Purple Ridge Farm

08/05/2025

08/05/2025

Good morning. Yesterday I was happy and loving all the flowers, the berries, the vegetables. At 3pm my attitude took a turn for the worse. What a storm! Hail torrential rain. Over 28mm of rain in 30 minutes. It looked like we should be renting paddle boards and kayaks. This morning the sun is once again shining and although I haven’t yet donned my rubber boots and braved the mud, I think that the raspberries, saskatoons and vegetables have survived the storm. I am not certain how long it will take to dry up a bit. Tomorrow? Thursday? Are there more thunderstorms in the forecast? I will post again tomorrow morning. In the meantime here are some before the storm and after the storm pictures. To all of those whose yards were decimated I am so sorry and feel your pain!

08/04/2025

Happy maybe holiday Monday for some! The sun is shining and I hope it keeps doing that all week. The rain on Saturday and Sunday has once again left us with mud in the raspberries. Saskatoons are not as muddy. Of course the moisture has brought out the mosquitoes. May we have some light breezes (not gale force wind) to keep the mosquitoes at bay. Lots of saskatoons and still a good supply of raspberries for picking. Flowers are looking great and the vegetables are doing well. Yellow and green beans, swiss chard, snow peas, spinach, red and yellow beets, as well as 4 varieties of potatoes. We do not have shelling peas available. Pictures to follow! Enjoy the sunshine😎

07/27/2025

Happy soggy Sunday! When we needed rain there was not a drop to be had. Now we need raspberries and saskatoons to be picked and it won’t stop raining. It will take a day or two for the field to dry up enough for picking to begin again. Rubber boots may be the footwear of choice. Remember that if you are coming to pick raspberries that long sleeves, pants and closed toe shoes are the best. Raspberry thorns are not fun. Really for all picking that is the best. Our crops are grown in the field. Gopher holes, rocks are going to be encountered. We do not spray for w**ds or bugs so those are also abundant. Weeds were under control until the rain two weeks ago. Keep in mind that as a small family farm we do have to limit the number of people coming at any one time. Be prepared to slow down. You may have to wait a few minutes for someone to guide you to your picking spot. You may have to wait a few minutes to check out. There are only 3 of us. 2 of us aren’t quite as fast as we used to be. Cash only and appointment only. Enjoy the rain. The moisture is needed.

07/20/2025

Good morning and happy Sunday! So… we wanted moisture?! Enough already. We had hoped to open for saskatoons and raspberry picking tomorrow but Mother Nature had a different plan. We have had over 3.25 inches of rain in the last 6 days (82.55mm). The field is so muddy. The berries are ready to be picked but we can’t get to them without loosing our boots in the mud. We did have a few friends picking on Friday before that horrendous downpour late in the evening. I will post some pictures just to let you know that we are ready and just need at least one sunny day for some drying to occur. Enjoy the day and hope to see everyone soon. By appointment!

07/11/2025

Happy Friday! It is a beautiful day and all is well in our world.
We are anticipating that by July 21 we should have saskatoons. Note the should. Mother Nature is completely in charge. Beets, swiss chard, potatoes and raspberries should be ready by then as well.
We are a small family farm and do everything by appointment. We operate on a cash only basis. I will post prices next week.
Enjoy the weekend😎

06/28/2025

Happy Saturday! Another glorious sunny morning. I am enjoying the sunshine. I have been so happy with all the moisture we have been getting though. Everything is growing, the grass is green and as of this moment I am a happy camper. I still think it will be mid July before the saskatoons will be ready to pick and fingers crossed for peas, potatoes and beans about the same time. Lots of rhubarb ready to go. Just msg me with the approximate amount and a time for pick up and I will have it ready for you. Yesterday was a baking day for me. Rhubarb scones, rhubarb muffins and rhubarb crisp.

06/13/2025

Good morning, again. I forgot to add that the rhubarb is ready and waiting to be made into scones, crumbles, juice, muffins, cakes, salad dressing. Rhubarb is available as an “I pick and you pick up”. Just msg me with an amount and we can arrange a time for pick up.

06/13/2025

Happy Friday! It was wonderful to hear the rain on the roof last night. Not nearly enough here. About 2.5 mm or 1/10 inch. Grass is still crunchy. It is so dry that we are using a hand cultivator rather than the rototiller for between the rows in the garden. Hand w**ding within the row. The hand cultivator is close to 100 years old according to my husband.

05/10/2025

Happy sunny Saturday! What a beautiful morning to be sitting on our deck and savouring the last cup of coffee for the day.
We have been busy this past week. Gardens and potatoes are planted. 🎉Sunflowers and zucchini corral are next. Lots of trimming, mowing, raspberry cane clean out and so much more to do. Then in a couple of weeks there will be much w**ding to be done. I’ll post a few pictures from our week. Enjoy the weekend and fingers crossed for rain.

04/29/2025

Good morning! ‘Tis the season once again. Garden spots are being worked up, planting will commence today. Rain would be wonderful but it is starting out to be a dry season. We are hoping that by planting now we will have enough moisture in the ground for germinating the smaller seeds.
I have updated our housekeeper post as I had normally closed for a lunch hour to help my mom with her lunch. Sadly she passed away on December 19. She was 103 and we were so very lucky to have had so many years with her. When we first started our market garden she used to come and help every summer. Taking phone calls, directing people and making sure that we had meals. She loved picking. Berries or vegetables. We spent many hot afternoons shelling peas and watching The Young and the Restless!
We anticipate having rhubarb by mid May and then starting our regular season sometime around he beginning of July.
Looking forward to seeing everyone and catching up on a year full of happenings.

08/02/2024

Just a few pictures from today. Beets of all sizes. Coloured carrots as well as plain orange. Coloured carrots are great for a novelty but they are not as tasty. They look good with the orange and yellow in pickled carrots. Beans o’plenty. Sweet peas just because. A picture of my nemesis. The red rooted pig w**d. Notice the length of the root. That is why they don’t notice the lack of moisture. Three varieties of potatoes. Raspberries looking, and tasting, amazing. Chokecherries will be ready for picking in about a week or so. Amazing syrup and jelly. Supper last night . A beet salad with feta, saskatoons, pecans and a maple syrup, Dijon dressing. Delicious. Next time with golden beets and raspberries! Fingerling potatoes, tossed in olive oil and Parmesan and done in the air fryer.