CELEBRATE THE COMING OF CHRISTMAS

CHRISTMAS TREES ARE HERE
Our Fraser Fir and Balsam Fir trees have now arrived along with a small number of pine. With the summer so wet the trees are lush and green and smell great. We have sizes ranging from table top (urn) size to over 10 feet tall.
If you wish to put up a live tree early the Frasers have the best needle retention. Ensuring you have a fresh cut on the trunk before putting the tree in its stand and checking twice daily to water it is usually enough to keep the tree fresh. We've had really good feedback from customers on our Frasers.

WE'RE NOW OPEN DAILY TILL DECEMBER 24TH
Our farm and market is now open daily 9 till 5. We will be open 9 till 6 beginning Thursday December 3rd and have a few late evenings till 7:30 weeknights during the next couple of weeks. Please call 905-887-1087 for the exact evenings open next week.

FRESH CHRISTMAS TURKEYS
We're taking orders now, it's never too early. These turkeys are delicious and raised humanely - grain fed with no animal byproducts or hormones in their feed.

INDULGE YOUR SWEET TOOTH
We're baking pies throughout December - place an order if you are having a special function, we'll bake them fresh the day you want them. Christmas Eve is a busy baking day for us so place an order to ensure you get the pies you want.
Rebecca has baked more of her Christmas cookies and party trays will be ready beginning Dec. 3rd. These are great for office parties, hostess gifts or just to have on hand for when company comes calling.

Our animals in the Barnyard Adventure area have gone to their winter home. The animals in the barn are still here for you to visit. Admission to our fun area is free till we close on Dec. 24th.
Wagon rides, the Enchanted Forest and Barnyard Adventure activities will resume when we reopen for the season the first weekend in May.

HAVE A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS

OPEN UNTIL DECEMBER 24TH

Hi everyone,
I hope you had a safe and fun Halloween. Thanks to all who visited the farm especially in spite of the weather.
November is a quieter time and it gives us a chance to catch our breath. We like to keep the fall look until late November but this year with all the grey weather in October you'll see some Christmas decorations earlier. The colours are so cheerful.

CHRISTMAS TREES
start arriving November 20th. We'll have mostly Fraser Fir trees this year as they have proven to be the most popular. They are the best tree to get early as they hold their needles well.

HONEYCRISP AND NORTHERN SPY APPLES
are in good supply in our market. Root crops keep well this time of year and are in abundance. Have you tried our Ontario sweet potatoes yet? They are amazing.

NOVEMBER 7TH AND 8TH WILL BE THE LAST WEEKEND OF THE SEASON FOR THE WAGON RIDES AND ENCHANTED FOREST
Weather predictions look good so far. Come on out and enjoy a nice walk in the woods. Our farm educator is also here to help you understand better where your food comes from.

CHRISTMAS TURKEYS
We are now taking orders for fresh, free range Christmas turkeys. Our Christmas baking and cookie trays will be available near the end of November.

PUMPKINS, PUMPKINS, PUMPKINS

IT'S PUMPKIN TIME
We've got pumpkins in the patch, pumpkins in the corral, pumpkins everywhere. Farmer Jim is pleased with his crop of pumpkins.
Our monster pumpkins are now here. You should see the size of them.
We've got little boo's for the tikes up to pumpkins weighing over 40 lbs. Start your weight training.

It's cold outside!!!!!
Don't let the weather change your plans. Dress warmly with layers and you should be fine. Wear hats and mittens plus winter boots to keep your feet warm. Some customers are bringing blankets for the wagon rides. Who knows - it might rain next week. At least this week they are calling for sun.

HOPE EVERYONE HAD A GREAT THANKSGIVING

HONEY CRISP APPLES ARE HERE!!!!!!

The waiting is over. Honey crisp apples are now available in our market. Their juicy sweet/tart flavour makes them a popular choice. They're great for eating as well as baking.

More varieties of apples are available now as well, late but now here are Macintosh, Empire, Gala and Spartan. Cortland are proving hard to get but we'll keep trying.

THANKSGIVING IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER!!!
Don't delay in booking your free range, grain fed turkey for dinner. We're taking orders now. The week of October 5th we'll also have fresh herbs available. We'll try to have fresh Ontario cranberries, we haven't seen them in the market yet. I do have a limited supply of frozen cranberries.

HARVESTFEST WEEKENDS begin this weekend.
Come and enjoy lots of harvest fun. Check out our web page for all the details. Looks like a nice weekend coming up so come on out and enjoy the fresh air.

PUMPKINS, PUMPKINS, PUMPKINS
Our pumpkin crop is fantastic this year. There are thousands to choose from of all sizes.

The Colour of Fall
Nothing like this season for it's vibrant colours. Garden mums, gourds, pumpkins, straw bales, Indian corn and corn stalks are available to make your home look great.

SEE YOU AT THE FARM

Fall is Here on the Farm

The beginning of the school year signifies to us here on the farm that fall has arrived. The corn stalks are cut for displays, pumpkins are ripening and adding colour to our courtyard and the garden mums have arrived. It is such a colourful time of year.

Honey
Our Spring Blossom Honey (also known as Strawberry Blossom ) is selling out. David and Joyce, our beekeepers have prepared the hives to enable them to harvest our Wildflower honey. This should be available in our market by the end of September. Both honeys have awesome flavour and are unheated and unfiltered (raw).
David and Joyce take great care in minding the hives keeping the bees healthy and happy. You can see the bees at work at the north end of our Barnyard Adventure area. Careful that you stay out of the bees flight path, they are very busy getting ready for winter.

Apples
Ginger gold are coming to an end, Macintosh have arrived and there will be more varieties as the season progresses. The cool summer has delayed the apples by about one week.

Tomatoes
Bushels of ripe tomatoes are in very short supply this season due to the slowness of their ripening with the cool nights. Having 2 weeks of sunshine is helping but demand far outweighs supply and you will see this reflected in increased cost.

October Fall Festival
will be beginning the first weekend in October and continue each weekend until November 1st. We're busy getting the farm ready for lots of fall fun.

Come on out while the farm is quieter and enjoy the fine weather. The corn maze is open and challenging, our Enchanted Forest has reopened and Owen our lamb is looking forward to seeing you on his weekend walks with our farm educator.
There's an abundance of colour you can take home to make your home look fabulous for the fall.

Thanksgiving Turkeys
We are currently taking orders for fresh, free range, grain fed turkeys for Thanksgiving. Book yours now so you won't be disappointed. Thanksgiving will be here quicker than you think.

Apples have begun

The summer season is in it's final stretch. It is unbelievable how quickly time flies.

Our sweet corn is now locally grown thanks to the oppresively hot weather we've just had. Corn loves the heat and you could see it growing from day to day. It is such an easy meal along with burgers and field tomatoes (now also available).

Apples have begun. We have Ginger Gold (sweet) and Paula Red (tart) varieties fresh picked in our market. These early apples need refrigeration to stay crisp. Look for a number of different apple varieties over the next few weeks. Royal Gala and Jersey Macs are coming soon. Regular mac's are usually in early September, Honeycrisp mid to late September.

We're now booking for our fall school tour program for preschoolers to grade 5. Early in the season the focus is on the harvest; pumpkins make for great decorations at Thanksgiving. Book early for the best choice of dates.

With the fall tour season we are also looking for tour instructors. Application forms are available on our employment page. It is a great job for homemakers who love working with children.

August Long Weekend

We will be open Monday August 3rd with all of our weekend activities, weather permitting.

This will be the last weekend for our Enchanted Forest until September. Come out and enjoy.

We will continue to have wagon rides in August every hour between 10:00 am and 3:00pm. Our admission price will reflect the nonavailability of the forest. We find August is a good month to repair and refresh the forest. It is also a very buggy month, the mosquitoes will miss you.

We now have Gourmet Sweet Peaches and Cream sweet corn. It just started today. This group of corn varieties has the sweetness of super sweets but a nicer texture and excellent corn flavour. The market is also filling up with other great Ontario fruit and veggies - GARLIC is now available. Peas, both sweet and sugar snap are still available for about one more week. The beans are great.

NANTES carrots will be available next week.

Sweet corn has started

Ontario peaches and cream sweet corn is now here. We currently have corn from Waterford, Ontario. Its super sweet and delicious.

The weather has been cool and wet which has been great for our pea crop. We've now started picking our latest planting and there's lots to pick. Our green and yellow beans are now ready for pick your own as well. The cool weather extended our strawberry season and today was the last day for berries.

PEACHES, plums, raspberries, blueberries and melons are in the market. Their flavour is amazing.
Raspberry season will last approximately one to two more weeks. Don't delay. Fresh picked berries are available in the market now.

Our corn maze is growing. We will have it ready for exploring Labour Day weekend.

We'll be open for fun Monday, August 3rd. This will be the last weekend to enjoy our Enchanted Forest. It will be closed for the month of August and will reopen Labour Day weekend. We take this time to refresh the walkway and make repairs. Wagon rides will still be available August weekends between 10am and 3pm.

Strawberry Season is winding down

Our last day for pick your own berries in Greenbank will be Friday July 10th. The season has been a cool one with the weather presenting a challenge. As with any other farmer we always are looking to next year being better. We have a new patch planted and are tending to it.

Fresh picked berries along with pick your own peas will still be available at our Markham Farm. We are now open daily 9 till 6. The peas have loved this weather and we've had our best crop yet. We have approximately 1 week left of pea season, don't miss it.

Sweet corn is on the horizon and should be available in approx. 1-2 weeks time. Call 905-887-1087 for current market updates on crops and activities.

Ontario cherries are here in our market now!

Mud and Toots and all the other animals will be glad to have you visit. Come and enjoy some time on the farm.

Summer is almost here

We're looking forward to some summer weather to give our crops a boost. We've had hints of it this week. Our strawberry crop is coming along - the berries are at the small green stage right now.
We hope to open our Greenbank farm for pick your own berries sometime around June 26th but please call for an exact date and time. 905-887-1087

Ewenice lost one of her male lambs last Wednesday. For some reason she would not allow him to feed and our attempts to keep him nourished failed. She now has twins to raise.

Mud and Toots are now at our Markham farm and loving all the attention. The two calves especially love their bottles of milk. Both are now onto eating hay and greens as well.

School is almost done for the year. Our school tours are winding down but our Summer Fun tours for camps and daycares are booking up. Check out our Summer Fun page if your group would like to visit our farm. Any groups who have the children that are not accompanied by their parents must book a structured tour to visit the farm.

We are currently hiring for market help. We need energetic, hard working individuals that work well with people and have good english communication skills who will be able to commit to part time employment until Oct 31st. Check out our employment page for an application form and come on in for a chat.

When you are in the market check out our butter tarts. They are awesome.

Ewenice has triplets

She gave us four lambs last year, this year it's three - two boys and a girl. Sunday at noon,
Ewenice gave birth to triplets and they are doing fine. We are monitoring them to make sure all are getting enough milk from mom, we may have to bottle feed one. They'll be really cute in a few days, right now they are all legs, their wool feels like popcorn kernels and they spend most of the time sleeping. Ben and Owen were visiting the farm with their families and witnessed the births, thus the two males are named after them and the female will be named Holly. Pictures will be posted soon.

COOL WEATHER IS AFFECTING CROPS

The cool weather is delaying the berry crop. We're starting to get a lot of requests for strawberries. We hope to have some fresh picked strawberries from southwestern Ontario in our market this week. Our own will not be for another two to three weeks. It is best to check in around the 15th of June. Pick your own berries will be at our Greenbank farm only this year.
The pea crop is loving this weather. Sweet peas and sugar snap (honey) peas will be ready near the end of June at our Markham Farm - fresh picked or pick your own. Call 905-887-1087 closer to the end of June for a more exact date.

WE'RE ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS

Our busy time is coming and we will have some market positions available. Successful applicants (aged 16 years or older) need to be able to commit to working part time for the duration of our busy season which ends after October 31st. Retail experience is not essential but fluency in english, enthusiasm in working with the public and being a good team player is.
We currently have great staff and if you feel you'd like to work hard, learn new things and never be bored fill out an application form found on our website and come on in for an interview.

Handy? Would love to work on a farm?

We are currently seeking someone who enjoys working with animals and interacting with people to do our weekday morning chores. Feeding the animals, cleaning pens, maintaining a safe environment. Interacting and communicating with our customers is an important part of the job. English is essential.

There can be things to fix and tractor work to be done at various times. Hours are part time mornings and can be variable.

Download an application form from our employment page and contact us.

Sheep Shearing Time

Spring is here. The weather is warmer and the sheep are sheared. Off with the old wool, making room for the new. Their wool coats are already starting to grow back.
The sheep will be back in Markham to welcome visitors.
OUR FARM IS OPENING FOR THE SEASON SATURDAY MAY 2ND.

Here are our new baby lambs

Here is a video of three of our newest additions. The kids just love them!

Spring is Here

The weather is warming up, the snow has melted and our water hoses are thawing. We're looking forward to a new season.
Our sheep and goats have had a productive winter. We now have 7 lambs and 7 kids born in the last month. They are lively, playing together and springing straight up like Tigger's bouncing. They are a joy to watch. The mothers have been good except for two slackers. We are bottle feeding a set of twin lambs and our youngest kid, born March 26th. All three are very excited and happy to hear us coming to the barn and are doing well.
Our market will be opening for the season Saturday May 2nd. We're busy booking school tours which begin late April, making turkey dinners to sell in the market and cleaning up to be ready for the season. Our artist Gillian is painting some more signs for us.
We are currently updating our website to make it more interactive. Check out the changes. Look for the coupons.
We have decided to ignore the doom and gloom of the economy and be optimistic about the future. Still, we have decided this year to keep our admission price the same for the 3rd year in a row keeping our farm a very affordable place for the family to come and enjoy a relaxing time together.
Looking forward to seeing you in May.