Luxy Farm

Living Locally Fair

2012-01-16T17:59:00.002-05:00

Come check out our booth this Saturday, January 21, 2012 at the Living Locally Fair in Russell, from 9:30am until 3pm! It is located at St. Thomas Aquinas High School, 1211 South Russell Road. There will be lots of great vendors and you will have a chance to learn more about our CSA from the lovely Jonny Näf!

Take a break from the snow and warm up inside with hot drinks, tasty treats and lots of great crafts. You don't wanna miss it!

Stay warm everyone!!!

2012 will be our best season yet!

2012-01-01T11:27:00.001-05:00

May 2012 bring sunshine, success, health & happiness to you all! Happy new year from your Luxy farmers in the land of cheese curds!

It's starting to look a little like winter

2011-12-11T08:51:00.002-05:00

This has been quite a mild winter for Eastern Ontario. There's not even an inch of snow on the ground and I still see green grass on the neighbours' lawn. However, it gets dark very early and all I feel like doing these days is sleep - it's definitely winter. The Christmas Farmers' Markets have been nice and busy - great venues to buy local gifts. I'm done shopping but still have a bunch of Christmas cards to send out.

I've been busy vacationing in Toronto and job hunting in Ottawa since the farm closed for the season in November. Toronto was fabulous as usual and I miss everyone so much! Luckily, I won't have to miss someone for much longer - my sister is moving here!!! I'm so excited to have my partner in crime only 10 minutes away! Not only do I get my sister - I also get my brother-in-law and nephew too, who happens to be the cutest baby EVER!

The job hunt was successful and I've started training at Bridgehead, an organic and fair trade coffee/tea shop. I was totally impressed with Bridgehead when I first discovered it almost three years ago. Their dedication to sustainability is unprecedented for such a company. They have 12 locations in Ottawa but I don't think they have plans to spread beyond the city. Too bad Toronto because the coffee, tea and food is BETTER than Starbucks or any of those other coffee chains, and most of their waste is compostable. Nice.

I've also been waitressing at Knox, which has been fun. Lots of Christmas parties and a bustling New Year's Eve to look forward to.

On a sad note, our lovely dog Gina died, just shortly after the CSA finished. It's just Jonny, Django, Mary Lou and I on the farm...for now.

In memory of Gina, Best Dog Ever.

Happy Hannukah, Merry Christmas & and a bumpin' Kwanza to all!

The CSA ends for another year.

2011-10-18T23:18:00.003-04:00

It is hard to believe that it's over. For the past 17 weeks, we've spent our Mondays washing harvest bins, searching for recipes and writing the weekly newsletter, touring the garden while making notes about the harvest, and for the past few weeks, checking for orders on the Eastern Ontario Local Food Co-op.
Tuesdays were spent harvesting from 6:30 or 7am until 3:30pm, and then waiting from 5 until 8pm at our pickup location in Embrun, for members to collect their shares.
Wednesdays were repeats of Tuesdays except that the pickup locations were at the farm and in Rockcliffe.
Thursdays were good weeding/planting days where we could relax and take our time. We've also been taking orders and delivering to Knox Fine Dining in Moose Creek; another task to fill up our Thursdays.
Fridays were harvest days for the Metcalfe Farmers' Market, which took place on Saturdays from 8am until noon and came to a close this past weekend.
Saturdays began at 5:30am, our earliest day of the week (for Jonny, not me.) We would harvest the last few items for market, such as lettuce, Swiss chard, kale, herbs - things that would wilt, had they been harvested any earlier. Then we would pack up the car and be on the road for 7am. Post-market, some work got done but I tried to avoid it, if I could.
Every other Sunday, I spent a long day at the Landsdown Market for the Swiss Farmer Bakery. I would get up at 4:45am and leave for the bakery at 5:30 (I need time in the morning to have coffee and check my emails - I hate rushing when my brain is still waking up.) I'd leave the bakery at 6:30 with a car full of steamy bread and treats and not return home until about 5:30pm. Meanwhile, back at the farm, Jonny would have our farm gate prepared for drop-ins, with a sandwich board sign informing traffic of our available organic veggies, from 10am until 3pm.
Sunday evenings were pretty much a write-off, and we dedicated those few hours to catching up on our favourite TV series'.
And then, back to Monday. We took two weekends off this summer; one was for two back-to-back weddings, and the other for my birthday.

And that's a quick glance at our day-to-day for the past 17 weeks of our lives. We've had a really good response from our CSA members (and a few deposits for next year!) There were some rough patches, like too much rain then not enough rain, crop failures (corn, pie pumpkins), not having the time to plant a crop altogether (sweet potatoes), and the stress of not knowing if there would be enough.
But Jonny and I did it. Honourable mention goes to Jonny, for his calm and collected attitude gave me the courage to keep going, when things got tough.
Jonny, you're amazing.
And now I'm ready for winter.

However, it's not over yet. We still have irrigation and landscape fabric to collect from the fields, crop to sell and harvest, a greenhouse and shed to clean and organize, garlic to plant...will it ever end?
Hopefully by Halloween, but we'll see.

The Fall Harvest

Italian 'Milan' turnips

Bok Choy

Celery Art

Thanksgiving with Dad

Eggplants

Jonny's invention: The Irrigation Caddy

I even managed to throw a gig in there somewhere:

The Electric Company at The Rainbow, Oct. 9th

Photos by Jonathan Näf

Luxy Farm on 'D' is for Dinner, CBC Radio 1

2011-09-15T20:39:00.001-04:00

I did an interview with Alan Neal from the program 'All in a Day' on CBC Radio 1, 91.5FM in Ottawa. He had me as the feature guest for the 'D' is for Dinner segment, on which I educated the audience about pattypan squash. It was fun going down to Sparks Street and getting a glimpse of the broadcast world! Jonny and I have been listening to CBC daily since we started our apprenticeship where hours were spent putting tiny seeds into little cells, with the radio as our soundtrack.

It took me back to those few month in London, Ontario, when I took a semester of Broadcast Journalism at Fanshawe College. Keyboards were chattering away accompanied by the low hum of computers, TV screens, hushed voices, and a French television show being filmed in a studio slightly set back from the sea of cubicles and colourful monitors.
I had a moment of regret, feeling the energy in the place and wishing I could work in such an environment, but then remembered how much I disliked the broadcast program and decided to enjoy the moment.

Alan Neal was lovely and made a nervous me, feel comfortable and at home in front of the round table, decorated with microphones, head phones and a computer. You'd think with all of my experience as a singer, that an 8 minute interview would be a walk in the park, but I was nervous! Singing is easy and I can perform in front of hundreds of people, no problem, because the script is predetermined and I (usually) know my lines. I had a rough idea of how the interview would pan out but there was no script and I'd have to think fast and try not to say something silly.

Luckily, the topic was pattypans. I've been growing, cooking, and eating them for over two years now, so I'm pretty much a pro...right? I brought him a sample (more like a smorgasbord) of stuffed pattypans, as well as barbequed pattypans and zucchini, for comparing flavours. The interview went well (when I asked for an honest, off-air opinion, Alan said he sincerely enjoyed my food and told me that he once had to say a dish was 'interesting' on air, meaning it was not so enjoyable!) I managed to get a few pictures of the building for Jonny, who would have loved to be there but was doing our Rockcliffe Vegetable drop off. "Somebody has to do some work around here", he says. Well, I think I did a good job of not only promoting our farm, but also the Metcalfe Farmers' Market and Knox Fine Dining in Moose Creek.

Here's the interview:
http://www.cbc.ca/allinaday/columnists/dinner/2011/09/14/d-is-for-dinner---pattypans

Here's my mom!

She drove me to CBC because we are currently down to one vehicle,

which was full of veggies at the moment.

The news room

Sparks Street, Ottawa

The announcers can see Sparks Street from behind the microphone.

I was sitting at the table behind one of these windows.

Very exciting! Now back to the harvest.

Cheers!
Daizy

Feast of Fields & CBC interview - TODAY at 3:40!

2011-09-14T09:35:00.001-04:00

If you made it out to Feast of Fields on Sept. 11th, you probably tried the chilled beet root and heirloom tomato soup prepared by our partner chef John Taylor of Domus Café. It was a brilliant fuchsia colour with incredible texture. A summer vegetable chutney gave the concoction crunch and a dollop of whipped goat cheese added a velvety touch, topped with a cider reduction for a burst of sweetness. Even the vegans were able to taste our creation, minus the goat cheese. We supplied 50 pounds of beets for the occasion; 40 pounds of purple and 10 pounds each of yellow and candy cane striped, not to mention 10 pounds of tomatoes, 15 pounds of zucchinis, 6 bunches of green onions, 5 pounds of red onions, 30 cucumbers, and 10 bulbs of garlic. John was able to make over 300 servings. Luxy Farm & Domus Cafe won the prize for 'Best Booth'! It was a gift basket of organic goodies. There was a fantastic turnout and all of the farmer-chef teams did an incredible job. We were really happy to see Beau's there! Luxy Farm will definitely attend next year's Feast of Fields!

50 pounds of beets

Purple

Gold

Candy Cane or Chiogga

Setting up

Best Booth!

Chilled beet & tomato soup

Adrian Harewood of CBC announcing our win

Farmer and GQ model, Jonny!

Me & John Taylor

Our gift basket

Today I will be on CBC Ottawa 91.5 talking about pattypans! Tune in at 3:40pm if you're in the area or check out our facebook later this evening for a link to the interview.

Cheers!

Daizy

Garlic Planting & Feast of Fields

2011-08-19T08:34:00.001-04:00

We plant garlic in a few weeks that will be harvested next summer. Jonny has been researching the best price for seed stock. We love the variety we've grown the past two years, called 'Music'. We're considering trying a different variety as well, but in the end, it's the soil that really defines the taste. Jonny stumbled upon this article and read it to me, reassuring me that even the most experienced farmers go through hard times and consider throwing in the towel.

Alan Cowan on growing and selling garlic in Ontario:

A lot of the growers got frustrated and quit there, a few years ago. Because the prices were so low, they were bringing it in by China, by the boatload. But now, this 100-mile diet thing. Consumers love to buy local. They like to know the grower, they like to know where the farmer came from. So demand is up. There have been disease pressures too – the nematodes and that – there have been crop failures. So, supply is down and it's almost a seller's market, a perfect storm, really.

You think you know everything and mother nature will throw something at you. Like, there's so many variables, because you plant it in the fall, and all the way through. Like I said, it's either too hot or too dry, or too wet or too cold, or whatever! And you dig it up and then it rains and there's fog, and it molds. It's character building! It's not for everybody.

A week ago I said "I'll never do this again!" I was feeling kind of sick and down and the workers didn't show up, and it rained on this field of garlic. And the garlic festival was coming up, and I was overwhelmed. I said "Why bother?" But a day like today, that's rewarding.

From North Country Public Radio News

http://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/story/18209/20110817/alan-cowan-on-growing-and-selling-garlic-in-ontario

But alas, we'll keep on farming until we can farm no more. The great thing about having a partner is that they are there to get you back on your feet when you're down, and vice versa. I could never do this alone! I also have to learn how to keep certain complaints to myself, like "My knees/back/hands/legs/head hurt(s)." Cause something always hurts and Jonny doesn't need to hear about it everyday.

FEAST OF FIELDS!

Get your tickets and come down to the Central Experimental Farm on September 11th for a feast of flavours, featuring local talent and produce. Find Luxy Farm teamed up with John Taylor and Domus Cafe! After trying out the chefs' creations, stick around to fill your FOF grocery bag with local organic produce. This is an event you don't want to miss!

Cheers!

Daizy

Inching towards fall...already?

2011-08-10T13:03:00.003-04:00

Now that we finally have red, orange, yellow and purple tomatoes weeks behind schedule, we have to start thinking about fall. There are veggies to seed, a few more patches of garden to weed, and Feast of Fields to prepare for. This year we are teamed up with Domus Cafe in Ottawa.

It should be an even better event this year because we get to bring vegetables to sell. So not only do participants have the chance to sample tasty treats from excellent Ottawa restaurant chefs but they can also pick up their organic veggies for the week!
http://www.cog.ca/ottawa/feast_of_fields/

Seeding that has yet to be done: spinach, arugula, Swiss chard, radishes, bok choy, and I have to check if there's still enough time for another planting of kale. The squashes are looking incredible! Our carving pumpkins went in way too late and have done nothing due to the drought but the pie pumpkins should be as delicious as last year's crop.

I was really bummed throughout June and July; this is a really hard job. Our bodies take a good beating, the stress of having to produce is overwhelming, and being dependent on the weather is becoming more and more ridiculous as the overall climate changes. I watched Food Inc. not long ago and saw how food is raised and grown on a commercial scale. It was frightening. The sad thing is, most people don't care. If they do care, then why don't we sell more at the market? We always have lots leftover that goes into the compost, if not to the food bank first. There's lots of competition for us - organic vegetable growers keep popping up all over Eastern Ontario but all of our produce combined still wouldn't be enough to feed everyone. So what is everyone eating?
Not this!

Luxy green beans at the Metcalfe Farmers' Market

Zucchinis & pattypans

Beets!

Our friend Steve helping out at the market

'Purple Haze' carrots

'Music' garlic - so juicy!

Come on out and support your local producers! It might be a bit more expensive but that's the cost of supporting sustainability, your local economy, and a much tastier product!

Zucchini is my favourite time of year!

2011-08-08T20:56:00.004-04:00

Zucchinis are so good! And they just keep coming, in all of their fancy outfits. We have dark green, light green, yellow, striped; and then there are pattypans. Our CSA members have been getting a good share and enjoying them as much as I have. Check out this member's blog for some great baking ideas, beautiful photos and a salute to Luxy Farm!

http://bourbonnatrixbakes.blogspot.com/

The tomatoes are slowly starting to change from green to red, yellow, orange and purple. The squashes are getting big and the onions are finally showing some progress. The eggplants are beautiful inside the greenhouse and out. I'm feeling better about this season but still disappointed that we didn't get more. That cold, wet spring followed by a hot, dry summer made farming very hard for us this year. The CSA is getting a good variety of veg but we haven't had much for the farmers' market and nothing for the co-op or restaurants, as we had hoped for. I keep wondering if I'll be able to go on doing this for much longer. The stress of not knowing whether we'll have enough veg or rain from one week to the next is too much!

At least I've found refuge in the kitchen. When the stress makes me crazy, I grab an armfull of veg from the garden and spend the next few hours clearing my mind with a recipe and a martini (ok, martini night only happened once). Today was a different story in my kitchen. I needed to clean out the fridge.
We had been eating grilling zucchini and eggplants for the last 9 meals and I had to do something creative to use up the last of it.

I had a ball of dough saved from last week's spinach quiche and flattened it out to make a new pie shell. Next, I chopped up those grilled zucchinis and eggplants. I then sauteed some green beans, onions, shallots and garlic in olive oil, seasoning them with salt and pepper. I scraped the kernels off of a cob of corn someone had brought this weekend. I put all of the veg in the pie shell and grated on some St. Albert cheddar. Next, I whisked up 3 eggs with some more salt, pepper, and a tablespoon of curry powder. I poured the eggs on the veg and squished it down so that it was evenly covering the filling.

I baked it at 400 degrees for 10 minutes and then 325 degrees for another 20 minutes. We ate half of it for dinner. I look forward to eating the rest for breakfast. It was good.

I call my creation "Grilled Vegetable and Curry Fridge Clean-out Tart".

The delicious food I have the pleasure to cook and eat keeps me going. I am forever grateful for my fortune.
Happy eating!

Mid-day break, done with style

2011-06-23T14:45:00.003-04:00

I just made this recipe for lunch with the lamb shanks I bought from Joseph at Canreg Farm in Finch.

Incredible baked lamb shanks | Jamie Oliver Recipes (UK)

I think Jonny is more in love with me now than ever before. His comments after lunch went something like this:

"I'm so happy. That made me so happy. Can you make that everyday? You know the way to a man's heart!"

Thanks Joseph for raising delicious sheep! And thanks Jamie Oliver for making sheep taste their best!

The rain has finally come (what a relief) and I've been transplanting all morning. Cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli - done! Jonny was reseeding the cucumbers we lost due to weeks of insufficient rain. Next: celery and celeriac. It's getting mucky out there but the plants love it! And here comes the sun.

Cheers!

Daizy

Summer 2011 Begins!

2011-06-21T09:48:00.001-04:00

It's hard to believe that summer is officially here. I'm still waiting for a proper spring to happen! Our seedlings have had quite the beating so far this year. Spring was cold, wet, and long causing their delicate stems to stretch and potentially become weakened as they searched for sun and warmth. Since transplanting the seedlings outside, we've experienced a bit of a drought here in St. Albert. The tomatoes are looking limp and we've even lost some ground cherries, zucchinis, cucumbers and squash. Sunday night, we took the watering cans to the field and hand watered 440 tomato plants, and hundreds of cucurbits, replacing what we could with the leftover transplants we had in the greenhouse.

Unfortunately, the corn is too far gone but luckily, we have enough time and seed to replant and try again. I'm also making a second attempt at reseeding cucurbits. And of course there is the usual seeding that must be done for succession planting, which includes broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, kale, carrots, and beets.

Our 5000 onions are turning yellow at the tips but are hanging in there! Without water, growth is very slow. It's hard not to become discouraged or even depressed when the weather acts unfavourably but the show must go on! We still have until July 15th to keep planting.

We just invested in an irrigation system which should be arriving soon. The weeding is still under control and the leafy vegetables look great. Not all is bad. In fact, some things are great! Including the inspection we just had with Savour Ottawa. The inspector was very impressed with our operation and said we have his "high recommendation". We are officially local to the Ottawa area! I'm looking forward to our fancy trading cards and promo material that comes with the membership.

It's time to get back at it! Happy summer everyone!

We covered the arugula with row cover to keep the flea beetles away but it went to seed before we got a chance to harvest :(

Selling seedlings at the Metcalfe Farmers' Market on Saturdays

Inside the greenhouse

Basil and eggplants being watered by the drip tape irrigation system inside the greenhouse.

Delicious Luxy Lettuce!

The carrots and broccoli are coming slowly but surely.

Row cover on the cucurbits to the left, ground cover under the tomatoes to the right - pest and weed control for organic farmers!

Newly transplanted cucumbers

If only they still looked this good!

Watermelon

It's June!

2011-06-03T12:55:00.000-04:00

I'm taking a break from transplanting the leeks and fennel to let you know about a few things (and to escape the back/knee-breaking work for a few minutes).

Jonny and I will be at the Metcalfe Farmers' Market tomorrow selling seedlings, bok choy, and rhubarb, from 8am until noon! Afterwards, you can come see me perform with The Electric Company in the Glebe (Brown's Inlet Park, to be exact) from 2-3pm. We'll be playing a funky set of dance tunes for Vesta's Victory Over Vice fundraiser.

If you miss us tomorrow, you still have a chance to check out the band on June 16th at 9pm. We'll be playing for the entire night at Maxwell's on Elgin. Don't forget to wear your dancing shoes!

Sunday, I'll be selling delicious baked goods at the Landsdown Market for Swiss Farmer Bakery, from 8am - 3pm. Come say hello and get your grocery shopping done!

We've managed to get a lot of veggies out into the field! Cabbage, brussels sprouts, kale, swiss chard, broccoli, cauliflower, herbs, kohlrabi...and lots more! Maybe next week we can transplant the tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers. I got my first bad sunburn of the season - conveniently located on the back of my legs. This makes for very painful bending. I look ridiculous transplanted today.

Happy weekend!
And HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! Love you, miss you.
Cheers,
Daizy

What A Difference A Day Makes

2011-05-14T10:05:00.001-04:00

I'm fairly certain Dinah Washington was singing about farming and not some man.

"What a difference a day makes,
Twenty-four little hours.
Brought the sun and the flowers,
Where there used to be rain."

In only a week, we've managed to finish the greenhouse and get the building inspection approval; direct seed our first crop of radishes, arugula, spinach, carrots, and peas; transplant broccoli and lettuce seedlings; seed all of the melons, cucumbers, squash, pumpkins, and zucchinis; and today, to my surprise, I noticed a few zucchini seedlings pushing their way through the potting soil, after only three days of germination. Seeing the soil cracked open with the seed erupting out from it's strong little root, almost made me forget about the crack to my head I received yesterday when rolling up the sides of the greenhouse.
I accidentally let go of the bar which holds the roll-up in place and it came around and hit me in the back of the skull so hard, I saw stars for a brief moment. My first concussion of the season! You should see Jonny's hands; we've already gone through a box of bandages and far too many finger condoms for it being only May.

I have to thank the sun for all of this progress. It was she who allowed us to get our tractor into the fields to cultivate, rototill, rake and then plant. Her warmth kept my cucurbits from rotting! Oh, how I love the sunshine.

Today is the first rainy day in a week and we welcome it with open arms (and bandaged hands, bruised skulls, etc). The seeds will start to germinate outside and the transplants will take, for soon we will have enough veg to take to the market.

Since I'm both farmer and musician, I'd love to know what you're listening to - new, old, whatever. Raking, weeding, planting, and seeding are so much more relaxing when done to good music.

Driving around for supplies yesterday, I listened to the album Blowout Comb by Digable Planets. Chill, groovy - good driving tunes. Raking the beds, I listened to a playlist I created featuring a few goodies: Bob Marley's 'Is This Love' sung by Corinne Bailey Rae, 'Can You Get To That' by Funkadelic, 'Why Can't There Be Love' by Dee Edwards, 'Wikked Lil' Grrrls' by Esthero, and 'Work' by one of my favourite bands (also friends of mine) Mermen Attack!

I'm always looking for new music - do share!
Happy Weekend!
Daizy

Another Saturday Night in Luxy Land

2011-05-07T21:01:00.002-04:00

It's the first Saturday in May, and I'm currently sitting by the fire listening to cheesy wedding song requests for Randy Bachman's Vinyl Tap on CBC. If only I had known the topic this week - I would have sent in a request for the song I walked, or rather strutted, down the isle to: Intergalactic by the Beastie Boys. As you can tell, I'm not very traditional. I even surprised myself by wanting to get married. Still, no one could have convinced me that wearing a white poofy dress (costing a small fortune, I might add) was a good idea.
Ah, now here's a good song: White Wedding by Billy Idol. This always reminds me of my bother-in-law; I first heard this song coming out of Gid's mouth when we were all rockstars living together in Toronto.

I digress. My intention this evening, was to update readers about the progress of our greenhouse. And what progress we have made!!!
The main pieces of plastic are up and hopefully we'll have the ends attached within the next couple of days. Just in time for more crappy weather! The season marches on and all we can do is wait for the fields to dry up so we can get in with the tractor and cultivate. Our seedlings are exploding out of their tiny cells searching, alongside us, for more than a glimpse of that magnificent sunshine. One thing I can be happy about is that it's still light out at 8:40pm!

Ok, I've listened to this show two, maybe three times tops and I'm hearing Rasputine for the second time! How come I haven't heard any Daizy Lux? I've sung at many a wedding.

And back to my intended topic...
I'm hearing from other Farmers in our area that everyone is in the same boat; it's just too wet to get out there and plant. This season, yet again, is full of surprises. Last year, our squash and melons were already peaking out of the soil at this point with daytime temperatures in the 20s. We haven't even bothered planting the squash because of the low nighttime temperatures; the seeds will sit and rot in their cells. The year previous, we were enjoying temperatures in the 20s but again, there was too much rain and too many cold nights.

I've already learned a couple of things I will put into practice for next year:

Plant celery and celeriac (otherwise known as celery root) in March, in trays on heat mats. These crops like warmth for germination and take roughly 120 days to mature.
Wait until April to plant peppers and eggplants to save money on oil for heating the greenhouse.

Oooh, Randy just played Best of My Love by the Emotions, one of the songs I'll be performing with my band in Ottawa next month! If you're in the area, come see us at Maxwell's on June 16th! We're called the Electric Company and we'll have you dancing like it's nineteen-diggity-two!

Here's the greenhouse - almost finished!

Thank you Jeannine, Michel, Mario, and Christine for your help with the plastic! Is was quite the task getting those two layers up in the rain. We were all covered in mud and chilled to the bone by the end!

We appreciate your help!!!

Tomorrow morning I will be selling delicious stuff for the Swiss Farmer Bakery at Landsdown Market. I'll be there from 8am until 3pm.

Happy Mothers' Day everyone!

Cheers!

Ma-Ma-Ma-My Tomato!

2011-04-14T13:31:00.004-04:00

While Jonny's off trimming the hooves of our neighbour's cows, I've been seeding tomatoes. I started first with the heirlooms: Cherokee Purple and Black Krim. The fruit is large, purple and juicy. Absolutely delicious. Then, I did the beefsteaks: Big Beef and Country Taste. These invoke visions of warm summer days, blazing BBQs, juicy local beef burgers, and big slices of fire engine red beefsteak tomatoes covering the entire circumference of the bun. I seeded two types of Roma tomatoes, great for slicing and sauces; 3 types of smaller plum tomatoes, perfect for salads; two types of yellow pear tomatoes; three types of both black cherry and red cherry tomatoes; and the infamous Sun Sugar, an orange cherry tomato that tastes like candy - no lie.

I also did a whole tray of ground cherries. Lovely garnishes or simple snackers, these tiny fruits are a unique treat our market customers love. I'm looking forward to the market! The early mornings are a bit of a challenge (we harvest the leafy greens at 5am, pack up the truck, then leave the farm at 6) but I love seeing regulars and getting a chance to do my own shopping. The Metcalfe Farmers' Market starts May 7 - the theme is 'Mothers' Day'! I'm not sure if our seedlings will be big enough to bring at that point but we'll be there to shop! Luxy Farm will definitely be present in June. We're planting early crops especially for the market.

Come on out and get your Mom something local!

http://www.metcalfefm.com/index.htm

Cheers!

The manure in these planters is at the bottom of the bed

to keep the soil above warm.

Seedlings!

Eggplants, up close and personal.

Peppers in our sunroom.

More seedlings in our sunroom - we're running out of space!

Luxy Farm featured in Healthwise Ottawa!

2011-04-13T10:30:00.004-04:00

Check us out on pages 6-10!

http://healthwiseottawa.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Healthwise_Ottawa_Spring-Summer_2011_web.pdf

The planting is going well - tomato seedlings will be started tomorrow. Luckily, they have nice weather in which to germinate!
I visited my family in southern Ontario this weekend - was it ever warm! I even got a bit of a burn on my arms and face. That was my last trip away from the farm for quite a while! The seeding from now on, will be quite continuous and then we'll be out in the field in no time. And then we will have NO TIME! That's when the family and friends have to come to us. This is a tough business but it still doesn't really feel like work - that romantic notion of life in the country hasn't worn off, thankfully.

We still have a few CSA spots available. Get onboard while you still can!

Cheers!

Hello Spring!

2011-03-30T15:32:00.000-04:00

The forecast for Monday is 11 degrees above zero! What a relief. Our seedlings are growing and could really benefit from some warm sunny days. I saw a fat robin bouncing along the grass today; the cats are outside rolling around in the dirt; the dog doesn't want to come inside; all good signs that spring has arrived.

The CSA is filling up! We've extended the due date for the first installment to April 15th because we only sent our local flyers out this week. But don't wait too long! The second installment due date has also been extended to May 15th. I can't wait to start cooking with my own produce again. The colours and flavours are so much more vibrant. Cooking becomes such a pleasure and an art when you have great ingredients.

The Metcalfe Farmers' Market is gearing up for another great year! The opening day is scheduled for Saturday, May 7th, from 8am-12pm and we will be celebrating Mothers' Day. Hopefully, we'll have some extra seedlings to sell that weekend. We probably won't start attending the market regularly until late-June when the leafy greens and peas are ready for the picking.

Starting in July, we will have the farm open for business every Sunday from 10am until 3pm, for anyone interested in purchasing fresh veggies. We are just a short pit-stop away from the cheese factory and the squeakiest curds you'll ever eat!

Bye bye March - can't say that I'll miss you.

Attention Rockcliffe Customers!

2011-03-16T16:07:00.000-04:00

Hello!

We have just been approved to use the community centre parking lot in Rockcliffe Park, between the police station and the library, as our CSA pick-up location! We will be there on Wednesdays from 5pm until 8pm for the full 17 weeks of the CSA. Please contact us if you'd like to sign up for a share. We start planting tomorrow; onions, leeks, shallots, sweet and hot peppers, eggplants, broccoli, and lettuce seeds will all be germinating in the greenhouse by next week. Spring is FINALLY here!

Happy planting Ontario!
Luxy

Special Announcement for Embrun Residents!

2011-02-28T12:56:00.000-05:00

We now have a pick-up location for Embrun! My request to use the Embrun Arena parking lot was approved, so Embrun members will be picking up their shares every Tuesday, from 5 - 8pm at the arena, which is located on Blais Street and Jean Baptiste Street.

Planting will commence in 2 weeks! We have the seeds sorted and ready to go, we just need to clean out the greenhouse in Moose Creek where we will be planting until our own greenhouse is up and running.

Woo hoo!

Woo Hooo! The seed order is in!

2011-02-10T15:33:00.000-05:00

This is a very exciting time of year for us veggie growers; the seeds are in the post and due to arrive within the next week or so; the garden map and planting schedules are being worked (and re-worked); the sun is shinning and spirits are high in anticipation of spring! So much to do! On Tuesday, we took a webinar (seminar via the internet) on record keeping for the organic farmer. Today, we took another webinar on crop planning. We've taken similar courses in the past but it's always nice to have a refresher and hear how other farmers are running their operations and new techniques they may be using. For information on farming webinars, go to the Canadian Organic Growers website: www.cog.ca.

We've put the word out that we're looking for an intern (or two) from May until October. See the C.R.A.F.T. website (Collaborative Regional Alliance for Farmer Training in Ontario) for details on the program http://www.craftontario.ca/ or go to the right-hand column of this page and click on the link "Intern Position Available".

The CSA is starting to fill up! We are offering 40 shares this year. Last year, we were full by June but I have a feeling we'll fill up much earlier this year. The word is out and people are becoming more interested in eating local, sustainable food. Not only can members of a CSA feel good about reducing their carbon footprints, they also get to eat vegetables that taste SO MUCH BETTER than those darn California greens I've been eating throughout the winter! My goal for this year and every year after is to preserve enough veggies in the fall so that I never have to walk down the vegetable isle in a grocery store AGAIN!

I just added our CSA to the Ontario CSA directory - check it out! www.csafarms.ca (Thanks for the link, David!)

Two nights ago, we had a blackout in the St. Albert/Casselman area. Jonny was down the street milking cows for the neighbour. Farms usually have generators so someone hooked up the generator and they continued milking, with not much delay. I, on the other hand, was doing some paper work when the lights went out. I had no idea how dark it could be out here in the sticks! I looked out the back and saw that the big overhead light was out so I knew immediately the whole property had lost power. I ran to the front window to discover that the entire street had gone dark. My neighbour's tractor was flashing it's siren-like twirly lights but that was the only illumination I had to work with. Luckily, my cell phone was nearby so I used it to find matches to light all of the candles I could find (which were mostly sabbath and hanukah candles!) and then started a fire in the wood stove. Sitting in the silence, I realized that I could no longer connect to the internet, watch TV, read, or do my paperwork. The event was a nice reminder of how much I rely on electricity to do EVERYTHING. More often than not, we take these luxuries for granted and take little time to appreciate our good fortune. When Jonny got home, we made a list of emergency supplies we need to stock up on and listened to the radio on my ipod until we fell asleep. The power came back on about 4 hours later and I still don't know what happened to cause the disturbance.

Until mid-March, you'll be able to find us pouring over seed packages and excel spread sheets before we get started seeding in the greenhouse. Enjoy the rest of your winter because spring is right around the corner!

Cheers!

Daizy

New Design and New Prospects for a New Year!

2011-01-24T12:12:00.000-05:00

If you haven't noticed or been to my site before, I changed the design of the blog and added all of our CSA information, which can be found along the right-hand side under "CSA details". Things are changing for Luxy Farm; we want to be bigger and better this season. We had such a successful first year as independent farmers that we now have the confidence to bring on an intern (or two) and expand our operation. If anyone is looking for farm experience from May until October, give me a shout at luxyfarm@gmail.com.

Jonny has been rifling through the seed catalogues, mesmerized by the colours, shapes, and sizes of the various vegetable varieties available to our climate and hardiness zone. The garden has been mapped out, the days are getting longer, and I'm becoming more and more excited about getting started in March.

In the meantime, we will continue attending farming seminars and organic agriculture conferences, promoting the CSA, and working our winter jobs. We had a great time in Russell this past weekend at the Living Locally Fair. If you missed it, make a point of going next year because it was fantastic! We stocked up on baked goods from the Swiss Farmer Bakery, Phyllis' Home Baking, and Antoinette's Delicasies; hummus from Blackhouse Catering; locally ground coffee from Poppa Bean; and I even purchased a children's book written by local author, Joanne Lécuyer. The librarian promoting the Russell library looked stunning in her burgundy sweater! (She just happens to be our neighbour and CSA customer!) A big thank you to those of you who stopped by, said hello, and enquired about the CSA - we hope to see you again soon!

It was -33 degrees Celcius this morning when Jonny was leaving for work at 6am! By the time I got up an hour later, the thermometer read -31 and now we're sitting at -20, and it's just after noon. Last summer, we had one day of +40 degrees - talk about extremes! That's a 73 degree difference! I'm extremely grateful for our wood-burning stove on days like these.

Stay warm Ontario! Spring is just around the corner...

More Firsts

2010-12-16T11:29:00.001-05:00

Well, it's my first full winter here on Luxy Farm. Last year, I ducked out for two months to work in Toronto. I was going stir-crazy by December and jumped at the opportunity to return to the big smoke and my old life as an urbanite. Now, here I am, trying to build my first fire of the season (and failing but not ready to give up), halfway through December, happy to be staying here.

We've only just experienced our first big snowfall in Eastern Ontario. Jonny cleared the lane-way with the tractor for the first time yesterday. I mean not to gloat, for those of you trapped in your cars on the highway in the southwestern part of the province. For once, my hometown is waist-deep in the white stuff and considering calling in the military for help, while we're moving freely through a few centimeters. We managed to get the skeleton of the greenhouse up before the snow but haven't had the chance to throw on the double plastic layer that will protect our little seedlings from the cold. We're crossing our fingers for a day where the wind won't blow our plastic away, sometime before March.

In the meantime, Jonny is milking cows for the neighbour and I'm working for our local Swiss bakery. We're finding time in our schedules to go to the gym regularly (gotta stay in shape for next season!), take the occasional trip to Toronto to see our friends and family, play music, make minor renovations on the old farm house, get caught up with the regular domestic duties that are over-looked during the busy spring/summer/fall months, and plan for the 2011 CSA. I'm almost ready to send out the brochure with all of the details, so shoot me an email if you're interested in receiving one and not already on my mailing list.

We have big plans for the new year. Not only will we have our very own greenhouse up and running (fingers crossed), we'll also have a bigger garden (2 acres+) and double the number of CSA shares available! This means, we'll need an extra body (or two) to help with the workload. I'm banking on another season of gorgeous weather.

Back to playing music - I joined a band! Look out Ottawa music scene, you haven't heard the likes of Daizy Lux! (I'm bringing back my rockstar name for the stage.) You have a few months before this funky disco party has enough material to light a fire under your dancing shoes! (Speaking of which, I finally got the fire going - success!)

I pulled some tomatoes and peppers out of the freezer, which I added to the crock pot yesterday. I'm almost through our supply of carrots and onions. We only have a few squashes left but the freezer is stocked full of local beef, local organic chicken, and venison, which was hunted by my mother-in-law's friend. We received a call one night, "Do you like deer meat?" and a few hours later, my kitchen had been turned into a bloody butcher block, jagged chunks of venison strewn about the countertop. That venison was also added to the crock pot yesterday and the result was an aromatic Moroccan stew. Jonny argued that Morocco doesn't have venison but it was delicious, none the less.

After more than four months of eating directly from the garden, I feel sick to my stomach walking through the produce isle. I can barely look those grocery store vegetables in the eye! They look so sad and flavourless. I've been spoiled and it is so hard going back to my old ways of relying on imports but I can't live without veggies!
New Year's Resolution: Spend more time preserving the bounty.
We did manage to freeze, along with the tomatoes and peppers, pumpkin purée, arugula pesto, cherry & Roma tomato sauce, and butternut squash soup (which is already gone). Next year, I'd like to have enough in the freezer and cupboards to get us through the winter, with that last few items disappearing as the new crops become edible.

One last note; Jonny and I will be attending the Living Locally Fair in Russell to promote the CSA. Come visit us on January 22, 2011, from 9:30am until 3pm and check out the other local vendors and their great products.

www.russellgardeners.ca/livinglocallyfair

Have a great Christmas, everyone and HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Stay tuned for info regarding the 2011 CSA...

Cheers!

The CSA is over until next season.

2010-10-17T20:17:00.001-04:00

Shutting down the garden for winter is a sad task but at the same time, such a relief. What a hard job it is to grow good organic food! It's definitely worth the pain and discomfort. The pleasure I get from cooking and eating that home-grown food and sharing it with other people is quite profound.

The CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) officially ended last Wednesday but because we still have some produce left to sell, we've offered families one more share. Tomorrow will be the last harvest for those families who can't get enough of us! The program will start again next June. We will have available 40-50 shares on a first-come, first-serve basis. We already have customers who want to pay a deposit to hold their spots!

We sent out a servey to our current customers for input on their experience and suggestions as to how we can improve our business. Once the surveys are in, I'll send out the new application forms and accept deposits for next year.

The Metcalfe Farmers' Market was a lot of fun. We met many great customers (who became regulars) and local business owners, and formed stronger bonds with our peer farmers. None of us make a ton of money running our small businesses but everyone has a relaxed and pleasant vibe - one of the benefits of being your own boss. We look forward to going back next year.

Now, the only venue left for selling our remaining vegetables is online. The Eastern Ontario Local Food Co-op http://www.easternontariolocalfood.org/ is basically an online farmers' market. You pay a one-time fee for a lifetime membership ($50 per family or $100 per producer) and then you can shop for (or sell) local seasonal products, all year round. We still have some squash, radishes and greens left to sell. Shoppers have from Friday afternoon until Sunday evening to place an order. Tuesday at 9am the order is prepared (all of the items from different producers are combined into one package) and at 11am it is shipped to your local pick-up point. Easy and affordable.

The Co-op has meat and vegetable producers, bakers, canners, and crafters. If you're in the area, think about joining before Christmas (or Hanukkah, in my husband's case) and give your friends and family locally produced gifts. Let's try to make this one a sustainable holiday season!

Send me an email for a CSA application form or post me note on the blog. I love to hear your opinions/suggestions! If anyone is looking for a baking project, scout out a pie pumpkin (we have a few left) and try the recipe on http://www.finecooking.com/ for Brown Butter Pumpkin Layer Cake. I made it for my birthday and then again for Thanksgiving dinner and oh my, it is sinfully delicious!

Sweet potatoes

Winter squash

Romanesco cauliflower

Baby beets

Luxy beets canned by a CSA customer -
Fantastic job Allison!

Our prize-winning winter radish!

Brown Butter Pumpkin Layer Cake

Thank you Fine Cooking Magazine!

Our last (very chilly) day at the Metcalfe Farmers' Market

Happy harvest and happy eats everyone!

Three more CSA shares to go!

2010-09-24T10:09:00.003-04:00

What an amazing season we've had! The past 13 weeks have bestowed upon us a bounty of delectable flavours, intense colours, and much joy and satisfaction. Garden work is slowing down and the plants are becoming crisp and golden, a sign that fall is here, once again. We're experiencing no shortage of beta carotene in our diet; butternut, acorn, Japanese Uchiki Kuri, buttercup, or sweet potato squash for dinner every night! For my birthday next Friday, I will bake myself a pumpkin pecan cake and maybe even carve a single candle into the flesh of one of our huge carving pumpkins (because 29 candles might cause an implosion!)

Fall is a fabulous time for farmers and we're enjoying every minute of it. Soon, our landscape will resemble Arctic tundra but until then, we will be preparing the land for hibernation. Last weekend, we planted almost 100 pounds of garlic for next year! Planning for the new season will commence shortly.

On that note, we will be accepting applications and deposits for the 2011 growing season in October. Please email me at luxyfarm@gmail.com for an application and updated information.

To our current customers, thank you for believing in us! We've enjoyed feeding you and your families! We wish for your return next season.

Happy harvest!

Late-August CSA share

Early-September CSA share

Sisters packing boxes

Shares ready for delivery

Roma tomatoes

Brussels Sprouts

Buttercup, Uchiki Kuri, and Acorn Squashes

A chilly September day at the Metcalfe Farmers' Market

Luxy Farm teams up with Knox Fine Dining

and The Amazon's Garden at Feast of Fields

The menu

The Garden

2010-08-18T08:53:00.001-04:00

View from the silo.

Our masterpiece.

More recipes!

2010-08-11T08:38:00.003-04:00

Hey members and friends!

This week, the cucumber vines are exploding with fruit! There are 3-6 cucumbers in each box, depending on the size. We had two days of rain and all of a sudden, the tomatoes have changed from green to delicious shades of red, orange and yellow, so everyone has received 1/2 kilo of cherry and pear tomatoes and 3 bigger ones of varying varieties. Try making Greek and Israeli salads or the following, posted by a member:

Cucumber Melon Mint Salad

Ingredients (for 4) :
- 2 cucumbers
- 2 small cantaloups or 1 honeydew*
-10 coarsely chopped mint leaves
- ground pepper
- salt

Peel cucumbers, remove seeds and cut in cubes of about 1 cm. Repeat with melons. Put in a salad bowl, salt and pepper lightly, add mint leaves and toss gently. Refrigerate for an hour and serve.

*my preference; makes a lovely pale green mild tasting salad.
Enjoy!

If you haven't used up your cabbage yet, try this coleslaw recipe, posted by a CSA member:

The following coleslaw recipe has made my kids love cabbage. I prepare the non-mayonnaise version and only add the mayo in a small portion in another bowl just before serving. That way, everyone gets to choose, creamy or not, and I can keep the vinegar one for more than a day.

Coleslaw with vinegar or optional mayonnaise dressing

Ingredients:
•4 to 5 cups shredded cabbage, about 1 medium head
•1 medium green pepper, thinly sliced
•3 carrots, coarsely shredded
•2 tablespoons grated sweet onion
•1/4 cup sugar
•1/2 teaspoon salt
•1/4 cup vinegar
•2 tablespoons vegetable oil
•mayonnaise, if desired

Preparation:
In a large bowl, toss cabbage, green pepper, carrots, and onion. Cover and chill thoroughly. In a small bowl, combine sugar, salt, vinegar, and oil. Pour over vegetables and toss before serving. If creamier coleslaw is desired, stir in some mayonnaise, a little at a time, until creamy.
Makes about 5 to 6 cups of coleslaw.

You can leave out all vegetables except cabbage, of course, and still get a great coleslaw. As an alternative, I sometimes serve the other vegetables as garnish and then picky eaters still get to enjoy the slaw.

Thanks for the ideas! Keep your posts coming!

Cucumbers!

Tomatoes...

And more tomatoes!

These orange cherries are called 'Sun Sugar' and they are THE BEST tomatoes I've ever eaten!

Portuguese Kale & Potato Soup

2010-08-09T11:28:00.004-04:00

My dad left this recipe on a previous blog post after having it at a restaurant. Karen decided to give it a try (the vegetarian version, without chorizo) and it was a great success! She added a few more spices and used hot peppers from the garden - Jalapeño & Hungarian Hot Wax - delicious!

Please feel free to leave your recipes in the 'comments' section and I will post them to the main page. Here are the ingredients for Portuguese Kale & Potato Soup:

3 small onions 

3-4 garlic cloves or scapes, finely chopped

2 chilies

5-6 medium sized potatoes

1 bunch of kale

Salt & pepper, to taste

Mint (optional but definitely recommended) 

Zest and juice of 1 lemon 

Vegetable stock 

1 sliced chorizo sausage (optional) 

Fry chilies, garlic and onion in olive oil in a soup pot.  Add sliced chorizo if desired.  Add potatoes and stock (based on desired quantity, 4-6 cups).  Simmer until tender.  Add kale and lemon zest and simmer for 5 more minutes.  Add lemon juice just before serving. Enjoy!

Hungarian Hot Wax - spicy!!!

Cast ashore at Luxy Farm

2010-08-04T22:02:00.001-04:00

We're now into August and week #6 of the CSA. Amazing. Also amazing are the friends and family supporting us with their love and newly calloused hands. I had mentioned that my dear friend Karen and her lovely husband Rob had been by for a visit and that we had tackled those vicious lamb's quarters together. The following weekend, brother Gid, sister-in-law Clare, and cousin Iftah lent their hands to clean up the pepper and eggplant beds. How lucky are we?

Then, I receive a distressed phone call from Karen, expecting to hear from her no sooner than spring 2011, asking for a pick-up and place to stay in exchange for another pair of farm-hands. Rob followed a few days later and we managed in less than a week to weed the over-grown tomatoes and potatoes, harvest for our first market day, pull up the remaining garlic, change all of the electrical outlets in the house, bake bread, make kale soup AND have a good time doing it all!

The long weekend wouldn't have been complete without a cameo from Toronto's Miss Emily-Rose Smegal and CSA member and long-time friend of the family Mr. Steven Keeler, who both got down and dirty pulling out weeds and rotting broccoli and cauliflower stalks. Look out country folk, we city slickers know how to get things done!

Not only is Karen Mackenzie a total workhorse and true country girl, she's also a talented singer & writer. Here's what she had to say:

Greetings landlubbers and veggie-lovers,

Late last week I phoned my darling friend Daizy at 8 a.m., despondent over a disastrous sailing trip. After a month of engine and electrical failure, my husband and I had suffered a back-up of the holding tank. Since our recent mishaps had landed us less than an hour from St. Albert, I called on my college friend for help.

The perfect antidote for a marine adventure gone awry? A stint far inland on Luxy Farm.

Since last Friday I’ve gotten a crash course in what it means to be a farmer, Näf-style. Early mornings (to early evenings) in the field, weeding, pruning, harvesting and watering. Household chores balanced with long hours in the hot sun, rewarded with a feast fit for kings at night courtesy the bounty of their kitchen garden.

It is amazing to witness first-hand the amount of care which goes into every vegetable, fruit and vine. Garlic, for example. The bulbs their customers will soon enjoy were planted in prepared soil last Thanksgiving, then coddled and weeded throughout the spring and summer. On July 31, Jonny deemed it ready, and we pulled them out one by one. The stem of each pungent bulb was then painstakingly peeled, and we carefully brushed away the dirt before bundling. Those destined for lucky CSA members were sorted by size, to be cured and parceled weekly.

Saturdays, as you know, are now market days for the Luxy farmers. Alarms screamed at 4:30 a.m., and we descended bleary-eyed into the yard. Kale, chard and zinnias were added to the piles of onion, garlic and zucchini destined for sale in Metcalfe.

As Daizy and Jonny hustled in the sweet darkness of pre-dawn, I turned my face to greet the rising sun, a basket of fresh-cut savory in my arms. This is a good life, but hard, and I am so proud of them for living it. Each snip and shovel contributes to the greater, growing network of organic farming. Every mouth won over by the taste of quality, chemical-free produce is another one disconnected from the harmful cycle of factory-farming. This is one delicious revolution.

And hey, the garden smells a heck of a lot better than that g-damn boat.

I'm blessed to have such incredible family and friends. Jonny and I can't thank you enough.

Karen & I cleaning up the broccoli patch.

Farmer Rob

Luxy Farm at the Metcalfe Farmers' Market

To be continued...

July passes me by and almost goes unnoticed...

2010-07-22T10:30:00.062-04:00

The summer is flying by. My head has been buried so deep in the weeds that I've barely noticed July come and soon be on it's merry way, for one more year. It's hard to believe we're over half-way through 2010, half-way through our first year as business owners, a quarter of the way through the CSA. I'll take a moment to reflect - won't you please join me?

I have to admit that more than a few times this summer, I've been close to tears, sitting in over an acre of garden, alone (because Jonny was busy doing something else), staring at the encroaching weeds, feeling as if I was going to be whisked away and lost forever in that sea of green. It's easy to entertain thoughts of self-doubt at moments like this; there's too much work for one, two, even four people, if you include our occasional guest helpers. We're going to fail, go bankrupt, our bodies will fall apart from over-work and exhaustion or we'll simply be eaten by deer flies. Yeah, I can be dramatic, I know. I have even fantasized about going back to the city where I can sit behind a desk and be bossed around. At least I wouldn't have to make any decisions. And be paid a decent salary.

But then I have a moment like I did this past Monday evening: The sun was setting in the west, colours of pink and purple streaking the sky to the north and south, the east casting a shadow on my snap peas. I could make out the white trellis illuminating my path back to the house but the garden was quickly disappearing into darkness. I turned around to take in the last panoramic assessment of my work before heading in for the night, and noticed the stunning beauty of the purple cabbages which were emitting almost a phosphorescent glow. I was moved to see that in the twilight, the garden produces a different kind of beauty than I had ever seen before. How could anyone complain about this lifestyle or want to give it all up? It's hard work but incredibly fulfilling. Besides, I'll never go hungry.

I just stepped out to take some pictures and again got lost in the beauty of the early morning garden, despite this dismal, cloudy beginning. My morning is creeping by and I'm still sitting here! Once the field dries up a bit, we will continue weeding the cucumbers and melons, and clean up empty beds where we will plant our second crop of carrots, beets, and beans. Our first crop is coming - beans will be in the box next week, I suspect, and carrots in the one following (I hope!)

Last night, Jonny and I delivered a few crates full of giant zucchinis, along with some kale, swiss chard, basil and broccoli, to the local food bank. They were very grateful since they can barely support the number of families in need on grocery store and local business donations alone. It's hard to believe that such an affluent-looking community can hide it's suffering residents so well. A big THANK YOU to our customers who donated their shares while they were away on holidays!

After our delivery, we cooked an amazing vegan meal. Into the pan went an eggplant, 1/4 of a giant zucchini, a patty pan, 2 garlic cloves, a green pepper, swiss chard, a beet, and a few beans and peas. The addition of some red paste and a can of coconut milk gave us a delicious curry, coloured bubble gum pink by the fresh purple beet. Jonny even made kale chips and they were gooooood! If only everyone could eat like we do.

Another big THANK YOU to our dear friends Karen and Rob for helping us find the cucumbers in a jungle of weeds. I haven't enjoyed weeding this much since last year when we were working for Christine, chatting about life, love and farming. I love you guys!

The jungle of Lamb's Quarters slowly receding to reveal cucumbers and melons. By the end of today, these weeds will be gone!

Before Karen and Rob arrived, the cleared area to the left looked just like the jungle on the right.

The sweet corn is finally at eye-level! This is tiny compared to the conventional corn being grown and sprayed with pesticides all around our area.

Beautiful and delicious eggplant.

Savoy cabbage will be in the next CSA box.

Finally some progress on the carrots!

Onions: we planted almost 3000!

Carving pumpkings...

being attacked by mating cucumber beetles!

Two varies of kale - Nero di Toscana and Red Russian, both delicious in chip form. Thanks for the inspiration, Anna!

A perfect little patty pan.

Here comes the sun!

And there go my clean feet!

A garlic scape exploding into flower.

Thanks for reading everyone. I appreciate the comments, love and support. Coming soon...Luxy Farm at The Metcalfe Farmers' Market.

Riding Another Heat Wave - Surf's Up!

2010-07-07T13:10:00.006-04:00

After weeks of cool, wet weather, we have entered another period of record high temperatures, blazing sunshine, and a daily humidex of between 40 and 45. Extreme weather warnings suggest that we stay inside an air-conditioned building, drink lots of water, and avoid physical exertion. I have been drinking lots of water and iced mint tea but there's no way to avoid physical exertion when we have so much to do! Weeding is excellent in this weather because the plants are too hot and dry to re-root themselves. As for the air-conditioning - in a hundred-year-old house like ours? HA! I'll just have to make an excuse to go to the mall at some point. I am, however, taking a very long lunch today and will be making a green Thai curry with peas, cheddar cauliflower, kohlrabi, and kale, all from the garden. That's why I'm still here; we eat like kings.

Yesterday was our second delivery day. On week #1, we worked in the rain which made for a muddy first harvest. We started early in the morning yesterday, to avoid mid-day wilt. The veggies looked great - the only things wilting were Jonny and I. We splashed around in the kiddy pool briefly and gave Gina a cold shower. Mary Lou and Django could be found sprawled out in the shade. Again today, we started out early to get some work done but by 10am our t-shirts were soaked with sweat. That kiddy pool is looking really nice right now.

My dad and step-mom, Brenda, were here last week for a visit. They helped us out tremendously by picking berries (that otherwise would've been eaten by bugs), weeding, and cooking for us. My fridge is stocked full of jellies, jams, and syrups now, thanks to D & B. Come back again soon, please!

Our moms have also been by to help with the weeding. Ima is tireless and did a fantastic job on the peppers and corn. Mom was out there with me at 7am cleaning up the lettuce and celery rows.

There have been a few animal sightings as of late; a black bear was spotted in the garden 3 weeks ago, around 5 in the morning. Yesterday, we saw a deer very close to the barn and today I shooed a groundhog out of the peas. Adorable as they are, I have to now look at these creatures as potential pests. I'm thinking of making a scare-crow.

Anyhoo, must head back to the field - we're still staking the tomatoes and there's a ton of weeding to be done. I desperately need to get more seedlings into the ground but must wait until the forecast calls for rain, so as not to kill the poor little things. Stay cool everyone!

Staked Tomatoes

Green Tomatoes

Basil

Basil Cinamonette

The heat might actually turn the peppers red this year!

The peas are exceptionally small this year - they can't take the heat!

Massive kohlrabi - awesome in stir-fries.

Our first head of cheddar cauliflower! Who's hungry?

Baby Brussels Sprouts

Raspberries conveniently growing beside the path out to the garden make for a sweet mid-day snack!

Hot Dog

Lazy Cat

The Dug-Out

We're well on our way to a beautiful crop of vegetables!

2010-06-03T22:17:00.039-04:00

Hello CSA members and friends,

The garden is thriving, thanks to an early heat wave followed by the rain and cool spell we are currently experiencing in St. Albert. We've transplanted most of our seedlings already and are now waiting for the much-needed rain to clear up in order to finish. Left to go are the tomatoes, potatoes and herbs.

One unfortunate incident occurred last Wednesday evening, after the temperature reached a record high of 40℃! After struggling to plant beans with sweat dripping in my eyes, we decided to call it a day and went inside for popsicle relief. A few hours later we came rushing out, as thunder roared over the little red farmhouse, to save our seedlings from the rain and hail. We didn't realize the magnitude of the storm until we were safe back inside, staring out at the blue fork-lightning. That's when we saw our giant tree lying only feet away from the front porch. The next day, we found two more trees lying across our garlic and onions in the garden, completely uprooted.

Luckily, our fabulous neighbours stopped by a few days later with chainsaws and beer (a great combination) and we hacked away at the trees until the mess had been cleaned up. Thanks for your help Gid, Clare and our wonderful neighbours!

There is still plenty of garlic and onions to go around. The sweet corn went in yesterday. We are covering up our cucurbits with row cover, but seemingly not fast enough - the cucumber beetles have found us already and are snacking happily on the zucchinis and squash. Jonny was out there on all fours squishing bugs between his thumb and finger.

Our Swiss chard looks great and the brassicas are getting big! Expect to see three different kinds of cauliflower in your boxes this year; Cheddar, with a smooth domed orange head; Minuteman, with your typical white head; and Veronica, an unusual lime-green, spiked Italian Romanesco - decorative and delicious!

We are aiming for the CSA program to begin June 29/30th, as long as the weather continues to cooperate. Less than four weeks to go!
Happy June everyone!

Casualties of the storm

Trees on the garden

Unscathed garlic

Seedlings getting big in the greenhouse

Lots & lots of seedlings

Cuddle-break with Mary Lou

The CSA is now full! Read on for details regarding the waiting list...

2010-05-10T21:00:00.000-04:00

We've had a great response from the flyers sent out in the Casselman/Embrun areas, as well as from returning customers. Thank you to all members! Give yourselves a pat on the back for not only supporting sustainable agriculture and your local economy but also for being health-conscious and providing your body with the fresh and delicious fuel required for having a long and healthy life!

We are starting a waiting list for those who are interested in receiving a share next year. We will be expanding our operation for the 2011 season, so there will be lots of room as long as you sign up early. We may have room for a few more farm pick-ups this season. Please contact us for more details. We are expecting to have a fantastic year. Now bring on the sunshine!!!

Last year's bounty

This July until October, you can visit us at the Metcalfe Farmers' Market on Saturdays from 8am until noon. We will be selling vegetables and cut-flowers.

http://www.metcalfefm.com/

Last year at the Maxville Market representing The Amazon's Garden

CSA Memberships Now Available!

2010-03-12T09:30:00.003-05:00

You may be asking yourself, what is a CSA?

To put it simply, Community Supported Agriculture is a program where the farmer produces sustainably-grown food for a predetermined number of shares which are purchased at the beginning of the growing season. CSA members receive their shares on a weekly basis, benefiting from the bounty and also sharing the risk of uncontrollable factors that may affect a crop, such as too much rain (think of last summer), unforgivable pests (Colorado potato beetles, oh my!) and disease. (Remember your tomatoes last year? Those brown spots were caused by late blight.)

No, last year wasn't a fantastic growing season at The Amazon's Garden (or anywhere else in Ontario) but we still managed to deliver 30 boxes a week, stuffed full of fresh vegetables that tasted better than any produce shipped from Mexico or California.

Our goal at Luxy Farm is to acquire organic certification for our vegetables by 2011. Currently we are in transition, meaning that we have been following the practices and procedures of a certified organic farm, and must do so for three consecutive years before being eligible to apply. Despite the weather last season, we had fantastic results from our soil and expect this season to be an even greater success.

How members benefit from this model:

You know exactly where your food is coming from and the farmer who grew it.
Your carbon footprint is minimized because your food is being produced without chemicals and doesn't need to travel very far to get to your plate.
You are supporting your local economy and keeping small farms on the map.
You get to eat freshly harvested vegetables that just TASTE so much better!

How farmers benefit from this model:

Funds are available at the beginning of the season to help with start-up costs.
Farmers have the chance to connect with their community and the people who are eating their food.

Luxy Farm Memberships Include:

Fresh local chemical-free vegetables harvested the day of your delivery, starting in late-June until early-October (16 weeks).
Weekly email reminders regarding delivery/pickup.
Weekly newsletters with crop updates and recipes.
Membership Commitments:

Pay for the season in full or in 2 installments.
For farm pick-ups, bring your own bags to collect your share.
Organize with friends, neighbours or family to collect your share if you are unable to do so. You also have the option of donating a share, delivered by us, to the Good Neighbors Food Bank in Embrun or the CCS Foodbank in Casselman. We require advance notice in order to make arrangements with the food bank staff.
Share some of the rewards and risks of the farm, by benefiting from the abundances and making do when crop yields are low due to weather, disease or pests.
Keep an open mind to occasionally trying new or different vegetables and eating in season!

Share options (choose one):

$400 share – To be picked-up at Luxy Farm on Wednesdays, between 4pm – 8pm.
$440 share – Home delivery in Casselman/Embrun on Tuesdays, between 5pm – 8pm.
$500 share – Home delivery or designated drop-off in Ottawa on Tuesdays between 6pm – 8pm.
$400 additional share – For a family of 5 to 7 people.

payment options:

Full amount – cheque dated for the current month.
2 installments – half on one cheque dated for the current month, and half on the second cheque post-dated for June 1^st, 2010.

Please contact luxyfarm@gmail.com or (613) 987-5302 if you are interested in joining our CSA and would like an application form. We have a limited number of shares and encourage you to sign up ASAP.

Ready...Set...FARM!

2010-03-07T17:39:00.006-05:00

Welcome to March and the beginning of our planting season! After a long and unusually mild winter, we headed back to The Amazon's Garden this week, to start our seedlings in the greenhouse space we are renting.

The sun cheered us on through the translucent plastic, leading me to believe that this growing season will be better than the last. Jonny and I kissed the tiny black onion seeds before tucking them into the compost-rich soil, as if to invoke good luck. In 7-10 days, we should be greeted by baby seedlings erupting from their warm and cozy beds.

Planting vegetables isn't unlike rolling the dice and hoping for that lucky #7; we can water, feed, and nurture our plants to the best of our ability but the determining factor will always be Mother Nature and her strange mood swings. Last year her tears flooded the fields; her flea beetles made swiss cheese out of our bok choi; her cool weather encouraged the spread early blight throughout Ontario, which bruised the tomatoes and made their foliage look as though it had been set on fire.

But these are the risks we take as farmers. Despite the misfortunes of our last growing season, we still managed to produce an abundance of the most delicious bounty I have ever eaten. And so, I am hopeful and excited for spring as it fast approaches, for each day that is longer than the one previous, and for the story of Luxy Farm to unfold.

Our Return to The Amazon's Garden

Taking turns watering the onion beds

Come on lucky number 7!

Gina, keeping us company in the greenhouse and enjoying 18°C weather in March

New babies (all of which will remain nameless this year!)

Happy Farmers

How the city sparkles

2010-02-15T21:45:00.004-05:00

Last year, I was desperate to get out of the city, so I moved to the country. After farming ended and winter set in, I started feeling like a prisoner of Eastern Ontario, shackled to my broom. Now that I had only a few shifts a week at the local fine-dinning restaurant as a waitress, and plenty of time to clean the house, I realized two things; that I need full-time work to keep myself busy/sane; that a century-old house never gets clean.

The frustrated city girl in me wanted to break out! And so I jumped at the opportunity to work in Toronto for 5 weeks. I couldn't wait to get back to my old stomping ground! The grass was definitely greener on the other side, as I had imagined. Toronto had a pathetic amount of snow and felt like the tropics, compared to the hard winds and biting cold I had been experiencing out here on the farm.

I had a fantastic time working for the wine agency and keeping myself busy with friends and family. I got to catch up with some of my musician buddies and hear their terrific new bands, The Tristones and Sound One. Please, check them out if you can! I also spent lots of time with my siblings. Thank you Amy, Marty, Gid, Clare, Mel, Jeff, Ben, Smegal, Trish, Renee and Maya for providing me with shelter and some really nice meals. The door to Luxy Farm is always open to you.

Warren, a wonderful comrade from my Fanshawe days, had his 30th birthday extravaganza at The Drake. I'm always amazed by the sea of scantily clad individuals that drown a Toronto nightclub despite the -20°C windchill. The quest to dance half-naked to over-produced pop music after waiting in line for an hour on a Saturday night has always bewildered me. That's why I'm too country for the city, I guess. The next time I see Warren, he will be wearing rubber boots and a straw hat. If you help me weed, dear friend, I will sing Mariah Carey, Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu covers to you until the sun goes down - I promise!!!

As fun as couch-surfing and clubbing can be, the country began calling to me once more. By the end of week 5, I was itching to get home to my own bed (or was that from bed bugs?) and missed my kitchen, not to mention my beautifully supportive husband and adorable animals.

Speaking of animals, poor Jezebel had to move out. She and Mary Lou would not get along, and Jez, being intolerant of the other animals, had to go. Fortunately, it all worked out splendidly! My friend Trish lost her calico of 15 years in December (very sad) and turned out to be the perfect match for my stubborn little meow-face. The best part is that I can visit both of them whenever I want!

As Jezebel headed back to the city, a scruffy black and white stray showed up, cold and absolutely voracious. To keep him from tearing the garbage apart, Jonny fed him. Since then, he has adopted the mud room as his home and is now a part of the family. Our new kitty is called Django.

Yesterday, Jonny and I attended a CSA workshop held by Justfood in Ottawa. It has inspired us to get our act in gear and start planning for the new season. It's finally time! I'm so excited to get back to my dream-job! Jonny, who had been scouring through seed catalogues for the past few weeks, got our order in today. In two weeks, we'll be back in the greenhouse but this time with our own seeds and our own ideas - as renters, not apprentices and forever students of mother nature.

Ready....Set....FARM!

Home Sweet Home

Our newest addition to the Näf Squad: Django!

Snow Storm Hits Eastern Ontario

2009-12-09T11:06:00.004-05:00

'Tis a blustery day in St. Albert, not unlike the conditions of most of the province today. El Niño's wedding gift to us on November 14th was a daytime high of 14 degrees, knowing somehow that I'd be adorned in toeless 4-inch heels, a semi-strapless dress and thin pashmina as my only defence. It was the gift that kept on giving, right into December, which was green albeit wet...until now.

It's being reported that we'll receive 5-10 cm of snow with winds gusting at 43 km/hr. I can hear the wind whistling around me as I type, while ghostly thumps, knocks and clanks creep up from the basement of this old, decrepit house. We're keeping cozy (me, Gina and the cats) but I can't help feeling slightly unsettled as I'm still getting used to being somewhat remote, and the view from my window indicates that I'll have to pull out the tractor to empty the laneway; not to mention that there's a 15-minute drive on snow covered, country roads before I come in contact with someone who can make me a hot chocolate. I really appreciate the city's convenience in times like these. Ah well, I could be in Nunavut. (Sorry Karen! I'm thinking of you today!)

Gina and I went for a quick frolic this morning to investigate what we're up against here.

Bundled and ready to go!

I captured the disappointment on Gina's face as she gazed into her snow-filled bowl.

The laneway at 9:30am

She likes to take mouth-fulls of snow while bounding though it.

Hibernating Tractors

Corn stumps under a blanket of snow.

Wind-swept Gina!

Snowy Face!

4 hours later and it's still snowing! I hope everyone is warm and enjoying the view out their window!

Greetings from Mr. and Mrs. Näf of Luxy Farm!

2009-11-28T00:56:00.010-05:00

Hello All!

We've finally decided on a farm name! Not only did Luxy Farm get the most number of votes but I wasn't ready to be rid of my fabulous surname forever without passing it on to something of equal or greater fabulousness! And so, the farm becomes Luxy and I become a Näf.

Jonny and I were married on November 14th in Toronto. We kept it small due to the fact that we're saving for our farm business but it was loads of fun and we appreciate everyone who contributed to our special day.

Currently, we are both working part-time jobs (unrelated to farming) and really want to get our business plan underway...any day now! It's hard to decide where to start because there's so much to do. First, we have to get that row cover off of the arugula before the snow hits. After our departure from The Amazon's Garden, we didn't get much done at our own farm except for a quick sweep of the land with the Bush Hog and the spreading of dead leaves to protect the soil from winter. I can't believe we still haven't had any crazy frosts and it's almost December! I thought for sure our last crop would be mush by the time we returned home from our two-week Toronto vacation. However, it's still there and will make a nice arugula pesto, if I ever get around to harvesting it! Next, I will have to hunker down with my computer and start creating spread sheets while Jonny organizes our environmental farm plan so we can apply for grants.

My other winter activities will consist of singing in a Christmas choir, writing new tunes, renovating the old farm house, and learning French so I can fit in with the locals. It's incredible to think that only a year ago, I was making the tough decision to leave my familiar city life to become a country girl. Now, I can hardly imagine being anywhere else.

The Näfs welcoming me into the clan

The siblings

Productivity at it's finest!

I've been neglecting you, oh faithful readers!

2009-11-05T17:27:00.006-05:00

My apologies for not keeping you up on the farm front!

I left off at the part where we said goodbye to eight of our 24 turkeys. The rest were taken to the butcher by our mentor and the three little pigs go this weekend. The sheep are back in the barn after a good run-around with the friendly neighbourhood ram, Roman Polramski. After his relentless attempts to mount the young lambs, the decision was made to allow our rented ram to fulfill his instinctual desire as Margarite, April and Regaldina have grown almost to full size and will hopefully be capable of carrying young lambs of their own in the spring. The animal world is a fascinating one, not unlike your mid-afternoon, weekday soap opera.

We've officially finished our apprenticeship! The CSA is over, the fields have been swept of every last morsel and the ground prepared for a good frost. I'm excited to move on to the next chapter of our adventure but at the same time am sad to say goodbye to The Amazon's Garden and our wonderful mentor. She gave us a wonderful foundation of experience and education to build on, something I will always be grateful for and never forget. We love you Christine!

Next episode....

Preparing for winter in Eastern Ontario - hibernation and planning!

Thank you Christine, oh wise and wonderful mentor!

The Bush Hog

Ram Roman

Hello Fall, Goodbye Turkeys

2009-09-27T23:44:00.010-04:00

The leaves are changing, the crops are dwindling and the turkeys are gobbling - no more. I'm sad about the turkeys because they are the most gentle, passive creatures I've encountered on the farm. I love the sounds they make - peeps, chirps, barks, gobbles - I could listen to them all day! I also love their curiosity and sweet demeanor. I feel so at peace sitting in the grass, watching them eat. I also love their meat covered in cranberry sauce and brie. Nope, still not a vegetarian.

Taking Bridget and Roy to the butcher was sad as well but we handled it nicely. Roy turned out to be one tasty lamb, as many of the people who attended the Ottawa Feast of Fields on Sept 13th would agree. The Amazon's Garden teamed up with Knox Fine Dinning of Moose Creek to produce a tasty organic treat for the crowd of 600 people; braised Roy with cabbage and quinoa tabouli on a crostini.

We delivered our last vegetable boxes for the CSA on Thursday. Everyone was sad that they will no longer be receiving fresh veggies weekly to their doorstep. The last market day was Friday - also sad because Jonny and I had a lot of fun working in Maxville every week. I can't believe our apprenticeship is almost over! Jonny and I both agree that the past 7 months have been the best of our lives and we have Christine to thank for it. I'm inspired, enlightened and have a whole new appreciation for life and it's glorious splendor.

Setting up for Feast of Fields

Roy

Jonny harvesting spinach for the last CSA boxes of the season

Brussel sprouts

Red Curly and Black Russian Kale (looking a little like palm trees)

Our final planting of spinach, arugula, lettuce and carrots

Jonny & Ralph cuddling in the packing shed

Farmers

Fall delights for our final market day in Maxville

My buddies taking a ride in the Ranger

Goodbye friends!

Healthy Hands

The frost is on its way so we've covered the peppers and eggplants with a porous blanket called row cover. This will keep the air underneath a degree or two above the temperature outside. The brassicas can withstand a bit of frost but I plan on harvesting the rest of those brussel sprouts soon so I can blanch and freeze them for the winter. The tomatoes never ended up looking great this year because of the blight and unfavourable weather conditions (rain, rain and more rain) but I did manage to make a couple of nice sauces. We still have potatoes to dig up and carrots, which will taste sweeter after a frost. The next thing on the list to learn is preserving vegetables for the winter. I've loved shopping in my own backyard - I hope shopping in my freezer is just as fun, although I have my doubts...

Happy Thanksgiver!

Harvesting 101

2009-08-09T08:52:00.006-04:00

On Thursdays, we harvest for the CSA in the morning, pack the boxes and by 5pm are on the road to deliver our fresh veggies. Fridays, after harvesting in the morning, we head to the Maxville market for 3 until 7pm. It's a small market and fairly steady, even in the rain. There are approximately twelve vendors and we are the only ones with organic certification. The first week we went to the market was in June and the garden still hadn't produced enough for a very exciting table. Our table looks fantastic now, with all of the different colours, shapes and sizes of delicious produce! YUM!

Our first day at the market wasn't a great success; all we had were peas, swiss chard, kale and lettuce.

Our presentation is much better now!

I sat on the side of Route 900 yesterday, hoping to sell our surplus right in front of the farm. I made $6. A lot of people honked and waved but that was about it. One lady stopped and asked for corn. We didn't plant corn in our garden because it's a large plant and leaches a lot of nitrogen from the ground. Christine only planted some for the CSA. Next year we'll plant enough to entice people to stop at my road-side stand and hopefully they'll buy whatever else I'm selling too!

Jonny and I eat a lot of vegetarian meals now. It's actually quite easy to make vegetables exciting, even for someone learning to cook, such as myself. Last night for dinner, I stuffed patty pans with a delicious rice filling mixed with sun dried tomatoes, olives, caramelized onions and garden garlic. (The stuff from China doesn't even compare!) Accompanying the baked patty pans were my beet and potato salad peppered with fresh dill, Jonny's tomato and cucumber salad with goat cheese, and a sprig of parsley. My next mission in the kitchen is to make zucchini bread for the table and freezer. Anyone have a good recipe?

By next week, we should have a mountain of tomatoes to sell. Thanks to the cool weather and rain, the tomatoes are really late this year. The few that I have been able to harvest are so sweet and juicy, unlike any tomato I've ever tasted before. I'll never buy another tomato from Mexico or California again!!!

Stay tuned for more organic gardening adventures with Daizy and Jonny...

Butchering 101

2009-08-02T13:51:00.019-04:00

Hindus believe that every living organism has a soul; from the greatest of whales, to a blade of grass, to the microscopic, single-cell amoeba. It took me a few sessions of weeding to accept the fact that in order to keep my garden full of vegetables, I must suffer the karmic consequences of killing any weeds, bugs or larvae that may try to destroy my plants.

I'm now quite comfortable slicing wire worms in half, crunching the hard shells of Colorado potato beetles against garden stones, and squishing their colourful offspring between my bare fingers. There's a sadistic sense of satisfaction in destroying these pests once you've seen what they do to the eggplants, potatoes, tomatoes, etc.

On July 22nd, I experienced something a little different. 150 meat chickens were shipped to the butcher, with the exception of 2 ladies that we had to kill at the farm due to a broken wing and immobility. Meat chickens are bread to eat themselves to death. It's quite sad to see and I wish I could say that I've become a vegetarian from the experience but I'm not that strong.

I warned onlookers that I may shed a tear or two behind the lens of Jonny's camera. Christine, the butcher, expressed the same sentiments and confessed that it had been 25 years since she had to do this at home. In the end, there were no tears and the whole experience was like a trip back in time to OAC biology class. I could identify many of the organs and recognized that familiar smell of carcass, minus the formaldehyde.

The pictures are a bit graphic so I took them off the blog, saving those of you with weak stomachs from unnecessary discomfort. I assure you that the killing was done in a sensitive and humane way. The birds didn't suffer because they were knocked out with a quick blow to the head before their throats were sliced and the blood drained from their twitching bodies. Large-scale slaughterhouses don't always have "home delivery" services or "relaxation rooms" where the animals can rest after they have been traumatically removed from their homes and transported to their new temporary home. The animals in such situations produce stress hormones that circulate through their bodies and create an acidic environment, evidently causing the meat to become contaminated. Yummy.

New baby chickies, 1 day old

Still babies at 6-7 weeks old and looking like adults

Hot water dip makes removing feathers much easier

Finished!

Note: The farmer kept these chickens for her own consumption and did not share them with anyone else.

Coming Soon: Butchering 101

2009-07-22T22:46:00.006-04:00

Today was interesting. It started out very relaxed; I washed the vegetable harvesting bins we'll use tomorrow while Jonny strung up tomato plants in the greenhouse. Later, I worked away in the greenhouse planting more cucumbers and Jonny continued the endless weeding. We moved the extremely heavy potato washing machine into the greenhouse with the tractor because we plan on digging up a bunch of new potatoes for the veg boxes tomorrow. And then we slaughtered two chickens. I took lots of pictures and helped very little but learned a lot. Christine's niece was very helpful, surprisingly calm for a twelve-year-old, and called me "the paparazzi". I guess the word is the same in both languages. We ended our evening in a fine dining restaurant drinking the local beer (Mmmm Beau's!) and an Ontario Pinot Noir. I ate duck and Christine's niece ate chicken.

I'm home now and need to get some sleep for our long day tomorrow of harvesting, packing and delivering veg boxes to customers in Ottawa, Casselman, Embrun and Limoges. Please stay tuned as the next blog posting will feature my thoughts and feelings about the home-slaughter, along with some great shotz of the stars themselves. I wonder what we'll be having for lunch tomorrow...

Guten Nacht!

Luxy's Worker Beez, We On Tha Swarm!

2009-07-08T07:54:00.013-04:00

That's not a bee - it's a deer fly! Nasty buggers swarm your head until they can take landing and steal a chunk of your flesh. We stuck double-sided deer fly tape to our hats and I caught two!

Jonny won this round.

And here are the worker beez!

Steve, Faye, Hazel, Gideon and Ben made a dent in our garage junk pile this weekend, then a dent in the lettuce patch! Everyone took home a head or two, not to mention what was consumed at every meal. You CAN make friends with salad! Thanks dudes!

The infamous Ima battling weeds. For those who haven't had the pleasure, Ima is my future mother-in-law. She's tough. Don't mess with Ima!

Zach and Jill came over the hill all the way from London. They brought their puppy Hudson and planted our pepper and butternut squash seedlings!

What a workout!
The garden only a few weeks ago

The garden now - it's so lush! Just wait until August!

Living out here is so majestic.

And I have the Näfs to thank for it all. I love you guys.
Thanks for the pictures Jonny! You're my hero.

A Great Success!

2009-07-04T17:46:00.006-04:00

On Thursday, we delivered our first vegetable boxes. At 8AM, Jonny and I were in the field harvesting lettuce, swiss chard, kale, baby turnips, new broccoli flowers, an assortment of herbs, garlic scapes, onions, snow and snap peas, and rhubarb.

What an amazing feeling; collecting the fruits of our labour, knowing how much care and time we put into these delicate items and that someone is going to enjoy them and feel healthier for doing so.

Not only that but it was a pretty good workout! I'm proud of the tightness in my hamstrings! All in a day's work.

Once the boxes were packed, our mentor headed out on her 23-box route and we took our six boxes to the road. We dropped off two in Embrun, 1 in Limoges and 3 in Ottawa. By the time we were finished and heading home, it was 8:30. We had enough energy to make a salad and watch an episode of South Park before hitting the hay. Our mentor was delivering to families in one town but had to make two trips and didn't get home until 9pm. She's 47 and way more hard-core than we are.

Friday was our first market day. Harvesting was less intense but we were rushed for time and didn't get a chance to eat much. After setting up the table and tent, I bought us Thai Food from a neighbouring stall and we took turns eating in the car while the others manned the table. We were the only certified organic farmers at the market. We ended up spending more money than we made but I don't have to go grocery shopping again for a while and I'm happy to support the local businesses! The rain kept many people at home but there were a few fish who didn't mind the weather and kept us busy for the most part. Another long day but a feeling of satisfaction and excitement for the second half of the season. On Monday, we'll be back to weeding (a never-ending endeavor), planting more lettuce seedlings out in the field, and preparing the back of the greenhouse floor for late tomatoes, eggplants and cucumbers. I can't believe we're halfway through our first year as farmers.

I hope everyone had a fantastic Canada Day!!!

A quick visit to tha citay

2009-06-20T09:29:00.000-04:00

I'm back in Toronto for the first time since I left four months ago. My mom is here and I'm hangin' with my sisters for less than 2 full days. Short but worth the travel. Obviously the city looks the same and I still know how to get around on the subway but I'm realizing that my time here as come and gone. It's still such a magical place; the Now Magazine is stacked with shows I'd love to see, there are so many stores I would love to wander through if I could afford even a look, and all my peeps are just a token away. I love to people-watch and drink over-priced lattes on hipster patios, ride my bike through a cacophony of honks, screams and middle fingers to the sky, and sing karaoke under the influence of pint after pint at Hurricanes. And somehow the sparkle of these misadventures has become a bit dull.

The weird thing is, I feel even dirtier here than I did in the country, covered in dirt. The subway is full of snotty-nosed people (myself included) replacing limited air with bacteria, cars on congested streets are replacing oxygen with exhaust, and there is little green space to clean it all up. But I haven't even left Scarborough yet. Maybe I will be sucked in by flashing lights, glistening martinis and sweet smells of any ethnic food you can imagine this Saturday night, and Jonny will have to come rescue me from the writhing tenticles of the all-consuming city. Jonny, get out your hacksaw cause you might be coming to town!

Oh, how she grow!

2009-06-07T11:25:00.000-04:00

Giant asparagus is tasty. Especially when you can eat it minutes after having been picked. There really is something magical about eating the food you grow. Do you know that commercial where the farmer says, "This ain't no romance novel, it's just a sweet potato."? (Actually, he says sweet "patayda" and probably isn't a farmer at all.) Well, being an idealistic (and possibly delusional) city kid in her first season of farming, I find it all to be incredibly romantic. I'm more intimate with mother nature than I am with my own fiance! Ok, that's not true. But sometimes it feels like it when I'm covered in bugs and have earth coming out of every orifice!

Even Gina gets a little romantic once in a while.Our wise mentor is definitely a romantic - and even after 30 years of farming. Her enthusiasm amazes me every day.

And here's another romantic, making it happen in a land far, far away called Nunavut. Thanks for visiting the farm, Kate Nova! The carrots we planted will grow! Good luck with the greenhouse! Check out her blog Port Town Ghosts to read about her Arctic adventures (find the link above).

That's about all the time I have right now. Days are getting longer and all of a sudden we have to be in 5 places at once. The vegetable box deliveries were supposed to get started this week but with the cold weather, we've had to postpone our first delivery for a few more weeks. That doesn't mean there isn't weeding, cleaning or cultivating to be done! It just means that our plants are a little smaller than they should be by now - except for the asparagus!

Cheers!

Daizy Lux

Visitors

2009-05-07T11:25:00.001-04:00

May 2nd
Me and Val
Joel and poutine
Mary Lou

Mummified barn cat
Gina
Thanks for the photos and visit Val and Joel!

April 11th
Me and Erin
Thanks for the photos and visit Erin!

Today is a rainy day. We're happy about this because we did some more planting outside and our babies need water; cilantro, parsley, bok choy, spinach, beets and swiss chard! Rain also means we get a break and I can post pictures!

April showers have brought me flowers!

2009-05-04T21:54:00.000-04:00

My sister
Mr. Chipotle
Beelzespud
Potato Prince
Ralphy
Happy May everyone!

The earth is warm and we've been outside planting! Today we sowed peas and fixed wooden steaks in between the rows, which will become trellises for the peas to climb. Previous to this enjoyable task, we picked rocks - not quite as enjoyable. However, I got to drive the tractor, which made my day!!! We planted cucumbers, squash and melons and now the greenhouse is overflowing with seedlings. Everyday the plants look bigger, the lambs look stronger and I feel even more grateful for having been given this chance. My farmer hands are coming along quite nicely; they feel like sandpaper, are speckled with slivers and starting to get calloused. Jonny's farmer tan is definitely still better than mine.

My Rockstar friend Valery Gore (check out her new cd on itunes, Avalanche to Wandering Bear - AMAZING!) and her fiance Joel came for a visit and took some excellent photos of our farm, some of which I will post shortly. THANKS GUYS! After a deliciously organic breakfast at Chez Lux, I took them on a walking tour of our 120ish acres with Gina and Mary Lou trailing behind. Later, we went into "town" (blink and you miss it) for poutine at the famous St. Albert cheese factory where the tastiest, and squeakiest, curds are made.

We had other guests this weekend, too. It was a birthday extravaganza for Jonny's brother Gideon and Gid's fiance Clare. Thanks for coming party people! My sister Melissa joined in on the festivities Friday night - a little too hard. She came with us to work the next morning where she helped to plant one tray of squash and then passed out on the floor of the greenhouse for three hours!

This week, we'll continue working the land outside and preparing the seed beds. We will also furtigate in the greenhouse by adding ground up kelp and fermented salmon to the seedlings for a nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium boost. At home, we're planning on sowing peas and oats to grow as a green manure. The peas require an inoculant (peat moss plus a bacteria) which works symbiotically to produce a nice crop. We have a lot of machines on the farm (don't ask me what they do) but the one we need to sow our seeds is broken! Hopefully we can rent or borrow something from the neighbours. In the meantime, we'll get our land prepared by running the disc through it to break up the soil and weeds that are beginning to grow.

Next week we get our onions in the ground!

Woo Hoo!!!

Finally, Spring!

2009-04-17T20:40:00.000-04:00

17 degrees last week! Have we finally made it? I feared with the snowfall two weeks ago that I had somehow slept through the most important 6 months of the year and was doomed to live through another tedious winter. Well, enough is enough already!!! Time to get farming.

Our mentor's greenhouse is now full of tiny plants peeking up from their plastic beds and pillowy compost infused potting soil. We will have a nice variety of organic vegetables and flowers for the CSA members and farmers' markets. I love being in the greenhouse and can't wait to build one of my own next year but am so relieved to finally get outside and put my hands in the earth. We managed to clean up last year's tomato debris, spread compost on the raspberry bushes and transplant the mature asparagus plants from the greenhouse to the field. In addition, Jonny used the tractor to create a windrow with manure and hay, which will become the compost heap we use in the fall to prepare the land for next season. Last night, before the rain hit, I had a quick driving lesson and successfully parked our Massey-Ferguson tractor in the shed!

April Fool's Day brought us a second lamb, our mentor calls April. This is the first lamb to receive a name, on behalf of our presence at the farm. She must know that I've secretly named many of the animals in the barn! The other lamb then received the name Margarite, which is the German equivalent to my name. There's one sheep that stands out to me and for some reason reminds me of my sister; I call her Amy. Our mentor thinks she's ugly because of her round head but I think she's the cutest of the bunch! There's another smaller sheep that apparently loves the sound of its own voice and makes Jonny and I laugh with every Baaaah - she's called Regaldina, for my friend Erin. Mr. Chipotle is the most aggressive-for-affection farm kitty and Hollie is the fluffiest. Upon our arrival, our mentor only had names for her pets; the giant Bouvier Ralph and the two horses, High Time and Miranda. Soon enough, we'll be joined by a couple of pigs which will make themselves useful as plows, composters and eventually organic bacon! I'm definitely going to name them - probably not after my friends.

The chickens are addressed "Ladies". I've discovered an uncomfortable distaste for these creatures. They're quite vicious, if one should waltz into the coop with snow on one's boots, and aggressive protectors of their offspring. I've developed a defensive stance, taken while collecting the delicious bounty: Balanced on one leg, I thrust the other leg perpendicular in a pumping motion towards the approaching birds. This sends them into a squawking frenzy in the opposite direction and I am able to perform my task, unscathed. I have to sacrifice the few eggs being perched on because I haven't developed a technique to get those chickens out of their nests. Soon enough.

At home, we're starting to think more seriously about our own operation and the 80 acres of working land surrounding the house. Most of it is being rented out again this year to conventional farmers in the area but we've reclaimed a few acres on either side of the house to start the 3 year process of transitioning the land to become certified organic. We want to have a garden big enough for personal consumption and maybe some roadside sales. By fall, I hope to have enough produce to preserve and freeze for consumption throughout the winter. Maybe by the end of the season, we will have the confidence to farm our own land full-time next spring and get some farm animals of our own! But only a maximum of 10 chickens.

I want to thank those of you who have offered their help and those who have already been up for visits. The time that we'll need some extra hands draws nearer. Keep in touch and we'll make sure to have all of you up for a weekend of weeding, harvesting and barbecuing!

Yee Haw!

Farm Names

2009-03-29T15:47:00.000-04:00

We're still trying to decide on what to call the farm. Here is how the votes were cast:

3 for Luxy Farms
3 for Little Foot Farm
2 votes to keep the name Sabra Farm
2 for Flavour City Farm
and 1 vote for Ready, Set, Farm!

We also received the following suggestions:

Tasty Business Farms
The Jonny Lux Ranch
Uncle Pickle's Organ Farm of Tasty Neat Beats
O-Farm: Thunders in Th' Crops
Luaf Farm and Hair-styles
Luna Farm
and Phat Phree Phood Pharm

Thanks everyone! We'll keep you updated...

Two Weeks Farming and Going Strong

2009-03-29T09:14:00.000-04:00

I can't say that I miss the city all that much. Ok, I miss the ability to see friends and sisters on a moment's notice. I miss walking 5 minutes to get to just about anything. (Mmmm...Indian, Ethiopian, Greek, Japanese food!!!). I definitely miss the music scene and my band, The Clementones. (What a tasty assortment of musicians and musical tastes you have, Toronto!) And I miss making the city wage. I'll never have a substantial paycheck or drink so much wine on a regular basis again (Oh, The Vine!)

That seems like a lot. However, there are more things I don't miss;
Impatient drivers, subway riders and side-walkers;
Expensive EVERYTHING - rent, food, cell phone bills, a night out, etc;
Being stuck inside all day at work (I'm a sun worshiper, reflected in my name!);
Lack of sky and stars at night;
Lack of space from one house to the next;
Lack of clean air to breath while jogging, cycling, playing basketball, etc.;
Having 5 other people living under the same roof, noise limitations, and small rooms;
The volume at which the city operates;
Feeling pressured to look a certain way and act accordingly.
Of course, I didn't really mind and/or notice these things until I moved to the country. I'd even go back and appreciate it just the same, if I had to return. But for now, I ain't going nowhere!!!

Jonny and I started our apprenticeship at a farm in Moose Creek. Our mentor is a dream-come-true! I don't know how we scored so large but we did. She's an amazing educator and inspiration for us both.

Day 1 was spent in the greenhouse seeding onions of all kinds. Apparently hybrid seeds require less nitrogen, so she buys those. Her garden is certified organic. During the day, the greenhouse sits at around 35 degrees C. It's a wonderful escape from the never-ending winter and my favourite place to be. At night, she never lets it go below 5 degrees, as the cold will stunt or kill germinating seeds. Onions like fluctuating temperatures, unlike peppers which need to be kept consistently warm, around 21 degrees. We make sure the soil is always moist because seeds can dry out in a matter of hours. We've now seeded a number of herbs and lettuces, leeks, celery, celeriac, flowers, broccoli, eggplants, hot and sweet peppers. Tomatoes are next! The shape, size and colour of every seed amazes me. I can't wait to see how they become the food that we eat!

On that first day, our mentor pulled us out of the hypnotic task of seeding to show us the lamb that was born that morning. The placenta was still hanging out of it's mother and baby was shaky on her skinny legs, trying to suckle. Amazing. Day 2, we got to collect eggs, still warm from the chickens and learned how to wash and package them for sale. Last week, we pruned the raspberry bushes, collected seeds from asparagus berries and shovelled shit out of the chicken coop. Unfortunately (or fortunately), I had to retire from the chicken coop after only 10 minutes because of an allergy attack. My city-girl immune system hasn't caught up to my country-girl lifestyle yet.

Asparagus plants are really crazy! A seed becomes either a male or female plant and takes 3 years to produce the lovely green stalks that make my pee smell funny! The male plants have straight stalks and flower while the females produce crooked stalks and berries which contain the next generation of seed. I had no idea! I'm excited to see what week 3 will bring!

Last night, Jonny and I had dinner in Ottawa at The Wellington Gastropub for our anniversary. The food was amazing, the service was fantastic and we thoroughly enjoyed having an excuse to make use of our hipster city threads. I've pretty much mastered the stick shift in our old Ford Ranger and I drove us to and from the city wearing heels! You can put me in the country but I'll never loose my city-savvy ways!

Cheers!

Vacation is almost over!

2009-03-12T02:34:00.000-04:00

I quit my office job on a Friday, in February. We were on the plane to London, Monday. By Thursday, we had become experts of the Tube and had moved eastward to Switzerland; the land of cheese and chocolate; the place where Jonny was born. I finally met the family I had been hearing about for 5 years! Aunt Ruth does indeed have the same laugh as me (as the Naf brothers have been telling me since the first time we met) and is one of the sweetest people alive.

The Swiss are really kind people. Not once did anyone 'cheers' me without looking me straight in the eye and saying my name! The folks at Lonely Planet say the tradition is derived from the superstition that one will be cursed with 7 years of bad sex for not doing so.

The Alps are too intense to even talk about! All I can say is that skiing in Ontario or Quebec will NEVER be the same. Sitting above the clouds as we did, was majestic. Maybe I'll find solace in the snowy peaks of the Rockies someday. Jonny's super-awesome cousins were fantastic hosts on the slopes and around the fondu pot.

The architecture is fantastic (yay stucco!) and the water is fresh and tastless, as it should be. Cheese was consumed for breakfast, lunch and dinner and chocolate almost to the same extent. If it wasn't so expensive, I'd definitely consider moving there and learning that crazy language. Jonny's fluent in Swiss German and didn't mind translating but luckily, most people know a bit of English, so it wasn't a problem. Jonny proposed to me in Thun's City Hall Square, which is laced with my favourite stucco structures and the fantastic Thun castle, and bedded on cobblestone. I love Switzerland!!!

This trip gave me a better perspective of how young Canada really is and a greater appreciation of how much space we have here! I've been out of work for a month now. Two weeks of travel and now two weeks of cleaning and organizing the farmhouse just isn't enough time! I need more to get this place in order! However, we start our agro-education on Monday, which is actually quite exciting. Our journey begins in the greenhouse at Amazon's Garden in Moosecreek at 9am. Stay tuned!

Prost!

Home Home on the Ranch of Luxy

2009-03-03T08:33:00.000-05:00

Since I arrived at the farm almost a week ago, I've consistently been waking up around 7am. It's like my body somehow knows that I'm going to be a farmer before I can even wrap my head around the concept. Unfortunately, getting in shape doesn't come as naturally to me as the circadian rhythm. This morning, after squatting over the stove for 5 minutes to build my fire, my legs were burning, my back started to ache and I became a little angry for having to hold that position for so long. HA! That position is going to be my new meditative stance for the next 6 months! I hope I get used to it. Otherwise, Luxy Ranch is going to have a very grumpy weeder!

And now, to introduce the family;
Meet Mary Lou, our smokey farm cat.
Jezebel is my designer calico, somewhat reminiscent of Picasso's Rembrandt Figure and Eros.
Gina is the Zen matriarch of the household, keeping the kitties from scratching each others' eyeballs out!

Two days ago, Gina and I took a stroll out to the field to admire the sunrise. Even in winter, with everything frozen solid, this place is the most beautiful Eden I've ever lived.

Goodbye Toronto, Hello Rural Eastern Ontario!

2009-02-28T18:52:00.000-05:00

We're here! And officially residents of St. Albert, the cheese curd capital of Canada!

The ground is covered in ice but you can feel that spring is right around the corner - and that means work! Until we can stick our hands in the ground, Jonny and I will be spending our days unpacking boxes, organizing the farmhouse, taking care of TWO cats and a dog, and reading our Canadian Organic Growers magazines.

We spent the day at a conference in Cornwall. Eco Farm Day educates farmers and farming enthusiasts about growing organically and gives people the chance to network, learn new techniques and eat some delicious, organic food. Our first conference was last November in Orillia. We learned all about the CSA (Community Shared/Supported Agriculture) model and met some cool people that we keep running into at the JustFood workshops we've been attending all winter. JustFood is an organization dedicated to first-time farmers and farmers new to the area/climate. I had no idea any of this existed until 6 months ago! Check out the websites at the end of this post for more information.

The red farmhouse I call Luxy Ranch is about 100 years old, dusty, infested with dead flies and lady bugs, and my new home! My city-kitty Jezebel has two new furry friends who came with the house. Mary Lou, a cuddly grey farm cat and Gina, the sweetest mutt you'll ever meet. Jezebel is finally settling in but still growls and swats her razor-sharp claws if the others get too close. She's still an absolute suck with humans and doubles as a really cute scarf.
Jonny has done a great job setting up the essentials - our computer and the Wii. I've unpacked and arranged my clothes. Why do I own more clothes than I can wear in a month? I'm the perfect example of my generation's obsession with buying cheap items made to last only until the next fad hits. The Disposables. Things will change soon enough when any money I have left will go towards the purchase of rototillers and circular discs instead of pencil skirts and ghetto-fabulous sunglasses.

Jonny and I need some help. No, I'm not asking for money. I'm asking for your opinion. We need a new farm name. Jonny's dad called his enterprise Sabra Farm, after his mom. Either we keep the name or give it a new one. We have a few names up our sleeves and need the input of brilliant minds as we are new at this whole running-your-own-business-thing.

Here are the contestants:

1. Luxy Farms (following the same concept as Sabra)
2. Little Foot Farms
3. Ready, Set, Farm!
4. Flavour City Farms

Post your favourite and help us name our business!!!

Thanks!
Daizy

Eco Farm Day http://www.cog.ca/ottawa/ecofarmday/
CSA Conference http://www.csaconference2008.ca/
JustFood http://www.spcottawa.on.ca/ofsc/en/index.asp
COG Magazine http://www.cog.ca/magazine.htm

Welcome farmers, friends, hippies and urbanites!

2009-01-31T12:45:00.000-05:00

I was born and raised in suburbia. At 19, I changed my name to Daizy Lux and moved to the big city to pursue a career in Rockstardom.

Here I am, 8 years, a jazz music diploma, many bands and a few recordings later, moving to a farm in rural Ontario with my partner Jonny and my kitty Jezebel, to start an apprenticeship on a neighbouring CSA (community supported agriculture).

And someday, we'll have a CSA of our very own!

I decided to start this blog to capture the trials and tribulations of Jonny and Daizy's Farm Adventures, so that future 1st-generation farmers can learn from our mistakes - and I know there will be many!!!

I also want my city-slicker friends to keep in touch and know exactly what they're getting into when they decide to vacation (and I really mean work) at Luxy Ranch.

So please, if you have any tips or secrets you want to share about farming, adjusting to country living or improving my chord progressions that reach beyond 2-5-1, post 'em here!