so easy, it’s brilliant!

1.       Pour a jar of tomato sauce “juice” into pot.  I now call this tomato-based vegetable stock.

2.      Add one cup of cooked rice of your choice.

3.      If you’re not vegan, toss in that parmesan cheese rind you have in the freezer, remove it before serving.  

Ta Da!  That’s it.  The flavours are already in the stock, the rice is delicious and the cheese rind makes the soup somewhat creamy.  Serve this with a salad and a slab of hearty bread and you’ve got a good meal.  

Don’t get me wrong.  I really enjoy cooking and trying new extremely complicated recipes with ingredients I may not have on hand.  But who has time for that during busy week nights?  This is what our Dine and Discover dinners are about – making sure you don’t feel stressed about cooking or by not having a long list of ingredients in your cupboard.  If you haven’t been to a Dine and Discover, we show you the easiest way to get the nutritional value from your meals.  We cook a lot of what we grow here at Day Brighteners Farm or what’s in season from your local market.  Carol gets into the nitty gritty of what particular nutrition is in each item and why certain foods should be eaten together, why you should eat a variety, basically keeping your food intake in good balance – it’s all about the gut.  We’re looking out for you and want to help in every way we can.   

I must say that I absolutely love it when you write back to me.  It tells me you read my emails, which is terrific.  And you provide such interesting information and advice.  We all learn from each other.  Thank you for that.  

We’ve had more praying mantis sightings as well as their casings on various items, including one on a pepper.  It fell off so I’ll keep it out of harm’s way over the Winter and hope for the best come Spring.  

I learned today that marigold flowers are no longer flowers after cold weather.  I saved so many seeds on the weekend, we’re good for a long while now.   The ones in the greenhouse are still blooming like it’s August.  They’re so pretty.  

I’m spending most of my days at the kitchen counter chopping, sautéing, roasting and canning.  I miss being outside.  I do, however, open the greenhouses each morning and study what’s growing on in there like the chard and celery, cherry tomatoes, hot peppers, some kale and I walk the garden rows whispering farewell to the once-luscious tomato and pepper plants and congratulate the hardy beets, chard, kale and turnips in the field for staying strong and the arugula and spinach for beginning.   I spend an hour at each day’s end free-ranging with the chickens.  I rake up some leaves and they follow me around picking worms.  We have five broody girls out of twelve hens right now and we get two eggs per day from the eight non-broodies, yes I said two – good grief.   

The Salsa Verde turned out great.  Green tomatoes don’t require the urgency of getting them cut and cooked as much as the red ones.  They’re not going anywhere very fast, so we’ll keep making the Salsa as long as we have the green tomatoes we picked.  

Here’s what to make next, this is a real thing – Nasturtium Pesto – so many leaves, so many flowers.  Stay tuned.  

October 26, 2016

OCTOBER - Outside and In

9:30 a.m.  Should I go out to look?  I don’t know.  It can’t be good.  I believe I picked the very last of the Cherry Tomatoes in the Greenhouse yesterday.  It was 30C in there by late afternoon yesterday when I was closing up and the tops of the plants had been bitten by the cold and were looking pretty sad.  I pulled off the many Hot Peppers that were either turning red or were of substantial size that they will turn red in the house.  Despite the rain which flooded the floors of both greenhouses on the weekend, I still need to water in there today or tomorrow.  

Last Thursday we planted several sections of Mesclun Mix, Cress, Green Mizuna and Ruby Streaks Mizuna, hoping they will be ready to eat next month.  We also sowed three kinds of Carrots and two types of spring Onions which should be ready in February or March.  Talk about planning ahead, eh.  

Indoors, we started Sunflower seeds and Peas for Shoots, Kale and Arugula for micro-greens.  These might be ready by Friday, it’s a guess at this point.  How about I add them to the list, if you order them and they are available, you’ll get them.  If they are not ready, then I’ll get them to you next week.  I’m not in the indoor planting routine quite yet.  

It looks like everyone, except Arlington Five, is taking a break from sprouts this week.  I do grow the Sandwich Booster Sprouts regularly each week and most likely have an extra bag or two.  Let me know if you’d like to order some.  Otherwise, I won’t grow the other kinds unless you specifically order them, for now.

The Spinach and Arugula in the field rows are growing wonderfully.  I think the next week or two might be the time to start cutting them for our meals.  The Kale is good and the Carrots need a little more time to grow.  

Here’s what I learned since last email:  written under Arugula on my seed packet is “The original love potion, Aphrodisiac of the Ancients”.  Well, it’s no wonder dining is Montreal and Quebec City is so wonderful, they put Arugula on every plate of food.  Even the mid-month Food & Drink magazine has it on an apple dish.  

It’s a fact that we are meant to keep moving.  When I’m out walking or running from garden to garden, yanking up weeds, dragging around 200 feet of garden hose, pulling a garden cart of freshly picked veggies or hauling bales of straw from the van to the chicken coop I feel absolutely wonderful.  When night comes and movement is halted by dinner, Netflix, reading or that darkness-inspired tired – that’s when the stiffness sets in.  Now is the time to get back to The Workshop Dance Studio to keep moving.   Tonight is the night to start back into the Aerobics.  Tom and I both enjoy the Saturday morning class too.  It sets the pace for the rest of the day, leaving us invigorated and ready to take on the world, or maybe a small corner of it anyway.  We’re also looking forward to the Thriller Dance Class October 31^st.  

We have a couple of spaces left for the Fab Fall Flavours Dine & Discover taking place here this Saturday, October 29 at 4:30.  See poster attached for details.  The cost is $25 which includes Soup, Main Course and Dessert focusing on fall harvest plus some time-saving cooking tips.  Carol Pillar is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist with her business, Wholesum Approach, and will be providing excellent health-wise advice for each item during the meal.  

To keep your body healthy this week, we have the following: 

Chard  $3/bag

Garlic  $2 each  

Herbs, fresh:  Citrus Thyme, Marjoram, Mint, Oregano, Sage, Savory, Sorrel, Thyme  $2/bunch or $5/mixed bag

Kale   $3/bag 

Mustard Greens  $3/bag

Onions, white and/or yellow  $2.50/pound  

Peppers, Sweet  $4/pound

Tomatoes, Green  $3/pound 

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

Tomato Sauce  $6 500/mL jar:  (tomatoes, onions, garlic, sweet peppers, hot pepper, basil and/or parsley and/or oregano all grown here, organic olive oil and sea salt)  The sauce is sealed in jars and will keep for a year on the shelf.

Granola, with fruit   $8 / 500mL jar  

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

Salsa, sealed in jars  (heirloom/organic tomatoes, onions, sweet peppers, apple cider vinegar, organic lemon juice, Tomato  paste,  jalapenos, garlic, oregano, cilantro, cumin, brown sugar, paprika, sea salt)  $8 / 500mL jar

Salsa VERDE, sealed in jars  (heirloom/organic green (unripe) tomatoes, onions, jalapenos, sweet peppers, garlic, fresh cilantro, lime juice, lemon juice, vinegar, sea salt, cumin, oregano, pepper, cayenne, sugar)  $8 / 500mL jar

Day Brighteners is a non-certified organic farm, where we practice sustainability and environmentally-friendly farming.  We use non-GMO seeds and products and take pride in all we do.  When I need to buy ingredients for sauces I prefer to buy organic.  If organic is not available I try to buy local.  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.  

11:00 a.m.  I did check on the Greenhouse.  The cold has snapped the tops off the cherry tomato plants so there will be no more cherry tomatoes this year.  We had a pretty good run with them though.  I do, however, have about 50 pounds of green tomatoes if you’re in need.   The salad seeds we sowed last week are just starting to germinate so I covered them to keep them a bit warmer since there’s no sunshine today.  Hooray for Salads-to-be.  

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).  See Contact information and email or call me.  Thanks.

Until next post, have a great every day.  

Jo

A Super Weekend Ahead

Tom and I were in Quebec City this weekend.  It’s very easy to get lost in the downtown, especially at night, twice.  Who made those streets anyway?

I told Carol we would eat in as many restaurants there as we could to get some ideas for our Fall Feast (more info on that to follow).  Our French Canadian neighbours certainly know how to put fabulous food on your plate.  One thing I noticed was that they use honey in many dishes.  I ate a pasta dish with various garden vegetables with pesto and Honey of all things.  It was wonderful.  I love pesto but the honey made for a really different taste, a subtle sweetness that took the edge off of the pesto for those who may not like that particular sharpness.

We also discovered a wonderful place which had local and organic foods.  We ate there twice.  For lunch on their sunny patio I had a warm beet salad with hard goat cheese julienned, arugula and truffle oil all topped with a poached egg.  I think there was honey in this dish as well.  For dinner there I ate the Herbed Risotto which, together with fresh herbs, had mushrooms and green shallots.  It was wonderful.   Rosemary grew in pots on the window sills.  Are more restaurants growing their own food and herbs these days or do I just migrate towards those that do?  This place has their own Bees!  On the roof!  How cool is that?  We bought a jar of their honey and I’m looking forward to using it for some unique dishes. 

The drive was spectacular as the leaves have changed much sooner than ours in Ontario.  Every bend in the road was a feast for our eyes.

On the way home we stopped at a small town gas station where they had huge, and I mean huge, bags of carrots, apples and corn kernels.  We were told they were for the deer.  I asked and in both broken languages and many hand signals the young lady there, Tom and I were able to communicate that the apples were not sprayed and an enthusiastic nod was given to me when I said “organic/biologique”.   So we bought a couple of bags for applesauce.  When we continued our drive I said to Tom how nice it was that they care so much about the deer but before I finished my sentence realized my error.  You get it, right?  They aren’t really for the deer at all.

While making Tomato Sauce yesterday I giggled to myself and thought I’d let you know that the vegetables are all roasted first, which sometimes leaves a bit of “burntness” to the tips of them that might be closer to the oven top.  If you see any little bits of blackness in your sauce that’s what they are.  I then run them through the food processor which allows me to keep all the nutritioness of the tomato seeds and peels rather than removing these like some other recipes call for. 

I added a new page to this blog named “Ingredients List” but I can’t figure out how to get it to actually be on the blog.  I’ve named it, added to it, published it, but it’s not there when I View Blog.  I don’t know, it’s frustrating. 

We ate spaghetti squash smothered in tomato sauce here last evening.  I had forgotten how much I like spaghetti squash.  Note to self: buy some at the market on Saturday.

I see the days for the week and weekend ahead should be wonderfully warm and sunny.  If you’re looking to put some deliciousness on your tables, indoors and out, this weekend please consider the following and keep in mind food such as jars of applesauce, granola, tomato sauce, salsa, and pesto also make nice hostess gifts :

Beets:  Chioggia, Reds and Golden Mix – or specify:  $3 / pound

Chard  $3/bag

Garlic  $3 and $2 each  depending on the size – please specify when ordering - thanks  

Herbs, dried:  Sage, Savory, Thyme – for your turkey stuffing  $3 / bundle of the three

Herbs, fresh:  Citrus Thyme, Dill, Marjoram, Mint, Oregano, Sage, Savory, Sorrel, Thyme  $2/bunch or $5/mixed bag

Kale – limited amounts – you really love your Kale   $3/bag

Onions, white, yellow  $2.50/pound  

Peppers, Alma Paprika  $4/pound  

Peppers, Sweet  $4/pound

Tomatoes  $3 pound  We’ll see what’s out there and pick what we can

Tomatoes, cherry  $4 pound  We’ll see what’s out there and pick what we can

Turnip  Purple Top White Globe, large  $3/pound

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

Tomato Sauce  $6 500/mL jar:  (tomatoes, onions, garlic, sweet peppers, hot pepper, basil and/or parsley and/or oregano all grown here, organic olive oil and sea salt)  The sauce is sealed in jars and will keep for a year on the shelf.

Granola, with fruit (cherries and blueberries) $8 /500mL jar  (with pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon)

Granola, with nuts and fruit (cashews, walnuts and cranberries) $10 /500mL jar (with pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon)

Pesto  $4.50 /125mL jar (organic basil grown here, parmesan cheese, organic olive oil, walnuts, organic garlic grown here, sea salt, pepper)  I made extra last week and froze it. 

Salsa, sealed in jars  (heirloom/organic tomatoes, onions, sweet peppers, apple cider vinegar, organic lemon juice, Tomato  paste made from tomatoes grown and dehydrated here,  jalapenos, garlic, oregano, cilantro, cumin, brown sugar, paprika, sea salt)  $8 / 500mL jar

Sprouts:  $3/bag

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

Crunchy Bean Mix  (peas, lentils & garbanzos)

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 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'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).  See Contact information and email or call me.  Thanks.

Until next post, have a great every day.  

Jo