October is the month of gathering. For me it’s the time to bring all the storage crops inside before the unknown deadline of snow arrives. With the decreasing light and cooler temperatures at a certain point every year growth stops. At what point that is varies from crop to crop and from year to year. Because the root cellar is tied to some degree on the outside temperatures (no electricity is used to cool it), putting crops in there too early for long term storage can lead to sprouting or rotting sooner than I would like. There’s a trick to timing, with all the variables throwing curve balls at me each year, that I still am challenged to navigate. Sometimes I get it right and sometimes not. Even if I did the exact same thing, planting the same varieties at the same time, each year, I would get a different result due to the weather variations. It definitely keeps things interesting. I’ll share a couple of examples.

Over the past several years I’ve noticed the falls are warmer overall. The date I used to plant the fall crops ten or twenty years ago is too early. The storage Kohlrabi seems particularly picky. If I plant too late for a given year, it won’t size up to it’s full potential. If I plant too early it will start to split and even rot in the field before the cellar is cold enough to store it. The space between the too early and too late seems to shift. There’s been a couple years where I lost almost the whole crop. It looked beautiful in late August, but by October most had rotted in the field. Last year I planted too late and they were okay, but not the size I like to see. This year I planted only a week earlier and got splitting and a few rotten ones. I’ll be giving out the split ones the next couple weeks. Cut out the splits and the rest is plenty good. The non-split ones will be part of the winter share.

Brussel’s Sprouts is another one. Last year I’d say I planted them too early and they were bigger than I like. The seed for the variety I’ve grown for the past several years was not available this year so I had to try a couple of new ones. The timing was off and the sprouts are smaller than I like to see… But they will still be good and members will see them over the next couple weeks too.

The storage carrots have been mostly too big the past few years since my old planting date was just too early for the adjusting climate. Last year they were a bit too small, but this year I think I hit it about right and they are a nice size. The winter radish, however I again planted a bit too late and it will be smaller than I like. They had also seen a few years of many being too mature and splitting so I started planting a bit latter, trying to find the sweet spot. The celeriac and parsnips were timed well this year, as was the chicory and fall arugula.

Life is often a juggle for most of us, so just wanted to share some of the vegetable grower’s juggle 🙂

Nature’s bounty keeps us on our toes.

The last Friday for the main season CSA will be October 23, and the last Tuesday will be October 27. The Winter CSA will be every other Tuesday from 2-6pm (an hour earlier than spring and summer) starting November 3rd and going until we run out of things hopefully towards the end of February.

As in the past if you want to order potatoes I need your orders no later than October 26. They are $1.25 per pound and you can order however much of each variety as you would like. There are four kinds to choose from: a red skinned white flesh; a purple skin white flesh; a yellow Yukon gold type; and a yellow German Butterball (like a fingerling but bigger). I will hopefully pick them up before the first Winter CSA share day and store them in the root cellar. You can get them as you need them.

If you are a non-winter csa share holder and want me to get potatoes for you contact me for details.

Also, as in other years, depending on the squash quantities, I will be giving members their entire allotment of squash on the first Winter pick up since I don’t have good squash storage. Will give you more info as the time approaches.

NEW CLASS TIME: Friday evenings 7-8pm at Golden Tiger in Hanover. There’s a group of enthusiastic practitioners Sunday mornings at Melanie and Anthony Subject’s yoga/aikido studio near Elmwood and a few of us at Golden Tiger Monday and Wednesday afternoons exploring Tai Chi empty hand and sword practices, deepened by Qi Gong exercises. If you are interested in beginning this practice, now is a good time! Send me a message at saugeenrivercsa@gmail.com or 519 369 8116 for more info. It’s a practice that has allowed me to stay fit and continue farming which I’m happy to share with others!

I got to know Ziggy Blum and Sheila Stockton in the late 90’s when first moving to the area. They were part of the food co-op, and Herb Fair regulars, and I visited them at their beautiful artistic house and amazing gardens. They both were artists and loved all things plants. They later became CSA members when they had to cut back on gardening. When we bought this farm in 2001, every time (and I mean every time) Ziggy saw me he would address me as the Fool on the Hill, referring to the Beatles song. I have to admit I would find it either comically amusing, or a bit annoying, depending on my mood. He would always qualify it by asking how the wind was.

I’ve been thinking about this lately. This spring has been the windiest that I can remember. We are usually breezy here, but this spring there was almost a constant forceful wind, from every direction, often changing direction multiple times through the course of the day. It was a rare day (maybe only three in a month) that was calm. This has had its impact. I’m seeing transplant shock in several crops. When they go from the protection of the greenhouse to the exposed wind it can severely dry out their leaves, which then die off and the plant has to grow new ones. They usually recover from this, it just sets them back. I would often harden the plants off in the more protected space between my greenhouses, but that is exposed to the north wind, which sometimes damaged the seedlings in the flat… So always improvising. The other impact has been some of the crops under row cover. The wind has been so strong and so constant that some crops have suffered, being beaten non-stop by flapping covers. The kale and collards, when I took the cover off to first harvest them last week, had every leaf of significant size broken. I’ve never seen that before. The wind has settled and these crops are recovering nicely. A couple of the early crops will not recover though. The kohlrabi looks good but has more snapped leaves also beaten by the row cover. The scallions are next to these covered crops, and although they aren’t covered, the cover got pulled out of the rocks I had holding it down on a few occasions and slapped the scallions, bending and breaking them. So the scallions for the next couple weeks will look a bit rough, but will taste just as good.

It’s not all doom and gloom. Most crops are looking good as we hopefully settle into summer, but I wanted to share have this spring has affected the garden.

Cory

Tomorrow is the final spring csa for the year. I don’t know when the summer shares will start but sometime between the middle and end of June. As the spring has progressed, I imagine it will be more towards the end.

Plant orders will be ready for pick-up as well between 3 and 6pm. I am filling the orders today in the order in which I received them. As mentioned you might not get everything on your list. I will have an invoice attached to your order and you can pay in cash, cheque, or e-transfer.

While you are here tomorrow, take a look at David Coulter’s (Tanya’s dad) paintings, sketches, and sculptures we have on display in the csa store space. It’s actually a really fun place to display art!

Dahlia passed away last night. She came to the farm in 2005 (pregnant, which the previous owner and we didn’t know). So she was at least 22 or 23 years old. She’s been with me through this farm journey for so many years. She is the only one of my cows that I ever milked (her calf was not drinking enough so I had to milk her out). None of my other cows were ever personable enough. Dahlia was also the only cow that would let me pet her. All the others would back away if I got too close. Her bull calf was the last one I kept since I wanted to bring her gentleness to the herd, so the other cows that remain are her grand children.
She had been slowly declining the past couple years, but in March she started going downhill fast. In my conversations with her these past two months, she shared with me her wish to die on the soil, connected to the land that she belonged to. I hoped she would make it to when the snow melted. She couldn’t move fast, but as soon as I opened the gate a few days ago, she got up and immediately went out into the paddock. It’s been raining so much so there is a lot of mud, but she chose a high spot with the newly sprouted stinging nettle and laid down and did not get back up. I wanted to let her die on her own terms.
She truly embodied the deep philosophy of the cow, giving more than she took. She was a role model I can try to follow.
Thank you Dahlia.

The first plants for the spring shares are in the ground in the greenhouse. We’ve had a taste of spring, but winter is biting back. I’m still not sure when the Spring Shares will start, but after the middle of April…. stay posted and salivating 🙂

Hello!
There are just a couple of Spring shares left and a few main season shares still open. Sharee sizes and prices are posted on the Basic CSA Info page. If you have any questions you can reply to this post, but give your name and contact info since the website doesn’t tell me who has replied. Or email saugeenrivercsa@gmail.com

First I want to thank all of you who helped keep this community supported farm going through 2025! 2026 will be the 30th season for the Saugeen River CSA. It could never have kept going without the commitment of so many of you! It’s a testament to this amazing community!
As a reminder, return members can sign up through January for a spring or main season share. It’s great if you can make an initial payment now to help cover the seed costs. In February, if there is space, I will start accepting new members.

And also, as a reminder, tomorrow, January 2, is the next winter csa pick-up. With the weather and holiday schedules I know some of you may not be able to make it tomorrow. If you can’t please let me know so I’m not waiting for you, and you can arrange another day to pick-up.

Finally, starting this week I’ll be leading more Taiji and qigong sessions Sunday mornings at the Durham Art Gallery and Monday and Wednesday early afternoons at Golden Tiger in Hanover. Contact me if you want more information.

The days are already starting to get longer!

Not exactly a farm post, but related to the School for Sacred Agriculture (in the sense that our body is our most important tool which needs to be maintained, and our connection to the Earth can be deepened).

Taiji and qigong have been part of my life since I was 15 and I began teaching in my twenties. Since then my practice has ebbed and flowed. 13 years ago I joined the Golden Tiger School of Kung Fu in Hanover and attained my black sash last year, in which Taiji sword is part of the practice.

This fall I began teaching a Taiji Qigong class (empty hand, no sword) at the Durham Art Gallery and will be starting another 6 week session on Sunday mornings January 4. There’s room for others to join. Also, starting January 5 I’ll be teaching this same form at Golden Tiger in Hanover on Monday’s and Wednesday’s from 1-2pm. This is an exercise and moving meditation for all ages and fitness levels. If you are interested in joining either of these groups let me know and I can share more info.

The best is to email me: saugeenrivercsa@gmail.com