Week #49 - Hello & Goodbye..

This weekend we said goodbye to Ariane. After spending three months with us she returned home to Quebec and her family. She was here on an exchange program that focused on giving youth an opportunity to learn English (or French) and experience life in another province! Our daughter will head to Quebec in February to live with Ariane's family for three months. 

This exchange program is one in a series of experiences that we as a family have engaged in over the past 20 years. We have hosted well over thirty people (mostly youth) and our children have had several opportunities to travel and experience other cultures that they otherwise would not likely have experienced. 

As I've written about previously, we have hosted so many folks from around the world in the interest of learning, growing and expanding our world without necessarily leaving the farm. And while I agree wholeheartedly with this and will continue to host... the goodbyes that are inevitable with any exchange program are challenging.....

The packing up, the airport drive, the hugs and tears, do not get easier with repetition. The commitment to return, to visit, to write are always there. Some do, some don't.... but all become part of our families collective heart, our history, our memories. Each one has taught us something.... 

Yuka taught us our first Japanese words....

Carwyn showed us how to judge sheep...

Haruka reminded us not to take ourselves to seriously....

Ricardo taught us to listen to the purr of every car engine differently...

..... and Ariane showed us the joy of a competitive spirit and the importance of seizing every opportunity! When Ariane was around it was impossible to be grumpy... it was also impossible to keep any candy in the house that she didn't eventually find! You will be missed, dear heart!

So while I am certain that we are all richer for the open door and the welcome we hold for those from afar, today my heart is a wee bit tender and needs some rest... 

...until we say Hello again.

Week #12 - FFF CSA Blog - To everything there is a season...

This week marks the last of our CSA shareholder boxes :(  It is always a time of year that I greet with mixed feelings. I will miss the weekly routine and opportunity to meet our customers and share our the bounty of our labours.

However, I would be lying if I wasn't looking forward to a bit of slower pace and less pressing deadlines. But as some famous playwright said... to everything there is a season.

Now we turn our attention to preparing for the coming winter - harvesting, preserving, storing and building and preparing new winter homes for some of our animals. And of course - more time for the best thing we've ever produced - our three wonderful children.

A big thank you for those that came out during Open Farm Day! We had over 200 visitors on Sunday and loved being able to show off our operation and teach a bit about what we do!

This week our customers will enjoy (among other things) a lovely watermelon, several different varieties of squash and some tomatillos. A tomatillo is also known as a mexican tomato or tomato verde (green tomato). It grows on a plant that is similar to a tomato but a papery husk forms around the tomato (a lot like the ground cherries). Many people have not eaten a tomatillo before and therefore I've put a few links below to some ideas of what you can do with them. My favorite is making Salsa Verde (green salsa) - absolutely love the stuff. A trick I use is to make the sauce - blend it and then pour into ice cube trays and freeze. Then I place in a ziplock bag and whenever I need a bit of Salsa Verde to add to recipe or put on my taco - I can take out as little as a tablespoon or as much as a cup just by selecting the number of ice cubes I need!

http://www.canadiangardening.com/food-and-entertaining/in-season/five-things-to-do-with-your-tomatillos/a/37287

http://allrecipes.com/recipes/fruits-and-vegetables/vegetables/tomatillos/

What's in the Box this week?

Peppers
Potatoes
Pumpkin
Honeydew melon
Tomatoes
Squash - several varieties
Tomatillos
Leeks
Beets
Watermelon
Ground Cherries
Ground Coriander
(Cilantro when it goes to seed becomes Coriander - we've ground it up and provided it to you in a little bag. Fresh coriander is the best!)

So to our shareholders we bid farewell for now and promise to check in regularly when we have something new to share or sell. Let's hope for a quick, mild winter followed by a glorious spring! Hoping we will see you all back again for veggies share next year! Bye for now! Take good care!