May 10, 2010

Asparagus time  

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Hello everyone,

It is Asparagus time at Kind Organics. Last Thursday was our pilot project with selling Asparagus. I'd love to hear from those who bought some, how was it? Our Asparagus plot is anywhere from 5-7 years old and has not been tended to properly in the past so this time we are planning to do an experimental harvest and see how much care is needed to bring in a full crop. Secretly I have always wanted an Asparagus garden, and now inheriting this one is a dream come true. It requires a lot of weeding though, the weeds have a well established network from the years of neglect, and they are just reaching the point of being taller than the Asparagus so it makes the vegetables hard to see. Amber put a few hours into it the other day and I have been trying to weed one bed per day but lately it has been too cold! I have noticed how much they bolt up after a big rain like the ones we've been having lately. A perfect time to harvest them is in the morning after dropping our son off at the bus, the garden is on the way back to the house so I stop and harvest the new shoots then.

The Weather has veered away from the "Bright, Sunny and Warm every day" pattern of April and we have had a lot of rain in May (Which is GREAT! and a little too much at the same time). I don't feel that it is a good idea to complain about rain when last month we were needing it so much. So far the crops are dealing with the deluge well. Tamas and Amber created a "Raised" garden on the far side of the greenhouse, using last year's well composted soil, that is helping to keep the rain water from flooding into the greenhouse. There is definitely a reduction in flooding! On another weather note, last night there was a frost warning so we had to make sure all the greens were tucked in, under their nice thick row covers. Just a reminder that it is still spring and frost is still a possibility.

We are gearing up for a busy season. We will be attending 3 Markets this weekend and then starting on the last weekend of May we will be at 4 Markets per week. The Sorauren Monday Afternoon Farmers Market goes into full swing this Monday the 15th of May. If the weather is nice then we will be outside in the park. If the weather is too cold then we'll probably be in the small building at the south end of the park. We will be here every Monday here after from 3pm-7pm. Be sure to drop by if you live in the area. We are still at Dufferin Grove every Thursday Afternoon from 3-7pm and we will be at the Brickworks regularly on Saturdays from 8am-1pm. To get to the brickworks there are shuttle busses from the TTC stations near by and it is also on the bike path. They are opening new parking spots this year too. The Market is on Bayview north of the DVP on and off ramps. This Market will be opening up on May 29th, coinciding with the Doors Open festival.

We are so happy that the sun is back out today.
Sandra and the Kind Organics Team

April 21, 2010

Recovering from a Hectic Week  

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"I'd like to thank all those who have been visiting the website and reading the blog and dropping by markets due to the posts on Facebook. Actually this social networking and blogging thing seems to have some merit. I write these blogs and don't really know who's getting them and reading them. Will someone please try to post a comment to the WEBSITE at http://www.kindorganics.ca/ so we can see if the comment section is working. We appreciate it.

To our amazement the fermented veggies are selling really well. Let us know at the market what you think about the sauerkraut and the root kimchi. We are also really excited to announce that we will be launching a small batch of Kind Kombucha for this Dufferin market (approx 10 bottles) We give a warm THANKS to Kevin for all his hard work, on both the bottling and on himself!"

We have begun planting outside in the last few weeks and harvesting the new batch from the greenhouses which is still young but plentiful. The "Earth Blend" salad mix is here for a short time, this is the blend with the flowers, we are using arugula and mustard flowers to begin with. Most of the flowering plants are just recently transplanted and wont be producing flowers until about 3 weeks from now. The days just are not long enough yet. The "Earth Blend" is a little more tender than the Spring Salad Blend and also contains sweet NON-GMO Corn shoots for a zingy taste experience.

New products this week are: Sprouted Yellow Peas, Onion and Chive Blend, Fava Bean Sprouts, Sprouted Wheat and Kamut, Dandelion Greens, Curly Cress and Kombucha Live -Fermented Green Tea Drink. See the photo here.




This week we will also be featuring a Purple Sauerkraut!




Thanks to everyone for all your support.




Sandra


Kind Organics Team

June 21, 2009

The Greenhouse is up!  

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The basic skeleton of the greenhouse was completed today. I am very happy with how smoothly things went and how straight it all looks (not bad for the first time). Many, many thanks to Jeff for helping to do the layout and measure the foundation, Frank and Mike for the very grueling work of pounding the steaks into the ground, Amber and Sandra for their help with the finer points of erecting the greenhouse and Eric for his expertise and strength. Also a big thank you to Tom for stopping by with the champagne when it was all said and done.

There's a few more days of work to be done on the greenhouse and I hope to finish it all this week so that I can begin growing sprouts and wheat grass. The garden is starting to show signs of growing. A couple of days ago I planted about 20 varieties of Lettuce for our Salad mixes and today I noticed that many of them are sprouting. Last week we finished transplanting the plants from the small greenhouse to the garden. I forgot about the very important rule of hardening the plants off prior to planting outdoors so most of the plants went into shock. After a few days of stunted growth and a few rows of lost plants there is evidence of new growth and recovery.

Many thanks again to all the volunteers/friends that have come up to help, all this work would not have been done without you!

Lots of Love!

Tamas.