Strawberries are what make life taste wonderful. – Anthony T. Hincks

The True Cost of Food – No More Whiners

I don't want to sound like a whiner myself but dealing with some individuals can almost put me over the edge. Does summer bring out the worst in people or just the worst people?

"Three dollars for that!? That's way too expensive. Six dollars a pound!? Are you kidding!?"

And to say this loudly in front of us for what? To shame us? Why? Are we supposed to be blind to the fancy cars they drive and the expensive clothes they're wearing? Dyeing your hair isn't cheap either.

It's amazing. On one hand we have unappreciative people griping about the $6/lb price of our strawberries at our farm store, straight to our face and in front of other customers, and on the other, we have folks calling us gushing with gratitude after buying our berries for $10/lb from a grocery store in Calgary. They are leaving messages on our answering machine after hours just to thank us for making such an amazing product available. Sometimes the contrast between customers can be breathtaking.

If you can't afford something, don't buy it. Who drops by the Rolls Royce dealership just to complain about the prices? They've put in endless hours, engineering, and investment to create a luxurious product and they don't apologize about the price. We've spent 25 years developing our soil and our methods of growing the best strawberry around. We are unapologetically confident that we deserve to be paid well for our investment and expertise.

I used to respond to these complaints by trying to explain the costs of growing a strawberry, but I know better now. Your friends aren't asking for an explanation and your detractors have their fingers in their ears. I've got better things to do than pencil out cost structures for people who aren't worthy of our efforts or product.

Perhaps there are some people reading this who wonder why we continue to talk in these terms, that maybe we're defensive or negative. Those of you who know what we do and why and how we do it, will appreciate our defense of it.
We grow clean food for a price that's fair for everybody involved. Anyone who doesn't agree is going to have to find somewhere else to shop.

As of today, we're officially refusing to serve anybody who complains about our prices. We will no longer be attempting to explain ourselves.

Strawberries are an "all consuming" crop when they start to ripen. Except, the hay was ready at the same time and while James was baling, Martin had to stack the baled hay in the shelter. By the end of the week, everyone was consumed by fatigue.

We're still doing strawberries, but they are coming to an end. The hay is nicely tucked into the shelter, so that's one less job. But that doesn't mean the crush of summer busyness is done.

Broiler chicks arrived on Tuesday, now James has his hands full with those little guys. The new layers have been moved out to pasture where they are happily scratching around and starting to lay their little eggs.

The turkey poults are growing nicely and will soon be moved out to pasture, too.

In order to accommodate all this pastured poultry, the guys have had to find more efficient ways to feed and water them, and to build more pens.

The work on this farm never stops.

The strawberries have been producing gloriously! But, not for much longer.

PLEASE NOTE: We are NO longer doing U-pick!

We'll do the picking for you.

Let us know what you want for berries and when, but do it now. The season is short, and we need to schedule our picking.

Reply to this email or phone: 403-329-9157.

This is a wonderful time of year with all the fresh fruit coming in.

We have cherries, blueberries, and apricots in the store now. If you would like anything in cases, please let us know.

We have many Harvest Haven certified and certified organic products, all of which we have tried and most of them we use regularly.

In each issue of the Happenings, we'll pick a few favorites, give a brief description, and suggest recipes for them, which you'll find in The Recipe Box below.

Organic BC Fruit – As mentioned above, the Organic BC Fruit is coming in. Besides fresh eating, it can be frozen for smoothies, desserts, sauces, or whatever you fancy in the middle of the winter when the season is long past.

Pomona's Pectin – This is an excellent product for making jam and jelly with either fresh or frozen fruits. It is 100% pure citrus pectin, with no additives, preservatives, or sugar. The best thing about this pectin is that you can use little or no sugar, and any kind of sweetener you like. It works and works well!

Sunshine Farms Organic Baby Dill Pickles – These tangy, crunchy dills are perfect sliced onto a hamburger, served on a plate of cold cuts, or finely diced into a potato salad. They make a tasty snack, too.

Linzer Potatoes – These are definitely our farm favourites…especially roasted with a brush of butter and a dash of herbs. They are a superb potato for salad because they have a creamy smooth texture and don't become soggy or mushy when boiled. You'll love them, too.

Harvest Haven Beef Bacon – This salty, flavorful bacon tends to be leaner than pork bacon, so has more substance. It's great served with pancakes or cornbread for breakfast, in a BLT for lunch, or diced into a salad. Just ask Martin; he loves it.

Soleil D'Or Organic Sunflower Oil – This organic cold-pressed sunflower oil is water-steam deodorized, has no chemicals, and is made for high-temperature cooking. It's great in baking and for making mayonnaise.

Please note, all ingredients in our recipes are organic.

Dill Pickle and Bacon Potato Salad

Pipsqueak, the Tiny Cat that has 19 Lives

Growing up on the farm brings you face to face with the realities of life and death.

The Van Popta children have experienced much in their short years on the farm and have realistic attitudes with it all. For example, I went with eight-year old twins, Mathijs and Marseilles to gather eggs from the pasture coup. They knew every hen of the 100 plus, their specific quirks, and their health.

"They don't go too far from the pen, scratching in the dirt for bugs. So, we don't have a fence around them."

"Oh, look at this one! I'm surprised she's still alive. I expect her to die any day. She's so old," Marseilles says matter-of-factly.

After more details about the laying habits of the birds and the various experiences the kids have had gathering eggs, we're off to the barn to see the cats.

"There used to be eight kittens, but now there's only Pipsqueak, the tiniest kitten, left. Rosette had six and Squeaky had four. Two of Rosette's died and then, she abandoned the rest when they were still too young to make it on their own."

"Yes," pipes in Mathijs, who isn't as enthusiastic about kittens and livestock in general as his sisters. "Then, Squeaky adopted Rosette's kittens along with her own. I don't know how she did it."

"Now, there's only Pipsqueak because all the others died and so did Squeaky. We don't know what happened, just everyday we'd find another one dead or disappeared."

Because Pipsqueak was so small and needed more attention, she was allowed to stay at the front door of the house in a box with a comfy bed of rags. A couple of last year's kittens, Stripes and Smokey, visited her daily, grooming her, and seeing that she was okay. It was really cute to see the attention they gave their little friend.

Then, this last survivor started looking sickly, not eating, just lying around, and even throwing up the small portions she managed to consume. The kids still tended her as best they could, not expecting her to survive.

Someone suggested they put the little girl under the Hot House, which is helpful with all kinds of health problems. So, everyday for a few hours, Pipsqueak was taken into the house and placed under the Far Infrared Dome. She loved it and would lay there for hours.

One day, the twins came running to Jeannie. "Someone left the door open and Stripes and Smokey are in the house with Pipsqueak. They must have missed her and were wondering how she was."

It's been interesting to see how these animals have been looking out for each other.

Every morning we all wondered how Pipsqueak was, fully expecting her to have spent her nine lives. But, lo and behold, there she was, still hanging in there.

She was given Hot House treatments for a number of days, until she started to look better. Then, Jeannie gave her a bit of chicken, which she consumed ravenously having not been able to keep anything down for a few days.

Today, Pipsqueak is romping around the yard living past her nine lives. And the kids have had another life and death experience down on the farm.