squash, squash and more squash!

Come and get them! We have all kinds. It's time to make your favourite squash stew, roasted squash or soup.

Here is one of my favourite recipes. The best part is all of the ingredients can be sourced local and organic!

Squash stew

1/2 cup dried black bins or 1 can black beans, well rinsed and drained - if using dried soak for 8 hours, then cook for 1 hour
1 winter squash (hubbard, butternut etc.)
1 small red onion
5 cloves garlic, minced
Four ripe tomatoes (or 1 cup canned crushed tomatoes) Small bunch of basil or oregano chopped, or 2 tbsp dried Pinch of cayenne

Cut squash into chunks, removing seeds and skin. Steam them until a fork can be inserted (5-10 minutes, not too long since they will cook more later).
Saute the garlic and onions in a pot until soft. Cut the tomatoes into quarters and add to the pot. Then add the beans, squash and seasonings and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Thanksgiving Market and Gourds Workshop

Come out and enjoy the local, organic harvest. Apples, melons, potatoes, beets, carrots, cabbage, leeks, squash, pumpkins, fall decorative items and more...

Join us for our gourds workshop and squash swap from 10:00 am - noon.

Gourds are one of the oldest cultivated crops that are believed to have spanned the entire globe in prehistoric times. Gourds were most commonly used for storing supplies, hauling water, making cooking and eating utensils, musical instruments, bird feeders,bird houses, and rattles. Today gourds are still considered one of nature's greatest gifts to mankind.

Join us for a discussion of gourd growing and drying. Learn about the variety of vegetables in the cucurbits family and how to grow them organically. Bring a squash from your garden this season and swap it for a different variety.

Sept 26 update

We will be set up at the Wellesley Apple Butter and Cheese Festival on Saturday (in front of the Old Mill) so there won’t be a produce stand at Diversity Gardens for Saturday, Sept 26th.

- If you want produce this week - you can pre-order by contacting us at tschumilas@rogers.com and we will leave your order boxed with your name on it, on the vegetable stand. Please order by Friday am. You can just leave your payment in the container provided there.

Apples are coming now - we have Paula Reds (perfect for apple crisp and sauce) and Macs this week. More varieties to follow. Please let us know if you want a quantity of a particular apple and we’ll try to source organic for you.

Squash, squash and more squash. We are just starting to pick. Right now we have different types of spaghetti squash, pie pumpkins and North Georgia Candy Roaster.

Tomatoes have been hit by late blight everywhere - so they are dwindling now. This is likely the last week for tomatoes.

Leeks are being dug - so its the time for leek and potato soup for sure!

We expect to offer produce until October 31 - and that will be our last day. So - just a few more weeks. (Then I can sleep in on Saturday mornings finally!)

Canadian Heritage Tomatoes

Did you know that there are no longer any garden tomato breeding programs in Canada? All new varieties on the market are bred for American gardens and growing conditions. Most seed companies are importing seeds from other countries and tomatoes that were bred in Canada in decades past are being lost.

Join us at Diversity Gardens on Saturday, September 19th from 10am - 12 noon to explore why we need to save Canadian tomatoes and how we can do that. Taste test many varieties of organic heritage tomatoes, take home seed and stay for an afternoon tomato canning workshop.

Want to do more? Join Seeds of Diversity's Canadian Tomato project. Check it out at http://www.seeds.ca/proj/tomato/

local, organic apples at Diversity Gardens!

Come and get 'em! This week we will have Jersey Macs and Paula Reds.

Macs, Courtland and Spartans will be available mid September.


Why organic apples?
Apples, as all orchard fruit are one of the most heavily sprayed crops. The USDA Pesticide Data Program has found 42 pesticide residues on apples, and that is just from production. Before conventional apples make it to the grocery store displays they undergo a fungicide dip and shellac based waxing, and sometimes irradiation.

For more information:

Organic apple Production
http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/fruitover.html
http://www.certifiedorganic.bc.ca/rcbtoa/training/fruit.htm

Conventional apple production
http://www.whatsonmyfood.org/food.jsp?food=AP
http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/pub360/7appcal10.htm
http://postharvest.tfrec.wsu.edu/PC2004A.pdf
http://www.scribd.com/doc/13514892/Preservation-of-Fruits-by-Waxing

What's On Your Food?

Find out what chemicals and pesticides are on your favourite foods at www.whatsonmyfood.org.

harvest season is here

Summer seems to have come and gone, but that means we are heading into the fall bounty! Each week we will have a great selection of yellow and green beans, lettuces, potatoes, garlic, onions (red and Spanish), shallots, leeks, zucchini, beets, carrots, tomatoes (cherry, heritage, salad), squash, broccoli, cauliflower....and ready this week organic sweet corn!

We won't be updating the blog site for what is available each week at the market stand as much over the harvest season, unless there is something extra to highlight, but stay tuned for our Eating Organic blogs instead - recipes, tips and ideas for eating local and organic.

Also, check out our up and coming workshops at Diversity Gardens:

Seed Saving Garden Tours

Saturday, August 29, 10:00 am and 1:00 pm

Bring a bundle of envelopes and join us on a seed saving walk through our heritage flower and vegetable gardens. You will learn about pollination and how to save seeds for a wide variety of ornamentals and vegetables. Take seed home with you. Save Seed and Save the Future!

Preserving the Harvest - Canning Peaches

Wednesday, September 2, 6:00 - 8:00 pm

Want to enjoy fresh peaches over the winter? Join us for an evening session on canning basics. Each participant will take home 3 jars of peaches and all the information and skills needed to preserve peaches at home. We have ordered in spray and fungicide free peaches from Niagara. Space is limited to 10 participants, so register early!

Cost is $30 per participant. Register in advance by emailing us at cogpww@sympatico.ca

Rediscovering Canadian Tomatoes

Saturday, September 19, 10:00 am - 12:00 pm

Did you know that there are no longer any garden tomato breeding programs in Canada? All new varieties on the market are bred for American gardens and growing conditions. Most seed companies are importing seeds from other countries and tomatoes that were bred in Canada in decades past are being lost. But - you can save them!! Come learn to grow heritage tomatoes and save their seed. You’ll get a chance to taste true Canadian tomatoes and take some of their seeds home with you for next year.

August 8 Market

Drop by this week for beans, peas, beets, radishes, spinach, onions, garlic, lettuce, zucchini,
cucumber, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, spaghetti squash and the first tomatoes.

Also, maple syrup and dried black beans.

We are sold out of Millbank organic cheese, and organic maple butter but will have more next week!

Come Taste the Future

We had a wonderful event Sunday despite the rain. Our volunteer chef Pirapa made unbelievable appetizers, which were served under a large tent with the wonderful sounds of Charlene Zehr lingering in the background. I think everyone enjoyed a chance to chat about local and organic food systems, tour our demonstration gardens and hear about our latest research in producer-controlled distribution systems.

If you missed it - you may want to mark your calendar for our next event - August 29 – Seed Saving Tours at 10:00 and 1:00. Come out and see our gardens and harvest some seeds to take home to your garden for next year.

August 1 market

What...August already. Seems like summer has not even arrived and now it is over! But, the summer bounty is upon us and we are heading into the fall harvest...

This week at the market we will have:
- Lettuces (romaine and leaf), spinach, kale, chard, collards, summer cabbage, collards, green beans, zucchini, garlic, gr onions, Spanish onions, red onions, potatoes, beets, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumbers, raspberries, and blueberries.

- Also, eggs, maple syrup, dried black beans

- We are out of organic cheese from Millbank, but will be getting more soon. If you want to pre-order, join our buying club. For more details email us at cogpww@sympatico.ca.

Come check us out!

updates and summer rain woes

I’m getting quite used to be in the middle of something and suddenly get rained on. I’ve been dry and wet several times each day for weeks now. Its getting a bit tiresome.

Its getting to be problematic for the garden too. The cooler temperatures have really set the sweet potatoes, eggplant and peppers back. There are almost always peppers by now - and there is no sign of anything close. At least tomatoes are starting to ripen now, and there is of course tons of lettuce, kales, chards etc.

The wind has wreaked havoc with our row covers that we put over all the brassicas (Brussels sprouts, cabbage, collards, broccoli, kale). Its been next to impossible to keep it intact and covering the plants - so we’ll have to wait and see if we have cabbage worm damage!

The June bearing strawberries are finished now and we have mowed them down so they are ready to be revitalized with compost and weeded to help the berries prepare for a strong fruit set next year. The “day-neutral” berries (“everbearing”) are setting berries now for their second crop, which so far looks good.

All of the wheat straw we put down last month has meant for less than usual weeding - which has been great! But now with all this rain, all the wheat left in the straw has sprouted - so it looks like there is grass everywhere! Its a nice look I think - and a great cover crop to build soil structure - so of course we’ll leave it. But, we do need to pull it all from around the eggplants, peppers and tomatoes so that we can more easily harvest the fruits.

Unfortunately, all the areas where we didn’t get the straw spreading finished (the Hummingbird garden and herbs) are on the verge of being totally lost to weeds. If it ever dries out a bit out there, that will be a priority.

Beginning of August is when we usually begin planning in the greenhouse for our late fall harvest. So I hope to get some of that seed sowing done this week. Its always a bit of guess work - we need to sow early enough so that the day length is still long enough, but if we sow too early, the heat will make the lettuce and spinach bolt. (Not that we’ve had to worry about heat this year at all though!)

More soon as we work our way through the rain and weeds to capture the summer bounty!

The season is picking up at the market!

This week at the Diversity Gardens organic market stand we will have:

• Zucchini
• Radishes
• Green onions
• Green beans
• Cucumbers
• Potatoes
• Garlic
• Chards
• Kales
• Collards
• Spinach
• Lettuce - bags and heads
• Summer cabbage
  
• Herbs – basil, parsleys, summer savory etc.
• Blueberries
• Raspberries
• Cherries (maybe - it depends on the harvest today, the rain has damaged a lot of the crop)
  
• Eggs (from Organic Oasis)
  
• Millbank organic cheese
• Dried organic black turtle beans
• Maple syrup and maple butter (delicious!)
  

Coming soon - peaches, plums, apricots - summer fruit season is almost here!!

All of the products at the market stand are certified organic, except for the blueberries, cherries, peaches, plums and apricots. Diversity Gardens is part of a group that goes down to source sustainable fruit from the Niagara region. The fruit is not certified organic, but is not sprayed, and is grown following the organic standards. Local, certified organic tree fruit is very difficult to find in Ontario. In the fall we will have local, certified organic apples and apple products. We will continue to source certified organic 1st if possible!

July 14 - Garden update

Wow - another glorious sunny day in the garden. What a joy after all the rain - now we just need some heat to move things forward. Pretty much everything (except lettuce and radishes) are behind where they were last year. Planting was late due to rain and the colder weather has slowed a lot of things down. Here is quick run down....

Garlic - is amazing - huge heads - we've just harvested the first ones - the best for baking (at our produce stand on Saturday)

Onions are doing great too - these are more related to day length than heat so the weather hasn't affected them as much.

Tomatoes, eggplants, peppers - all doing quite well. Some disease in the tomato patch due to wetness - lets hope for warmer nights or this could be a big problem.

Cucumbers, zucchini, squash - all doing quite well. I'm surprised - last year I lost the entire crop due to disease - but so far so good, lots of blossoms.

Potatoes - first ones are delicious - at our vegetable stand on Saturday.

Looks like a good crop of corn, cabbage, broccoli, brussels sprouts etc all coming.

Kales and chards are fantastic - as you already know if you've been visiting our produce stand on saturdays.

Our priority this week is to tidy up some weeding and sow the last outdoor plantings of beans, beets, cucumbers, zucchini, lettuces, carrots; and get a cover crop sown in the greenhouse so it has time to grow and be tilled in before our fall planting in there.

Drop by - Saturdays to see us.

Saturday July 18 market

This week in addition to our typical array of in season veggies (lettuce, kale, chard, spinach, broccoli, beets, potatoes, zucchini, herbs), we’ll have

• Organic cheddar from Millbank
• Organic maple syrup and maple butter from Hoovers
• Organic eggs from Organic Oasis
• Organic dried black beans (just in time for summer vegetable soups)

Our strawberries are done, but we are trying to source organic raspberries and strawberries from other local, organic farms.

We are also part of a group that goes down to source sustainable fruit from the Niagara region. This week we’ll be bringing in cherries. These are not certified organic, but they are grown according to the organic standards and are most certainly not sprayed. If you want to guarantee yourself some cherries, contact us at tschumilas@rogers.com and join our buying club!

Big hug to whoever it was who dropped by the produce stand in an absolute torrential downpour last week and left payment inside my door. You are a true organic food advocate - and our organic food hero of the week award goes to you!! (I had already been soaked twice that morning and was having a quick shower to warm up so I missed you.)

Remember to drop by the produce stand early (before 11:00) as we only harvest limited quantities to avoid wastage.

Happy local and organic eating!

Saturday, July 11 market

Thanks to everyone that came out last week. The first week of our local and certified organic market was a success. We plan on growing the market each week so stay tuned to the blog to find out what is available each week. The gardens are coming along nicely in spite of the cold and wet start to the season.

For this week we will have:
Red romaine lettuce
Black Seeded Simpson lettuce – green leaf
Red Batvian lettuce
Salad mixes
Garlic scapes
Herbs
3 kinds of kale
2 kinds of chard
Collards
Baby carrots
Green onions
Potatoes
Strawberries (about 12 quarts)
Spinach
Sugar snap peas
Broccoli
Beets
Zucchini

Also:
certified organic maple syrup (there are only 5 certified organic maple syrup producers in Ontario, and we have one of them in Perth County!)
organic black turtle beans (dried)
organic cheese from Millbank
organic eggs
organic milk

Don't forget your re-usable bags!

Local, Organic Market at Diversity Gardens

Starting July 4th and running throughout the summer, certified organic fruits, vegetables, eggs, and other products will be available at the Diversity Gardens market stand. We will be showcasing products from the gardens as well as from certified organic farmers in the region.

Stay tuned to the blog for updates on what is available each week, as the list will be growing! Or, join our buying club for advance email orders. For more details email us at cogpww@sympatico.ca.

This week at the Diversity Gardens Market Stand
- strawberries!
- sugar snap peas
- potatoes
- green onions
- lettuce
- beets
- kale
- spinach
- garlic scapes
- Swiss chard
- radishes
- herbs - oregano, chives, garlic chives, lovage, French tarragon, borage leaves, ginger mint, rosemary, sage, dill
- flowers - Asiatic lilies

Local organic strawberries are ready!!!

Drop by the market stand at the gardens on Saturday or Sunday, or contact us at cogpww@sympatico.ca for more details.

Why buy local AND organic strawberries? Strawberries are one of the most intensively sprayed fruits - and there is no way to peel them. Nonorganic strawberries are highly likely to contain pesticide residue after harvest. When the PDP (the USDA's Pesticide Data Program) releases its annual list of produce samples with residues that exceed tolerance levels, strawberries appear more often than any other fruit or vegetable.

June 14-20 update

This week the crew took down the cedar trees around the Hummingbird Garden. They will be chipping them up once its a bit drier. You can now see the entire gardens from the roadway, so it gives people driving by an idea of the expanse of the gardens.

About 80% of the first round of planting is done – still need to do the planting of flowers in the Hummingbird Garden, cucumbers, storage beans, some squash, and parsnips. Plus, its time for the second sowing of corn and the third sowing of lettuces, spinach and beets.

Lots of straw to be spread still. We don’t usually grow with so much straw mulch - but we made a mistake ordering it and took too much. No problem, it will help build organic matter on our sandy soil, plus keep weeds at bay. Plus if we get a dry year, it will help conserve moisture.

With the plants out of the greenhouse, its time to renew that area. Over the next week we’ll harvest the last of the early lettuce, beets, etc. and sow a cover crop. For the summer the greenhouse will just have early tomatoes and basil. Then in August we’ll dig in the cover crop (oats and oil seed radish) and plant for late fall greens and early (March) spring greens.

Why does Santa Claus have such a nice garden? (He likes to hoe hoe hoe!!!) Hoeing now will pay us back with a much leisurely pace in mid summer (which we’ll appreciate in the heat).

Strawberries are coming ever so slowly. Good moisture – so they’ll be big - but no warmth to bring them along. We don’t expect very many for another week.

Tomorrow (Friday) a few of us will be here getting ready for Saturday’s garden tours. We’ll be hosting tours at 10, noon and 2:00 on Saturday - although its supposed to rain - so it might not be very busy.

June 1-6 update

I think this is the first year in over a decade that we have not had most of the vegetable planting done by June 4. Our weather has been wet and cold unfortunately. We still don’t have potatoes, peppers, beans, tomatoes, eggplant, squash......... started! YIKES!!

The good news is that we are getting the herb terraces and the perennial gardens weeded - and that is a strong start.

With most of the weeding done in the Hummingbird Garden we will be able to turn our attention next week to planting down there. Same goes for the herb hills.

Kim and Erin will be able to finish weeding and spreading straw down in the lower bush garden - that will allow us to focus on the main vegetable plot.

On Saturday, we hope to get much of the heritage vegetable planting done.

With the perennial and vegetable planting done - by the middle of June we’ll be focusing on maintenance and hoeing.

Great news - we just received funding for creating signage and a self-guided tour pamphlet for the gardens!

We have decided to go ahead and do some renovations inside so that our kitchen will pass a public health inspection and then we can use it as a food premise and prepare food for events and for sale. We’ll be adding a hand washing sink and a stove.

A trailer load of straw is being delivered tomorrow morning. So – we’ll be busy spreading that for a while.

We are also getting a tree company in to do a bunch of tree removals and chipping - so we’ll have wood chips for the perennial gardens. This will include removing all the over-grown cedars around the Hummingbird Garden. Its kind of unfortunate - but they are old, and they’ve never been pruned, so pruning them now will just leave empty looking branches. So - we’ll be able to plan for something else there to plant later this year.

Not much produce available this week - we sold some at the plant sales so we are kind of cleaned out!