Tuesday 20 December 2016

Please Take Care of Yourself

One thing that’s somewhat hard to do over the holiday season is to stay healthy.  We’re exposed to more people than usual, who are exposed to more people than usual . . .   We get busy with shopping, baking, wrapping, attending various Christmas dinners and parties and then forget to take care of ourselves.  The foods offered to us are rich, full of empty calories and very often foods our bodies aren’t used to eating in such large amounts.  They and the alcohol are so tempting and fun.  We end up losing sleep for these reasons whether it be from over-eating/drinking or worrying about that last gift we didn’t pick up.   The next thing we know we have a) the flu; b) a cold; c) fatique; d) depression; or e) any or all of the above.  We are sick.

The December Alive magazine has you covered on how to take care of yourself.  It takes a bit of restraint, but certainly will pay off in the end. 

Try adding a little soda water to your wine – make a spritzer. 

Make sure for every food rich with cream or sugar you eat you replace it with something green.  Sprouts and shoots are great for this.  Toss them into any salad.  Sprinkle a few shoots over your bowl of soup.  Bring sunflower shoots and/or pea shoots with you to your city friends’ home and impress them with how up to speed you are on the latest superfoods.  Bring some to your country neighbour and relative’s tables to introduce them to a new nutrition source.

Balance is the key to ensuring your body is being fed its fibre, magnesium (for sleep), and vitamin-rich vegetables and fruits.  Keeping your stomach comfortably satisfied by eating slower, standing around the veggie tray instead of the chip bowl, grabbing a few almonds for energy now and again and generally listening to your body will help you maintain the best you for the entire holidays.  Remember to drink plenty of water – drinking water is your skin and body’s best friend. 

If you’re entertaining, try to see that your guests are fed balancedly (you can use my new word).  Throw some nuts and fruits onto that cheese tray.  Try cheese on cucumber medallions instead of crackers.  Make your own dips whenever you can to avoid those store bought sugar laden sauces and dressings.   Eat organic whenever you can.   The rule of thumb for most veggies is:   if its organic – wash before eating it;  if it isn’t organic, wash and peel before eating it. 

Think before you give.  Is it local?  Is it organic?  Is it harmful to someone’s health?  Perhaps giving a few little chocolates rather than a whole box is best.  Fermented foods such as Phoebe’s Ferments are easily found here in Kemptville.   If you are concerned about your own health or someone’s whom you care very much about, consider giving a gift of a nutritional consulation with Wholesum Approach.  Heather’s Healthy Harvest and Nature’s Way in town can provide so many good-for-you stocking stuffers.  All of us really care about you.

Okay, enough rambling.  The celery is done for this year, like frozen limp done.  The basil plants I started are getting their second leaves.   I’m letting them grow to sell to you in the new year if you’d like and to make pesto – I miss pesto. 

The herb bundles are ready for your stuffing.  Pea shoots and Sunflower shoots are plenty this week, especially lots of the pea shoots. 

This week I offer to you:
Garlic  $2 and $1 each or $10 / pound  (who wouldn’t be happy to receive garlic for Christmas?)
Herbs, dried bundle of Sage, Thyme and Savory  $3/bundle
Herbs, fresh:  Citrus Thyme, Rosemary, Sage, Thyme  $2/bunch
Pea Shoots  $2 bag OR $4 bag
Sunflower Shoots  $2 bag OR $4 bag
  
Granola, with fruit  (choose two of either barberries, blueberries, cherries, cranberries)  $8 /500mL jar  
Granola, with nuts and fruit (choose two of either almonds, pecans, pistachios, walnuts AND one of the above fruits) $10 /500mL jar
Or I can choose, you choose whether you choose or I choose J
  
If you’d like me to make granola, let me know by Wednesday afternoon.  I can do that Wednesday evening or Thursday morning.  I’ll delivery to you Thursday.  I’m also around Saturday morning if you need to pick up any last minute Day Brightener’s food.  And I’m heading into Ottawa Saturday afternoon if you’d like something delivered to you in the Nation’s Capital.  It can be arranged.   

In case I don’t see you before Sunday, I wish you a very Merry Christmas or any particular celebration you may be having.  Stay safe and keep healthy. 

Jo

Friday 16 December 2016

Decisions Made Easy

  
Do I pick greens before Friday and before next week?  The answer is “yes”.  A forecast low of -21C tomorrow night tells me clearly that we might lose those beautiful Greens out there if I don’t.  So I will pick tomorrow.   The shoots are ready when they’re ready.  The sprouts are ready in the same fashion.  Several of my decisions are made for me, but I do have a little control over some foods. 

Also, the fact that $10 worth of organic apples simmered down to one and a half  jars of applesauce guides my decision that unless I can find organic apples for an incredible price or charge more per jar, I won’t be making and selling it this year.  On the other hand, Tom spotted half-price organic bananas at Rainbow Foods on Sunday.  Again, no problem with this one – banana “candies” are in the dehydrator right this minute. 

In the new year, we’ll be living off of indoor greens until the days get a tad longer.  I have no complaint here as the warmth of the house is much easier on the fingers. 

I started the hot peppers January 26 this year.  Our outdoor growing season is short as you know, so I’ll be starting the new ones the first week of January 2017.  The rest of the veggie starts will follow accordingly, just earlier than ever before.  I really need to get ahead of that first frost date in September next year. 

Some of you asked if I have tomato sauce for sale.   A little more than half the amount of last year’s tomatoes were grown here this year.  I sold almost all of them.  There were none left to freeze either.  I see this as a good thing, business wise.  No worries, there’s always something else to grow – like sprouts, herbs and micro- greens. 

I can deliver to you this Friday and again next Thursday.  I assume most people are off and running next Friday as well as I.  I’ll start Sunflower Shoots and Micros today to be ready for your Christmas celebrations. There might still be Greens left to pick next week, but tomorrow’s Greens may last through the Christmas weekend.   I’ll offer Onions, Dried Herb Mix for Stuffing and any available Celery at that time. 

Now it’s your turn.  I can make the granola you choose.  I now have pecans, almonds, cashews, walnuts and pistachios in the way of nuts.  The fruits I have are cherries, blueberries, cranberries and barberries.  Wow, google Health Benefits of Barberry – it’s an amazing fruit!  Tell me what you’d like in your granola and I’ll make it for you.
 
Then there are the following eats:

Garlic  $2 and $1 each or $10 / pound  (who wouldn’t be happy to receive garlic for Christmas?)
Herbs, fresh:  Citrus Thyme, Rosemary, Sage, Thyme  $2/bunch
Micro-greens NEW (a.k.a. little salad greens) $4 bag
Pea Shoots  $2 bag OR $4 bag
Sunflower Shoots  $2 bag OR $4 bag
  
Banana “Candies” NEW  $2.50 snack bag
Granola, with fruit  $8 /500mL jar  
Granola, with nuts and fruit  $10 /500mL jar

If you don’t have a standing order for Sprouts, please let me know right away if you’ll need any for next week.  I need to start them Saturday to be ready for Thursday delivery.  Thanks. 

Day Brighteners is a non-certified organic farm, where we practice sustainability and environmentally-friendly farming.  We use non-GMO seeds and products and take pride in all we do.  You are very welcome to drop by most days, but if it’s picking/packing/delivery day you take your chances on the tour.  Calling or emailing first is a good idea.  We do appreciate your business very much and would like to hear from you with any comments you have.  

If you'd like to purchase any of the above items, I'd be happy to provide them if available after our regular customers have ordered.  Perhaps you might like to be added to our Weekly Delivery List.  I send my email out every Wednesday, collect orders Thursdays and deliver Fridays (or another day convenient to us and you if you're not too close to home).  See Contact information and email or call me.  Thanks.
Until next post, have a great every day.  
Jo 

Wednesday 7 December 2016

Greenery in December - oh yes

So here I am wandering around the house aimlessly wondering what to do with myself – hang on, that’s not true at all.   Every hour is packed full, it’s just not as rushed as in summer and fall.  

I dug out some sage, thyme and savory from under the snow yesterday, brought them in, cleaned them up and am drying them in preparation for your turkey stuffing in two and a half weeks.  I’ve also been drying some hot peppers to grind them for powder.  

For the last few days I was clearing snow from the roof of the small greenhouse with the dome roof, shovelling, shovelling and shovelling.  The new Greenhouse has a peaked roof and is eleven feet tall so I won’t need to clear any snow from that one real soon.  

All the onions that will be coming out of the field rows are out.  They did start to re-grow in the ground so the plan is to plant them in the Greenhouse, hopefully tomorrow.  I’m hoping that the ones we left will grow again in the spring. 

Organizing saved seeds is now a small part of my every day routine.  

AND every single day I check on the Greens we planted about a month ago.  They are doing great!  These Greens combined with the micro-greens growing in the house right now will make wonderful salads for us all at Christmastime.  I could squeak a few bags out this week but it would take them too long to grow back.   Me thinks the smarter thing to do is let all salad fixings, indoors and out, grow another week in order to provide you with some for the Christmas weekend.  I’ll get back to you to see if delivering Friday the 16th or Wednesday the 21st would be best, or maybe both – we’ll see. 

The best thing going on here, besides the Sprouts of course, is the Shoots – Pea Shoots and Sunflower Shoots – which I learned are also called micro-greens.  You taught me last week that you really love shoots so I doubled the amount I grew this week.  Sunflowers take one week.  Peas take two weeks.  They’re growing under lights so they need air circulation and hydration one to three times daily so I spritz, water and fan at various intervals each day.  

happy sunnys, peas, kale and mesclun mix 

I’ll make granola and applesauce this afternoon from organic apples I bought last week.  Barkley’s tells me they have no organic apples left on their farm.  They were very popular this year.  I’m happy for that and hoping this will convince more growers to not spray their trees.   

I picked so much chard and celery for you last week, it’ll take them another week to recuperate.    

I started basil plants and will let you know when they’re ready.  
If you would like me to grow extra sunflower or pea shoots for you for the holiday season, let me know this week so I can plan that.   

This week, I can provide you with the following:
Garlic  $2 and $1 each or $10 / pound   (who wouldn’t be happy to receive garlic for Christmas?)
Herbs, fresh:  Citrus Thyme, Rosemary, Sage, Thyme  $2/bunch
Pea Shoots  $2 bag OR $4 bag
Sunflower Shoots  $2 bag OR $4 bag

Applesauce  $3 /500mL jar

Granola, with fruit  $8 /500mL jar  
Granola, with nuts and fruit  $10 /500mL jar

Sprouts:  $3/bag
Crunchy Bean Mix  (peas, lentils & garbanzos)
Sandwich Booster  (clover, alfalfa, radish and mustard)  
Spring Salad Mix  (broccoli, radish, alfalfa & clover) 
any of which I might have some left after the pre-orders are packaged up.  

Day Brighteners is a non-certified organic farm, where we practice sustainability and environmentally-friendly farming.  We use non-GMO seeds and products and take pride in all we do.  You are very welcome to drop by most days, but if it’s picking/packing/delivery day you take your chances on the tour.  Calling or emailing first is a good idea.  We do appreciate your business very much and would like to hear from you with any comments you have.  

If you'd like to purchase any of the above items, I'd be happy to provide them if available after our regular customers have ordered.  Perhaps you might like to be added to our Weekly Delivery List.  I send my email out every Wednesday, collect orders Thursdays and deliver Fridays (or another day convenient to us and you if you're not too close to home).  See Contact information and email or call me.  Thanks.
Until next post, have a great every day.  
Jo