2014’s summer was certainly memorable; in June we froze, July we boiled and in August we rotted (September has been mercifully average)! Some crops either liked it or coped with it better while some were stunted, affected by the radical shifts in weather. By far the biggest winners of the year were the potatoes and onions, however. And they’re of such great quality that we are putting this message out to alert you. Onions and potatoes will both store all winter, so if you wanted to buy your entire supply for the coming Big Chill, you could certainly do so – and in one trip, to the farm or the market. To submit orders, email to organicfarm@nl.rogers.com, or phone on (709) 895-2884. You can then pick your order up at the farm or the Farmers’ Market.
Potatoes
The potatoes were just fine with the cold June, and while July was much hotter than they need, they dealt with it – while August was reminiscent of the good old Irish weather that they remember so fondly. And now we’re seeing the yield – and what a yield it is. The Organic Farm’s best ever year for potatoes, and three cheers for Peru and solanum tuberosum. If you have never tried fresh, local, organic potatoes you are sorely missing out. Not all potatoes are equal, we can assure you. Potatoes are one of the most aesthetically diverse crops around, and growing this year we have pink, purple, blue and yellow-skinned potatoes – far beyond the monochrome affair at the grocery store. Right now we have lots of fingerling potatoes available along with lots of Russian Blue potatoes. We’re excited about the quality of our potatoes this year, and hope to encourage you to try them.
It’s also important to mention that many organic potato growers across Atlantic Canada suffered from disease and pest-related problems, but due to Newfoundland’s unique environmental conditions, we did not endure the same problems, meaning we did not have to spray our potatoes with anything to save the crop. Therefore they are pristine and totally organic. In fact they flourished, and even in new and very acidic soil.
Potatoes are:
- $7/kg for fingerlings (Pink Fir, Banana)
- $5.50/kg for Russian Blues
- or 3 1kg bags for $25 (mix and match)
Onions
The onions were another to tolerate our extreme Summer. All Summer long we watched them swell and push the boundaries of the ground cover we grow them in, until soon they started to get to such a size that the fabric ripped in some parts. You haven’t seen onions like this in the supermarket. Some are the size of two large store onions combined. Thankfully most are a more manageable size and absolutely pristine, to boot. We grow red, yellow and white onions on the farm, but we have yellow onions in abundance. Mike reckons they are the best onions we’ve ever grown. We grew fava beans on the ground the onions were in last year, and perhaps this accounts for some of their success (legumes fix nitrogen in the soil).
Onions are:
- $6/kg.
