An Avenue Homesteader

Any Time's a Good Time for Turkey

2011-10-01T14:06:00.000-06:00

You may be one of those folks who believes eating turkey shall be limited to a few American holiday seasons. If you are, I'm afraid we may be in some disagreement on that point.

I love turkey dinner. Turkey with fixings like cranberry sauce, pickles and dressing. Turkey with pesto and pasta. Turkey with toasted ciabatta, spinach and garlic mayo. Turkey-juice soaked risotto. Turkey tetrazzini.

If you share my enthusiasm, NOW is the time to stock up. It's at Safeway for 99 cents/lb, Superstore for 96, Walmart for 97... and those are just the prices I scoped out in the flyers this morning. Last night I cooked up an 8-kilo bird and, bless him, he provided us with 10 cups of meat (most of which will be refrozen in small 2 cup bags) and another 10 cups of broth. Total cost: $20.

I'm currently working out a value for that lovely turkey soup-smell wafting through the house...

PS: On the subject of turkeys (and turkey sex), pick up Barbara Kingsolver's book Animal Vegetable Miracle. An easy read that expounds, with hilarious detail, her attempt to raise turkeys for food (and of course her attempts to multiply the flock's numbers). Who'd have thunk you could breed maternal instinct out of an entire species?

PPS: And on the the subject of fall deals, just a reminder that now's the time to pick up pumpkin. For $4 I picked out the largest pumpkin I could carry. Thankfully, it just barely fit in my oven and is currently roasting in its own skin. Check out this post for the process I use to cook and store it.

Rhubarb Chokecherry Jam

2011-09-24T21:55:00.000-06:00

I've had my chokecherry bush in our backyard for the past five years- a gift from the former owners of the home. Before today, I had never gathered the berries (mostly due to lack of interest! They taste terrible fresh of hand, and I'd never tried jam or syrup from them). This evening, I made one of the most intriguing tasting, on the tart-side jams.

Using the no-sugar needed pectin (another first since my gestational diabetes has made me more conscious of refined sugar), I boiled up a pot of chokecherry and rhubarb jam using splenda as a sweetener. Man alive! Delicious- I licked the remains off the spoon, the funnel, the counter. Kicking myself for all the wasted years of chokecherry.

So what happens to your chokecherries??

Backyard Shiitake Mushrooms

2011-08-23T22:39:00.000-06:00

Last fall I had the opportunity to write an article for Spezzatino Magazine (coming out Fall 2011, the piece was published in Fungi Spring 2011) on growing mushrooms in underground, abandoned spaces. White Button mushrooms were the first species to be cultivated, initially in dark, dank caves around Paris, France. Soon mushrooms were being grown all over the world in forgotten spaces: spent mines, old culverts, gutted quarries.

In fact, it was only last year that the last underground mushroom farm in North America failed to compete (cheap air conditioning, less technical disease management and better work environment give the above ground farms an edge). The farm was set up in a the spent entrails of an old mine in Pennsylvania for more than half a century: the tunnels sit empty again.

As I searched for other underground farms in the world, I found a farm in Australia call Li-Sun Exotic Mushrooms. Dr. Arrold cultivates a wide variety of mushrooms- none of them White Button (which is one of two kinds I usually could find at Superstore until a couple years ago!). Shiitake, Swiss Brown, Enoki, Wood Ear are mostly cultivated in a re-purposed railway tunnel.

The article was a project that ended with me continually musing to Mat about all the abandoned underground spaces in Edmonton just waiting to be reclaimed by fungi! Imagine a mushroom farm directly underneath the City Centre farmer's market? Or directly underneath Calgary's downtown there is a four-lane wide abandoned LRT tunnel; there'd never be a problem with finding a market for mushrooms with a short shelf life!

The project also made me curious: why not grow my own? So in April I ordered - what turned out to be too many- Shiitake mushroom plugs. 600 of the plugs, packed with spawn and topped with a wax seal, arrived in bubble wrap in May. If my first problem with this experiment was too many plugs, my second problem was finding logs to drill holes then 'plant' the spawn in (literally pop the plug into the drilled holed). The wood had to be freshly cut hardwood which had sat for a month or two. It took me a month to find the proper logs (I'm clearly not in the right circles!): mountain ash from a house down the road. I'm not even sure mountain ash will work... but its what I had.

So Mat drilled the holes and the girls and I inserted the plugs every 3 inches up and down the logs. The two sections then got tucked away behind a couple cedars where rain will still soak the logs, but where the sun has few direct lines on the moisture, shade loving spawn. I'm told that by next summer, if all goes well, I can expect the logs to flower (mushroom!) and they will do that every three months in the warm season, for four to five years!

Drilling holes 3" part in rows around the mountain ash log.

See the one plug (in front) not pushed in? Lily would come behind me and poke the plugs down, wax flush with the bark.

Soaked the log really well. For the mushrooms to grow, the log cannot dry completely.

150 potential sites for flowering mushrooms? Tucked behind our cedars. I added a sun screen, stapled on the fence to the left of the logs, to limit evening, direct sun.

It will be difficult to wait and possibly learn that I did it wrong! But perhaps you'd like to try your hand at it? I have about 450 more plugs that I can't imagine finding room in my yard, heart or stomach for. If you want some, please email. You can bring me some baking or dried fish or something as a trade(:=

Update on Square Foot Gardens 2011

2011-07-15T15:35:00.001-06:00

Japanese Perennial Onion flowering.

An apology to those regular readers! I've been so slow on the uploading of photos and new posts but I've got a valid excuse. Turns out my body- unexpectedly- began making a human being about thirteen weeks ago. This will be the third baby to join our house and now that I'm feeling less tired, it doesn't sound as exhausting as it did to me four weeks ago!

As for the square foot gardens, they are doing well despite the lack of sun: besides we're thankful for the rain (and a working sump pump!). I took these photos on June 29th- the date of my 2010 update. My biggest challenge continues to be nutrients as I don't have a great compost system yet (though Mat just built me a huge double-bin compost that should be a big help next season). This year I've added significant amounts of sheep and cow manure, as well as used a flax/hemp based fertilizer from the farmer's market. Based on a great Mother Earth News article, I will soon begin experiments with liquid fertilizers using the common household material: diluted urine. I'm hoping the girl's enjoy peeing in a bucket!

Pictures were taken July 29th:

Spinach bolting and peas a-flowerin'. The greens in front of the box are hardy, oriental poppies.

The back row are my potatoes (see below for a close-up), and the onions are a perennial Japanese onion. My girlfriend smelled them and marvelled, "They smell just like baked potato with all the fixings!" I love how this picture shows the succession planting of the carrots in the front two rows. We are just now beginning to harvest from the far left box.

The lettuce in the front, centre boxes has been harvested two times already. I'm really happy with this butter lettuce I bought from Richters. The arugula (on the right) has bolted, but the flowers are just as delicious as the now-very-strong leaves. The peas make up the back row, with swiss chard taking over the middle.

More lettuce. I can't keep up! Unfortunately, this prego lady doesn't have any craving for salad. Just oranges?!

The left row (north) is lettuce and arugula. THe front row are tomatoes interspersed with self-seeding marigolds. The tomatoes have grown well. I did an experiment this year and planted them successively to see if the early planted ones are stunted. They all seem to have grown at similar growth rate, with the one planted early May (second planted) being marginally further along.

Also featured is my sweet ride to work everyday. I love our scooter- $4 fill every three weeks!

Yarrow bordered by squash. These squash aren't doing great, but they may be a little crowded!

Feels like a Bumper Crop Year

2011-07-06T22:49:00.000-06:00

Good news! My honeyberries performed better than expected this year and I definitely achieved my goal of "more than eight berries". For accuracy, there was not more than 80- but for three year old bushes, I think it's a sign of things to come. The bush that is located in the sun had sweet berries- similar flavour to huckleberries from my childhood- on Sunday, July2. The other bushes will be ready to pick by this weekend. And by then-- hurray- the saskatoons and raspberries should be just about ready.

We've got a bumper crop of Strawberries this year too. Bowls of them are coming from the large strawberry plants. The alpines are only just beginning to flower for harvest, I'm going to guess in August... anybody have an idea of a realistic harvest date on those?

From the square foot gardens, lettuce and peas are producing like crazy. I've never had great luck with lettuce, but this year I'm giving it away. I've four boxes planted with a butter lettuce, equalling a total of 16 heads of lettuce of a variety that grows back from cut stalk!

I don't have enough peas to freeze, but I planted only enough to eat fresh. With about five boxes planted, I'm harvesting about a cup a day for the past few days. I expect I have another couple weeks of this, since I've planted a few in shadier places, so those plants are only now flowering.

Hope you're having some bumper crops too!

Snap peas that didn't grow as tall as I expected, but are fruiting better than expected.

The Alpine Strawberries Take Off: A View of an Old Lasagna Garden

2011-06-26T20:38:00.001-06:00

About three years ago, this section on the south side of our house, north side of the fence, was grass. We stripped the grass because it was mostly weeds and lasagna gardened it with newspaper, compost and grass clippings. Unfortunately, we didn't have a 'planting' plan beyond that. It's been a slow process of trying to decide what I wanted in the section, this year, it's finally filling in.

These day lilies were transplants from a friend that I planted last August. I suspect they will give the strawberries a run for their money. In the foreground, are the alpine strawberries that I planted from seed last year. This carpet of strawberries started with about four seedlings last July! (See more on alpine strawberries in this post.)

The strawberries take over the paving stones and concrete sidewalk!

Some mint that I planted from seed in a pot last year... well it kinda got away! It is now quite nicely filling a metre long section of the garden. The great thing about 'wild' mint is that it is an easy, lovely smelling plant to pull out- useful too, though I must admit that my mojito and mint tea consumption is not keeping up!

There's a 10 foot section of black raspberries, red raspberries and interspersed rhubarb at the end of this section. These two varieties of raspberries are not supposed to be planted together since a disease that the red raspberry carries, but is not harmed by, can do major damage to the black raspberries. Unfortunately, I am running out of space, and don't have anything in the yard that would be that much farther from the other red raspberry patches in the yard... So I take a risk. So far, they've been safe. These black raspberries have canes more like a blackberry in that they are looooong! But they don't sucker and so are quite a contained plant when I tie the canes to the wires fashioned by Mat. The black raspberry variety has a really different flavour and is nice compliment to a mouthful of red.

The red raspberries have been somewhat contained by, what I can only imagine, is a hatred for potatoes. A few years ago I planted potatoes in this section, just to see how they grew in part shade. Every since, the raspberries have not seemed interested in sprouting in the past potato muck. It was only later that I read in "Carrots Love Tomatoes" that these two plants are NOT companion plants... I know nothing more about it. If you do, please comment!

The beginnings of a high bush cranberry hedge. In five years, I may be annoyed that I planted a hedge (along where the day lilies are planted now) in this narrow section of the garden. It may give our pruning shears a run for their money. But, right now, I want the fruit, the view of the beautiful colour and shape of these leaves from my dining room, and a little privacy from our south side neighbour's deck into our kitchen. I really love these leaves... and how great they look against the delicate strawberry runners.

Covering the Pergola- Transplanting Hops

2011-06-16T23:08:00.001-06:00

I love vertical gardens. I like vines, rambling rose bushes, and pillars of flowers. Unfortunately in Alberta there aren't many vines you can depend on to cover a yaght-sized pergola. We have some incredible climbing roses (which I'll feature in a couple weeks when they really get their bloom on!) on two of the pergola's posts, but I can't depend on these to provide shade. The last three years I've experimented with kiwi (too shady) and clematis (aesthetically too like Medusa's hair). Neither successfully grew to cover the top for mid-day shade in the heat of summer.

This year I have, against Mat's better judgement, transplanted hops. Its probably the one plant that Mat remembers from his mom's beautiful, lush, colour filled garden. Even in the zone 2, windy Crowsnest Pass, hops grew to cover a trellis at the entry of their home. Mat doesn't remember its resiliency or shade or beauty, he remembers it clawing at him as he attempted to enter his home after school. He remembers it scraping up his arms and face as he fought it off the trellis every fall.

Not the best picture- but the only one I can access from my laptop!

So the plant has some pretty spiny fruit and has the added annoyance of needing to be cut down every fall. It's a damn good climber and pergola cover. Rumours swirl that, in the heat of summer, you can sit back and literally watch it grow, growing two feet in a single day in optimal conditions. Plus, it's the beginnings of really good beer. I also had the additional incentive that my friend had dozens of new seedlings growing as weeds in her back yard.

The information I read about planting hops was fussy; I ended up being not. I used a spade and hacked at the seedlings, then dropped each one with some knots of roots into a bucket. I then proceeded to forget them in the sun for most of the day. That evening, I hastily dug holes about the yard and planted the roots with some compost and water. Two weeks later, there are signs of life at 4 of the 6 planting sites: two along the pergola, three against the fence, and one in the alley. In fact, one root's already grown two feet of new life. Looking on it in delight, I again reassured Mat that I will "help to" take it down. And in the end, if his memory is right, I'm committed to ripping the darlings out (easier said than done?!)

PS. I will also add, that I love Virginia Creeper. It too would grow like a child on steroids with the added benefit of not needing to be cut down in the fall- and hence having much less 'vertical ground' to cover to reach the top netting every season. I may try this next year if my hops fails to work. My main hesitation is the baffling leaf hoppers: little, literally 'hopping' white insects that lay their eggs on the bottom of the leaf which turn the whole plant prematurely red. My main beef with them is not the early onset of autumn, it is their mob-like quality at your faintest move. You flourish an arm and they all get hopping at once. It's unnerving! On my other creeper, I have found no organic solution. If you have an antidote- please let me know as this plant would be an ideal friend to our pergola... and may save me some big marital tension in the fall.

Reclaiming the Alley from the Weeds: A Lazy Lasagna Garden

2011-06-05T22:11:00.000-06:00

In our community there are fairly low expectations as to the state of the alleys. There are attempts by folks to monitor the garbage and weeds, some even call bylaw on major offenders. I must admit that sometimes I'm a major offender. Weeds out there are out of sight and out of mind. Our eco-station garbage has been known to stay 'hidden' "out-back" over months of procrastinating a jaunt to the eco-station.

I decided the only way to start caring was to do some intentional planting. In the past, I've had poppies and borage growing wild. And while it's pretty in July when everything flowers, I can't say it generated more enthusiasm for me to weed or de-clutter.

So last weekend I cleared a small, quack-grass haunted patch by the garbage hutch and did a lasagna garden (for more details on this method check out this post). Be warned, its a lazy one where I decided not to bother with layering each item more than once!

THE SPACE:

The square that may finally get me weeding in the alley.

THE PLANTS:

For vertical interest, I'm banking on wild Hops. I transplanted these roots last year and thankfully the vine rises again.

The "Stick" of a bare root hazelnut tree (which I wrote about receiving here). Two weeks after this picture was taken, it is leafing out.

A Calgary Creeping Juniper, I am hoping that this great ground cover will soon choke out (some of) the weeds, that it will spill out over the box and onto the grass towards the road. At only a foot high, it can spread 6- 8 feet and has a great blue-green foliage.

THE PROCESS:

I planted the perennials first then laid out thick sections of The Edmonton Journal. This will act to keep the weeds down for at least a couple summers. By then, hopefully, the other plants have established themselves enough to fight the weeds back.

I then soaked the paper thoroughly with water.

I then covered the paper with a couple different composts (sheep and cow), and over that laid a thick layer of grass clippings (not pictured!). Along the border of the bed I transplanted marigolds that self seeded in my square foot gardens. Around the base of the tree, I transplanted golden flax started in April in my garden boxes.

It doesn't look like much now- but I'll be sure to post a picture at the end of season; I promise not to weed it simply for the sake of the picture! I'm committed to a little alleyway aesthetic, just forgive me my eco-station procrastination!

A Green House Tour on 165 Ave

2011-05-24T22:59:00.000-06:00

As a greenhouse nut living in Edmonton, I've discovered a route that beats all others: 165 Ave, east of 97 Street. Drive past Alberta Hospital and suddenly its greenhouse/nursery/market garden land. Every quarter kilometre another greenhouse pops up. Little ones, bigs ones. Some of them sell bedding plants, other's just bare root trees and shrubs (found $20 Explorer Series Rose bushes at Arrowhead Nurseries!), others, like Kuhlmann's have huge inventories of garden gnomes and water features.

One of two hanging baskets.

It's a route on which a great deal of money can be spent on a leisurely Sunday afternoon.

Nearly at the end of the road, past the North West of Edmonton and into the North East, is my favourite spot: Visser's Greenhouse. You may know them as the potato farmers who partnered with Greater Edmonton Alliance to for the "Great Potato Giveaway". They are potato farmers, but also greenhouse operators. And what a greenhouse! Hanging baskets provide a overhead carpet of colour and scents. Each plant stand has a variety of choices, offering ideas for companion plantings in pots and boxes. There's a small coy pond and two areas (one outside with sand, the other inside with slides) for kids to play. Every single plant looks happy and healthy-- can't say that for the meagre offers I saw last weekend at Canadian Tire and Rona.

This year, I planned to splurge on two of my hanging baskets by our dining table and on the window box Mat just built for the garage. We can see all three of these from the deck where we perch most of summer.

In year's past I've filled these baskets/box with plants I grew from seed. So my petunias flowered in August, and my squash didn't bother to grow past a foot. Every summer I've been cheap and by August rather disappointed I hadn't cheaped out elsewhere.

So, buoyed by this hot May long weekend and the magic that is Visser's, my cheap back was broken and I spent an average of $40 per basket/box. I filled them with a sun loving variety of begonia with startling colour then filled them out with purple and green sweet potato vine. I filled the box out with bacopia (sp?) and ivy.

I am delighted with the result. Now, I HAD BETTER WATER!

When I married Mat, I've got to admit that "handy" wasn't on my list of qualities for a life partner. Now, 12 years wiser, I realize that that was a critical oversight. Thankfully, Mat's handy AND knows how to operate power tools. Even better, he can turn a boring flower box into a bit of art.

Finally Here- The Season for BBQ Hamburgers

2011-05-18T21:47:00.001-06:00

Sorry to the vegetarian readers out there; some graphic raw meat pictures in today's post!

Tonight was BBQ Burger Night- our third this week. Now that it's spring (it is spring, right?), we're giddy with relief that the sun is out. We've spent the last eight days outside, digging compost and battling mosquitoes. BBQ seems like the only appropriate interruption.

So perhaps it seems pretty basic, a post about homemade hamburgers, but its on my mind (and I think more people buy hamburgers than make 'em). Homemade burgers are cheap, have way better flavour and way less creepy filler, than the frozen kind. A pound of beef or elk or bison will make me 9 medium sized burgers or 6 really large ones. Even with organic, free-range beef that's just under 35 cents per patty! The one down side is cleanup: in my kitchen raw hamburger touches the bowl, the transfer tray from kitchen to BBQ, and thoroughly coats my hands.

I'm sure there are hundreds of variations of homemade burgers. In ours, I usually add to the thawed meat a jumble of the following ingredients:

oatmeal

cracker crumbs

shredded carrot

egg

worcestershire sauce

mustard (prepared and powder)

garlic (crushed and powder)

onions

oregano (fresh or dried)

arugula

spinach

Etc. Etc. What goes in yours?

My Honeyberry Blooms

2011-05-15T22:35:00.001-06:00

Berryblue

Hurray- this week my honeyberries bloomed! Two summers ago I planted six honeyberries. Since you need at least two varieties to cross pollinate, I was extra careful and bought three varieties. Last summer, I harvested a record of seven berries off one bush. This summer, my goal is to harvest... well, more. There are many more blooms on all the bushes this time around.

I've experimented a little with the placement of each. Reading that they grow in both part shade and sun, I've planted the six in a variety of sunny to shady spots. There hasn't been much variation in the amount of growth on each bush, perhaps I'll see the difference in the fruit output.

The fruit, if you've never seen it, is a blue, elongated berry shape. The plants come from Siberia and their blossoms withstand -8 to -10 C frosts. The woman I bought my plants from had bushes which bloomed straight through a snow storm and went on to produce a rich harvest.

The flavour of my seven berries was pretty mild; each was seedless and plump. According to the researchers at the U of S Fruit Program, however, flavour can range from "terrible to terrific" so there is still ongoing experimentation in the flavour department.

Shannon Dyrland, who's Shallow Creek Nurseries closed last year, recommends the varieties Cinderella, Berryblue and Bluebell. Many of the greenhouses now carry at least a couple varieties of honeyberry.

Keep in mind too, if you plan to landscape with these, that they aren't fussy about soil Ph, which can't be said for their cousins the blueberry and huckleberry (both need acidic soil).

So, if you have a honeyberry bush, please let me know where you've planted it and if the fruit output has changed significantly when planted in the sun versus the shade!

I'll keep you posted on my ambitious goal of "Eat More Than Eight Honeyberries in 2011".

A Stick in the Mail

2011-05-10T21:57:00.000-06:00

I got a stick in the mail today- shipped from Winnipeg in a long, six-foot box lined with brown paper.

T & T Seeds tells me that this stick is a Hazelnut- a Flibert Hazelnut (hybrid of American wild hazelnuts with their better fruiting cousins in Europe)- and I can only trust them that this is true.

At the base of this stick is a bulbous growth wrapped in twine mesh. Inside the mesh is a root ball hugged by cedar shavings to help with the shock of the trip in the back of a Canada Post truck. Obedient as I am, I followed the directions and now have the root ball soaking in a mop bucket, accompanied by a High Bush Cranberry that at least is leafing out and looks somewhat like the bush it will be.

In the bazooka sized cardboard box, I also pulled out two, four-inch lingonberry plants, a Ben Nevis Currant, some onion sets and seed potatoes. In baggies were five other plants: three are a I've-fogotten-the-name-of-perennial which I purchased with no research (the flowers nearly burst out of the catalogue!). Two of the baggies are clematis plants, one purple and one red, but you'd never know it. Seriously, all that is in each labelled sandwich bag is a mass of tangled, thick roots. They also look dead, though on very close inspection I found a hint of a bud.

My girlfriend ordered from T & T Seeds last year and had warned me of the sorry state of affairs that I'd receive in the mail. All her sticks and roots magically sprouted life and grew with vigour. In her experience, I find my hope that hazelnuts will grow from what appears to be a dead twig weighed down by its weird tumour.

Sustainability of Small Farms: Q & A with John Schneider

2011-05-07T15:46:00.002-06:00

My main intent in these interviews is to understand the business of family farming-- and to understand how Alberta's farms can be sustainable, both financially and environmentally, for the sake of the province's food security.

INTERVIEW WITH JOHN SCHNEIDER of GOLD FOREST GRAINS

Gold Forest Grains is a certified organic grain farm located just 30 minutes north of Edmonton. You can buy Gold Forest Grain's flour, pancake mix, flax seed and other products at Strathcona Farmer's Market, City Market and Alberta Avenue Farmer's Market. To buy bulk, contact John through his blog.

1) How long have you been farming?

My son Garreth, or daughter Gretta will be the 5th generation of Canadian Farmers in our family should they choose to continue farming. I suspect that will depend on whether or not I am successful at making our current farm profitable. I have been farming since I was old enough to sit between my Dad's legs on the old Allis Chalmers tractor to be able to steer while we were plowing. I was about 10 I guess. I have had periods of my life where I was away from the farm working in the high rise towers of Edmonton. GFG has been operating for 7 years. Before that, it was my Dad's farm where we grew grain on about 2000 acres. Dad sold the farm during my stint away from farming and during a time when I didn't think I would return to farming.

2) Next to Farmer, do you have another profession(s)?

I am a safety consultant in the construction industry. Currently, I am trying to stay afloat financially by consulting for small companies of all different kinds to get their safety programs up and running. Before Christmas I was laid off from a permanent part-time position at a local construction company as they struggle to get busier. Perhaps I will return to that company as they get busy this summer. Perhaps I will continue to consult to other cos.

3) You have written about taking odd jobs to keep financially viable, this is something I know has been happening for years- farmers mining, farmers trucking. What are the benefits and problems with needing off-farm income? Is it a blessing or a curse?

To me, working off-farm is a definite curse. It takes away from my attention to the farm. Especially at this stage where we have just relocated the entire farm operation. I have built our house and an out-building but there is still so much to do along with the business of getting seed in the ground and maintaining the equipment etc. etc. I wish desperately, to be able to make my living strictly from the proceeds of my farm.

4) The 'family farm' is often talked about with notes of nostalgia-- What, by your definition, is the family farm?

My definition of a family farm is I suppose the same as everybody else's. Your question has me thinking about different ways to define the term "family farm". I know several family farms that are operated with foreign workers and live-in farm hands while the owner does whatever else interests him. I guess I define "family farm" as a relatively small farm operation where the members of the immediate family perform the farming activities.

5) What are the implications to Albertans and to the Alberta economy if the family farm was to disappear??

That is such a great question Carissa. I am not entirely sure what the implications are to the economy if we lost family farming. The large corporate farms are oftentimes foreign owned. They are usually subsidized heavily. We all know the story of corporate taxation on our continent. The rich get richer. If there were nothing left but corporate farms, my wages would be lower for performing farm activities...I would be making minimum wage I suspect (although there is an arguement that I don't even make that now! LOL) Even more foreign workers would come in to Alberta willing to work hard for less money. There are many scenarios that I am not smart enough to foresee. It would be a tragedy though to lose the way of life that has been a fabric of our society for so many thousands of years. I doubt that will ever happen. I am optimistic that the family farm will return as more and more people such as yourself make the conscious decision to purchase direct from the farmer instead of the supermarket.

6) One reason I feel concerned about the loss of numbers of farms, shrinking diversity of farms, and increasing scale, is that I wonder if we (Albertans) put our food security at risk. Is this concern valid? Thoughts?

Well, all I know about this is that I know of no incidents of people getting sick or dying from eating properly produced local farm products be it high risk products like milk or otherwise. The same cannot be said for corporations like Maple Leaf Foods now can it?

What about the extreme short sightedness of corporate farming to blindly blunder into the world of GMO? Ever increasing usage of chemical inputs? Food security is really one of the least of my concerns compared to the world scale threat to our ecology and health.

Why is there such an increase in milk sensitivity? Gluten intolerance? Peanut allergies? The simple fact is that human beings cannot de-evolve that quickly. We have been eating grains for at least 10's of thousands of years. We have not suddenly become allergic to wheat...that is ludicrous in my opinion. Is gluten sensitivity a mis-diagnosis of chemical sensitivity? A recent study in the UK found common farming-practice pesticide residues in bread on the grocery shelves...except for the Organic Samples! Even eating so called Whole Wheat flour from the store is not really "entire wheat". Much of the roughage that we need for proper health has been removed. Another article could be drafted discussing the human health benefits of eating "entire grain" products. The bad press of high-glycemic bread would not exist if the studies were done using bread that contained the entire grain in its flour.

7) What do farms like yours need in order to be financially sustainable (or what are the systemic factors that challenge your financial success?)?

We are on our way to becoming financially sustainable. We are taking our produce and making it into a processed product that the consumer can use in their homes. We are doing this processing right here on the farm. By growing grains and turning them into freshly-milled flour we take the profits that would have been lost by trucking, milling, trucking again and finally retailing. The only problem with all of this is that the grocery stores have the advantage of everybody knowing they are there! I happily continue to struggle to get people to know we are out there. From our living room at night, I can see the lights of Edmonton sparkling and I think about all those people that use flour and would like to purchase directly from the farmer.

I think though that the key to all family farms becoming sustainable is both an infrastructure for consumers to buy the food and an education that meat, milk and produce from local farms is the responsible choice. An education that food shouldn't be cheap. It should be fairly priced, from environmentally sustainable practices and fresh. I would love to see a large chain of grocery stores that carry nothing but produce from local farms. Perhaps farmers markets will evolve into this model, but I still see so many challenges there. Consumers need to have the choice to buy bacon from one farm or another instead of just whatever farmer is represented at that particular market. Producers also need to get active with marketing and packaging to make their products professional in appearance.

8) Besides purchasing food at farmer's market or CSAs (direct from the farmer), what can consumers do to advocate for more sustainable financing for small scale agriculture in Alberta?

There is nothing more that consumers need to do other than consume our products. That act alone will make small-scale, family farms viable. Once they are viable, they won't need financing. Once they don't need financing, the banks will be tripping over themselves to finance us!

9) How do you determine pricing for your flour (the main considerations)?

For us, pricing is based on comparing current grocery store prices. We check prices on a regular basis to make sure that we are right around the current, acceptable pricing for organic flour. We do not charge a premium for being local...that's just silly to us. If anything, we would like to be in a position to be able to lower our prices. For now though, we are using established pricing from successful companies who have done all the figuring for us! Currently, with the cost of production of the grain and the cost to mill, package and transport to market, and the cost of the market itself...it is not a very big profit margin. We continue to lose money on our farm which is why I have to get a job elsewhere. I haven't been marketing grain direct to the consumer long enough to be able to do a cost analysis so I will have to get back to you on that. For us, we have many determinations for pricing to consider...land costs, fuel, taxes, labour, equipment repairs, equipment purchases, packaging, electricity, etc. etc. Once we can produce flour on a full-time basis including the actual production of the grain, we will be in a position to really crunch the numbers. If we can sell a whole bunch more flour, we will start to make a profit...that's all I am focused on right now.

10) What could government or consumers do to help you be competitive?

Buy more flour products from our farm!

FROM LOCAL FARMS - Gold Forest Grains from Kevin Kossowan on Vimeo.

That Bloomin' Garden and Art Show TODAY

2011-05-07T11:11:00.000-06:00

10:00-10:45am

11:00-11:45am

12:00-12:45pm

1:00-1:45pm

2:00-2:45pm

First Plantings for the Square Foot Gardens

2011-05-01T23:40:00.000-06:00

Last weekend (April 22) I covered the oldest of the gardens (planted 2008) with 1.5 inches of sheep and cattle manure. By the end of last season it was clear the soil needed nutrients: at the end of their third year they were producing carrots and beets half the size of the new gardens. This year I plan to experiment with a couple types of home-brewed, liquid fertilizers: stay tuned.

No chance I'll be planting this garden in the next couple weeks!

Lovage, mustard and flax line the back of this garden. I use these square foot gardens like a greenhouse or cold frame- I plant the cold-tolerant seeds early and will move most seedlings to other spots in the garden.

If you can see my scrawling on the sticks, I've planted 3 square feet of hyssop with 16 seeds each for a total possible 48 plants... I want to do a mass group planting in the front boulevard of our house and I guess I really love hyssop! There are four squares of swiss chard planted in the centre of this bed: Swiss Chard regenerates after cutting, so I won't worry about succession plantings (for those who don't know what that is, it's doing a number of plantings spaced a week or two apart to stretch out the harvest). Four is probably too much swiss chard- but if it goes crazy in the middle of summer, I'll pull the two north squares and plant spinach there (which will benefit from the shade of the fully grown swiss chard up front!).

Here's a map of the two boxes as I've planted them now. I include the date I plant it and often the variety. About half of these boxes will become empty at the end of May as I use the seedlings to plant my yard's gardens (hyssop, cornflower, sunflowers, lovage, mustard and flax will be moved) and my deck pots (nasturtiums, lettuce, red teff grass will be transplanted).

A closer look.

It's terribly ugly, I know, but I'm experimenting with creating a micro climate that will extend my season, without the need to build further cold frames and greenhouses. What the tent lacks in attraction, it makes up for in utility-- after a week about half of the seedlings have germinated with the arugula about two weeks from being harvestable. As for the garden on the right side, I've covered it with frost- cloth sold for tomatoes. It also has been effective in keeping the soil warm enough for many of the seeds in this box to germinate. The trick now is keeping the seedlings alive despite the dipping night temperatures. Last year I covered many of the seedlings with the bottoms of pop bottles- which created mini-greenhouses (technically these are often called 'cloches' but pop bottles/ milk jugs are cheaper!). This year I'm trying out old windows. Placed over the top of the boxes, these windows have worked similarly to the cloches. I will need to watch, however, that the seedlings underneath don't burn as our daytime temperatures inch up.

Oh, how nice it is to finally be outside- working and sweaty!

As an aside: happy voting, Canada!

Next Week: Soap Making and Body Butter

2011-04-28T14:11:00.000-06:00

The makings of Body Butter

There's only a few more days left to sign up for a night of soap making with Hannah Barrington. Hannah led a similar workshop last year (you can read about it here).

I've been really pleased with the soap from our last workshop. After six months of letting it cure, the soap was mild, firm and really sudsy. Hannah also made me a batch with essential oils that has made for nice showers.

Both the soap and body butter recipes are simple to memorize and execute. See below for the details!

Wednesday, May 4, 2011 from 7- 9 pm

If you've always wanted to move away from mass produced, chemical filled body products but don't know where to start, join Hannah Barrington as she mixes up a batch of gentle Olive Oil Soap and skin-honouring Body Butter.

In this evening workshop, you'll make 10 bars of soap, exfoliating body rub, and learn how to make body butter (you'll take home a sample).

Fee is $25. RSVP to Carissa at carissahalton@hotmail.com and pay early to hold your spot.

Sap Gum- Yum?

2011-04-26T16:13:00.001-06:00

Here I am trying sap gum for the first time since I was seven years old. If you've ever craved the flavour "Christmas Tree", this is it. It's the smell of strong pine captured on my taste buds--- and it's a bit weird. But fun! And free! And sugar free!

Hiking while on holidays in the Columbia Valley, BC last week, we came upon some crazy sap structures that spread like skirting on half-century old pines. Mat dared me to eat it. While usually I resist this sort of thing, the sunshine and fresh air perhaps made me bold.

I gathered about a tablespoon of hard sap from the pine trees and tossed them in my mouth like tic tacs.

I chewed for about two minutes before it completely softened like store-bought gum.

I then proceeded to play with my gum. The flavour was strong even after fifteen minutes of hard chewing and stretching. It resisted my attempts to blow bubbles though.

An Easter Project- New Life for an Old Chair

2011-04-21T22:47:00.001-06:00

It's probably pathetic but there's not many feelings better then the heady rush of scoring a deal. Cheap thrill, I know. Perhaps it harkens back to my foremother's biological 'gatherer' instinct, perhaps it's thanks to the competitive nature of a bunch of cheap aunts. Whatever it is, I LOVE when I can announce (brag about?) a deal.

Like the Lululemon sweater I'm wearing: $3.99 at a thrift shop. Like my last couch: free from the back alley behind a VERY clean, respectable house by Kingsway mall. Like my 4 slice toaster: 90% off at consignment.

Yeah, the bragging can get a little wearing... but I mean no harm.

And besides, not all the things I score for cheap start out beautiful. Like this occasional chair from the 60s. I share this project in honour of the long weekend. And in honour of Easter, a celebration of the broken becoming beautiful.

$10 got me a scratchy, stained chair with decent springs and great shape. It had already been recovered before so the fabric was easy to pull off. The skirt was the first thing to go!

I 'Spray 9'd' (glue in a can) the whole chair and added four layers of batting from the fabric store. This stuff is cheap and is a great way to add padding, shape and support. It's like a good push up bra to tired breasts.

Madi's bum could not be photoshopped out of this picture, sorry about that! I laid the old pieces onto the new.

This is the main reason I go to the trouble of removing the old fabric. At first it seems simpler to upholster over the original material-- but while it may cut out a step it ADDS LOTS OF TIME at the fitting stage as one fiddles with size and cut!

The bottom piece goes on. Notice I removed the legs to staple the fabric on the bottom then was able to cover the staples with the leg piece. It's a cleaner finished look--- it also is easier to work without the legs flailing about at the stapler.

The most difficult part in recovering furniture is making neat folds in the fabric, like here on the front corners and back edges.

While I didn't take a close up, the finished chair has a couple brown buttons on the top section that I added BEFORE the back piece went on. If you peer carefully at this picture (taken before my fancy camera entered our home!) you'll notice the hammered nails lining the bottom of the chair. I love the look of them but they were a PAIN in the derriere to put on straight. While they probably DOUBLED the time this project took me, I still am telling myself they were the finishing touch.

Calculating all my materials: glue, nails, material and initial investment for the chair, this project cost $50 and took about 8 hours (3 of those hours were comprised of swearing at nails).

BOARD MEMBERS NEEDED: AB Ave. Community League AGM Tonight

2011-04-19T14:06:00.000-06:00

The Alberta Avenue Community League does some phenominal things in our community-- they have a great facility, host the farmer's market, coordinate community events like the Penny Carnival and Blooming Garden Show, facilitate affordable fitnesse and family programs like Tai Chi, Yoga, Pre-school gym classes.

Community Leagues are vital for the health of our neighbourhoods and bring a great amount of networking opportunities for volunteers.

If you have a couple nights a MONTH available to donate to a worthy, fun cause- consider putting your name forward at the Alberta Avenue Community League's AGM tonight. Here are the details!

Annual General Meeting

Tuesday, April 19 at 7pm

Lutz Room - 9210 118 Avenue

AGENDA:
-Annual Report
-2011 Budget
-Adoption of new bylaws
-Elections of new board members

And of course snacks, visiting and time for your input.

Forget Peat Pots: Making Them Old School

2011-04-16T16:08:00.002-06:00

My house in 2010. It became rather unmanageable- and dinner was eaten in the living room.

This is the time when our house decor models that of a jungle. It's a disorganized, poorly lit greenhouse, without enough surface space to manage all the growing (soon to be leggy!) seedlings. This year I have stayed true to my goal of control in the planting stage: I planted 2 butternut squash, not a flat, just 8 tomatoes, not 3 flats. My problem is that in my anticipation for all things warm, green and delicious, I forget that seeds will grow into seedlings which will require transplanting which will require FOUR times the space of the initial planting cells.

If you are wondering about my pots in the above picture- they are newspaper pots. I first got the idea of make my own transplant pots (instead of buying peat or coir) while browsing the Lee Valley Catalogue. For about $30 you could buy a wooden mold "for newspaper pots"! Thankfully I resisted buying the mold and rummaged for a plastic cup in my kitchen. It proved to work fantastically.

Rolling each pot adds about 8 seconds to my transplanting time per seedling. In return, I save about 10-15 cents a plant and reuse materials that are renewable (peat is a non-renewable resource so why use it when not necessary?). I also find that the newspaper pots decompose way faster than coir or peat pots when transplanted out in the garden...

For me, it's been worth the extra time. Here's how I do it:

Cut a 4-6" section of newsprint or a large newsletter (like below).

With two layers, roll the strips around a plastic cup or mold that's 3- 5" tall

Place top-end down and fold the bottom like the ends of a present- I usually begin folding the loose edge.

Squash the boom flat with the mold or cup.

Add soil immediately (which helps to weight down the folded bottom).

Then add your seedling.

I place mine on cookie trays, with slightly raised edges, so that the seedlings have a firm AND waterproof base. This means no cookies in our home for the month of April (a month when I don't particularly need cookies on my lips or hips!)

Water the tops gently and I add water to the bottom so the pots soak water from the base. Snuggled together like this, the pots hold their shape well.

In past years, I've usually placed tomatoes in the bottom half of pop bottles. This year, I simply transplanted them into a roasting pan (no turkeys will be cooked this month either!). I ran out of dirt but will fill this pan to 1" from the top.

I always plant my tomatoes as deep as I can. New roots will grow from whatever part of the stem is under soil. You can even plant leggy tomatoes sideways in the garden, leaving only the top couple leaves showing. New plants will grow up from the roots where leaves once grew.

If you have yet to start basil and parsley, these can be yours to baby. I have no room for these little gaffers. Email me if you want them.

Yogurt Cheese: Spreadable Deliciousness

2011-04-14T15:01:00.000-06:00

Now that I'm feeling pretty confident with making yogurt- and am churning it out by the litre full- I decided to try my hand at yogurt cheese. Past experiments have been unexplained, sorry failures (it looked like yogurt before and after the experiment!).

The following process, a really really easy one from Mother Earth News, worked! The by-product of essentially STRAINED YOGURT, was a creamy, stiff spreadable cheese. Since I used homemade yogurt it was easily 1/3 of the price of cream cheese, and the prep time was under 5 minutes.

Here's how I did it:

Layered 4-8 layers of cheese cloth (found at dollar and grocery stores) in a pasta strainer and put the strainer on a pie plate.

Poured plain (you can use flavoured) yogurt into the cloth covered strainer: I got about 1/2 the measure of cheese from 1 part yogurt.

Covered the entire thing with a plastic bag and put it in the fridge overnight. The whey strained out and settled in the pan.

NOTE: I have a friend from Greece who simply wraps up the cheese cloth around the yogurt and hangs it above the sink.

I still need to experiment with using the whey- I've read you can put it in bread, use it watered down as a liquid fertilizer, add it to shakes, feed it to pets... but I haven't tried any of this yet! Any uses for whey that you know of?

And lining the strainer is cheese! Look how stiff it is- it holds its shape, but is more spreadable than cream cheese.

Here I served the cheese with olives and pita. About an hour before serving I had mixed in oregano, lemon juice, worcester sauce, and pepper. On another occasion I mixed it with hot pepper jelly. If you do it, let me know what other spice mixes you try to add to my repertoire.

Wanna Manage a Farmers' Market??

2011-04-12T15:16:00.000-06:00

Want to get involved in building local food networks? Want to be part of the revitalization of Alberta Avenue? Do you have 10- 15 hours a week for paid work?

The deadline is April 15, 2011, so apply soon!

Market Manager Job Posting

The Alberta Avenue Farmer’s Market has been operating in the Alberta Avenue Community League for the past two years. Twenty to forty vendors participate in this weekly, year round market.

We are in need of a part-time market manager to work on a contract basis for 10 to 15 hours a week.

Duties:

- Oversee market day from 4 to 9 pm Thursdays includes: set up, take down, volunteer management, and collection of fees.

- Recruit, support and retain vendors

- Oversee the marketing plan including advertising in multi-media and working with steering committee.

- Facilitate volunteer-led special events.

- Work with Steering committee to recruit and facilitate volunteers

- Budget oversight

- Administrative duties as required.

Qualifications:

- Interest in and passion for accessible local food

- Strong interpersonal and conflict resolution skills

- Strong organizational abilities

- Ability to work independently

- Experience working with boards

- Previous experience with Farmers’ market management would be an asset.

- Work in Alberta Avenue community is an asset.

Please send cover letter and resume to market@albertaave.org by April 15, 2011.

Hummus from the Blender's cheap cheap cheap

2011-04-05T18:23:00.005-06:00

I was seven years old at my hippie Sunday School teacher's house when I first tried hummus. It was Passover and I wore a pink dress my mom had made me. Lace bordered the top collar and I worried the strange dip would drip from the warm pita onto my lap.

While it wasn't love-at-first-bite, hummus is now found at most of the parties I host- and its become a staple for many folks wanting a low fat, protein snack. I love it with lots of garlic and lemon.

Buy it at the store and a small 1 cup container will set you back $3-4. I can make 4 cups for the same price. Here's my recipe:

In a blender or food processor put*:

- 2-4 T of lemon juice (fresh or concentrate)

- 2-4 t of garlic

- 1/4 C of tahini (ground sesame seeds) found cheap at the Italian Centre or Superstore. Substitute peanut butter for an interesting variation.

-1- 2 cans of undrained chickpeas. Substitute black beans for a nice and unique alternative

-1- 2 t of cumin

*I find that if I put the liquid ingredients in first, the blender has a much easier time blending the beans.

Blend everything until smooth. Add lemon juice, oil or water if it's too thick to blend. Add another can of beans if it's too liquidy. Taste and add flavour - cumin, garlic, lemon juice- as you like it. I sometimes will add curry powder or onion powder. Roasted red pepper is also a nice variation.

Serve drizzled with olive oil and a couple shakes of paprika. When its the season for parsley or coriander, I'll often chop these up and sprinkle on top; if you want it more liberally flavoured, mix it in.

Beautiful, isn't it?

Kitchen Reno Report #3: Painting is Hard Work

2011-03-31T23:52:00.002-06:00

I recently visited a former art teacher in her home and had one of those 'ahha' moments gazing at her walls. She's a brilliant visual artist and the walls in her home have become a canvas. On one she's drawn a fine black line that's eerily akin to the silhouette of a mountain range at dusk. Another looks like rough hewn cob, its drywall textured with a range of desert- inspired colours. Small details- like a group of unstable rocks set to 'drop' from above- add whimsy and delight.

I used a roller, and one swipe over the stencil did the job.

Her walls smashed my expectations that "two coats of the same colour paint shall be applied in equal thickness to all the drywall in one's home." (Can you tell I don't have cable TV? No doubt I'd find lots of out-of-the-box painting on the home channel- to striking and terrible effect!) All this to say that when it came to painting our kitchen again, I wanted to include some surprises too.

House painting is something I often discount as an 'easy' project. Unlike wiring 220 V, anyone can do it, right? Maybe, but its a helluva lot of work, starting with the right paint colours.

Because I hadn't kept record of the paint we used last time, I picked out similar-looking paint samples. Turned out, each tint I chose was just a little off from the original reno project. The cream cabinets were more brown than yellow, which looked nasty against the yellow walls and dirty against the red inset cabinets. I sprayed the the backsplash 14 times to get the colour right. And though we originally planned to only paint the cabinets and backsplash- we turned out painting everything, sometimes twice and (in one case) three times.

This wall is by our back door. I painted it with magnet paint (very cool), and then painted a 'white board' paint over top. Apparently white board markers are supposed to wipe off. Our first renderings of cats and weird alien creatures never did clean off- and so I painted over it all with white latex. $30 of white board paint = big waste of money and time.

Four year old Madi paints with her trusting, brave Daddy. It went better than I thought.

The kitchen was an early addition (the house was built in 1917, the kitchen probably was added in the 20s or 30s), we think the clapboard wall was once a covered porch... When we moved in, this wall was covered by cabinets. We ripped them out and found this bowed buffet and hutch at the Strathcona Antique Mall to replace the cabinet storage.

Stencils are tricky things- they are super personal. When we moved in, the front entrance way had stencilled grape vines scalloping the edges. It was the first thing we painted over. And now, I have become a little stencil crazy- liberally stencilling Ed Roth's bird designs all over my home.

So, from your perspective, is this sequence a picture of a bird rising or falling?

I used both colours of spray paint from the backsplash, to colour these hummingbirds. The copper was the main colour then I lightly spot sprayed the silver on the feathers' edges.

This swallow is actually part of a larger series of them, coming up the basement stairs (from which I'm taking this picture). Someday I'll post pictures of the bird filled stairwell- but this guy escaped the stairs into our kitchen... and is about to dive bomb this Alphonse Mucha calendar print.

See the other posts on this kitchen's progress here.

Cold Rise Dough

2011-03-28T21:52:00.000-06:00

Another great bread workshop yesterday- thanks to the five women who mixed their way to a high carb future (and had great humour when, during the low point of the afternoon, the mixer and its operator showered one participant with a pasty water/flour shower!).

I realized that I haven't ever posted pictures of my dough after it's cold risen in the fridge. Here are a couple shots:

This whole wheat, hemp bread had risen for a couple days, but its not unusual for the bag to look this plump overnight. I usually reuse these bags over again (until they pop with one particularly excited, active dough), but I've also used a large tupperware container.

The books that inspired me to try cold rising are ones I've mentioned before: 'Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day' by Zoe Francois and Jeff Hertzberg and 'Artisan Breads Every Day' by baker Peter Reinhart. For many commercial bakers and pizzerias, cold rising bread is nothing new- but for home bakers, these books brought the cold rise method to the masses.

There have been a couple significant benefits to our family in the practise of cold rising dough:

1. I make 2-3 batches of dough ahead of time and then bake it, as loaves, buns, pitas, pizza dough, cinnamon buns, etc, when I'm ready. The dough can be left in the fridge for up to two weeks. For single people, there's the added benefit that you can bake in small batches.

2. Slowing down the fermentation process really enhances the bread's flavour-- sourdough is based on this principle. I do notice that after a few days in the fridge, the crumb from cold-rise dough is lighter (more holes) and more flavourful.

If you have other benefits to add to my list, drop them in a comment below.

Seed Starting 2011- In pictures

2011-03-24T17:11:00.002-06:00

Nothing like a four year old in charge of dirt... The aprons were a gift at Christmas, bought by my sister in law from an Etsy shop.

Unfortunately, parts of my fancy 'self-watering' Lee Valley seed starters were food for the winter mice in the garage. I salvaged the tops and placed the capillary mat (that draws water up) in a glass 9x13 pan from the kitchen. This seems to be working.

Madi is learning to write- and made most of the labels that were taped to the sides of the flats, directly under the designated cells.

Remember when I said I was 'going simple'? I couldn't help myself and ordered, then planted 8 cells, of Goji berries.

I'd love to hear how you organize. I place all my seeds in different bags: "Indoors 12 weeks" (plant before first frost free date. Here in Edmonton that's anywhere between May 7and 31!) "Indoors 8 weeks", "Indoors 4 weeks" and "Outdoors early"and "Outdoors late"

I keep this stuff close: scissors, pens and tape for labels. The green bulbous spike is for seeding- $4 allows me to drop one seed in each hole at a time (instead of scattering heaps of seeds to later be 'thinned').

My garden book has coils so I can tape extra seed packs in, I also staple in most of my seed and plant orders so I can remember varieties and quantities from year to year.

The calendar allows me to count forward and back from May 7th. I'm an optimist when it comes to frost. I like Lois Hole's advice in her Vegetables book-- 8 out of 10 times you win when you plant a little early- harvesting at least 2 weeks earlier. The risk is that your first sowing of seedlings like carrots and peas die in a late frost but only, according to her math and experience, 2 out of 10 seasons.

My scratchings.
Date on top then a rough chart: Row 1: Name of seed. Row 2: Number of cells planted. Row 3: Date planted. Row 4: Date of germination (the first sign of green)

Tell me how you keep track and stay organized! I'd love to know.

Yogurt-- I Finally Made It!

2011-03-22T23:18:00.004-06:00

If you were following along with my household dramas in the Fall of 2009, you'll remember my yogurt making experiments- sans a yogurt maker appliance- went bust (see the post here). Three times I followed recipes that failed to produce anything but sour milk and a phlegm like texture.

Its been a year and a half and I finally felt ready to brave the experiment again (Thanks for the inspiration, Evelyn at A Chaotic Lifestyle).

I'll skip the suspense to announce my final results, in a frenzy of caps lock excitement: THREE TIMES I'VE SUCCESSFULLY, MIRACULOUSLY turned milk to yogurt!

While the first re-trial came out more like Yop than Yogurt, which I froze as popsicles and no one knew the difference, the second and third were progressively more firm. I've Mother Earth News to thank for the instructions. Find the full article at Mother Earth News.

For the curious, I simplify the process below. If you decide to try it, reference the full article at MEN.

First, I melted 2 T of honey at bottom of pot to prevent milk scalding at the heat source.

Then on mid-low heat for about 30 minutes, I heated four and a half cups of milk until skin formed on top- with bubble trapped below. Turning off heat, I cooled milk for another 30 minutes until it didn't burn by inner wrist- but it stung (did mention there is some masochism involved in this?)

As the milk heated and cooled, I added a couple tablespoons of raspberry jam to the bottom of 2 of 3 clean, 500 ML jars. I kept one plain so I had starter for next time.

Once the milk was 115 F (hot but not too hot to the touch), I mixed in a couple Tablespoons of 'starter'. The yogurt contained NO gelatin, and ACTIVE bacteria cultures. I also added 3 Tablespoons of skim milk powder.

I then placed the jars in the crock pot and filled it with HOT water. I occasionally and shortly turned the crockpot on low to keep the water warm. When I headed to bed, I placed the glass covered pot under the cabinet lights. This seemed to keep the water relatively warm. In the morning, I checked how thick the yogurt was (it wasn't quite ready) then kept the yogurt in a warm bath for most of the day. When the yogurt finally seemed thick enough, I refrigerated the jars.

[On another occasion, I put the jars in my dutch oven and placed this into a cooling oven. Along with the oven light on overnight, this provided enough heat to solidify the yogurt.)

The four and a half cups of milk produced the equivalent amount of yogurt: about a tub and a half of the standard 650 g worth about $5- 8 at the store. Homemade it cost me $1.25. After doing it three times, I feel pretty confident that I could do it regularly without much trouble-- most of the time it takes to make involves me sleeping, surfing the net, and working on other things in the kitchen.

Tonight, I'm happily calculating how many pairs of shoes and Lee Valley garden tools I can buy with my savings. As I do, I'm sucking a raspberry, yogurt popsicle that once was Yop, which before that was milk in my fridge.

Seedy Sunday Edmonton is TOMORROW

2011-03-19T14:33:00.000-06:00

ALERT: Edmonton Gardeners and Local Food Folks

Here are the deets for the official Edmonton Seedy Sunday being held tomorrow afternoon in the Alberta Avenue neighbourhood. Hope to see you there!

Seedy Sunday
March 20, 2011
11:00 a. m. to 4:00 p. m.
Alberta Avenue Community Hall
9210 118 Ave NW, Edmonton

seed exchange * seed vendors * books * gardening displays * kid's table
* gardening book * magazine exchange * concessions

Speakers Include:

Growing From the Ground Up: Beginning Gardening 101
Anita Gregoire www.toobusyhands.com
Urban Permaculture
Dustin Bajer www.permaculture.jasperplace.ca
Gardening for Pollinators
Patty Milligan www.lolacanola.com
Growing Fruit Panel
Thean Phen Amanda Chedzoy
free admission/donations accepted

When you're done…..check this event out across the street:

Explore the many ways to get your food - beyond the supermarket!

Community Supported Agriculture programs, food boxes and delivery,
co-ops, community gardens, clubs…. meet the people behind them, find out what will work for you, and sign up!

Where: Nina Haggarty Arts Centre (Opposite Alberta Avenue Community
League), 9225 - 118 Avenue, Edmonton, AB T5G 0B1
When: March 20th, 2-5pm
Entry by donation to Slow Food Edmonton

Kitchen Report #2: The Backsplash

2011-03-17T22:09:00.002-06:00

When we moved into our home we loved the kitchen backsplash. It looked like old-school tin ceiling tiles however on closer inspection, you realized it was raised wall paper with metallic paint. When we ripped out the kitchen, the original backslash inevitably got destroyed. So we wallpapered it all again and planned to repaint.

Of course, two years later it was still white. I didn't mind the white, except that it stained so easily and the matte wallpaper did not wipe clean from basic spills (you know, when the blender barfs smoothie? or when a jar of tomato sauce smashes on the quartz counter tops?)

In our quest to Do It Right (see the past blog posts here) we washed the wall paper as best as we could. We taped everything well, took off the electrical covers, and secured newsprint over the whole counter. Despite our best efforts, we ended up doing this twice!

In the end, our problem was one of aesthetic. While I loved the copper on its own, I didn't like it against the red sections of cabinet. AND I LOVE RED. I couldn't part with it, so we painted over the copper with hammered silver. Even though its darker than I hoped, there's no way I'll spray again any time soon.

Spray paint was the only type of paint I found that promised the 'hammered' metal look. For a 60 square foot section I used 4 cans of copper Rustoleum paint (and one face mask) from Home Depot. This was BY FAR a better brand then the second one from Canadian Tire. It didn't cover as much with one can, however it went on more smooth and the trigger was really comfortable. Laugh at that, but this matters after painstakingly spraying 7 coats in 2 hours. The second brand's traditional spray top meant I couldn't use the tip of my finger for a couple days after -- seriously, I couldn't type without grimacing.

Sorry for the bad light. The Rustoleum can on the right was easily worth the extra $3/can.

Over all, I'm happy with how it turned out. Its an affordable way to get a traditional look and, from what we know from living with the original backsplash for a few years, should wear really well.

Overall Costs:

$30- wall paper
$40- copper paint
$27- silver paint
7- aerosol cans to the eco-station
a few- brain cells
30 min- prep
2 hours duration- spray time

Alternative Energy Source-- Is there an ethical source?

2011-03-15T22:47:00.006-06:00

I had an interesting discussion with a coworker today that has, paired with Japan's looming nuclear disaster, got me thinking about alternative energy sources. My friend had been listening to a Living on Earth podcast: The Future of Biofuels and the Weather by Lisa Raffensperger. In it she discusses the ecological impact of switchgrass being grown on non-food farmable land for the ethanol industry. Researchers have linked the extensive plantings of switchgrass to changing weather patterns in the area- increased tornadoes and violent storms.

Made me wonder: Just what are we to do if even our 'green power' cannot be trusted to provide us with our energy needs sans ecological and social destruction?

And nuclear power--- while not a green energy, its certainly touted in Alberta as a better alternative energy source from our carbon spewing coal plants. But after the last few days of events in Japan? I don't know- its an experiment that has ZERO wiggle room for mistakes. In what other scenario is making a mistake NOT AN OPTION? Perhaps walking on a tight rope over Niagara falls? Or free climbing sheer cliffs? Or fighting a rabid tiger?

Who does that stuff?

Maybe one could argue there are zero-wiggle room scenarios like brain surgery that are conducted every day, but one mistake there means one guy dead... not thousands. Am I off in my logic here?

I can't get enough information on the events in Japan. I have friends who live there and Japanese friends who live here.

30% of their power supply is nuclear (in a country smack overtop a fault line). But before I raise my eyes at that, I know that even in this province- heavy with oil producers and coal generators- our thirst for energy will eventually bring us back to the Blessed Stream of Nuclear Options. When we use the kind of energy that we do-- we will continue to make health and environmental concessions and take risks that to other generations may look like crazy-making. ("What the f*$^ were they thinking?")

While safety is always the primary discussion regarding nuclear power-- the other problem with this energy source as a solution to our oil dependance is its dependance on non-renewable heavy metals (by some estimates, even if the world converted to nuclear energy there may not be enough uranium to build a second generation of plants.)

Looking at other 'greener' sources, no one can conclusively say if these alternatives are necessarily sustainable in the long term: Hydro power changes ecosystems and displaces communities. Wind power disrupts migratory birds. Solar power requires non-renewal heavy metals for its technology. And ethanol requires vast stretches of land to grow fuel for cars instead of fuel for bodies (and includes grasses that mess with the weather). The only way we'll know the impacts to our complex ecological system is living with it over a long period of time.

There's no doubt about it, human life impacts the earth: for good and bad. There are some really smart, ardent people out there who are working hard to figure out how we can become sustainable in terms of fossil fuel dependence, in terms of food and agriculture, in terms of manufacturing and development. Conrad at greenedmonton.ca is experimenting with this personally with his 'net-zero' house in Edmonton. Check out Johan Rockstrom TED talks: he positively and passionately offers the parameters of what is actually 'sustainable' for our planet.

This post is mostly me processing. I'm a layperson on all this: I'm an energy user and earth abuser. But I strive to do better.

"Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

1. Free your heart from hatred.
2. Free your mind from worries.
3. Live simply.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less"

Seedy Saturday- Perennial Seeds to Try

2011-03-13T00:01:00.001-07:00

At the garden house, perennials are the financial equivalent of a kick in the teeth to my budget. There 's no question that they end up being worth the money- returning year after year. But sometimes I don't have the money.

In the years I've got a strict budget or a large project, I've bought perennials at the end of the season when they're heavily discounted.

I've also grown perennials from seed- which is by far the most affordable option. A seed packet usually costs $2- 4 and there are dozens, if not hundreds of seeds per packet. Not all perennials are easy to grow from seed; Lois Holes' Perennial Favourites book is a great resource and she usually includes whether the plants are easy to grow from seed. Even when she's advised against it, if its a plant I really want in my yard-- in LARGE QUANTITY- then I've tried growing it from seed just to see. It's really cheap to fail.

Here are some of the perennials I've had luck with:

Jacob's Ladder is a shade loving plant with an upright habit and some capacity to take over. I think the leaves look really unique- set closely together they form the look of a ladder. Their pretty flowers grow in purple bunches early in the summer. I grow this plant in the complete shade in a strip of dirt bordered by our deck and patio. These plants flowered the first season I transplanted them out and have grown taller and more profuse every season since.

Silver Sage is a curious looking plant. It has large blue-grey, furry leaves grown in the form of a rose. Its flowers grow atop a tall, wide stalk. I think its a bit like hens and chicks on steroids -- plus it flowers. I have it in a spot in part-shade and its grown well- though the slugs have really enjoyed the leaves. It grew to full size the second summer I transplanted it out... full size being the size of one of the larger hostas.

Yarrow is a plant I grew up picking in the Rockies. I liked it so much I tried to make my wedding bouquet out of these medicinal flowers (it turned out looking like a giant cauliflower- and so it didn't make the service!) The plants are about 2 to 3 feet tall with dusty green leaves that wave like whispy ferns. Their flowers are tiny daisy- looking things snuggled close together creating a wistful canopy. In the wild I've only seen white however you can buy plants and seeds that are many different colours including pink, orange and yellow. To grow them for their medicinal properties (Salt Spring Seeds reports that yarrow is an "Esteemed cold and fever plant. Soothes and heals external wounds and skin conditions of all kinds. An infusion of the leaves makes a nourishing tea as well as a great hair wash."), grow the white ones. In my yard, yarrow has been extremely non-fussy, winter hardy and drought tolerant.

This spring I'm looking forward to seeing if my Chinese Rhubarb and Bergamot plants survived. Both transplanted well into the garden last summer... but we'll see if they survived the test of Edmonton's longest winter in my life time.

Great Resources for your inner Foodie and Urban Farmer

2011-03-10T15:26:00.000-07:00

While your best resources for urban farming are local farmers--- who, if you live in Edmonton, can be found tonight at the Alberta Avenue Farmer's Market--- one of the best print resources is Mother Earth News magazine. It's cheap to order (here), and comes compliments of Canada Post directly to your mailbox.

If you're interested in books on Urban Farming, check out Mother Earth News' book store for some great titles. Also exceptional is most of the materials put out by Storey Publishing. Go through their book lists here for great ideas and inspiration.

Also, for all the foodies out there, check out Spezzatino Magazine for some delectable food information and pictures. All subscription proceeds go to supporting the Healthy Food Bank (check out my blog post on squash here).

If you have more suggestions of resources, share them in the comments section below.

Kitchen Report #1: Reno Take 2

2011-03-09T16:15:00.002-07:00

Following up on my post Doing it Right the First Time, we are nearing the completion of our kitchen project- three years after renos began. Oh the last couple weeks have been painful! Mat asked at one point, "Were we anywhere close to 80% done?"

This is why we don't finish things- the little details are a major pain in the derriere.

Crown moulding, fiddly painting, removing wall sockets, connecting lights. We've procrastinated on this stuff for a reason: its fiddly and doesn't quite have the KAZAM of new cork flooring, efficient shiny appliances, and countertops. In fact, all this work and most of our guests don't seem to notice right away that anything is different.

But the truth is, I notice. One of the finished details I'm most excited about is our cabinets.

Mat built the cabinets around the fridge and stove from scratch and we saved what we could of the original base cabinets on the east wall. While this method we saved money and landfill space, we've had some troubles: a couple of the doors never closed right and the paint chipped after only a year. This stuff bugged us both on a regular basis- and now, after much cursing, it is fixed it!

We kept all the base parts of the original cabinets on the wall to the right. Mat then had the tricky job of making doors for both new and old sets of base cabinets. This was his first time with such a project- pretty handy guy, eh?

Note the speakers at the ceiling flanking the microwave? They were the first thing on our list of 'additions'. Best call we could have made!

Mat rejigged the cabinet doors so they close perfectly. We also (with the help of my dad) re-painted the cabinets with a low VOC paint. This time we decided to pre-meditate the chipping and finish it 'antique'. This meant painting the fronts with a coat of bright blue, then two coats of cream, then sanding the 'worn bits'. I then did a coat of 'white wash'. I love the white wash effect- its an easy way to add depth a painted surface and softens the colours.

What do you think- should I add a final layer of wax to buff them a bit?

To white wash:

1. Mix 8 parts water with 1 part white (or any colour) paint
2. Using a rag and literally wash the surface
3. After a couple minutes of dry time, go over the area again with a clean, dry cloth to smooth out the streaks
4. Repeat if necessary.

The finished look isn't for everyone, but I think it suits our kitchen perfectly.

Seedy Saturday- 2011 Seed Order

2011-03-06T02:03:00.001-07:00

It's done. My seed order is in and in five days I shall be digging about in a bag of dirt and tracking said dirt about the house. The girls will eagerly help fill the seed trays with soil and water. For the next two months, dirt will settle in a fine dust over most of the main floor and the dining room will smell like summer after a hard rain.

There is nothing that gets me through the last couple months of winter better than starting seeds indoors. I love what it affords me: healthy, organic seedlings for a tenth of the price at the greenhouse. I love how it makes me feel a little rebellious, like I've defied the natural order of things. My little tomato seedlings wave like middle fingers at the snow.

This love affair has introduced hundreds- quite literally!- hundreds of seedlings to our home. They fight us for sunlight and expand on all available surface areas. Mat is regularly bewildered by the sheer volume of plants littering our 700 square foot main floor. He sputters, "Where exactly are you going to plant 36 tomato plants?" And, "What the hell is feverfew?"

It's true that I've regularly gotten carried away with the sheer seratonin of it all. But, in deference to my family and part-time job, this year I aim to show restraint. Cutting back is hard, especially in the heat of the moment when ordering "Gogi- the elixir of life" is just a mouse click away.

What do I cut this year? Annual flowers. In the past, many of the annuals I started inside (petunias, snapdragons) have not flowered until well into the summer. With our short growing season and my lack of a greenhouse, having blooms in June is worth my buying annuals from the greenhouse. Since I've had great luck growing sweet peas, nasturtiums and marigolds from seed started outside, I'll do this again (my marigolds seed themselves really successfully. I let them start where they wish then transplant them to other parts of the garden as I need them.).

What else do I cut? Experimental plants. In years past I've grown eggplant (tiny harvest!), sweet peppers (only the hot ones have grown easily for me), corn (two failed years), stevia (shrivelled in the sun) and strawberry spinach (grew well, but took up lots of space). While I may give these crops another go- this year my goal is to fill the freezer and cellar with the basics: carrots, onions, potatoes, peas and tomatoes. These are the crops we love to eat, so these are the crops I will grow in my tiny space.

Did I mention ordering zucchini, cucumber, arugula, beets, basil, parsley, mustard and butternut squash? But at least this year I didn't order feverfew, quinoa, oats and flax.... I promise I'm keeping it simple baby.

Salad a la Lady Bugs

2011-03-03T22:45:00.003-07:00

After the market tonight, we had a treat. Along with the Leduc grown, heritage greens, our bag of salad from Green, Eggs and Ham included TWO lady bugs. In spite of the deep freeze outside, we spent the better part of a half hour tickling creatures that epitomize summer and nature's pest control.

As far as my mid-winter, summer-like evening snack: exceptional. I saw beet greens, baby swiss chard, sorrel, a little dandelion. I tasted fennel and mustard- nice and spicy. With the greens I added grated carrot,

hulled hemp seed (for some Omega 3 POP), parmesan cheese and cranberries. Salt, pepper and a drizzle of virgin olive oil was all the dressing this salad needed. Who'd have thought salad and bugs could make my night?

For the $6 price tag, I could make about 8 salads this size. Compared to my usual evening snack of crackers and cheese (or nachos and salsa!), its not much more expensive. Besides, it includes a whole lot less fat, more flavour and is a pleasure to the eye. Thanks, Andreas, for the treat.

See You at the Market?

2011-03-03T17:44:00.000-07:00

So we're heading out for elk hamburgers at the Alberta Avenue Farmer's Market (118 Ave and 92 St). See you there? It's open until 8pm tonight... I'll be the one in the pink nipple hat if you want to say "hi" and perhaps warm me up with your garden plans!

"Beat it, Winter": But until then there's Snowsuits

2011-03-01T22:36:00.001-07:00

Dang it Winter, let go already. Like lint on my pantyhose. Like a leech on the inside of my thigh. Like a cold without echinacea. Like Madi on my neck in a sea of strange men.

What? Are you frightened? Hungry? Bull-headed? Why can you not let go?

You've got some serious self-assessment to do. There are 20 ever lengthening days left until Spring bullies you out of here (You know how you get when the sun comes out. Like my husband when I host book club, just melts away). Is that all this is? Grand standing? I swear, if you get all global warming on me I'm going to pull out my hair dryer and blow what I can of you away.

- 31 tonight, - 26 tomorrow, - 31 Saturday. Winter, this is seriously unacceptable. It's the beginning of March. Have you never visited Vancouver at this time of year? Dancing about in Cherry blossoms, they are. And then you'd get an early- longer- northern holiday...

What was that, Winter? Oh... Right. This is your holiday spot?

----

I guess I've chosen this. For all sorts of weird and wonderful reasons, I chose this place. Cold days such as these call for positive thoughts: Like of snow forts. Ice slides. Skating rinks. Hibernating. The euphoric feelings one gets on entering the warm house every single day.

The key to making the best of winter while carting kids around, for me, has been their MEC snowsuits. An uber investment- at $100 a pop- I never worry about the girls being too cold. And they fit so well, they have to do some pretty crazy stuff to end up with snow down their backs.

To help cover the cost, my girlfriend and I have cooperated. Our kids are in between each other in size so each season we've taken turns buying suits. This year, she bought my oldest daughter's size while her son took on the middle size. Lily remains in an 18 month suit... for the second year in a row.

Soon, I pray really soon, I will retire the suits for another season. But until then, we will bundle and alternately curse then praise Winter.

Maybe I need to just let it go. This- -31- is my reality.

100-mile diet Bread for Edmontonians

2011-02-27T23:04:00.001-07:00

Whole Wheat, Flax and Hemp Honey Bread

I've been meaning to bake a "Local Edmonton" loaf of bread for a while. Finally did it! All the ingredients were sourced from Alberta Avenue Farmer's Market vendors; all of whom live within the 100 mile diet parameters to downtown Edmonton.

In the recipe, the ingredients marked with an * are the only ones I couldn't easily locally source.

A big thanks to the Farmers who made this fantastic evening snack a reality:

John Schneider @ Gold Forest Grains grew the organic golden flax seeds and milled the organic whole grain flour
Arie Neufeld @Ma-Be Farms fed the chickens which brought me some beautiful eggs.
"Hemp Guy" (I'll remember his name sometime tonight) sold me the locally grown and hulled hemp seeds.
Joseph and Christine Kent @ Coal Lake Honey Farm harvested then sold me some tasty, well priced honey.

The Recipe:

(makes 1 loaf)

1. Heat oven to 375 F.

2. Mix EVERYTHING together (I'm not fussy about order of ingredients and neither seems to be my yeast):

- 3 C whole wheat flour

- 1/2 T instant yeast*

- 1/2 t salt *

- 1/4 C hulled hemp seeds (or substitute other seeds, but these are so high in omega 3s!)

- 1/4 C golden flax seeds

- 3 T vital wheat gluten (sold where most 'Red Mill' products are sold)*

- 2 T honey

- 1 egg

- 1 1/4 C luke warm water

3. When too stiff to mix, knead for another 2 minutes. Add water or extra flour if needed to make an elastic, smooth dough.

4. Leave it to "rest" for 5 minutes.

5. Shape into loaf or buns. Let rise up to 2 hours.

6. Bake for 40 minutes or until golden on top and hollow sounding (when you flick it)

7. Slice, slather with butter and enjoy.

For more Bread Making 101 tips check out this PDF I developed for my workshops.

If I had let it 'cold rise' in the fridge for a few days, I think I'd have had a little more rise. But I was happy with this considering its 100% whole wheat (this is mostly thanks to the vital wheat gluten!)

Seedy Saturday- Chives

2011-02-27T00:27:00.001-07:00

Chives grow throughout my flower gardens, however there is one bunching burst of green that makes me particularly happy. It grows from a dark pot on the deck and its bobbing, nodding purple flowers offer splats of colour June through August. Like a pair of Camper Shoes, they're pretty and practical in equal measure. Three steps is all it takes me from the kitchen door to the pot. Six steps and I'm back to the stove with a burst of flavour for supper.

The flowers look like a large clover flower, though its colour and fragrance are more poignant. They remind me of the flower Horton found the Who's on; that regularly makes me smile. Close up I can't help wondering aloud to Madi, "Just what else lives on that speck there? And who's to say we aren't floating precariously on a speck of our own?"

Besides stirring some curious existential questions, I find the flowers a nice, mild treat to eat. Like a french marigold you can pop the flower right into your mouth. The texture is a little weird (never mind what all those Who's will do to your bowels), but their flavour is unique from the green bits.

Speaking of the green bits- they can be snipped off at any occasion and added to any dish (no lie!). Not only tasty, as a design element the greenery is a fantastic contrast to many flowers and herbs. People always use those Dracaena-type grasses, however I think that a couple pots with chives as the spiky centre is way more unique and practical. If its harvested around the outside edges in a plant feature, it maintains a nice tall, narrow shape.

My chives come from a couple sources. The first chives I planted were from my friend's mom, since once established they are easily shared. The second group grew from seed sown directly in the garden. They grow back faithfully ever year and each spring I split them and pop the transplants throughout the yard. For me, they flower happily in both part- shade and sunny spots.

With the potted chives, I am pretty lazy at the end of the year. I simply move the pots into the unheated, detached garage where they overwinter. When the spring melt begins, I bring the pot out and watch delighted as my chives reawaken in time to garnish my steak off the BBQ.

To buy garlic chives (with white flowers), check out Salt Spring Seeds where I've bought at least half my seeds the last couple years. Of course, Richters has an incredible selection of chive seeds on pg. 15 of its catalogue. Find it here.

Doing it Right the First Time

2011-02-24T22:44:00.002-07:00

In my stocking, this year, I got a fridge magnet. It read:

Why is there never time to do it right,

but there's always time to do it twice?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Is it a bad thing that my "style" blares from the bold font of a kitchen knicknack?

A couple summers ago, Mat and I bought a cool (cute) old school (looking) scooter from a couple in St. Albert. Their house was pristine. Their garage- OMG- their garage!! All walls had those metal cabinets that fit snuggly together; there wasn't a rogue screw, tool or pipe to be seen. In fact, I saw not one drop of oil or varnish staining the scrubbed cement.

Every time we visited (we ended up there three times) the couple invited us in for drinks. On our second visit it came up that we struggled to finish things. Scooter Man tisked and shook his head wildly, "No, no, no! You MUST finish things 100%. It's imperative for your financial and emotional health."

I'm not sure what he knows about emotional health, but certainly financially they had done very well.

In the couple months that followed we reflected often on his horrified expression and encouraging coaching- is 100% even possible for our two laid-back, attention deficit personalities?

As we stepped back to assess, we saw that we finish most things about 80%. We take out the garbage- but only to the back gate (then it all piles up in a stinking mess until we finally think to take it the last 20% to the alley). We paint the walls, then grow tired before we finish the sanding and painting of the trim. We put new flooring in the upstairs, and leave nailing on trim to 'another day' which never does come.

Last year we took on the project of our front entrance way and determined to finish it 100%- meaning every hook needed to be screwed in, back stop installed, bench stained, paint complete, pictures hung. And did it! It took us a couple more days than planned- but we did it.

As we've continued to encourage ourselves towards finishing things (and finishing them well!), I think the most significant obstacle to this is the way we budget TIME. We never give ourselves the time to finish. Projects always go longer than expected, the garbage always is taken out as we're late for a meeting. (Some might say we also don't consider 'cleaning things up' to be a huge priority.)

This last weekend, I had a hankering for a project. I wanted to paint our dining and living rooms plus add a plate rail and built-in book case. As we planned the budget and shopping list-- we looked at each other. Memory of Scooter Man was shouting in my ear and I took a tentative glance at our kitchen.

It's been 80% done for 3 years now. How could we start another project with the kitchen sitting awaiting some lovin'? So we pulled on our Responsible Adult hats, set our faces to 'grim', and started the nasty job of sanding cabinets, re-jigging doors and adding ceiling trim.

Hopefully this post isn't just a form of procrastination (from the cutting in currently needed on the cabinets). Its a public declaration that: I really will try to finish things better.

Mat does the curse-incurring work of ceiling trim.

The cabinets Mat build (saving some of the base cabinets on the right wall), but the paint has begun to peel. Also a number of the bottom doors never have quite fit. There is some problem-solving required!

The backsplash is wallpaper--- and we always meant to spray it a metallic colour. Then we didn't and its gotten gucky, grey and stained, of course.

The inside of the cabinet Mat is painting was never painted (we even painted 80%!). Now, we're painting it all. The blue is actually an undercoat to be covered with 'navajo white'. We think that if we "distress" or "antique" the cabinets- more on that later- we may not have to worry so much about stripping paint in the future. Maybe?!?

Seedy Saturday: Borage

2011-02-19T16:16:00.003-07:00

Borage planted as a border in the back alley. I wanted to attract bees to my lacklustre squash (check out the post on sex in the squash patch for more on that).

I first heard of borage at a workshop with the Urban Farmer, Ron Berezan. He had a small seedling available to touch and sample. On tasting a small, tender leaf I was surprised by its flavour: mild, and a touch minty (to my palate). I decided to seed it in a stretch of garden that had been stripped of grass (the same stretch that I planted the strawberries a few seasons later).

The plants have a thick, hollow stem and their habit is large and sprawling. I've planted it both on the north and south side of a fence and its stretched profusely on both sites, irregardless of the sun. They have an abundant number of purple to blue bell shaped flowers that have a mild nutty flavour (with no acid kick when you swallow it). As a garnish on cakes and salads, they add an unusual colour and flavour. I've also frozen them in ice cubes for a nice effect at summer parties. Harvest can happen throughout the summer and well into fall.

To eat, pick the more tender leaves. As the leaves get larger, their soft fur becomes more prickly (not as harsh as hops but more abrasive than the hairs on sunflower stems). Chop them up and use in pesto (like I did here), or pasta sauce, or to flavour pork or beef. They also make a nice cold tea: flavoured with lemon and mint.

Borage is an annual that copiously self seeds. I decided to move it from its original location- where I wanted to plant more fruit- to a weedy and forlorn stretch around my garbage nook in the back alley. The bees love this plant. I have it paired with icelandic poppies and cilantro so when I throw out my garbage, I'm always treated with the sound of working bees, a bursting rainbow of colours, and some cilantro mixed in with the usual garbage smell.

There are a couple things to note about this plant before sowing-- plant it and you will have it every year, as borage seeds are tough little gaffers in our cold climate. The seedlings are large (they look a little like a squash seedling) and are easy to pull, but they really do come up everywhere. Also, the large, adult plant's hairs can be tough for sensitive skin. I handle it with my hands fine, but when I clear up the plants I need long sleeves to protect the softer skin on my arms.

Borage is a great herb, a brilliant bee magnet, and a hardy self-seedier. I also think this plant would be great in a guerilla gardener's seed box-or bombs!

Richters sells the seeds (see catalogue number below). However, if you are in the Edmonton area and you want to snag some seedlings from me, please email. I'm always pulling them out and am happy to save them from the compost!

BORAGE (Borago officinalis)

Known as the Herb of Gladness for its exhilarating effect. Try adding chopped young leaves and flowers to salads or summer drinks. On those sweltering summer days, cool off with iced borage tea, adding honey and lemon juice to taste.

S1470 Seeds: Pkt/$1.50, 100g/$13, 1kg/$73, 10kg/$530 N S1470-001 Seeds: Pkt/$2.75, 10g/$7, 100g/$40, 1kg/$280

Cooking for a Month Attempt #2

2011-02-17T23:32:00.003-07:00

We have spent a week eating some pretty fantastic meals from our freezer.

Once again, my childhood friend Katy and I teamed up for a day of cooking. Since my mom was out of the country, our good friend Hannah not only joined us, but hosted the marathon.

If you read about our last experience (check it out here), I gave it a 7/10. This time, I think we're nearing 9. The meals are better both in flavour and "freezability", we did it in less time, plus we added more meat dishes and used sustainably grown meat and eggs purchased from our local friends Christine of Shooting Star Ranch (elk) and Arie of Ma-Be Farms (beef and eggs) at the Alberta Farmer's Market- for almost the same price as the last trial.

Katy's baby is due in two weeks! Mad lady trooper!

The Stats:

Meal Planning time - 2 hours
Shopping time- 4 hours
Prep/Cook/Clean up time- 10 hours

Meals prepared per family- 18
Servings prepared per family- 120

Cost per family- $220

Each meal averages out to less than an hour of time (including shopping, prep and cleanup!) and about $2 per serving. In the scheme of things, not bad for some damn good meals. Here's a sample of our line up:

-Chicken Manicotti
-Elk Meat loaf
-Italian Sausage and Mushroom Pizza
-Red Pepper Quiche
-Breakfast Burritos
-Beef and Spinach Lasagna
-Black Bean Salsa Soup

Each meal has easily been dinner and a couple lunches for our family of four (two of which don't eat anything but crackers and spaghetti).

How we changed it up:

There were a few things we did differently- and better- this time:

1. We chose recipes that we already liked and knew froze well. So each of us brought some favorites to the table and we worked with that. This took slightly more brain power when it came to creating the shopping list, however one of us wrote out the list in pencil (on five separate sheets of paper, each titled for different sections so we could divide and conquer at the grocery store) as the others read out the ingredients (x3) one at a time. It probably added half hour to the process, over using the book's recipes which were less consistently good.

2. We used locally source beef, elk and eggs. Though we paid slightly more than at Superstore, the meat stretched well. It also has proven to be a lot less fatty, with surprisingly more flavour.

3. We made a huge pot of tomato sauce and used it in a number of recipes. We bought four cans of 100 oz cans of spaghetti sauce at the Italian Centre, then I simply added a whole bottle of pesto. Delicious. it was used to make pizza and lasagna, plus was added to flavour a couple other dishes.

4. We doubled a few of the recipes- meaning we made 6 casserole dishes of Popeye Pasta and Enchiladas. It required significant counter space but shaved 3 hours off our cook day.

Popeye Pasta- lots of beef, spinach and cheese

5. We froze everything outside first, which meant it was less messy stacking the dishes in our freezer at the end of the night. We also used more Ziploc bags to freeze things which is more efficient for the freezer and better for the environment. I do feel bad about the tin foil casserole tins, but I don't have enough glass ones to spare. We did manage to reuse a few from last month- so hopefully we can stretch the disposable ones over a few cook-offs.

I have just started back working part-time in paid employment and this has been a major treat for both Mat and I as we transition our family into a slightly busier schedule of life. Its taken the edge off, you know what I mean?

I've had a few people tell me they are interested in finding others to try this with-- if that's you, let me know and perhaps I can connect you to others for a blind-date type cook off!

Noisy Kids Must Be German Too?

2011-02-17T00:41:00.000-07:00

So I came across this link today and giggled for a long time. I don't know what you think about children being seen and not heard, but until I start giving birth to babies with volume knobs behind their right ear, my home will ring with "Children's Reverb". Maybe now I'll be able to bring my kids along on a trip to Germany?

Seedy Saturday- Wild Strawberries

2011-02-13T00:05:00.004-07:00

A strawberry valley sits tucked at the base of the hulking Ptolomey mountain range, in the Crowsnest Pass, Alberta. In my memory, the wind (a constant force of life in the Pass) missed that valley and allowed the sun to fully soak the wild onions, Indian Paintbrush and thistle with heat that smelled of sweet licorice.

Every summer my family of six would unload from our white, 14 passenger van and hunt for wild strawberries in this small pasture. Tiny nuggets of pure gold to the tongue. Warm and sweet- they belonged in our mouths1 Unfortunately, the fruit didn't appear to agree, hiding itself well behind creased, multi-pointed leaves that hugged the ground.

When it came for me to plant my first strawberries in the garden, I bought the ones the garden centres sell. I have a number of varieties and all are more delicious than the berries that travel in plastic clamshells to the supermarket. However, they have never satisfied my hunger for their smaller, sweeter cousins.

When I began looking to buy some wild strawberries last year, I had no luck sourcing the actual plants so I googled "wild strawberry seeds". They turned up on ebay, of all places, and I purchased two packets of 50 seeds.

They arrived in April and I planted half of them in my square foot boxes right away. I then planted a flat of 25 indoors and set it on my south facing window sill.

Both grew! The ones I planted in the garden were slower to sprout, but remember snow continued to fall into May 2010 for us in Edmonton. In mid-June I transplanted all the seedlings into a narrow section of garden bordered by a walkway and fence. Through the summer they grew happily in the part-shade, and quickly began to send out their magical little arms- the ones with fingers that touch the earth and grow a new plant.

Last time I checked Richters Seeds has the seeds for sale. If you are searching, double check for the latin names: Fragaria Virginiana and Fragaria Vesca. These are true wild strawberries- offering aggressive ground cover with many sweet, red rewards.

Snowed in Buccaneers

2011-02-09T22:17:00.000-07:00

While the temperatures may be inching up in this Northern city- I'll happily use the snow as an excuse to stay housebound all Saturday long.

On this cold Saturday, the females of the house found ourselves consumed by the tale of three well meaning, sea-faring thieves (call us Robin Hoods of the Oceanlands). Inspired by a map of Narnia (Madi has began the journey into Narnia! And her parents are saved from Dr. Suess re-runs), we constructed costumes, a ship, and scenarios involving desperate animals in need of heros.

Madi fixes her eye patch as I take time away from my telescope to check our coordinates.

Madi returns from a journey saving the animals of... err... the Serengeti of Narnia. The wheel is a master's carving, decorated with gems and fabric from lands that lay far East of the Silk Road (found at a dollar store nearest you).

Madi's idea- she wanted "a flag that flapped". I kept trying scarves, but they didn't flow to her liking. So we tried toilet paper. It fluttered in the north winds (aided by our summer fan dug from deep storage).

What is it about pirates and children? What do you think: Are they villains sanitized purely for our children's amusement? Or is it our twisted way of empathizing with the marginalized who's basic survival is too often criminalized- and punished without impunity?

Lily had a tendency to rip the ship apart, but she managed to play a critical part in Madi and my script: the baby lost at sea who we saved at the expense of ourselves (and our sanity).

Bed Bugs are Gross...

2011-02-01T18:38:00.001-07:00

I am happy to report that we have yet to bring bed bugs into our home, despite their rampant takeover of most of Edmonton's condos, apartments and second hand shops. But I'm beginning to realize its not an outside possibility. I need to mentally prepare for the possibility.

"Even new clothing has been found to have bugs at varying stages of growth," said one expert speaking to my sister-in-law's inner city agency staff.

Last weekend, I had the misfortune of seeing all four stages of the bug- whitish eggs huddled around a dowel on a close friend's bed frame. Among the eggs were small, dark dots of larvae that moved ever so slightly. The larger stage 2 and 3 bugs stretched between 2 and 4 mm from head to bottom- and reminded me, not pleasurably, of the wood ticks I grew up fearing (being raised in the Rockies has its disadvantages).

The bugs had infested my friend's bedroom- and she was instructed that, until the sprayer`s came, she should stay in her room. That way they wouldn't migrate into other parts of her suite hunting for blood (who knew that our blood smelled so good- or strongly!). So she was supposed to camp out in the bed bug nest for the weekend? Waiting out the exterminators?

Instead, I convinced her to come to our place, where she stripped her clothes off in the garage and exchanged them for bed-bug free ones of mine.

We've learned a lot from this:

1. Mattress bed bug covers: Use them! It won't prevent bed bugs, but it will save your mattress if you get them.
2. Most people around the world just deal with pests like this since resources for fighting them are unavailable. One South American friend said that back home they rub bed legs with Vaseline. They also place the feet of their bed in bowls of alcohol (bed bugs can't fly or leap).
3. Heat all second hand AND new clothes or linens in a hot dryer for 20- 35 minutes.
4. Be careful buying second hand furniture. If you happen to have -35 C like I do, perhaps let the furniture freeze for a week or two (and hope the buggers don't go dormant!).
5. Bed bugs are gross. But they aren't the end of the world.

Just recently they've found bed bugs in our Edmonton Public Libraries. No doubt the tricksters are in our mall;s change rooms, school lunchrooms and bus stations.

I wrestle with the fear I feel of these tiny creatures. It makes me think twice about sitting next to the haggard guy on public transit or borrowing books- but what happens when our commons becomes infested?

Is isolating ourselves really the answer?

Bread Making Workshop- Great Fun

2011-01-24T23:39:00.002-07:00

Sunday's Bread Making Workshop was a great afternoon of stirring, kneading, measuring, patting, rolling, sprinkling and EATING.

Carbs. I love them. And at Bread Making 101, we made cinnamon twists, pizza, pitas, and a variety of loaves: white, seedy whole wheat, savory cheese and a myriad of other combinations inspired by the participants.

FOR INSTRUCTIONS in PDF, check out the manual here.

If you're sad you missed, there will be a couple more workshops before summer inspires less carbs and more orange juice on ice. March 27 and May 15 are coming up, so RSVP with cash to save your spot.

If you have a group of at least four and want to plan an additional date, let's talk. There is nothing I love more that watching pitas puff up in the oven, surrounded by others who share my amazement at the miracle!

Got to Eat the Mushrooms!

2011-01-19T19:27:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, I wrote about my inaugural Eat Local First delivery which contained one pound of mixed mushrooms- Shiitake, Enoki, Woodear and Portobello.

Since mushrooms don't have a long shelf life, I've had mushrooms every night this week. As the sole mushroom eater in the house, I'm 1lb heavier, plus or minus a couple ounces for water loss and oil gain.

Portobellos sliced, brushed with Balsamic Vinaigrette, sprinkled with steak spice and baked at 350 for 10 minutes.

They really did taste firm and delicious... despite how terrible these look!

Mushroom and salami (from Sol Meato) pizza- large and mini size.

These are the woodears that I simply ripped up,

Madi's pizzas, made on her insistence that we use a cookie cutter- and sans mushroom.

The only thing missing here is a good white beer. And sunshine.

My First Eat Local First

2011-01-16T21:20:00.002-07:00

I was blog surfing last Saturday when I landed at Gold Forest Grains. They sell Mornville grown grain and beef on their blog. They also sell it through the Eat Local First website. I’d heard of Eat Local First but didn’t know anything about it. So, as one is prone to do while surfing, I clicked the link.

Turns out, it’s a virtual farmer’s market. From locally grown grains to locally roasted coffee, meat, dairy, veggies and fruit, its all just a click and a week away from delivery on your front porch.

It’s a wonder really. All you have to do to get some farm fresh eggs is click on: BUY then PRODUCT LIST then EGGS then CHICKEN then ADD TO CART. After that, you fill out the usual paperwork then you wait until the next week when a cooler arrives on the doorstep. Inside you find eggs and a half dozen other items you forgot you bought.

It’s a great deal- except for the whole money bit. Though prices aren’t out of line from Planet Organic, if budget’s your primary priority for your grocery list, it’s not a cheap alternative to braving Costco on a Saturday afternoon. That said, cheap ain’t always worth it.

There’s taste to consider – like these carrots from Peas on Earth! Transports me back to sunny evenings lolling on the quack grass lawn chomping my garden carrots to the beat of bees and swaying trees.

There’s sustainability to consider- natural fertilizers and pest control leave our water tables clear and soils nutrient rich.

There’s the farmer to consider- while a local farmer may be no nicer than a farmer using illegal migrant workers in California, the local farmer’s investments- financial, relational- are in the community. Plus, if s/he’s a jerk to his temporary foreign workers, we’re more likely to know about it, right?

There’s a whole lot of ethics, morality and philosophy built into what we eat and where we buy it. And I have no claim on the right balance between money, time, health and environment. But I think we’d all be better off if we made our food choices with the aim of finding the right balance personally and collectively.

Personally, we don’t have the budget for all organic, local, fair trade products. Few people do. So I pick my battles. I buy organic bananas because the traditional chemicals affect pickers’ health (and pickers’ unborn fetuses). I buy organic potatoes and onions because they are generally heavily sprayed. I buy fair trade coffee because why not profit-share with the little guy? And I grow my own apples. We make our own wine. Those are my choices today; tomorrow these things will change as I change and as the world around me changes.

It was with anticipation that I waited for Friday’s delivery. When the cooler arrived it sat out in -25 C for a couple hours with zero damage to the goods inside. The delivery slip read:

Salami- 100g from O Sol’ Meatos

Red Norland Potatoes- 10 lbs from Maple Grove Gardens

Fresh Mixed Mushrooms- 1lb from Mo Na Food

Carrots (jumbo size)-10 lbs from Peas on Earth Organic Garden

I unpacked the food and lit the stove. On that cold, snowy Friday night, we were happily distracted eating exceptionally firm potatoes fried in butter with local Enoki mushrooms, chased with the tang of cardamom spiced Alberta salami. Good food really is a gift.

19 meals in 10 hours for 200 bucks

2011-01-12T20:54:00.002-07:00

In our house, the witching hour begins at four pm. Perhaps you know the hour- when the pitch and volume of the kids' whining turns up a notch. When your spouse stomps about the house suddenly noticing the the mess. When you start slamming cupboard and fridge doors moaning, “How can the shelves be so full with nothing to eat?”

Welcome to “Low Blood Sugar Hour”. As a way to combat this time of day, and save some money, three of us gathered in my mom's kitchen to cook for a month. We surrounded ourselves with recipes, pots, and ingredients, and cooked from 10am to 10 pm with short breaks for lunch and supper.

Here's a review of the experiment that hopefully inspires you to try it too.

The Rating:

7/10: Success with room to improve

The Experiment:

On Thursday morning, my friend Katy Spane and I choose recipes and developed our shopping list. Instead of dictating a full month of recipes, like many cookbooks do, “Frozen Assets” provided cooking 'mini sessions' of 4 to 6 similar dishes. This allowed us more control over what we would be cooking and so more control over our budget. A quarter of the recipes we chose were chicken, another quarter were pasta recipes, and half were bean.

On Friday night, Katy and I shopped. We hit the Italian Centre, then Costco, then finally Superstore. Hands down, the Italian Centre offered the best deal on cans of tomatoes, cans of beans, pasta packages and vegetables. Not only were the prices the best, they packaged it all for us and packed the boxes into our car. At Costco we bought our chicken, Superstore we bought most of our cheese. The total number of hours we spent shopping was just over 2- and the next hour was spent unloading it all!

Prep was quick with two food processors and six hands.

On Saturday at 10 am, Katy, my mom Terri, and I started chopping and slicing. Thanks to a friend's food processor, the 30 lbs (!!!) of onions cut with fewer tears and cabbage and cheese grated with ease. We hadn't realized how important our equipment would be. Since we were multiplying every recipe by 3- we used all of our largest pots to capacity. The food processor was a necessity and good knives were essential. Thankfully Terri had a number of extra large metal bowls which we filled with chopped ingredients, ready for measure into pots. Around noon we started to cook, each of us was responsible for one mini session of recipes which meant there were lots of hands and feet in the kitchen. We ate a Hollywood Pizza delivery supper and finished cooking around 9pm. It took an hour to clean up.

We cut and food process 30 lbs of onions.

The Stats:

- 12 hours = average time spent per person on planning, prep, cooking and shopping

- 19 = Recipes completed (multiplied each by 3)

- 120 = Servings made per family (each recipe served 6)

- $200 = total cost per family

- $1. 65 = cost per serving

Success:

- Pulling out a tray of stuffed manicotti, stuffed florentine shells, chicken chili, spinach quiche and lime marinated chicken has cut some of the stress of the supper hour. We don't eat a frozen meal every night, but probably every third night.

- It is critical that the recipes have lots of variety, and our choices did.

- I had frozen meals to share with friends who had babies.

Stuffing manicotti- was delish and served 8!

- The cost per meal was exceptional for the variety. I cut our family's supper budget by at least a third- maybe even half.

- There is lots of leftovers for lunch (and sometimes supper) the next day.

Room to Improve:

- While many of the meals have been good, about a third haven't been to my taste. Next time we'll use a website that allows us to pick each recipe specifically then it collates the shopping list. This will cut down on our planning time and limit the food wastage.

- We need better freezer methods. We used freezer bags for most things, but some casseroles were frozen in dishes that did not stand up to being stacked (and froze together in blocks!)

- Some of the recipes didn't freeze as well. Macaroni from the freezer to the pot is rather nasty.

That is bean puree on the tortillas- I swear it. Mat was roped in at the end.

The benefits are many and the problems surmountable. We'll be doing this experiment again soon, perhaps buying less beans and more elk meat from Christine at the Alberta Avenue Farmers' Market.

New Cushion Covers for the New Year

2011-01-08T14:38:00.000-07:00

I've been off line for most of the holidays- Happy New Year all! At the start of every year, a curious sensation of nesting overwhelms me. Like a pregnant woman, I franticly clear closets, wash cupboards, and organize anything without a 'place' into large and small rubbermaid containers. I fill many garbage, blue and Bissell (thrift store) bags. After the dust settles, err is swept up, I usually attack a project that has sat woefully neglected. This year, I finally recovered our living room foot stools with Ikea fabric purchased (and forgotten) last year.

Both the chairs and stools I found for a great price at Decade to Decade, an exceptional Edmonton furniture consignment store.

I then moved on to cutting and sewing cushions for our chairs and couch. Next step, scotch guard- if you have a more natural solution to stain prevention--- please let me know!! In all, I've spent less than five hours and $10 to bring fresh colour to our living area.

These chairs are part of a set from Quebec, they are solid maple but in need of a general sanding and re-staining (stay tuned for that project--- probably next year as I'm slowing down!). They were purchased at a pawn shop on 118 Ave now closed. Mat was persistent, watching the set go from $950 to $650 to $500, finally he negotiated it for $350 cash. If you are looking for unique antiques for cheap(ish), try Stan's pawn shop on 118 Ave and west of 95 Street across from hookah bar and divine Ethiopian restaurant, Habesha.

Here's the couch I refinished a couple New Year's ago (check out the blog post here) purchased from the Bissell Centre Thrift Shop (89 Street and 118 Ave) for $50. In 2011, it finally has cushions to match.

Cutting Corners Making Bread... And a Secret Recipe

2010-12-16T11:46:00.003-07:00

Entering the house on frosty days like these, there's nothing like the assault of fresh bread on the nose. This is the best bread recipe I have- its flavour coveted by many. And it comes care of a lady who babysat me on weekends my parents stole away. Grandma Blair is not my grandmother and probably not yours, but when you taste this bread you'll realize its how you imagine family to be. A little crusty on the edges, warm and soft on the inside, with many different kinds of seeds giving variety to each bite.

As with all my bread recipes, I've cut out most of the traditional steps of punching down and waiting forever to bake it. If you are a real stickler, then follow the traditional bread methods with this dough. But if you are like me, lazy and impatient with delayed gratification, then feel free to cut corners with any of your recipes too. This is how I approach any and all bread recipes:

1. Put all the dry ingredients in bowl. Mix.

2. Put all the wet ingredients in.

3. Mix. Add extra flour if dough is too wet (though don't be deceived when using a mixer- the more whole wheat you use, the less likely the dough will gather in a ball on the hook!). If you are mixing by hand, this is where the dough will become too stiff to stir, so you will knead it with your hands. Depending on what you are making, the finished dough will have different texture: Bread and buns dough will be soft and wet, keeping its form but just barely. Pita, pizza and bagel dough will be stiffer- they use less liquid and more flour.

4. Leave dough to 'rest' for five minutes in mixing bowl.

5. Decide: Cook it now or later? Most recipes make two loaves, so you may want to only cook one loaf and save the other dough for later.

6. TO COOK IT LATER: Place dough in a large bag/ container and place in the fridge (you can let it rise on the counter for up to 2 hours). This dough will keep in the fridge for up to two weeks, and the longer it 'cold rises' the more complex the flavour.

5. TO COOK IT NOW: Shape into forms- loaves, buns, twists, braids.

A note about loaves- I exclusively use pie plates or cookie sheets to make bread. I shape the loaves in rounds, rings, or oval shapes. To give them that artisan look, use a serrated knife and slice them three times before they rise.

6. Let shaped dough rise for an hour on the counter (cover if you want). Experiment with the rise time, you may not notice the difference between an hour rise and a half-hour in the finished product. If I'm in a hurry, I may form dough into buns and leave them only a half hour to rise - they then cook fast and are done within the hour. Dough will rise another quarter its size as it cooks.

7. TO USE DOUGH FROM THE FRIDGE: The cold rise experts say to remove dough from fridge and allow it to warm to room temperature before forming it. However, I form the dough immediately after removing it with no problems. In the case of cinnamon twists (a post for next week), I will often remove the dough, shape it, and put it straight in the oven. We're eating twists 20 minutes after removing the dough from the fridge.

8. So, forget the rules and experiment! For more on this, check out this past post on the basic bread recipe.

Grandma Blair Bread

Finally, the recipe... it can be made in the mixer or is small enough to easily mix by hand. Makes 2 loaves or 2 dozen buns.

1. Mix dry ingredients in a bowl:

- 1/2 C Red River Cereal

- 1/4 C each: Sunflower, poppy, flax seeds and millet

- 1 T Yeast

- 1 t Salt

- 3 C White Flour

- 3 C Brown Flour

- 1/4 Brown Sugar

2. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients:

- 1/8 C molasses (or more to taste)

- 1 egg, beaten

- 1/4 C oil

- 2 3/4 C warm water

3. Mix/knead until dough is soft and pliable (elastic is how it feels, but its hard to explain until you feel it!). Add flour if necessary.

4. Let rest five minutes.

5. Form into bread or buns and let rise another hour OR place in bag for 'cold rise' in the fridge for up to two weeks.

6. Cook at 375 F. Bread for 45 minutes, Buns for 20-25.

7. Slice, eat and enjoy.

I will be hosting a Bread Making Workshop on Sunday, January 23 in the afternoon. Max 4 people, so RSVP and pay early. Fee is $20. You'll go home with 4 loaves of bread (2 Grandma Blair bread and two others), a dozen cinnamon twists, and a half dozen pitas/ or pizza dough.

Ode to Home in Time for the Season of Nostalgia

2010-12-05T17:14:00.000-07:00

As a self-proclaimed Homesteader, I’ve given some thought to the role Home plays in my life. Homesteaders in the traditional sense are concerned about the very basics of survival: food production, food preparation, shelter from the elements, food preservation, and propagating more humans to consume said food resources.

Surely Home is a lot more than the sum of these skeletal parts. Screws and 2x4s, trusses and shingles, cement and hardwood: a house this makes- but a home?

The word Home has an emotional dimension that, when I imagine it, is the ‘meat’ (err: flesh) on the skeleton. Relationships, memory, expectations, and exasperations stretch over the structure and add warmth like that of new love or old love or bacon wrapped tenderloin.

There are many words that start with ‘home’ which are full of emotional associations. Let’s explore a few.

Consider the word: “Homemade”. Its very mention conjures the image of a crackling hearth and wafting scent of chicken soup and fresh bread. Strange that this word doesn’t bring to mind those biscuits I cleverly disguised as ‘biscotti’ or the smoke from the hearth pizza that assailed the fire alarm until it shrieked like a cat fight.

Consider the word “Homemaker”. As a generation Y-er, I have a hard time detaching this word from snide ‘bare foot and pregnant in the kitchen’ comments. But the homemakers I’ve met don’t look much like their caricature. Women and men, fathers and grandmothers, they are involved in more than giving a house that homespun feel. Regularly they fuel the fire that is community action.

Say it, “Home.” I hear: Crackling fire (I don’t have a fireplace) and crinkle of Christmas presents (one day a year).

The reality is, at times Home sounds like me screaming at the kids to stop crying while they scream at me to stop screaming. Thankfully these off notes join the tenors of other sounds: the piano thunking, the girls wrestling on squeaky couch springs, the screen slamming with Mat’s entry, the bath tap pouring, the oven door opening, the forks scraping, and boots booming across the living room floor. The music of home, the real soundtrack and not the one created by advertisers and nostalgic storytellers, is dissident and soothing in even measure. It is as complex as a master composition: something to be enjoyed thoughtfully on a cold, snowy December Day.

Yak and Jammin

The ever-violent game of 'spoons'.

Yak and Jammin'

Kitchen Party

Murder Mystery Birthday party

Add caption

Back Deck Barber Shop

Harvest 2010- Thank God for the Grocery Store

2010-11-29T12:05:00.000-07:00

I know it's late to be posting an update on September's harvest, but I needed some time to come to terms with my meagre gleanings. It was a tough year this year. Everything started out looking so lovely and green, then...

Clearing the garden.

1. My onions were eaten by the onion fly (again!).

2. My broccoli and kale crawled with the cabbage moth's pre-winged worms.

3. My crab apple tree caught a fungus and dropped all its leaves in May.

4. Only half my potatoes grew.

5. The squash grew slowly.

6. The eggplant grew even slower.

7. My four harvestable corn tasted... hmmm, like wood?

The corn sure looked promising-- before August when they stunted.

The aesthetic of these carrots is great but our general consensus was that the traditional orange tasted best.

Two eggplant struggled to palm size. Too much rain, too little heat.

Late season broccoli was the only thing that survived the cabbage fly's summer assault.

There were some real hits- like the arugula, borage and many of my Italian herbs (and of course mint) that produced like crazy. I tasted the first fruits of my honey berry bush while the strawberries exploded. All the strawberry spinach and wild strawberry seeds I planted grew happily. I harvested grapes! And my carrots did a nice job of growing sweet with funky colours. And cucumbers! Cucumbers finally flourished in my garden thanks to rain, rain, constant rain.

But its all got me thinking about food security. If I depended on my yard this year for food, well, I'd have some great flavoured Italian water-soup and nice tea with cucumber slices.

I often joke I'm a lot like Marie Antoinette with her Versailles' garden. She ran a little hobby farm. She dabbled in growing the palace food but she depended on a much broader source of food production to keep the castle happy and fed. Her wealth allowed her the opportunity to glean the spiritual benefits of getting her hands dirty without any physical consequences when nature had its way.

This about sums up my gardening experience this year. I harvest much joy and rhythm in my urban yard. But this year I'm thankful to live in a time and place of plenty- where my garden doesn't drive my decisions about vacations or my children's survival rates.

I like to think I keep a garden as a food source. But in truth, quite thankfully, I garden as a hobby.

Alberta Avenue Farmers Market

2010-11-18T16:11:00.000-07:00

It may be -14 and snowing- but there is a place you can buy chard, fresh greens and garden carrots today: The Alberta Avenue Farmers' Market. Located in the community league on 93 street and 118 Ave here in Edmonton, it is a relatively new (1.5 years old) year-round market working hard to connect producers with urban customers.

The prices are exceptional, though the selection is still pretty sparse. Today, I bought $3 eggs and grass fed hamburger for $3.50 lb from Ari. I bought a decent ring of garlic elk sausage for $5.50 and ground elk for $4.30 per lb from a producer in New Sereptia. There was fresh peach pie (she uses frozen, not canned peaches!) for $5 and a loaf of banana bread for $3. From Green Eggs and Ham I bought a bag of carrots for $5- they will have fresh greens all year round, thanks to their greenhouse outside of Leduc.

There's a real need for a thriving year-round market in Edmonton, north of the river. But its more easily said than done: to get committed producers you need committed customers, but for committed customers you need committed producers. A new steering committee has been created to develop a plan for the market's sustainability, and since its in my community, I happily joined. In a neighbourhood where there is a diverse mix of people and growing revitalization, a market like this one can only enhance our networks and the vibrancy on the Avenue.

So, all you Edmontonians who have a grocery budget to spend and ten minutes on a Thursday (from 2- 7pm) to stop in to shop- please spend your dollars at a market that promises a lot more for our community than garden produce and baked goods!

November Flowers, Harvests and Buds in the Backyard

2010-11-07T16:55:00.000-07:00

BUDS! In November?

Saskatoon has buds like this all over the tree.

I am fearing for the winter health of some of my berry bushes. There have been a significant number of frosts to date, but daytime weather has been generally mild. On roaming the back yard today I was shocked to find buds on my saskatoon- and my honeyberry was actually sprouting new leaves!?

Can you see the new leaves on the bottom right? There are others on the left.

FLOWERS! Even after many many cold nights, my pinks, clematis and, of course, asters, are blooming. The purple coral bells offed rich counter point to all the yellow and orange leaves from the mountain ash.

This is the clematis' second year planted here. It is zone 2 and native to the rockies.

These pinks have offered an explosion of colour all summer long- and now into the fall. Behind them is a lavender, zone 4, that has flourished at the base of the apple tree for four seasons.

Prolific Asters!

Iris' and coral bell at the base of the Saskatoon.

HARVESTS: We continue to enjoy parsley from the garden. Up to two weeks ago the strawberries were producing and I'm popping out into the yard for still fresh garlic chives, oregano, arugula and beautifully coloured kale.

Arugula still growing and blooming

Still-green strawberries front a Morden Rose

Green onion/garlic chives are still giving. I planted these from seed (from Salt Spring Island Seeds) and they promise to be a perennial that will continue passing on the love, labour free! Wild strawberry seeds blew into this bed, and the little guys seem happy with the onions- a pairing similar to their natural habitat in the mountain meadows I grew up exploring.

Four varieties of oregano peek out from the fallen leaves of our mountain ash.

The kale turns purple when cold- but its still good to eat. These little guys suffered under the shade of a large tree and in drought like, nutrient poor conditions. They are survivors that I don't think I'll eat- for their sake.

This is a Silver Sage that I grew from seed last year. It is still producing new leaves from its centre- now that the slugs are slowing down- I guess it has to grow when it can! I've planted wild strawberries all along the path (at the bottom of the picture) and these should produce fruit next season. They are doing a great job of filling in as a ground cover. I bought the seeds on ebay from an Albertan company. These seeds were hard to find- but propagated very easily both inside and out.

Carrots in the Washing machine?

2010-10-24T15:53:00.000-06:00

Louise Froese, who taught me to cook beets, casually mentioned that she doesn't bother scrubbing her garden carrots.

I looked at her with some incredulity. Dirt isn't as bad for you as us sanitized parents like to think, but didn't dirt affect the flavour? Not to mention the texture.

Good thing I pursued it. Turns out, she lets her washing machine do the scrubbing for her.

I couldn't believe it would work so I headed home and threw about 5 pounds of carrots and turnips from the garden into the washer along with two large bath towels (I made sure to brush the excess dirt off the veggies).

I have a small front loader that boasts a lot of unused settings. Putting a tiny bit of soap in the reservoir, I set the machine on the lowest, shortest setting (hand dry) then watched the veggies whirl about. The towels lessoned the rattling which I imagined would assume the din of a tympani.

Outside of my skepticism, my main concern was for the machine. I asked Louise about wear and tear and she shrugged that it never had been a concern for her machine: a top loader that has washed many pounds of carrots over many years.

The buzzer announced the 20 minute cycle was up. I pulled the veggies out and, of course, they were as clean as if I'd spent 20 minutes scrubbing them. The odd one had a little dirt residue that came off with a scraping from my nail.

I think my next (and last- welcome winter) batch of carrots, I'm going to try in the top rack of my dishwasher. Will report back!

Dehydrators are a Dream

2010-10-17T00:05:00.001-06:00

Next to cinnamon twists fresh out of the oven, there is nothing else that creates a buzz in the kitchen like apple fruit leather hot from the dehydrator.

Our community league sponsored the purchase of this dehydrator, for use by any Alberta Avenue community members (let me know if you'd like a turn!):

There are four drying trays, however you can stack them up to eight high, if you buy extra trays. Heat settings are clearly marked, and the dry time is mostly due to your preference.

To make fruit leather, pureed fruit is smoothed on donut shaped trays. I've mixed strawberry and raspberry in with apple sauce for occasional variety, but I prefer straight up sour apple. You'll need about a 3/4 - 1 Cup of sauce per tray.

After about 6- to 8 hours (depends on the thickness of your layer of sauce), voila, fruit leather like none other.

Generally, our family of four will eat the bounty from all four trays in the scope of 24 hours.

It's a good thing we have a ready supply of Grandma's homemade apple sauce waiting in the freezer!

From Local Farms- A Video Project

2010-10-06T21:14:00.001-06:00

Folks! Check out Kevin Kossowan's blog for some exceptional photos and tips on eating, drinking and living well. Most interesting is the host of video interviews he's collected with local farmers in a series called "From Local Farms". A kind of "We Eat Together" meets video series. Meet him November 7, 2010 at the upcoming Slow Food Edmonton General Meeting.

Here's a video of the The Sun Dog Folks (Jenny has many connections in the Alberta Avenue area):

From Local Farms - Sundog Organic Farm from Kevin Kossowan on Vimeo.

And for all you chicken farmers that want to go organic and have volume, here's an interview with Ron Hamilton at Sunworks Farms (one of the larger/est local organic chicken operations):

FROM LOCAL FARMS - Sunworks Farm from Kevin Kossowan on Vimeo.

Growing Grapes in the Alberta

2010-10-05T14:33:00.002-06:00

My first grape harvest. This is from a two year old vine- so bunches are still small.

Grapes are one of those fruits that visitors are often surprised to see growing in our climate. While many locals have heard of the long-suffering Valiant grape, there are at least eight varieties of grape that grow in Zones 2-3. I have four varieties, 2 white and 2 red, and this year I had my first (small) harvest from the Eona vine. Planted two summers ago, the grapes grow on the south side of my stuccoed house. Thanks to the wall radiating heat, its extra hot and sheltered.

The grapes were each about a centimeter in diameter and packed with the flavour of Welches Grape Juice. Picked at the end of September, they had survived (and possible thrived?) through one hard frost. The skin was soft, the fruit juicy. Then there were the seeds: Two! Two 2 mm seeds in each grape! The taste and value made the seeds worth the work- but they definitely slowed my consumption speed. Perhaps this is nature's way of reminding us where life comes from? Perhaps this is creation's way of imposing discipline in these times of fast food and eating on the run?

"Every prairie fruit you find will have a seed or pit," Shannon says. My wee grapes had 2 seeds per fruit!

The process of food-scaping my yard has been long and slow; most plants require at least three to four years before they produce a harvest of significance (damn it, once again I am forced to be patient!). Shannon at Shallow Creek Nurseries- sadly now closed- has been a wealth of information and source of many varieties of fruit. Here are some of her recommendations for growing grapes in regions with hot summers and hard winters:

1. Where you place grapes is crucial- they need a sheltered spot with full south exposure. Be particularly careful to choose a home out of the wind.
2. Fall pruning should always be done to protect the plant from winter kill. Prune each vine down to the fourth bud.
3. In preparation for winter, shovel lots of snow on the remaining plants.
4. Don't expect fruit until the third season. Let the plant focus on its root system for the first few years.
5. After the third year, if you want to encourage fruit production then keep the vines pruned at about four feet high. If you want leaves for a trellis, of course let it grow, but don't expect a lot of fruit.
6. If the grapes are tart, you've picked them too early. Water them and wait another week or two. The fruit should get plumper and sweeter in this time.

While Shallow Creek Nurseries are no longer open, their website is a wealth of information on local fruit for the Prairies and can give you an idea of the possibilities for fruit in your yard. Read about the 8 different kinds of grape, 11 types of cherries, and 6 kinds of saskatoons. They also sold hybrid fruit varieties like Chums and Jostaberries, and unique cuttings from the Goji bush.

The greenhouses offer a disappointing number of varieties of berries. But I believe that the more people ask for them, the more likely that a market will grow- so ask ask ask!

Here are a few nurseries and garden centres that carry berries and fruit (there is still time to plant a clearance shrub or tree before winter!):

- Greenland Garden Centre
- Sunstar Nurseries
Address: (780) 472- 810 167 Ave. NE (Not as great a selection but they do have: apples, pears, plums, honeyberry, saskatoons, currants, grapes, cherries)
- Arrowhead Nurseries- (780) 472-6260, Address: 2503 211 Ave NE (graft their own plums, apples, cuttings for honeyberries and cherries (romance series, sour cherries), grapes (valiant and beta), currants, josta berries, and pears))
- DNA Gardens (for black currants and hardy apples/plums/pears- Southeast of Red Deer.)
- Holes Greenhouse

Also, the online service at T& T Seed's is very good and their selection is better than most.

If you find other sources of great, hardy fruit, please let me know!

Nova Scotia Chow Chow- Using up those Green Tomatoes!

2010-09-28T23:59:00.001-06:00

If you're like me, you have lots of green tomatoes reddening (and rotting) on your basement floor. I post here a delicious green tomato recipe from my dear neighbour Trish. She shares a wee bit of the heart of Nova Scotia with us...

Chow, chow! I just like saying the word, even typing it is fun. chow, chow. chow, chow. meow meow.

This is a Nova Scotia Chow Chow recipe.

To be used on hunks of dry meat or to sweeten up a dull meal.

Delicious any time of year.

Best to can.

1. Slice:

- 16 cups finely sliced green tomatoes

- 8 cups sliced onions

2. Sprinkle well with salt (preferably sea salt) and let sit overnight. Mmm..salty juices.

3. Drain.

4. Put drained tomatoes and onions in a large pot, add:

- 3 cups of vinegar,

- 4 to 5 cups of sugar (depending on how sweet you want your chow chow)

- 1/2 cup of pickling spices (in a cheesecloth bag)

5. Cook, stirring often until soft and thick.

Makes six whopping pints.

More Pumpkin Recipes

2010-09-27T10:56:00.002-06:00

I'm not a fan of the texture of pumpkin soup, but the flavour in the recipe below is fantastic... I use it more like a dip with pita chips, which bypasses the whole mental problem over texture.

Both recipes come from those crazy Canadian ladies, Janet and Great Podleski (Loonyspoon girls). If you've got extra money in your cook book budget, their recipes are fantastic- flavourful and healthy.

Pumpkin Soup with Apples and Ginger

2 tsp olive oil
1 C chopped onions
1 t minced garlic
1 T grated ginger root
1 t curry powder
1/2 t cumin
4 C chicken broth
2 C peeled and chopped apples
2 C canned (or cooked) pure pumpkin
1 C chopped carrots
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
3/4 evaporated 2% milk, or light 5% cream

1. Heat oil in large, non stick soup pot over medium heat. Add onions and garlic. Cook and stir until onions begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Add ginger root, curry powder and ground cumin. Mix well and cook for 20 more seconds.

2. Add broth, apples, pumpkin, carrots, salt and pepper. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer. covered, for 12 to 15 minutes or until carrots are tender. Stir occasionally.

3. Use a hand blander and puree until smooth. Stir in milk or cream. Serve hot.
(From Eat, Shrink and Be Merry)

Pumpkin and Carrot Muffins

1 1/2 C flour
1/2 C wheat bran
2 t baking powder
2 t pumpkin pie spice (I mix nutmeg, all spice, ginger, cinnamon up equal parts)
1t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 C cooked/ canned pure pumpkin
1/2 C grated carrots
1/2 C buttermilk and honey
1/4 C butter or margarine, melted
1 egg
1 t vanilla
1 t grated orange zest
1/2 C chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 375. Spray a 12- C muffin tin with non stick spray and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, combine flour, wheat bran, baking powder, pumpkin spice, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together pumpkin, carrots, buttermilk, honey, butter, egg, vanilla and orange zest. Add wet ingredients to flour mixture and stir just until moistened. Batter will be thick. Gently fold in walnuts, if using.

4. Divide batter among 12 muffin cups. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove muffins from pan and let cool on wire rack.
(From Crazy Plates)