Vegetable Delivery Week 7 2016

June 24, 2016

Week 7

Here are some of the items you may be receiving in your delivery this week:

Kale, Danvers Carrots, Diakon Radish, Spinach, Rainbow Swiss Chard, Herb mixture of Mint, Oregano and Parsley

This week has brought an incredible amount of turmoil to the farm. The first one is the severe drought we are going through. Since early May we have had not one day of soaking rain. We have continued to watch it bypass the valley and our farm and head towards Halifax. This has meant that the fields have been needing hand watering which is both very hard on our bodies and nearly incomprehensible in volume of work. Sunday I ended up pinching a nerve in my shoulder and could barely move until Tuesday afternoon.

Tuesday morning found us suffering another huge loss. A raccoon had managed to get into the barn and disaster struck our laying flock. 2 Adults and 15 young layers were killed. I dealt with the situation and am still mourning the loss. That morning was a very painful experience for me. Additional layers are now on order to arrive in August.

Our meat birds are growing and the first ones will be ready in July. Turkeys also arrived on Friday which brought additional scheduling dilemmas.

Please pray for rain for our fields as it is dearly needed. I am concerned to the point that I will need to make a decision if we will be able to have a harvest this week or will have to cancel and hope to add one at the end of the season in spite of frosts.

I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend and enjoy the beautiful sunshine.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me. Enjoy!

Your Farmer,

Amber

Vegetable Delivery Week 6 2016

June 17, 2016

Week 6

Here are some of the items you may be receiving in your delivery this week:

Mesclun, Paris Market Carrots, Diakon Radish, Spinach, Rainbow Swiss Chard, Parsley and Kale

This spring there has been an extreme amount of temperature fluctuations. Cool/cold days mixed with hot ones and then long dry periods. Hopefully the weather will start to moderate and the plants will be able to relax and grow instead of being in a constant state of shock.

This week most items are very basic. Some of you may not be familiar with the Daikon Radish. It is a Japanese radish, slightly spicy and we’ve found best to eat sliced raw with your favourite dressing.

I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend and enjoy the beautiful sunshine.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me. Enjoy!

Your Farmer,

Amber

(902) 209-9205

Email: lochhillfarm@gmail.com

Vegetable Delivery Week 5 2016

June 10, 2016

Week 5

Here are some of the items you may be receiving in your delivery this week:

Red Choi, Golden Turnips with edible tops, Shanghai Bok Choy, Kogane (lettuce), Radishes, Rainbow Swiss Chard

Hello Everyone,

We continue to enjoy a large assortment of greens as always this spring and I am very excited to see the Rainbow Swiss Chard come available.

In addition to the greens for stirfry, saute and steaming we have an interesting fresh lettuce this week called Kogane. This delicate lettuce is in the mustard family so it has a little bit of a bitter bite at the end. Best paired with a cream or fatty dressing.

Easy Warm Bacon Dressing

Fry bacon in a pan until crispy remove and set on paper towels to drain then crumble. Take 3 tbsp of bacon fat and place in a jar, add 3 tbsp red wine vinegar 1 tbsp of Dijon mustard. Whisk together add the crumbled bacon and toss with your salad greens.

As for the turnips, the kids ate all the fresh roots last night is less than 3 minutes raw while I was preparing the tops to saute!

Other great news is the boys and I found the first little green tomatoes of the season starting!

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me. Enjoy!

Your Farmer,

Amber

(902) 209-9205

Email: lochhillfarm@gmail.com

Vegetable Delivery Week 4 2016

June 4, 2016

Week 4

Here are some of the items you may be receiving in your delivery this week:

Red Choi, Japanese Miniture Hakurai Turnips with edible tops, Beet Greens, Red Rain (serrated leaf salad green), Red Giant Mustard Green, Gunsho and Rhubarb.

Hello Everyone!

This week has a wonderful Asian flair to it. In addition to the beautiful beet greens and sweet rhubarb we have a delightful assortment of Asian greens for sautéing, plus a salad green.

First the salad green is called Red Rain it is the one with a serrated leaf.  Yummy.

The boys and I enjoyed the miniature turnips raw the other night it was delicious. You can also saute or steam the turnip bulbs, they do not need long as they are so delicate.

All the other greens are easily cooked as a stirfry, you can try them individually or create a mixture. The Red Giant is a mustard green which when cooked looses its heat and the Gunsho almost reminds me of fresh asparagus with its thick stems, personally the florets are my favorite.

The incredible amount of nutrients in these greens are amazing for your health. Whichever way you wish to eat them, maybe salt and pepper like my youngest, soy sauce like my oldest son or balsamic vinegar like me. Experiment and have fun.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me. Enjoy!

Your Farmer,

Amber

Vegetable Delivery Week 3 2016

May 27, 2016

Week 3

Here are some of the items you may be receiving in your delivery this week:

Purple Top Turnips, Mixed Spinach, Golden Beet Greens, French Breakfast Radishes, Rhubarb, Paplo, Ella Kropf and Mantilla lettuces, Chives, Edible Flowers.

Rhubarb has arrived! This is actually thought of as the first fruit of the season by many people. Pies, Compotes, Syrups are just a few of the possibilities to make with this yummy plant. This week the boys and I are making muffins.

Rhubarb and Walnut Muffins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease or line a 12 muffin cup pan.

Mix together: 2 ½ cups flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp baking powder, ½ tsp salt

In a separate bowl beat together with an electric mixer until smooth: 1 ¼ cups brown sugar, ½ cup vegetable oil, 1 egg, 1 tsp vanilla extract and 1 cup buttermilk.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix with a spoon until just blended.

Stir in 1 ½ cups diced rhubarb and ½ cup chopped walnuts. Spoon into prepared muffin cups.

Optional: Mix 1 tbsp melted butter, ¼ c white sugar and 1 tsp gr cinnamon. Sprinkle over uncooked muffin mixture.

Bake approximately 25 minutes checking with a toothpick for doneness. Let them cool in muffin pan for at least 10 minutes before removing.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.

Your Farmer,

Amber