U-Pick

 

Prairie Garden's Crop Report 

READY TODAY: U-Dig Potatoes - Zucchini & Summer Squash [Relish Recipe] - - U-Pick Peas - Green Beans   

Here's What's In Season Now:

 The Great Prairie Corn Maze and Lost Lemon Mine are now open.

U-Pick Saskatoons are available at Coronado U-Pick Saskatoon Farm - 780.999.2304 which is 5 km from us.  

U-Pick Strawberries are in season from mid July to Aug 6.  The season is now over.

U-Pick Strawberries in July at Prairie Gardens

Come to visit us in July to pick your own sweet sundrenched Alberta strawberries on our farm near Bon Accord, 25 km north of Edmonton on 97st. (HWY28).  Our Alberta Strawberry Season runs July 15th - August 7th  We're Open: 10 – 6 daily.  Please call before you come. 780.921.2272 The Price is $18 / 4L  (Ice Cream Pail).   Please sign up for the Prairie Gardener E-newsletter to be notified when the strawberries are ready for picking!

Never Been to a U-Pick Patch?

Here's how it works!  It takes about three days for a half-ripe berry to turn red.  Usually we have folks out picking on Saturday mornings, which means that ripe berries are ready by Wednesday again.  The best picking days are Saturdays and Wednesdays, if the weather cooperates.  If it rains, it's the next sunny day.  A little hard to plan for, but that's nature for you! The "King" Berries are the first and largest of the season.  Pick-Your-Own starts for them about the 15th of July.  They are the first berry of the berry cluster, and are available for the first week.  "Main-Season" Alberta U-Pick Strawberries in the Edmonton region are ripe for the picking the week of July 22nd.  The berries are sweet, juicy and dripping with sun-ripened flavor. Main season picking runs for about a week to 10 days, until the end of July. The "Fairy" Berries are the sweetest (and the smallest) of the season.  Pick them starting the week of August 1st.  Celebrate the strawberry season with us at our on-farm Fairy Berry Festival the August long weekend.

Our Veggie Gardens: U-Dig New Potatoes are ready now. U-Pick Peas are ready by July 25. The Ice Cream Stoop, Petting Farm and Kids Bale Maze are FREE during May & June.  Group Use Private Campfire Sites are available  ($35 - includes firewood).   Ask about our Birthday Packages for Children! July and August you can dig your own new potatoes.  Banana Potatoes are available late summer- please call ahead to place a bulk order - 780.921.2272 New Red Potatoes - Norland New Potatoes Norland   New White Potatoes - Ptarmigan Fresh Peas - Green Arrow Chef's Favorite: Baby Zucchini and Summer Squash

Summer Squash (In Season July 25-- September) We grow a wide variety of summer squash including green or gold Zucchini, Vegetable Marrow, Scallopini, Lebanese Zucchini, Papaya Pear,  Vegetable Spagetti, and Stripetti.  They can be cooked in a number of ways.  We love to sautee slices of them with butter, garlic, and herbs. You can also stuff them with a mixture of cooked hamburger, rice, and tomatoes.

 

Sweet Corn and Maze Corn (August and September) Look up!  Way up!  Maze corn grows quickly - over 3 meters tall - and is ready to get lost in by the August long weekend.  We grow over 7 acres of maze, with 5 km of trails in it.  Each year, Precision Mazes, from Kansas City, Missouris, creates a brand new GPS design for our Great Prairie Corn Maze, full of twists, turns and surprizes!  Even after the frosts, the maze corn stands tall until the end of October, and becomes part of the fun at the Haunted Pumpkin Festival. Our sweet corn is usually ready to harvest around the last week of August.  We grow six different varieites, from Extra Early Supersweets, to Peaches and Cream.  We sell it by the cob or by the sack.

 

Sweet Corn (In Season August - September) Taber may be famous for it's corn production in Alberta, but fresh sweet corn is absolutely the sweetest when it is fresh picked.  The sugars within the kernals convert to starch very quickly (by 50% every 24 hours).  We grow six different varieties with different maturity dates.  Our corn on the cob will start to be ready the first week of September, and is available until the first killing frost - around mid September.  Please give us a call at 780.921.2272 to order it by the sack for corn roasts or parties.  The long weekend in September we celebrate the harvest with the Prairie Garden's Corn Fest! Come get lost in a huge 7 acre field of corn - The Great Prairie Corn Maze!  We are open until October.

   

Pumpkin Patch Opens in October! We're open every weekday in October for school field trips from 9:00 - 2:30, and every weekend from 11 am-5pm for the Haunted Pumpkin Festival.   We grow our pumpkins in a huge 7 acre field, then hand pick them and bring them indoors into our greenhouse pavilions when the nightime temperatures start to drop below freezing.  Come pick out a pumpkin weekends at our Haunted Pumpkin Fest!   On weekdays, come and choose a pumpkin from our indoor pumpkin patches is between 2:30 and 4:30, when we have staff available to assist you! There is no admission fee for the Haunted Pumpkin Festival during these hours.  On the weekends, admission is refunded if you stay less than 1/2 hour to purchase your pumpkin. We grow all of our own pumpkins in the Edmonton, Alberta countryside, with over 27 different varieties.   The prices range from $1.50 for Jack-Be-Littles, to $25 for Jack O'Lanterns.  Visit the Edmonton Sun newspaper to see a recent photo gallery of Prairie Gardens. Learn more about pumpkin varieties - Patch Primed for Pumpkins Choosing a Pumpkin, Storage and Carving Tips How to Choose a Jack o' Lantern Pumpkins for Jack-o-Lanterns should be clean, free of soft spots, and have a deep rich color. A notable exception to the color rule are the white varieties such as Lumina. White varieties should be perfectly white with little or no variation in color and definitely no green. Pumpkins should have a hard rind and feel heavy for their size. The longest lasting pumpkins will have stems that are intact, dry, and have been cut well away from the pumpkin. Different varieties of pumpkins are grown for different purposes. Selecting a variety grown for carving will give the best results. Be sure to avoid pumpkins that are broken or cracked or have excessive scarring. Properly cured pumpkins are quite tough. Pressing your fingernail to the side of a good pumpkin should leave little or no mark. Those that scar heavily should also be avoided. Despite being exposed to the weather, it is often better to purchase pumpkins from the farmer or farmer's market rather than a supermarket. The reason is these pumpkins have generally spent more time on the vine and have fully "cured" or ripened so that they have greater storage potential and are less prone to rot. Storage - Before you carve: Once you get your pumpkins home you'll want to store them for maximum enjoyment and longevity. Storing in a cool, but not freezing, dry place.  Temperatures below 5ºC will cause chill damage.  Properly selected and stored pumpkins can and often do last from one Halloween to the next! Storage - After you carve: After you've carefully carved your pumpkin into a Jack-o-Lantern there are a number of things you can do to make it last its longest. First, you need to protect the pumpkin from temperature swings and direct sunlight. Keep your pumpkin on a covered porch with good air flow when on display and in a cool dry spot when not. Freezing and high temperatures should be avoided. The second thing you can do is to coat all cuts with a solution of lemon juice and water. This helps create and acidic environment that many molds do not like. Third, You can also coat the cuts with petroleum jelly or even cling wrap to prevent exposure to oxygen. These two can be done together for maximum protection. Fourth, if your pumpkins are small you can dunk them in commercial pumpkin preservatives. This is the most expensive route but if you spent hours carving your jack it might be worth it as you can display your creation longer. Another method is dunk your pumpkin in a brine solution as if you were making pickles.      Directions to the Farm: We are located 25 minutes north of Edmonton on 97 St. (HWY 28).  Go past Bon Accord on HWY 28 - 1 km.  Turn left on Lily Lake Road. Go 2 km (north)  #56311.  You see our signs! Map & Directions