A new stall at Strathcona Farmers Market

We've been at the Old Strathcona Farmers Market for about 4 years now. We started the first few months being shuffled around a bit and eventually found a permanent home along the wall on the East side of the market next to August Organics. It was a standard 8' stall and served us well for a few years. However, I was sure starting to find it cramped in there. Our products somewhat limited because we just didn't have the shelf space. Over a year ago, I applied for a corner stall. These corners are highly sought after and almost never become available. A couple weeks ago, the market manager Stephanie let me know that there was a corner available and would I be interested in being considered for it?

Our old spot on the east wall

The new corner spot...under construction

It would seem like an easy decision, but one thing I've noticed is how customers are used to seeing things in their particular place. I was a little worried that once we moved, there would be folks who would see our usual stall occupied by someone else and then just assume we've gone from the market altogether. After assurances from the market and talking to several other vendors who offered to help spread the word about our move, I've gone ahead and pulled the trigger. Yesterday morning, before the big storm, I spent several hours moving our fixtures, painting and setting up a new layout on our corner. I still don't have it exactly the way I want it, but I also didn't spend a dime (other than paint). It will be a work in process for awhile until I can figure out an optimal layout.

The plan now that we've moved is first to make sure our customers are aware of the change and then to implement some new products and to maximize the available display space. I hope to add a couple video monitors to be able to show our customers how we farm organically, how the grains are milled and how our farm is progressing.

There is a process to be able to add products to our stall, but they are all related exactly to what we are doing currently so I am not anticipating a problem there. New products will include poultry feed, new pancake mixes (buckwheat, etc.) and perhaps other mixes like cookies and muffins. These products will compliment our existing flour and grains.

So...when you arrive at market this Saturday, we will be at the far North end of aisle #2. Right across from Gull Valley Greenhouses and immediately behind/beside Peas On Earth. This is still the same alley, just at the far end, away from the large doors.

I hope you'll help us spread the word about our products and our new location. We're still a small, growing company and we rely on as much help as we can get from our amazing customers! Thank you.

John Schneider

market mob!

I am so proud of Slow Food Edmonton and the initiative of some determined members. Amanda VanSpronsen came up with a great idea...a market mob! The very first ever Slow Food Edmonton Market Mob was held last Wednesday, June 19th at the SW Edmonton Farmers Market. What a great idea and a remarkably easy way to become more involved with Slow Food here in Edmonton.

The very first Slow Food Edmonton Market Mob gang!

I would like to encourage everyone to get involved with this remarkable organization and help promote slow food across the globe!

pie!

I love pie. I love to eat pie. I don't love to make pie crust. Here is the simplest, easiest and our family's favorite pie crust recipe. It is courtesy of Allrecipes.com and I've been using it for about a year now. You can change it up by adding a little vanilla or cinnamon, or both...or you can just leave it alone and enjoy the taste of Gold Forest Grains fresh milled flour to come through in your baking.

Rhubarb Pie with a spelt crust and crumble topping on a summer's eve

This pie crust recipe lends itself especially to open top type pies...pumpkin, lemon meringue, etc. However, with a crumble topping of flour, butter and sugar it does a remarkable job of pies that need a top like apple, blueberry and the like. 

At busy times of the year when I don't have even 5 minutes to bake a pie we'll buy them from the farmers market...they're never the same and the family complains how bland they are. White, processed flour will definitely be bland.

The best part of this pie crust recipe? You don't even need to dirty a bowl. All of the ingredients are mixed in the pie plate and you're ready to go! 

Explore Local Foods, Local Markets Event

I still miss our pigs...

Myself and Ron Erdmann of Erdmann's Gardens and Greenhouses will be headlining this event on January 16th near Barrhead. This is an event being hosted by Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development and should be very interesting for anyone thinking of starting a farm based, direct sales business. It could also be a great venue if you are a well established marketer to be able to share your experiences and perhaps pick up some tips from others. I know that I am looking forward to learning as much or more than I share. Here is the link to the event

I will be speaking about our experiences in starting our farm business. The information I have learned through experience about small scale farming, marketing, sales and social media. The importance of selling and more importantly what are we actually selling? The answer may surprise you.

One of our early ventures...potatoes

I will also share some of the stories of the trials in my transition back to farming after leaving the large grain operation that my Dad had going. I'll let you know about the livestock we've tried, the crops we've experimented with, the equipment we've gone through. Most of these stories are amusing I can assure you. I will also let you know where we are now and what are our plans for the future of our farm.

I am hopeful that I will be able to give everyone some good ideas on achieving sustainability for your farm and maybe provide some additional ideas for direct marketing your products. 

Here is the google map of Summerdale Hall. I hope to see many of you on January 16th!

Harvest Time 2012

Harvest is always a sort of year end for me. It is always a time to reflect back on the year past and take inventory of what we've accomplished and what is left to do. All of this is of course in between actual harvest activities. The busiest time of year by far. 

The farm is beginning to take shape more and more. Since I've started farming full-time (along with operating the milling business) I have had the chance to spend some time with landscaping and some construction projects, but nothing major. The back deck went from just that to basically a full fledged addition. I've got it about 1/3 finished, but my goal was to simply have a deck and a roof this year and finish the rest next year. 

All in all, the farm has gone from completely rough to marginally functional...hows that for a description? Some of the yard work, gravel and grading have been accomplished and new bins and buildings have been ordered and are on their way. 

The business itself has undergone a transformation too. Once again, there are two families who own and operate Gold Forest Grains. The Schneider's and The Bennett's. Chris and I are partners now in the farm and milling business. It is a tremendous help to have another person involved with a vested interest in the business. Chris is as passionate about organic food and farming as I am and together we are growing Gold Forest steadily and rather quickly.

The Market sales have increased for us and being in the three largest markets in Edmonton has really helped to get the word out about our fresh flour and grain products. Old Strathcona Farmers Market is still our best performing market, we simply love being involved with such a tremendous market. It is professionally managed and the customers are there to purchase food. Unlike other markets in town where entertainment is the focus, as a vendor I appreciate the focus on local food at Strathcona. Our sales at that market are more than all other markets combined weekly. 

The grain harvest is ongoing. We have purchased a new combine and it is being delivered today. It is newer and in better condition than our old L combines...it is an L2 by Allis Chalmers. Not new for sure, but in prime condition for its age and we are looking forward to less mechanics and more harvesting. 

This past summer has been trying from a weather standpoint. The fields around home are still water logged and swathing has been a nightmare. Stuck every 3 minutes. Our flax will simply have to wait until freeze up when we can go into the frozen fields with the straight cut combine. Other crops have been damaged by excessive storms, but it could have been worse. We avoided hail for the most part. Next year will be better...that is always the promise of "next year".

steer processing

Well, we have slaughtered our one and only steer for 2010. Everything went smoothly and the sides of beef are now hanging in the cooler at Cardiff Meats and Sausage. The beef will be cut and wrapped sometime around the 18th of November. I didn't take any footage of the slaughter process. It is something that I may consider in the future, but for me the whole process has a lot to do with respect for the animal and is not something that makes me want to stop to take pictures.

finally harvesting!

The weather over the past week was pretty good up until today. Last weekend it finally became dry enough for us to be able to do some combining. Starting to harvest on Sept. 26th is one of the latest starts we've ever had. Dad tells the story of not turning a wheel until the first of Oct. one year, but I must have been too young to remember. Here you can see us harvesting our certified organic yellow peas. These peas will be used for human consumption...pea soup! or for animal feed. I will have to spend a little effort trying to market them after harvest is over. These are the peas that Pea Butter is made from.

Swather

Here is Gold Forest's swather. At least this is one of the swathers we own. The other is a larger Versatile 18' pull-type swather that I pull with either the 766 or the 3788. This one is the 14' MF swather. Actually it is a piece of crap. It was constantly breaking down on me this fall and I finally had to lift it onto the swather mover to get it off the field. I haven't decided whether to spend more time and money fixing it up or to just cut my losses and move on. Still thinking.

Buckwheat Harvest

I thought I would post another video. This one from the cab of the Allis Chalmers CII combine. Sorry it is a little dark. It lightens up later when I get into the sun more. This gives an idea of what it is like to run the combine up and down the swaths of buckwheat during the harvest procedure. It is a rather slow process. This video was taken on October 7.

When I swathed the buckwheat in late August, it was 5' tall in places and fully green with tons of vegetation. I used a small 14' MF swather and even then the swaths behind the swather were huge. It took over a month for the buckwheat to dry down enough to be able to send it through the combine. The seeds themselves were dry enough, but the stalks of the plant were green and wet which made plugging the combine a real concern. As it was, I still ended up plugging the combine several times per day. Next year, I will wait a while longer before I swath and I will cut the plants a little higher leaving taller stubble.