This week is the first week of summer share pickups! The garden is really starting to shape up and harvesting your first shares this morning was very satisfying. A warm welcome to all of our members this year, those returning and those of you new to the farm. This year we have quite a few new members as our bi-weekly share option, which we first offered last season, has become very popular and has meant that we are able to offer our produce to more people in the community. To these members, and as a reminder to returning members, let us introduce ourselves!
Your food is grown at Cedar Down Farm, in lovely Grey County on the territory of the Saugeen Ojibway Nation, just over an hour north of Guelph. Jeff Boesch and I (Leslie Moskovits) own the land and the business and have the great good fortune to work with an incredible group of farmers – Jessica Martin, Connor Ross, Madeline Marmor and Ahren Hughes. We farm about 7 acres of certified organic vegetables to fill your shares with another 7 or so acres in cover crop for garden rotation.
Each week you will receive a selection of what is ready in the garden which you can choose from at your pickup each week (or every other week). These veggies were all planted from seed, weeded, cared for, harvested and delivered by us!
This farm is a place where we hope to be able to provide nourishment for our community both human and non-human by growing quality vegetables in a way that attempts to protect and nourish the land that is providing for us and all of it’s inhabitants. We use soil-building practices like intensive cover cropping, reduced tillage and the use of compost. We maintain wild spaces on the farm where birds, animals and insects can thrive and we honour and protect the human beings working on the farm by paying a living wage and providing a safe and equitable workplace (we hope – feedback is always welcome). In doing so, we are able to produce food that we can feel good about providing to our community and hope that it nourishes and sustains you.
This year we are thrilled to be bringing our produce to the Guelph Farmers Market on Thursday evenings. 10Carden, the community organization which now operates the market, has offered a dynamic space for us and other vendors to provide for the community on Thursdays. Our members will be able to pick up their veggie share at the market and have access to the products of other vendors as well. We think it’s pretty great and hope our members enjoy it.
These first shares are filled with the specialties of early summer – greens and crisp things like kohlrabi, radish and turnip. They are just what the body needs after a long winter without fresh garden things. Enjoy!
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