Edgar Farms Newsletters

Our Peas & More

Our granddaughter

sampling the peas.

SUPER SWEET PEAS - We are picking delicious, incredibly sweet garden peas daily.
We will have new plantings coming on all summer so we will have peas until the first frost this fall.

Dear Friends:

PEAS, PEAS, PEAS!! We now are picking and they are available at our farm store located 10 km. west of Innisfail on the Cottonwood Road. For a printable map go to http://www.edgarfarms.com/contact.htm

We also have peas at the Innisfail Growers booth at Central Alberta Farmer's Markets. For locations and times www.innisfailgrowers.com

U-PICK PEAS by appointment

Doesn't get any fresher than that!! Price is $1.00 per pound and snacking is free!! Phone Elna at 403-350-0659 for availability. Monday- Saturday 8 AM -8 PM.

BROAD BEANS - We have just now discovered the first baby broad bean so we should be picking by the last week of July.

GREEN & YELLOW BEANS - crop looks great, should be ready by August 10 or so.

BABY BEETS, SPINACH, LETTUCE, SWISS CHARD, GREEN ONIONS and MORE - We are harvesting fresh daily out of our chemical free garden for our farm store.

BECK FARMS CARROTS - Shelley tells us that her delicious super sweet carrots are not going to be very early this year due to the cold weather. She expects to start digging them about August 1.

Open House on our Farm

August 6 & 7 10AM - 5PM Wagon ride past the asparagus field to the pea field, sample our delicious sweet garden peas straight off the vines.

Shop at our farm store.

Petting zoo, pea pit, bale fort and many other kid friendly fun activities.

Summertime Country Drive for 15 other sites to visit that weekend countrydrive.ca

Edgar Farms Asparagus Relish

Our delicious Asparagus Relish has been selected as # 4 of 29 Great Eats & Drinks in the City in the Summer by Julie Van Rosendaal as listed in the July August 2010 edition of "City Palate" magazine. She wrote "Asparagus Relish from Edgar Farms -Burgers and dogs are just vehicles to get this stuff from the jar to my mouth, and I'm not above eating it straight-up, scooped with a spoon."

Asparagus Relish is available in our farm store or at the Farmers Markets at the Innisfail Growers Booth in 250 mL. & 500 mL. jars.

Stop by our farm store to check out our entire selection of home made pickles, relishes, candies, pies, fruit leathers and much more.

Asparagus Fern

The asparagus is now growing into it's fern stage and we are no longer picking. The stand of fern that we are seeing is fantastic. This indicates that the crowns getting strong are busy storing energy so that they will produce a great crop of asparagus next year.

Thank you, everyone for all the support of our family farm est. 1907 !!

Picture is of our family, the 4th, 5th,and 6th generations on our family farm.

Check out what is happening on our other websites:

Edgar Farms Produce News

http://edgarfarmsupdates.blogspot.com/

Doug's Farm Blog

http://dougsfarmblog.blogspot.com/

We also have all our previous newsletters at

We have a Flickr account with lots of pictures of what is happening at

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Edgar-Farms/70946664375

We also have a Facebook page and would love you to be our friend.

Last but certainly not least we have our web site at

Sincerely,

Doug & Elna
Keri & Randy

Edgar Farms

June 28 Farm Store Newsletter

2011-07-02T19:55:00.000-06:00

Edgar Farms

Farm Store

News

June 28, 2011

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.

Dear Friends:

Asparagus season is coming to an end. Traditionally we stop picking the end of June. 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.

Asparagus Fern

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.

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 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.

Peas are coming soon
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. We hope to have peas at our farm store by July 10 or so.

August 6 & 7 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 with lots of 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 20 sites to visit in our area.

Please be sure and stop at our farm for some more fresh asparagus before the end of our season.

Sincerely,

Elna Edgar
Edgar Farms

June 29, 2011 Edmonton Newsletter

2011-07-02T19:53:00.000-06:00

Edgar Farms Asparagus News

June 29, 2011

We need to stop picking early enough in the season to allow eight weeks of frost free weather with the asparagus in it's fern stage. This fern will feed the roots to make them strong so that the plants will survive the winter and produce delicious sweet and tender asparagus again next spring.

Next year we will be back at The Old Strathcona Farmer's Market May 5, 2012 and on opening day of the City Market on 104 th. St. with our pickles and a crop report on how the plants are looking.

Dear Friends:
The asparagus plants have really slowed down production this week and the spears are getting thinner which are indications that the plants are getting stressed so we need to stop picking. This Saturday, July 2 will be our last day 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.

Our asparagus field in August

How long will our delicious fresh asparagus keep in your fridge??

Since this is the last week for our local asparagus, you might want to pick up an extra bundle so here is a great way to store it in your fridge.

Stand the asparagus in about 1" of water and put a plastic bag over it in the fridge, it will easily keep a week.

August 6 & 7, 2011 is the next open house on our farm!!

Come on back to our farm for "Summertime Country Drive". Check out the asparagus fern on our field tour and also experience picking a few garden peas to taste. We will have a petting zoo in the barn with lots of animals for everyone to admire. There is also a bale fort to play in. 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 20 sites to visit in our area.

Recycling & Composting

Unloading our recycling at the Red Deer County Transfer Station.

We have always believed in reusing, renewing and recyling on our farm. Doug's mother, Rose was always an avid reuser & recycler much before it was the norm. We very carefully recycle everything possible. Since farm pickup of our recycling is not an option, we haul it to the Red Deer County Transfer Station. Picture is of us unloading cardboard at the transfer station. We also do composting on our farm. This is one way we can contribute to a healthier environment.

Adopt-A-Road

The County of Red Deer has a program called adopt-a-road. We chose to adopt the 2 miles of the Cottonwood Road (4 miles of ditches) in front of our farm. We put the garbage in our own dumpster for disposal after removing the recyclables.

The next asparagus festival!

Come visit our farm store anytime!

Did you know that we have a little farm store that is open daily 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM until Thanksgiving? We are located 2 hours south of Edmonton and just 10 km west of the QE#2 on a paved road. There is a printable map on our website at www.edgarfarms.com
At our farm store, we will have asparagus for a few more days after this weekend plus lots of other delicious locally grown produce. There is always a great selection of our own home raised hormone and antibiotic free angus beef, home made pies and preserves.

Photo by Michael Buckley.

Check out what is happening at our farm on our other websites:

Edgar Farms Produce News

http://edgarfarmsupdates.blogspot.com/

Doug's Farm Blog

http://dougsfarmblog.blogspot.com/

We also have all our previous newsletters at

We have a Flickr account with lots of pictures of what is happening at

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1646005197&ref=name

We also have a Facebook page and would love you to be our friend.

Last but certainly not least we have our web site at

And most importantly, THANK YOU so very much to you, our valued customer for supporting our farm and our farm families that are relying on you to come to the Farmer's Market faithfully every Saturday to purchase our asparagus.

Elna Edgar Edgar Farms

June 24 Edmonton Newsletter

2011-06-24T08:23:00.001-06:00

Edgar Farms

Asparagus & Farm News

June 24, 2011

www.EdgarFarms.com

Just a reminder that Asparagus season is very short, our last day at the markets this season will be July 2.

This week we will be at:

The Old Strathcona Farmer's Market

8:00 AM - 3:00 PM, Saturday

The City Market Downtown on 104th. St.

9:00 AM - 3:00 PM, Saturday

South Common Market

9:00 AM - 4:00 PM, Saturday & Sunday

Callingwood Farmer's Market

10:00 AM - 3:00 PM, Sunday

Elna & Doug in the asparagus field in August

We need to stop picking eight weeks bfore the first frost in the fall to allow the plants to grow into their fern stage so that they can build up strength in the roots to survive the winter. Our last day at the markets in Edmonton will be Saturday, July 2.

Lots of delicious Asparagus Recipies at Cheryl Arkison's Blog "Backseat Gourmet"

Here is the link to Cheryl Arkison's blog. She has tons of fantastic asparagus recipes. Alos, Cheryl has visited our farm many times and she talks about our asparagus festival.

http://backseatgourmet.blogspot.com/There is a crustless asparagus/feta/dill quiche that looks absolutely amazing. We grow lots of rhubarb on our farm and Cheryl combines the two flavors in some of her recipies.

Picking Asparagus

Janelle picking on a cold, rainy day.

We hand pick our entire field of asparagus every day in all kinds of weather. We

require a tremendous amount of help during asparagus season. The asparagus is hand picked, hand sorted, hand weighed, hand banded, hand washed, hand labeled and hand packed. Any given day, we will have upwards of 12 people helping to pick and pack the asparagus.

Taking a break

We have lots of lovely, sunny days that are a pleasure to be outside in. Picture is of some of our daily crew having a picnic lunch on a nice, warm day.

EDGAR FARMS ASPARAGUS

25 BEST THINGS TO EAT

Plaque we have received
Gail Hall has selected our asparagus as one of the 25 best things to eat as featured in the March issue of Edmonton's Avenue Magazine. Gail stated "It's a miracle that this Mediterranean vegetable from the lily family can grow in Alberta. In the hands of the Edgar Family, it flourishes. Between May and June each year, their asparagus spears are hand picked and delivered to farmer's markets within days of harvesting. It's so sweet and tender, you can eat it raw"

Thank you, everyone for all the support of our family farm !!

Picture is of our family, the 4th, 5th,and 6th generations on our family farm.

Check out whats happening on our other websites

Edgar Farms Produce News

http://edgarfarmsupdates.blogspot.com/

Doug's Farm Blog

http://dougsfarmblog.blogspot.com/

We also have all our previous newsletters at

We have a Flickr account with lots of pictures of what is happening at

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1646005197&ref=name

We also have a Facebook page and would love you to be our friend.

Last but certainly not least we have our web site at

We have had a few gentle rain showers and 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 18, 2011.

Just a reminder that Asparagus season is very short, our last day at the markets this season will be July 2.

Sincerely,

Elna & Doug

Edgar Farms

Edmonton June 15,2011 newsletter

2011-06-16T08:35:00.000-06:00

You may unsubscribe if you no longer wish to receive our emails.

Edgar Farms

Asparagus & Farm News

June 15 , 2011

www.EdgarFarms.com

Grilled Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus

Here is a delicious, very simple to prepare recipe that our friend, Linda, shared with us.

24 spears Edgar Farms asparagus

2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

1/4 tsp. pepper

12 thin slices prosciutto

Preheat BBQ to high and lightly oil grill.

Toss asparagus with olive oil, balsamic vinegar & pepper. Cut prosciutto slices in half crosswise. Wrap each asparagus spear with a piece of prosciutto, allowing the ends to be exposed.

Place on grill, close lid and cook for about 3 minutes per side, or until asparagus turns bright green and is tender-crisp. Brush with any excess marinade.

Picking Asparagus

Janelle picking on a cold, rainy day.

We hand pick our entire field of asparagus every day in all kinds of weather. We

Taking a break

We have lots of lovely, sunny days that are a pleasure to be outside in. Picture is of some of our daily crew having a picnic lunch on a nice, warm day.

EDGAR FARMS ASPARAGUS

25 BEST THINGS TO EAT

Thank you, everyone for all the support of our family farm !!

Picture is of our family, the 4th, 5th,and 6th generations on our family farm.

Check out whats happening on our other websites

Edgar Farms Produce News

http://edgarfarmsupdates.blogspot.com/

Doug's Farm Blog

http://dougsfarmblog.blogspot.com/

We also have all our previous newsletters at

We have a Flickr account with lots of pictures of what is happening at

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1646005197&ref=name

We also have a Facebook page and would love you to be our friend.

Last but certainly not least we have our web site at

The soil has now warmed up and the asparagus is just nicely started growing. We are now finding a few spears to pick as our granddaughter in the picture is showing us. We will have a some what limited supply at the markets, but should have some at our farm store as we are picking every day. There are lots of spears that are just starting to emerge so the plants are definitely alive and well after our cold, cold winter. We are hoping for a really great supply of our delicious sweet and tender asparagus for our Asparagus Festival next Saturday & Sunday if the weather co-operates and the frost and snow stay away.

Sincerely,

Elna & Doug

Edgar Farms

May 19, 2011 Farm Store Newsletter

2011-05-20T08:07:00.001-06:00

You may unsubscribe if you no longer wish to receive our emails.

Edgar Farms

Asparagus & Farm News

May 18, 2011

www.EdgarFarms.com

Dear Friends:

Spring greetings

everyone, our farm store is now open daily 8AM - 8PM !!

We are now picking asparagus

Finding a perfect spear to pick

Check out our great selection

Asparagus Pickles
of our wonderful homemade asparagus pickles in spicy or dill & garlic, delicious asparagus relish, and many other homemade preserves, home raised hormone & antibiotic free beef, homemade pies and our asparagus cookbook.

Asparagus Crowns

If you are interested in planting your own patch of asparagus, we have Jersey Supreme crowns available. There are detailed planting instructions with them.

Supply is limited so don't delay.

Planting more asparagus patches !!

Randy displaying an asparagus crown while planting.
With Keri and Randy back at our family farm, we have decided to keep our asparagus venture going for the next generation. In 2008 we planted a new 4 acre patch of asparagus that we will pick this year for a few weeks. Planting a patch of asparagus is no easy feat, each crown needs to be placed in an 8" deep trench.

2011 - We have just finished planted another 55,000 crowns in 6 1/2 acres so we hope to have a great supply of our delicious asparagus for many years to come.

"Get into the 'SPEAR IT' of Spring!!" Asparagus Festival

Next Weekend May 28 & 29

Touring the asparagus field

If you are a lover of asparagus, looking for some fun on a real working farm, or maybe just a little curious about how this quirky member of the lily family grows, then you will definitely want to attend the hugely popular "Get into the 'SPEAR IT' of spring!!" Asparagus Festival at our farm. Enjoy a hay ride to the largest asparagus field in Alberta, tastings prepared by executive chefs, petting zoo, bale fort, shopping at our Edgar Farms store, other locally made/locally baked booths and lots more, so bring along the kids for a fun experience and create great family memories!

Aspara-guy dress fitting in prep for his debut

May 28 & 29, 2011 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM Rain or Shine

$5.00 per person or $20.00 per Family - under 3 free

10 km west of Innisfail on Cottonwood Road

For a full day of fun visit countrydrive.ca for 19 other sites to visit while in our area.

Thank you, everyone for all the support of our family farm !!

Picture is of our family, the 4th, 5th,and 6th generations on our family farm.

Check out whats happening on our other websites

Edgar Farms Produce News

http://edgarfarmsupdates.blogspot.com/

Doug's Farm Blog

http://dougsfarmblog.blogspot.com/

We also have all our previous newsletters at

We have a Flickr account with lots of pictures of what is happening at

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1646005197&ref=name

We also have a Facebook page and would love you to be our friend.

Last but certainly not least we have our web site at

The soil has now warmed up and the asparagus is just nicely started growing. We are now finding a few spears to pick as our granddaughter in the picture is showing us. We will have a some what limited supply at the markets this Saturday. There are lots of spears that are just starting to emerge so the plants are definately alive and well after our cold, cold winter. We are hoping for a really great supply of our delcious sweet and tender asparagus next Saturday, May 28 if the weather co-operates and the frost and snow stay away.

Sincerely,

Elna & Doug

Edgar Farms

May 18, 2011 Edmonton newsletter

2011-05-19T08:01:00.000-06:00

You may unsubscribe if you no longer wish to receive our emails.

Edgar Farms

Asparagus & Farm News

May 18, 2011

www.EdgarFarms.com

Dear Friends:

Spring Greetings Everyone !!

We will be at The Old Strathcona Farmer's Market & the Downtown Market on 104th. this Saturday

Finding a perfect spear to pick

Check out our great selection of our wonderful homemade

Asparagus Pickles
asparagus pickles in spicy or dill & garlic, delicious asparagus relish, frozen asparagus soup and our asparagus cookbooks.

Planting more asparagus patches !!

2011 - We have just finished planted another 55,000 crowns in 6 1/2 acres so we hope to have a great supply of our delicous asparagus for many years to come.

Asparagus Crowns - If you are interested in planting your own patch of asparagus, we will have Jersey Supreme crowns available at the Downtown Market this Saturday, May 21. There are detailed planting instructions with them and Keri is at the booth and can answer any planting questions.

"Get into the 'SPEAR IT' of Spring!!" Asparagus Festival

Touring the asparagus field

May 28 & 29, 2011 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM Rain or Shine

$5.00 per person or $20.00 per Family - under 3 free

10 km west of Innisfail on Cottonwood Road

For a full day of fun visit countrydrive.ca for 19 other sites to visit while in our area.

Thank you, everyone for all the support of our family farm !!

Picture is of our family, the 4th, 5th,and 6th generations on our family farm.

Check out whats happening on our other websites

Edgar Farms Produce News

http://edgarfarmsupdates.blogspot.com/

Doug's Farm Blog

http://dougsfarmblog.blogspot.com/

We also have all our previous newsletters at

We have a Flickr account with lots of pictures of what is happening at

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1646005197&ref=name

We also have a Facebook page and would love you to be our friend.

Last but certainly not least we have our web site at

Sincerely,

Elna & Doug

Edgar Farms

Farm Store now closed for the season

2010-10-24T12:27:00.003-06:00

With the colder weather now happening we will be closing our farm store this weekend. For the last couple of weeks we have not had the preserves out on the shelves as they could freeze during the nights.
We are still open by appintment for preserves or beef at anytime so just call and we can arrange a time. 403-227-2443

Farm Store News July 16, 2010

2010-07-16T19:45:00.000-06:00

Edgar Farms

Peas & Farm Store News

July 15, 2010

Dear Friends:

We now are picking PEAS!! and they are available at our farm store located 10 km. west of Innisfail on the Cottonwood Road. For a printable map www.edgarfarms.com also at the Innisfail Growers booth at Central Alberta Farmer's Markets. For locations and times www.innisfailgrowers.com

Our pea crop & more

SUPER SWEET PEAS - Our first planting of peas is now ready so we are picking delicious, incredibly sweet garden peas daily.

We have many more plantings that will be coming on all summer so we should have peas right through until the first frost this fall.

Peas love cool, damp weather and this year's growing conditions are perfect for them, the cool nights make them even sweeter!!

Pictured here is our granddaughter that loves to go out to the pea field with us for snacks.

BROAD BEANS - We have just now discovered the first baby broad bean so we should be picking by the last week of July with a few days of sunshine.

GREEN & YELLOW BEANS - crop looks great, should be ready by August 10 or so.

BABY BEETS, SPINACH, LETTUCE, SWISS CHARD, GREEN ONIONS and MORE - We are harvesting fresh daily out of our chemical free garden.

BECK FARMS CARROTS - Shelley tells us that her delicious super sweet carrots are very early this year; the wet spring helped to speed the germination of the carrot seed. She expects to start digging them about July 25.

UPPER GREEN FARMS POTATOES - Unfortunately, the potatoes are growing very slowly because of the unseasonably cold weather. We aren't expecting any new baby potatoes until about July 25 as well.

Edgar Farms Asparagus Relish

Our delicious Asparagus Relish has been selected as # 4 of 29 Great Eats & Drinks in the City in the Summer by Julie Van Rosendaal as listed in the July August edition of "City Palate" magazine. She wrote "Asparagus Relish from Edgar Farms -Burgers and dogs are just vehicles to get this stuff from the jar to my mouth, and I'm not above eating it straight-up, scooped with a spoon."

Asparagus Relish is available in our farm store or at the Farmers Markets at the Innisfail Growers Booth in 250 mL. & 500 mL. jars.

Stop by our farm store to check out our entire selection of home made pickles, relishes, candies, pies, fruit leathers and much more.

Asparagus Fern

The asparagus is now growing into it's fern stage and we are no longer picking. The stand of fern that we are seeing is the best that we have had in years. This indicates that the crowns getting strong are busy storing energy so that they will produce a great crop of asparagus next year. This picture was taken July 13, 2010 with our two adorable granddaughters posing in the fern for us.

Asparagus Festival Gift Basket Winners

Pictured are the Jopkos, the winners of our Edgar Farms gift basket from our asparagus festival. They are members of the Red Deer Garden Club, at which I had a lot of fun giving a presentation all about asparagus early last spring.

Open House on our Farm

Mark your calendars for August 7 & 8. We will be having a petting zoo, bale fort and many other fun kid friendly activities, a wagon ride out past the asparagus field to the pea field where you can sample our delicious sweet garden peas straight off the vines. Our open house in in conjuntion with Summertime Country Drive. for 15 other sites to visit that weekend, go to countrydrive.ca

Keri and Randy !!

Keri & Randy are bringing more energy and enthusiasm into our farm and are leading the discussion we are in about continuing on the asparagus venture by the possibility of planting another field of asparagus to replace the old original one. This should maintain our level of production and allow us to keep supplying the markets.

Also, Keri and Randy planted 540 baby trees last spring. The rain and cool weather have been perfect for the newly planted trees. They planted 4 varieties: Scot's Pine, White Spruce, Colorado Blue Spruce and Balsam Fir. In about 8 years with lots of love and attention, these trees should be mature enough to be sold as choose and cut Christmas trees!

Thank you, everyone for all the support of our family farm est. 1907 !!

Picture is of our family, the 4th, 5th,and 6th generations on our family farm.

Check out what is happening on our other websites:

Edgar Farms Produce News

http://edgarfarmsupdates.blogspot.com/

Doug's Farm Blog

http://dougsfarmblog.blogspot.com/

We also have all our previous newsletters at

We have a Flickr account with lots of pictures of what is happening at

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1646005197&ref=name

We also have a Facebook page and would love you to be our friend.

Last but certainly not least we have our web site at

Sincerely,

Doug & Elna
Keri & Randy

Edgar Farms

Edmonton-Edgar Farms Asparagus & Farm News June 18, 2010

2010-06-18T20:10:00.000-06:00

Edgar Farms

Asparagus & Farm News

June 18, 2010

Dear Friends:

Look for us at the Old Strathcona Farmer's Market and also the Downtown Farmer's Market on 104th. St. this Saturday June 18, 2010 with a limited supply of our delicious, sweet and tender locally grown asparagus.

Supply This Week !!

Toward the end of asparagus season, our yield always drops off, plus we have been faced with unseasonably cool, wet weather. Our supply for this final week of asparagus is going to be rather limited.

Long Term Healthy Asparagus Plants!!

Our asparagus is very stressed and is producing extremely thin spears. Asparagus experts state that you must stop picking asparagus when it is thinner than a pencil in size. We are seeing the majority of the spears emerging extremely thin as indicated in the picture. Our yield is much lower than in previous years. These two factors are telling us that it is time to quit stressing the plants. Asparagus is a perennial plant and what we do this year will effect the production and survivability of the plants for the next several years. We feel very positive that if we take proper care of the plants this year by giving then the rest they need, they will reward us with a great season for the next several years.

Keri and Randy !!

Keri & Randy are bringing more energy and enthusiasm into our farm and are leading the discussion we are in about continuing on the asparagus venture by the possibility of planting another field of asparagus to replace the old original one. This should maintain our level of production and allow us to keep supplying the markets.

Also, Keri and Randy planted 540 baby trees last week. The rain and cool weather have been perfect for the newly planted trees. They planted 4 varieties: Scot's Pine, White Spruce, Colorado Blue Spruce and Balsam Fir. In about 8 years with lots of love and attention, these trees should be mature enough to be sold as choose and cut Christmas trees!

Pea Tendrils !!

Pea Tendrils are edible delicious little baby pea plants. They are fantastic in stir frys or salads.

We will have a few at the market this Saturday.

Thank you, everyone for all the support of our family farm est. 1907 !!

Picture is of our family, the 4th, 5th,and 6th generations on our family farm.

Check out what is happening on our other websites:

Edgar Farms Produce News

http://edgarfarmsupdates.blogspot.com/

Doug's Farm Blog

http://dougsfarmblog.blogspot.com/

We also have all our previous newsletters at

We have a Flickr account with lots of pictures of what is happening at

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1646005197&ref=name

We also have a Facebook page and would love you to be our friend.

Last but certainly not least we have our web site at

Sincerely,

Doug & Elna
Keri & Randy

Edgar Farms

Farm Store News June 18, 2010

2010-06-18T20:07:00.000-06:00

Edgar Farms

Asparagus & Farm Store News

June 18, 2010

Dear Friends:

We are very near the end of asparagus picking season. Our delicious fresh sweet and tender asparagus will be available at our farm store located 10 km. west of Innisfail on the Cottonwood Road for a few more days. For a printable map www.edgarfarms.com

Long Term Healthy Asparagus Plants!!

This last year has presented very difficult growing conditions with the very hot and dry summer and the fall of 2009 (even the trees didn't go into winter properly and drop their leaves) followed by the extremely cool, wet spring this year.

Our asparagus is very stressed and is producing unusually thin spears. Asparagus experts state that you must stop picking asparagus when it is thinner than a pencil in size. We are seeing the majority of the spears emerging extremely thin as indicated in the picture. Our yield is much lower than in previous years. These two factors are telling us that it is time to quit stressing the plants. Asparagus is a perennial plant and what we do this year will effect the production and survivability of the plants for the next several years. We feel very positive that if we take proper care of the plants this year by giving then the rest they need, they will reward us with a great season for the next several years.

Keri and Randy !!

Keri & Randy are bringing more energy and enthusiasm into our farm and are leading the discussion we are in about continuing on the asparagus venture by the possibility of planting another field of asparagus to replace the old original one. This should maintain our level of production and allow us to keep supplying the markets.

Also, Keri and Randy planted 540 baby trees last week. The rain and cool weather have been perfect for the newly planted trees. They planted 4 varieties: Scot's Pine, White Spruce, Colorado Blue Spruce and Balsam Fir. In about 8 years with lots of love and attention, these trees should be mature enough to be sold as choose and cut Christmas trees!

Peas Coming Soon

To wet your appetite for garden peas, we are now picking pea tendrils. Pea Tendrils are edible delicious little baby pea plants. They are fantastic in stir frys or salads.

We will have some at our farm store along with freshly picked spinach, rhubarb, and bunched green onions. We also have a great supply of locally grown vine ripened tomatoes that actually taste like tomatoes. There are beefsteak, orange and cherry. All of these veggies are grown without the use of any pesticides.

Also, we will soon be picking our wonderful mixed lettuces, bunched beets, kohl rabi, swiss chard and lots of other delicious summer veggies very soon.

Regular podded peas will be in season soon, we are seeing lots of bloom on the plants. We will send out another email so that you are one of the first to hear of their arrival.

Beans are just starting to grow and we will be harvesting them approx. August 10.

Thank you, everyone for all the support of our family farm est. 1907 !!

Picture is of our family, the 4th, 5th,and 6th generations on our family farm.

Check out what is happening on our other websites:

Edgar Farms Produce News

http://edgarfarmsupdates.blogspot.com/

Doug's Farm Blog

http://dougsfarmblog.blogspot.com/

We also have all our previous newsletters at

We have a Flickr account with lots of pictures of what is happening at

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1646005197&ref=name

We also have a Facebook page and would love you to be our friend.

Last but certainly not least we have our web site at

Sincerely,

Doug & Elna
Keri & Randy

Edgar Farms

May 29, 2010 Asparagus Festival sitll a go!!!

2010-05-29T05:52:00.000-06:00

Edgar Farms

Asparagus & Farm News

May 29, 2010

Edgar Farms Asparagus Festival is a go May 29 & 30 2010 !!

"Rain, snow or shine!!"

We are definately going ahead with the festival. We have been very busy preparing for the weather and making rain and snow plans for our festival.

We have fashioned a cover for the wagon ride to the field, and have moved many of the Artisan booths inside our bundling shed as well as set up many more tents and covers. We have even had sympathetic neighbors volunteering shelters for us.

We have lots of indoor activities, especially in the barn so bring along the kids for a fun experience and create great family memories!

We do have some asparagus at the farm for sale this weekend and will be picking daily, so we hope to have some asparagus for everyone that visits. However, if you are looking for a case to make pickles or to freeze for the winter, perhaps wait until the temperatures warm up.

When making plans for a visit to our farm this weekend, please dress accordingly with warm clothing and waterproof footwear.

May 29 & 30, 2010 - 10 km. west of Innisfail on Cottonwood Road
. www.edgarfarms.com

Country Drive May 29 & 30 2010 Too !!

For a great action packed weekend of adventure and fun visit ww.countrydrive.ca. and go to the Showcase Weekends page. There are twelve other sites in our area that are offering special events and other fun things to do on the same weekend as our festival.

Asparagus supply !!

Asparagus loves heat and grows very rapidly when it is hot and slower when the days are cooler. We have seen it grow up to 10" on a hot day.

With the cooler weather, we have had a crew of only 6 people helping to harvest the asparagus the last few days.

The supply this weekend will be somewhat lower than we would like, but we will be harvesting all day so more will be ready as the days progress and it will be very fresh!!

The great news is that there is no frost in the forecast.

Picked the first Pea Tendrils !!

Pea Tendrils are edible delicious little baby pea plants. They are fantastic in stir frys or salads.

Our row cover worked beautifully, we picked the patch of pea tendrils that were under the row cover. The ones that are not under the row cover are not nearly as far along.

Picture is of the first planting that we were able to get in on April 3 this year, the white in the background is row cover that we covered part of this planting with. Row cover helps protect the delicate little plants from frost and wind.

Next year we will be putting down a lot more row cover.

Thank you, everyone for all the support of our family farm est. 1907 !!

Picture is of our family, the 4th, 5th,and 6th generations on our family farm.

Check out what is happening on our other websites:

Edgar Farms Produce News

http://edgarfarmsupdates.blogspot.com/

Doug's Farm Blog

http://dougsfarmblog.blogspot.com/

We also have all our previous newsletters at

We have a Flickr account with lots of pictures of what is happening at

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1646005197&ref=name

We also have a Facebook page and would love you to be our friend.

Last but certainly not least we have our web site at

Sincerely,

Doug & Elna
Keri & Randy

Edgar Farms

Edmonton Newsletter May 13, 2010

2010-05-14T08:26:00.000-06:00

Edgar Farms

Asparagus & Farm News

May 13, 2010

Dear Friends:

We will be at Old Strathcona Farmers' Market and the Downtown Farmers' Market on 104th. St. this Saturday May 15 !!

The Early Birds May Get a Taste of Asparagus on Saturday !!!

Finally, Wednesday morning - NO FROST !! and the temperature has been warmer every day and night. The soil had cooled down with the recent rain and snow so it takes a couple of days to get it warmed up. The moral of my story is that we have a few tips that are up about 3 - 5". We are hoping to pick a few of the tallest ones Friday afternoon if it doesn't freeze tonight - and the forecast is for 0.

Pea Tendrils

Pea Tendrils are edible delicious little baby pea plants. They are fantastic in stir frys or salads.

We hope to have pea tendrils at our booth by early June.

Picture is of the first planting that we were able to get in on April 3 this year, the white in the background is row cover that we covered part of this planting with. Row cover helps protect the delicate little plants from frost and wind.

We plant more pea tendrils every week to have a consistent supply all season long.

Edgar Farms Asparagus Festival May 29 & 30 2010 !!

"Get into the 'SPEAR IT' of Spring!!"

If you are a lover of asparagus, looking for some fun on a real working farm, or maybe just a little curious about how this quirky member of the lily family grows, then you will definitely want to attend the hugely popular "Get into the 'SPEAR IT' of spring!!" Asparagus Festival at Edgar Farms. There will be something for everyone; hay rides to the largest asparagus field in Alberta, tastings prepared by executive chefs, petting zoo, bale fort, shopping at our Edgar Farms store, other locally made/locally baked booths and lots more, so bring along the kids for a fun experience and create great family memories! May 29 & 30, 2010 - 10 km. west of Innisfail on Cottonwood Road. www.edgarfarms.com

Country Drive May 29 & 30 2010 Too !!

Thank you, everyone for all the support of our family farm for the past years !!

Picture is of our family, the 4th, 5th,and 6th generations on our family farm.

Check out what is happening on our other websites:

Edgar Farms Produce News

http://edgarfarmsupdates.blogspot.com/

Doug's Farm Blog

http://dougsfarmblog.blogspot.com/

We also have all our previous newsletters at

We have a Flickr account with lots of pictures of what is happening at

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1646005197&ref=name

We also have a Facebook page and would love you to be our friend.

Last but certainly not least we have our web site at

Sincerely,

Doug & Elna
Keri & Randy

Edgar Farms

This email was sent to doug@edgarfarms.com by elna@edgarfarms.com.

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Edmonton Newsletter May 6, 2010

2010-05-06T12:48:00.002-06:00

Edgar Farms

Asparagus & Farm News

May 6, 2010

Dear Friends:

Stop by our booth for great original Mother's Day gift ideas!!

Our asparagus preserves make great Mothers Day gifts and meal fixings!!

Asparagus pickles, come in dill & garlic or spicy flavors, are very versatile. They are delicious in everything from appetizers to salads or right out of the jar. The spicy spears are also delicious in Ceasars.

Our asparagus relish is absolutely amazing and our frozen cream of asparagus soup is well worth trying.

Our asparagus field May 5, 2010.
No asparagus yet.

Very sorry, but we do not have any asparagus yet. We have had very snowy, cold weather. On the positive side, we have received lots of very badly needed moisture which will make the asparagus plants much stronger.

Picture above to the right is on our path to the asparagus field and the picture to the left is of our asparagus field, both were taken on May 5.

The asparagus is a perennial plant so those delicious tips are just sitting, waiting for a few frost free nights and warmer seasonal daytime temperatures, then we will be picking!!

Thank you, everyone for all the support of our family farm for the past years !!

Picture is of our family, the 4th, 5th,and 6th generations on our family farm.

Check out what is happening on our other websites

Edgar Farms Produce News

http://edgarfarmsupdates.blogspot.com/

Doug's Farm Blog

http://dougsfarmblog.blogspot.com/

We also have all our previous newsletters at

We have a Flickr account with lots of pictures of what is happening at

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1646005197&ref=name

We also have a Facebook page and would love you to be our friend.

Last but certainly not least we have our web site at

Edgar Farms Asparagus Festival 2010 !!

Please mark your calendars - May 29 & 30, 2010.

We would love to have you visit our farm to tour and learn all about our unique asparagus operation. More festival details to follow.

Sincerely,

Elna & Doug

Edgar Farms

Dec. 14, 2009 Edmonton Newsletter

2009-12-14T21:53:00.001-07:00

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Edgar Farms

Asparagus & Farm News

December 14, 2009

Dear Friends:

Seasons Greeting everyone !!

Winter Shopping at our Farm

Yes our summer farm store is closed for the season and we will not be at the market until the beginning of May, but we are open for anyone who wishes to come to the farm. Pictured to the left is one of our small displays we have set up in our home. If you wish to come and purchase any thing from pies to beef to preserves, etc. just give us a call. We have many regular customers that stop by our farm during the winter, so don't feel you are imposing as we really enjoy having you come. The best part of this time of year is we have more time to visit with you, rather than just taking your money and rushing off to do something else.
Hope to see you soon!

Home made preserves make fabulous ,practical and
delicious gifts and we
have a great selection to satisfy any taste. We will even make up the basket for you !!

We will be coming back to The Old Strathcona Farmer's Market in Edmonton the first Saturday in May and at the Downtown Market on opening day next May. We will open our summer farm store again next year just as soon as we start harvesting our delicious fresh, sweet and tender asparagus, which could be as early as May 3 or as late as May 24. This picture of our asparagus was taken last May.

Our Asparagus Field

December 14, 2009 & -30 Degrees C.

BRR, it is so very cold, and it was the GOOD OLD DAYS when we last had this much snow before Christmas.

Although the Asparagus is resting comfortably for the winter, we are keeping busy on the farm feeding and looking after the cows as well as catching up on office work and Doug has many unfinished projects in the shop that he is working on.

Tourism Alberta's Alto Awards

Wow what a surprise!!! We were selected as one of three finalists for the Tourism Alberta Alto Award. This particular award recognized "Creative Marketing that encourages travel in Alberta" The category we were selected as finalists for was "Marketing Excellence with a budget of under $5000". The selection was for our Asparagus Festival. Most of our advertising was hand delivered promotional cards, minimizing the total cost for the event to just $1100. We had over 1500 people come to our farm to see our operation first hand.

There were three finalists in the under $5000 category, with the others being the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village from Edmonton and Radar DDB for Banff Lake Louise Tourism. The very deserving winner was the Ukranian Cultural Heritage Village. They had over 3500 school children come to their site to learn about Ukrainian Heritage.

Although we didn't win, just to be recognized with such prestigious tourism groups was a huge honor. After all, we just wanted to invite our friends to the farm to see how we do things, not to be a tourism destination.

Slow Foods Locally Sourced Meal For Terra Madre's 20 th. Anniversary

To celebrate Terra Madre Day Elna has been working hard to source the majority of ingredients to prepare a feast of locally grown food. She has been busy trying to perfect her recipes so she could get every thing just right. Just a few of the local suppliers were Eagle Creek Garlic and Potatoes, Chinook Honey and Meadery, Hamilton's barley flour, Nixon's Honey, Beck Farms Vegetables, Sylvan Star Cheese, Flavour of the Foothills BBQ sauce, Highwood Crossing wheat flour, HolmeHus Eggs, and of course Edgar Farms.

John Mills - Bowden Sun Maze & Eagle Creek Flowers who was one of the Terra Madre Youth Delegates in 2008 is pictured here sampling his home grown garlic that Elna slow roasted and served on her home made crackers made from locally sourced ingredients.

Enjoying our SLOW meal of all locally sourced supplies.

Edgar Farms Asparagus Festival 2010 !!

Please mark your calendars - May 29 & 30, 2010.

We would love to have you visit our farm and tour and learn all about our unique asparagus operation. More details to follow.

Thank you, everyone for all the support of our family farm over the past year !!

Picture is of our family, the 4th, 5th,and 6th generations on our family farm.

Check out whats happening on our other websites

Doug's Farm Blog

http://dougsfarmblog.blogspot.com/

We also have all our previous newsletters at

We have a farm update blog with some farm updates posted

http://edgarfarmsupdates.blogspot.com/

We have a Flickr account with lots of pictures of what is happening at

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1646005197&ref=name

We also have a Facebook page and would love you to be our friend.

Last but certainly not least we have our web site at

Season's Greetings.
Hope you all have a fun, safe and healthy winter.

Sincerely,

Elna & Doug

Edgar Farms

This email was sent to doug@edgarfarms.com by elna@edgarfarms.com.

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Farm Store Newsletter Dec. 14, 2009

2009-12-14T21:49:00.001-07:00

Edgar Farms

Farm Store

News

December 14, 2009

Dear Friends:

Seasons Greeting everyone !!

Winter Shopping at our Farm

Yes our summer farm store is closed for the season, but we are open for anyone who wishes to come to the farm. Pictured to the left is one of our small displays we have set up in our home. If you wish to come and purchase any thing from pies to beef to preserves, etc. just give us a call. We have many regular customers that stop by our farm during the winter, so don't feel you are imposing as we really enjoy having you come. The best part of this time of year is we have more time to visit with you, rather than just taking your money and rushing off to do something else.
Hope to see you soon!

Home made preserves make fabulous ,practical and
delicious gifts and we
have a great selection to satisfy any taste. We will even make up the basket for you !!

We will be opening our summer store again next year just as soon as we start harvesting our delicious fresh, sweet and tender asparagus, which could be as early as May 3 or as late as May 24. This picture of asparagus was taken last May.

Our Asparagus Field

December 14, 2009 & -30 Degrees C.

Tourism Alberta's Alto Awards

Slow Foods Locally Sourced Meal For Terra Madre's 20 th. Anniversary

Enjoying our SLOW meal of all locally sourced supplies.

Edgar Farms Asparagus Festival 2010 !!

Please mark your calendars - May 29 & 30, 2010.

We would love to have you visit our farm and tour and learn alll about our unique asparagus operation. More details to follow.

Thank you, everyone for all the support of our family farm over the past year !!

Picture is of our family, the 4th, 5th,and 6th generations on our family farm.

Check out whats happening on our other websites

Doug's Farm Blog

http://dougsfarmblog.blogspot.com/

We also have all our previous newsletters at

We have a farm update blog with some farm updates posted

http://edgarfarmsupdates.blogspot.com/

We have a Flickr account with lots of pictures of what is happening at

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1646005197&ref=name

We also have a Facebook page and would love you to be our friend.

Last but certainly not least we have our web site at

Season's Greetings.
Hope you all have a fun, safe and healthy winter.

Sincerely,

Elna & Doug

Edgar Farms

This email was sent to doug@edgarfarms.com by elna@edgarfarms.com.

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Sept 30 Newsletter

2009-09-30T12:50:00.001-06:00

Edgar Farms

Farm Store

News

September 30, 2009

Dear Friends:

Our farm store is closing for the season today due to the cold nights that are in the forecast.

We will open our store again next May.

Thank you so very much for all your support!!

Edgar Farms Asparagus Festival - May 29 & 30, 2010

Our Farm Store will re-open May 2010

We have decided that we need to close our farm store a little early this year - we usually remain open until Thanksgiving - but with -7 in the forecast for tonight we are concerned that our preserves might freeze. We will however be open by appointment throughout the winter, just call ahead.

Picture above was taken at our farm store by Michael Buckley at our 2009 Asparagus Festival.

We will be opening our store again next year just as soon as we start harvesting our delicious fresh, sweet and tender asparagus, which could be as early as May 3 or as late as May 24. This picture of asparagus was taken last May.

Christmas Gift Ideas !!

.

We have a great selection of our home made preserves that make great and unique Christmas gifts. Simply phone ahead (403) 227-2443 and we will be glad to open our store for you.

Asparagus Pickle Tips Dill & Garlic or Spicy

- 500 ml - $9.00 1 L - $16.00

Asparagus Pickle Bits Dill & Garlic or Spicy

- 500 ml - $5.00

Asparagus Relish

- 250 ml - $5.00 500 ml - $10.00

Beet Pickles Traditional or Alspice & Cloves

- 500 ml - $7.00

Beet Relish

-250 ml $5.00

Pickled Beans Dill & Garlic

- 500 ml - $9.00

Pickled Snow Peas

-500 ml - $8.00

Apple Chutney or Apple Butter

- 250 ml - $5.00

Candied Crabapples 0r Spiced Apples

- 500 ml - $6.00

Raspberry Jam, Strawberry Jam or Crabapple Jelly

- 500 ml - $5.00

Pickled Carrots

- 500 ml - $8.00

Edgar Farms Asparagus Festival 2010 !!

Please mark your calendars - May 29 & 30, 2010.

We would love to have you visit our farm and tour and learn alll about our unique asparagus operation. More details to follow.

Thank you, everyone for all the support of our family farm over the past year !!

Picture is of our family, the 4th, 5th,and 6th generations on our family farm.

Check out whats happening on our other websites

Doug's Farm Blog

http://dougsfarmblog.blogspot.com/

We also have all our previous newsletters at

We have a Flickr account with lots of pictures of what is happening at

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1646005197&ref=name

We also have a Facebook page and would love you to be our friend.

Last but certainly not least we have our web site at