It is Starting to Look Like Fall

You just have to love the colours of fall.  The vibrant reds, yellows and especially orange.  Our pumpkins are looking great this year, there are lots in the field and some are on display.

Our fall mums have just arrived turning our courtyard area into an explosion of colour.  Just what we need on a rainy day.

We'll soon have cornstalks, straw bales, pumpkins, gourds and Indian corn available for sale to help your place look great for the fall season.  The mums are a good start.

THANKSGIVING IS JUST  A MONTH AWAY - IT'S TURKEY TIME!
It's early this year so start your planning now.  Our turkeys are thriving and will be fresh, dressed and ready for Thanksgiving dinner, you just need to invite them.  Our turkey order book is ready and waiting.  We need a 4 pound weight range along with a preferred weight so we can match one of our turkeys to your needs.  The usual guideline is 1 to 1 1/2 lbs/ person depending on age, appetite and how many left overs you want.

Fall is Fun on the Farm - Be a Part of It

It will soon be pumpkin time.
We are currently accepting applications for our farm market and Harvest Festival Fun.  Do you enjoy working with the public?  Enjoy the outdoors?  Enthusiastic?  Willing to learn new skills?  Can commit to working every weekend until Oct 31st?

We need people with good communication skills, who are flexible and willing to do a variety of jobs.  Openings available for tractor driving, bakery, cashier, grounds care, puppetry....

Join a great group of people who are working hard helping our customers make memories and create traditions.  We're bringing people back to their rural roots and presenting the fun side of farming.

An application form is available on our employment page.  Please complete and submit in person to our Markham farm market.

Work While your Kids are in School

Fall harvest season is quickly approaching and we're getting ready for our school tours.  Do you love working with kids?  Enjoy the outdoors?  Combine these two activities during our Pumpkin tour season.  Work with a group of enthusiastic and creative people.

We are currently accepting applications for instructors to work with preschool to grade 3 students in our school tour program. Farm experience is an asset but not essential. Previous experience working with children and/or in school volunteer experience is required.

An application form can be found on our employment page.  Please complete and include a reference from a supervising teacher of your volunteer experience.  Submit application in person at our farm market.

Open Labour Day Monday

We're open Labour Day Monday with lots of fun and great food.  Our 2 acre corn maze is now open and our Enchanted Forest has reopened for the fall season.  There really is a solution to our No Left Turn maze.
Gala apples are sweet, crunchy and a great size for school lunches.  The Nantes carrots are sweet and kids love them.  So much great food at this time of year.

Come on out and enjoy the day.
It is sunny and beautiful.

Gala Apples are here

Jim was out today to Port Burwell to pick up the Gala apples, a nice sweet, red apple.  The mac's are still green and need a week or two to colour up.  The Ginger Gold are finished for the season so to all who enjoyed them, you'll have a year of anticipating their return.

Our tomato harvest is in full swing.  Now is the time to can as supply is very good.  We have round field tomatoes and romas available.

Labour Day weekend is here.
The Enchanted Forest is reopening and our 2 acre corn maze is opening for the season.  Get lost in the corn and use your fingers to find your fortune.
Come out and enjoy a visit.
We are open Labour Day Monday 9 -6

Tomato Harvest Begins

We have started to pick our own tomatoes for the market.  It is easy to see that this summer is not like the last.  Between the heat, weeds, insects and hail the crop isn't as beautiful as last year.  They do however taste great!!!
Our tomatoes may not win the beauty contest this year (runner up possibly) but they sure win in flavour.

Give them a try.  After all beauty is only skin deep.

Heirloom tomatoes are beginning as well in a limited supply. Look for them near our cherry tomato display.

Bushels and 1/2 bushels of round and roma tomatoes should be in good supply soon.

Ontario Apples are Here

Some farmers in Ontario do have an apple crop. Jim is on his way today to pick up some Ginger Gold apples, a delicious, sweet and crunch early apple from a farm in Simcoe County that escaped the major freeze in April that affected much of the apple, cherry, plum and peach crops in Ontario, New York state, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

We had the pleasure of touring Watson Farms in Bowmanville yesterday along with fellow members of Ontario Farm Fresh Marketing Association for our annual social. Paul and his family told us of the sleepless nights in late April spent burning hay and straw in their orchards to ward off the freeze. It worked and they managed to save the majority of their apple crop. They have a beautiful orchard and the trees we saw were loaded with apples. We snacked on a Ginger Gold apple right off the tree, mmm.. tasty.

Many growers were not as fortunate in saving their crop. The prevailing mood among the members was not of defeat but in determination to make the best of a bad situation. They are channeling their creativity into how to tell their story and present an exciting outing to their farms this fall. Check with your favorite pick your own apple orchard and find out what they're doing.

Farmers are a resilient group; not all news about the weather is bad. The province is so variable in it's weather patterns that not all farms have been devastated by drought or the late frost. Our pumpkin crop is looking fantastic and we are getting ready for the fall season. Our school tour program is booking up and our Harvest Festival will be happening each weekend in October.
Crops we are harvesting right now - tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant and spanish onions.

We'll be supporting Ontario apple growers by selling only Ontario apples, even though some varieties might be missing. We ask for you to support Ontario farmers; look for and buy Ontario apples. Get outside, visit a farm this fall. Check out www.ontariofarmfresh.com We'll all be happy to see you.