Fall officially started and now it’s time to change tires!  I used to work for a company with very regimented corporate culture in Ontario where we were expected to arrive at work on time even with 10cm of snow on the ground. Good winter tires were essential for both my literal survival and my work. Luckily, we rarely have snow storm in this part of BC (by the way, while we on Gabriola received significant rainfall last Friday night, some ski resorts in interior BC got their first snowfall!), and if we have more than 2 cm of snow, we call it a snow day and stay home. However, it is better to be on safe side. I changed tires on Yoko’s Subaru on Sunday morning.  Now she can drive safely through Malahat with new winter tires!

Talking about change of the season, sadly our Suyo Cucumber season ended last week.  We enjoyed the sweet and moist cucumbers and were happy to share them with our customers. Thank you for all the positive feedback! I think we improved both in quality and quantity comparing to the last two years, but also we can do better.  I will look into the better way of trellising them in the greenhouse for longer and more productive season next year.

Lettuces transplanted after potato harvest are growing!  

I planted both cold hardy and not-so-hardy varieties to see how they grow. Based on the result, I can decide which variety to plant in late summer and fall next year.  Our goal is to provide salad mix as late in the year as possible so that our community can enjoy fresh, local and nutritious salad longer into cold season.  In the last two years we lost a lot of lettuces not from low temperature but from very wet and dump condition after rainy season started.  I planted these in drier and sunnier part of our garden and hope that they grow into late fall and early winter.

Our rosemary bush is flowering with more flower buds and bees buzzing around.  It is their second flowering this year.   Based on a search on Internet, it can flower multiple times in a year in mild climate and flowers are edible.  I tried and it was slightly sweet and very mild rosemary flavour compared to their leaves.  It may be well added to green salad.  It may not be summer anymore but we are grateful we still have lots of vegetables available in our garden.

Have you heard about the story of US$60 loaf of rye bread being sold by a bakery in Soho, New York?  Austrian bakery opened their store a few weeks ago in New York.  They sell only one type of sourdough rye bread (it is 3.3lbs, about twice as big as our rye bread) with imported organic rye flour from Austria, and whole loaf cost you US$60.  You can also buy half or quarter loaf and some open sandwiches if you do not want to spend that much.  It is controversial, but they say they sell out everyday since bakery opened.  Some critics stated that bread should be humble.  That statement does not sit well with me because while bread should be accessible to as many people as possible, baker needs to make their life as well, and maybe $60 is the price they need to charge in order to cover all the overhead, wage and still make some profit, so they can continue their venture.  Whether people agree or not, I think this story is a very good opportunity for us to think about how our food is made and distributed, which is a real essential for humans (you can live without iPhone, but you cannot live without food…).  

Our 100% rye boule is made of BC grown organic rye flour, salt and water only, with 3 stage fermentation for 21 hours. It is very tasty and cost-effective. Please try one and see it for yourself.  

Our market schedule is as follows:

• Island Roots Farmers’ Market: Beban Park, 2300 Bowen Road, Nanaimo, 3 – 6pm on Wednesday
• AGI Market: AGI Hall, Gabriola, 10am – 2pm on Saturday

Thank you for reading our newsletter. Have a wonderful fall week!