Sunday, June 28, 2009

Farm Store Newsletter June 25,2009

Edgar Farms Logo Edgar Farms

Farm Store

News

June 25, 2009

www.EdgarFarms.com

Dear Friends:

Asparagus season is coming to an end. Traditionally we stop picking early in July. Supply is good right now so be sure and stop by. It won't be long before we put the field to bed for the summer. We will be picking our delicious garden peas very soon, stay tuned - we will keep you updated.

What's the best way to store asparagus in the fridge?

Stand the bundle of asparagus in 1" of water in the fridge and cover loosely with a plastic bag. Our asparagus will keep for at least 1 week in your fridge because it is so very fresh.ASsaragus in Fridge

Nutrition

Asparagus is as much a delight to eat as it is good for you!!

A 5 spear serving has only 25 calories and is an excellent source of vitamins A, B6, C, thiamin & folate. It also contains glutathione, a powerful anticarcinogen and antitoxin.

Asparagus with Blue Cheese

If you are a blue cheese lover, then this recipe is for you. Doug & I both love blue cheese and race each other for the last morsel.

1 lb. Edgar Farms fresh asparagus
2 tsp. red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. chives - minced
4 Tbsp. blue cheese - crumbled
pepper - freshly ground

Preheat oven to 375 F.

In a small bowl mix red wine vinegar, olive oil, chives and blue cheese.

Steam asparagus spears for 5 min. and drain well.

Arrange hot spears on an oven proof serving platter. Pour blue cheese mixture over asparagus and season with plenty of pepper to taste.

Bake for about 5 min. until the cheese is hot and just starting to melt. Serve hot.

Serves 4.

Have you tried Pea Tendrils??Pea Tendrils

Pea tendrils are a special variety of pea plants that we grow for the little, tender baby plants, not the pods. We discovered them when at the San Francisco Farmer's Market on a North American Farm Direct marketing tour. They are delicious in salads or stir frys. Wade Sirois with Infuse Catering from Calgary even uses them in potato salad. We are picking them right now so be sure and pick up a bundle.

Pickling CrewHand Pickling Asparagus

Pictured left to right are Stephanie, Helen, Edna, Carol and Del busily stuffing jars with asparagus for pickling during one of our pickle bees in our commercial kitchen.

Along with the picking, bundling and selling of the fresh asparagus, we also have to make our years supply of pickles, relish and soup during our extremely busy, short season.

Our little helpers for our pickle bee !!Grandchildren Pickling

It is very important to include our grandchildren in all the activities on our farm and not to discourage them from taking an interest in all the operations. After all, if we want to have a 6 th. generation to eventially keep the operation going, they need to learn what is involved. They have a great time playing with a jar and participating for a few minutes before going off and playing.

Fern in AugustAsparagus Fern

Picture is of Doug & myself in our asparagus field in August. The stem that we pick is what first emerges from the ground and is trying to grow into this magnificant fern. It is very important to stop picking early enough in the summer to allow eight weeks of frost free weather with the plants in their fern stage. This fern is feeding the roots to make them strong to survive our cold Alberta winter.

Peas are coming soon Peas

We started planting peas very early last spring and planted every week until Fathers Day in the hopes of having a continuous supply from early July until the first hard frost in the fall. This picture was taken today, June 25, we hope to have peas at our farm store by July 10 or so. We will send out another e mail when we start picking peas.

Pea Field

August 1 & 2 is our next open house on our farm!!

Come on back to the farm for our Summertime Country Drive event. We will have a petting zoo in the barn and this cute little baby goat will be there along with lots of other fun animals. There is also a bale fort to play in. Check out the asparagus fern on our field tour and also experience picking a few garden peas to taste. Our farm store will be open, featuring garden peas, sugar snap and snow peas along with many other seasonal local veggies. No admission fee.

Check out www.CountryDrive.ca for another 24 sites to visit in our area.


Goat

Please be sure and stop at our farm for some more fresh asparagus before the end of our season. Asparagus No Label

Sincerely,

Elna Edgar
Edgar Farms

Edmonton Newsletter June 25, 2009

Edgar Farms Logo Edgar Farms Asparagus News

June 25, 2009

www.EdgarFarms.com

Dear Friends:

We have had a little rain the first of the week and now a little heat so we will have a great supply of perfect, delicious, sweet and tender asparagus at The Old Strathcona Farmer's Market 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM and the City Market Downtown on 104th. St. 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM this Saturday June 27, 2009. Our last day at the markets this season will be July 4.

Asparagus with Feta & Balsamic Vinegar
If the recipe last week was not to your liking becauce of the blue cheese, then this recipe may be more appealing. A very kind customer at the market last week suggested that this is a great combination.

1 lb. Edgar Farms fresh asparagus
2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 Tbsp. balsaminc vinegar

1 2/ cup feta cheese - crumbled
pepper - freshly ground

Preheat oven to 400 F.

In a small bowl mix balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

Steam asparagus spears for 5 min. and drain well.

Arrange hot spears on an oven proof serving platter. Pour balsamic mixture over asparagus, sprinkle with crumbled feta and season with plenty of pepper to taste.

Bake for about 5 min. until the cheese is hot and just starting to melt. Serve hot.

Serves 4.

Laoding AsparagusMarket Day

Many people ask us how early our day starts every Saturday.Picture is of my daugher, Keri, and myself loading the asparagus trailer at 4:00 AM. Doug is behind the camera, he gets out of bed and helps with the loading, then manages the picking crew and the rest of the farm all day. Keri is always at our stall at the Downtown market and I am always at Strathcona.

Truck & asparagus trailerLoaded and ready to go!

Here we are with the trailer loaded and ready to go. Next stop is to pick up our dedicated helpers. Helen and one of her daughers, Janice or Brenda, are our good friends and neighbors that we stop and pick up on the way. They help at Strathcona every week. Dianne or Christina meet us in Edmonton and help Keri with the Downtown market. Dianne is a neighbor of ours and is going to University in Edmonton.

Even though we are near the longest day of the year we still seem to end up working in the dark!!

August 1 & 2 is our next open house on our farm!!Goat

Come on back to the farm for our Summertime Country Drive event. We will have a petting zoo in the barn and this cute little baby goat will be there along with lots of other fun animals. There is also a bale fort to play in. Check out the asparagus fern on our field tour and also experience picking a few garden peas to taste. Our farm store will be open, featuring garden peas, sugar snap and snow peas along with many other seasonal local veggies. No admission fee.

Check out www.CountryDrive.ca for another 24 sites to visit in our area.

Have you tried Pea Tendrils??Pea Tendrils

Pea tendrils are a special variety of pea plants that we grow for the little, tender baby plants, not the pods. We discovered them when at the San Francisco Farmer's Market on a North American Farm Direct marketing tour. They are delicious in salads or stir frys.

What's the best way to store asparagus in the fridge?

Stand the bundle of asparagus in 1" of water in the fridge and cover loosely with a plastic bag. Our asparagus will keep for at least 1 week because it is so very fresh.ASsaragus in Fridge

Nutrition

Asparagus is as much a delight to eat as it is good for you!!

A 5 spear serving has only 25 calories and is an excellent source of vitamins A, B6, C, thiamin & folate. It also contains glutathione, a powerful anticarcinogen and antitoxin.

Please be sure and stop at the booth and have a sample of our delicious homemade asparagus pickles. Asparagus No Label

Sincerely,

Elna Edgar
Edgar Farms