August 8, finally cooler weather Now harvesting and available at the farm and at market red, yellow and white potatoes, broccoli, cucumbers, kale, onions, beets, baby carrots, green and yellow cherry tomatoes.
Today I picked the first ground cherries The raspberries are almost over, a light crop this year. Don't forget the Thursday market at Riverside Park., only five market days left. Along with the Chili, beef burgers, hot dogs, salads and desserts, this week along with strawberry shortcake, cheesecakes. pictures to follow. 2016 calving almost complete. I think there are some nice calves playing in the pasture. Maybe I am a bit prejudiced! Check out the pictures and tell me what you think.
Another cold wet June is delaying final vegetable planting. Tomatoes planted outside the greenhouse are beginning to blossom despite the lack of warm weather. Needless to say the plants in the greenhouse are thriving. Hopefully by the end of the weekend everything will be in the ground except the ground cherries. Hascaps and currents bushes have bloomed and now have fruit. Strawberries are now in bloom. Now, we need warm sunny days. The Florenceville-Bristol Farm Market begins Thursday, June 30th running each Thursday ending September 8th. Make sure to mark these dates on your calendar. 2016 calving season began April 8th. Some pictures of calves and mums, more to follow.
Mother Nature is reminding us that it might be spring on the calendar, but winter is still with us.
Cows are patiently waiting to give birth, hopefully on warmer, sunny days. Warn and sunny weather is predicted for the rest of the week, but next week colder and rain, just what we do not want in calving season. My house is beginning to look like a greenhouse with tomato plants in various stages 10 inches down to 2 inches, transplanting as they outgrown their planting pots. Herbs and peppers coming along nicely. Next step will be getting the greenhouse warm enough to move everything into it. Betty Today the neighbour’s Christmas outdoor lights and the snowflakes gently falling, remind me that I need to get into the holiday activities. We do not take part in the commercial big ticket gift giving, but enjoy having as nice meal, and some special treats cooked only at this time of the year. My one big problem each year is to find the perfect cedar tree for our Christmas tree. So far no luck, but ten days to go!!! Surely I’ll find one.
For anyone thinking about the main course for a family meal, I would like to suggest roast beef. We visit family in Saint John and usually take a roast with us to cook for New Year’s day. I don’t follow a recipe for cooking meat as a rule, just open the cupboard and take out a few spices, etc. and add to the roast in the slow cooker. So far now failures. When someone asks me how to cook a roast or what to season it with, I have to rethink some of the meals I have cooked. The Magazine section of today’s Telegraph Journal suggest roast beef as a delicious meal for the holidays along with the ingredients I usually use. I would like to pass it on to anyone thinking they would like to try a roast of beef for the holiday entertaining. Check the recipe tab for this roast beef meal. 2015 has been a busy year for our family. Kevin and his family were left homeless April 20th when the century old house burned to the ground losing everything. Along with all the farm and market work, a new house has been constructed and they are moving into their new house before Christmas. We had a successful year at the farm market, adding another item to the beef menu, Kevin’s award winning chili. More vegetables and ground cherries than we had market for so lots of freezing and canning completed. On the livestock end we are making the final select of the number of replacement heifers to keep as well as checking with our beef customers to determine how many calves to keep for the freezer market. 2015 paperwork almost completed and now the seed catalogues are arriving encouraging the 2016 crop planning. Thank you to everyone who supported our vegetable/fruit and beef stands at the Florenceville-Bristol Market and Buttermilk Creek Venue this past year as well as the customers who deal with us at the farm. Your support is greatly appreciated. TO EVERYONE A HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON AND BEST WISHES FOR THE COMING YEAR. Betty and family |
Betty BrownLocal Farmer and food advocate Archives
August 2020
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