Hello Farm Folk,
The farm may be blanketed in snow, but that doesn’t mean this farmer is lazing around! November and December are quieter months…a chance to catch up on sleep, family time, and alone time. But, once January hits, it’s go time! A farmers’ job description can be divided into thirds: physical work, planning, and marketing. And so, January to March are critical months in which to work on the planning and marketing. This involves setting goals for the year, crop planning, labour planning, and distribution planning. Once April hits, the physical work will become priority…so it’s key now to make great strides with the planning and marketing!
Currently we have 55,000 cloves of garlic planted and waiting for the first signs of spring. If you still have some local, organic garlic in your kitchen, I thought I’d pass on to you The 10 Minute Rule. The 10 Minute Rule helps you to maximize the medicinal benefits of your garlic. The medicinal component of garlic is called allicin. Essentially, you want to press or chop your garlic, and then wait 10 minutes before using it. Whether you’re eating your garlic raw (add it raw to a warm meal to both dissipate the intensity and maximize medicinal impact), or cooking with it, you will reap more of its medicinal gifts if you’ve waited 10 minutes. Use garlic for both proactive health care (to keep you healthy), and if you are ill (double/triple/quadruple the dose!)
Enjoy the rest of winter. It won’t be long before the rhubarb is popping out of the ground, and 55,000 garlic greens emerge!
Keep Livin’ on the Veg!
Daniel
P.S. Looking to do a good deed today? Nothing feels better than giving! Consider making a donation to Black Food Toronto.
