Updates from Week 1 of April

Hello from the farm! It has been one wet week around here, and I’m sure it’s been the same for a lot of you as well! Fortunately, we have very sandy soil, so water drains pretty quickly. It’s handy when we have an abundance of water that needs to get moving, but as we talked about in some previous newsletters, it can pose a problem later in the season when we inevitably run into dry spells.

There’s quite a bit of activity on the go this week, and I thought I’d fill you in on some of it!

We were busy baking and sorting preserves earlier this week, and then dropped off all Spring/Easter orders yesterday, direct to the doorsteps of those who ordered. Thanks so much to everyone who supported our Farm Kitchen, and we hope you enjoy your pies, pretzels, and more!

Meanwhile, our seeding and field crews have also had lots on the go. Keep scrolling for a sneak peek at what they’ve been up to!

First up, as requested by our youngest reader (a 6-year-old from Toronto!) here are some photos of our germination trailer. Several of our crops hang out in here after being seeded into trays, and before heading out into the greenhouse. The germination trailer is heated to 85°F and has a humidity of 90%. The humidity is actually just thanks to the moisture found in the trays themselves, which are wetted down after being seeded. The trays stay in the germination trailer for anywhere from 24 – 72 hours: muskmelon for 24 hours, watermelon for 48 hours, and tomatoes for 72 hours. This time in the germination trailer allows for the emergence of 1/8 of an inch of the radical root (primary root) and sets the plant up for success throughout the season.

Next, two of our earliest crops (rhubarb and asparagus) are in their beginning stages of the season. Our asparagus fields are being mowed: the previous season’s plants grow up and go to fern after we finish harvesting, and we leave them out in the field over the fall and winter to act as a natural windbreak. Meanwhile, the rhubarb is starting to push its way up out of the soil for another year.

The first of our two cold frame greenhouses is officially full! We’ve got red, green, and Boston lettuce in there, along with spinach, Swiss chard, and potted chives and basil.

Our beekeeper Nathan was out checking on the beehives earlier this week, and we are thrilled to report that they are looking great! Check out this packed hive!

Finally, (not pictured) our blueberry bushes are being pruned this week! It may seem counterintuitive to cut off parts of a plant, but cutting back the older canes on the bush encourages more productive growth of new canes for future seasons. We will repeat the same process with our raspberry crop!

Homemade Strawberry-Raspberry Pop Tarts

For the pie crust:

2 1/2 cups flour

3 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup cold unsalted butter, cubed

1/4 cup ice water, plus more as needed

For the filling and glaze:

225g strawberries, washed and hulled

225g raspberries

1/2 cup  granulated sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 pinch kosher salt

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Cream or milk, for brushing the dough (optional)

1 cup confectioners' sugar, plus more as needed

1 tablespoon milk, plus more as needed

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Rainbow sprinkles!

Mix the flour, sugar, and salt together in the bowl of a stand mixer or food processor. If using a stand mixer, fit with the paddle attachment. Mix until thoroughly combined. Add the butter to the flour mixture and mix/pulse until the butter has been cut into pea-sized pieces. Add the water and mix/pulse again to combine. Add more water if needed, a tablespoon at a time, just until the dough comes together. Divide the dough in two, wrap with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or as long as overnight.

While the dough chills, add the berries, sugar, cornstarch, salt, and lemon juice to a medium pot and stir to combine. Heat the mixture over medium-low, until berries start to soften and release their juices. Continue cooking until berries are broken down and mixture is glossy and thick. Remove the mixture from heat and let cool/

Next, preheat the oven to 400° F. Tear off a large piece of parchment paper and lay each on a standard-size cookie sheet. One at a time, roll out the two pieces of dough to about 10- by 14 inches. Don’t worry if it’s not a perfect rectangle, and you can cut off any excess pieces and patch up other corners or cracks if needed.

Lay one of the crusts onto the prepared baking sheet. Make sure there’s enough dough on all sides to form a rim. Spread the berry filling evenly over the crust. Top with the other rolled out pie crust (you can use the parchment paper to invert the dough sheet over the filling). Carefully crimp together the edges and fold the excess dough over and under the edge, lifting up the parchment paper underneath to help with this process. Brush with cream, then use a fork to prick the top crust evenly all around.

Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. After that, check to make sure that the holes you made are still open (sometimes they shrink and seal up); if not, prick again with a fork—this is to ensure steam can exit. Rotate and return to the oven for another 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

In the meantime, make the glaze by mixing together the icing sugar, milk, and vanilla extract. Add more icing sugar if the glaze is too thin or add more milk if it's too thick.

Allow the pie to cool then spread the glaze over the pie, leaving a small border. Immediately top with the rainbow sprinkles. Slice and serve!

Recipe slightly modified from food52.com and photographed by Alex Chesney, RD

Rhubarb Sticky Pudding

Ingredients

3 cups rhubarb, diced

½ cup all-purpose flour

½ cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup sugar (more or less depending on sweetness preference)

1 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup butter, melted

¼ cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ cup icing sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 cup water

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2. Grease 4 small oven-safe containers with butter or cooking spray. I used some ceramic French onion soup bowls! Divide the rhubarb evenly between the containers.

3. In a medium-sized bowl, combine flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt and whisk to combine.

4. In a separate bowl, combine the melted butter, milk, and vanilla.

5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until smooth. Batter will be quite thick!

6. Spread ¼ of the batter on top of the rhubarb in the ceramic baking dishes.

7. In another bowl, combine the icing sugar and cornstarch. Sprinkle the mixture evenly over top of the rhubarb and batter mixture.

8. Pour ¼ cup of water on top of each ceramic dish.

9. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour.

10. Remove from oven, cool, and serve. Pairs deliciously with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream!

 Recipe modified from hoteatsandcoolreads.com and photographed by Alex Chesney, RD

Seeding Situation

The weather around here continues to be pretty wild. One minute the ground is covered in snow, the next it’s pouring rain, and then the sun is shining. And now? It’s snowing again! Thankfully it seems like this snow isn’t going to stick around for long, but it certainly makes our day to day a little less enjoyable.

As we mentioned last week, our heated greenhouse has been slowly filling up with trays of seedlings. And as of today, it’s at capacity! So that means it’s time for transplanting. We’ll be shifting the furthest-along greens and herbs out to the cold frame greenhouses within the next day or so. After that, new trays filled with soil and seeds will take their place. This process of seeding a few trays at a time, on a regular basis, is called succession planting. It helps ensure we will have a steady supply of crops throughout the season.

In the meantime, we have also started to seed the first of the season peppers, tomatoes, and… (drumroll, please!) melons! That’s right, muskmelon and yellow watermelon, our earliest melons of the season, are making their way into soil as we speak.

While the herbs and greens will be transplanted to the cold frame and then continue to grow there until they are harvested, the peppers, tomatoes, and melons go through a slightly different process.

Peppers, tomatoes, and melons are also transplant crops, but they will eventually be transplanted outdoors, not into another greenhouse setting. The greenhouse these crops will hang out in while they get established is pictured above. It’s a traditional glass greenhouse and is heated by the sun. Fans at either end of the structure help regulate temperatures by controlling access to fresh air and cycling out hot air from inside

Before heading to the greenhouse though, the trays of pepper, tomato, and melon seeds have to make one more stop — a germination trailer! This is a dark space that slowly warms the soil and helps the seeds ‘wake up’ before heading into the greenhouse.

Blog post written & photographed by Alex Chesney, RD

Transition to the Cold Frames

Our heated greenhouse is full of seedlings, and they’re getting big enough that it’s officially time to transition them out to our cold frame greenhouses! We’ve got lettuce (green, red, and Boston), Swiss Chard, spinach, and a variety of herbs that will be making the move. The herbs will be transplanted into pots which will then hang out in the cold frames, while the greens will be transplanted directly into the soil. We will begin the transplant process next week and are hard at work preparing the cold frames this week so that they’re ready to go in time.

Most of these preparations already took place last fall. We removed last season’s landscape fabric, prepared the soil (removed all remnants of last season’s plants and added a dose of fertilizer) formed the soil beds for planting, left spaces for pathways, added rows of trickle tape irrigation tubes, and then laid down new landscape fabric. Gravel stones were placed on top of the landscape fabric along the walking pathways to make for easier movement up and down the rows.

This week we set up the watering system and have begun to run water through the trickle tape to start to rehydrate the soil. We have a handy probe that helps monitor moisture levels. Right now it’s reading 5%, and our goal is 18%, so it’s well on the way!

The greens will be included in our May and June Market Boxes, as well as sent out to some of our farmers’ markets. We can’t wait to have these fresh veggies available again! They will pair nicely with our spring field crops (asparagus, rhubarb, and green garlic) as well as our overwintered vegetables -- cabbage, potatoes, and sweet potatoes. As always, our preserves, baked goods, and merch will also be available as add-ons each week to help round out your grocery delivery.

Blog post written & photographed by Alex Chesney, RD

Irrigation Education

Happy Friday! All this rain today has us thinking about water, and the essential role it plays here on the farm. And although it feels like the rain is never-ending right now, by the time summer rolls around there are no guarantees! We’ve been known to experience some very hot and very dry seasons, and our crops can’t survive without a consistent water source. One way around this? Irrigation! We utilize both overhead and trickle irrigation, but today we wanted to teach you a little bit about our trickle tape system.

Trickle irrigation works by sending water from pipes through lines of tape – essentially small, flat, plastic tubing that has built in pressure-compensating emitters. These emitters are located 16-inches apart, and they ensure that water is evenly distributed (within 15% or so) all along the tape. In general, trickle irrigation uses 1/10th of the amount of water used by overhead irrigation, so it’s much more efficient!

We use trickle irrigation on high-value crops like strawberries, raspberries, zucchini, and tomatoes. There are certain instances where overhead irrigation is required (like for frost protection) but when trickle irrigation is an option we try to use it!

Right now, our team is hard at work preparing the trickle tape for another season of use. To back up, at the end of last season we worked our way through the fields, picking up the trickle tape and wrapping it onto spools for storage over the winter. Each row in the field has its own section of trickle tape, and we tied them together for easy storage on the spool.

Now, we are working to put them back together into a single strand, for use again this coming season. And the way we do this is pretty interesting, so we thought we’d fill you in!

The spools of old trickle tape are set on a stand on one end of the workspace and the tape is then strung along to a second stand about 20 feet away. This second spool is controlled by a small motor that turns it round and round. In the middle there’s a nifty machine used to seal the tied ends of tape back together, as well as an old wringer washing machine that’s been converted to create tension and ensure the tape wraps onto the second spool neatly.

The nifty machine we mentioned is the real hero here. As the tubes of tape run from the old spool to the new one, our team is watching for the tied-together sections. When one is reached, they stop the motor and cut the tied section out. Now it’s time to meld them back together, to create that single strand we talked about earlier.

To do this, we pop the tube open and insert a small piece of plastic inside it, then slide the other end of tubing over top. We then place this recreated tube into the machine, and it presses down, applying heat - the heating panels are powered by a 12-volt battery! This heat application essentially melts the two sections of tubing together, creating a single unit, and the small piece of plastic keeps the tubing open, and prevents it from being sealed together. The heat is applied for 20 seconds or so, and then the tube is transferred into a water dish for about 10 seconds. From there, the motor is turned back on and the tubing continues to be fed through the old wringer washing machine and onto the new spool.

And that’s it! The new spools of trickle tape will then be taken out to the field and laid down on the rows for use for another season. We typically get 2 – 3 seasons of use out of these tubes. After that, the small emitters start to get plugged up, and don’t work anymore. Overall though it really reduces how much plastic we have to use, and how often we have to buy replacement tape.

If you made it this far, thanks so much for reading! This is fairly niche information, but it’s an important step in the complicated process of preparing for the upcoming season, and thought you may find it interesting!

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Blog post written & photographed by Alex Chesney, RD

An Update from the Heated Greenhouse

Hey there, friends of the farm! As I write this from my office in the barn, snow is falling steadily outside. It seems like Fridays are snow days lately, hey? We’re happy to report it’s not affecting us or our crops too much at this point, though! We did have one more repair to make on the greenhouse plastic, but we’ve otherwise managed to survive it all unscathed. In fact, snow actually adds a nice layer of insulation on top of our strawberries, which helps them survive colder weather more successfully.

All this white stuff does make it hard to believe that asparagus will be popping up through the soil in just two months or so from now, though! Time is starting to move awfully quickly.

In the meantime, we wanted to fill you in on a few more updates. Our heated greenhouse continues to get a little fuller each week, with more and more seeded trays making their way into the warmth. We now have onions, shallots, Swiss chard, spinach, and mustard greens on the go, and it’s so fun to see them develop each week!

Remember a few weeks ago I mentioned how our onions and shallots would eventually need a haircut? Well, the time has come! Over the next few days we will be trimming these little guys down so that they don’t get too top-heavy and start to topple over. This process is made possible thanks to a modified tobacco trimmer.

Rob grew up on a farm, and his parents (my grandparents!) first grew tobacco. Our family has since transitioned out of this crop production, but we still have a lot of the equipment and supplies around here, so we decided to put some to use!

It’s really quite simple, albeit time-consuming: we set the trays on the tabletop (fashioned out of a wooden skid placed on some sawhorses) on which the trimmer is built and slide them through one at a time. The top parts of the onions are trimmed off and swept out of the way, and then we return the trays to their position in the greenhouse. We then use a battery-powered leaf blower to blow all remaining onion tops off of the trays, and sweep them up off of the floor. This trimming process ensures the plants stay upright and strong and continues to promote healthy root production.

Blog post written and photographed by Alex Chesney, RD

Lasagna ft. TRM Pasta Sauce

Lasagna is a classic winter comfort food, don’t you think? It can be pretty time-consuming to make, though, so this past weekend we used a jar of our Pasta Sauce to speed up the process.

We didn’t take exact measurements, and were trying to use up some ingredients in the fridge, but we put together a rough guide for you. Head to our website to see the full recipe, and let us know if you give it a try. It may be the perfect meal to help get you through this snow storm that’s on its way to us tomorrow!

Ingredients

1 jar Thames River Melons Pasta Sauce

12 lasagna noodles

1 pound ground beef

1 bell pepper, diced

1 carrot, peeled & diced

6 mushrooms, diced

1/2 head of broccoli, minced

1/2 tub of ricotta cheese

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded

1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

1 cup provolone cheese, shredded

Salt & pepper to taste

Cooking oil

Instructions

1. Add a generous glug of cooking oil to a shallow pot and heat on the stove over medium. Add one piece of bell pepper to the pan to test the temperature. Once it starts to sizzle, you’re good to go!

2. Add the remaining diced bell pepper along with carrots and mushrooms. Cook for 6-7 minutes, until veggies are softened.

3. Add the ground beef and cook until browned. You can also use a ground meat alternative!

4. Once meat is cooked, drain any extra fat. I like to drain it into a small cup lined with tinfoil. Once the fat hardens you can wrap it up and dispose of it!

5. While the meat cooks, cook your lasagna noodles according to package instructions. When done, drain and lay out on a baking sheet lined with a kitchen towel.

6. Add the jar of pasta sauce to the meat and veggie mixture, and stir evenly until coated. Remove from heat and set aside.

7. Whisk together ricotta, 1/2 of the Parmesan, 1/2 the mozzarella, milk, and minced broccoli. Season with salt and pepper and stir until evenly combined.

8. Now it’s time to assemble!

9. Grab your favourite 9x13 casserole dish and coat the bottom & sides of the pan with cooking spray.

10. Next, add a generous scoop of the sauce mixture. Lay 3 noodles on top, followed by more sauce and 1/3 of the ricotta mixture.

11. Add 3 more noodles, more sauce & ricotta, and then sprinkle on the remaining mozzarella and half of the provolone.

12. Again, add 3 noodles followed by sauce and the remaining ricotta.

13. Finish with 3 final noodles and top with the rest of the sauce, followed by the remaining provolone and Parmesan. Make sure the top noodles are completely covered by sauce and/or cheese so they don’t dry out during the baking process! You may need to shred more cheese at this time.

14. Cover the lasagna with either a lid or tinfoil (spray with cooking oil so it doesn’t stick to the cheese!) and then bake at 425°F for 50 minutes.

15. After 50 minutes, remove lid or tin foil and bake for another 5 - 10, until top cheese is fully browned.

16. Remove from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Recipe developed and photographed by Alex Chesney, RD

More Onion Updates!

We’re seeing seedlings in all directions! This is Alex writing to you, by the way — farmer, dietitian, and the one behind most of these emails & social media posts. I’ve been so excited to see these little onions popping up through the soil that I figured I’d share some of that with you and include a rare photo with me in it :)

I was away from the farm for a few days at the annual Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Convention. It’s an opportunity for folks from across the province (and in some cases the country!) who work in the horticultural field to come together and learn, explore the trade show, and connect.

My dad (Farmer Rob) joined for a couple of day as well, but had to head back a bit early. It was a good thing he did, because it turns out we had a bit of unwelcome excitement this week as well! The ice storm overnight Wednesday and into Thursday left our heated greenhouses covered with sheets of ice. As things started to shift around in the wind some of the ice broke, slid on its’ side, and cut a whole through the plastic! This let valuable heat out, and also disrupted the insulation layer — more details on that later on. Fortunately he caught it early, and was able to patch it up with help from one of our team members Gord. In the meantime, the furnace was running continuously to keep the temperature up! There are some photos below (the first two below me!), though it’s a bit hard to tell exactly where the patch is, and you may need to zoom in to get a good look. I guess that means Rob & Gord did a great job patching it up!

Last week I told you about how we monitor temperatures and humidity within the greenhouse, and I thought I’d get into a few more details this time around.

The greenhouse is heated by a small furnace, and the temperature is set to 72°F. I know we’re in Canada and typically operate in Celsius, but my dad is old-school and insists on Fahrenheit for all things on the farm, so that’s why I’m using those terms!

The large fan in the greenhouse (pictured in the first photo on the left below) is programmed to turn on once the temperature reaches 85°F. The sensor for this fan hangs from one of the bars along the top of the greenhouse. The large fan helps circulate in fresh air, and brings the temperature back down to the 72°F range.

The first year we grew our onions from seeds (this is only the third season we’ve done that, we used to purchase seedlings from a nursery) we didn’t have this system quite figured out. We had the furnace temperature set a bit higher, which meant the furnace and fan were constantly competing. We’ve found that lowering the furnace slightly gives us a better result in the end.

Another change we’ve made since Year 1 is the way we circulate the hot air. During our first go at growing onions from seed, we had a set of bag-like tunnels running below the trays of seeds, in a u-shape around the greenhouse. The hot air from the furnace blew into these bags and they inflated. The bags had holes to let the air out all along the ‘U’. The problem was, this system concentrated the heat more than we expected, and the trays right below the bag tunnels grew very quickly and also dried out very quickly. Meanwhile, the trays on either side that were further away from the bag tunnels did not grow so quickly, and the soil stayed wet for longer.

We learned from this, and made adjustments. We now rely on the large fan to circulate the air as well as a secondary fan at the opposite end of the greenhouse. This secondary fan deals more with the humidity, and basically runs continuously to keep the humidity around 60%.

Finally, in addition to the furnace, we also rely on insulation to maintain the temperature. The greenhouse is made up of a double poly-layer (aka 2 layers of plastic). In addition to sucking air into the greenhouse interior, the fan also has a pipe that blows air in between the layers of plastic, which inflates a small space between them and creates an insulating layer. This is why the ice cutting through the plastic caused such a big problem — heat was being released and the insulating layer was compromised!

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Although we monitor the greenhouses daily and manually check the temperatures, humidity, and moisture, as mentioned last week we also have a monitoring system installed. We input parameters, and the system lets us know if things go outside of them. For example, we are alerted via text message, phone call, and email if the temperature dips below 50°F or goes above 100°F.

Well, that’s all for now! If you made it this far, thanks so much for reading. I hope you enjoy these fun farm updates!

Blog post written and photographed by Alex Chesney, RD

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An Update on Our Onion Seedlings

It’s been one week since our first onions of the season were sown into soil-filled trays. Since then they’ve been transferred to our heated greenhouse, where they’ve been cozying up and germinating.

Typically we don’t see much growth until Day 10, but because it’s been unusually warm outside, the seeds have gotten a bit of a boost, and we’re seeing signs of shoots already!

Right now the onions are in what’s called the pre-bulb growth stage. This is a vegetative growth stage, meaning the plant is focused on growing ‘roots and shoots’. What you can see here, poking up through the soil, are radical and flag leaves of the plant. Later on additional leaves will emerge before the plant begins to focus growth on the bulb.

We have been checking on these seedlings daily, monitoring temperatures and moisture level, and keeping track of both in our record log. In addition to our manual checks, we have an alarm system installed that will alert us should the temperatures drop below or exceed our programmed limitations.

Blog post written and photographed by Alex Chesney, RD

Day 1 of 2023 Seeding

The season has officially kicked off around here, with the first seeds of the year making their way into trays. Today we’re working on red, white, and yellow Spanish onions!

The seeding process is quite intricate, with many steps required:

1. Trays are filled with potting soil.

2. Next, they are wetted down with water, by running them through a line with overhead nozzles.

3. The filled and wetted trays are then transferred to our seeders, who carefully place one seed at a time (by hand!) into the individual cells in the trays.

4. The seeded trays are then topped with more soil and marked with a popsicle stick with a number that corresponds with the planting. That number is recorded in our seeding binder with a reference to the date and seeds sowed.

This system is carefully supervised by arguably everyone’s favourite team member, Pumpkin Spice Latte, or Pumpkin for short.

The seeded trays are then transferred to our heated greenhouse (pictured below!) where they will hang out for the next 12 weeks. Onions take quite some time to grow from seed, which is why we’re starting them so early.

Throughout the next 3 months they will be watered daily, and will receive a couple of “haircuts” while they grow, also known as trims. Trimming is required because as the onions start to shoot up they get too tall and top-heavy, and can topple over if left unattended.

By Week 10 or 11 we will begin to let the seedlings spend some time outside, to get them used to the elements before being formally transplanted into the field. This process is called “hardening off” and it’s something we do with all of our greenhouse-started seedlings. It ensures a better chance of survival!

Blog post written and photographed by Alex Chesney, RD

Vegetable Pesto Gnocchi

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil

2 cups broccoli florets

2 cups leeks, sliced

1 pepper, sliced

1 tbsp garlic, minced

2 handfuls fresh spinach

700g gnocchi

2 cups heavy cream

½ cup pesto

1 cup parmesan cheese, shredded

Salt

Pepper

Instructions

1. Follow cooking instructions for gnocchi and set aside

2. If wanting to add a choice of protein such as chicken, shrimp, lentils, etc make now and set aside with gnocchi.

3. In a medium sauce pan add cream and pesto and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Once boiling bring heat down and simmer for about 10 minutes, occasionally stirring the mixture. During this time the vegetables can be started in the following step.

4. In a medium frying pan add olive oil, then add broccoli and peppers. Sauté on medium-high heat for 3 minutes. Then add chopped leeks and sauté for another 5 minutes.

5. Add garlic to pan and sauté for 1 minute before adding in fresh spinach. Continue stirring mixture around until spinach is cooked.

6. Going back to the sauce, after 10 minutes stir in 1 cup of parmesan and then let simmer another 5 minutes, until sauce begins to thicken. Sauce should be able to coat the back of a spoon when finished.

7. Once sauce is done add to pan with vegetables. At this time also add gnocchi and choice of protein to the pan. Top with a bit of parmesan cheese and serve hot.

Recipe Developed and photographed by Dietetic intern Rae Wilcox.

Homemade Hashbrowns

*Makes ~8 hashbrowns

Ingredients

2 medium potatoes, about 1 pound

¼ - ½ an onion, diced (1/2 cup)

4 tablespoons cooking oil

Salt

Pepper

½ teaspoon paprika

½ teaspoon chili powder

¼ teaspoon cayenne

Instructions

1. Wash and scrub potatoes thoroughly, removing any eyes or spots. Leave the skin on otherwise though, for extra flavour and nutrients!

2. Once potatoes are prepped, shred them using a box shredder.

3. Transfer all potato shreds to a thin tea towel, and pull up the edges so they are contained within the cloth. Squeeze the tea towel, expressing as much liquid as possible from the potato shreds.

4. Place the drained potato shreds into a medium-sized bowl and set aside.

5. Next, dice the onion, then add to the bowl with the potato shreds.

6. Finally, add the spices, salt, and pepper to the bowl then mix to combine.

7. Add 2 tablespoons of cooking oil to a large frying pan, and heat over medium. Add one piece of diced onion to the pan to test the temperature of the oil. Once the onion starts to sizzle you know the pan is ready!

8. Use a large spring-loaded scoop to portion out the hashbrowns. Add one scoop at a time to the pan with preheated oil. You should be able to fit about 4 hasbrowns at a time. Use a spatula to flatten the scoop of hashbrowns. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the bottom is golden brown and hashbrown holds its’ shape.

9. Carefully flip, press down, and cook for another 5 minutes, again until golden brown.

10. Transfer the cooked hashbrowns to a plate lined with papertowel and place in the oven to keep warm. I like to preheat the oven to approximately 180°F before doing this!

11. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil to the frying pan and repeat the process of making the final four hashbrowns.

12. Serve with a protein and vegetable for a delicious meal! Pictured here is crumbled tofu and roasted bell peppers but they would also pair well with a fried sunny side up egg, sausages, or grilled chicken. A side salad would make a great accompaniment as well!

Recipe developed and photographed by Alex Chesney, RD
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Cheesy Orzo with Roasted Broccoli

Ingredients

1 head broccoli, cut into florets

2 tablespoons canola oil, divided in half

Salt

Pepper

Red pepper flakes, to taste

1 small onion, diced

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup orzo

2 cups vegetable broth

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

2 tablespoons cream cheese, softened

1 ½ cups diced protein of choice (we used ham, but roasted chicken or pinto beans would work well also)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside for now.

2. Chop head of broccoli into florets.

3. Toss broccoli florets with 1 tablespoon of the canola oil and season with salt and pepper.

4. Spread the broccoli out evenly on the prepared baking sheet.

5. Transfer the broccoli to the oven and roast for 30 minutes.

6. Meanwhile, heat canola oil over medium heat in a deep frying pan or shallow pot.

7. Add one piece of onion to the oil. When it starts to sizzle, add the rest of the onion and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently, until onion is softened.

8. Next add the minced garlic, and cook for an additional minute, until fragrant.

9. Now add the orzo, and cook for 2 – 3 minutes, until lightly browned and toasted.

10. Season with salt and pepper.

11. Add the vegetable broth and stir thoroughly.

12. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to maintain a simmer and cover.

13. Cook the orzo mixture for 10 minutes, until broth is absorbed, and mixture is thickened.

14. While the orzo cooks, prepare your protein. We recommend lightly pan-frying to reheat and give some crisp.

15. Once the orzo has cooked for 10 minutes, remove from heat, and add shredded cheese and cream cheese and stir to combine, until melted.

16. Serve cheesy orzo topped with broccoli and protein and enjoy!

Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients

4 small-medium sweet potatoes

1 tablespoon canola oil

2 cups kale or spinach, roughly chopped

1 small onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Salt

Pepper

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional, omit if you don’t like spice)

¼ teaspoon paprika

¼ cup cream cheese, softened

1 cup mozzarella cheese, grated + 2 additional tablespoons

1 cup protein of choice (we used a mix of shredded chicken & bacon!)

2 tablespoons Parmesan, grated

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F.

2. Poke holes in the sweet potatoes (using a knife or fork), then lay on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or aluminum foil.

3. Transfer to the oven and roast until potatoes are soft, around 40 minutes.

4. Remove sweet potatoes from the oven and allow to cool slightly, for 10 minute or so.

5. While the potatoes cool, add canola oil to a pan over medium heat.

6. Add one piece of diced onion to the pan, and when it starts to sizzle you know the pan is hot enough!

7. Add the remaining onion and saute for 2-3 minutes, until softened slightly.

8. Add the kale, garlic, and balsamic vinegar, and cook for an additional 5 minutes or so, until kale is wilted and softened, vinegar is evaporated, and garlic is nice & fragrant. Season the mixture with salt and pepper.

9. By now the potatoes should be cool enough to touch.

10. Slice each potato in half, being careful to keep the skin intact.

11. Carefully scoop the potato out of the skin, and place in a large mixing bowl.

12. Reserve the potato skins and leave them on the baking tray.

13. Mash the sweet potato thoroughly, until smooth with just a few lumps here and there. If you prefer a very smooth texture you can blend with a hand mixer.

14. At this point you can remove about ½ cup of the potato and reserve for another use. I like to save for making soup or homemade dog treats! If you don’t remove some potato the recipe will still work, but you will likely have very full potatoes 😊

15. Add the cream cheese, and 1 cup of the shredded mozzarella to the sweet potato. Mix to combine, until cheeses are melted and evenly combined.

16. Add the kale mixture and protein and again mix to combine.

17. Season with salt and pepper and give the filling a final mix together.

18. Next transfer the sweet potato filling back into the potato skins, about 1 cup per potato.

19. Top each potato with a sprinkling of the remaining mozzarella and the Parmesan cheese.

20. Transfer the stuffed potatoes back to the oven and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, until the cheese is melted and browned.

21. If you find the cheese isn’t browning quickly enough, throw the broiler on for a minute or so at the end!

Recipe developed and photographed by Alex Chesney, RD

Zucchini Freezing Guide

Graphic created and photographed by Dietetic Intern Rae Wilcox

PYO Back to School Lunches

Back to school season is right around the corner! Are you looking for quick and inexpensive lunches to make for your little ones? In this blog post, we’re providing you with lunch inspiration using fruits and vegetables from our PYO patch!

Did you know that if you pick your own fruits and vegetables on our farm, you can get them for half the price? For example, if you buy one of our pre-picked watermelons, it will cost you $8, but if you pick your own it’s $3.50! Our blueberries are $4.25 per pound, which would cost you $1.44 per cup. Our pre-picked blueberries would cost you $4 per cup! Our carrots are $1 per pound, which could cost you only $0.30 for a cup. We have so many more vegetables available for you to pick as well!

Now, for the lunch ideas. Each option provides fruits and/or vegetables, a protein source, and a grain source based on Canada’s Food Guide recommendation. You can learn more about nutrition in the Nutrition Hub section of our blog. Feel free to modify each lunch idea and mix and match. You can add foods to make them more filling or take some away!

Lunch 1: Cheese and crackers with vegetables — broccoli florets, carrot sticks, and bell pepper slices.

Cost: ~$2.19. 2 oz cheese — $0.90; 10 crackers — $0.66; ¼ cup broccoli florets — $0.31; ½ cup carrot sticks —$0.15; ¼ cup bell pepper slices $0.17.

Lunch 2: Hardboiled eggs, crackers, watermelon, and blueberries.

Cost: ~$2.08. 2 hardboiled eggs — $0.60; 10 crackers — $0.66; ½ cup watermelon (medium) — $0.10; ½ cup blueberries — $0.72.

Lunch 3: Whole wheat pita bread, hummus, watermelon, blueberries, and vegetables – broccoli florets, carrot sticks, and green bell pepper slices.

Cost: ~$2.32. 1 pita bread — $0.53; 3 tablespoons hummus — $0.75; ¼ cup watermelon — $0.05; ¼ cup blueberries — $0.36; ¼ cup broccoli florets — $0.31; ½ cup carrot sticks — $0.15; ¼ cup bell pepper slices $0.17.

Lunch 4: Vanilla yogurt, granola, blueberries, and muskmelon.

Cost: ~$2.55. ¾ cup vanilla yogurt — $1.06; ½ cup granola — $0.31; ½ cup blueberries — $0.72; ½ cup muskmelon — $0.46.

Lunch 5: Pasta salad containing rotini noodles, chickpeas, feta cheese, vegetables – diced green bell peppers and tomatoes, and Italian salad dressing.

Cost: ~$1.62. 1 ½ cups whole grain rotini noodles — $0.54; ½ cup chickpeas — $0.30; 1 tablespoon crumbled feta cheese — $0.26; ½ cup green bell peppers — $0.35; ½ cup tomatoes — $0.10; 1 tablespoon Italian salad dressing — $0.07.

You can find more recipe inspiration on our recipes page!

This blog post was created by dietetic internship student Amy Campbell.

References:

Health Canada. (2021). Canadian nutrient file. Government of Canada. Retrieved July 25, 2022, from https://food-nutrition.canada.ca/cnf-fce/index-eng.jsp.

Walmart Canada. (2022). Walmart Grocery. Retrieved August 19, 2022, from https://www.walmart.ca/cp/grocery.

Chocolate Fruit Skewers

*Makes 6 medium-sized skewers.

Ingredients

3 cups of fruit — we used seedless watermelon, muskmelon, and blueberries! You could also use strawberries, raspberries, etc. depending on the season.

1/4 cup dark chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Assemble the fruit onto skewers in any order you wish!

2. Microwave the chocolate chips for about 45 seconds, until melted.

3. Drizzle the chocolate over the fruit skewers.

4. Enjoy!

This recipe was developed and photographed by dietetic internship student Amy Campbell.

Stuffed Eggplant Parm

*Serves 4

Ingredients

2 eggplants, washed and stems trimmed

4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

Olive oil

Salt & pepper to taste

½ onion, diced

2 tomatoes, roughly chopped

2 tablespoons tomato paste

½ cup water

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

¼ - ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

2 teaspoons red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons cream

¼ cup breadcrumbs

8 slices hot Genoa salami

¼ cup Parmesan cheese

1 cup mozzarella cheese

2 cups pasta of choice

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425°F.

2. Slice eggplants in half, then carefully score the inside by making long diagonal cuts. Be sure not to cut all the way through the eggplant, though, as we want to keep the skin intact!

3. Insert slices of garlic into the scored eggplant – evenly divide the garlic slices between the four halves.

4. Drizzle each eggplant half with olive oil and then season with salt and pepper.

5. Grease a non-stick baking pan with more olive oil, then place the eggplant halves cut side down onto the pan. Place in the oven and bake for 20 – 25 minutes, until skin is wrinkled and browned, and flesh is soft.

6. While the eggplant bakes, heat an additional tablespoon of olive oil in a large pan. Add one piece of diced onion to the pan to test the heat. Once it starts to sizzle, add the rest!

7. Cook the onion for 2 – 3 minutes, until softened.

8. Add the tomato paste, basil, oregano, and red pepper flakes and stir until they evenly coat the onions. Cook for an additional 2 minutes.

9. Next add the vinegar and cook until evaporated.

10. Next, add the chopped tomatoes and water. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat and cook until thickened, smashing down the tomatoes every once in a while.

11. Once sauce is thickened, water is evaporated, and tomatoes are thoroughly crushed, add the cream.

12. By this time, the eggplant should be done baking. Remove the baking pan from the oven and scoop out the flesh (and the roasted garlic slices!) and add to the tomato sauce. Mash until evenly combined.

13. Be sure to reserve the eggplant skin and keep it intact after removing the flesh.

14. Place a generous scoop of the tomato and eggplant filling back into each of the eggplant skin. Sprinkle with some of the Parmesan and mozzarella and add 2 slices of salami per half.

15. Add another scoop of tomato filling to each eggplant half, then sprinkle the top with breadcrumbs and the remaining cheese.

16. Place the tray back in the oven for an additional 10 minutes.

17. While the eggplant bakes, cook your pasta following the package instructions.

18. Remove the eggplant from the oven. The cheese should be melted and browned.

19. Serve alongside pasta, and pair with a green salad for a balanced and delicious meal!

Recipe was developed & photographed by Alex Chesney, RD

Vegetable Personal Pizza

Ingredients

1 whole wheat naan bread

1/4 cup pizza sauce

1/3 cup cheese

1/2 cup diced vegetables (we used sweet peppers, zucchini, and garlic scapes for this one!)

6 pepperoni slices (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Spread the pizza sauce over the naan bread.

3. Add the cheese on top.

4. Place the pepperoni slices and vegetables on the naan bread.

5. Bake at 375°F for 15-20 minutes until the cheese is melted.

6. This recipe makes one serving, but feel free to make several personal pizzas for your whole family!

This recipe was developed and photographed by dietetic internship student Amy Campbell.

Learn more about fruit and veg delivery.