Happy Thanksgiving!

Can you believe it’s already Thanksgiving? I swear the kids just started school. Are you starting to ponder things you are thankful for? It’s an amazing practice to keep up on the regular, as it does wonders for your mental health. This week I am thankful for taking a break from the farm to raise some funds for Sunrise Pregnancy and Family Support Services right here in Uxbridge. The kids and I took pledges from some gracious sponsors and completed a walk through some of the beautiful trails of our town, as well as participating in the online auction and raffle sale. The event could not happen in person last year because of covid, but was back on this year. I look forward to it every year as it’s so nice to involve the kids in learning to help others. They were inspired enough to donate some of their own hard-earned cash :). Sunrise is there for anyone experiencing pregnancy or raising young kids and needing some support, whether it’s clothes or baby gear, learning a life skill or completing high school with some childcare assistance, or getting a ride to an appointment. Parents can access health care services, counselling, and emotional support. They really have made a vast difference in so many young lives here in Uxbridge.

My second thankyou is for the gift of nature. While I am spoiled it be outside on our farm every single day, yesterday there was a female goldfinch trapped in the farm store. I went to catch her in a box to release her and it just wasn’t working, so I managed to pick her right up in my hand and release her outside. She was unharmed and flew away happily. (I’m sure the giant hand was rather intimidating, but better than being stuck inside for who knows how long!  I love interacting with the plants and creatures on the farm.

Of course I am forever thankful for my family. My husband is my supportive team mate day in and day out, and makes a wonderful companion and confidant. My kids bless me with their zest for life and how much they love to hug me and just be with me. Can you tell my kids are all under 11? Lol. I sure hope we can stay close as adolescence hits.

I am not going to list all of the things I am thankful for, or we would be here all day. One more blessing today was me figuring out how to get all the winter shares visible so you all can register for winter shares! (Happy dance!- I have been trying to figure this out for weeks and even my tech support was baffled). You can find out all the details on our products page. Please check it out! You can get 2 different sizes of veggies and eggs and fruit on a biweekly or monthly basis. Ask me if you would like to set up monthly payments, and I will give you a link for the specific share(s) you are wanting. You may notice the prices have gone up. I am passionate about keeping organic food affordable, but after not raising my winter share prices for about 5 years, found myself in a squeeze between revenues and rising food prices. I know I can serve you better if I am not leaving myself in such a bind.

Ok, enough about me. I hope your farm shares this week inspire you as you prepare a thanksgiving feast! I picked these items with a traditional Canadian thanksgiving in mind. We sadly had a crop failure of all our squash and pumpkins this year (Nooooooo!), so I called in some help from another Ontario organic grower. The pie pumpkins available were limited so I don’t have any for half shares, but we do have a host of other thanksgiving goodies, like peppers squash, potatoes, rutabaga, onions, celery, carrots and cabbage. Happy feasting. I am picturing you all around a feasting table, shared with someone you love :).

Simply 6 (always, always, certified organic in all shares 🙂

• pie pumpkin
• pepper/acorn squash
• green or red cabbage
• bunch carrots
• 1.5lbs yellow or russet potatoes
• rutabaga

Half Shares

• pepper/acorn squash
• green or red cabbage
• bunch carrots
• 1.5lbs yellow or russet potatoes
• rutabaga
• red & yellow onions
• celery (see tips below)
• sweet peppers (mostly red)
• red or romaine lettuce
• roma tomatoes (the perfect tomatoes for fresh tomato sauce, see recipe here!)

Whole Shares

• pie pumpkin
• pepper/acorn squash
• green or red cabbage
• bunch carrots
• 1.5lbs yellow or russet potatoes
• rutabaga
• red & yellow onions
• celery (see tips below)
• red or romaine lettuce
• roma tomatoes (the perfect tomatoes for fresh tomato sauce, see recipe here!)
• cucumbers
• rainbow swiss chard
• brussels sprouts (right on the stalk)
• oregano (for tomato sauce recipe linked above or stuffing)
• green beans
• ground cherries or raspberries

Fruit Shares (also always, always certified organic 🙂

• 1 pineapple
• 1 cantaloupe or melon (Zephyr Organics and others)
• 1 bag Ontario cranberries (make your own cranberry sauce for turkey dinner or bake Lemon Cranberry muffins!)
• 1lb lemons (to make those muffins if you please or simply add flavour to your drinks or meals)
• 3lb bag BC bartlett pears

Now for the Recipes:

Featured Veg: Rutabaga

Irish Style Mashed Rutabaga

People often call rutabaga turnip! They are actually different plants. Turnip is more watery in texture, sharper in taste, tends to be smaller in size and has a white flesh. Rutabaga, my personal fave of the two, has a milder taste and yellowy flesh. It makes a lovely mash which goes great with turkey dinner, and I also love it as fries (and yes, my kids eat this too!). I once tried turnip as fries and that was a no go for me. Here’s the basic recipe for enjoying rutabaga like the Irish. You can also add in carrots and cook/mash it in there for  an extra colourful and flavourful twist on the classic.

Ingredients

• 1 medium rutabaga peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes. If you find peeling it difficult, try slicing it with the peel still on and taking off the skin slice by slice with a paring knife
• 2 tbsp. butter
• 2 tbsp. sour cream (optional)
• 2 tbsp. light brown sugar (optional)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. white or black pepper

Directions

1. Peel the rutabaga and cut into cubes. Place the chopped rutabaga in a medium saucepan and cover with water.
2. Bring water to a boil, turn down the temperature and then cover and let simmer for about 40 mins or until fork tender.
3. Drain all the water once cooked and mash with a potato masher, adding butter, sugar, salt and pepper. Add sour cream if using, and mix.
4. Serve hot as a veggie side dish. It goes beautifully with thanksgiving dinner.

Featured Veg: Celery

Keep it fresh tip: Getting too much celery in your Farm Share lately? It keeps like a champ in the fridge. Fellow farm share worker Lita suggests wrapping it in tin foil and it’ll last for weeks and weeks in the crisper drawer!. The main thing is keeping it from drying out. A beeswax wrap, produce container or plastic bag also would help.

My favourite things to do with Celery:

1. Wash it, cut into celery sticks and enjoy with peanut or almond butter. Such a refreshing, crunchy and work lunchbox friendly snack. (Do remember that schools don’t allow peanut butter or almond butter, so try a ranch dip instead).
2. Chicken Noodle Soup. Seriously, I have made it without celery, and it just ain’t the same! Make your own broth using leftover bones or one of our broth bone packs from the farm store. It’s a superfood and pure magic for the gut and immune system when you make it yourself!
3. Chicken Pot Pie. Kind of like the one above, but a little heartier. Again celery shines as it adds unmatched flavour.
4. Classic Stuffing: recipe below. Turkey stuffing is so good it’s hard not to overeat! At least if you share it with your family it will run out eventually and you can stop eating it ;).

Classic Turkey Stuffing

This is why I included celery. Celery is a must for stuffing! It just isn’t the same without it. Even if you are doing a gluten free alternative like rice stuffing, keep the celery. It’s got such amazing flavour!