Where do we get fresh produce in April?

As we are ever. so. slowly. creeping into spring, I wanted to celebrate the places we have been able to get fresh produce from throughout the winter.

Let's have a look at last week's box contents:

• 1    Bag    Lettuce Mix (NB Spray-Free)
• 3    LB    Apples, Empire (NB)
• 1    Each    Cucumber, English (PEI Organic)
• 2    LB    Potatoes, Red (NB Organic)
• 1    LB    Tomatoes, Beefsteak (PEI Organic)
• 1    Each     Squash, Celebration (NB Organic)
• 2    LB    Carrots, Orange (NB Organic)
• 1    Bunch    Kale (PEI Organic)
• 1    Bulb    Garlic (Argentina Organic)
• 0.25    LB    Ginger (Peru Organic)
• 0.5    LB    Mushrooms, Shimofuri (NS Spray-Free)
• 475    mL    Pickled Beets (NB Spray-Free)
• 1    LB    Tomatoes, Roma (PEI Organic)
• 1    Case    Spinach (NB Organic)
• 1 Bag    Basil or Micro Greens (NB Spray Free)

These produce items came from ten different producers! Here's a little bit about each one:

Sunden Farms ("Sara's Choice" lettuce mix) is located in Lower Coverdale, NB. This spray-free lettuce is grown hydroponically and so (along with Mountain View Produce in Plumweseep, NB) they can supply us throughout the winter! 

Appleman Farms (apples) is located in Gagetown, NB. It is run by the Stirling family, who also own Stirling's Farm Gate Market where we put our boxes together and have our pickups!

Atlantic Grown Organics (tomatoes, cucumbers, kale) aka Schurman Family Farm is a certified organic farm located in Kensington, PEI. 

Strawberry Hill Farm (potatoes, squash, carrots) is a certified organic family farm located in Pembroke, NB. Their organic strawberries are incredible, but they grow so much more than strawberries! They also grow livestock and a lot of our meat comes from them. Along with Nature's Route Farm in Point de Bute, NB, this farm supplies a large amount of our stored winter vegetables. 

Maritime Gourmet (shimofuri mushrooms) is a mushroom producer located in Great Village, NS. We also work with Kingston Creek Organics (formerly Springhill Farms) when their operations are running. They are working on transitioning to 100% solar energy.

Kountry Kettle (pickled beets) is a small-scale family-run producer of preserves from local produce located in Mount Middleton, NB.

Diddley Squash Farm (spinach) is located in Salisbury, NB. In addition to traditional regenerative farming, this certified organic family farm operates greenhouses throughout the winter and is powered by solar energy.

ECW Project: Village- Indoor Farm (basil) is an arm of Easter Charlotte Waterways. Their indoor year-round farm is located in Blacks Harbour, NB.

Mirage Foods in Sussex is the importer we work with to get things such as this week's garlic and ginger which aren't available to us locally at this time of year. 

In the warmer months we are able to work with smaller farms that have less capacity for storing vegetables or using as many season extension mechanisms such as heated greenhouses like the farms above do.