Blog - Thompson Potato Farm - Thompson Potato Farm

Racing Old Man Winter

11/12/2019

I have often wondered why winter is personified as a cranky old man. Today we definitely found out why. Blustery, crusty, cranky weather descended upon us with a vengeance! Just yesterday John was working as fast as he could to wrap up as many fall chores as possible before the snow fell hard. This picture shows him using a soil saver cultivator in light snow. As you can probably surmise from its name, the cultivator plays an essential role in improving our soil. It loosens the ground that has been compacted by heavy equipment, improves water drainage, works up the organic manure and is invaluable in preventing wind erosion over the winter. To find out a little more about our fall field work you can visit “Fall Field Chores.”

And That’s A Wrap

10/22/2019

And just like that it’s a wrap on #Harvest19. Five weeks of long and hard days came to an end last week when we put the last load of potatoes in the storage for the winter. The weather cooperated for the most part, the machine and equipment breakdowns were minimal and as usual everyone here at the farm put a huge effort into the harvest. The potato windrower and potato harvester shown in the photo have been dubbed “The Iron” by RJ. And now we thank The Iron for a job well done, clean them up and set them to rest until next fall. To see a video of these machines in action you can visit “The Potato Windrower” and “The Potato Harvester.”

Ready & Waiting

9/17/2019

Here I am standing in the very back of one of our empty potato bins. This building has three bins that are the same size as the one in the photo. This is one of our two buildings that will store our potatoes over the winter. The walls serve as a divider to keep our different varieties of potatoes separated. The holes in the wall are where we will put large tubes to help control temperature, humidity and air flow. This building will not be empty for long as yesterday was day one of the harvest!

If you’re interested in learning more about how we grow our potatoes you should pop by the farm on October 5th as we are once again participating in the annual East Gwillimbury “Farm To Fork Tour.” I will be at the farm for the entire day explaining how we grow potatoes. We also have many different activities that will be sure to delight people of all ages. More information and tickets are available at http://experienceeg.ca/farm-to-fork/ To have a look at the photos from the tour last year you can visit “Farm To Fork Tour Recap.”

#AgProud

2/12/2019

#AgProud #CndAgDay Today is Canada’s Agriculture Day. A day to share with you what we do all year here at the farm. A day to celebrate the business of Canadian agriculture. A day to post a pic of our favourite Canadian food. Simple right? That’s what I thought… until I started sorting through the thousands of photos I have taken and shared with you over the past few years. It turned into a rather daunting task! So instead of just one photo, I have generated a slideshow that highlights a few special moments at our farm. From a surprise helper in the office to maintaining the potato crop to creating new recipes, I can safely say that celebrating the business of Canadian agriculture is something we do every single day. Not only does this post highlight our love for agriculture, it shares a little bit of who we are. Have a wonderful day! If you are looking for inspiring potato dishes, I recommend you visit “Spud Smarts – About Cooking Potatoes” to get started cooking our favourite Canadian food.

Almost There

10/22/2018

The weather this fall has been less than cooperative for the potato harvest. Every day has had its challenges and last week was no exception. A gorgeous fall day turned winter-like overnight, leaving us to wonder if we will ever finish this harvest. But we keep moving forward and get a little more accomplished every day. The end is in sight and then we will all be able to relax and decompress a tiny bit. There are many videos of our harvest equipment on this website that you can view in the “Video” Category of The Common-Tater. To get you started, here is a link to “The Potato Harvester.”

Plenty of Pumpkins!

9/23/2018

The weather is turning and fall is in the air. The sweet corn is gone until next year but we have filled the space with our new line of fall produce grown by John and Curtis. Their new crops have turned out some really beautiful produce. Stop in to have a look at their orange and white pumpkins, their butternut and pepper squash as well as their decorative corn. We still have local field tomatoes, carrots, onions and of course potatoes for sale as well. I invite you to visit our farm on September 29th with the Farm To Fork Tour. We will have educational information about our farm and growing potatoes, free recipes, activities for the kids, and of course our farm fresh produce for sale. To learn more about the tour and to buy tickets you can visit http://experienceeg.ca/farm-to-fork/ For our location, hours of operation and directions to the farm you can visit ht tp://www.thompsonpotatofarm.com/at-the-door.html

A Rare Occurrence

9/15/2018

This video depicts a very rare occurrence at our farm – an empty potato storage! In order to give you a sense of how big our storages are I have parked the Kubota at the very back of the building. By the end of the harvest this bin will be completely filled with potatoes. This is one of three bins…and we fill two buildings with our crop. I invite you to learn more about our farm by participating in the Farm To Fork Tour on September 29th. We will have educational information about our farm and growing potatoes, free recipes, activities for the kids, and of course our farm fresh produce for sale. To learn more about the tour and to buy tickets you can visit http://experienceeg.ca/farm-to-fork/ To see many pictures of our potato equipment you can visit our Photo Gallery.

Tater Tales Feb 13th: #AgProud

2/13/2018

Today is Canada’s Agriculture Day. A day we can come together to celebrate Canadian agriculture and the food we all love. Through every month of the year we take great pride in providing a quality product to feed Canadians. Each potato dish pictured on the slideshow was developed in our kitchen. You can find all the recipes at “Spud Smarts – About Cooking Potatoes” and in previous installments of “The Common-Tater” in the recipes categories. Bon Appétit!

Tater Tales Nov 30th

11/30/2017

There are always a few farming jobs to wrap up in the late fall. One of them is the harvest of the grain corn that we grow as a rotation crop. RJ and my brother-in-law can (and often do) talk at great length about whether the corn is ready to be harvested. I have to admit that most of the time I have absolutely no idea what they are talking about. Most of their conversations seem to revolve around the moisture content of the corn. All I can tell you is that they wait until the corn is as dry as possible before they truck it to the elevator. Since I have never travelled to the grain elevator, I believe I have more questions than answers for you today. Perhaps I will delve deeper into the grain corn mysteries over the winter! In the meantime, you can visit “Farewell Winter Wheat” to see photos of the very impressive combine at work.

Tater Tales Nov 22nd: The Call of the Wild

11/22/2017

This video is a very common sight when we are working the land in the fall. I have no idea where these seagulls come from but it’s a little bit eerie. There is virtually no sign of seagulls here all summer, but as soon as the tractors fire up in the fall they swoop in by the hundreds. Where do they come from? Where do they live all summer? And how do they know it’s time to feast? One of life’s little mysteries to ponder by the fire over the winter….You can visit the “Animals” category in The Common-Tater for more pictures and videos of some of the animals that live with us here at the farm.