Farm Talk: Cultivating a Landscape

Hello Farm Folk,
Farm Update from Catherine
After a week that brought us a perfect mix of sunshine, rain and moderate temperatures, our crops are looking happy and healthy. A few highlights: our tomato crop is bountiful, our zukes, beautiful, bright and full of flavour and our basil crop; so fragrant that it inspires a pesto-making marathon with just one whiff! We’ve been sending our eggplant and bell pepper crops love and encouragement to grow abundantly all week, and took the first harvest of these two crops to Wychwood Farmer’s Market this past Saturday! As we wait patiently for some of our other crops to pop, we tackled a number of weeding projects, including our Asparagus patch and our two Kale patches, some of the team sneezing and sniffling from the invasive rag weed that lays in our fields. As we snapped off the dead Kale leaves, making more space for new growth, we found ourselves talking about some of our most destructive habits, which then led us to draw another parallel between the process of clearing and weeding out what may need to be let go of within ourselves. One of the most wonderful aspects of this work is the exchange between the energy of the land and ourselves and the way in which this relationship invites us to draw the connection between our external and internal landscape. With just over 2 months left in the season, we look forward to continuing to cultivate our environment.

Stories From the Field
I’m Tara and last year I became an intern with the Cutting Veg to escape my claustrophobic, 2-level-below-ground computer lab.Being on the farm is always blissful: feeling the refreshing morning dews on my hands and feet, invoking the inner-child when working in our sandy-loam soil, indulging in the cuteness of bunnies with their little white button tails, watching red miniscule spiders crawl on my finger, being up-lifted by the same wind with which blue and yellow butterflies soar…All that goodness plus the though-provoking conversations with inspiring people who are more than friends, makes this farm a haven. I always feel so connected with nature and the divine when I’m on the farm. That’s why I got hooked! That’s why I am with the Cutting Veg this year; to assist them and also to try independent farming on a section of the farm.Ramadhan (Muslim’s month of fasting) is coming to its end. Being asked about fasting 17 hours a day and farming, I started reflecting. For sure, farming has significantly honed my physical strength, perseverance and tenacity. It has also changed my functional belief: an organic farmer must observe and listen; it is nature that dictates the next move. It is only when you tune in and listen deeply that curtains get parted and you get to see a different world…or really the same world but in a clearer way. Farm is my haven and only a little “e” separates it from heaven!

Produce this Week
This week members should expect to see, from The Cutting Veg: Tomatoes, Basil, Persian Garlic, Chard/Kale, Onions. From Zephyr Organic Farm: Broccoli, Melons. From Sharon Mushroom Farms: Mushrooms

CSA Members Day: Save the Date
Come visit us for CSA Members’ Day on the farm Sunday Septemer 9th. Come for some farming, taste testing, story-telling, activities, and fun for the whole family!

Volunteers Welcome
Each week we welcome volunteers to the farm from Sunday-Friday, 7:15am-4pm. If you are interested in helping on the farm this week or next, please rsvp to catherine.j@thecuttingveg.com and mention what day you want to come, and if you need directions to the farm, or a lift (leaving at 6am from Bloor & Christie area). Hope to see you on the farm soon!

Recipe: SUMMER BASIL PESTO (www.thecuttingveg.com/recipes)
1 cup fresh basil leaves
3⁄4 cup olive oil
1⁄2 cup walnuts or pine nuts
2 garlic cloves
1 tsp salt
1 tsp lemon juice

Rinse the basil. Leave to dry for about 5 minutes.
Puree all the ingredients in a blender or food processor.
Serve on toasted baguette slices, or as a sauce in pizza or pasta.
If you have any leftovers, store them in a tightly covered container in the fridge.
Lasts for up to 3 weeks.

That’s all the news from the farm for this week. Until next time, Keep Livin’ on the Veg!

The Cutting Veg Farm Team