Local Delicious

There are no end of good things going on around our community when it comes to eating local. Here’s another organization I just learned about at the Kitsilano Growers Market last week.

The World in a Garden Project was established in 2007 by nutritionist, Tricia Sedgwick in collaboration with the Jewish Family Service Agency. The project’s goal is to teach participants about the seed-to-table process of food, as well as promote cross cultural acceptance.

In addition to the many events — from educational programs to community festivals — food from the gardens is donated to the food bank and local food programs.

The program is self-funded via plant and flower sales, market sales, responsible entrepreneurship programs, garden tours, food and gardening workshops, The World in a Garden products (greeting cards, t-shirts and seeds), community partnerships and an annual film screening.

One of my garden neighbours has a strawberry that has begun to sprout. Not the plant, the actual strawberry. Neither of us has ever seen anything like it, and I must say it’s a rather strange sight.

Each of the seeds on the outside of the strawberry has a green shoot extending out of it, giving it the appearance reminiscent of a just sprouted Chia Pet. Frankly, it looks quite alien.

Normally, strawberry seeds can only be activated or germinated after they’ve been frozen/wintered.

“The key factor in successful germination is the cooling or winterizing of the seeds before planting.”
How to sprout strawberries.

The fact that this one’s seeds all spontaneously sprouted in relatively warm weather is unusual.

I’ve not found anything in my online search travels to explain what happened or whether you can plant the strawberry like this and grow it successfully. If you’ve ever encountered this, I welcome your comments.

I made 2 pans of rhubarb crumble last night with a fraction of the rhubarb I have growing in my garden plot. I thought it took a year or two for rhubarb to really take hold, but I grew this plant from seed last year and even transplanted it a few months into the summer due to a gardening relocation.

For a while earlier this summer it was looking pretty limp and none of the stalks were any more than about 6″ long. I asked my mom,  a long time gardener, if that was because it takes a couple of years for the plant to really take root, but she didn’t know. Well, turns out as soon as I stepped up the amount of water it got, the plant took off like blazes. I harvested 10 cups worth of diced rhubarb earlier this week and that only marginally thinned out the plant.

Note: Rhubarb leaves are poisonous. Keep the kids away and don’t put them (the rhubarb leaves nor the children) in the compost bin.

I took one rhubarb crumble over to a friend’s to share with her and her family. Her daughter’s friend from California had never heard of rhubarb and was leery of trying it, even though it was dessert. We described it — something like celery but very tart — but when asked whether it was a fruit or a vegetable we were stumped.

I got an email this morning with the answer:

“It was nice catching up with you last night Liz. I looked up rhubarb on Wikipedia. Here is what it says:

Rhubarb is a group of plants that belong to the genus Rheum in the family Polygonaceae.

They are herbaceous perennial plants growing from short, thick rhizomes. They have large leaves that are somewhat triangular shaped with long fleshy petioles. They have small flowers grouped in large compound leafy greenish-white to rose-redinflorescences.

Although the leaves are toxic, various parts of the plants have medicinal uses. Fresh raw stalks are crisp (similar to celery) with a strong tart taste; most commonly the plant’s stalks are cooked and used in pies and other foods for their tart flavour. A number of varieties have been domesticated for human consumption, most of which are recognised as Rheum x hybridum by the Royal Horticultural Society.

Rhubarb is botanically classified as a vegetable; however, in the United States a New York court decided in 1947 that since it was used in the United States as a fruit it was to be counted as a fruit for the purposes of regulations and duties. A side effect was a reduction in taxes paid.

Thank heavens for Wikipedia, to answer all of life’s burning questions.

How Backyard Farming Is Changing the Way We Eat

The Museum of Vancouver (MOV) has partnered with Farm Folk/City Folk to explore Vancouver’s passion for backyard farming and local food. The large-scale photographic exhibit captures the current momentum behind local food production and urban agriculture.

The exhibit Home Grown: Local Sustainable Food, is a visual feast of 39 Brian Harris photographs set across four seasons, running August 26, 2010 through January 2, 2011.

“With harvest season in full swing and farmers markets bursting with tomatoes, we felt it was the perfect time for MOV to celebrate the city’s backyard farmers,” says Museum of Vancouver’s Director of Audience Engagement, Amanda Gibbs.

Using large-scale photographs Home Grown introduces visitors to the people behind local food. The photos range from proud inner city gardeners to an aerial view of an industrial scale sustainable hothouse. Visitors will gain insight into alternate styles of growing food like house-lot farming and farming co-ops.

“This series of photos is dedicated to those who see the beauty in small scale sustainable farming. Urban agriculture is about how we relate to the physical world and strive to develop a deeper connection to our food. The industrial world doesn’t seem to want people to know how their food is being produced,” says featured photojournalist, Brian Harris.

Harris’ images take MOV visitors to the city’s rooftops where a beekeeper tentatively lifts a tray of bees from a hive atop of the Vancouver Convention Centre’s living grassland roof.

“The living roof is 20 acres of grassland – it’s like a prairie up there – smack bang in the middle of a city, a powerful juxtaposition to the cityscape behind it,” remarks Harris.

The exhibit will also include a Communal Wall of Preserves which will grow with public participation, as MOV hopes patrons will donate jars of home-preserved fruits and vegetables. Jars of all shapes with a maximum height of 11inches or 28cm can be dropped off at the Museum’s front desk.

Upcoming Events

MOV will host a series of food-based events throughout the fall, including a free outdoor summer film, a Food & Beers speaker series, and Talks & Tours.

MOV-ie in the Park August 23, 9pm
Presented by Potluck Café and Catering and Horizon Distributors
Attention all foodies! Roll out a blanket and enjoy Eat Drink Man Woman, a food-themed movie on a giant outdoor screen in Vanier Park, just behind MOV. Free event.

Opening Night August 25, 7pm
Presented by MOV and Farm Folk/City Folk
Join us to celebrate the launch of the new feature exhibition Home Grown: Local Sustainable Food. Event is open to the public. Tickets are $15 and available at www.museumofvancouver.ca or at the door. Members will receive an invitation postcard in the mail valid for themselves and one guest.

Food and Beers Speaker Series
Hosted by David Beers, presented by Tides Canada

• Can The City Feed Itself? October 14, 7pm
  A panel of local food corporate knights from growers & chefs to manufacturers discuss what still needs to be done to ensure a sustainable local food industry in Vancouver.
• How Do We Compare to Other Cities? November 25, 7pm
  Renowned authors of The 100 Mile Diet, James McKinnon and Alisa Smith, return from their travels to share ten local food ideas being trialed in other North American cities.
• Vancouver’s New Food Writing December 8, 7pm
  Meet Vancouver’s food writers as they discuss the current passion for food writing and how urban kitchens are linking their food to the planet.

Talks and Tours with Growers, Activists, and Chefs
Hosted by Farm Folk/City Folk,  held the first Thursday of the month at 7pm. Free with admission.

• September 2 - Chris Bodnar, Glen Valley Organic Farm Cooperative. Topic: A farmer’s direct relationship with his customer through CSA, farmers markets & restaurant delivery.
• October 7 – Karen Howbolt, Salt Spring Seeds and The Haliburton Community Organic Farm
  Society. Topic: The politics of seeds and our local food system with a global view.
• November 4 – Chris Hergesheimer, The Flour Peddler with Jim Grieshaber-Otto, Cedar Isle Farm.
  Topic: Growing local grain and the first grain CSA in the Lower Mainland.
• December 2 - Chef Andrea Carlson, Bishops with Heather Pritchard, Glorious Organics Farmer.
  Topic: Co-creation of our local food cuisine.
  

It’s been sunny and hot for the last number of weeks and I for one have no complaints. Summer was late arriving this year and as far as I’m concerned it can continue to make up for lost time as long as it wants, even if that means hauling a little more water to the garden than usual.

If you’re are one of those who’s feeling a bit grumpy in the heat, first I recommend visualizing one of two things:

1. Toronto, Ontario in the sweltering, cloying, humid heat that signals summer there; or
2. Vancouver this past June when we experienced record temperature lows and endless, driving rain.

Second, while you are visualizing also remember that in the midst of this delicious heat it is very important to stay hydrated. If water seems a little boring after a while (why, yes, actually it does), try these quick, easy ideas:

Watermelon Agua Fresca – Take some overripe watermelon that’s too  mushy to eat, mashed in a pitcher, and covered with ice cold water. Add a few ice cubes to a glass, and pour in the watermelon-enhanced water. Sip to your heart’s content. Works best if your pitcher has a strainer or just strain out the pulp ahead of time.

They’d charge big bucks for this at a chic restaurant, and here you are whipping up a batch for nothing — since you were going to compost that overripe watermelon anyway. There are no perfect proportions, everyone likes it a little different, so experiment with what works for you. If you really MUST get all complicated, find an easy recipe and knock yourself out.

Ginless G&T – As delicious as it can be, alcohol is dehydrating and not recommended when attempting to counter the effects of too much sun and/or heat. You will be surprisingly and delightfully deceived into believing you are drinking a “refreshing” gin and tonic if you simply leave out the gin and squeeze in the lime . One of my friends swears she still feels a little light-headed when she drinks this, as if she did  include the gin. I say, try it on your friends when they’re getting too drunk and obnoxious, they’ll never know the difference.

Cucumber Agua Fresca – If  you’re not a fan of watermelon (see above), substitute it with peeled, sliced cucumber fresh from your garden. It’s just as cool and refreshing to sip, you’ll feel like you’re at a swanky spa,  and there’s less straining involved. Plus, you can keep refilling the jug all day long until the cucumbers no longer infuse the water. For those who need to get all Martha Stewart on us, you can experiment with adding mint or citrus slices as well.

There’s no excuse to be a dullard when it comes to staying hydrated. Try these tasty options and take it up a notch without breaking a sweat.

Check out the fab garlic I harvest from my garden! I’m not sure why it’s such a novelty, but growing my own garlic feels like a really big deal.

Maybe it’s because you have to plant it almost a full year ahead and it sits in the ground over winter.

Maybe it’s because I had so much garlic rust fungus that getting a crop was in question.

Maybe it’s because we never grew garlic growing up on the Prairies, so it’s the novelty of it.

Whatever the reason, here is the fruit of my labour! I’m very excited.

Of the 9 bulbs that sprouted, 3 are 3″ in diameter with big, plump cloves. I’m saving those, I’ll eat the smaller ones first.

One clove was too small and dried out to use, 3 were average size, and the rest were a bit smaller than average.

The size of the stalks had my fellow gardeners wondering if I’d planted elephant garlic, which I hadn’t. I seeded from large, organic cloves I bought at the local Kitsilano Farmers Market. I don’t know what variety it is, but many of the clove skins have a purple striped colouring to them.

I’m using the garlic in the many stir fries I create using an every changing blend of kale, beet greens, Swiss chard, green beans, yellow beans and snow peas. I LOVE eating meals that are completely from my garden, it feels so rewarding and I know I’m eating very healthfully.

Now THAT is local and delicious!