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HERBAL RESOLUTIONS // These three items may just help you to reach some personal goals for 2019. ✨ Trying to stay better hydrated AND feel more energized? Nettle, when steeped for several hours or overnight, can help overworked adrenals. What are some signs of this? You go to bed tired, wake up tired, need coffee, and can’t relax without alcohol at the end of the day. We love the ritual of preparing Nettle before bed and then drinking cold the next day. For some reason, it’s easier to drink a big glass of Nettle infusion than a big glass of water. ✨ Have you decided to quit smoking cigarettes? Our herbal smoke blend can be used during times of craving, and features herbs that help clear gunk out of your lungs. ✨ Want to add some new flavours into your kitchen this year or try your hand at making bone broth? Our perennial herb broth mix - with lovage, salad burnet, winter savoury and chives, can be added to soups for a little twist on traditional vegetable broth. ✨ Are you working to incorporate more/new herbs into your life this year? Share below!
Taste the botanical rainbow! Not-so-top-secret project in the works with @thesecondwedge brewery. 🌼🍺🌺
Warm winter wishes from our family to all of you. 2018 brought the most incredible human into our lives, and amazed us with just how loving our community is. This year we welcome new challenges - balancing self employment and building our farm into one that can support our family, while raising up this tiny but mighty human. There will be ups and downs, tired tears with real, simple joy. Her innocence reminds us daily why we are choosing this path, and why we must ALL do better at respecting our shared home 🌎. Thanks for joining and supporting us on this adventure.
Scenes from the 2018 FRF AGM. Reflecting on 2018, mapping out 2019. 📝 Not shown in picture: ample coffee, ample tea, breastfeeding breaks, cute baby distraction, cute dog wanting snuggles, beautiful lake view. Did you have a favourite tea/product of ours this year? We’d love if you’d share in the comments below!
Doing our annual tea cupboard clean out, I came across some Blue Vervain herb I had purchased from a reputable organic supplier before we were growing it ourselves. That is the herb on the right side of this picture. On the left side is our own farm grown Blue Vervain from this summer. These would be sold as the exact same product - and without knowing what a herb should or could look like at top quality, a customer (like me, previously) would never know if the quality is sub-par. Here’s some helpful guidelines: does the herb still have colour (green leaves still green)? Does the herb still have aroma? How much stem is there VS leaf? We harvest only the top portion of this plant, skipping the thicker stems at the bottom. How old is the herb? While they shouldn’t go “bad”, they do lose potency over time.
Every year we “go silent” over the holidays for our own two week business planning retreat. How did this year go? What will we grow next season? And where? How much can we pay for farm help? What do we want to change about our operation? Are we happy? What is the meaning of life? 📓📝 So this is officially your one week notice to place an order before we head off to figure out 2019 and beyond! Our store will be open until Wednesday December 12, with all shipments sent by December 14. 📦📬 If you need any assistance deciding what tea or skin care items suit your needs best, just send us a message!
When we fell in love with this property years back, we had a shared vision of THIS being the place we wanted to raise a child. What a surreal moment to take Piper into her forest playground, a place that will teach her so much. One of those moments where the stress and doubt and challenges of choosing this path fade in the background. 🐻🌲
Restocking our Hydrate face serum for tomorrow’s holiday market in Uxbridge: oat oil infused with our lemon balm and lavender... ready for winter skin! These skin products came to be after having bad reactions to store bought stuff and wanting something gentle and simple. Now we just make bigger batches to share with you!
~* Faces of Foggy River *~ Hi, I`m Susan (Sue), My history begins with growing up on a Dairy/Sheep farm, where we all learned and lived the meaning of `land to table` and `food for families`. Reduce-Reuse-Recycle was a way of life long before it became socially popular. The farm was also where my passion for livestock took seed. This beginning was followed by education and careers in Food and Nutrition Sciences, Family and Consumer Studies and Early Childhood Education. Then back to the farm as Manager of a family owned and operated Equestrian Centre. I am now truly thrilled to be able to put my knowledge, experience and energy to use for Foggy River, in any way or task that Phil and Kate send my way. And, more so, to have the opportunity to listen and learn from these two passionate and dedicated environmentarians (my word). The Chamomile, Calendula, Mint and Tulsi Basil patches are some of my favourites. And, oh yes, harvesting Spruce Tips. Tending to the hoop house and the orchard are also in the running… it is so satisfying to be a part of the Heart Nut trees growth, from being knee high in their protective sleeves, to now towering above me in full foliage! And, of course,….the animals…first …every morning, and last every night, year round. I am keen to see what next season brings, and hope for more Chamomile!! Random fact about me: I am also known as `Mom` and `Milly` and most recently `Grams`…or whatever Piper chooses to call me.
~* Faces of Foggy River *~ Hello, I’m Karen. I truly enjoyed my time at FRF this year and can’t wait for spring! Wanting to grow food & herbs has been one of my commitments towards being more self-sufficient and sustainable after completing an international permaculture course in Nepal in 2017. I’m pretty new to vegetable/herb gardening and it’s been amazing to see how certain plants interact as companions with other plants. It’s just a little glimpse of how important these interactions are to maintain healthy ecosystems. My favourite herb to harvest this season was lemon balm, it smells wonderful, and my least favourite was stinging nettle (ouch). My favourite herbal tea is anything with chamomile! Something I was surprised to learn in the tea making process is that the flowers, leaves, stems and roots for some herbs can all be used for different beneficial purposes. Also I learned new words, which I thought were just “Phil” words, such as a dibbler and garbling. They are real words! Random fact about me: I’m retired, after 39 years in Accounting and IT. Now, per my 2 daughters and husband, I’m a “hippie environmentalist”, zero-waste, no single-use plastic, climate change advocate (not perfect, but I try to do what I can). #iamamodernfarmer #womenwhofarm
~* Faces of Foggy River *~ Hi, I’m Chantal and I was blessed to to work at FRF this past summer! I loved being able to play with the soil, and find the deep connection to our Mother Earth, there is seriously nothing better. I've been playing in the dirt since I was a kid, and it progressed from there. I'm so glad it has never stopped. My favourite plant to harvest this season was Calendula, not only the ease of harvest but the scent that carries with you for the rest of the day. Or white pine.. or chamomile.. I really can't decide! My favourite herb to consume is roasted Dandelion root, the flavour is like nothing else! Peppermint tea was also my go-to all summer long. Random fact about me: I love exclamation marks.. clearly!✨ #womenwhofarm #iamamodernfarmer
~*Faces of Foggy River*~ Hello! I'm Samara and have loved tea for many years. Being part of such a lovely, humble organic herb operation has been a heart-warming and mind-expanding experience. My favorite part about working with plants is the basic act of doing what's humanly possible to help them thrive and watch them do most of the incredible work to produce their individual magics 💫 it's also an uplifting way to connect with the seasons in Ontario and to observe the life-cycles of the different plants. My favorite herbs to harvest are root crops and all of the herbs growing wild (Yes, even stinging nettle); adventure guaranteed! My favorite herbs to consume are tulsi, motherwart, and roasted dandelion for taste and effect. I decided to explore growing when I started questioning the practices of conventional farming and decided it was really important (and hard) work to grow and consume plants that support and nourish the earth rather than deplete it. The most surprising and humbling aspect of tea production is the quantity of fresh products that need to be cultivated for the amount of dried product because of just how much it shrinks down. I was also delightfully surprised by my love for garbling the herbs because it turned work into aromatherapy! Random fact about me: my cat is better than yours. #womenwhofarm #iamamodernfarmer

Foggy River Farm South

 

Foggy River Farm North