Composting and Nettles

Yes, it did snow today, but I got to visit with Jenny Horn and my writing partner. All in one day. So enjoyable!

I don’t know how we did it, but conversation about small scale farming and connecting fresh food to consumer at one point, turned to composting.

As spring is almost here….don’t look outside…nettles were mentioned. MMMMmmm! Nothing beats composted nettle tea for building soil and nothing beats steamed nettles for strengthening the blood after a long winter.

Then I remembered a video I made, with the help of another good friend and fellow forager, several years ago demonstrating the delicate technique of picking nettles. Enjoy!

Merridale Cidery

What a find! A cidery, right here on Vancouver Island using our own apples! I will definitely have to include this place in the book!
Check out this event at Merridale Cidery :

St. Patricks Day Dinner
Date:
March 17, 2012 – 5:00pm – 8:00pm

What better way to pay tribute to this Irish holiday then by indulging in a decadent meal and handcrafted cider at Merridale. This St. Paddy’s Day we are offering a three course dinner for $30 or order A la carte. The first seating will be at 5:00 and last seating at 8:00. Follow this link for the menu.

Share our Facebook event Lucky as a Leprauchan by March 15th to be entered in a draw to win dinner for two!

Wind, Snow and a Dead Horse!

Remember how excited I was yesterday?

The plan was to pick up some bison bones, heart and liver for the dogs, drive back to Qualicum, interview Dirk and Bea at Sloping Hill Farm, hit Naked Naturals and then take the dogs for a walk.

After the trauma of seeing a dead horse we went for a walk at Heritage Forest Park in Qualicum.

Plans change. The wind hit Courtenay and Campbell River hard, knocking out power to the bison farm. Hydro told them they wouldn’t have the lights back on for about 24 hours.

Opening and closing the door to a freezer full of meat…not a good idea if you want to keep the product safe. So that trip was postponed.

Then I woke up to a cold house because I went to agility last night and if I don’t tell the boys to keep the fire going…they don’t (that’s for another post on another blog). My body moved like it was swimming through ice water, slowly and lethargically.

Outside, snow was falling?????

Eventually we headed up to the farm, stopping first at Naked Naturals getting a delicious lunch of curried chicken sandwich and chocolate chip cookie.

When we reached Sloping Hill it was ten minutes before our appointment. But Roxanne and I love exploring dead end dirt roads so off we went.

About a quarter of a mile up the road was a large field with two horses. One, a big furry buckskin stood over a blonde …dead…horse. I’m not kidding. We did a double take. Our hearts in our mouths. The taste of chocolate suddenly bitter.

Turning the car around I drove back to the horses, looking for signs of life. I couldn’t see any movement to indicate the horse was breathing so I asked Roxanne if she could.

Groaning, she put her hands to her face and exclaimed, “I can’t look”.

Willie (the border collie) meanwhile, sitting quietly in the backseat, suddenly saw the two large sheep aka horses and started barking…in Roxanne’s ear.

She jumped, cookie went flying, Nike dove for the treat, Willie lunged at the window and the dead horse lying on the ground? Sat up and with a “WTF” look gave us a disgruntled snort.

Bison, Wheat and the Wind in My Hair

I’m excited, really excited. Okay so I get excited easily, but a friend and I are heading up island to pick up some pasture fed bison products and on the way back we’re stopping in at Sloping Hill Farm.

I met the owner, Bea Graf, at Seedy Sunday over a bag of Island grown and milled hard wheat. That’s right, her and her partner grow wheat and other grains at their farm in Qualicum Beach.

Tomorrow I am interviewing Bea and Dirk, getting pictures and finding out how they continuously produce high quality delicious foods. I might even find out the romance of farming together!

This interview is only one of many, Lorraine Browne and I have been conducting over the past year in our quest to discover the secrets, romance, recipes and dirt on farming the Island.

The book contains recipes from chefs like Bill Jones and Don Genova, as well as a resource guide of farmers’ markets, farms and food producers and the stories that make our Island farmers some of the best and most innovative in BC.

So yes, I’m excited. Tomorrow I get to talk food and farming! Want to find out about Sloping Hill Farm? Subscribe to this blog and you’ll get the post about my visit! I may even include a recipe!

Seediness

I think I’m developing a theme here. Wicked comes to mind. All this dirty talk of sirens and seediness….well there’s more.

Last Sunday my daughter and I went to Seedy Sunday. It gives me goosebumps just thinking about it.

Nanoose Bay Edibles was the first table we visited and both of us picked up some beans Barbara suggested were delicious eating. Nothing like getting the sage advice of someone who’s been in agriculture and dirt for 50 odd years! I also got some strawberry plants for my Strawberry Stack.

I found Sloping Hill Farm, who have fresh milled wheat grown on their farm in Qualicum! Made up a carrot cake with it. Delicious.

Checked out all the seed saver sellers but no one had the yard long bean we were looking for. Megan and I both tried to save seed from this great pole bean we grew last year but neither of us had any luck, they went moldy very quickly.

Megan did pick up some Juliette tomato seed. She said it is like a Roma with few seed and lots of flesh, great for sauces with the added bonus of being a prolific producer. I’m growing six plants myself! Sauce or salsa anyone?

The event was really well put together, with enough vendors to make it more than worthwhile going. It was busy but not enough to make pushing your way through the aisles a must.

That afternoon I came home motivated and inspired and planted more seeds.I’m having so much fun I think it must be wicked!

Broken Nails and Dry Skin

My right hand is for gardening. I’ve tried using my left but it’s awkward and not as strong.

It serves as a multi purpose tool. The ultimate in survivor wear. I can dig holes, scoop dirt, make trenches, wield a hammer, hold a shovel, drop the tiniest of seed in a hole I’ve made and a host of other amazing things. And when I garden, my hands are naked. I’ve tried wearing gloves but I end up taking them off because my hands start itching and it doesn’t give me the same thrill as feeling the dirt skin to skin.

Unfortunately, when you go naked in the garden, you pay for it. My nails are cracked, broken, ripped, and cracked. My skin doesn’t look any better.

Why am I sharing this? Because today I was out working in the dirt. The sun shining on my back felt heavenly, I could see a bit of the mountains on the mainland when I rested my chin on the handle of the hoe. Everything felt right. Cocoa Puff ate all the bugs I dug up, John pruned the fruit trees and I planted two rows of Pac Choi, one of cilantro, two of spinach and three of beets. I made a cold frame, set my six inch Pac Choi outside to harden off, cut down a shrub to clear a space for my Strawberry Stack, got my tomato bin ready (yes I’m enthusiastic) and made another raised bed box.

It was a good, productive day in the garden. Does it really matter that my hands look like it?

Feast for the Senses

I’m excited, I’m REALLY EXCITED! The first farmer’s market of the year starts in 34 minutes and my friend and I are heading up there shortly.

For the past two days we’ve been discussing what the market could possible have this time of year. The talk builds the excitement and anticipation.

Why are farmer’s markets so enjoyable? Is it the food? Conversation? The drive to Qualicum?

All of the above and more. It’s a chance to connect with your food, talk about the most basic of human needs and an opportunity to let creativity have full rein at each table and display.

When I pass booths with various greens, I imagine dressing them up with tasty oils and vinegar and herbs. When I sample different cheeses I visualize my family enjoying a new dish topped with one of the flavoured delicacies. The meat I see perfectly dressed, the jams and jellies inspire me (and I always compare to my own), the relishes have me salivating and the baked goods….well we won’t go there.

A Farmer’s Market is a feast for the senses, gets us outside of a box supermarket and presents us with quality, delicious and local food. You just can’t beat that!

Hope I see you there.

Upcoming Spring Event

Thought I’d better do a separate post. You want to miss this weekends events.

In Nanaimo, Seedy Sunday on, yes you guessed it, Sunday March 4, starts at 10, Beban Park.

Qualicum Beach March 3, Saturday Farmers Market. Starts at 10.

See you there.

Hold On! There’s Something in the Air!

Two days ago I woke up to a frozen deck and ice on the driveway puddles. But when I took the dogs for a walk and hour later, even though it was cold, something was different about this morning. It shivered in the air, and it wasn’t me.

Now it could be my imagination or the longer days with earlier mornings, but when I stopped to really feel the difference, in the little hollow at the far end of Lost Lake, it was there.

A scent, a buzz of sound, a tingling on the skin, collective excitement spilling from the trees, animals and soil. an energy so palpable I felt it brush my skin and set my hairs on end.

Folks it’s coming!

Right now it’s building resources and gathering energy. It won’t be long till it’s strong enough to launch itself. And launch it will, especially in my yard.

Spring you are welcome here. Welcome to spread your light and warmth throughout my garden. Welcome to wake up the garden sirens, kick them in the butt if you need to, because this weekend I’m building me a greenhouse. I’ve spent countless hours in the middle of the night designing and building the thing. My seedlings are spilling over counters and shelves and they are ready to be set out to acclimatize. So I am digging a level platform, buying some PVC piping and getting growing!

I’ll take pictures. After I visit the Women’s Show, Seedy Sunday and the Qualicum Beach Market of course!

A Gardener’s Faux Pas

I committed a gardener’s faux pas today. It was unintentional, I swear! When I mapped out my plans I did not calculate in the ‘unforgivable’.

Now, after I’ve eaten a delicious meal I am sitting here thinking about growing my garden and I regret my terrible omission.

Fellow gardeners forgive me, but I ran out of time. I was in Victoria and though I vacillated from Hillside to the Helmcken turn off, even asking the dogs for their opinion, I eventually kept driving and did not turn into View Royal and stop at Lee Valley! I regret it now. I could be reclining in my lazy boy looking at seed packets, a new trowel and the cloth plant holders I lusted after in the last catalog.

I left late. Then I ended up getting lost trying to find my daughter’s place and when we got to the beach, with the sun sparkling on the water, otter playing in the waves and dogs chasing each other in the sand we ended up staying longer then I had planned.

Of course, stopping for lunch at the Market on Yates was a mistake too, they have a lot of interesting food items!

By the time I was ready to leave the city I was two hours behind schedule.

Fellow gardeners, I guess the long and the short of this and the lesson to be learned is that sometimes, sometimes, there are other things more important than gardening: like spending time with your daughter!

It was a good day! I am forgiven.

Enjoy! www.leevalley.com