Week of May 24th 2020

Hello folks! Here we are in the last week of May heading into June with summer temperatures already upon us. The heat is really helping everything along nicely including egg production.
I have a good supply of fresh new crop stir fry greens available, I had some the other day and they’re bursting with flavour. We still have lots of rhubarb available, along with mint, chard, arugula, health kick salad greens, baby beet greens and more.
Asparagus is available this week!

Don’t forget to order your eggs when you place you place your order.
Eggs are reduced in price to $7/Jumbo, $6/XL and $5/LG That’s a heck of a deal for organic eggs my friends. If you buy 5 dozen you’ll get one free, that’s another 20% off!
Also, we have noticed eggs sales dropping off; don’t worry about white eggs being mixed with brown, there is no difference, they taste the same and we weigh every egg and every full carton to make sure you’re getting what you pay for.

Pork will be available again next week: full selection of cuts raised here organically. Including sausage, ground, chops and roast. Smoked cuts will be couple weeks later.

Beef: lots of choice: burger and steaks for the bbq, roasts and soup bones for broth.

Please remember to place your order BEFORE midnight on Wednesdays. Orders placed after that time will not be processed.
Pick up times are Thursday and Friday 3 PM to 6PM.
We appreciate your cooperation and loyalty to the farm and look forward to serving you.

Be well,
Nick and Angela
Ian and Cami

Week of May 17th 2020

Good day organic veggie and meat lovers! It was nice to see so many people last week, thank you for your orders and continued visits. We’re happy to be able to provide quality organic produce and meat in a sustainable way. We hope you enjoyed your long weekend and were able to get out and do something with some of the restrictions lifted.

Now it’s the middle of May and that means that more produce will become available as the days get warmer and longer.
Don’t forget to order your eggs when placing your order for veggies. And please bring your egg cartons back in, and collect from your neighbours.
Veggies available this week: green chard, stir fry blend greens, health kick salad greens, claytonia baby greens, shuidong mustard and rhubarb. More will be listed as the week goes by.

Order cut off is Wednesday at 12 midnight.
Orders placed after this time will not be filled.
Pick up times are 3 PM to 6PM Thursday and Friday.
Thank you for your cooperation and continued support!
We look forward to seeing you!

Be well,
Nick and Angela

Week of May 10 2020

Hello! We’re quite busy here at the farm as we swing into gear this season. Rhubarb is nice and full and bursting with flavour.

A bee note: I have been seeing honey bees regularly since last week and a few the week before so remember to leave the dandelion flowers be. The flowers are one of the first sources of food for them as they emerge from their hives.

We expect to have pork in the freezer by the end of the month in perfect timing for BBQ and smoker season. Beef and stewing hens are also available.
Don’t forget to order your eggs when placing your order for veggies. And please bring your egg cartons in, and collect from your neighbours! We’re right out.
Veggies available this week: green chard, red kale, stir fry blend greens, health kick salad greens, rhubarb, claytonia baby greens, shuidong mustard.

Order cut off is Wednesday at 12 midnight.
Orders placed after this time will not be filled.
Pick up times are 3 PM to 6PM Thursday and Friday.
Thank you for your cooperation and continued support!
We look forward to seeing you!

Be well,
Nick and Angela

Week of May 4th 2020

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a great week. The weather was very nice and allowed us to get a fair bit of outdoor work finished on the gardens beds. The pastures are greening up, grass is growing and bees are buzzing and birds are nesting: spring is officially here. We’re getting ready to get the outdoor beds planted with more delicious veggies and root crops.

This week we have rhubarb, stir fry blend greens, health kick salad blend, choi sum, shuidong leaf mustard, red kale, green and rainbow chard, beef, stewing hens, rabbits and eggs.
We still have compost available for your flower and vegetable beds at home.

Please remember to place your order BEFORE 7 AM Thursday. If its placed after that time it will not be filled. Thank you!

We look forward to seeing you this weekend. Have a great week folks.

Be well,
Nick and Angela

Week of April 27th 2020

Hello everyone, we hopenypire doing well! I have two new greens available this week: Choy Sum and Shuidong Mustard greens.
On the palate, Shuidong mustard is crispy, delicious and tender with a fresh sweet flavoir and has no bitter taste of ordinary mustard greens. It adds a nice flavor nd a splash of bright green to fresh salads. Shuidong mustard helps with digestion.
Choy Sum contains small yellow flowers that are similar in appearance to gai lan and are also edible with a peppery but very subtle mustard flavor. Choy sum is juicy, tender, and crunchy with a sweet. It is great steamed, in stir fry or in soups.
Egg production is coming back up and the chickens are settling in more and lore each week. The baby Cornish cross chicks we picked up last week are growing and looking strong and we look forward to having pastured meat birds for all of our wonderful customers.

We wish you a happy and healthy week and look forward to your orders this week.

Be well,
Nick and Angela

Week of April 19 2020

The farm market is running as everything begins to ramp up with the warmth of Spring.  The items in the way of greens now include rhubarb, baby mixed greens, arugula, collards and Red Russian kale. As always, we have plenty of beef and stewing chickens in the freezer. Rabbit stock is building and I expect a full stock will be near the end of summer but I will have rabbits available in limited quantity up until then.  The chickens are starting to lay more and more eggs every day as they settle in and become more like chickens. The egg mobile has been refurbished and us ready to be filled with chickens to go on pasture. We have meat birds coming later in the week that will be raised on separate pasture and expected to be ready by mid-Summer.  These are perfect for roasting in the oven, putting in the smoker or for some old fashioned fried chicken.

A notice for ordering: ALL orders must be submitted BEFORE midnight on Wednesday. Any order placed after that time will not be filled. Thank you for your cooperation.

Pick up times will be Thursdays and Fridays 3PM – 6PM. Special arrangements can be made for pick up on other days if needed; please email or call/text Nick LaMarsh.
Email: nickspicksorganics@gmail.com
Phone: 519-755-0577

We look forward to serving you and wish you a great week ahead.

Be well,
Nick and Angela

Week of April 13 2020

Hello everyone! I would like to take this opportunity to introduce the new grower for the Market Garden at Old 99 Farm. He’ll say more about himself and his goals in his own words.

My name is Nick LaMarsh and he moved to the farm last fall with my wife, Angela Hanlon.
I have been growing natural and organic vegetables and leafy greens since I was about 10 years old and have had a passion for food ever since. That passion has kept me growing fresh produce most of my life and has led me into various areas of food industry and food production. From making Polish style deli meats and other charcuterie, to managing a small cafe to working in very busy restaurants as a line cook and more. It’s been a great journey and I couldn’t be happier to be able to grow quality organic produce for you and your family. I was an urban farmer and managed a large community garden for about 4 years before moving to Old 99 Farm to market garden on a large scale.

I utilize an old and very little known method of growing produce called Korean Natural Farming. It’s an organic and completely natural style of farming that uses the theory of delivering exactly what the plant needs at its different stages of growth. As well as utilizing things like compost and manure ‘tea’, the Korean Natural Farming process requires me to collect all natural local ingredients such as young plant shoots, emerging plants, roots and microbial rich organic matter to create the inputs. They are rich in microbial life, minerals and nutrients that feed the soil and in turn feed the plant and give it the best possible environment to grow in to produce the best food possible.

I will be growing a wide variety of leafy greens including kale, mustard, stir fry greens, chard, Asian greens and salad greens. Also on the grow list is purple sweet potatoes, white potatoes, onions, leeks, beets, berries, asparagus, tree fruits and rhubarb. I also raise meat rabbits and chickens and will have them available by end of summer for you to enjoy.

I look forward to seeing you at the farm!

Be well friends,
Nick

This is the ‘in-between’ season for vegies, our stored root crops are almost depleted, overwintered greens are in demand but plants are heavily cropped. We have lots in the greenhouses coming. This week we can offer chard (perpetual green variety very succulent and spinach-like), arugula, radishes and baby mixed greens. We have a new flock of chickens, brown and white layers so the production is increasing (along with demand I’ll also say). The meat freezers are full with beef and chicken.

For your garden we have active compost and in about a month we’ll have vegetable seedlings for you to transplant.

The new precautions for covid19 are working fine. You place your order as usual and pick up outside. We’ve loosened our hours so there’s no crowded times; state your preferred pick up time on your order. E-transfer is preferred.

Nick will be doing a round of phone calls to randomly selected customers asking for suggestions and feedback on buying local from Old99, starting this week. Please take a moment to share your thoughts.

Healthy eating
Ian and Cami

Old 99 farm, Week of Apr 1 2020

Even a month ago I would not have anticipated the current conditions here in Canada and worldwide. Check my facebook page for what I select as high relevance news articles and science.

Old 99 is growing food. We have recently added two beeves in the freezers, stewing hens this week.
A new flock of 100 layers is settling in, already increasing our daily egg production. This time I bought white and brown layers, so your dozens will have a mix of both colours. Tell me if you can taste a difference! Dozens will be mixed size and weight, but averaging medium, large, extra large. Regular prices.

Nick LaMarsh is growing greenhouse and outdoor crops, he’s the market gardener for Old 99. He has onions, leeks, lettuces, claytonia, asian greens and much more in the ground. We all will be doing some growing, especially for the fall harvest and storage crops. Stay tuned for ways you might like to participate in that.

See the list at Locallygrown for what is available. Staples are kale, chard and collards among the greens. We are almost out of carrots, onions, potatoes and beets.

For your own gardens and flower beds I have mature composted ammended with rock flour (basalt), gypsum and volcanophos. The active microbial populations will boost the fertility of your gardens and increase the nutrient content of your produce. Available by the bag or bulk, delivery possible.

Remember: social distancing is going to make a big difference even when it looks like it isn’t, because the case load increases before it goes down. Many months ahead before we feel safe again. Wear your face masks, even homemade ones.
Here’s a quote from a Yale epidemiologist,
“In contrast to hand-washing and other personal measures, social distancing measures are not about individuals, they are about societies working in unison. These measures also take a long time to see the results. It is hard (even for me) to conceptualize how ‘one quick little get together’ can undermine the entire framework of a public health intervention, but it does. I promise you it does. I promise. I promise. I promise. You can’t cheat it. People are already itching to cheat on the social distancing precautions just a “little”- a playdate, a haircut, or picking up a needless item at the store, etc.”

Healthy eating,
Ian and Cami
Nick and Angela

Old 99 Farm, week of Mar 1, 2020

We have not been running an active market for February, but now time is coming to invite you back to the farm for our winter storage vegetables (squashes, potatoes, onions, carrots) winter greens (collards, kales, chards, parsley) and soon, rhubarb and the first salad greens from the greenhouse.
I’d like you to come and meet Nick LaMarsh, who will be taking over the market garden and store from now on. He’s got lots of ideas for what to grow, how to cook it, and even preserve it by lacto-fermentation. He’s raising rabbits and broiler chickens first in the greenhouse and later on pasture. You can post your questions here on the blog, ask himi about Korean Natural Farming for instance.
We’re still keeping the Lynchlineback cows for breeding family milk cows and pastured beef. There are two animals in the freezer now as of Feb 1st. Nice selection of steaks, roasts, organs and ground beef.

Healthy Eating,
Ian, Cami, Nick and Angie

Week of Nov 4 2019 Straw delivery

You imagine how the cows enjoy clean dry straw for bedding, could you help for a couple hours thursday Nov 7th during the day? I’m getting a delivery thurs 9am.
I have a window to get it in the barn thurs and maybe friday. Only takes 2 – 4 hours if we have 4 people.

Market is open 4 to 6 friday for pickups or by request on the weekend
All vegetables as usual, plus eggs, beef and pork.

Please let me know what’s possible for you to help get the straw in the barn.

Thanks and healthy eating
Ian and Cami