jennys-musings

The Great Cow Round Up

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 16:56:49 +0100

Last weekend, Farmer Paul got a rare weekend to himself and I was left to manage the homestead. All was well until, when I arrived home with the kids, there were two messages on the phone from neighbours that a cow was on the loose and it was one of ours! Panicked at the thought of the cow causing havoc on the roads, I hastily rounded up the kids first and bundled everyone into the van to catch the cow. Unfortunately, haste does make waste, and as soon as I prepared to roar down the driveway to save the day, we were stopped in our tracks. The keys for the van and incidentally to the house, were locked in the well-secured house. Cold, sitting in the dark, without my cell phone, and my husband away, I now had a greater problem than cows – it was us stranded now. After checking all windows and doors, we grimly determined that a break in would be necessary. Without sharing too many details, suffice it to say that a spry 40 pound five year old saved the day as she squeezed through spaces no one my size would ever dare go and got the front door open for her very relieved family. After we drove up and down the roads to make sure our cow was not going to cause harm, we returned home, content that the cow was in our hay field, and not roaming Concession 7. Given the lack of moonlight, I decided we would wait till morning to face the round up.

The next morning, my nine year old son Jonathan and I donned our boots, our mitts, and a bucket of grain, determined to catch us a cow! After calling Farmer Paul for info on where the gate opened, and trying to patiently accept his long list of do’s and don’t for cow herding, we opened the gate and prepared for action. Now our renegade cow was actually a very quiet Charlais blonde, found sitting peacefully on one side of the pasture fence while the other grey cow sat on the other side, like two grannies waiting for tea. First, we tried to lure the girl down the field with some oats and peas and barley, but since the cow just didn’t know us like they know Farmer Paul, she kept moving further from the pasture gate. Grimly I decided that a vehicle was needed. Unfortunately, as fate would have it, my nephew had brought the farm van keys home so that left our farm delivery truck as our only viable set of wheels. Firmly positioning my son at the open gate, I charged him, “Do not let the grey cow out! “ and went to get the lorry.

Now I didn’t ask him, but I bet it was the sight of me charging into the hay field with the delivery van that sealed my neighbor’s decision to help with the Great Cow herding. I had only driven up the field once unsuccessfully before he arrived on his John Deere Gator ( a glorified gold cart designed for farmer field use) and kindly asked, “Would you like some help?) Much relieved, I willingly agreed that help was most necessary. Then, as I tried to exit the hay field, I suddenly realized that bringing a delivery truck into the field is much easier than getting it out! As I started working through my options (CAA, tow, call that Farmer again) most kindly, my neighbor suggested I reverse out of the field, since from the spinning tires, it was obvious driving forward was not going to do the trick!

With great help from heaven I am sure ( I can almost picture those poor angels huffing and puffing to get that truck up and out!), and the kindness of Mr. Jones, I got the delivery van out of the field while he got the cow back into our pasture! As I went to tie up the gate and secure the rails which the cow had jumped over into the Jones’ yard, I thanked our neighbor profusely for his kindness and his Gator. Farmer Paul and I have spent some long hours herding cows in the past, and that cow was in the pasture after two minutes with that Gator.

Guess what is on my Christmas Wish List?

June News

Fri, 03 Jun 2011 23:10:24 +0100

2011 Season, Here we come!

Svetec Farms gears up for a great season

As I write, the hum of Big Blue, our tractor can be heard in the distance, even as cars whiz bearing travellers to a much needed cottage sojurn. Though summer may spell

l-e-i-s-u-r-e to some, just ask our staff how busy life is on the farm! I think they might spell summer S-W-E-A-T-Y here at Svetec Farms!

This week, our first sunny one in about six, the team has been racing to plant the transplants that were so lovingly nurtured from seed in our greenhouse, while two amazing gardeners are transplanting the next batch, and Paul is laying row upon row of beds, and still trying to get all those potatoe plants into the soil. Meanwhile, I have been busy preparing for our upcoming markets, trying to keep up with emails, messages ( sorry!) and preparing for our CSA which all begin around June 14th.

Hmm, cottage life is looking rather dreamy right now!

We do hope many of you have the opportunity to kick back with family over some Canadian waters, enjoy a campfire, and munch on smores. be sure to mark one of your leisure moments with a visit to the farm or our farm markets, that we may touch base after a long, cold winter and spring and celebrate the beauty of Canada in July together with wonderful you.

Speaking of celebrations, we have quite a few planned, and hope to see you at some of them. Tomorrow, the Clarington Family Adventure Tour includes Svetec Farms as a tour destination, and we will be serving our famous burgers, as well as poutine, brownies and free lemonade for all who stop by from 10am-5pm. Paul is operating wagon rides and the team is offering face painting and tours to complete the event.

We look forward to seeing you soon. Enjoy this amazing sunshine!

With cheer,

Farmer Paul and Jenny Svetec

Organic? Non-Certified? Transition? Pastured?

A quick look at what these terms means to you:

Organic - Something which is certified organic according to the National Standards for Organic Agriculture. Generally this means that an organic farm does not use traditional herbicides and pesticides on their land, however herbal remedies may be tolerated. A farm must be annually inspected and operate with organic practice for three years before being certified organic. Svetec Farms is currently seeking organic status.

Non-Certified - This designates a farm which is not federally approved as organic but may operate according to organic standards. Svetec Farms ran an non-certified operation last year.

Transition - This describes a farm which has complied to organic standards and is in process to becoming approved as an organically certified farm. Svetec Farms is in transition with Pro-Cert, a government-certified organic agency which inspects and then certifies farms in for organic status.

Pastured - Cattle or fowl graze on grass hay fields as part of their daily experience. At Svetec Farms, our cattle and poultry are put on pasture and then moved on rotation to new pasture once that field has been grazed down. In this way, the animals enjoy fresh grass, fresh air, and healthy movement as part of their sustainable living experience.

Grass-fed Beef - This is when cattle are fed grass exclusively. Some farms may claim to have grass-fed beef and still "finish" the cows off on grain, which is not natural to their diet. At Svetec Farms, our cattle graze on chemical free hay fields and then are sent directly to the butcher. No grain is given to our cattle from the time they arrive as heifer (girl) calves, until they leave.

Free-Range - Free Range simply means the animal has some ability to move. Normally our chickens are roaming all over our property, but given the recent loss of sixty chickens by a pack of coyotes, they are penned on grass with about fifty feet of electric fencing until the hungry coyotes move north.

Upcoming Events at Svetec Farms:

Mark your calendar; you don't want to miss these free events!

June 4th - Clarington Family Adventure Tour from 10-5pm with Face painting, Farm Tours, Wagon Rides and a Food Tent
June 5th - Farmer Paul's Birthday!
June 14th - Our Farm Markets begin! See below for more info!
June 15th - Our CSA season begins!
July 2nd - Canada Celebration Fun Day from 10-4pm at Svetec Farms with jumping castles, face painting, tours, wagon rides - all Free! Wear red and white to celebrate our AMAZING COUNTRY of CANADA!
Aug 27th - CSA Pot Dinner and Corn Roast with Chef Deb Rankine. For CSA customers only.
Oct. 22nd - Customer Appreciation Event - Free Family Fall Festival from 10-4pm

Open House Event - a Huge Success!!!

Mon, 16 May 2011 14:22:11 +0100

Just a quick note to formally thank all who came, helped out or just enjoyed the Open House Family Fun Day this past Saturday!

Paul and I were amazed at the turnout despite the drizzle and occasional showers. The families and friends who crowded onto our farm truly had a wonderful day. Happy smiles seemed to be the dominant theme, as I saw families munching on burgers, hopping onto the wagon ride, listening to Rich the Bird Man give his explanation of pastured poultry and enjoying the animals. Every once in a while, peals of laughter could be heard from the kids in the jumping castle, as others delighted in the free face painting. It felt really good to see so many people enjoying themselves on our farm.

One perk of the day was catching up with some of our return customers and their familes as well as meeting some new friends! Another plus was how amazing the staff worked as a team. They worked hard and represented us well, with a cheerful attitude and a heart to help with any task. Who deserves a staff like this? Wow!!!

Overall, it was a tremendous day, so wonderful in fact, that we will be having another one this July 2nd to celebrate Canada with our neighbours, family and friends. Looking forward to it already, in fact.

If you missed this past event, plan on coming on Canada Day. It's my favourite holiday, being the patriot that I am, and I will be cooking up some cool old-fashioned picnic activities just for the day.

Special thanks to the Herron Family who flipped burgers and gave out smiles free all day long just because they love us!

Now back to the clean up..... (pictures coming soon!)

The Song of the Season

Wed, 11 May 2011 01:26:47 +0100

Yesterday, when my husband, Paul and I were returning from inspection our new farmer's market locations in Toronto, I casually asked him what vegetables would be harvested for the CSA bins the first week of June.

Quietly, Paul replied, "I don't know. Maybe, nothing."

Stunned, I listened as Paul explained that the abundant April showers had in fact turned the fields into a soggy muddy mess, plus the cold temperatures had failed to warm the soil, so that any seed planted would in fact rot, instead of sprout, if planted in these conditions.

Immediately, my mind reeled with the impact of this information. As I began to berate Paul about our soon to be disappointed customers, our deadlines and schedules, our reputation, Paul finally interrupted my meltdown with another quiet comment -

"You know, I've seen these cold springs before. Two weeks of warm dry weather could change everything."

I almost didn't hear him in the clamour of my stress over the customers who might lose faith in us and the embarrassement I would soon feel over having nothing to sell at the farm markets. Still fussing and fuming, I barely listened as Paul explained the marvel of sudden warm days in May. "I tell you Jenny, sometimes, those plants just take off with the right amount of sunshine..."

Just as he predicted, today, everything changed. After three days of warmth and sunshine, the whir of the tractor now heralded the beginning of the planting season, as the TW30's tires treaded carefully across the fields, while Rob, one of the harvesters, placed the plants, which Paul so painstakingly nurtured to life in the new greenhouse, one at a time into the land. Later on today, Paul will most likely walk the land, pull a weed, taste a parsnip, check the strawberries and plant some more, right until sunset. Tomorrow, if it's dry, Paul will rise and plant again.

Day after day, he will rise before dawn, usually humming as he puts in long days of planting, only to crash into bed late, and rise again and plant some more.

This cold wet spring didn't break the rhythm of this farmer of mine. Patient, expectant, he waited out the rains and the cold, sustained by the deep pleasure of the dance of the season’s beginnings. Today, as he loads and plant and reloads the transplanter, one crop at a time, one row at a time, he’s on the land, enjoying the marvel and the thrill of the season. Tomorrow, he’ll walk to this ancient rhythm again.

In the clamour of deadlines, schedules, payroll and profit margins, I have almost missed the song of farming and the dance of the planting season on this beautiful land of ours. Unlike Paul, I don't have years of experience with the seasons, the rhythms, the pleasures of farming just for the sake of seeing the fields burst forth with produce come June.

Yet this season, despite the pressure of the business, the time constraints, and all my anxieties, I am choosing not to miss this song. Most nights, the children and I will head out to the fields, to pick, to plant, to taste, to play on the land together for a short while, as we join Paul, with his callused hands and tender heart, in his pursuit of the rhythms of the planting and harvesting seasons. Together, we’ll delight in the shoots that poke out of the ground, groan at the weeds, juicily munch on warm berries, and learn this song that guides my farmer through the seasons.

Certainly, some CSA customers will be disappointed should we have to delay the season's start. Yet while I cannot change the weather anymore than I can change my age, the song of the farmer is too beautiful to miss, and the kids must learn this song from their passionate marvellous farmer dad, as he scoops the soil, and plants another, and smiles.

April Showers bring May Vegetables - CSA Info

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 16:17:52 +0100

Our CSA 2011 is almost here!

There is still room to join the Svetec Farms CSA!

As promised, here is some news to keep you informed about the exciting farm season ahead of us at Svetec Farms. This past winter has been a very busy one here at Svetec Farms. Two new greenhouses have been erected in order to produce an eartlier crop of vegetables for our CSA customers. A new cooler is being built (thanks Empire Farms!) for better post-harvest handling, and we are still searching for a cube truck for delivery of our frozen meat and poultry to the markets this season.

Two new markets have opened up in Toronto - one at Ryerson University on Tuesdays and another at East Lynne Park in Scarborough on Thursdays.

Over 80 customers have signed up for the 2011 CSA by word of mouth and many more sign up each week. To join our CSA, simply go to our website at www.svetecfarms.com or call us at 905-263.4655.

Below, you will find a list of our pick up times, markets, calendar of events, and a special announcement about an egg share for our CSA customers.

Our referral program has been very successful and we have decided to keep 5% discount for both parties going until May 1st.

Mark your calendar to come and join us at the FREE Family Fun Open House event on May 14th here at Svetec Farms. We hope you are as excited about eating healthy produce, poultry and/or beef this summer as we are to produce some of the best local food Durham has to offer!

Paul and I are really looking forward to serving you personally this year. Knowing that you want to speak to the farmers as much as possible, we have shifted our schedule in order to personally help you at the CSA pick ups and farm markets, which is really wonderful for us.

Simply put, our customers make all this work worth it. We can't wait to tell you a joke, load up your produce, and send you home with our best, knowing that Svetec Farms produced this excellent fare for your health and enjoyment.

Looking forward to seeing you on May 14th.......

Warmly,

Paul and Jenny Svetec

(PS - Check out the website for our 2011 list of the fruits and vegetables we have planted! We have ordered over 300 varieties of vegetables for this season! - www.svetecfarms.com

And if you want to know what's coming out of the ground first, make sure you join Svetec Farms on TWITTER to recieve TWEETS for our HARVEST all season long!)

Svetec Farms CSA Pick Up Locations and Times

Tuesdays at Ryerson My Market from 4 - 8pm

Wednesdays from 8am - 11am at Svetec Farms

Wednesdays in Whitby Farm Market from 12pm - 4 pm

Thursdays at East Lynn Park My Market in Scarbourough from 3pm -7pm

Thursdays at Vandemeer's Farm Market in Ajax from 1pm -6pm

Fridays at Svetec Farms from 11am - 6pm

Fridays at the Oshawa Centre Farm Market from 9am - 4pm

Saturdays at the Legends Centre Farm Market in Oshawa from 8am - 1pm

Saturdays at Svetec Farms Fresh Market from 1pm - 4pm ( in conjunction with the Teachable Garden and Farmer Paul's Planting Classes)

Calendar of events:

May 14th - Svetec Farm Free Family Fun Day

June 1 - 4 CSA Wk 1 - Veggies only

June 8 - 11 CSA Wk 2 - Beef and/or veggies

June 15 - 18 CSA Wk 3 - Chicken and/or veggies

June 22 - 25 CSA Wk 4 - Beef and/or veggies

June 29 - July 2 CSA Wk 5 - Veggies only

July 6 - 9 CSA Wk 6 - Beef and/or veggies

July 13 - 16 CSA Wk 7 - Chicken and/or veggies

July 20 - 23 CSA Wk 8 - Beef and/or veggies

July 27 - 30 CSA Wk 9 - Veggies only

Aug 3 - 6 CSA Wk 10 - Beef and/or veggies

Aug 10 - 13 CSA Wk 11 - Chicken and/or veggies

Aug 17 - 20 CSA Wk 12 - Beef and/or veggies

Aug 24 - 27 CSA Wk 13 - Veggies only

Aug 27th CSA Corn Roast and Pot Luck Dinner at Svetec Farms

Aug 31 - Sep 3 CSA Wk 14 - Beef and/or veggies

Sep 7 - 10 CSA Wk 15 - Duck and/or veggies

Sep 13 -16 CSA Wk 16 - Beef and/or veggies

Sep 20 - 23 CSA Wk 17 - Veggies only

Sep 28 - Oct 1 CSA Wk 18 - Beef and/or veggies

Oct 5 - 8 CSA Wk 19 - Turkey and/or veggies

Oct 12 - 15 CSA Wk 20 - Beef and/or veggies and/or chicken

Oct 22 Svetec Farms Customer Appreciation Fall Fun Day

New for our CSA Customers!

A Delicious Free-Range Brown Egg Share

The long-awaited Svetec Farms Egg Option is now available for those who pick up from Svetec Farms! Enjoy your twelve free-range brown eggs weekly by purchasing an exclusive egg share for our CSA customers! Details on the website at www.svetecfarms.com. Sign up online and enjoy! (First come, first serve with a maximum of 50 egg shares available for the CSA season)

Svetec Farms Family Fun Open Season Celebration

Finally, please mark your calendar and plan to join us as we kick off the 2011 season with a great free fun event!

Enjoy a tour of the farm, wagon rides, face painting and a jumping castle for the kids, all free and all fun, as we celebrate the joy of our 2nd farm season with you! Come buy a famous Svetec Farm burger or enjoy one of Jenny's brownies at the Food tent. Meet Rich, our Poultry man, as he shares his enthusiasm for pastured poultry! Meet Farmer Paul and take a peek at our new greenhouses! Check out our new sustainable pens for our farm animal friends!

Saturday May 14th from 10-4. Tell a friend and come together for a great day on Svetec Farms farm!

Don't forget: Refer a friend for a CSA and get 5% off your CSA and so does your friend!

Thanks for making us grow! Thanks so much!

January Newsletter Part Three

Thu, 13 Jan 2011 13:48:01 +0100

Here is the last part of our January Newsletter - Sorry for the formatting glitches - all the more reason to just sign up and get the perfect copy right to your email!

Pastured Poultry versus Free-Range Poultry Practices

On Svetec Farms our egg layers, the brown Rhode Island Red and Luma birds enjoy wandering about from mid March until mid November, and then enjoy a large brooding shed thick with about three feet of straw, as their winter lodging. Farmer Paul brings the birds hot water twice a day along with our own organic grain and some feed to keep them happy all winter long.

Our meat birds, the chickens, ducks and turkeys, all enjoy being pastured out in the lareg poultry shelters which we move everyday to fresh grass. The poultry shelters are like large greenhouse structures, with mesh on the lower half and a plastic tarp sheltering the birds from the elements.

For anyone who has tasted our birds (sorry vegan friends!), there is certainly a profound taste difference with these pastured birds. But the best news is that these birds have enjoyed grass, bugs, some grain and fresh air for most of their young lives, with as much fresh spring water from our well as needed.

Currently, the Canadian government has not issued firm standards on free-range poultry practices. Therefore, it is great to ask the farmer what they do with their poultry, how the birds are cared for and why the farmer has chosen these methods. Better yet, come out to the farm and check out the bird production for yourself! Hopefully, after you see a few chickens roaming around, you will be fortunate to purchase their delicious eggs - they are our biggest seller!

Events

ary 27-30 National Organic Conference in Guelph, ON

February 1 - Last day to pay full CSA for 10% off the entire season package

February 23-34 - Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Convention in St. Catherine's, ON
May 18 - Svetec Farms Open House 2011 Season Kick Off

Testimonial

Here's a note we recieved from one of our staff ( It sure makes you feel good when you get a note like this one!)

Dear Paul and Jenny:
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

I worked my last shift for the year today, and I just wanted to say THANKYOU THANKYOU THANKYOU so much for an amazing season!
I had a wonderful summer working on your farm, and was blessed so much by the conversations that were had during lunch, breaks, and even in the fields.
The staff were so wonderful to work with, and I love the way they all work together as a team!
I have grown to love the staff, as well as you and your family!
Have a wonderful rest of the year! We love you!
Love,
Jessica

(Yes, wage increases are planned for all returning staff!)

Why a CSA would benefit you and your family in 2011:

1. A weekly healthy chemical free selection of vegetables and fruit will mean that you are choosing to eat fresh local all natural vegetables for twenty weeks in 2011!

2. By purchasing a CSA, whether it be for the natural vegetables, grass-fed beef or pastured poultry, you are choosing a lifestyle which supports local farmers and healthy living.

3. Svetec Farms guarantees first choice to our CSA customers, so you will be given the best produce that comes from our fields. You can always subsitute for items you don't enjoy which ensures freshness and satisfaction in a product that is chemical free and has been produced with ethical food standards.

4. By purchasing a CSA you are establishing a relationship with a friendly local farmer who can then verify your food source, offer great recipes and answer any questions you have on post-production handling, which can never be done at the grocery store!

5. Kids like to eat fresh fruits and veggies, especially when it involves a trip to the farm, or free cookies from the farmer at the local farmers' market - it just tastes

January Newsletter Part Two

Thu, 13 Jan 2011 13:42:08 +0100

If you haven't signed up for our newsletter and want to peek at it, this is a great way to do so. Here is Part Two of the January newsletter:

Food Inc.

In November this year, staff at Svetec Farms gathered together for a movie night to watch Food Incorporated, a highly educational film about the current crisis of food management in North America. As an organic farm production, we were was relieved that our practices offer alternatives in Durham region from the mass production of food with all the ethical issues which accompany industrial production of vegetables and meat in North America.

Here are 3 main contrasts between current mass food production and Svetec Farms vegetable and meat/poultry production:

1. All cows on Svetec Farms are fed all natural grass exclusively for a minimum of four months but usually up to twelve months per year and are not fed corn.

2. Svetec Farms practices organic standards in all fruit and vegetable production, and only spray organic matter as a herbicide if absolutely necessary. Compare that to an average strawberry at the grocery store which is sprayed 35 times before it reaches the table.

3. Our poultry are raised in poultry shelters on pasture and moved to fresh grass every day. Our egg layers roam the farm from mid March to mid November to everyone's delight.

( As a mother I was heartsick at the apathy in the States over the ethical crisis of food. As a Canadian, it has begun a new journey in food education for me. Stay tuned for more info as I keep digging into Canada's food handling issues....)

January Newsletter - Part One

Thu, 13 Jan 2011 13:38:44 +0100

Svetec Farms News and Views - Volume One - January2010

Hello dear friends -

Here is our first formal newsletter, a far cry from my meanderings last year which you so kindly endured.

2011 brings with it much change and much hope for a fabulous farm season.

Paul is busy educating himself about high tunnels, low tunnels and greenhouses in order to extend our growing season and reduce waste in our organic production.

I have been busy traveling (yep - you heard me - traveling to Africa!!!), reading as much as I can on the food crisis in North America, enjoying the most beautiful Christmas with my family and all of us breathing again now that a serious medical concern was quickly resolved.( Thank God!)

It has been quite the fall, as Paul and I took inventory of the season's sucesses and failures, bandaged up our bruises from being in business this first year and began the delightful process of dreaming once again about bringing the best, healthiest food to your table this year!

The best part of this adventure is meeting each one of you, hearing your stories, indulging your kids, and believing together that we can make healthy lifestyle choices which matter.

I hope this first newsletter finds you healthy, happy and expectant for great things in the year ahead. If not, know our hearts are with you, and we look forward to either seeing you at the store in our country porch or seeing you over a farmer's stall in the spring!

All the best,

Jenny Svetec

EDUCATION IS KEY FOR SVETEC FARMS 2011
Join Farmer Paul and Jenny in the pursuit of healthy local organic food production in 2011!

2011 will be an exciting year a Svetec Farms. Teachable gardens will be available for families who wish to grow their own organic market garden with a little help from your local farmer.

In 2011, Farmer Paul and Jenny begin the formal certification process of organic farming. They are eagerly pursuing development of their skills in organic food production. In January, they will be attending courses at the National Organic Conference in Guleph. Throughout the spring, Farmer Paul will attend a variety of farm-based organic courses offered by the Ecological Farmer's Association of Ontario as well as webinars offered by the Canadian Organic Growers association.

In the kitchen, our local chefs will be joining up with our local food bloggers and foodies for monthly CSA Cook Offs throughout the season at Svetec Farms.

Farmer Jenny is developing a course on locavore lifestyles and organic living for the community to enjoy in the fall.

School tours will begin in May for all those future junior farmers who wish to experience a tour on a non-certified organic mixed farm.

Truly, the sky is the limit of what we can do to grow healthier and make better food. So enjoy our newsletter and give us a call! We'd love to hear from you...

Fall Changes

Tue, 05 Oct 2010 02:47:45 +0100

This weekend, we are gearing up to wind down this year’s season by celebrating our customers, friends and family with a Customer Appreciation event. On Saturday the 9^th and Monday the 11^th from 10-4pm, the farm will be hosting a jumping castle, with free face painting, wagon rides, marshmallow roast and tours of the farm all part of the fun!

We’ re hoping to introduce our CSA program to many who haven’t heard of our weekly chemical free veggie bin, as well as highlight the new Beef Bin and Poultry Portion we will be offering next year. Anyone who enrols in the 2011 CSA program will be given a homemade pie, prepared by our great baking staff with heritage apples from our farm. I cooked one up last night and the pies taste fabulous! Thanks Kate, Katie and Kim for your Great Pie Brigade!

We are hoping for great weather and we will be holding hourly draws for our free-range brown eggs (a hot commodity around here!), as well as a grand door prize for all our friends who attend ( one beauty of a meat and veggie bin).

For some of our staff this is the last weekend of the season. Our farm markets continue throughout the region until the end of October, a does our CSA program, so we are maintaining a small staff of adults to handle the harvesting and production needed.

Our staff has been so amazing. Their enthusiasm and willingness to do whatever it takes to make this farm a success has been incredible. Though Paul and I could improve in many areas as employers, they hung in there and gave their best, through hot and cold, sun and rain, lay-offs and overtime. We don’t deserve a staff as super as this, but we sure have appreciated them! Svetec Farms took a whole team to get off the ground and stay in the air this season. Thanks team, for your great flying formation!

As the air grows colder and days shorten, Paul and I have faced that the present store may not fit Canadian weather! If you haven’t been to our store yet, it is laid out as a greenhouse divided in half, and is more open than closed. This is one difficult structure to winterize! So after some debate, we decided to bring the store back to the home porch. We will stay open on Fridays and Saturdays in November and December for those who want grass-fed beef and free-range eggs not to mention my brownies, jams and Christmas turkeys!

Change is inevitable. As inevitable as leaves on the ground, school in September, and hairstyles needing maintenance ( I'm writing at Smart Style as Karen does her makeover wonders on me! – sorry, no pictures of my foilhead are available at this time!)

I can’t wait for the party this weekend. I hope I get the chance to thank many of the customers who have made this year a success. See you at the farm....

A Visit to Coopers CSA Farm, Willowtree and Brooks

Mon, 04 Oct 2010 15:04:26 +0100

Paul and I met the Coopers yesterday. What lovely people! Steve and Lisa are well-known in the industry for both their expertise in CSA’s and for being tremendously kind people. They just won the Ontario Best Farmers award and are facing the nationals in BC in November.

Given their solid reputation, Paul and I had contacted the Coopers, hoping for some advice on planting, harvest systems, and weed control. Steve and Lisa, with their great capacity for kindness, agreed to meet with us on their day off. Steve took Paul around their well-laid out farm, giving him quiet tips on green-housing, planting row dimensions and poultry management, while Lisa showed me some of her admin systems which she oversees (she runs a seven-day corn stand, four farm markets, a store and over 500 CSA customers!).

It was good to meet with them. Lisa gave some great advice on how to be business partners and stay married. Steve generously opened his toolbox of farming genius, swapping ideas with Paul with an ease that is rarely seen among competitors. The Coopers have been ploughing through this agricultural business for 17 years. The pace and grace of their lives is evident by the well-tended fields, content poultry, tidy store and very pleasant staff. We hope they win the National Farmer award. They deserve it!

After touring Coopers, Brooks and Willowtree, and reviewing the merits of each farm, Paul and I began to plan for Svetec Farms 2011, as we gear up to wind down this 2010 season.

We know that we will continue to follow Canadian organic standards and practices. We know our CSA program will be expand to include a Beef Bin and a Poultry option as well as the Veggie bin. We know our staff stands out for their excellence adn we want them with us next year. We discovered business takes more than we had expected and is harder than childbirth! We know God helped us big time this year.

We know this year has been a success. We have loved our customers and their kindness to us.

We had thought perhaps 40 families would join the program, yet over 100 families have participated in our CSA this year. Most have really enjoyed their organic loot bags, delighting in the weekly surprise of fresh chemical free produce pulled from the fields to their table.

We know we have some post-harvest issues that must be resolved. A walk in cooler for harvested produce is mandatory. Our customers had a hard time believing that the lettuce and spinach had been picked within hours, since it took just minutes to wilt even the strongest lettuce in our warm store. We plan to buy a cooler this winter for next season. (Paul could just kick himself for not buying the Reid’s dairy cooler last fall.)

Paul and I will work harder at respecting each other's gifting. Weekly lunch dates may really help.

Happily, we are ready to try again, to dream again and to keep going in this crazy adventure of launching an organic market garden business. The thrill is too sweet, and though the dips on the roller coaster sometimes throws off your equilibrium, the ride is still good. It’s really, wonderfully good.