Pot of Gold?

...or something even better?

Local Food Month

September has officially been declared Local Food Month in the City and County of Peterborough.  As producers and eaters of locally grown food, we think it's a perfect thing to celebrate!

We'll be supporting and promoting Local Food Month in a couple of ways.  Stay tuned for more information!

First off, as a kick-off on Sunday, August 30 to set the stage for Local Food Month, we'll be taking part in our township's first Farms, Fields and Food Tour.   There's a variety of stops with many things to see and do all featuring ties to our rural community.  With a number of great options including celebrating David Fife's contribution to wheat and advancements in Canadian agriculture to eating fresh picked corn, we think it's going to be a great day!.

Here at Dorisdale, since it is corn season after all, you can join us for a taste of fresh cooked corn on the cob as part of our Corn Roast.  On the food theme, thanks to support from Kawartha Dairy, we'll also be scooping amazing Kawartha Dairy ice cream cones to help support local 4-H clubs in our township. Come by for a snack!

We'll also have a craft table where everyone is welcome to make a traditional corn husk dolls.  There are a few more surprises in store too including a sensory table (filled with corn kernels of course!) for kids to dig and drive through.  People are also welcome to meet some of our pure-bred Simmental beef cattle herd too.  We have a new calf named Clover who has to be bottle-fed (it's a long story) and she'd love to meet you all!

We hope you're able to take the opportunity to explore the Farms, Fields and Food of Otonabee-South Monaghan Township on Sunday.  We'd love to see you!

Corny Kids...and Family

It's time for another corn blog update.  We're having a great summer and have so enjoyed catching up with regulars and meeting many new corn lovers at the Dorisdale Farm table.

Each year seems more and more like the corn stand is a family adventure.  Pete has remained as chief corn picker and QA manager. His years of experience have given him speed in the patch that none of the rest of us can quite match. Carolyn has stepped in as "assistant picker" after a year of R&R due to back surgery (things are great now!) and does corn table duty when the kids are away.  We admit to being all about being a family farm (or might child labour be another definition?).  Claire, Maggie and Liam have  all spent some time picking and along with Ella, do their shifts at the corn table, picking veggies, harvesting/cleaning garlic and making change.   They'be been managers especially on days when Mom and Dad have to go to their "day jobs".  It's been great to hear some corn customers state their disappointment in fact when it's Pete or Carolyn who are manning the table.  It seems that the kids are quite popular!

One comment we hear consistently is how much the kids have grown - right before the eyes of everyone in Mathers Corner.  It's hard to believe that Claire will soon by 17, can now drive on her own and is starting her last year of high school.   Maggie, who just turned 14 is excited to start high school and is almost as tall as Mom.  Liam starts Gr 6 in just 2 weeks, and although he can't wait for hockey season to start, has decided "busking" at the corn table with his violin/fiddle between corn sales is something he can add.  Ella just turned 9 (hard to believe) and loves to chat to everyone who stops in.  She was quite excited on the weekend when she was told she looks exactly like Grandma Bernadette, who sadly passed away before any of this generation of Doris' were born.

Corn supply continues to be great - it really has been an amazing corn season.  This weekend is a prime time for a get-together with friends so be sure to give us a call and place your corn order.  Also this weekend we'll be taking part in the first annual Otonabee South Monaghan Township Farms, Fields and Food Tour.  More to come on that later!

We really should add a picture - but will have to wait until we're all in one place at once!
Looking forward to seeing you at the corn table!  Don't forget to like "Dorisdale Farm" on Facebook and follow @Dorisdalefarm on Twitter for all the latest corn news!

Corn Addiction

We admit it.  We eat a lot of corn at Dorisdale....twice a day for sure and it's been known as a breakfast food too (got to taste test new varieties before selling).  We even freeze it and make relish and salsa to last all year long.  That might classify us as having a corn addiction.

I love that bloggers and foodies have created #cornweek and #cornmonth.  We've been enjoying corn biscuits, corn chowder and soup, corn salads, boiled corn, grilled corn, corn on the cob - yes we may have a problem! So many recipes and so much deliciousness.

We just had this delicious Smoky Corn Chowder we just enjoyed is here - bacon, garlic, corn, onions, potato and broccoli (I also threw in some garden fresh green beans). Yum!

Check out http://www.chatelaine.com/recipe/brunch/corn-tomato-and-basil-omelette/ and http://abbylangernutrition.com/ for more examples.  I'll share more recipe ideas that have Doris family approval.

I must admit though, we've never struggled with not having enough time to eat from the cob.  Not sure I could handle the mess, but why not give this a try...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZobqUJvb9A  Let us know if it works for you :)  With kids and husband, we already pick up a lot of corn kernels after every meal!

Stop by Dorisdale for your sweet corn fix this weekend! We have both white and bi-colour on the table.

Note - the kernels on a Dorisdale cob are much more tender and juicy than on this one!

The Battle Continues......

Come and Get It!

We've had a busy few days with corn selling as fast as we can pick it!  It may be because of the summer heat, the Civic Holiday weekend, Food Day Canada or something else (the amazing home grown, fresh picked corn!), we've been happy to see so many customers!

It's great to hear that people are waiting anxiously for our signs to go up roadside.  It's also amazing to hear the stories from our regular customers and neighbours.  We had  someone yesterday mention they've been buying corn for over 30 years and another who noted this was his 28th summer of Dorisdale Farm Sweet Corn!  We certainly appreciate our loyal following and the commitment to both eating and buying local.

We're back at it today with white corn, a favourite of ours called "Edelweiss" that just makes you hum songs from The Sound of Music!!  Pete has just returned from the field with a bi-colour variety that we're quite pleased with called "Allure".  We must be alluring!

Here's a couple of pictures of the kids hard at work yesterday.  

 Claire was at the Keene Farmers Market.

Liam Maggie and Ella worked the table here at Dorisdale Farm.

Hope to see you at the corn table at Dorisdale Farm.  Have a fabulous, safe and corn filled weekend!  Be sure to visit today and make Food Day Canada a celebration with our locally grown, sweet corn as part of a meal today!

We're Back

After allowing the corn a "siesta" in the heat over the last 2 days, we're back in full swing today!  Pete has picked three different varieties of bi-colour today: Navajo, Trinity, and a new to us variety called Sweetness.
He's off to the day job so can't guarantee the "staff" will be able to tell which is which, but from our taste-test at supper last night, all are delicious!  But then again, nothing tastes better than fresh picked, locally grown food this time of year.

We're also cleaning our fresh picked garlic, so be sure to pick up a head or two while it lasts!  And green beans and peas have also just been fresh picked to.

See you at the table!

This is just in!

Good morning corn lovers! There is something exciting happening here this morning at the Dorisdale Farm, and we think that it is the Stalk of the town. We officially have our first corn of the season! It is hard to
be-leaf that we are already at this time of the summer, but with August  just around the corner we are very excited for our favourite season full of our favourite food!

Today we have a bicolour variety, called Trinity, so drop by to pick some up to finish off a great weekend! This is a sneak peek, as we will likely not be selling any corn on Monday or Tuesday, but hope to be selling steadily by later this week!

Our Saturday....

Hot day for garlic picking!  Kids were very glad for a dip or 2 in the pool!  Now onto cleaning garlic in time for corn season to begin!

Tassels everywhere!

What an incredible view we have from the top of the ridge, by the old Port Hope Railway this summer.

Driving by our farm on County Road 2 heading west, if you look to the right just before Hiawatha Line, you can get a small sense of the number of varieties of corn we're growing this year.  It's like a patchwork quilt of colours with each sweet corn variety having a different shade right now of tassels and corn silk...and stalks of varying heights thanks to Mother Nature.  Come on heat that corn loves so much!

(From the corn field, looking south towards County Road 2.)

Keep posted - we're hoping to announce the news of opening for corn, garlic and veggie sales very shortly!

And don't forget to like Dorisdale Farm on Facebook for regular updates..

Knee high around the 1st of July....

Both my Dad, Arnold, and Pete's Dad, Gerald, had tons of sayings related to farming.  Dad was just telling me this spring that his father always said when the poplar tree buds were the size of a mouse's ear, it was time to plant grain.  That was one I hadn't heard before.

The other saying that we hear this time of year is that good corn is "knee high by the 1st of July". Crop reporting this morning by Pete shares the good news that our first sweet corn of 2015 is tasseling. That means we could have sweet corn on the table in about 3 weeks...crossing fingers...and if the weather warms up a bit.  That would mean Dorisdale Corn by the August Civic Holiday.

Our garlic is looking good this year too.  We were just through the patch again this morning for another round of scaping the stragglers!  We have a couple of get-togethers this weekend - hope everyone likes garlic scape pasta salad!

the weeds in the garden are doing exceptionally well too :)  They seem to love heat, cold, dry and wet weather!

Looking forward to seeing you all soon!