Earth Apple Organic Farm

Earth Apple Organic Farm Certified organic vegetable farm that specializes in seed and culinary garlic and herbs. No apples! Based at Glen Valley Organic Farm Co-op.

Nutritious, hearty root veggies to energize your mind and body and feed your soul.

06/08/2026

GARLIC SCAPE SEASON 🌱🧄

Another scape harvest is almost in the books!

A couple of weeks ago we finished the Turbans and Purple Glazers. Today our crew tackled the Porcelains, Marbled Purple Stripes, and Creoles. Next up: the Standard Purple Stripes.

We grow more than 30 varieties of garlic, and for most of our hardneck and semi-hardneck types, removing the scape is an important step toward growing large, healthy bulbs. The scape is the flower stalk, and if left on too long, the plant keeps pouring energy into making a flower instead of swelling the bulb underground.

One tip we always share: snap, don't pull.

Yes, pulling gives you a longer scape (and more delicious garlicky goodness), but it can also leave an open channel down into the plant where water, debris, and disease can collect. Snapping helps protect the bulb while still redirecting that energy where we want it.

And speaking of delicious...

We've been putting scapes in everything lately: scrambled eggs, stir-fries, burritos, loaded yam fries, pizza, and even Salade Niçoise (swap the beans for cooked scapes and thank us later).

Want to save some for winter? Pickled scapes are a classic, but garlic scape salt and scape powder are absolute treasures when January rolls around.

Today's harvest filled TWO full pallets headed for the cooler. Some are destined for the CSA, some for local chefs, some for the farmers markets in a couple of weeks, and if you'd like some straight from the farm, we've got screaming deals available right now!

06/08/2026

Welcome to another episode of "Things People Don't Picture When They Dream About Farming."

Today's feature: washing crates.

Not planting. Not harvesting. Not frolicking through fields while birds sing.

Just me, pressure washing dirt, dust, and last season's memories off a mountain of harvest crates.

Now, we do have a rinse conveyor that handles most of the cleaning. But some crates arrive with a little extra "character" and need the deluxe treatment. That's where I come in with the pressure washer.

Could they go through the conveyor and be good enough? Probably.

Do I like things really clean? Absolutely.

Some people find pressure washing oddly satisfying. I am apparently some people.

It's one of those jobs that somehow takes longer than you'd think, but every harvest starts with clean bins.

Today was the big garlic scape harvest, and these crates were ready for action. 🧄

06/04/2026

🌱 CSA Harvest: Day 2

The alarm went off early again, and before most people had poured their first coffee, I was out in the romaine patch.

There's something satisfying about harvesting lettuce first thing in the morning. The leaves are cool, crisp, and standing at attention.

Once the lettuce was tucked safely into the cooler, it was time to harvest and bunch 136 bunches of Mojito mint. Every handful released another burst of that limey-mint fragrance, and before long I found myself thinking about mint tea, mint jelly, smoothies, salads, chocolate mint ice cream, and cold bubbly drinks on hot summer days.

A little more harvesting in the afternoon for the online store: lacinato kale, anise hyssop, peppermint, chives, sage, and oregano.

Harvesting is only half the labour. I spent a good chunk of the afternoon at the wash station cleaning what farmers affectionately refer to as "lettuce bums" and prepping other items for the packing the following day.

And while these garlic scapes were technically harvested yesterday, they finally got their photo taken today with the right lighting. 🧄📸

Two days of harvesting in the books for the CSA.

Now to create a fresh sheet for next week!

06/02/2026

A tale of two pollinators. 🌹🐝

The bumblebee arrives looking like she slept through her alarm, flew through a pillow factory, and somehow got covered in pollen from head to toe.

The honey bee arrives with a clear objective, a work ethic that would impress any farm manager, and a colony counting on her to bring home the groceries.

Both are incredible pollinators, but they do the job differently.

🐝 Bumblebees are larger, fuzzier, and tend to carry more pollen on their bodies. They can often transfer more pollen with each visit and are able to forage in cooler temperatures and lower light conditions.

🍯 Honey bees are smaller but work as part of massive colonies. While each individual bee may carry less pollen, their numbers can make them pollination powerhouses.

Fun fact: Bumblebees can "buzz pollinate" certain crops by vibrating flowers to shake loose pollen—a trick honey bees can't perform.

Fortunately for us, there's room in the garden for both.

Which worker would you hire?

06/02/2026

Today's harvest schedule:

☀️ 6:00 a.m. — Harvesting and cleaning up red butterhead lettuce

🌿 10:00 a.m. — Kale harvest and bunching

🚜 Afternoon — The endless list of farm chores that somehow multiply while you're busy harvesting

🧄 4:00–6:30 p.m. — Garlic scapes with Mike

🔥 6:31 p.m. — Daydreaming about BBQ garlic scapes

The day started after sunrise with beautiful red butterhead lettuce. Lettuce likes to be harvested while the morning is still cool, but with enough light to see what you're doing. Each head gets a little cleanup in the field before heading to the wash station. Harvesting early also helps minimize the flow of the milky sap (sometimes called lettuce latex) that can contribute bitterness if the plants get stressed by heat later in the day.

By 10:00 a.m., it was time to move on to kale. Once the sun starts warming things up, the race is on. Harvest, bunch, and get those greens off the field as quickly as possible, into fresh water and then into the cooler. Keeping greens cold and hydrated is one of the keys to maintaining quality, flavour, and that fresh-picked crunch.

The afternoon disappeared into all the little jobs that keep a farm running—moving supplies, field work, irrigation checks, tidying up harvest areas, and tackling the ever-growing to-do list that comes with the season.

Then Mike joined me for the evening garlic scape harvest. We snapped scapes until 6:30, filling bins as the evening light settled over the farm and our thoughts turned increasingly toward dinner. If you've never had garlic scapes on the BBQ, you're missing out. 🧄🔥

Tomorrow is Day 2 of harvesting for the CSA.

Stay tuned! 🌱

We have had a rabbit explosion on the farm this year. Lexi is always keen on helping keep rodent and rabbit populations ...
05/24/2026

We have had a rabbit explosion on the farm this year.
Lexi is always keen on helping keep rodent and rabbit populations in check.
Love her to bits.
?

05/24/2026

Between the planting, weeding, harvesting, fixing and endless to-do lists, the chamomile keeps teaching the same lesson: slow down.

05/23/2026

Eggplants and peppers require a lot of attention, but I didn't expect to be sharing the workload with the local wildlife. 👩‍🌾🫑

We are at the peak of a 5-6 year rabbit population cycle, and they made themselves right at home in the greenhouse over the long weekend. I even caught the prime suspect trying to look innocent under the tractor. 🚜🐇

Between them, the slugs, and the flea beetles, it was a full-on battle. They managed to clear out over 100 of my newly planted eggplants. Luckily, I had grown extra backups, so the empty holes in the landscape fabric are officially filled again.

As for the peppers? The rabbits actually started my early pruning work for me by nipping the tops off, even if they got a bit greedy and ate some extra leaves they shouldn't have. I usually pinch the tops with my fingers anyway to force the plants to branch out at this stage. I think my hands do a slightly cleaner job than their teeth, though. 🤏

Everything is officially tucked in under row covers now. It will keep the bunnies out, protect the young plants from flea beetles, and let the greenhouse do its job of keeping these heat-lovers warm and dry. 🌡️

There is a warmth in some kitchens that just makes you want to drop your keys, lean against the counter, and stay a whil...
05/22/2026

There is a warmth in some kitchens that just makes you want to drop your keys, lean against the counter, and stay a while.

Stepping into Le Meadow's Pantry always feels that way. Tucked into the back of an old church, the air yesterday was thick, sweet, and spiked with the sharp heat of ginger. Small children were laughing and playing in the daycare next door, their voices drifting over the sound of bubbling, steaming copper pots.

There was Geneviève, her French accent lilting over the ambient noise, her arms moving in steady, rhythmic circles as she stirred the bright fruit. The whole kitchen was full of smiles—busy and productive, yet completely open. I walked in with my arms piled high with long, heavy stalks of ruby-red rhubarb, feeling less like a delivery driver and more like part of a beautiful, quiet cycle.

I am so grateful for makers like her. Geneviève doesn't buy her berries, stone fruits, or rhubarb from massive wholesale distributors; she buys them straight from local farms. She cares about the dirt it grew in, the hands that pulled it, and the community it feeds.

If you’ve ever tasted her jams, now you know a little bit of the heartbeat, the laughter, and the care that gets stirred into every single jar.

Le Meadow's Pantry

05/16/2026

Spring is one of the busiest and most exciting times of year on the farm.

Over the past few weeks, we've planted nearly all of our main crops: potatoes, shallots, squash, lettuces, radicchio, kale, broccoli, parsley, cilantro, and dill.

We turned in our winter cover crop, which we left growing as long as possible to return valuable organic matter to the soil. In the field where we’ll plant garlic this fall, we’ve seeded a diverse summer cover crop of buckwheat, oats, peas, vetch, and phacelia to continue building fertility and supporting pollinators.

Our garlic, planted last fall, just received a double dose of liquid fertilizer as it enters the final stretch toward bulb development. The earliest varieties should be ready by late June, with the main harvest following in July.

In between all the field work, I’ve been harvesting asparagus, rhubarb, and fresh herbs, while squeezing in a bit of weeding whenever possible.

Spring began with atmospheric rivers, shifted quickly to hot and dry weather, and now we’re back to a welcome mix of sunshine and rain. Thankfully, most of the crops are in the ground and growing.

It’s a lot of work, but this is the season where months of planning begin to come to life.

Address

8550 Bradner Road
Abbotsford, BC
V4X2H5

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