It is October 11, Thanksgiving weekend, and I am writing this newsletter sitting on my mini truck bed at Brickyard beach on Gabriola. It is such a sunny wonderful fall day and I could not stay inside.
Our farm is winding down to fall/winter season. I cleaned up all eggplants, shishito pepper and zucchini plants, and made room for more mustard and lettuce. I moved wool mulch from eggplant and pepper beds to Swiss chard and curly green kale beds, hoping that it will keep soil warm in winter and help the plants grow until early spring. We are picking last remaining cherry tomatoes in the greenhouse, so we can freeze them for winter soup and curry. We are still planting Komatsuna, Mizuna, Shungiku and various lettuces. We hope we can bring them to the market in the fall and winter.
We harvested Gobo, or burdock and brought them to the market for the first time last Saturday. I was not sure if they were ready, but made a snap decision Saturday morning before the market and harvested only 5 bunches. Gobo contains both water soluble and non-soluble fibres and helps maintain good gut environment. Also its skin contains antioxidant, so it is a superfood! Kimpira Gobo is our go-to recipe (photo in our newsletter Vol.104). They can also be used in soup, adding nice earthy flavour. They can be thinly sliced, blanched and added to your salad or tuna sandwiches. I will add them to omelette tomorrow morning and see how it goes. Our gobo will be available at both Gabriola and Nanaimo market this week, so please get some and enjoy this nutritious and flavourful vegetable. Below is a photo of miso soup we cooked with Gobo.
In Japanese traditional calendar, October is called Kan-na-zuki (神無月), which means a month of gods. October is considered a sacred month and people offer their harvest to their local Shinto shrines. Another interesting story of Kan-na-zuki is that it is a month “without gods” because a lot of gods travel to Izumo Oyashiro Shrine, and they are absent from their regular shrines. What they do in Izumo is to discuss and decide peoples’ fate. That includes whether couples to be married or not!
Our market schedule is as follows. Please note that the hours of the Saturday market will be changed:
- Island Roots Farmers’ Market: Beban Park, 2300 Bowen Road, Nanaimo, 3 – 6pm on Wednesday
- AGI Market: AGI Hall, Gabriola, 10am – 1pm on Saturday
For pre-order of our sourdough bread, please click below and fill in the form, or send us an email to sorafarmveggie@gmail.com.
Thank you for reading our newsletter. Have a wonderful fall week!
