The time has come to shift the farm’s focus away from vegetable growing. While highly rewarding, market gardening is enormously labour intensive and physically demanding. Vegetable growing has taken up the majority of the farm’s (human and financial) resources for many seasons. Maggie and Johann find themselves at a place where they are no longer able to shoulder the financial burden, and are ready to be less busy, to focus on their health, and to put energy into other areas of the farm. To this end, the 2017 season will be the last season Whole Circle Farm will grow vegetables at the market garden scale.

Maggie and Johann have been farming their whole lives. In fact, they fell in love while farming together, when their love blossomed over a shared passion for seed saving. While the future remains uncertain, as the landowners consider the sale of the farm, Maggie and Johann are excited to return to their truest passions. They hope to focus on taking care of themselves, raising beautiful pastured animals, saving seeds, growing grains, creating value-added products, and selling through the farm store. All this will be underpinned with a renewed focus on soil building and land stewardship through regenerative agricultural practices.

For our vegetable customers, this means the 2017 summer CSA will be the last summer CSA. The final winter CSA will run for 8 weeks from November through December, 2017. As well, Whole Circle Farm will end our long-standing tenure at The Stop’s Farmers’ Market at Wychwood Barns at the end of November, 2017. Valued customers, it is an understatement to say we will miss you dearly – your dedication and gratitude has given us a sense of purpose all these years. In our absence, please continue to support local farms and ecological agriculture in any way you can – sign up for a CSA, buy from local producers at farmers’ markets, volunteer on farms, and consider supporting the invaluable work of organizations such as the EFAO, NFU and Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security. Every effort makes a difference.

Finally, please know, this decision was not taken lightly. It was an extraordinarily difficult choice but one that in the end feels like the right path to take. Though deeply sad about the end of a great chapter in the life of Whole Circle Farm, Maggie and Johann feel a sense of relief and hope as they turn the page to continue writing their story together on the land.

Maggie and Johann are very open to talking about their decision and, welcome your support in any way you choose to express it.

WHAT CAN I EXPECT IN MY WINTER SHARE?

Early winter tends to provide fresh veggies from the field (depending on the timing of the first frosts) like kale and Swiss chard. Through the winter, your share will be filled with veggies from our root cellar (carrots, beets, potatoes, parsnips, garlic, onions, cabbage, winter squash, turnips, radishes, celeriac, kohlrabi, and more).

SIZE OPTIONS

*online prices slightly higher

*NEW for the Winter 2017 Season*

Add on Bonus Points for the Final Pick-up!

Add an extra chunk of points to your final pick-up on Dec 23rd.

Get extra goodies for your holiday meals and stock up on storage veggies for the rest of the winter!

Click here for more information about our CSA!

This sounds great! How do I Sign-up?

1) Sign-up online!
(This option is available until the first day of the CSA.)

2) Print off the Winter Registration Form and deliver / mail / e-mail to us at:
8786 Wellington Rd 50, Acton, ON L7J 2L9
wholecirclefarmcsa at gmail dot com  

3) Come into our 24/7 farm store, fill out the registration form! 

A fast and delicious meal!

8 medium tomatoes of your favourite varieties (peeled and seeded if desired, chopped)
4 or more garlic cloves (minced)
3 cups water or vegetable juice
1 tsp honey
2 sprigs of fresh basil (chopped)
Combine tomatoes and garlic in saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes are
soft. Add liquids, bring to boil, and simmer for 5 minutes, and serve.
Enjoy with fresh whole grain bread and cheese or hummus!

Adapted from Animal, Vegetable, Mineral by Barbara Kingsolver
Try these in a school lunch box!
(Makes about two dozen)

Combine in small bowl:
1 egg, beaten
½ cup butter (softened)
¼ to ½ cup brown sugar
1/3 cup honey
1 tbsp. vanilla extract

Combine in large bowl:
2 cups whole wheat or spelt flour
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg

Blend into liquid mixture:
1 cup finely shredded zucchini (or any summer squash)
12 oz chocolate chips (preferably Fairly Traded and organic)

Stir dry and liquid ingredients together. Drop by spoonful onto greased baking sheet, and
flatten with the back of a spoon. Bake at 350°, 10 to 15 minutes. Let sit for a couple
of minutes before transferring to cooling rack. Enjoy!

Thanks to CSA member Susan for this delicious recipe!

4 small long eggplants

1garlic clove, crushed

1 Tbsp. freshly chopped parsley

½ cup bread crumbs (toasted – optional)

3 Tbsp. olive oil

Freshly ground black pepper

6 oz. buffalo mozzarella, or goat cheese, in 2-inch slices

1 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil leaves

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.    2. Cut the eggplants in half lengthwise.  Score the flesh deeply, but do not cut the skin.  Arrange in a shallow pan, skin side down.  3.  Mix together the garlic, parsley, bread crumbs and half the olive oil.  Season with pepper to taste, and press the mixture into the scored eggplants.  4. Drizzle with the rest of the oil and bake in the oven until golden.  Remove from the oven, arrange the cheese slices on top, and return to the oven for another 5 minutes or until the cheese has melted/softened. 5. To serve, scatter with the basil. OR Prepare as above but bake the eggplants on the Barbeque.  Place prepared eggplants directly on the grill for about 15-20 minutes.  Add the mozzarella/goat cheese and after about 5 minutes remove and enjoy!

To find the inspiration you’re looking for, click on Categories and choose Bountiful Cooking, or type your ingredient of choice (e.g., turnips) into the website’s search engine at the top of the page.

And if you have a favourite recipe, please share it with us too!

Happy cooking!

Rebecca’s Southern Style Tomato Pie

4-6 large tomatoes

1 onion, finely sliced

½ cup basil, chopped

½ cup mayonnaise

1 ¼ cup extra old cheddar cheese, grated (or any of your favourite cheeses)

One pie crust (I adapted The Joy of Cooking’s “Flaky Pastry Dough” with Spelt flour):

2 1/2 -2 3/4 cups spelt flour

1 tsp salt

3/4 cup butter

1/3 cup plus 1Tbsp ice water

Cut the butter into the dry ingredients by chopping vigorously with two knives. When the mixture is dry and powdery, add ice water, and mix together, and form two balls. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes. Sprinkle spelt flour on clean surface and on rolling pin, and roll dough with rolling pin. Fit into pie pan. Use any extra dough to form cut-outs for decoration, or save for another pie.

Peel and slice tomatoes. Place in a colander with a sprinkle of salt so juice can drain.

Pre-bake pastry crust for 10 minutes in 350 oven.

Combine mayonnaise and cheese.

Place a layer of basil, a layer of onions, and a layer of tomatoes in the pie crust. Top with half the cheese mixture. Repeat layers and top with remaining cheese mixture. Decorate with a few basil leaves and any pastry cutouts as desired. Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes. Allow to sit for about 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

I also made a great cheese-free version with only tomatoes, onions and basil. Let us know if you try this recipe with any other alternatives – nuts? tahini? eggs?

Ingredients:

2 cups seasonal root vegetables [beets, carrots, turnips, summer squash (okay, it’s not a root veggie, but it’s still delicious) and whatever veggies you love, grated or chopped in Food Processor]

3 to 4 cloves of fresh garlic or ½ cup garlic scapes

1 cup pumpkin seeds

Olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

1 cup quinoa, cooked

1 egg (or 1 tsp ground flax seed in 1 Tbs water) – optional

1 tsp ground cumin

Salt to taste

How to prepare:

Stir fry the veggies, garlic and pumpkin seeds in a bit of olive oil (or other favourite oil).

Blend mixture together in Food Processor. Pour into large mixing bowl. Add chopped onion, quinoa, and cumin and other seasonings. Add egg or flax seed mixture to help burgers hold together better.

Shape into patties and bake on a greased cooking sheet at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with your favourite dried herbs. Enjoy!

2 large cucumbers, peeled and chopped

1-2 ripe bananas (preferably Fair Trade)

2 cups of raspberries, strawberries, or other summer fruit

About ½ cup of cold water (or try milk or almond milk), to achieve desired consistency

Combine chopped cucumbers and banana in blender or food processor. Add liquid and blend. Add raspberries. Blend till smooth. Chill before serving. Decorate with a few slices of cucumber or a handful of raspberries. Enjoy in a glass with a straw, or as an alternative to ice cream.

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 dozen garlic scapes, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
3-4 scallions or onions, chopped
3 large russet potatoes, unpeeled and cut into 1/2–inch pieces
5 cups vegetable stock
3 large handfuls baby spinach leaves
juice of ½ a lemon
kosher salt and black pepper to taste
¼ cup light cream (optional)

1. Heat olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat, then add the scapes and sauté for 2 minutes.  Add the garlic and scallions and sauté for 1 additional minute.

2. Add the potatoes and stock, bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked through.

3. Remove from heat, add the spinach and puree using a hand blender. (A regular blender works too – Just make sure to process the soup in small batches, and hold the lid firmly in place, so the hot liquid doesn’t come squirting out and burn you.)

4. Season soup with lemon juice, salt and pepper.

5. Stir in the cream (if using).

6. Pour into bowls and serve!