All-Year Round Produce & What's In Season Spring & Summer!

If you live in Alberta, you can relate to the constant weather changes and short seasons. Some days it seems like we get all four seasons in one day!  This can impact our locally grown produce and make harvesting harder and shorter than expected due to inclimate weather. Fortunately, we have various local producers who grow indoors with vertical farms, hydroponics and even aquaponics! 

All-Year Round Quality Over Quantity 

Cultivatr brings you the best all-year round and seasonal produce by Alberta farmers who care about the food they grow and how they grow it. 

Though we can find all sorts of items year-round in our grocery stores, these products are grown out of season or picked early to lengthen shelf-life. In order to do this, produce is often exposed to ripening agents which include chemical gasses and heat processes.

Cultivatr's localized smaller scale farms tend to focus on quality over quantity. By staying small and using more traditional farming practices and greenhouses, there isn’t a reliance on herbicides and pesticides. 

What Is Vertical Farming? 

Vertical farming is the process of growing fresh produce in vertically stacked layers that are monitored in controlled environments using the latest technology. Some vertical farms can be soilless and use only nutrient dense water (hydroponics). Aquaponics is a hybrid of hydroponics where fish are raised in ponds and the nutrient rich aquaculture water is then fed to the plants/produce.

The benefits of vertical farming is a decreased environmental footprint that is not affected by climate/environmental changes as they are all indoors. This provides us with year round quality controlled fresh products we can trust and pass on to our customers.  

Our All-Year Round Produce

At Cultivatr, we have many local fresh products that we can provide year round and are always in season. 

• Lettuces and Fresh Herbs from Hydra Greens and Deepwater Farms
• Mushrooms from Red Fox Fungi 
• Tomatoes, Cucumbers and Bell Peppers provided by various local suppliers
• Micro Greens from Micro Acres

While these products are grown year round, we still cannot wait for the fresh produce that starts arriving in July. May and June prove to be the transition months where we start to see fresh vegetables pop out of the ground.  Seeing fresh local asparagus is always the first sign that spring has arrived and summer is just around the corner. 

Spring & Summer Seasonal Produce 

Here's a peak at what we look forward to this coming Spring and Summer months! 

May/June:

• Asparagus - Great source of nutrients, including fiber, folate and vitamins A, C and K. Not to mention, its a delicious and versatile vegetable you can cook in so many different ways! 
• Eggplant - Rich in fiber, Potassium, and Vitamin B. Try our eggplant caponata recipe.
• Broccoli - Great source of Vitamin C and Antioxidants.

June/July: 

• Cauliflower - Low carb alternative to grains and legumes.
• Beans - High in Vitamin K and B. We've got the perfect Bean Dip recipe here!
• Celery - Supports digestion and can reduce inflammation.
• Summer Squashes - Rich in Potassium, Magnesium and Manganese.
• Fennel - Good source of heart friendly nutrients like Folate.

August/September:

• Corn - Rich in Vitamin C and antioxidants.
• Brussel Sprouts - Excellent source of protein.
• Pumpkins - Rich in fiber and Vitamin A.

Being armed with the knowledge of what is available and when, will let you as a consumer plan accordingly and let you eat the freshest local produce available. When we eat seasonally, we are supporting our local farmers and in turn, helping our local economy.