June 24 Edmonton Newsletter

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 http://newslettersedgarfarms.blogspot.com/ We have a Flickr account with lots of pictures of what is happening at http://www.flickr.com/photos/37363547@N03/ We also have a Facebook page and would love you to be our friend. http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1646005197&ref=name Last but certainly not least we have our web site at http://www.edgarfarms.com

Sincerely, Elna & Doug Edgar Farms

Edmonton June 15,2011 newsletter

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Edgar Farms Asparagus & Farm News June 15 , 2011 www.EdgarFarms.com 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. 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 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 http://newslettersedgarfarms.blogspot.com/ We have a Flickr account with lots of pictures of what is happening at http://www.flickr.com/photos/37363547@N03/ We also have a Facebook page and would love you to be our friend. http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1646005197&ref=name Last but certainly not least we have our web site at http://www.edgarfarms.com Sincerely, Elna & Doug Edgar Farms

May 19, 2011 Farm Store Newsletter

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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 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. 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 http://newslettersedgarfarms.blogspot.com/ We have a Flickr account with lots of pictures of what is happening at http://www.flickr.com/photos/37363547@N03/ We also have a Facebook page and would love you to be our friend. http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1646005197&ref=name Last but certainly not least we have our web site at http://www.edgarfarms.com Sincerely, Elna & Doug Edgar Farms

May 18, 2011 Edmonton newsletter

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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 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. 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 !! 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 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 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! 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 http://newslettersedgarfarms.blogspot.com/ We have a Flickr account with lots of pictures of what is happening at http://www.flickr.com/photos/37363547@N03/ We also have a Facebook page and would love you to be our friend. http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1646005197&ref=name Last but certainly not least we have our web site at http://www.edgarfarms.com Sincerely, Elna & Doug Edgar Farms

Farm Store now closed for the season

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

Edgar Farms Peas & Farm Store News July 15, 2010 www.EdgarFarms.com 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 http://newslettersedgarfarms.blogspot.com/ We have a Flickr account with lots of pictures of what is happening at http://www.flickr.com/photos/37363547@N03/ We also have a Facebook page and would love you to be our friend. http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1646005197&ref=name Last but certainly not least we have our web site at http://www.edgarfarms.com

Sincerely, Doug & Elna Keri & Randy Edgar Farms