The New Year is coming

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas day. We were busy with family from breakfast right through to dinner and managed to have a relaxing time at church. It was a pause that refreshed helping us focus on the reason for Christmas. We're very fortunate to have Jim's parents still with us, his Dad is 92 and misses being out selling the trees. We had to be careful not to wear them out with all the festivities.

Our farm and market is closed until the first weekend in May. Winter is our pause in the year, a time to reflect on the past season, rest, re-energise and plan for the new season to come. We're working on our barn in Greenbank with a future market in mind as well as considering which crops to add next year.

Tis the season of conferences, workshops and farm shows. I'm researching hedgerows that would add beauty, diversification for wildlife and possibly some interesting berries for jams. Lynda and I will be getting together to make our shepherds pies, steak and mushroom pies and possibly some more turkey pies. The winter will go by very quickly.

May your winter be short and sweet. Stay safe.
See you first weekend in May when the fun and food begins again.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Christmas is coming,

the goose is getting fat, please put a penny in the old man's hat. If you haven't got a penny a half penny will do. If you haven't got a half penny then God bless you.

Is the tune running through your head now? I remember my Grandfather telling me of the time when he was a boy that he had to memorize this verse and say it at the front of his class. His family were homesteaders in Saskatchewan and lived initially in a sod house while the wood house was being built and the land was being cleared. Oh how I miss him at Christmas. It can be such a family time, a time to reminisce of years gone by.

We have had a great Christmas season seeing you and catching up with the events in your year. The kids are growing - off to school, finished school, getting married, grandchildren being born. We've been selling Christmas trees for 25 years now and some of you have been coming for that long.

We have exciting news - Heather, our wee petite staffer that you'll see mostly in the bakery when she isn't in school, is now engaged to be married to a wonderful young man Thomas. We're so happy for them. She'll be working the 22nd and 23rd so if you stop in, give her your best.

We'll be busy these next few days baking and organizing turkeys. We still have some beautiful balsam and fraser fir Christmas trees and you can still order a fresh turkey. Our lives can be so busy that for some it seems Christmas has snuck up on them and oh my gosh its only 6 days away.

Thanks for taking this moment to read this blog. As another famous charactor at Christmas says-
Merry Christmas. God bless you one and all.

Christmas is almost here!

Wow, how time has flown - Christmas is in 2 weeks.

We've been busy decorating, baking and making our turkey and chicken pies. The meat pies are now available in our freezer. They're a great quick meal solution for busy times.

Fresh Turkeys

Don't delay in ordering yours. We've got our order book ready and waiting. I don't tend to have extras at Christmas so it is best to place an order. We will also have really large turkeys available this year - great if you're having a big gathering or just love left overs.

Christmas Trees

The Fraser fir and Balsam fir trees are beautiful and we've got a nice selection. On the warmer days it smells like we're in a forest. Both types of trees are good choices at this time - the Fraser fir is recommended if you leave your tree up for a long time and need strong branches for all your ornaments. The balsam fir has an amazing smell but does tend to drop its needles after a few weeks - I like to keep it up for only 3 weeks. We will not have spruce or pine trees this year due to lack of demand.

We've also have wreathes and cedar roping; I love the greenery this time of year.

Christmas Cookie Platters

are brimming over with shortbread, gingerbread, mini tarts and more. Don't you just love an occasion that gives you reason to indulge in some delicious goodies. These cookie trays are great for office parties, as hostess gifts or just as a thank you to those special in your life.

We love Christmas and we enjoy helping make it more special for you. We're open daily till Christmas eve day. We'll then be closing for the winter and reopening the first weekend in May.

Have a very Merry Christmas and may you have many blessings in the days to come.

Christmas Trees are Here!

Oh the excitement of Christmas and the anticipation of enjoying the wonders of the season. We love the tradition of bringing nature into our home with the beauty and smell of a fresh Fraser fir. We choose the Fraser fir because of it's good needle retention for the room we put it in is a warm one and it does have a nice scent but the best scent comes from the Balsam fir tree.

With regular watering we find the Fraser fir is a nice long lasting tree - at least 4 weeks inside and the Balsam fir is good for approximately 3 weeks indoors. We'll give your tree a fresh cut so you can put it up right away.

This will be our 25th year that we have fresh cut Christmas trees at the farm. Fraser fir and balsam fir trees are now available along with wreathes and cedar roping. Hot cider is waiting for you in the market along with other Christmas goodies, shortbread cookies are baking and our Christmas cookie platters will be available early December. I'd also recommend the Kawartha Dairy Eggnog - it is so creamy!!!

Time to Order Your Fresh Christmas Turkey
We've got our order book ready and waiting. I don't get many extra turkeys in for Christmas so it is best to get your order in early. We're taking orders for fresh baked pies as well.

Our Turkey and Chicken Pies will be ready by Dec 3rd.

Our last batch of fresh Chickens will be in the market Friday December 2nd by 1pm.
Let us know if you would like us to set some aside for you. We'll be calling everyone on our Chicken list this week as well.

Tiem to stock up the freezer for winter with our naturally raised pork and beef. Our gluten free pork sausage, naturally smoked hams and bacon are now in the display freezer. Our beef will be ready soon, it's just aging for about another week. Food makes for a nice Christmas gift for those who have everything.

The Chickens are Coming

We will be getting our second to last batch of our fresh chickens back from the processors this Tuesday, November 15th and Geri and I will be in the market from 10am till 1pm. Even though we are not officially open Tuesdays in November you are welcome to come in during this time to get some. We will be reopening Thursday from 9am till 5pm.

If you are unable to come in Tuesday and would like us to save some for you please call the market at 905-887-1087, wait for the beep at the end of our message and then leave us your name, phone number and the quantity and approx size of chicken you would like. We'll set them aside for you.We are putting any unsold chickens into the freezer Thursday night.

Our last batch of chickens will be in approx 2 weeks. If your name is on our chicken call list we have already started phoning. If you would like us to remove your name from our contact list please let us know.

Countdown to Halloween

Wow... 3 more days or sleeps (whichever way you want to look at it) to Halloween. We've got some special activities planned to make the last weekend of our Harvest Festival special. Come on out and enjoy. We've still got a good selection of pumpkins in our Pumpkin Corral and field.

The farm is much better when you dress for the weather - boots, warm coats, hats and mitts are recommended. We have had rain this week but most of the farm isn't mucky, just in some spots. Being open to the wind you'll also find we're a few degrees cooler than the city. There is lots of fun to be had so don't let the weather spoil it.

Northern Spy Apples are here!

We waited till after the frost and now spy apples along with russet apples are available in a limited supply in our market. Get them before they're gone.

We're open until December 24th

Enjoy the peacefulness on the farm following the festivities of October. Our farm animals love to visit and the wagon rides and Enchanted Forest are open the weekend of Nov 5th and 6th. Our farm is open Thursday to Sunday 9-5 in November except for Sunday November 6th we are open 1:00pm till 5. Kennedy Rd is closed that morning for a fund raising marathon run.

Pumpkins, Pumpkins, Pumpkins

Wow, too bad the Thanksgiving weather hasn't stuck with us. The weather isn't that bad if you dress for it, so don't let it stop you from enjoying the farm. Our pumpkin corral is filled with pumpkins of all sizes; so many to choose from.

Our Harvest Festival is in full swing each weekend in October. We put last weekend with the rainy Saturday to good use and TA DA we now have a NO LEFT TURN MAZE for your enjoyment. So come on out, there is lots to do.

It's Party Time October 29th and 30th
Join us the last weekend before Halloween for some extra special party fun. We've got some extra special activities for the kids planned for this weekend along with the special Harvest Festival activities. Let's end October on a high note and party, party, party!!!!!!