Metchosin Grown and Certified Organic
We love growing delicious vegetables and sharing the abundance.
Our farm stand is open every Tuesday and Saturday all year long. We will be at the Metchosin Market every Sunday starting June 7 from 11am-1pm
On the farm stand this week:
Arugula • Beans • Broccoli • Cilantro • Eggplant • Garlic Scapes • Green Onions • Japanese Turnips • Kale • Kohlrabi • Lettuce • Pac Choi • Peas • Radishes • Salad Greens • Rhubarb • Saanich Organics Vegetable Seeds • Spinach • Strawberries • Tomatoes
The strawberries are starting! The hotter the weather, the better they taste -that's our insider tip for you. We replace our strawberry patch every 3 years for maximum production. This year, instead of turning them under, we left our old strawberry patch for our Family without a Farm program. So we have our main patch, where the strawberries on the stand come from and the patch for the Sea Bluff member families to come for u-picking and family fun. The FWF program is full for this year but its been so much fun that we'll do it again for sure.
A Lesson in Pest Control
June marks the time when aphids start appearing in our cabbage family crops. Aphids are not only unsightly, they can transmit viruses and diseases to plants. The winged adult female aphid lays eggs on the kale plants, and then the soft bodied insects multiply on the plants. This Flower crab spider is waiting for her. The spider is my ally, but she won't be able to keep up with the aphid onslaught. If I used a broad spectrum pesticide, I'd kill her and all the other allies along with the aphids. Instead, I use a very targeted insecticidal salt. The weak salt is enough to desiccate the aphid if it comes in contact. The salt isn't strong enough to bother anything with more chitinous body armour, like most insects. The only catch is that we've got to stay ahead of the infestation and have a regular schedule of application. The crab spider might catch what I miss. Win-win!
The Great E-Scape
'Scape' is the botanical term for these juicy swan-necked spears that are the reproductive part of the garlic plant. As they appear in June, its the signal to stop watering the garlic because the bulbs are ready to start their cloving process. If we don't snap off these scapes, they'll draw the energy out of the bulbs in order to produce seed. We don't need the seed because we plant the cloves to fast track our yield. We can, however, relish these scapes for their culinary uses.
On the Menu at Sea Bluff
Roasted Garlic Scapes
If you love garlic punch, go ahead and blitz these into pestos, salad dressings (green goddess dressing begs for them) and dips. They are so versatile -minced into any recipe that calls for garlic, or cut into coins and tossed into stir fries for texture and flavour. If you like mild and sublime, go for the roasted scapes, pictured here. Just a note - when the scapes are older with double curls, they aren't nice whole roasted. We won't sell them like this but beware of the woody double curled scape!
1 bunch garlic scapes
Olive oil for slathering on the scapes
Salt and Pepper
Toss whole scapes in olive oil. Place in a roasting dish, in a single layer. Roast at 400ºF for 20 minutes, turning once for best effect. Serve as you would asparagus, or cut into a salad, making sure to preserve the interesting shapes.