Pak Choy health benefilts

A vegetable that is low in calories. However, it is a very rich source of many vital phylo-nutrients, vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants.

Pak choi is a very good source of vitamin K about 38% of RDA levels, which in return makes your bones stronger, healthier and delays osteoporosis.

Pak choi is also an excellent form of brain food and great for weight loss.

Here are some facts about spinach- did you know that is one of the top 10 healthy vegetables that you can eat. It also is a rich source of many vitamins like A, B, C, E and K. Spinach is also rich in many essential minerals like manganese, magnesium, iron, calcium and potassium. Additionally it is known to be a good source of Omega 3 fatty acids, niacin and selenium.

It can be eaten in many different ways, but to enjoy its maximum nutritional value, it should be consumed fresh (can be in juice form), steamed, or quickly boiled.

Also freezes well!

Our garden is coming along at the pace we are pleased with. All our planting is completed, except for the dill, radishes and head lettuce which we keep on seeding and planting until mid July. The weeds are also doing well, but they will not be looking as good once the dirt dries up. We will be going in with about 6 people cleaning the unwanted out of the garden. For the CSA members (community shared agriculture) some produce should be ready real soon. Depending on weather again, but it does look great! We are very excited for the 2011 growing season, and we hope you all feel the same way. What you see in the picture above is our mild flavored garlic. Can't wait to use it again!

We-James & Joyce are proud owners of J & J Gardens, located 3 miles west of Altona along the 201 and 1- 1/2 south. We have been in business for 20 years growing and selling freshly daily picked unfertilized veggies. When we heard about the community supported agriculture, we decided that this would work well for us and we were ready for a change. We knew we had the experience, and were well known and loved to serve the public, so we thought why not try it, a change can bring more excitement. This personal touch with the customer is what we love.
When becoming a CSA member you recieve the personal connection with the grower and also get educated on how the product was naturally grown together with what the grower all goes through to bring it to the point of delivery to the customer. And lets not forget the vast variety of in season fresh daily picked naturally grown vegetables delivered weekly.
If you have any questions we would love to connect with you. Email us @ jj-gardens@hotmail.com or call 204-324-6306.

A CSA program is a partnership between farmers and their customers. As a CSA member, you are supporting the farm through your subscription purchase and the farm in return provides you with the freshest, most nutritious vegetables possible. As a subscription member, you can develop a meaningful relationship with the farm and actually know how your food is being grown. The picture above displays the taking out of the old and getting ready for the new in the 2011 early growing season.

Join our J & J Community Gardens team today. Experience the personal in touch relationship. You have the priviledge of supporting your local farmers, and in return keeping your food dollars in you local economy, thus in return strengthening you local economy.

The personal contact you experience with the farmer gives you the opportunity to ask questions about the practises the farmer uses.

Local food travels shorter distances, with less need of the plastic wraps and crates the food needs when it is being tranported long distances.

Subscription prices for 2011: $34/week
Payment Schedule:
Deposit - $100
June 1st - $148
July 1st - $148
August 1st - $148
For convenience, you can issue one cheque for the entire amount, or you can provide post dated cheques with your deposit if you prefer.

What we do ask of you is that everyone ensures their payments are made in a timely manner.

Timespan: We estimate our season to be between 14-16 weeks, starting somewhere in mid to end of June until the end of Sept. Our goal is to aim for the full 16 weeks, but it is dependent on seasons weather.

2011 Subscription Prices
Our aim is to fill the baskets with a $34 weekly value. The first baskets will however have fewer vegetables, but as time goes on you will tend to have more. Over all, you will get more than your value out of it.

Our aim is to save you time, and provide you with fresh produce for your daily needs.

**We distribute the CSA produce weekly, baskets can be picked up at assigned locations. **Weather can not be controlled, it is unknown. If there is crop failure we will do our best to substitute veggies of equal value. **If you feel at any time that you are getting to large of a portion, share with another friend.**We will try to provide a good variety of veggies to meet everyone's choices. This is to promote in learning to work with what you have. **Please understand we do not offer substitutions or smaller quantity special orders. We do offer the option of also making special orders of larger quantities of specific veggies for freezing or canning.

If you are interested in our CSA, please contact us as soon as possible. We try to plan how much of each crop to plant as early as possible. We can only accept a few last minute customers in late spring so letting us know really helps!

Community Shared Agriculture!

The 2011 year is upon us, and together it brings new ideas. We this year are promoting the Community Shared Agriculture also known as CSA. This is where customers in advance order weekly prepared baskets. These baskets are filled with produce in season. Some weeks you will have more then other weeks. They consist of a variety of items which are ready at the present time. It is like having your own garden and yet not taking care of it. Anyone interested please contact us at 1-204-6306.

Wow, would these sweet tasting strawberries not hit the spot right now?

The plants look good so far, but we have only peeked underneath the straw covering to check the exsisting plants. Time will only tell, but oh well we can still dream.

Dreams are sometimes closer then we realize.

Spring of 2011 is upon us! Wow where has the year gone. We are very excited for this season. A new year bring new ideas! The ground is slowly warming up, we are seeing our fresh garlic poking out of the ground as I speak. The onions and tomato plants are also showing their faces in the greenhouse. The aroma from these two vegetables together with a few flowers blooming sure puts our mind into action. Come back tomorrow for a sneak preview on what our May-Sept season could look like.