| | | Dear Friends: We are at The Old Strathcona Farmer's Market and the City Market Downtown on 104th. St. this Saturday May 16, 2009 with our delicious homemade asparagus pickles & relish, our asparagus cookbooks and in spite of frost, wind and snow, believe it or not we should have a small amount of Asparagus! | |  May long weekend, and it snowed!!
Over the 20 years we have been picking asparagus, a May long weekend snow storm isn't that rare. The tips that were up were froze back, but the asparagus crowns are very hardy and are sending up new tips. The soil temperature is high enough now with the few warm days we have had that the asparagus is responding to any heat and the forecast is good for tomorrow. | | Unusually windy spring, too !! Picture is of an unsheltered area on the hilltop in our field that the high winds that we have been experiencing have managed to get at. Interestingly enough the asparagus does not bend in the direction the wind is blowing, but rather into it. The wind blows sand against the stems and they bend into the wind from slight sand injury to the stems. | |  Pea Tendrils
Unlike asparagus that is a perennial plant that we only plant once and if we are lucky will keep regrowning every year from that same root or crown, peas are an annual and need to be planted every spring. We put our first planting of pea tendrils in our garden April 19 and they are growing slowly but well because peas are a cool weather crop. We anticipate that we might have some Pea Tendrils at the market by the first weekend in June. Notice the white material in the background, that is row cover we have put on a section of the peas to encourage earlier growth. | |  Edgar Farms Asparagus Festival
Please come to our farm and get in the "Spear It" of spring at our Asparagus Festival on May 30 & 31, 2009 from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. at our farm near Innisfail. There will be something for everyone - hay rides to the field, tastings prepared by Slow Foods Calgary Chef Scott from River Café, dee Hobsbawn-Smith or Chef Wade from Infuse Catering, petting zoo, bale fort, Bowden Sun Mazes' amazing bale maze, "Be My Guest" concession featuring Edgar Farms asparagus, shopping at our Edgar Farms store, other locally made/locally baked booths and lots more. For more details and a printable map visit www.EdgarFarms.com. | |  Also, it is "Country Drive" weekend
Along with our farm there are 15 other sites in our area you can visit the same weekend. Some examples: White Treasure Farm - Angora Goats to pet, dying, spinning & carding demos, photo op on Sunny the farm pony, etc. Vitality Crystals - unveiling 1000 pound Brazilian granite garden feature fountain, tarot card reader, angel card reader, etc. HolmeHus Antiques - horse collectables, retro kitchen items, vintage jewellery, 60 new free range laying hens, etc. Arlene's Teas - tranquil spot to pause, recharge and reflect while checking out the shop and lily ponds. Check out www.CountryDrive.ca for a complets list and printable map. | | Other happenings on our farm  Along with our asparagus we have a traditional grain and cattle farm. May 24 is the date that we usually turn our cows and calves out to pasture. This cold spring has slowed the growth of the grass down so we will need to keep them in and continue to feed them for a few more days. For every day too early that they go out to pasture means a week shorter that they will have pasture in the fall. | | Please be sure and stop at the booth and have a sample of our delicious homemade asparagus pickles.  Sincerely, Elna Edgar
Edgar Farms | | | |
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