Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Celebrate Honey Monday August 6th

Our Spring Blossom Honey is now available. Come Monday August 6th, the Civic Holiday, to celebrate all the hard work the bees do to give us honey. Enjoy the farm and all our weekend activities. Learn more about bees and the honey making process with extra activities throughout the day. Best yet sample the different honeys we have to offer. This is the last weekend in August our Enchanted Forest is open. We use the time this month to freshen it up, getting it ready for the fall. So, enjoy a walk in our woods this weekend. The Enchanted Forest reopens Labour Day weekend. Wagon rides around the farm are still available. Check out our website for details.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

SWEET CORN IS HERE!!!!!!!!

It is Awesome in name and flavour. Awesome is a gourmet sweet, peaches and cream corn that is a nice combination of sweetness and corn flavour. With proper refridgeration it should stay sweet for a few days. For optimal flavour it is still best to only get what you can eat that day. Currently the corn is from Tillsonburg (southwest Ontario) and as the season progresses in a couple of weeks it will be from our area. PEACHES should also be headlined. With the hot weather I am finding they are sweeeeeeter than usual. This is turning out to be a very sweet posting. I love this time of year for eating as there is a nice selection of berries (yes we still have a few raspberries, don't delay) and tree fruits such as peaches and plums, nectarines and apricots should be in soon. The potatoes are sweet, the carrots, FIELD TOMATOES HAVE STARTED,and they're sweet. The list goes on. Pick your own beans from the field here in Markham, looks like some peas may be ready in the field soon. OUR SPRING BLOSSOM HONEY IS ARRIVING TODAY. Eagerly anticipated and not to be missed the first harvest of the season from our bee hives is coming into the market today. Relish the season - There is an abundance of cucumbers and zucchinis from our fields right now and NOW is the time to make your relish. Don't wait till you feel like it because these crops are fickle and may not be available when you want them. ACT NOW and you'll be glad this winter as you enjoy the taste of the summer harvest in a jar. With the cooler weather here for a few days come on out to the farm. ENJOY THE SWEETNESS OF SUMMER AND THE FUN. Who knows how long before the next heat alert.

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Summer is in full swing and its HOT

I know I don't have to tell you just how hot!!! What has it done to the crops? They're growing fast along with the weeds, are ready sooner than expected and ending faster than we want. Strawberry season was a success, we had berries up until Thursday - longer than most growers in the GTA. We'll be getting the field ready for next year as next years fruit buds form in August. We've been spending a lot of time keeping the weeds from overwhelming our crops with some hand pulling and trimming with the weed wacker. Cultivating the fields has become a full time job. Crops we are harvesting right now are- beets, zucchini, cucumbers and beans. You'll find Dan and Molly Wednesdays at the Whitby Farmers Market, and Saturdays at the Markham Farmers Market. James is at the Oshawa Centre Farmers Market on Fridays. Our Greenbank Farm market is open for the season Thursday to Sun from 9 till 5. This is the first year we have remained open after strawberry time. Come visit and see what we are up to. Weekday wagon rides are proving popular, they are available 11:30 till 1:00 at our Markham farm. We are looking forward to SWEET CORN. The early varieties are in but we just don't find them sweet enough. In our opinion anticipation is sweetly rewarded by waiting at least a week for the corn to be trully delicious. We will have peaches and cream sweet corn our markets by Friday July 20th.

Thursday, July 5, 2012

We Still Have Strawberries

Even though this heat is shortening our season we still have strawberries for picking at our Greenbank farm, just 10 minutes east of Uxbridge. Don't delay as we're not sure when the picking will end. Right now it is still good although berries are smaller in size. Come in the mornings when it is cooler, the berries will keep better. We are open at 9:00am. Jim has been irrigating to give the plants some relief form the heat. Fresh picked berries are still available at both our farm locations. We're looking forward to more crops coming ready - We have been harvesting beets, peas and zucchini. Cucumbers are about to start. We hope to have early Ontario sweet corn in our markets soon.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Kids and strawberries

Is it hot enough for you. This heatwave can be stifling but it actually is cooler in the country. I was amazed yesterday at the temperature difference between our Markham and Greenbank farm. It felt at least 5 degrees cooler here in Greenbank with the nice breeze we had. This heat is ripening the berries fast so don't delay in getting yours. We're open at 8:30am in Greenbank till 7:30pm weekdays and 9:00 to 5:00 weekends for picking. Have your kids come meet our kids. Piper and Joy are week old twin goats that we have had to bottle feed. They love all the attention they can get. The pictures are from a recent night when they needed babysitting. Zena was very motherly and the kids being young look to all sources for food. You can visit them in Greenbank.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Fathers are special on the farm

A lot of attention is paid to moms and babies on the farm each spring but lets not forget about dads. We're celebrating dads on the farm this Fathers Day with free admission to our Markham farm'n fun for Dads of all ages when they bring their kids. So come on out to the farm Dad and have your kids meet our kids.

Strawberries are here

Farming can be a challenge and one of the main challenges is predicting when a crop will be ready for picking. Like the weather reports a week can make a big difference in what you predict and what happens the day of. This past weekend we had one variety of berries just starting to ripen and we were picking for the market in Markham. The other varieties looked like they would be ready in more than a week away. The heat way hits and THE STRAWBERRIES ARE RIPENING FAST!!!! Farmer Jim now thinks we will be opening here in Greenbank for pick your own and fresh picked strawberries Sunday June 17th - just in time for Fathers Day. Please call 905-985-6749 before coming for exact opening day and hours. FRESH PICKED STRAWBERRIES ARE AVAILABLE AT OUR MARKHAM FARM!! The crop in Greenbank is looking good and we have a good supply of our early berries at our Markham farm location. Peas are early this year and we are picking them for the market as well. We may have pick your own peas in Markham by this weekend. STRAWBERRY SEASON IS HERE. GET YOUR JAM JARS READY SO YOU DON'T MISS THE PEAK OF THE SEASON.