Thursday, October 7, 2010

The Little Farmers Blog!

Happy October Everyone!

Even though fall is all around us the boys in the field are still bringing in lots of fresh veggies daily! How nice it is to be able to still eat fresh local veggies at this time of year! Our pumpkins are also making their way down to our pumpkin patch! So come along and pick out your perfect pumpkin!! If you do purchase your pumpkin now, just remember to keep it in a warm place especially at night; porches or garages are perfect homes to pumpkins! As well, even though it is very tempting to carve your masterpiece in your beautiful pumpkin, do not pierce or carve your pumpkin until about 3 or 4 days before Halloween. And a little tip, to help your pumpkin keep its shape, put Vaseline along all of the cuts that you make!

Speaking of pumpkins, we now have a schedule for our annual Pumpkinfest! This years pumpkinfest will be held on Saturday, October 16 from 10 to 4. There will be many day long events such as the gourd toss, bouncy castle, wagon rides, seed spitting as well as face painting. Here is a list of special events and contests that will be held throughout the day!

11:30 Pie Eating Contest
12:30 Scarecrow Making Contest (We provide the supplies! Just bring your creativity!)
1:30 Pie Eating Contest
2:30 Hot Pepper Eating Contest (with a cash prize of $500.00!)
3:30 Judging of the Pumpkin Carving Contest (pumpkins can be carved throughout the day)

Wow! What fun! where else can you go to experience all of these fun events? And best of all, come in your costume for Halloween!

The Pumpkinfest is in support of the R.E.A.L Program as well as the Mount Pearl Sport Alliance, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to these programs, it's a way for us to give back to the community! The admission for this years Pumpkinfest is $3.00 per child, $5.00 per adult, or you can buy a family pass for$15.00 for a family of 5.

See you all soon!
Your Friendly Little Farmer Bloggers,
Ashley, Kate and Susan

Monday, September 20, 2010

The Little Farmers Blog!

It's hard to believe that the end of September is just around the corner! Do you know what that means? Not only do we have fresh produce ready for you daily, but it also means that our pumpkins will soon be finding their way down to our pumpkin patch over the next few weeks! We all love this time of year, the crops are doing well, the farm starts to look like fall, the pumpkins ripen up, and scarecrows are not just found in farmers fields rather they become the newest addition to any house! Of course, what better way to celebrate fall then with our annual Pumpkinfest! For those of you who do not know what it is, it is a day long event which is held on the farm where there is fun for the whole family. Throughout the day there are games to play, prizes to be won, contests such as our hot pepper eating contest, as well as our pumpkin catapult. A portion of the proceeds go towards helping others in our surrounding communities through community charities. So come along on October 16 (Saturday, weather permitting), and have fun with everyone while helping others out as well.

Thanksgiving is also coming around the corner, that means that many of us will be enjoying a turkey dinner with fresh veggies from the farm! We are now taking orders for the Thanksgiving turkeys, but there is a limited amount! So call in (747-3276) or drop by as soon as you can!

Looking to decorate the outside of your house for the fall? Whynot try some corn stalks with bales of hay? It creates a perfect fall scene for your front step! And soon you will be able to add pumpkins and gourds to the scene as well!

Hope everyones fall is going good so far!
Your Little Farmer Bloggers,
Ashley, Kate, and Susan

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

The Little Farmers Blog!

September has come quickly, and you know what that means...

It's Harvest Time!

Wow! the summer certainly has gone by quickly, but now it is time for all of the boys in the field to harvest the veggies before the winter. The crops are looking good and with the fall season in the air we know that our bright orange pumpkins will soon be here!

Labor Day weekend was a busy one for us on the farm, many customers came to get veggies for the weekends trips and events. And lucky for them, we had our broccoli on a special for $1. 50 a bunch! as well, we had the start of our peaches and cream corn, delicious!

As promised, we have gathered up some recipes over the past week to share with you. Most of the recipes are available at the market as well. Enjoy!


Zucchini Muffins

Ingredients:
3 cups grated fresh zucchini
2/3 cup melted unsalted butter
1 1/3 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons baking soda
Pinch salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup walnuts (optional)
1 cup raisins or dried cranberries (optional)

Method:
You don't need a mixer for this recipe.
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). In a large bowl combine the sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Stir in the grated zucchini and then the melted butter. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the zucchini mixture and mix in. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Stir these dry ingredients into the zucchini mixture. Stir in walnuts, raisins or cranberries if using. Coat each muffin cup in your muffin pan with a little butter or vegetable oil spray. Use a spoon to distribute the muffin dough equally among the cups, filling the cups up completely. Bake on the middle rack until muffins are golden brown, and the top of the muffins bounce back when you press on them, about 25 to 30 minutes. Test with a long toothpick or a thin bamboo skewer to make sure the center of the muffins are done. Set on wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Remove muffins from the tin let cool another 20 minutes.


Zucchini Bread

Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 1/4 cups white sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini
1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions
Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.
Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool.


Layered Lettuce Salad

1 head lettuce, torn
1 c. diced celery
4 hard boiled eggs, sliced
1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen peas, thawed & uncooked
1/2 c. diced green pepper
1 med. onion, diced
8 slices cooked & crumbled bacon
2 c. mayonnaise
2 tbsp. sugar
4 oz. grated cheddar cheese

Directions:
Layer ingredients in order shown in a large glass bowl. Combine mayo and sugar then spread over top of salad evenly. Sprinkle with cheese. Cover and refrigerate 8 to 12 hours.

Vegetable Pasta Salad II

Ingredients
1 zucchini, cubed
1 eggplant, cubed
1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 clove minced garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 (12 ounce) package rotini/corkscrew pasta
2 chopped tomatoes
3 ounces diced feta cheese
1 cup Italian-style salad dressing


Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Combine zucchini, eggplant, onion, bell pepper and garlic in a baking dish. Toss with olive oil. Bake for about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and cool. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add rotini pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain and rinse with cold water. In a bowl combine vegetable mixture, cooled pasta, tomatoes, Feta cubes, and salad dressing; toss until well mixed.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

The Little Farmers Blog!

Hello again! And what a busy week it has been for us down on the farm!

It certainly is getting that time of year again where our veggies are at their best, and the boys in the fields are kept more than busy with all of the harvesting. But wait! not all of our produce is in yet! Next weekend we will have the start of our own sweet corn, which is perfect boiled or even on the barbeque!

With the fall approaching quickly many customers are beginning to make their own pickles, and even freezing some veggies for the winter so we thought that we would share with you some ways to enjoy local veggies all winter long!

To freeze broccoli:
-Clean amount of desired broccoli
-Then, split the broccoli lengthwise. You should end up with flowerets that are 11/2 inches wide. Make sure to remove all of the leaves and woody parts of the stem.
-To ensure the broccoli is clean, soak the florets in salt water for about a half hour
-Then boil the broccoli for 3-4 minutes, or until it changes in color.
-Remove the broccoli from the water and place in ice to cool it down. Make sure that you remove all of the heat before packing them away for the winter.
-Once cooled, drain the broccoli and place in a bag. Make sure you get all of the air out of the bag before placing it in your freezer.

Many other vegetables can be frozen this way as well, such as greens, and spinach but the boiling time is different than that of the broccoli. For these particular veggies as well as others, follow through with the same procedure but remove from the boiling water when the vegetable has changed in color.


Over the next few days we are planning on getting some family recipies from the Lester family. All of the family members have the knack for cooking, especially Mary Lester who is the lady who started this part of the farm, as well as her mother in law Juanita Lester. So keep in touch for our tips and secrets!

Your Friendly Little Farmer Bloggers,
Ashley, Kate and Susan

Friday, August 20, 2010

The Little Farmers Blog!

Hi there everyone!

As this week is coming to a close, we are bringing you new beginnings!

After this week, we now have a good supply of our peas and green beans. This weekend we will have the start of our yellow beans, yum! As well, many of our crops that were just new over the past week or two are now picking up their pace growing wise. Many vegetables such as our broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, and lettuce are getting bigger by the day. It's amazing to see how the crops progress each and every day, sometimes its hard to believe how much they progress!

We are also proud to announce the opening of our corn maze for the year! This is always an event on the farm as even we like to get lost in our corn maze. Although we have a smaller size corn maze, it is still ideal for family and children, and best of all it is free of charge! So why not take the whole family through the maze and see who can make it through the quickest!

It seems like this week flew by! As Mary Lester would say, "Time flies when you're having fun" and that is exactly what happened on the farm this week!

See you soon!
Your Friendly Little Farmer Bloggers,
Ashley, Kate, and Susan

Sunday, August 15, 2010

The Little Farmer's Blog!

And last but not least, our horses and ponies.

















The Little Farmer's Blog!

These are some more animals which enjoy their days here on the farm.















The Little Farmer's Blog!

Hi again everyone!
We know it has been a while, but here are some pictures of the animals that live here on the farm.













One of our newest additions.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

The Little Farmers Blog!

Hi there everyone!

Although our summer has seemed to cool down a bit from July we still have new produce this week!

The boys are still busy in the fields harvesting our usual produce as well as some new produce such as: a variety of cucumbers, kholarbi,as well as green and yellow zucchini. But wait! It doesn't stop yet! According to farmer Chris and Brad we will have the start of our beet this weekend! Just in time to make homemade beets for the winter!

Since our each crop needs different attention at different times, some crops will produce better in certain conditions. Take for example our green onion and swiss chard, these particular crops are definitely at their best production rate with these conditions! Stop on by and see how big they have grown since the beginning of the summer! What a difference!

At this point of time we will be changing over the lots of our spinach, therefore we will not have any more until the middle of next week, but as always it is better to call ahead of time just to be sure that it is in stock for that particular day.

And with the summer coming to an end so is our short strawberry season. We are still picking a few berries to have in the market however it is getting down to the very last of them now. But don't worry! They will be back next year, and they will be just as delicious and plentiful as this years crops!

With each new crop that comes in, we try to cook something up, something that we never would have tried or even thought of on our own! So here's a few recipes that worked out delicious for us! Good luck!

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup of Brown Sugar
1 egg
1 tsp of vanilla
1 1/2 cups of flour
1/4 tsp of salt
3/4 cup of oatmeal (optional)
1/2 cup of coconut (optional)
6 oz of chocolate chips
1/2 cup of nuts (optional)
1/2 cup of butter
1 cup of green zucchini, shredded

Directions:

Beat butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla together in a large bowl. Then, add the dry ingredients as well as oatmeal if you like. Make sure that you mix together well until all is smooth. Once smooth, add the remaining of the ingredients to the mixture. Then take a greased cookie sheet and drop spoonfuls of the cookie mixture all along the sheet. Then you bake them in the oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. And finally the best part, time to sit back and enjoy a yummy and healthy cookie! A great way to get kids to eat healthy!

Hope you enjoy the recipe! Keep updated for some more great recipes!

Your Friendly Little Farmer Bloggers,
Ashley, Kate and Susan

The Little Farmers Blog!

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

The Little Farmers Blog!

Hi there!

Due to the overwhelming amount of eager pickers which we have seen over the past few weeks at our u-picks, both of our locations will be closed for the rest of the season. We will ourselves still have berries for another short while so if you haven't gotten the amount of desired berries come out early in the morning and you will find the freshest berries in town! Mind you they do go very quick, so if it is berries that you are looking for call before you head over to our market!

Although our berry season is now drawing an end, it is just the beginning for some of our other crops! Take our potatoes, cabbage, broccoli, and turnip for instance; after giving some of these particular crops a few days to grow the results of the crops are flourishing! And don't forget that we are hoping to have a starting crop of our own deliciously sweet carrots this Saturday! Wow! What a week this is turning out to be!

We also have local fresh cream available. This cream really is 'Glennview's Finest' and is the perfect desert topping!

Keep in touch! Hope to see you soon!

Your Friendly Little Farmer Bloggers,
Ashley, Kate and Susan

Sunday, August 1, 2010

The Little Farmers Blog

Despite the gloomy weather, we still had lots of pleasant pickers today! However, our fields are still not completely picked out so both locations will be opened tomorrow, August 2, weather permitting. Please be advised that the strawberry season is nearing an end and the precipitation which we have received has taken a toll on the berries. Meanwhile, there are still plenty of berries to be picked!

And, for the first time this season we now have our edible pod, and snow peas! A tasty addition to any meal!

Your Friendly Little Farmer Bloggers,
Ashley, Kate and Susan

Friday, July 30, 2010

Wow! This heat is really driving things along! Over the past 2 weeks there has been a huge progress in all of our crops! With the help of the heat we are expecting our delicious carrots as early as next week, and our corn is expected to be ripened to perfection by late August! We will also have cabbage, as well as 3 different types of potatoes on Saturday morning.

Since both of our u-picks have been such successes, both locations have been closed in order to allow the berries to ripen and replenish. However, we are expecting that both locations will re-open on Sunday weather permitting.

Your Friendly Little Farmer Bloggers,
Ashley, Kate and Susan

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

The days go on, but it just keeps getting better. Our strawberry u-pick was in full swing at both locations again today. Everyone came up with buckets of bright, red, delicious berries and yet there are still plenty left to ripen. However due to the abundance of pickers today both locations will be closed until further notice to let the berries replenish themselves.
We also have more of our new yukon gold potatoes, they are the perfect addition to a barbeque.
Here are some of our favorite recipes! Enjoy!

CHOCOLATE STRAWBERRY PORT CAKE

Ingredients
- 1/3 cup butter or margarine
- 1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate pieces
- 1/2 cup port wine
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 pint of fresh strawberries, stemmed and sliced
- 1 cup whipping cream, whipped and sweetened

Directions
Melt butter and 1/2 cup of the chocolate in 1/3 cup of the port. Stir and cool.

Beat egg yolks with 6 tablespoons of the sugar until thick and pale in blender. Add slowly chocolate mixture while blending. Mix in flour and remaining chocolate.

Beat egg whites with remaining sugar just until stiff in another bowl; gradually fold into chocolate batter to blend.

Pour into greased and floured 9-inch round layer cake pan. Bake in 325 degree oven 25 to 30 minutes until pick inserted into the center comes out clean.

cool in pan for 5 mintues; loosen and invert onto plate. With back of spoon press shallow indentation into center of cake.

Toss strawberries with remaing port; spoon into center of cake. Pipe or spoon whipped cream around edge.

Makes 6 servings

CRUNCHY ROMAINE STRAWBERRY SALAD

Ingredients
- 1 (3 ounce) package ramen noodles
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 tablesppon red wine vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
- 8 cups torn romaine
- 1/2 cup chopped green onions
- 2 cups fresh strawberries, slices

Directions

Discard seasoning packet from ramen noodles or save for another use. reak noodles into small pieces. In a skillet, saute noodles and walnuts in butter for 8-10 minutes or until golden; cool.

For dressing, in a jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine the oil, sugar, vinegar and soy sauce; shake well. Just before serving combine the romaine, onions, strawberries and noodle mixture in a large bowl. Drizzle with dressing and toss lightly.

Serves 12

Sunday, July 25, 2010

The Little farmers Blog!

What a fantastic weekend it's been here at the farm! The beautiful weather gave people the opportunity to come out and enjoy the animals, berries, ice cream, vegetables and more!
Our shelves were stocked with the seasons earliest taste of fresh veggies and the sun made working here at the farm terrific.

Here are a few pictures from the farm this past week. And there will be plenty more where these came from, so keep posted!

Your Friendly Little Farmer Bloggers!
(Ashley, Susan and Kate)

Yummm!

A field full of our wonderful u-pickers!


You can always count on our daily supply of fresh lettuce!!

New Yukon gold potatoes.

New this season!
Fresh, hand selected, brown farm eggs.

"Fresh Veggies Turnip Everyday"
"Lettuce Help You"

As you can see, our corn maze isn't tall enough to get lost in yet!


Our animals are always happy to see you come!


Our u-picks at both locations will be closed untill Tuesday to let our berries ripen and get as sweet as possible.

Enjoy the pictures! Hope you stop by and see it all for yourselves!
Your Friendly Little Farmer Bloggers,
Ashley, Kate, and Susan

Saturday, July 24, 2010

The Little Farmers Blog

It has been yet again another busy day on the farm and the strawberries are going great. Due to the overwhelming amount of eager pickers, our Brookfield Road location will be closed until Tuesday. As for our Heavy Tree Road location, we are waiting to see what the berries will be like in the morning, so please call the market first.

The boys in the field have been kept very busy too. This morning they harvested a small amount of cauliflower, cabbage, and turnip. With their work, we are able to provide you with our fresh produce all summer long!

All the veggies are quickly maturing, and if this weather keeps up we will be able to completely fill our shelves over the next few weeks! So stay tuned for our crop updates this way you wont miss any of our new produce!

Your Friendly Little Farmer Bloggers
Ashley, Kate, and Susan

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Th e Little Farmers Blog!

Hello Everyone!

It's hard to believe how fast this week has gone by! My how time goes by when you're always kept busy! The Brookfield Road u-pick had another great day with an amazing turn out of pickers, while the Heavy Tree Road location was closed today in order to replenish the berries for the days to come. Tomorrow morning we are hoping to have both locations opened, however it depends on the weather and the berries so we advise to call the market (747-3276) beforehand just to be sure. Hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful weather and we hope to see you all coming out for a visit on the farm with the sun!

Keep an eye out for some of the upcoming photos of our past week on the farm! We will be posting them very soon!

Your Friendly Little Farmer Bloggers,
Ashley, Kate, and Susan

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

The Little Farmers Blog!

Although it started off as a wet day, it turned out to be a beautiful day on the farm! The sun came out just in time for us to open both of our u-pick locations at noon, and with that we had a great turn out! We had pickers of all ages in the field today; some picking one quart while others picked over 6 full buckets! Wow! What a great start to our berry season!

Don’t forget to stop by this weekend to see our new produce, as well as our newly born baby bunnies! We also have our 6 pack annuals on for $2.00, so if you’re looking to add a little more color to your garden this is the perfect addition!

And that’s another day on the farm!

Your Friendly Little Farmer Bloggers,
Ashley, Kate and Susan

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

The Little Farmers Blog!

It’s been another great day here at the farm! Not only did we have our pickers pick over 320 quarts of berries, but we also had a busy first day at our u-pick on heavy tree road. We are proud to announce and we will be open at both our Heavy Tree Road location as well as our Brookfield Road location.

At our Brookfield Road location, we will be picking out of a brand new field! The berries in this field are an impressive size and one of our sweetest varieties. One of our friendly tractor drivers will take you on a 15 minute tractor ride through our fields of crops to get to our picking destination.

If you consider yourself to be a more serious picker and want to get the maximum amount of berries in the minimum amount of time we recommend our Heavy Tree Road location. This is because you can get from your car to our berry fields in no time. Please be advised that our Heavy Tree Road location is cash only, and both locations will be open 10-5, weather permitting and while quantities last.

One final note is that we will also be having white turnip starting this weekend!

Hope to see you all at the farm very soon!

Your Friendly Little Farmer Bloggers,
Ashley, Kate and Susan

Monday, July 19, 2010

The Little Farmers Blog!

We have exciting news!

With the help of the weather our plentiful crop of strawberries are ripening at a fast pace! Farmer Chris, one of the proud owners and one of our field experts, has informed us that our u-pick on Brookfield Road will be open this Wednesday, July 21. We have new fields of berries on this location, so come along for a tractor ride down to the u-pick and enjoy the farm surroundings which we get to see and enjoy every day!

Although the berries are ripening fast be sure to double check before you arrive at one of our locations to ensure that the u-pick will be going ahead for the day, as it depends on many factors early in the season such as the quantity of the berries and the weather.

That's it for now! Hope to see you in the strawberry fields!

Your Friendly Little Farmer Bloggers,
Ashley, Kate, and Susan

The Little Farmer's Blog!

Hi there everyone!
We are some of the proud workers at Lester’s Farm Market. Since we love working on the farm so much we figured that we would share with you the ongoing and upcoming events and crops that we get to endure each and every day!

Our 2010 season has had a bright beginning. So far we have an impressive variety of lettuces such as boston, french iceberg, iceberg, green leaf, two types of red leaf, as well as romaine. The sunny weather has also brought us veggies such as green onion, radishes, spinach, swiss chard, and local greens. For the first time this season we will be having a limited supply of our very own new potatoes starting this Saturday, July 24th!

We are proud to announce that our strawberry season has started, and we must say they are delicious! This year we have expanded our strawberry crops so there are plenty of berries to go around. Our u-pick on Heavy Tree Road will open 10am on Tuesday July 20th. As well our u-pick on Brookfield Road will open this Friday, July 23rd at 10am. Since it is still very early in the season our supply starting off will be limited. As a result, the u-pick will be open while quantities last so we advise you to call beforehand.

An “eggcelent” addition to our market this year is our homegrown, fresh brown eggs. They are carefully collected everyday to ensure that they maintain their scrumptious taste!

And as always we have our delicious ice cream with a wide variety of hard serve flavors, slushies to quench your thirst, and our unforgettable soft serve. We also have a selection of annuals, perennials, and shrubs so stop in and take a look around our garden center. And lastly but definitely not least, our animals in the petting barn are anxiously waiting for your visit! Come and see our animals such as Eeyore the donkey and Tetley the potbelly pig; they will keep you entertained all visit long!

So far it has been a busy, but exciting season. With fresh picked veggies served in a family environment with homegrown smiles there is always something to do on the farm! But it doesn’t stop there! So come along and visit us on the farm! Hope to see you all soon!

Your Friendly Little Farmer Bloggers,
Ashley, Kate, and Susan

Monday, May 24, 2010

2010 Season!

We are opening this weekend. Stay tuned for updates on new crops and approximate harvest dates!