Purple Ridge Farm

Happy Friday! Tuesday will be the first day of fall. The summer, such as it was, just flew by. It was an interesting growing season. The daylight hours are already shrinking. To be perfectly honest, I am good with that.
We have now moved into the fall mode here at Purple Ridge. Lots of beautiful carrots left to go to new homes, a few beets, potatoes and Zucchini. We will take orders for the amount requested and have your produce ready at a prearranged time.
What do I do now that we have slowed down? I have made some pickles and have a few more yet to make. My family have requested beet pickles. I have been remiss in the beet pickle making for the last few years. I hate the mess. My kitchen always looks like a massacre of epic proportions has taken place. Dill pickles, bread and butter pickles done so next is the beets.
There is always a lot of yard work to do in anticipation of snow and cold weather. House work that has been neglected over the summer will have to to get done. Window washing? All in all it is just as busy in the fall as in the spring and summer!
As always, I will leave you with a few pictures of my walk in the field.

Good morning and happy last day of August. The summer truly is over once September hits. Our one and only employee, our grandson, is off to university. His first year so such an exciting time for him. We definitely are missing him!

I have to confess that spring is my favourite season but fall is a close second. Shorter days and cooler nights. It signals that it is time to gather the summer and preserve it for winter! Freezing, canning, jamming.

For everyone waiting for the fall raspberries to start producing this is always a crystal ball time. Predicting the rate of ripening is just not possible. For that I apologize. I am more anxious than anyone to have fall raspberry production. Right now we are just waiting.

What we do have available: carrots, beets-red & golden, potatoes and zucchini. At this time of year we will take orders for the root vegetables and arrange a time for you to pick them up. By appointment and cash only. Until the raspberries ripen we have no Upick options available. I leave you with a few pictures from yesterday.

Good morning! August 15 already. The summer is flying by. The week of rain was great but like all the weather this growing season it was just too much of a good thing. Cold weather and snow (May 16), then excessive heat and no rain, now excessive rain. It will take a couple of warm sunny days to dry up. I am not going to book any appointments until after I see how everything looks tomorrow. Unless there is a zombie apocalypse we should have available for u-pick this week: raspberries, beans- green & yellow, beets-red & yellow, carrots, swiss chard, zucchini, potatoes-red & fingerling. I will leave you with a few pictures. Mud, raspberries and flowers! The poppies are spectacular.😎

Another hot, sunny summer day. A bit too hot for me. But it is summer. Right? Raspberry picking is in full swing. A fairly good crop. A reminder regarding raspberry picking - closed toed shoes, long pants and long sleeves. Raspberries have thorns! Also raspberries are usually buzzing with bees. So not great for small children. We have lots of shelling peas, beans-green and yellow, beets - red and yellow, swiss chard, zucchini, and carrots at some point this week. I will leave you, as always, with some pictures. To remind us of the beauty of food and the amazing display of simple flowers. I start my day in the garden and end it with a tour. Vegetable gardens and flowers have the ability to leave us with a smile on our faces and a bit lighter heart.

Another beautiful sunny Sunday almost over. I must confess to taking a few days off from w**ding for some family and friends time. Visiting with old friends from high school, time with my daughters, and a bbq! A mini vacation really. We are still waiting on the peas and beans. Close. I estimate that by the end of the week we will have both ready to pick. Red and fingerling potatoes will be available too. Baby beets? Maybe. Spinach and swiss chard? Yes. Carrots in about 2 weeks. Raspberries still look on track for the beginning of August. I will update on Wednesday evening. Leaving you with a few pictures.

Happy Thursday. Another beautiful but hot sunny day. Everything seems to be enjoying the heat. Except maybe me! We have been busy trying to get everything ready and looking good for when we open. Just a housekeeping comment. We are by appointment and cash only. Appointments allow us to make sure that what you want to pick is going to be available when you come. Now for the few pictures of the way things are shaping up for us. Fingers crossed for no tornadoes, hail or swarms of locusts. Will update on Sunday as to what may be ready next week. Enjoy the day.😎

Happy Canada Day🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦It looks like a thunderstorm is brewing here. Thunder and dark skies. Everything is starting to say, “ok, enough rain”! For right now anyway. Will leave you with the pictures of our yard and my poppy experiment. The big poppies are starting to bloom! The flower bed needs some sunshine! Enjoy the day.

What a beautiful day! I would whine about the wind but it is keeping the mosquitoes away. When the wind isn’t blowing gale force my days are spent w**ding the garden. For those that wonder about w**d control in the garden it is either mechanical or me. Rototillers, hoes and on my hands and knees. This time of year we spend every waking hour mowing, w**ding and just generally trying to get everything in ship shape condition to welcome friends. Old and new. Some years are harder than others to keep up with maintenance. Weather is always the wild card in any agricultural endeavour. This year it has decided that the saskatoons will have no berries. It seems that the cold temperatures and hurricane force winds at blossom time was just too much. No blossoms, no berries. Everything else seems to be doing ok. I will send along a picture of Marvin and Magnus staking the peas and my flowers that are in bloom, a w**ded row of beans and a non w**ded row, along with the stakes up and ready for strings for the peas. We have to net the garden as the deer and the rabbits really enjoy vegetables. Who knew! For anyone looking at the rhubarb recipes that pop up on FB pages we have lots of rhubarb. Waiting for wherever your culinary imagination takes you. Message me and I will have it ready for pick up. We don’t anticipate anything else being ready until mid July. But the weather will dictate that as well.

Happy May 27. Another strange day weather wise. Warm @24 but the air seems heavy. The spring has been just like today. Strange. Saskatoons are just starting to bloom. 2 weeks later than normal. Germination of vegetable seeds has been slow. Raspberries seem to be on track for a normal season but still too early to tell. I took some pictures on Sunday just to give everyone an idea of what the season looks like so far. Rhubarb is ready to go to new homes. So far it seems happy with spring 2026. If you’d like rhubarb you can msg me, we can arrange a time for you to pick it up and I’ll have it ready. Rhubarb, technically a vegetable, originated in China and was considered a spring tonic in the past. High in fibre and good source of vitamins and minerals. So many recipes using rhubarb are available. Stewed, or in pies, scones, muffins, chutney. The list is endless. The first taste of spring on the prairies!

Happy May 13! We made it through the winter. Spring has been interesting but I’m hopeful that we will have a little more warmth and some much needed moisture. It did seem that we had a lot of snow in April but it is still very dry.
We have been working on the yard cleanup. The great stick pick up and mulching. Old trees and wind keep us busy. Magnus has done a great job and the yard is looking great. We have also started our planting. Potatoes are in the ground. Marvin is working on the seed bed for the rest of the vegetables. Saskatoons are starting to leaf out and I’m looking forward to seeing the blossoms. As usual, the raspberry cane clear out has also started. Not my favourite job. I am starting with the 2 worst rows and cannot confirm that I will get much farther. Rhubarb is looking happy. We should have lots available in about 10 days.
I will try and keep everyone updated on the progress of our season. I am looking forward to seeing everyone and hope that the winter has been kind to you.
Enjoy the long weekend. It looks like it will be the typical May long with some rain, some snow and some cloud.

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