Haltons own Busy Liz has been hard at work and has been kind enough to supply the Fresh Food Box with enough of her Rhubarb for all of our large boxes (All 293 of them) for Oakville this coming Tuesday. We always try and source from as close to home as possible and you couldn’t get much closer than Busy Liz and her farm shop located at 8405 Guelph Line Campbellville, L0P1B0.

Busy Liz Opening Times:

We are a seasonal farm shop, open from

mid-May 2016 to 24th December 2016.

(However, please note:  Busy Liz’s Farm Shop is

CLOSED from 1st to 14th November 2016)

Hours of Opening:

May, June and July:

Monday                                CLOSED

Tuesday                               CLOSED

Wednesday                          CLOSED

Thursday                              12 noon to 6pm

Friday:                                  12 noon to 6pm

Saturday:                              10am to 6pm

Sunday:                                10am to 6pm

August and September:               

Monday to Wednesday         CLOSED

Thursday / Friday:                12 noon to 6pm

Saturday & Sunday:             10am to 6pm

October, November and December:

Monday to Friday:               10am to 6pm

Saturday & Sunday:            10am to late

In Your Oakville Box this week:

In your $10 bag we have included:  Ontario Apples, Bananas, Peaches, Ontario Green Leaf Lettuce, Ontario Tomatoes, Ontario Kale, Ontario Zucchini, Ontario Radishes, Ontario Sweet Potato, Ontario English Cucumber, Ontario Asparagus,  and Ontario Spinach

In your $15 Box we have many of the same items in greater quantity  with additional items: Ontario Apples, Bananas, Peaches, Ontario Green Leaf Lettuce, Ontario Tomatoes, Ontario Kale, Ontario Zucchini, Ontario Radishes, Ontario Sweet Potato, Ontario English Cucumber, Ontario Asparagus and Ontario Spinach as well as Ontario Peppers

In your $20 Box we have many of the same items in greater quantity with additional items: Ontario Apples, Bananas, Peaches, Ontario Green Leaf Lettuce, Ontario Tomatoes, Ontario Kale, Ontario Zucchini, Ontario Radishes, Ontario Sweet Potato, Ontario English Cucumber, Ontario Asparagus, Ontario Peppers and Ontario Spinach as well as Ontario Rhubarb and Ontario Swiss Chard

Rhubarb Crisp

Rhubarb is extremely versatile in a crisp and can taste amazing with both strawberries (Nothing can beat) as well as the apples from your Fresh Food Box. You can also dice up the rhubarb and freeze it as rhubarb easily keeps its taste and isn’t overly affected by freezing.

1/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
3 cups sliced fresh rhubarb or frozen rhubarb, thawed
2 cups sliced peeled apples or sliced strawberries
1 cup quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. In a large bowl, combine sugar and cornstarch. Add rhubarb and apples or strawberries; toss to coat. Spoon into an 8-in. square baking dish.
2. In a small bowl, combine the oats, brown sugar, butter, flour and cinnamon until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over fruit. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until bubbly and fruit is tender. 

Photo credit: Mermaid’s Aquarium of Life via Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA

Burlington and Halton Hills May Box Quality

It was a tough month of May with Ontario produce not quite ready and imports starting to wain in quality due to time of year and impacts of weather. Our Burlington and Halton Hills box packing were not up to our usual levels of quality and we will be including an extra item in the June box for both cities to make it up to our valued customers. We always do our best to source the highest quality of ingredients and we are extremely sorry if any of our boxes went out that didn’t live up to our normal standards.

Ontario Grown!

Ontario vegetables have come roaring to the Food Box even sooner than we hoped. Our vegetables for our Milton box day will be 100% Ontario and our hope is that by July we can follow along with some early season Ontario fruit and skip imports altogether. We are eager to work with as many Halton farmers as possible and any recommendations or calls about ultra local growers would be greatly appreciated.

Your Milton Box for June 7th:

In your $10 bag we have included: Ontario Apples, Peaches, Bananas, Ontario Jumbo Radish,, Ontario Sweet Potato, Ontario Tomatoes, Ontario Orange Peppers, Ontario Asparagus, Ontario English Cucumber, Ontario Eggplant, Mango, Ontario Carrots and Ontario Spinach

In your $15 Box we have many of the same items in greater quantity  with additional items: Ontario Apples, Mango, Peaches, Bananas, Ontario Sweet Potato, Ontario Tomatoes, Ontario Jumbo Radish, Ontario Peppers, Ontario Asparagus, Ontario English Cucumber, Ontario Carrots, Ontario Spinach, Ontario Eggplant, and  Ontario Green Lettuce

In your $20 Box we have many of the same items in greater quantity with additional items: Ontario Apples, Mango, Peaches, Bananas, Ontario Sweet Potato, Ontario Tomatoes, Ontario Jumbo Radish, Ontario Peppers, Ontario Asparagus, Ontario English Cucumber, Ontario Carrots, Ontario Spinach, Ontario Eggplant, Ontario Green Lettuce as well as Ontario Mushrooms and Kiwi

Ontario Radish and Spinach Salad

1/4 cup  olive oil
1 tbsp lime juice
2 tsp mustard
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp  dill
6 cups torn spinach leaves
1/2 cup  sliced radishes
1/2 cup shredded cheese
1 carrot, thinly sliced 

salt and pepper to taste

Asparagus farmers have had a terrible start to the season with several days nearing or hitting the frost point. Once a frost hits any asparagus above ground becomes completely unusable and sets farms back several days and shortens the already brief growing season. The cold weather has also seen an increase in import pricing with many greens above even the highest of winter prices. This time of year sees winter storage vegetables depleted which causes prices across the board to raise. With Ontario greenhouse romaine coming up in the next few weeks and weather warming up this will hopefully be a brief blip in an exciting growing season.

Despite the price increases we have managed to put together a fantastic box for our Burlington packing:

In your $10 bag we have included: Ontario Apples, Clementines, Bananas, Zucchini, Spinach, Ontario Tomatoes, Ontario Orange Peppers, Corn, Ontario English Cucumber, Ontario Eggplant, Mango, Ontario Carrots and Broccoli

In your $15 Box we have many of the same items in greater quantity  with additional items: Ontario Apples, Clementines, Bananas, Zucchini, Spinach, Ontario Tomatoes, Ontario Orange Peppers, Corn, Ontario English Cucumber, Ontario Carrots, Broccoli, Ontario Eggplant, Mango and  Ontario Buttercup Squash

In your $20 Box we have many of the same items in greater quantity with additional items: Ontario Apples, Clementines, Bananas, Zucchini, Spinach, Ontario Tomatoes, Ontario Orange Peppers, Corn, Ontario English Cucumber, Ontario Carrots, Broccoli, Ontario Buttercup Squash, Mango, Ontario Eggplant  as well as Swiss Chard and Celery

Sauteed Swiss Chard

• 1 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 yellow onion
• 1 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 pinch dry crushed red pepper
• 1 bunch of swiss chard, stems trimmed, leaves cut into 1/2-inch-wide pieces
• ¹⁄₂ lemon, juice of
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Melt butter and oil in a pan over medium heat
2. Sauté onion until browned and add garlic and red pepper cooking for an additional minute
3. Add swiss chard
4. Cover and cook until tender (stirring occasionally) about 8 minutes.
5. Squeeze juice from lemon onto chard
6. Season to taste with salt and pepper

Photo credit: Chris and Jenni via Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND

The Spring growing season is just beginning to take shape as Ontario asparagus starts to show up on a select few shelves this week. The orders needed for the Halton Fresh Food Box this week are a bit too high and the first of the season prices just a bit out of reach to bring asparagus to the Oakville box. If all continues to go well with the weather this week we can expect to see Ontario asparagus in the Halton Fresh Food Box as soon as the 17th in Burlington.

Some other delicious Ontario crops that will be on the horizon are rhubarb, garlic scapes, radishes and heading towards June you’ll start to see Ontario strawberries in your local grocery stores. Unfortunately for us the nature of our delivery and packing means we won’t be able to see any Ontario berries in the Fresh Food Box as they are too sensitive to be put in with all of our bulkier fruits and vegetables.

In your $10 bag we have included: Ontario Apples, Clementines, Bananas, Zucchini, Spinach, Ontario Tomatoes, Ontario Orange Peppers, Ontario , Ontario Sweet Potato, Avocado, Ontario English Cucumber, Ontario Eggplant, Mango, Ontario Carrots and Broccoli

In your $15 Box we have many of the same items in greater quantity  with additional items: Ontario Apples, Oranges, Bananas, Zuchini, Celery, Spinach, Ontario Tomatoes, Ontario Orange Peppers, Ontario Potatoes, Avocado, Ontario English Cucumber, Ontario Carrots, Broccoli, Ontario Eggplant, Mango and  Ontario Spaghetti Squash

In your $20 Box we have many of the same items in greater quantity with additional items: Ontario Apples, Oranges, Bananas, Zuchini, Spinach, Ontario Tomatoes, Ontario Orange Peppers, Ontario Potatoes, Avocado, Ontario English Cucumber, Ontario Carrots, Broccoli Ontario Spaghetti Squash, Mango, Ontario Eggplant  as well as Swiss Chard and Celery

Ontario Ratatouille

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons dried parsley
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 eggplant, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 zucchini, sliced
• 1 large onion, sliced into rings
• 2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1 orange bell pepper, sliced
• 2 large tomatoes, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Coat bottom and sides of a medium sized oven safe dish with 1 tablespoon olive oil.
2. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir garlic until lightly browned. Mix in parsley, thyme and eggplant. Continue cooking and stirring for 10-12 minutes until the eggplant is soft.
3. Place a layer of each vegetable in the dish sprinkling Parmesan  between each layer.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes.

   
   

   Photo credit: linniekin via Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA

A big thank you to everyone that shared our post requesting extra volunteers for our Oakville packing day this past week. We had our biggest order ever and still managed to finish ahead of our normal ending time. We couldn’t do any of what we do without the amazing help of our volunteers and it can’t be said enough times. Thank you!

With the summer coming up we have some great opportunities for students looking to get their volunteer hours or get more involved in the community. If you’re a parent looking for some great programs to get your kids involved in we always have a need at our packing days and could use a lot of help for our box washing days. Feel free to email manager@haltonfreshfoodbox.com for more information.

Your Burlington Box for April 19th:

In your $10 bag we have included: Ontario Apples, Oranges, Ontario Romaine, Ontario Tomatoes, Ontario Orange Peppers, Ontario Eggplant Ontario Red Beets, Ontario Sweet Potato, Kiwi, Ontario English Cucumber, Bananas, Ontario Carrots and Broccoli

In your $15 Box we have many of the same items in greater quantity  with additional items: Ontario Apples, Oranges, Ontario Romaine, Ontario Eggplant, Ontario Tomatoes, Ontario Orange Peppers, Ontario Red Beets, Ontario Sweet Potato, Kiwi, Ontario English Cucumber, Bananas, Ontario Carrots, Broccoli as well as Celery and Ontario Squash

In your $20 Box we have many of the same items in greater quantity with additional items: Ontario Apples, Oranges, Ontario Romaine, Ontario Eggplant, Ontario Tomatoes, Ontario Orange Peppers, Red Beets, Ontario Sweet Potato, Kiwi, Ontario English Cucumber, Bananas, Ontario Carrots, Broccoli, Celery, Ontario Squash as well as Zucchini and  Swiss Chard

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

• 3 bell peppers
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 Tablespoon fresh basil
• 3 tablespoons olive oil

• 2 cups half-and-half milk
• 1/4 cup grated Parmasean cheese
• 4 tablespoons butter
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat broiler. Coat the red peppers with olive oil. Grill peppers under the broiler until the skin is blackened, and the flesh has softened slightly. Use a paper bag to cool the peppers for 30-40 minutes.
2. Remove the seeds and skin from the peppers and cut peppers into small pieces.
3. In a pan, cook and stir the garlic, basil, and red peppers in 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat and cook for 10-12 minutes.
4. Blend Mixture and return puree to skillet, and reheat to a boil. Stir in the half-and-half and the Parmasean cheese; cook and stir until the cheese melts. Add the butter, and stir until melted. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 
5. Serve with pasta, quinoa, grilled chicken or desired dish.

Photo credit: easycooking via Foter.com / CC BY