Friday, September 4, 2009

Sept 3-09 Farm Newsletter

Edgar Farms
Farm Store
News
September 3, 2009
Dear Friends:
Our delicious super sweet garden peas, green and yellow beans are now nearing the end of the season. These plants are very frost sensitive so once the first frost hits we will be finished fresh peas and beans for the year.
Our farm store will continue to have a good supply of fresh vegetables including potatoes, Beck Farms carrots, cabbage, cauliflower and much more until we close after the Thanksgiving weekend.
We have lots of preserves including our very popular home made raspberry jam and NEW this year, our delicious homemade saskatoon jam.
Asparagus season is finished until next May, but we still have frozen asparagus soup, asparagus dip, asparagus puree, asparagus pickles and relish for your enjoyment.
We are still picking shelling peas !!!
There is nothing better tasting than freshly picked local peas straight out of the shells as our two granddaughters will tell you. two grandaughters eating pesIt is hard to get them to pose for a picture because they are so busy eating peas when we go out to the field. It is also hard for me to take the picture as I am also too busy enjoying the peas and the granddaughters.

Elna holding peas

Customers say our peas taste the best - that is because of the special varieties we grow and because our peas are so fresh and they are thoroughly chilled very quickly after picking in a tub of very cold water to keep the sugars from turning to bitter tasting starch.

Beans - Lots of green and yellow beans but once the frost hits they're done for the year.

Innisfail Growers Customer Appreciation Day was a success!!

Edgar Farms has been a member of Innisfail Growers Co-op since 1993. This is the marketing arm of five local farm families. At 20 local Farmers Markets throughout the summer you will find the garden peas and other produce & preserves from our farm.
Our peas and beans can also be found at your local farmers market, at the Innisfail Growers booth.
IG Customer appreciation Day
Thank you to all that attended our open house on the Aug. 1 long weekend. We had great weather and lots of people coming to the farm. After a brief rain shower Saturday evening we had to do wagon rides to field because of the mud.
Check out what Innisfail growers is up to at
Adopt a RoadWhat's happening on the farm?
Picture is of our family, the 4th, 5th,and 6th generations on our farm.

We have started harvesting our traditional grain crops. Picture is of me (Elna) in front of our grain combine in a field of dry yellow peas. These peas will be sold for processing that will be used for making split pea soup.
Elna Combining Peas
Doug at Silage Pit
This picture is of Doug in front of our silage pit. The silage will be used for cattle feed in the winter. Click on Doug's Farm Blog link below for the full story.
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
We also have a Facebook page and would love you to be our friend.

Last but certainly nost least we have our web site at
Please be sure and stop at our farm for some fresh garden peas, and many other local farm fresh veggies.
Also check out our home raised angus beef, homemade pickles, jam, relish pies and much more. Pea Field
Sincerely,
Elna Edgar
Edgar Farms

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Edgar Farms
Farm Store
News
July 22, 2009
Dear Friends:
Our delicious super sweet garden peas, sugar snap, snow and gourmet sweet pettite peas are now the focus of our farm store, along with local new baby potatoes and much more.
Asparagus season is finished, but we still have frozen asparagus soup, asparagus dip, asparagus puree, asparagus pickles and relish for your enjoyment.
We are picking shelling peas !!!
There is nothing better tasting than freshly picked local peas straight out of the shells as our two granddaughters will tell you. two grandaughters eating pesIt is hard to get them to pose for a picture because they are so busy eating peas when we go out to the field. It is also hard for me to take the picture as I am also too busy enjoying the peas and the granddaughters.

Elna holding peas

Cultivating weeds in peas
Picture on the left above is of Doug & myself (Elna) with our tractor and cultivator that we use for weed control between the rows of peas. Doug has removed some of the middle shanks on the cultivator and I have to drive very straight so that I don't remove any of the peas by mistake.

Customers say our peas taste the best - that is because of the special varietites we grow and because our peas are so fresh and they are thouroughly chilled very quickly after picking in a tub of very cold water to keep the sugars from turning to bitter tasting starch.

We have a very good supply of snow peas. They are excellent in salads or stir frys.

Sugar Snap peas will be available in about another week.

Beans - we should be picking by about August 10.

New Baby potatoesPotato Field are here!!
Upper Green Farms, the Buyks family (members of Innisfail Growers) grow the baby potatoes for our store as well as the Innisfail Growers booth at the Farmers Markets.
Picutre on the right is of Ingrid Buyks showing the new baby red potatoes.

John & Corry in Potato field
Picture on the left is of John & Corry Buyks standing in their potato 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
Innisfail Growers Customer Appreciation Day

Edgar Farms has been a member of Innisfail Growers Co-op since 1993. This is the marketing arm of five local farm families. At 20 local Farmers Markets throughout the summer you will find the garden peas and other produce & preserves from our farm.
To thank you for your patronage Innisfial Growers invites you to visit our farms for

CUSTOMER APPRECIATION DAY

Saturday, August 1, 2009
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Please come meet us and visit our farms to see how we grow all that wonderful fresh produce that you have been purchasing at the Innisfail Growers Booth at the Farmers Markets. Experience picking for yourself, learn what is involved in growing plus taste the freshness straight from the fields. You will receive a FREE gift of fresh produce at each farm you visit. For a printable map go to www.innisfailgrowers.com
Adopt a RoadWhat's happening on the farrm?

Check out what is happening on our farm at some other sites

See our Blog at

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

Last but certainly nost least we have our web site at
Please be sure and stop at our farm for some fresh garden peas, new baby potatoes, and many other local farm fresh veggies.
Also check out our home raised angus beef, homemade pickles, jam, relish pies and much more.
Pea Field
Sincerely,
Elna Edgar
Edgar Farms

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