Our popular Local Flavours Holiday Market returns for three days of food, drink, music, holiday cheer, and great gift ideas in early December!
Wonderful holiday finds, local and ecological!
WHEN Sunday, Dec 4, Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 10-11, from 11am – 2pm all three days!
WHERE 2391 Pepin Ct (in Blackburn Hamlet), at Just Food Community Farm in the Big Red Barn.
Our local artisans have produced a selection of holiday gifts, including crafts, baked goods, ferments, and preserves, as well as fresh food including hot food and drink.
Hosted by farmers of Just Food Community Farm, featuring local ecological products, creative food items, and holiday gifts – honey, bee products, ferments, gourmet condiments, lamb products, baked goods, ready-to-go food, jam and jelly, eco-stuffer items, crafts, hot apple cider, raffle draw and more!
Bring your mugs to fill with warm local apple cider, or fair trade hot chocolate or coffee! HOT FOOD will be available for purchase (e.g. soup, samosa, muffins, etc.). Wrap yourself around a warm doner kebab stuffed with seasoned rice and lamb.
Along with holiday doodads and appurtenances from local craft vendors, our farmers offer fascinating ferments (kimchi!), lamb indulgences, jiggling jams and jellies, honeybee sweets, magical mushrooms, and much, much more!
Great under the tree and shared on the table for your holiday feasts!
Eco Gift Cards
Forêt Capitale Forest, a local non-profit will plan to sell these afforestation gift cards (for the person who has everything, give the gift of increased tree canopy in the Ottawa region) and serve warm apple cider in biodegradable cups (that can be used to plant tree seeds afterward)…
Check out these photos collaged from Summer market days. The farm stand has an amazing diversity:
Leafy greens and diversity salad.
New garlic and onions – some braided!
Yes, tomatoes are out – farmers have them in every colour and size. Heirloom tomatoes. Other nightshades as well – lots of pepper, hot pepper, eggplants, potatoes and even okra.
Gourd family abound – cukes and zukes, and winter squash too!
Japanese squash kabocha at Chi Garden table, simmered or roasted, how about kabocha chai ice cream? This winter squash does not need peeling as the skin is thin and soft.
Bitter melon and luffa: Bitter melon and eggs stirfry is our favourite way to prepare, and this recipe looks good and simple. Luffa or loofah, yes as in the spongy scrubber luffa, is edible and delicious when young, and simple to prepare, as in this and silky luffa recipe with tofu.
Raw honey from Capital Bees! Have 500g and 1 litre jars.
Jam from Nanabush Food Forest – new varieties!
AND – we reuse the glass parts of all jars – honey, jam, ferments, oil, etc. Bring them back to the Chi Garden table where they are gladly accepted.
Capital Bees – certified natually grown raw honey (find them at Chi Garden table)
7 Hues EcoFarm – Ferme aux sept couleurs – Curly Endive (Chicory), Fresh garlic, Pink Celery, Purple Napa Cabbage, Sweet and hot peppers, Beans, Kangua magic melon, Zucchini, Green Onions, Water Spinach, Beets.
Nellai Farms – onions, fresh young celery stalks, bush beans, jalapeño peppers and fragrant genova Basil.
Earth and Heart Organics is on social media! Go ahead and give them a like. They have potatoes, pepper (hot ones too!), and squash ready.
Cadence Ecological Farm has cucamelons (picture below!), cucumber, zucchini, kale, sweet peppers, hot peppers, okra, carrots, beets, and lots of microgreens! The garlic is still drying, but will be available soon!
Nanabushi Food Forests – excellent low-sugar jam from forest-grown fruits and berries (at Chi Garden table).
Chi Garden has specialty veggies and ferments, and mushroom oil. August specialty:
– Heirloom snap beans – Specialty pole beans developed 500 years ago in NE China near Siberia. They are dongbei youdou – snap beans (not stringless French beans) and horticulturally they are common beans – Phaseolus vulgaris var. chinensis Hort. They were developed for their protein-rich (20%!), fleshy, tender, and snappy pods, and need longer cooking – minimum of 10 minutes above 100 Celcius to rid of antinutrients found in all common beans.
– Garlic chive scape (a once-a-year treat) – sweet, tender, wonderful on its own stir-fried, and goes well with any protein.
– Diversity salad with edible flowers. First flush of Japanese squash – kabocha. First harvest of bitter melon!
Starting from July 10th, Just Food Farm Stand 2022 summer outdoors markets will be open weekly on (most) Sundays from 10am – 1pm.
Farm Stand poster 2022 – diverse farmers, diverse products, all ecological, all local.
Fresh and diverse vegetables and herbs. Berries, jams, and jellies. Fermentation (kimchi, hot sauce) and preserves. Maple syrup and maple butter. Raw honey and bee products. Lamb and lamb products. Mushroom products. Seasonal food offerings are made from farm-fresh produce.
Direction: Turn left from Innes bypass onto Innes Road, to Blackburn Hamlet, about 200 meters on the left you will find us set up outside on Innes Road. Across from soccer/baseball fields in Tauvett Park. Google map location.
We open from 10am-1pm on Sundays from July – October 2022*.
due to long weekend schedule, we will not set up on July 31, September 5 and October 10, to allow farmer vendors to take these holidays off.
This weekend was filled with excitement and surprise.
After the Just Food Farm Stand on Sunday, we came home to unexpected guests. When we opened the barn door our dog, Mirissa was running around all excited. We followed her and to our amazement there were twin lambs (males)! It was from a first time mom, Braye. We adore this ewe, she is so friendly and we knew she would be a good mom because her mother is an exceptional one.
After we set up the pen to put the mother and lambs in, we encouraged Braye to walk in the pen with her lambs. Once that was done, I ran into the house and grabbed as many towels as I could to wipe the wet ones down. We were a little concerned for the lambs because that night was going down to -19. We were going to use a heat lamp, but the circuit breaker tripped and would not reset—of course on a Sunday night! So, we did a last rub down, covered them in straw (when they were lying down) and left the barn with our fingers crossed. The first 24 hours for lambs is the most crucial time. They can get cold very quickly and it can be fatal.
Needless to say, I did not have the best sleep. I woke up at 4 am, got dressed, put on the headlamp, and went to the barn. As soon as I opened the door I heard the lambs. Yay! Then …I heard new lamb calls and Mirissa came running to me and jumped up and then quickly ran to another corner of the barn. I went to investigate, and sure enough, twin lambs (male & female)! This time it was Braye’s mother, Alderney. Again, we did the same thing, rubbed down the lambs and covered them with straw. The temperature was -19 and warming up to -8. The electrician arrived that morning to fix our outlets.
All in all, lots of excitement for a while, then the calmness of the barn returning to some form of normal. Last night we slept well knowing that the lambs nursed all day and were completely dry, so everything should be okay. The lambs tend to sleep on each other to stay warm and sometimes they are at their mother’s head or cuddled behind her.
Today, I walked into the barn to see lambs jumping around in their pen and I laughed. Unfortunately, I did not have my camera ready for that, but I did manage to get a couple of cute shots.
Your dilemma… you have purchased and opened too many jars of Nanabush Food Forests low-sugar jam which, due to its low sugar content is nearing the end of its 4-6 week shelf-life in the refrigerator. This may be a ‘make-believe’ dilemma, since the jars of lightly sweetened food forest grown fruit is delicious mixed into yogurt, spread on toast, added to smoothies… but okay, you are feeling like you want to empty the jars and reclaim fridge space. How about a high-fibre sweet treat?
Got you covered! Try this recipe out, which not only uses up remnants of jam, but also leftover whole-grains like oatmeal.
Muffins made from leftover steel cut oats and blueberry, raspberry and red currant jam remnants.
Leftover Jam and Oatmeal Muffins
Consider these a handheld breakfast, as in not too sweet and enough fibre to satiate and ‘stick to your ribs’. To convert to a more ‘cake-like’ form, increase the sugar to 3/4 cup and swap out refined flour for the whole wheat flour.
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups leftover steel cut oats (or any other cooked whole-grain)
2 eggs
3/4 cup oil
1/3 cup sourdough starter discard or yogurt
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 cups einkorn or whole wheat flour
1 1/2 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 – 3/4 cup leftover jam/jelly
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F
Prep muffin pan (use silicon muffin pan if you don’t want to grease tins or use muffin cup papers)
Blend the oatmeal, eggs, oil, yogurt and sugar together.
In a separate bowl, blend flour, baking powder and salt together.
Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing until just blended.
Lightly swirl in the jam.
Add to muffin pan and bake for 20-30 minutes (depending on the muffin size, adjust/reduce baking time accordingly if making mini-muffins, test if unsure, a toothpick should pull out cleanly).
Let cool and enjoy! Great with butter and honey or jam!
Just Food Farm Stand 2022 SPRING markets will be open bi-weekly on Sundays from 11am – 1pm. April – May Market dates are: April 24, May 8, May 22 – Sundays from 11am – 1pm.
More dates to be added for June.
July – October 2022 we will have a weekly market every Sunday on Innes Road outside the farm.
April – May 2022 market days.
Summer markets will open in early July!
Products from Flat Earth Farm, The Chi Garden. Limited products from Capital Bees (raw honey), and Nanabush Food Forests (jam, jellies, hot sauce, etc.)
Where 2391 Pepin Ct. Just Food Community Farm. (in Blackburn Hamlet, off Innes road). Outside market when weather is good. Come inside the barn when raining – Big Red Barn. 2nd floor.
When 11am-1pm, SUNDAY, April 24, May 8, May 22 (more June dates will be added)
Products Lamb products. Maple syrup. Ancient corn chips. Fermentation (kimchi…). Jam, jelly, and preserves. Honey.
All local. Directly from ecological farmers with Just Food Community Farm.
COVID rules apply according to public health mandates.
Our popular holiday market has returned this Holiday Season!
Opens two weekends.
When Saturday and Sunday, Dec 4-5, 11-12, from 11am – 2pm.
Where 2391 Pepin Ct (in Blackburn Hamlet), inside Just Food Community Farm’s Big Red Barn.
About Eight farms will use local ecological ingredients to create food and holiday gifts! Herbal tea, fermented products (kimchi!), lamb products, freshly-made baked goods + food items, jam and jelly, ancient grain and corn chips, honey and bee products, mushroom products, gourmet salt, and much more! COVID rules apply. Please wear a mask while inside and follow public health advisories.
Farm Stand OPENS on Sundays, October 3, 17, 24, 31. November 14 and 28th, from 11am to 1pm.
Christmas market coming soon!
Farmers of Just Food Community Farm are happy to be back and to serve you and your family good, healthy, and nutritious local produce and food! Runs every Sunday during October except for the Thanksgiving weekend. We welcomed new startup farmers joining the farm stand in 2021. Follow us on facebook and instagram – @justfoodfarmstand.
Our popular Sunday farm stand is a community spot, to meet farmers, buy direct from organic veggies, natural honey, yummy preserve such as kimchi, jam and jelly and mushroom oil, lamb cuts, sausage, ancient corn chips, and much more.
WHERE@ Just Food Farm Stand is located inside Just Food Community Farm, 2391 Pepin Ct, in Blackburn Hamlet community. Take Innes bypass, turn onto Innes Road, make an immediate turn into Pepin Ct. We will set up at the corner of Inness and Pepin.
Just Food Farm Stand 2022 SPRING markets will be open bi-weekly on Sundays from 11am – 1pm. April – May Market dates are: April 24, May 8, May 22 – Sundays from 11am – 1pm.
Just Food Farm Stand 