Top reviewed documentary on Food

We’re losing quality soil. Here’s what that means…

Food that doesn’t taste as good An increase in diseases as our soil is stripped of vital nutrients Skyrocketing food prices And if we continue on this path, more hungry people.

But there is hope, and that’s exactly what the inspiring film, The Need To GROW, is about.

This week, for a limited time, you can watch The Need To GROW for free.

This moving documentary has won over a dozen awards at film festivals, including Winner of the Best Documentary, Audience Favorite, and Best Environmental Film.

It will touch your heart, give you hope, and inspire you to be part of the solution on planet Earth.

>> Click here to watch The Need To GROW. (Available free for a very limited time, June 13 to 19.)

P.S. If you’re concerned about climate change, this film is for you. The good news is, if we create enough healthy soil, it could pull much of the excess carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere! This is truly exciting, and the film shines a light on how that is possible.

Watch the whole movie now. (Free, for a limited time!)

Old 99 Farm, week of Jun 12 2022

We have a few new items this week: carrots and radishes, even a few tomatoes! They will be on the display when you come to pick up. Early birds get the worm!

Offering:
Asparagus
Bok choi
Carrots, bunched
Celery
Collards
Green Chard
Kale, Frilly green
Kale, Russian Red
Kale, Nero di Toscano, baby
Lettuce, Head type (Kaiser and Paonia)
Lettuce, Rouge d’Hiver
Lettuce, Romaine
Mesclun Salad Mix
Mizuna
Mustard, Tokyo Bekana
Onions, Green Bunching
Radish, bunched
Rhubarb stalks
Spinach, bunched
Tong Ho

Special on burger and stew beef, good option for that bbq on father’s day to make shishkebab. 25% off if you buy 2kg or more.

All of continental USA is in a heatwave right now, most major cities posting 100F plus. wow. Check here for news on climate and the economy; it’s my favourite aggregator site to stay current.

The summer harvest basket starts this week, for 20 weeks at $31.95 a week, or biweekly; select either option with a comment in the order form. Support us with your commitment to a regular basket of freshpicked organic vegetables each week. We have a flexible plan with options and substitutes. We’ll even deliver.
Still considering whether to sign up for the Harvest Basket? Here’s a sweetener: free copy of my customized 40 pg booklet on How to store vegetables from A to Z. Extending shelf life, freezing, canning, drying, etc. with recipes and pictures. Sign up via Locallygrown right here.
Please click here for brochure on Harvest Basket.

Surf to the online store here to place your order. Store pick up Thurs 4 to 6 or by arrangement.

Healthy eating
Ian and Cami

Old99 Farm week of June 5 2022

Welcome to the best season for local vegetables. We’ve started our second or third plantings of some greens, like arugula, and have the tomatoes, eggplants and peppers in the ground.
Here’s our offering this week:
Asparagus
Black Currant Leaf, fresh
Green Chard, small leaf,
Kale, Frilly green
Kale, Russian Red
Kale, Nero di Toscano, baby
Lettuce, Buttercrunch
Lettuce, Grand Rapids
Lettuce, Rouge d’Hiver
Mesclun Salad Mix
Mizuna
Mustard, Tokyo Bekana
Onions, Green Bunching
Parsley, Curly Leaf
Rhubarb stalks
Spinach
Tong Ho
Cilantro

We have a special on beef: roasts of the shoulder: eye of round, top round, bottom round, sirloin tip, all 25% off, that’s $5.95/lb. Sized about 3 to 4 lb.

The summer harvest basket starts next week, for 20 weeks at $31.95 a week, or biweekly; select either option with a comment in the order form. Support us with your commitment to a regular basket of freshpicked organic vegetables each week. We have a flexible plan with options and substitutes. We’ll even deliver. Here’s a testamonial: “I’ve been visiting Old 99 Farm regularly for over a year to pick up fresh organic fruits and vegetables, eggs and meat. There are lots of options and they vary throughout the year. Highly recommended!” (David)

Surf to the online store here to place your order. Store pick up Thurs 4 to 6 or by arrangement.
Please click here for brochure on Harvest Basket.

Here’s Dawn D’s ‘Old 99 Salad’ with Tong Ho greens and flower, Romaine, Arugula, and Mizuna.

Old 99 Farm, week of May 29 2022

I haven’t been websurfing that much lately but the same issues are still there facing us for the future we want for ourselves and our children. A common theme: Relocalize, that can be added to the ones we know well: Refuse, Reuse, Recycle, Repair.
Local food is part of the larger idea that we will be more secure, more resilient, more healthy if we relocalize much of our lifestyle choices, ie food. Consider this quote “Thanks to globalization, food produced regionally or nationally is more likely to be exported than to feed the local population: They’ll eat food imported from elsewhere. The situation is now so absurd that countries regularly import and export nearly identical quantities of identical products.”
Isn’t that crazy?
I watched a very good local documentary from Rochester MN on the current state of the climate/ecology crisis that made me feel glad I’m a local food producer. Watch especially from 1:14:00 for the summary.

It’s strawberry season and are you wondering if there’s a nifty kitchen gadget for dehulling those fresh picked treats? Here it is the Strawberry/Tomato Corer.

You can help us here at Old 99 to keep on producing if you join up for the Summer Harvest Basket. In Quebec 140 farms provide 28,000 people with their vegetables from local growers through a network organized by FermierdeFamille. Our summer basket share is for 20 weeks at $31.95 a week, starting June 13th, payable in two instalments. If you want biweekly baskets, ie 10 weeks, because maybe you don’t think you can eat 8 to 10 vegetables a week, then choose that option with a comment in the order form.

This week’s offerings includes new carrots and head lettuce (Kaiser) in addition to
Asparagus (1lb)
Black Currant Leaf, fresh (50g)
Green Chard, small leaf, 8 oz
Claytonia baby greens
Kale, Frilly green (8 oz)
Kale, Russian Red (8 oz)
Kale, Nero di Toscano, baby (6 oz)
Lettuce, Buttercrunch (ea)
Lettuce, Grand Rapids (7oz)
Lettuce, Rouge d’Hiver (bunch .5lb)
Mesclun Salad Mix (6 oz)
Mizuna (6 oz)
Mustard, Tokyo Bekana (.5lb)
Onions, Green Bunching (6)
Hakurei Breakfast turnip (3 bu)
Parsley, Curly Leaf (6 oz)
Rhubarb stalks (1 lb)
Spinach (8 oz)
Tong Ho (bu)
Cilantro 4 oz
Parsley 6 oz
Turnip Greens
Surf to the online store here to place your order. Store pick up Thurs 4 to 6 or by arrangement.
Please click here for brochure on Harvest Basket.

Old99 Farm week of May 22 2022

We have available this week:
Asparagus (1lb)
Arugula (6 oz)
Black Currant Leaf, fresh (50g)
Green Chard, small leaf, 8 oz
Chard, Rainbow (8 oz)
Claytonia baby greens
Kale, Frilly green (8 oz)
Lettuce, Buttercrunch (ea)
Lettuce, Grand Rapids (7oz)
Lettuce, Rouge d’Hiver (bunch .5lb)
Mesclun Salad Mix (6 oz)
Mizuna (6 oz)
Mustard, Tokyo Bekana (.5lb)
Onions, Green Bunching (6)
Hakurei Breakfast turnip (3 bu)
Parsley, Curly Leaf (6 oz)
Rhubarb stalks (1 lb)
Spinach (8 oz)
Tatsoi (8 oz)
Tong Ho (bu)
cilantro 4 oz
parsley 6 oz
Turnip Greens
That’s a pretty good list eh!

And you get to enjoy the new crops coming in as part of the Summer Harvest Basket. It makes easy what fresh vegetables to have on your table each week. Summer session starts week of June 13, cost is $31.95 per week, weekly or biweekly. Delivery option new this season if you live within 10k of the farm.

Pls use old99farm to order. You can pick up any time after 4pm thursday. Oh heck, if it’s a favour I’ll go pick for you right now! It helps to put a note in the order form when you would like to pick up so I can have it boxed in the cooler for you.

Tokyo Bekana is a lettuce like mustard green. It has a stem (aka petiole) like a romaine so it’s good for dipping, nice and crunchy/juicy too. The leaf is soft and mild, sweeter than lettuce. You can substitute if for lettuce in any salad or wraps. Here’s a site for recipes.

Healthy eating,
Ian, Cami, Kenzi

Old99 farm Week of May 14, 2022

We have available this week: 3 x Arugula (6 oz)
Black Currant Leaf, fresh (50g)
Bok Choi, Green Shanghai
Chard, Rainbow (8 oz)
Claytonia baby greens
Kale, Frilly green (8 oz)
Lettuce, Buttercrunch (ea)
Lettuce, Grand Rapids (7oz)
Lettuce, Rouge d’Hiver (bunch .5lb)
Mesclun Salad Mix (6 oz)
Mizuna (6 oz)
Mustard, Tokyo Bekana (.5lb)
Onions, Green Bunching (6)
Parsley, Curly Leaf (6 oz)
Rhubarb stalks (1 lb)
Spinach (8 oz)
Tatsoi (8 oz)
Tong Ho (bu)
cilantro 4 oz
parsley 6 oz
Turnip Greens

Oh, I forgot, asparagus now showing and we’ve got enough for you!

Pls use old99farm to order. You can pick up any time after 4pm thursday. Oh heck, if it’s a favour I’ll go pick for you right now! It helps to put a note in the order form when you would like to pick up so I can have it boxed in the cooler for you.

Did you like that picteure of tong ho last week? how about try it this week, with your salad greens, or use it like the chinese, in soup or steamed.

Healthy eating earthings,
Ian, Cami and Kenzi

Old99 Farm week of May 8 2022

The list of greens we can offer is growing each week, up to 20 now.

we have available
Arugula, Mizuna, Tatsoi green, Tatsoi purple (Arc-en-Ciel), Mustard Greens (Tokyo Bekana), Red Romaine, (Rouge d’hiver) Green Romaine, Buttercrunch Lettuce, Frilly Lettuce (Kale baby leaf. Kale bunches, Salad mix bags, HealthKick salad mix, Claytonia, Arugula bags, Turnip Greens bunch, Green Chard, Rainbow Chard, Tong Ho (salad green), Bok Choi green, Spinach, Cilantro,and Rhubarb.

Some of these will be new so I’ll explain a bit and give a link for more info.
Let’s start with Tong Ho, a salad green very popular in Asia, tho it’s in the daisy family from the Mediterranean area.

The entire above-ground portion of the plant is edible. In general you’re only likely to encounter the the small, unopened flowers on the younger stalks sold in grocery stores, and these can be cooked right along with everything else.
Can I Eat it Raw? Yes, though this is definitely a less common choice. The flavour is likely to be considered a bit too intense for most raw applications. I put a bit in my custom salad mix along with some other delightful flavours.

Storage: Short Term : Refrigerate (unwashed, 3-7 days in a breathable bag in the crisper)
Long Term: Blanch in boiling water 2 mins, drain and rinse with cold water, then freeze.

More info here or just google it!

More sign ups for the Summer Harvest basket keep coming in. Weekly or bi-weekly, delivery, 2 missed weeks, and other features. See my brochure here

Pick up day for orders is Thurs 4 to 6 or by arrangement. The greens keep well in my cooler for a few days.
Click here to start your order.

Healthy eating
Ian, Cami and Kenzi

Old 99 Farm week of may 2 2021

Another week of great growing weather here in the Golden Horseshoe. Wish it were so elsewhere in the world that is already under oppressive heat and/or flood.
Here’s the list of available vegetables this week:
Arugula
Chard, Perpetual Green
Chard, Rainbow
Claytonia baby greens
Collard, Baby Greens
Kale, Frilly Green, Baby
Kale, Red Russian
Kale, Red Russian. frozen
Lettuce, Buttercrunch
Lettuce, Buttercrunch Potted live
Lettuce, Grand Rapids
Lettuce, Health Kick Blend
Lettuce, Rouge d’Hiver
Mesclun Salad Mix
Mizuna
Mustard, Tokyo Bekana
Rapini
Rhubarb stalks
Spinach
Tatsoi
Turnip Greens

Click here to place your order by Wed midnight.
Still openings for spring harvest basket which runs till June 5 week. Summer Basket for 20 weeks starts June 12 week.

Please click here for brochure on Harvest Basket.

Yours in growing healthy food,
Ian and Cami and Kenzie

Old99 Farm week of Apr 24 2022

It’s lovely to see the greenhouses filling up with green plants at all stages from just sprouted, to ready-to-harvest.
Each week some more are ready: like turnip greens and claytonia and salad mix this week.

Call me if you have special requests for transplants as I may well have extras for sale.
Available this week:
Lettuces: Buttercrunch, Rouge d’hiver, GrandRapids,
Salad mix: HealthKick
Brassica greens: Kale, Baby Collards,
Mustards: Mizuna, Tatsoi (Arc-en-ciel), Tokyo Bekana
Claytonia
Turnip greens
Spinach
Arugula
Rapini
Rhubarb
Parsley
Rainbow Chard and
Perpetual Green Chard

Our categories:
Garden Transplants, seedlings (6) more coming each week
Oils (14)
Other (compost, trees)
Vegetables (22)
Herbs (4)
Eggs (3)
Meats (42)
I have full freezers of beef and pork.
Please look at our CSA Harvest Basket offering, for $32.45 per week for 10 weeks. Community Shared Agriculture works for producers and eaters alike. It started April 4th week, ending June 6th week, so 5 weeks remaining.

Click here to access our on-line store.

Healthy eating
Ian, Cami and Kenzi (our helper)

Old 99 Farm week of Apr 10 2022

Reminder, hop over to the online store to pick your selection of vegetables from the greenhouse. Our categories:
Spring Harvest Share basket (1)
Fruit (1)
Garden Transplants, seedlings (2) more coming each week
Oils (14)
Other (Soil amendments, trees) (5)
Vegetables (18)
Herbs (4)
Eggs (3)
Meats (42)
And your first steak for the bbq. I have full freezers of beef and pork.
Please look at our CSA Harvest Basket offering, for $32.45 per week for 10 weeks. Community Shared Agriculture works for producers and eaters alike.

The Spring Harvest Basket program is ready for sign-ups, notice some innovative ideas we learned from LaFamilleFermiere, a collective effort in Quebec to get farm fresh food to families and strengthen local agriculture.

We simplified to one basket size, available weekly or biweekly. If you order weekly you get a discount on top of the discounted price of the contents. Price is $32.45 per week for 6 to 8 vegetable items. You get alternatives to choose from and an exchange table for pick-one,leave-on. Season starts when you sign and runs for 10 weeks. You can pay 50% up front and balance at mid season. Our basket typically contains 6 to 8 different organic vegetables that are freshly harvested and in season.

You can choose to pick it up every week or every 2 weeks (bi-weekly. With the bi-weekly basket you will get 5 pickups/deliveries, scheduled on alternative weeks. Delivery is new for us, beta-testing so to speak. We think we can do it for $15 a week within 10km radius from the farm. If you want delivery, add $15 to the basket x number of weeks (5 or 10) by picking the Spring 10 delivered option on the menu. Likewise for Spring 5 Delivered.

Another change for this year: vegetables are not pre-boxed. Members make up their own basket by following a blackboard list with the basket contents, and making their choices. We also provide an exchange box where you can trade unwanted items.
Please bring your own bags or boxes! We minimize packaging, our vegetable basket is a great way to reduce packaging and waste!
Wondering about Tokyo Bekana, our fav mustard green this year? Here’s a picture and a recipe.
1/3 cup slivered almonds To prepare greens, cut the very end of the stems off the Tokyo Bekana stalks. Coarsely chop remaining leaves & stems into 1/2-inch pieces. Chop up the scallions and cilantro and add to the Tokyo Bekana (use as much or little scallion and cilantro as suits your taste).