Saturday, November 24, 2012

We are still OPEN!!

Hello Everyone!

Just to give you a quick update, we still have apples available, and some are even On Sale!!

Currently we have Northern Spy Apples, Gloster Apples, Boskoop Apples, Bramley Apples and Jonagold Apples available.

There are not very many left of the Gloster, Boskoop and Bramley Apples.  So if you are interested, let us know very soon and we can set them aside for you.

The Bramley and Jonagold Apples are ON SALE!! Regular price is $1.25/lb, now only $1.00/lb.

The Gloster, Boskoop and Northern Spys are available for $1.25/lb.

The Gloster, Northern Spy and Boskoop apples if stored correctly will last well into the New Year.  All these apples are delicious apples for both Baking and Eating (with the exception of the Bramley - it is primarily used for baking as it is very tart).

If you are interested and would like to order any fruit, please do not hesitate to contact us either via email at garsidesfruitfarm@shaw.ca or via phone at 604.556.4273.   You can even text the phone number with your questions, and orders!

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

We have lots of Apples!

We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, we at Garside's Fruit Farm sure did.  We made several dishes for Thanksgiving that contained Apples.

We made an apple tart pie, it is an absolutely delicious dish made with shredded apple.  Here is the recipe:

1 Cup Flour
1/2 tsp Salt
2 Tbsp Sugar
1/2 Cup of Butter
Combine the flour, salt, sugar and butter together with a fork until it looks like shortbread.  Then stir in 1 Tbsp of Vinegar.  Blend all together with a fork.

Press this mixture into the bottom of a springform pan, extending 1" up the sides of the pan.

Then combine these ingredients:

1 Cup Sugar
2 Tbsp Flour
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
3 Cups Coarsely Grated Apples (we used a 50/50 combination of the Bramley and Boskoop Apples.

Once you have those ingredients blended, spread over dough in springform pan.

Bake in oven at 400 degrees for 45 to 60 minutes.  Cool on rack in pan.  Remove from the springform pan and sift icing sugar on top.  Serve with whipping cream or ice cream.

Other items we made with Apples from Garside's Fruit Farm Thanksgiving feast was our Cranberry sauce.  This recipe was told to us by a customer.  It is from Jamie Oliver's recipe collection - this is a Apple Cranberry Sauce, the recipe specifically calls for Bramley Apples!  This was absolutely delicious, and easy to make.  Even those people who are not the biggest cranberry sauce fans at the table thought it was delicious.  The recipe even says you can, preserve the sauce by canning it.  Here is a link to the recipe: http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/fruit-recipes/apple-cranberry-sauce

The final item we made with apples was our Stuffing.  This stuffing recipe is my absolute favourite  I always make a ton of stuffing, to insure I have an ample amount leftover.   This recipe is called Wild Rice, Apple and Dried Cranberry Stuffing.  We used mostly Bramley Apples in this with a few Boskoop Apples, to add a bit of a different flavour.  As always this recipe turned out wonderfully.

Instead of the usual turkey for Thanksgiving, we used a Garside's Fruit Farm Free Range Roasting Chicken, done on the BBQ - Beer Can Chicken Style.  Super easy and delicious way to roast your chicken.  We used a 8 1/4 pound chicken and it was wonderful!

Currently at the farm we have several varieties of apples available: Bramley Apples, Boskoop Apples, King Apples, Spartan Apples and coming this week will be our Jonagold Apples.  These apples are all available for $1.25 / lb, with the exception of the Spartans which are $1.00 / lb.

We also have 1 pound baskets of delicious Cherry Tomatoes.  These baskets are available for $3.00 / lb.

Our Free Range Roasting Chickens are also available for $3.75 / lb.

Coming soon: Northern Spy Apples and Gloster Apples.  Both will be available for $1.25 / lb. b We are always taking pre-orders for these!

If you have any questions, comments or would like to place an order with us, please do not hesitate to contact us at 604.556.4273 or garsidesfruitfarm@shaw.ca. Also "Like" us on Facebook!

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Thanksgiving is coming....

With Thanksgiving just around the corner that means time to bake apple pies.  We happen to have the best apples at Garside's Fruit Farm for just that.  Our Bramley Apple is rated the best baking apple out there!  When we bake a pie, we actually use a combination of the Bramley and Boskoop Apples.  They both keep their shape nicely in a pie and don't turn to mush.  Also the combination of their flavours and textures make a very tasty pie or crisp.  Stay tuned to our website, we will have a whole post on baking a pie with Garside Fruit Farm Apples, complete with photos.

We have a several varieties of apples ready at the farm:  Prima, Boskoop, Bramley and King Apples.  These are all available for $1.25 a pound, with the exception of the Prima Apple it is only $1.00 per pound.  Also available are Zucchinis and Cherry tomatoes.  The Zucchinis are $0.75 each no matter the size, and the tomatoes are a one pound basket for $3.00.

As an alternative to Turkey why not try a delicious Garside's Fruit Farm Roasting Chicken.  The average size of our chickens is about six pounds.  We do have larger and smaller available.  They are fed a top quality, locally produced grain with no hormones or antibiotics.  They have access to outside pasture.  A good healthy alternative to the turkey.  The chickens are available for $3.75/lb.

If you have any questions or would like to place any orders please feel free to contact us via phone at 604.556.4273 or email garsidesfruitfarm@shaw.ca  Also "Like" us on Facebook.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Bramley and Boskoop Time

It is time to start picking those Bramley and Boskoop Apples.  These are great apples, both great for baking with and the Boskoop is a terrific eating apple.  They are also perfect keeper apples, if store correctly will keep until the New Year.

When I bake a pie I generally mix these two apples together, makes for a terrific harmony of flavours and textures in your pie.

Both these apples are available for $1.25 per pound.  Get your orders in fast, as we always sell out!

Feel free to contact us regarding any orders or questions via phone 604.556.4273 or email us at garsidesfruitfarm@shaw.ca

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Pears and Apples!

With all this great Summer like weather we are having it has made picking the apples and pears a breeze.

We have a terrific crop of Bartlett Pears this year! If you are interested in ordering any, get your orders in quick as these pears will be gone before you know it!  The Bartlett Pears are available for $0.75 per pound.

Also available is our Prima Apples.  These are available for $1.00 per pound.  These are a terrific eating apple, and make a delicious apple sauce or juice.  Please get your orders in quick for these apples as we will sell out soon.

Coming soon!! Our Bramley and Boskoop Apples are looking great.  We are starting the picking this weekend.  If you have your orders in for these apples check your email, as we will be putting together the orders soon.  If you have not got your order in for either of these apples, do so soon.  These apples are becoming more and more popular each year, as more people discover them.  Both these apples are "keeper" apples, if store correctly they can keep till well into winter.  These apples are terrific for baking with, when I make a pie, I do a combination of these two apples.  They nicely compliment each other and make a terrific tasting creation.  These apples are available for $1.25 per pound.

We still have our great free range roasting chickens available for $3.75 per pound.  These chickens were allowed access to outside pasture, fed a top quality, locally produced grain and were given no antibiotics or hormones.  I can guarantee these will be the tastiest chickens you will ever eat.

Unfortunately, we will not be offering U-pick Hazelnuts at the farm at this time.  We are disappointed with this as it was quite a nice afternoon activity many families came to love.  Our trees have succumbed to the hazelnut blight that most of the nut groves have already had in the province.  We will be taking these trees out and starting over.  Luckily hazelnut trees grow fast, and we may be able to offer this great activity again soon.

Apples coming in the future: Jonagold, Northern Spy and Gloster.  These will all be available for $1.25/lb.

If anyone is interested in some "windfall" or "seconds" we have approximately ten pounds of Gravensteins left.  These are available for $0.50 per pound.  If interested email or call right away as these will not last!

Remember to "Like" us on Facebook, we post updates and "deals" as well as up to date pictures.  Check us later today, as I will be posting pictures of some pears and Prima Apples.

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Peppery Pear Salsa Recipe!

Sweet juicy pears combined with red and green peppers to create a carnival of colours in this tantalizingly spicy salsa. It can be used as a dipping sauce, breakfast condiment with eggs or just on its own with chips. Also works great with grilled meat and chicken.

Ingredients:

1 cup white vinegar
8 cups coarsely chopped, cored peeled Garside's Fruit Farm Bartlett Pears
3 red bell peppers, seeded and coarsely chopped
3 green bell peppers, seeded and coarsely chopped
1 cup of granulated sugar
2 tbsp salt
2 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Prepare canner, jars and lids.
2. In a large saucepan, combine vinegar and pears. Add red and green peppers, sugar, salt, mustard, turmeric, allspice and black pepper. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring frequently, until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.
3. Ladle hot salsa into hot jars, leaving about 1/2 inch of headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace if necessary. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip tight.
4. Place jars in canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process the jars for 20 minutes. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool and store.

This recipe makes approximately six - 250 mL jars or three - 500 mL jars.  (I have always found that it actually makes a closer to eight 250 mL jars with this recipe).

Tip: To prevent the pears from browning, it is recommended measuring the vinegar into the saucepan before preparing the pears. As the pears are chopped, drop them into the vinegar, stirring to ensure all surfaces are covered. When all have been chopped continue with Step 2.

Our delicious Bartlett Pears are ripening up nicely and we anticipate to start picking them over the next two weeks. If you wish to order any products send us an email or give us a call to place your advance orders. Our Organic Bartlett Pears are available for $0.75 per pound.

If you have any questions or orders, please call us at 604.556.4273 or email us at garsidesfruitfarm@shaw.ca

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Coming Soon!

September has arrived, and that means Apples and Pears and other great things will be ready soon at Garside's Fruit Farm!

We will be picking our Gravenstein Apples this week.  If you have got your order in already, we will be contacting you soon to let you know they are available for pickup.  If you are on our "waitlist" we hope we will be able to contact you with good news that we have some available for you.

This is your LAST CHANCE to get Crab Apples for this year.  We will only have some for a few more days.  So if you are interested in these little apples, you only have till FRIDAY (Sept 7th) to contact us.  These little apples are available for $1.00 per pound.

After we get our Gravensteins picked, we will be looking to pick our Bartlett Pears.  We have a terrific crop of them this year, and they look great!  They will be available for $0.75 per pound.  They go quick, so get your orders in fast!

There is also a fresh batch of Garside's Fruit Farm Roasting Chickens available.  These are a free range chicken, fed a top quality, locally produced grain, no hormones, no antibiotics.  They are available for $3.75 per pound.

Also coming soon is our wildly popular Bramley Apple.  These apples are the absolute best baking apple, you will not be disappointed.  They are available for $1.25 per pound.

Unfortunately, due to the very wet spring our crop of hazelnuts did not produce, therefore we WILL NOT be offering ANY hazelnuts for sale this year.  :(

If you have any questions, or orders, please do not hesitate to contact us via phone 604.556.4273 or email us at garsidesfruitfarm@shaw.ca

Or find us on Facebook - Search Garside's Fruit Farm and "Like" us.

Monday, August 27, 2012

Crab Apple Jelly Recipes!!


We have been busy at Garside's Fruit Farm this past week, picking our delicious Crab Apples.  These little red apples, make a delicious Jelly.  I have added two recipes to this post for you to make with Garside's Fruit Farm Crab Apples.

I have had several people emailing to ask what variety our Crab Apples are, they are the Dolga Variety.

Our Crab Apples are available NOW for $1.00 per pound.

The recipes below discuss using 4 pounds of Crab Apples, I always use 10 pounds at one time to make a nice sized batch - makes around 2 dozen or just under 250 mL jars.

I have made both recipes and both are delicious, however I do tend to make the recipe without Pectin, as Crab Apples naturally contain enough Pectin on their own to gel nicely.

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Crab Apple Jelly

(Without  Pectin)


  1. Use tart, hard-ripe fruit.
  2. Wash the fruit and discard the stem and blossom ends.  Place fruit in a kettle with water barely to cover ( 2 cups water to 4 cups fruit).  Bring the water to a boil and simmer the fruit until it is soft.
  3. Turn fruit and juice into a wet jelly bag or several layers of cheesecloth lined sieve placed over bowl. Let drip 1 to 4 hours or overnight.
  4. Measure the juice and bring it to a rolling boil.
  5. Add 3/4 cup sugar to each cup of juice and stir until the sugar is thoroughly dissolved.  Then boil rapidly until the jellying point is reached. 
  6. Skim and pour into hot sterilized jelly glasses to within 1/4 inch of the top. Cover with lids and seal.

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Crabapple Jelly
(With  Pectin)

Using 4 lbs Crab Apples:

  1. Wash fruit. Remove blossom and stem ends.  Add 6 cups water, simmer covered 10 minutes.  Crush fruit, cook 5 minutes longer.
  2. Place in wet jelly bag or cheesecloth lined sieve placed over bowl.  Let drip 1 to 4 hours or overnight. 
  3. Measure juice.  If insufficient juice is extracted, up to ½ cup apple juice may be added.
  4. In a deep, stainless steel saucepan, combine 5 cups prepared juice.
  5. Gradually whisk in 1 pkg. Fruit pectin until dissolved.  Stirring frequently, bring mixture to a boil
  6. Add 7 cups sugar.  Over high heat, return to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down.  Boil hard one minute, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat, skim foam.
  7. Pour into hot sterilized jelly glasses to within ¼ inch of the top.  Cover with lids and seal.  Makes approximately seven 250 ml. Jars.   

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Crab Apples

Well its that time of the year again, the Crab Apples are ready for picking.  We are starting the pick today!  So if you have a pre-order in, we will be calling or emailing you soon, to let you know your order is ready for pickup.

If anyone would like to get an order in, please contact us soon, we do sell out of our crab apples each year.  These little apples make a delicious Jelly!  I have recipes that I can give anyone if you would like one.

The crab apples are available for $1.00 per pound, get your orders in quick!!

So, if you are interested in ordering or have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us via email at garsidesfruitfarm@shaw.ca or phone 604.556.4273.

Friday, July 6, 2012

Summer is Here!!

Finally some nice weather is gracing the Vancouver area this Summer.  June was a rather dismal month, luckily our fruit doesn't mind a little rain.  The fruit is looking good so far, the first item that will be ready is our Sour Cherries.  We have a limited supply of sour cherries and have likely already taken orders for our crop, but if you are interested in them, please do not hesitate to call or email us to be put on the list.

The crab apples will be the next fruit available, followed by the Bartlett Pears and Gravenstein Apples.  If you would like to pre-order any of our fruit please do not hesitate to contact us via email at garsidesfruitfarm@shaw.ca or 604.556.4273.

We also have our delicious Roasting Chickens available for $3.50 per pound.

We look forward to seeing all our regular customers, as well as new customers this Summer and Fall.


Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Roasting Chickens :)

Hello Everyone!

If anyone is interested in getting some of our delicious Garside's Fruit Farm Roasting Chickens let us know. We are trying to organize a large delivery to the Vancouver area in the next week/weekend time frame.

Our Roasting Chickens are fed a top quality, locally produced grain, with no hormones or antibiotics and allowed access to outside pasture. They are available for $3.50 per pound.

Please feel free to call or email us with any questions or orders at 604.556.4273 or garsidesfruitfarm@shaw.ca

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Welcome to a new year

I hope that everyone is enjoying their winter and looking forward to spring/summer. At Garsides Fruit Farm we definately are, and hoping that it will be a great fruit year.

We still have our delicious free-range roasting chickens available for sale at $3.50 per pound. Get your orders in quick as our stocks are dwindling. We will be raising more chickens starting in early Spring. These chickens have been fed top-quality, locally produced grain, allowed access to outside pasture and were given no hormones or antibiotics.

As a reminder we do take pre-orders for all our products, so if there is certain items you wish to order we do recommend a pre-order to ensure you able to receive the quantity you desire, as we do sell out of most fruits quickly. Just call or email us with any questions or pre-orders.