Welcome, April!
We’ve had a busy Spring Break this week, filled with farm visitors and fun at the Winter Fair!
April is the waiting month. We are close to being able to start planting, but we are waiting for the snow to melt, waiting for the soil to warm up, and waiting for the veggies to germinate! Case in point: Peppers. They’ve felt extra slow to us this year, but we’ve got a few jalapenoes popping up now:
This week Jon cleaned the chicken coop, in anticipation of 50 new souls arriving on the farm April 5th. We made the mistake of waiting until the ground was soft last spring and that made a mess, so this was an improvement. What I love about farming is that you are always adjusting and making things around you a little bit better. Sometimes you only get one chance a year to get something right, but over the course of the farm, that still works out to lots of chances.
Will 2023 be the year that we reflect on long into the future as “the year we had perfect weather” or maybe “the year we had a complete crop failure of “X” crop”, or even “the year we cleaned the chicken coop at the right time”?? Impossible to say, and I look forward to figuring out what sticks out this year as we celebrate growing together this season! In case you’re wondering, 2022 was “the year of the radish” (6 times in the CSA; a record, not a goal – reflective of the kind of season we had), and also “The year we realized our CSA sweet spot” (It had always been a goal to shift to only supplying CSA members, that was a change we made in 2022 and it worked out fantastically for us!) and related to that “The year we joined Local Line” (the software we use for our online store and ordering platform: gamechanger!).
It’s still too early to say what kind of growing season we will have in 2023, but one exciting thing that is definitely happening this year: “The year Jon and Teri see Wu-Tang live”! We found out they are touring with Nas and coming to Winnipeg October 10th. Sometimes we don’t get off the farm much, so this will be a fun cherry on top at the end of the season to look forward to. We really enjoyed the Wu-Tang documentary on Disney+, and enjoy their music often while we’re working.
Growing Update:
Veggie transplants are growing well. This week Jon seeded kale, and next week he starts tomatoes. We stage our veggie transplants to be ready at the right time for us, which often means a bit later than the earliest that is possible. Over the years we’ve learned that size isn’t necessarily an advantage. Early June is when a lot of our transplants go out into the field, and since we can’t do everything at once and we are a small team, it’s better to have things the right stage to work with that. Giant transplants take a lot of shock when they go out to the field, and once they’re in the field they are a lot harder to care for, so we try to choose the right time, not the earliest. We are also pretty risk averse: why put out 500 tomato plants too early and risk losing them? It’s just not part of the game we’re willing to play. It’s our primary goal to be able to provide our members with high quality and quantities of produce, not the egoic goal of having things first: That’s an aspect that matters more for Farmer’s Markets.
Easter Hams from Kylie and Tim!
We have been enjoying our turkeys and chickens from Tim & Kylie’s farm this winter, I’m looking forward to eating another turkey with some friends for Easter! (Or ham, so many options now it’s hard to decide what to do: Maybe both!)
Tim & Kylie have some Easter Hams available and will be delivering to Brandon area this coming week, prior to Easter. Here’s the info:
We will have smoked and cured available.
Hams will be between 5-8 pounds. Clients can send a preferred size and we can do larger hams as well if they would like 12+ pounds.
Pigs are raised outside and fed a mixture of peas, wheat and milk.
Cured hams are 6.50 per pound
Smoked hams are 8.00 per pound.
Order via email to gralynn2017@gmail.com, connect on Instagram @gralynn2017, or call 780-972-2166
Whatever you’re doing for Easter, I hope it is delicious!
Fun Stuff
Highlights of the fair included seeing some of Myrah’s classmates, her assisting the magician with a trick on stage, and I’m sure she would say that water ball ride was worth every penny! My favourite part was watching the guy loading the kids into the balls, how he would maintain zero reaction while bopping them into the water!
Some other projects we’ve been enjoying lately! I will finish my sweater this weekend, I’m over halfway done the second sleeve now (this photo is from last weekend). After this I’ll take a break on the bigger projects until I start getting Christmas gifts ready. I am looking forward to having a new sweater to wear! The second photo shows Jon working on an igloo, something we’ve been having fun with lately. We have watched a few different videos on how to build one and still haven’t successfully seated a roof, but there’s always next winter to keep practicing! Cutting blocks from the snow with a wood saw is pretty fun. Stacking them is fun, too. My goal is to someday build one sufficient to spend the night in! Apparently 2 experienced Inuit people can build one in under an hour. How’s that for a goal?!
In the background of the igloo photo is our house boat, the Delta Queen II. Built by my great-Uncle Art in the 1960s, she will celebrate the 60th anniversary of her first launch (1963) this summer. She will celebrate on land, without an engine – my Dad moved her to our place last fall and we anticipate fixing up the ceiling and interior and using it more like a guest cabin than a boat. We love sitting on the back deck up in the trees and reading, or watching the trains roll by.
Books on the go right now are David Icke’s “The Trap” (me) and Jon is reading “Egyptian Cosmology” by Moustafa Gadalla.
I’m trying to remember to share a new recipe each time I write, but I’m bad for not following them and then having nothing to share! Fortunately Jon is a baker and he does follow recipes. Here’s his second attempt of Boston Cream Pie, which was better than the first (which was also perfectly acceptable!). He uses the recipe from The Joy of Cooking.
Veggie Lovers Club CSA
Thanks to everyone who has renewed their shares for 2023: we had our strongest renewals ever this year!
We’re wrapping up renewal registrations for our CSA today, and will reach out to those registered in our Local Line store early next week (hopefully Monday April 3) to fill a few remaining spaces in Brandon. We continue to accept public and renewal registrations in Rivers until we fill up.
If you know anyone in Rivers who may be interested, please share the above poster with them, or have them email me!
Beginning in May we will have some things available at Walker’s Greenhouse — I’ll keep you posted!
Until then, Happy Waiting Season!
–Teri 🙂
Brown Sugar Produce 
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