‘Tis the season for rhubarb. You’ll see many recipes for strawberries and rhubarb because the end of the rhubarb season runs right into the first of the strawberry season. For the early rhubarb we need the California berry crop – unless you froze berries last summer!
You’ll find California strawberries in our boxes this week. Local farmers have been saying that the cold first half of May has slowed things down considerably so we are not expecting any quantity of strawberries until mid June.
Rhubarb also goes very nicely with Mango!
Here is how to cut a mango:
The pit is almond shaped so hold it upright on the thin edge and slice off the sides lengthwise as close as you can to the pit. Run the knife around the edge of the mango. Take the side and score it in a cross hatched pattern, turn inside out.
Here is Colleen and Stan showing off the end product of this mango cutting technique at our most recent warehouse get-together, Quatro de Mayo (the day before Cinco de Mayo).
Cut the pieces off as close to the skin as you can get. There will be two strips still attached to the seed. Remove the peel and cut those bits off or just slurp and gnaw them off!!
The Mexican mango season is just getting going so case-lot prices will keep getting better over the next month. Mango freezes well for use in crumbles and smoothies.
Apple Update
We are experiencing a big jump in the price of BC and Washington apples. Last season’s crop numbers were way down and the last of the BC crop has already been released from storage. The final release out of Washington is next week – Fuji and Galas.
New Farm Video
Ever wonder how an organic greenhouse works? Find out what’s happening down on the farm in our new video.
Special thanks to Darin Steinkey for producing this video!
See where this week’s basil and cucumbers are coming from!
Mushroom Pocket
Makes 1 pocket (or roll) to serve 2 or 3 hungry souls.
Steam and drain:
1/3 LB Oyster Mushrooms
Cut into hot mushrooms:
4 oz cream cheese or goat chevre
Toss until cheese melts and then add:
Freshly grated pepper
1 Tbsp dill
1/2 cup yogurt
1/2 cup fine bread crumbs
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 minced scallion
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Melt:
2-3 Tbsp butter
On a cookie sheet lay out one sheet of Phyllo. Brush with melted butter.
Add next sheet (and brush) until you have 5 layers total. Spoon mushroom mixture along the long side of Phyllo.
Roll half way and fold both edges in and finish the roll. Turn seam down on a buttered pan. Brush outside with butter. Bake at 375 for 30 to 40 minutes.
Some Phyllo Pastry Tips from Susan…
Phyllo pastry is found in the frozen food section of your neighbourhood grocery store. It is quite easy to use once you get the hang of it! Phyllo pastry will thaw in about 2 hours or in fridge overnight. (which is why we’ve decided not to offer phyllo pastry on the website!)
One package makes more than one dish. Carefully rewrap and refrigerate leftover phyllo and use within a week or so. Butter the layers as above and fill with fruit – mango and rhubarb is good!
Ice Pack Season
Welcome to ice pack season! This is the time of year we add an ice pack to every bin we deliver. The atmosphere in the bins is helped A LOT (a lot, a lot, a lot) with the addition of the ice pack.
Your veggies will thank you by returning the ice pack right away with your empty bin. Don’t even bother removing the ice pack when you’re unpacking your order!
Thanks so much, everyone!
If you would like to view or add to your order please click here!
Farmer Dave was away when the first set of bunching onions were harvested a few weeks ago. They were smaller and not as easily removed from their natural packaging (the bulb casing) than I had anticipated. As you can see from Dave’s report below this experiment to get a head start on spring was not a success. However we absolutely appreciate the effort!!
“I heard the hard tale of the onion disaster. Those onions were from in the green house with plans for an earlier crop. Thinking we would be like French farmers, we mulched about a foot thick hoping the result would be nice long blanched onions. The results were not as anticipated! The hearty mulch actually took too much energy from the onions and made them thin and spindly and not all there!
This week’s crop is grown as outdoor planted bulbs the way we usually grow them. They will be ready for delivery Tuesday am: 8-12 onions thick healthy and green uniform.”
How to “Shuck” a Green Onion
Please Release Me…
Here is how to get bunching onions out of their natural packaging:
Hold onion greens (down close to the bulb) in one hand
Hold the bulb in other hand
Pull in opposite directions and the whole casing slides off
It’s Rhubarb Time!
So far we have heard from 3 farmers with rhubarb for us this year! We have been encouraging growers for the past few years with only small results so looking forward to harvesting the rewards this season! We are planning to rotate rhubarb into all our boxes over the next few weeks.
No luck finding a savory recipe for this sour vegetable. Rhubarb is usually paired with fruits in a compote, or pie (apples, berries, mangoes). This is a new version of my standard recipe for rhubarb loaf with the spice modified from the more usual vanilla and cinnamon to cardamom. I have also used honey instead of sugar.
Honey metabolizes in our system much slower than sugar and is therefore less addictive.
To sub honey in your own recipes:
Sub 3/4 cup honey for 1 cup sugar
Lower the liquid or increase the flour to make up for the liquidity of the honey
Add a bit more leavening agent (1/2 tsp baking soda or extra baking powder or an extra egg)
Cook at 25 degree lower temperature
Rhubarb Loaf
Yields one small loaf (with huge flavour…)
Preheat oven to 350.
Cream together:
1/4 cup butter
1 egg
Add to egg mixture:
3/4 cup liquid honey
Beat until smooth. Combine together the dry ingredients:
1 1/4 cup flour
1 tsp Cardamom
1/2 tsp baking powder
Add 1/2 the dry ingredients, mix together.
Then add:
1/2 cup almond milk
Continue mixing as you add the remainder of the dry ingredients.
Fold in:
1 1/2 to 2 cups sliced rhubarb
Pour batter into a buttered and floured small loaf pan. Bake for 15 minutes and then turn oven down to 325. Continue baking for another 15 to 20 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle of the loaf comes out clean.
– If you would like to view or add to your order please click here!
Making Food Matter is the CRFAIR’s (Capital Region Food and Agriculture Initiatives Roundtable) newsletter.
To check out what is happening around Food Security in our region get on the subscriber list! This month there is on interesting report on “The Cost of Eating in British Columbia”
We have a number of local farmers with products this week:
Leeks and Eggs from Terra Nossa in Mill Bay
Spinach and Salad from Dragonfly Farms
Radish from Seabluff Farm
Sorrel, Braising, parsnips from Madrona Farm
Cucumber and sprouts from Sun Trio
Crunchy Bean Mix from Saltspring Sprouts
Fences for Food
The Mason Street City Farm is in need of a new perimeter fence. This is the first stage of development in creating a Farm School in the City! Live electronic music, Flamenco dance, super djs, and silent auction. Come on down and dance your face off in support of everybody’s favourite “F” word…FARM!
Victoria Event Centre
1415 Broad Street
Thursday, May 3rd — this week!
$15 at the door
More information is on the Facebook Event Page here.
Trim the tough bottoms from the broccoli stalks and cut the tops into smallish spears of whatever size suits you.
Preheat oven to 325 F.
Lightly grease a 9 x 13 baking pan.
Melt the butter or heat the oil in a large, deep skillet or Dutch oven. Add the onion and salt and sauté over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until the onion begins to soften. Add the garlic and the lemon juice and sauté for about 2 minutes longer. Stir in the rice, some black pepper and cayenne to taste along with the optional ingredients. Taste to correct salt, if necessary, and spread in the prepared pan.
Now the fun part. Arrange the broccoli upright in the rice, and, if desired, drizzle with melted butter. Cover loosely with foil and bake just until heated through (15 -20 minutes). Serve right away.
If you would like to view or add to your order please click here!
Keeping up the local content in the boxes has been difficult these past few weeks. The overwintering greens are just about done and the spring greens not quite in full production. Garlic greens are in the box next week. Cured bulb garlic from last year is finished and these local greens will take us through to the garlic scapes (tops) season – early June – and finally fresh garlic bulbs in late June early July. No garlic from China for us!
Fresh Garlic Greens
Garlic Scape
We are expecting radishes in the next few weeks. More spinach and salad mix in larger quantities are on the horizon. And the first of the local chard is showing up this week in the local boxes!
It’s warming up today which is a good sign as the cool weather has slowed crops down these past few weeks.
At Share Organics we use as little plastic packaging as possible. Initially for environmental reasons… and now we’re learning more:
“In a study published last year in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, researchers put five San Francisco families on a three-day diet of food that hadn’t been in contact with plastic. When they compared urine samples before and after the diet, the scientists were stunned to see what a difference a few days could make: The participants’ levels of bisphenol A (BPA), which is used to harden polycarbonate plastic, plunged – by two-thirds, on average – while those of the phthalate DEHP, which imparts flexibility to plastics, dropped by more than half.”
One Foodie’s Journey
We’re always surprised and darn right delighted by the odd unsolicited love emails we get…
“… when I first signed up for the box, I was pretty hopeless in the kitchen and always thought I didn’t like cooking. But when I started getting all of these veggies that I had never seen before, it forced me to figure out what the heck to do with them. And it became really fun! Fast forward a few years and now I’m a total foodie, and actually a very good vegetarian cook. So it made a big difference for me! (and my son is also now very knowledgeable about produce and helping farmers – he’s actually very interested in becoming a farmer). I’m already looking for a similar service in our new city. Thanks!”
- Sonia
Thank you, Sonia!! Good luck in your new city.
Yam Chickpea Patties
Pre-heat oven to 425 F
Mash in food processor using pulse action. Do not puree. Transfer to medium mixing bowl:
1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas
Add the following and mix thoroughly:
2 cup yams, grated
1 egg, beaten
2 tbsp green onion, chopped
2 tbsp parsley, chopped
1 tsp Pepper
1/2 tsp Cumin
1/4 tsp Cayenne
To form patties, line a wide mouth jar lid with clear wrap and pack mixture until it is level with top of lid. Empty patty onto an oiled cookie sheet.
Bake for 10 minutes, turn and continue baking for another 5 to 10 minutes.
If you would like to view or add to your order please click here!
Farm News – Transport delays and gratitude to local farmers
Colleen made it home from Mexico safe and sound and we hope to hear more of her adventures this coming week. We had offered you beets from the Ejido she was working, she might have picked these beets for us, but… the transport truck broke down and did not make it to Vancouver today. We should have had Colleen bring them in her carry-on!
When ordering the freshest possible produce transportation delays can cause problems. One of the factors we think of in food security is how far away the food comes from. Most often we think of fuel costs but there is also an increased potential for delay or inability to deliver at all. Yikes!
When we think of purchasing from Mexico or California we need to consider how the food is transported and also watering practises. Mexican farmers have always had less access to water than their California peers and have learned to grow with limited water. California farmers are learning this fast as the state cuts back on water to this business sector as well many others.
Meanwhile, back at home, we are not forced to eat skunk cabbage – known as famine food – yet! It is edible and local but we won’t be adding it to our local produce list anytime soon. Not when we have a bounty of local greens this spring! Thanks to all those farmers that have been planning ahead! Interestingly the local spring crops all seem to contain oxalic acid which is not so good for us raw in large quantities but is fine in small amounts and also cooked.
Skunk Cabbage or Swamp Lantern, if you prefer.
Young Sorrel
Young sorrel may be harvested in the spring when it is small and tender and when it has a fruitier and less acidic taste. This lemony flavour is a valuable addition to salads, soups or stews. Sorrel does not keep well so use it up first!
Fresh Sorrel
Sorrel and Goat Cheese Quiche
2-3 cups sorrel, coarsely chopped
a few scallions, chopped
3-4 ounces goat cheese (chevre)
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
Parmesan cheese
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spread goat cheese (or any strong flavored cheese) in the bottom of a piecrust. Cover with chopped sorrel and scallions.
Beat eggs, salt and milk together. Pour over greens. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until top is golden brown.
Mashed Potato Pie Crust
Peel and chop:
1 lb potatoes
Cover with water and bring to boil. Cook until tender.
Mash the potatoes with:
1/4 cup milk or stock from the potatoes (for a vegan option)
Brush a 9 inch pie dish with olive oil and press the potatoes in. Brush with remaining olive oil.
Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes or until lightly browned.
If you would like to view or add to your order please click here!
It’s going great down here! There have been some last minute changes and bumps in the road but I learned to set my watch to Mexican time and surrender to whatever comes our way. Apparently it’s Semana Santa/Easter and this is a really big deal so we are all off the farm from Fri to Sun or Mon. We are getting to visit some of the other farms that Liz and Rafael (the project owners/farm directors) partner with as well as getting some sightseeing in.
I learned that we will be harvesting chard and red/gold beets next week for shipment to Discovery Organics. So if you see anything that is labelled Leyes de Reforma then those are the crops that I got to work on. So far we have seeded corn and done some irrigation maintenance.
We are working on an Ejido Benito Juarez Leyes de Reforma. There are many Ejidos in Mexico, the word refers to land that was allocated back to the people who lived on it after Mexican Idepencia. Not everyone who lives there is involved with the farm. The ejido has a population of about 80 and 37 are involved with the farm. Liz and Rafa run the business and planning of the farm as well as pay the workers by salary. Liz and Rafa approached the Ejido and presented their business plan, the people accepted. So now the people work their own land with the investment of Liz and Rafa and Baja Organic Agriculture (BOA).
There are no real means to make a living on the ejido so the people have worked out a way to make money off of their own land without having to sell it to Dole or some other American mega company that wouldn’t necessarily hire them and if they did would exploit the low Mexican wages, take all the food out of the country and sell it a marked up in the states. In other words a project like this really feeds the local economy as well as enfranchises the people/grants them the means to support themselves without having to “sell out”.
More information on Ejido Benito Juarez Leyes de Reforma here.
Permaculture Design Certificate
Experience all Four Seasons in this Part-Time Permaculture Design Course in Victoria, BC!
When: Starts with a 2 day introductory weekend on April 21-22nd (Earth Day!), 2012 and continues one Sunday per month until March 2013.
Where: Various Locations in Greater Victoria
Tuition: $960 + HST ($250 deposit to secure a spot)
Yes, these are stinging nettles – sting-y but terribly good for you! Use gloves or tongs to handle raw nettles. Once immersed in hot water, blanched or dried, the sting is gone. Nettle Tea is an excellent source of minerals and calcium. Dry for use next winter!
This gnarly veg makes a wonderful addition to mashed potatoes. Jamie Oliver says: “…everyone seems to be completely baffled by celeriac, but it’s beautiful in soups or thinly sliced into salads. When roasted it goes sweet and when mixed with potato and mashed it’s a complete joy.”
Joyous Mashed Potatoes and Celeriac
Peel, dice, and stick in a pot:
1 Celeriac, 1 inch dice
2 LBS potatoes, larger pieces
Pinch of salt
Cover with water and bring to boil. Drain and mash with butter and a little cream. Makes a delicious potato layer for Shepherd’s Pie!
If you would like to view or add to your order please click here!
We are very excited about offering these new teas! You’ll see them listed on the website in a few days. We are starting with a few varieties, in tins. Take a look at the Teafarm website for the full line and let us know what you’d like to try. We plan to offer the teas in a bag as refills – making the most of the beautiful and functional tins!
Locally grown and processed, organic and innovative! Margit and Victor are hopeful they can grow their own tea plants and produce a limited harvest of green and black teas from the Cowichan Valley. We want to support this!
Teafarm is a small organic farm in the fertile Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island, BC
Margit and Victor grow a variety of plants and flowers that they blend with organic green, black, white, red, oolong and pu-erh teas from select tea estates around the world.
They have created over 20 original recipe hand-crafted teas and herbal infusions. A wide variety of non-blended estate grown teas are also available through Teafarm.
No flavourings or synthetic essences are used in Teafarm blends. When you drink something with vanilla, it’s vanilla bean and it’s organic. The teas that are used in the blends are all Certified Organic at their source.
In May of 2010 two terraces of tea – Camellia sinensis – were planted on the farm. So far, the young tea plants have made it through two winters and are doing very well. Victor and Margit are experimenting with growing tea… the farm is not yet producing tea. They are confident that within the next few years Teafarm will be offering a limited harvest of 100% local Cowichan tea.
Permaculture Design Certificate
Four Seasons, Part Time, Permaculture Design Course in Victoria, BC
When: Starts with a 2 day introductory weekend on April 21-22nd (Earth Day!), 2012 and continues one Sunday per month until March 2013.
Where: Various Locations in Greater Victoria
Tuition: $960 + HST ($250 deposit to secure a spot)
Yes, these are stinging nettles – sting-y but terribly good for you! Use gloves or tongs to handle raw nettles. Once immersed in hot water, blanched or dried, the sting is gone. Nettle Tea is an excellent source of minerals and calcium. Dry for use next winter!
Pour cold water or stock to cover by 1 inch. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the potatoes soft.
Add:
1/4 LB young nettles
Freshly ground pepper
Cook for five more minutes, until nettle leaves are soft and wilted. Purée with an immersion blender. Season to taste.
Halibut over Sorrel Greens
Thanks to Dave of Madrona Farm for his beginning-of-Spring crops and this recipe!
Fresh Sorrel
Poach a halibut filet over a bed of sorrel and chopped leeks, onions, or garlic, splashed in white wine.
Once cooked, remove the fish and reduce the sorrel/leek remains on a stovetop. Once the booziness of the wine is gone add cream. Puree the whole she-bang and drizzle over the filet.
Dave also suggests serving this with something that will soak up the sauce pooling on the plate. He suggests giant croutons or baguette. Otherwise you’ll be tempted to lick your plate… which is fine by us!
If you would like to view or add to your order please click here!
Our own Colleen is heading off to work on a Mexican cooperative farm next week. Her trip is arranged and airfare paid for by Discovery Organics, our wholesaler on the mainland. We’ll soon be hearing about her adventures in the sun!
“The citizens (approx. 50 families) have turned down every ‘offer’ to take over their land (ejido), since 1937 – when the previous ‘tenants’, (large U.S. farming corporations) were evicted. But they have always wanted to farm their own land – they just needed the skills and financing.
After many trips to this area, we (Discovery Organics) were lucky to be introduced to these Ejidotarios, and through an 18 month process, we have, together with a great team in Mexico, dug wells, leveled land, planted out 150 acres, received our organic certification and food safety permits from Primus Labs, and are starting the harvest.
This is the only Ejido in this huge growing area that is operating as a cooperative, with the villagers farming on their own land – instead of watching wealthy landowners till what used to be their soil. The younger generation who left for city jobs are returning. Already, one in four families has someone working and learning the land – harvesting, weeding, seeding and moving pipe.
This cooperative effort with Baja Organics – a highly skilled management team with decades and decades of agricultural experience – has been a long, hard row to hoe, but all our work is now paying off.
While not certified in the Fair Trade system, yet, we are treating this as if it were, until our audits are finished. That means that $1 of every box we sell will be returned to the cooperative to be used for community projects. We have a few target areas we have discussed with the community for these. The first is to bring electricity to 1/2 of the houses that currently don’t have it. The second is to re-open a school that closed years ago. Down the road, the community is looking at installing a solar array that would power the entire Ejido. Another commitment has also been to pay nearly double the average farm wages in the area, pay for every worker to be enrolled in the public health care system, and also provide private medical and dental insurance for each person.”
Meet Dave Chambers
Dave of Madrona Farm gives an interview on the joys of Winter Farmering.
It explains all the mud on delivery days…
Local Spinach is On!
Spinach is in the box from Dragonfly Farm in Glenora. Spinach can be eaten raw or cooked. It does contain oxalic acid but unless you are predisposed to kidney disorders, gout, rheumatoid arthritis it would be extremely difficult to eat enough to cause problems.
It has been awhile since we have had local spinach as Farmer Dan has had difficulties with seeding these past few times. The smaller spinach leaves are found in the winter salad greens he’s offered. I love to have a spinach salad combining the leaves with a fruit and nut… think pear and hazelnut or apple and walnut?
More Spinach Tips
Spinach does not need to be cooked very long. In fact it is often served as a wilted salad which basically means served raw under a hot food like scallops! Another favourite of mine is Eggs Florentine – poach eggs on a bed of spinach and topped with Mournay Sauce (cream sauce with nutmeg and parmesan).
Curried Spinach Salad Dressing
Simple.
Whisk together:
1/4 cup white wine or cider vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 Tbsp. finely chopped chutney
1 tsp. curry powder
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1/4 tsp. Tabasco
If you would like to view or add to your order please click here!
The weather remains cold (have you noticed?) and the salad greens are growing very. slowly. We love having the cold-friendly braising greens again this week.
This week’s braising mix… glamourous, n’est pas?
Looking into the future, using our crystal ball:
We hope to see nettle greens in the boxes the first three weeks of April. We will also offer nettles in 1/2 LB bulk bags. Try drying it for a winter tea!
Nettles are an important source of beta-carotene, vitamin A, C and E, iron, calcium, phosphates and minerals. I just finishing the last of my nettle rose mint tea. Eric at Untamed Feast who is picking the nettles for us from his own wild patch says to “boil fresh nettles for a bit (just to take the sting out…), drain, and freeze for adding to cleansing/building spring smoothies, tastes great in a banana smoothie.”
We also might see some overwintering cauliflower in mid-April. Island garlic is all done for the season but we can expect garlic greens soon.
Crop planning continues. We’ve begun working with Ian King from Seabluff Farm in Metchosin. Ian is interested in extending the growing seasons with us. Perhaps you met Ian at the Downtown Winter Markets?
Meet Dave Chambers
Dave of Madrona Farm gives an interview on the joys of Winter Farmering.
It explains all the mud on delivery days…
Join our Team!
We are looking for a back-up production person to assist with packing our beautiful veggie boxes. Production days are:
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
We can offer one regular shift a week plus backup. Must love veggies and be available on our production days!
Being able to drive standard transmission is an asset and a reason to boast… a little.
Email a resume!
susan(at)shareorganics.bc.ca
Italian Pear Pie with Hazelnut Crust
For crust, grease a pie plate with:
1 Tbsp butter
Grind in a processor or coffee mill:
2 cups hazelnuts
Combine with:
1/2 cup pastry flour
3 Tbsp Cane sugar
1/4 tsp Cinnamon
3 TBS water
Mix all crust ingredients together with a fork and press into 9 inch pie plate.
For filling, combine the following:
4 to 6 juicy pears, peeled and sliced
3/4 tsp Cinnamon
2 Tbsp cane sugar
Rind and juice of 1 lemon (optional)
Bake for 35 minutes at 375 degrees. Serve warm topped with whipped cream or ice cream.
What to Make with This Week’s
Bio-Regional Box
Roasted Rutabaga and Beets
Braised Greens with Balsamic Vinegar
Pear Pie
Blueberry Smoothie
Baby Carrots for a snack
Salad Greens with Apple and Hazelnuts
If you would like to view or add to your order please click here!
We tried a new variety of apple San Rose from Washington last week and loved it. They are the pink-er ones in the box this week next to the red Empires.
Apples are coming out of controlled atmosphere storage now. These special sealed coolers that control humidity and temperature. BC and Washington apples are released from storage in batches between February and June. They have that fresh-off-the-tree taste and crispness but do not keep as long as the fresh fall crops.
Update from Dave of Madrona Farm
“Our Braising Mix is a beautiful medley of new shoots and greens from our winter Brassicas. Over the next eight weeks we get a bonus crop for having a diverse range of brassicas in the winter gardens. The mix includes red, savoy and green cabbage shoots and baby leaves, Russian and Lacinato kale and shoots, rutabaga and turnip green tips, Brussels sprouts shoots and various Asian greens. It braises well with garlic and a little Szechuan sauce.
P.S. Yesterday we got 1,000lb of Warba seed into beautifully prepared sandy soil to be ready for harvest the beginning of June.”
(Warbas are tasty tasty potatoes!!)
New Video Coming Soon:
Growing in the Winter with Farmer Dave
Braised Winter Greens with Beans
Stem rinse and drain:
1 bag greens OR bunch of chard
Heat skillet or wok to medium heat and add:
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic minced
1 cup kidney or pinto beans
Sauté until garlic is golden. Then add:
1/4 tsp red chili flakes
Add the greens and cover to cook for 2 minutes. Uncover and toss until wilted.
Add:
1 Tbsp Balsamic vinegar
Serve over quinoa or rice.
What to make with this week’s Best of the Bio-Region Box
Potato and Leek Soup
Braised Greens with Beans
Blackberry Apple Crumble
Omelet with Oyster Mushrooms
Parsnip and Potato or Carrot Latkes
Poached Pears
Leeks are coming from Seabluff Farm in Metchosin thanks to Farmer Ian King!
Introduction to Home-Scale Permaculture
With Elaine Codling
Saturday, March 24th
12:30 – 4:30 p.m.
Whatever size yard or garden you have to work with, applying basic permaculture principles will reduce the maintenance and increase the productivity. Learn practical strategies and techniques for creating a productive ecological yard and garden.
Permaculture design can give you more variety, more beauty, and more time to enjoy it. There will be hands-on activity at Spring Ridge Commons to apply techniques learned in class.
To register, please contact Pooyan Najafi at pnajafi@gmail.com or (250)858-5256.
Where: Fernwood Community Centre, 1240 Gladstone Avenue
Crop planning with our farmers is almost done! Just spoke with Wendy at West Wind Farm and she is excited about growing tomatoes and eggplant for us. We can also expect some of her Italian parsley and more grilling peppers.
She is going to experiment with red bell peppers this year. They are heat lovers and need a long growing season. Did you know that red bell peppers are ripe green bell peppers? Wendy is going to try growing them in the greenhouse.
West Wind Farms is one of the hottest spots on the Island in a little ecosystem northwest of Duncan in the Cowichan Valley. Wendy also reports that the garlic planted last October is looking great! If you remember her whole crop was lost last year so this is very good news!!
Wendy has also committed to grow a smaller variety of spaghetti squash this year
Wendy’s Lettuce Row – September 2011
What to do with this week’s Bio-Regional Box
We changed the name of this box from LOCAL ONLY as we have a few items from away – that is, Washington State and the BC interior. Still 50% Island Grown! The name will revert back once we have 100% local offerings again.
Carrot Quiche
Apple Blueberry Crisp with Hazelnut Topping
Raw Hazelnut Snack (Taste the difference between raw and roasted!)
Blueberry Muffins
Roasted Rutabaga and Shallots
Borscht
Sautéed Garlic, Mushroom & Braising Greens
Introduction to Home-Scale Permaculture
With Elaine Codling
Saturday, March 24th
12:30 – 4:30 p.m.
Whatever size yard or garden you have to work with, applying basic permaculture principles will reduce the maintenance and increase the productivity. Learn practical strategies and techniques for creating a productive ecological yard and garden.
Permaculture design can give you more variety, more beauty, and more time to enjoy it. There will be hands-on activity at Spring Ridge Commons to apply techniques learned in class.
To register, please contact Pooyan Najafi at pnajafi@gmail.com or (250)858-5256.
Where: Fernwood Community Centre, 1240 Gladstone Avenue
Share Organics is involved in the Climate Smart program sponsored by Saanich and the City of Victoria. We are mapping and tracking our C02 emissions. This involves tracking our vehicle fuel consumption, paper use, refrigerant use for coolers, energy use and garbage. We will estimate using records for the last fiscal year. After crunching numbers we will work to determine areas where we can improve and more accurately track our emissions! We were surprised to find that when we were asked to weigh our garbage each week that we produce as little as 1 – 3 LBS! We do a lot of recycling!
Other things are harder to track. We can see how much it costs in fuel to deliver to your door but not quite how to factor in the fuel we save because you folks do not have to drive to the store. Similarly we cannot track how much we save by choosing local over BC produce or produce shipped by tanker versus trucked. We know these things matter and make our choices accordingly but putting numbers to it is a different story. We can tell you that the bike delivery mileage was 2769 km last year and we hope to be able to report what is referred to as “avoided emissions” soon.
Who’s Your Farmer
Join Heather Stretch, Robin Tunnicliffe, Rachel Fisher, Saanich MLA Lana Popham, and Mary Alice Johnson for an evening discussion on local organic farming and learn more about the growers in your neighbourhood.
Tuesday, February 28 – 7:00pm
Cadboro Bay Books
3840 Cadboro Bay Road
Victoria, BC
Shiitake Mushrooms from Salt Spring Exotic Mushrooms
Shiitake is touted as Asia’s most famous mushroom: the tastiest, healthiest and most popular cultivated variety. On the Salt Spring farm it is grown on BC Red Alder. These mushrooms are harvested bi-weekly so they have higher moisture and flavor content than other sources. They are high in protein, anti-oxidants and Vitamins B, C & D. Shiitakes have a more robust flavor than the standard button mushrooms, which makes them go a little farther: by using only half the amount of mushrooms the recipe requires, they can be used in most any recipe!
Since Shiitakes are a nutritional powerhouse, they make a great meat substitute. They are a healthy alternative to meat for people trying to cut back on fat.
Here is a short video Susan did with Adam Gold of Salt Spring Exotic Mushrooms last March. Perhaps some of you recognize him from the markets?
Shiitake and Wild Rice Pilaf
Shiitake and Wild Rice Pilaf
4 oz. Shiitake Mushrooms, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp. minced onion or leeks
1 cup snow peas or thinly sliced kale
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 cups cooked wild rice
1/2 cup toasted hazelnut pieces
1 dash of Tamari
In broad skillet, saute shiitake mushrooms, onions and garlic in oil until tender, 1 to 2 minutes.
Add rice, walnuts, onions and Tamari, mixing to blend. Heat to warm through.
Makes 4 servings
If you would like to view or add to your order please click here!
The Share Organics’ winter staff party was Saturday night and I wanted to share the great local dinner menu! It was part potluck and partly catered by chef Sonja Limberger of Five Elements Cooking.
As a personal chef Sonja came to my house and made the main course and a dessert.
Staff brought appies and veggies.
Chef Sonja doing some business with a bundt pan
local chard in the main dish!
Here are some highlights from the dinner menu:
Chard, Roasted Carrot and Ricotta Crumble
- by Sonja
A lovely mixture of roasted BC carrots, baked ricotta cheese and baby chard from Madrona Farm with a savory herbed crumble topping.
Mixed Veggies with Toasted Almonds in butter
- by Susan
Almonds are not yet local but Susan has planted an almond tree in her backyard…
Roasted Potatoes with FairyRing Mushroom Gravy.
- by Colby
The mushrooms were picked last fall and frozen by our own bike delivery rider, Colby. Delicious!
Chocolate Beet Bundt Cake
- By Sonja
Made with Denman Island chocolate and roasted and pureed beets. Served with local warm blackberry sauce and whipped cream.
Just leave them in the bin when you unpack your goodies and the driver will pick them up.
THANKS!!!
Sonja’s Carrot Ginger Soup
Ingredients:
1 small onion diced
1/2 tsp dill
1/4 tsp mustard powder
pinch of nutmeg
pinch of salt and pepper
1 Tbsp minced ginger
1 clove garlic minced
6 medium carrots thinly sliced
1 potato, large chunked
5 c veggie soup stock
2 1/2 Tbsp Tahini
1 Tbsp olive oil
Heat a little olive oil in a pot, and then add onion and sauté on a low heat about 5 minutes then add all spices including ginger and continue sautéing for another 5 minutes.
Add carrots and potato and pour in some soup stock to about 2 inches above the veggies. Less stock is better… if you add too much from the start the soup will be too thin. Then bring to a boil and leave on a low to medium boil until the carrots are tender, around 45 minutes.
Let the soup cool briefly, then using a hand mixer blend till smooth adding the tahini while blending. OR pour into a blender and mix on high speed then turn down to medium speed and add the tahini through the top while spinning.
Taste for salt and serve with some chopped parsley as a garnish.
Makes about 5 or 6 servings.
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The first annual Island Agricultural Fair was held last weekend at the North Cowichan Exhibition grounds. It was great to hear two organic certifying groups at the event talking to local farmers about the organic industry. Our local certifying group, Island Organic Producers Association (IOPA) was one of them and ProCert, a BC and international certifying body, was the other.
These certifying groups and their farm members must meet BC organic standards set by COABC, Certified Organic Associations of BC.
I wish there had been a GMO Free Island group in attendance but we do not have one yet.
Anybody interested?
That’s a big, red tractor!
BPA-free Crushed Tomatoes
Share Organics will soon be offering crushed organic tomatoes in bisphenol-A (BPA) free amber glass jars from Eden Foods.
A special thanks to a customer that alerted us to this and suggested we source processed tomatoes in a new way!
BPA leaches from the inner liner of cans that hold high acid foods. BPA in our food is concerning as “studies have shown the chemical to mimic the hormone estrogen and be linked to such health problems as infertility, breast cancer, prostate cancer, hormone imbalance, and premature puberty in women.” Ack!
It is always interesting to see our food in the global perspective. Here is the latest from our mainland supplier on the veggie scene:
“There is little change on the veg front with continuing tight supply across the board, with the occasional window of good supply and more seasonal pricing opening and closing. Unfortunately, after a week of warmer weather, cold nights and frost are now looming for the desert growing areas again this weekend, which isn’t going to help. … Slicer cuke pricing continues to be out of this world, but tomato pricing is crumbling across the board affecting all growers in Sinnaloa – a nice stretch of hot weather has helped there. It was about this time a couple of years ago when we had that deadly freeze and temps of -9 C there – totally the opposite this year.”
- Discovery Organics, January 25
All the cooking greens are at very high prices this week especially the kales!! The California crop is dwindling and the Mexican crop is still at least a week away.
On the home front
We have small savoy cabbage and cauliflower in the fields at Madrona Farm. Dave is also planting a few beds of oriental greens which will fill in the gaps in the early spring for fresh local greens. Potatoes are almost sold out but rutabaga and turnips remain strong. The Brussels Sprout patch continues to produce!
We are involved in the crop planning stage of the cycle speaking with farmers about what they want to grow for Share next year. This gives them a better idea of what to plant when. Farming is a chancy business and so farmers are glad we are here and ready to eat what they grow!
Baby Cauliflower photographed at Madrona Farm, Oct 2011
The Islands’ largest agricultural event of the year! Featuring a trade show with more than sixty exhibitors:
February 3-4, 2012
Cowichan Exhibition Park
District of North Cowichan
(5 kilometers North of Duncan)
The Islands Agriculture Show provides a unique opportunity to showcase, celebrate and grow the agriculture industry on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands.
Visitors to the trade show can expect to see the latest and most innovative equipment and technology for the agriculture industry. http://iashow.ca/
Ginger Rutabaga Vegetable Soup
Melt in a soup pot:
1 Tbsp. butter or olive oil
Add and sauté over low heat for 7 minutes:
1 1/2 cups chopped onions
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
3 Tbsp. minced ginger
Peel and dice and then stir in the following and sauté another 10 minutes:
1 LB Rutabaga
1 medium sweet potato or parsnip
2 medium potatoes
2 large carrots
Add and bring to boil:
6 cups water
1 stick cinnamon
Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
Remove cinnamon stick and continue simmering until tender. Remove 1/4 of the vegetables to your blender and puree. Return to soup pot.
Serves 6 to 8.
If you would like to view or add to your order please click here!
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