sosnicki organics

Well, we've got a new addition to our busy schedule!  The new 'Bay & Adelaide Farmer's Market' put on by Evergreen ( Go to Evergreen! ) and will run each Thursday from 11:00am until 2:00pm.  We'll sell until 1:30pm, as we've got to hike it over to the Dufferin Grove Organic Market ( Go to Dufferin Grove Park! ) to set up and sell from 2:30pm until 7:00pm.  The Bay & Adelaide space really did need some 'greening' up and the business folk who look down at us from their office towers seem very interested in what is going on! Not only can you find our fresh produce at this market but the best honey, Merchants of Green Coffee, Monforte Dairy, Chocosol, Bruno and his mushrooms, excellent food from Brian Burk Wine Bar, Jamie Kennedy Fries, all vegan and raw foods from Hearty Catering and the list goes on. Grab a coffee, or an ice coffee, lemonaide, gourmet lunch, cheeses, fresh bread, fresh organic produce all during your lunch hour! Your air condi...

As folks continue to ask, I'll explain again: Our heirloom tomatoes are grown in our old cold frame greenhouses.  We are able to plant them in early April and can harvest a good month before our field tomatoes start.  I hesitate to call them 'greenhouse' as our tomatoes are grown in field soil and compost - not synthetic soil.  We do not heat or 'light' the houses. We essentially use these houses to protect from overhead moisture and early frost and are able to squeak out the fruit early without being an energy using pig.  A lot of work goes into this process.  All by hand, as tractors do not fit in these houses, so cultivating is by small rototillers and hand hoes.  The suckering and twining of the plants is a timely process as the plants continue to grow, thrive and throw suckers.  The flavour is amazing because they are grown in the best soil! The varieties are all about TASTE, and it's just a great thing that folks have decided that these toma...

Time to blog on route! I have no time to sit at a computer but always have farm stories and updates to share! Mobile blogging and mobile facebooking will be our way to communicate from now on for the majority of posts. It is busy time and today was just beautiful to harvest in the cool showers after all the heat we've had! Beets, the first bunches of Sweet Spanish Onions, huge bunches of Kale, sweet Peas in a Pod, Heirloom Tomatoes & fresh Basil plants are some of the crops heading to Toronto this weekend! Next week: Cucumbers, Green Beans & fresh dug Potatoes! We've started a new Thursday market: The Bay & Adelaide Farmers' Market right downtown among the skyscrapers. This market is operated by Evergreen and managed by the sweetest lady Marina, the Argentinian 'empanada' maker most know and love from various markets. 11:00am - 2:00pm every Thursday. I have hopes of pulling all those business folk down and out of the office towers for the lunch hour wh...

Well, freakishly we've got enough rain we have not had to irrigate at all!  So much for the 'hot n' dry' theory -so far.  Pipes laid and connected, then disconnected and moved around so we could cultivate.  Each and every time the damn dames with their suits, hair & lipstick come on in front of a green screen on the weather network and start in with 'tornado warnings' and show pictures and video of 'hail' in neighboring county's with a sort of gleam in their eyes (like their job all of a sudden got exciting) make me obviously stressed and want to slap them sideways.  The majority of the time they are very, very wrong and don't know much unless it's pissing on their heads and for this forecast I can get myself on my iPhone via a nifty radar!! Despite the stupidity of some suits, this summer so far is great for the crops!  We've used an approved pesticide called 'Entrust' to finally help out with the Colorado Potato Beetle th...

There is just something special and irreplaceable between daddies and daughters! Especially so if your dad is a farmer.  There is something very nurtur ing about seeding, caring for and harvesting crops that makes these types of dads some of the world's best.  "Down to Earth" perhaps?  Though I didn't bother asking dad for money when I was young, (as I got the longest speech about the current price of corn and beans or his famous line: "You've got two hands and a brain - go make some yourself!") he would pull a few surprises and give me $50 before a school trip or when I didn't ask...  He made me work hard, taught me all about integrity and respect.  I listened to my dad (until I was about 15), then he backed off as I got older and let me grow and learn about life for myself.  There were times and are still times to this day when I don't often talk to him....but I know that I can call him anytime (on his cell, as he's likely to be in the fiel...

Our strawberry patch is nestled in between a beautiful crop of our spelt wheat.  Snakes, mice & our cats are having a lot of fun out there! Our first pick was Tuesday, June 8th this year.  The crop is bountiful! We have two varieties, an early and later variety.  Generally early berries are not super sweet, so don't worry if your first savor of the year doesn't prove to be the 'sweetest'.  With heat that June should throw, berries sweeten up later on in the month.  Ben and I have our berries picked into our white 3 litre baskets, then we grade them into the green quarts you see at market. (Quality control you see!)  We've bought our own boxes/flats this year to re-use and re-use again! They then head into our cold storage the day before market to stay 'cold' before the trip to the city!  We've ordered 20,000 more plants for this year, so another patch will go in (**another new variety we want to try for 2011!) as generally when a patch reaches tw...

*****Coming soon!**** Our Heirloom Tomatoes!  Grown in our own field soil and compost in our 'covered fields' - the taste is exceptional! Protected from winds, excessive overhead moisture, extra warmth - no matter what mother nature does to me this year I WILL HAVE HEIRLOOM TOMATOES!!! ; )  Over 80 varieties to choose from and let me tell you A LOT of work went into this project! Suckering and running these beauties on twine is an ongoing task - but a labour of love - perfect job for early mornings, late evenings and rainy days!!