One last round of visits to our partner farms before fall settles in.
September picks up where August left off in more ways than one, with late summer bounty colliding with fall's firsts. Squash is here by the ton, melons keep rolling in, roots continue to be pulled, corn is keeping on, and every member of the brassica family is here to stay. Needless to say, September bounty rivals that of the warmest summer months.
We've kept up the weekly visits to our partner farms to stay on top of how the season is going and what Lufavores can expect in the coming weeks. Keep scrolling to check out the latest highlights.
JARDINS GLENORRA - Ormstown, QC
For the past ten years, we've been growing alongside Ian and Julie. And we've witnessed some major milestones along the way - from purchasing the land they had been renting since their farm's beginning to building a cabin onsite, and most recently, renting and obtaining an organic certification for an additional neighbouring 25 acres.
The Jardins Glenorra family isn’t complete without their five returning workers who are back for a fifth season. Joining them from Mexico, the team (including Jaime above), practises crop rotation, keeping the crops covered with netting to deter pests and giving each plant a special "cocktail" of beneficial insects that target pests harming the veggies. Coming up this month, they’re harvesting baked potato, butternut, and acorn squash, crazy amounts of kale, carrots, and fall radishes.
FERME AUX PLEINES SAVEURS - Saint-André-Avellin, QC
Martin and Chantale cultivate so much organic fall veg, it's near impossible to decide which to try first. This season, the couple has grown a crazy ton of varieties that'll keep during the colder months to be able to bring local veg to locavores and Lufavores all throughout the winter. And to make the most of their space, the couple even grows beets in between rows of parsnips!
Sustainable efforts rewarded by an offer hard to refuse. When opportunity came knocking (literally - their neighbour asked if they wanted to farm his 100 acres), the couple took on the challenge and now grow daikon, watermelon, and black radishes, parsnips, Jerusalem artichokes, celeriac, and red kuri squash.
AGRI-FUSION - Saint-Polycarpe, QC
A new generation takes the reins of Agri-Fusion. Meet Philippe LaRoche-Audette, who oversees the farm's day-to-day activities. He’s the son of Gilles Audette, one of the co-founders, who’s far from ready to retire and still takes care of marketing and plant science for the farm.
This year, Philippe and his team planted a mix of early and late season varieties to stretch the season longer. When it comes to their beloved corn, the team is extra careful, making sure to harvest only the ripest cobs for the freshest corn. And psst! There's just a week left to enjoy their fresh edamame (we highly recommend) before frozen veggies take over.
BIO-SAVEUR - Laval & Mascouche, QC
We can’t stop saying it, Karl goes above and beyond for Lufavores. When we asked him to grow sweet potatoes for us, he bought an additional plot of land in Mascouche - and his fields are already overflowing. It’ll be about a month before they’re ready for harvest, but in the meantime he’s snipping off their leaves that make a great addition to salads.
Some fruits and veg will disappear before month's end so be sure to make the most of it. Recently, Karl invited some of our team to join him for an épluchette (aka corn boil) in his fields where we saw firsthand the abundance. Hidden among the trap crops (carefully planted so that the pests nibble on their leaves instead of the crops) are melons, beans, and corn that will all be harvested just a few more times.
Oh, and stay on guard for apples, apples, and more apples.