Check out this great upcoming local craft sale - the annual Festive Season Sale at 43 Queen St S, Kitchener - hosted by BarterWorks (K-W's local bartering network), and The Working Centre (a local non-profit organization).
Time: Fri, Nov 28 from 5-8 pm and Sat, Nov 29 from 10-3 pm.
What you will find: unique locally handmade goods like hemp clothing, handmade dolls, kids clothing, natural soap, jewelry, food items, tea, cards, fair trade coffee, and more...
We'll be there with our Homestead Herbals products (soaps, teas, salves, tinctures) as well as children's items and handmade cards. I'm just getting into block printing, so hope to have some cards and fabric art ready for the sale too. There are just too many crafting projects that I want to be doing, and I tend to have a few different projects on the go at once (right now, knitting, sewing, block printing, soapmaking of course)...I'm looking forward to bringing in more crafty people from our community to lead a new round of workshops here at Little City Farm in 2010. The workshop schedule will be ready in a few weeks and posted here.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Fall farm day...
This week the weather has been almost balmy! It gave us a little more time to get things in order out in the yard before winter sets in. Last seeds harvested and saved, now nicely packed away with labels for next year's planting. Compost and leaves added to garden beds. Garlic has been planted. Coldframe is prepped and planted, greenhouse also planted with lettuce and kale seedlings (the hot peppers and fig tree are still doing nicely in there). While we were working outside, we also baked bread in the cob oven - the perfect fall task of tending a roaring fire while raking leaves...
Saturday, November 07, 2009
Spinning, carding & natural fibres
A beautiful fall day..while Greg was out raking leaves, spreading compost, and preparing garden beds for planting garlic, I was inside learning about the wonders of natural fibres during the latest homesteading workshop here at Little City Farm.
Nicole from the KW Spinners & Weavers Guild is a natural teacher, and led our small group through the process of cleaning, carding, and spinning a variety of natural fibres (mohair, alpaca, angora, wool, llama, yak, cotton, silk, and even cornsilk!) in both the "short draw" (used for long fibres) and "long draw" (generally used for short fibres). We also learned the "anatomy" of a spinning wheel, and had opportunity to practice on both the single and double-treadled wheels. I think several participants will be hooked for sure, as this spinning seems to be addictive once you get the hang of it. I did get the chance to run outside to harvest some fresh milkweed pods from our yard, which I managed to card into two small "rolags" (ie. rolls) and Nicole spun into a lustrous silky thread - wow! Apparently parachutes were made of milkweed fluff during the WWII, but probably due to impracticality of harvesting them, not to mention the cheap cost of cotton, milkweed has been forgotten as a fibre material. Of course, now we are seeing bamboo in everything, and hemp is becoming more available in all manner of fibres and textiles. The next steps after spinning would be dying the fibres and then all manner of knitting projects (many in the room were already avid knitters, though these lovely skeins would tempting to just leave around the house as decoration after all the hard work of spinning them!).
Wellington Fibres, on a farm near Elora, was recommended as a great local source for fibres, fibre processing, spinning wheels, workshops and advice. They raise 30 angora goats, and run their operation as "green" as possible, using solar panels and other sustainable technologies to operate their business. www.wellingtonfibres.on.ca
The Power of Community - Film at Princess Cinema
The "transition town" movement is growing - Guelph and Peterborough are two designated transition towns in Ontario, and a new group has recently formed in K-W to work toward this goal as well. Transition towns look at aspects of life that a community needs in order to sustain itself and thrive, significantly increase resilience (to mitigate the effects of Peak Oil) and drastically reduce carbon emissions (to mitigate the effects of Climate Change). The transition town communities also recognise two crucial points:
Plan C: The Power of Community
Faith Morgan is the director and co-writer of "The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil".
- that we used immense amounts of creativity, ingenuity and adaptability on the way up the energy upslope, and that there's no reason for us not to do the same on the downslope
- if we collectively plan and act early enough there's every likelihood that we can create a way of living that's significantly more connected, more vibrant and more in touch with our environment than the oil-addicted treadmill that we find ourselves on today.
Plan C: The Power of Community
Lecture, Film, Q&A - with author, film makers and directors Pat Murphy and Faith Morgan
Thursday November 12th
Princess Twin Cinema, 46 King Street North, Waterloo www.princesscinemas.com
Doors Open at 6:45 Talk at 7:15, Film at 7:45 followed by Q&A session.
Admission $2 (Barterworks and OUR Community Dollar will be accepted)
Pat Murphy is executive director of the Institute for Community Solutions in Yellow Springs, Ohio, a nonprofit organization devoted to small community living. Author of Plan C: Community Survival Strategies for Peak Oil and Climate Change, he lectures widely across North America on energy, Peak Oil, geopolitics and lifestyle solutions. Focusing on community resilience and long-term sustainability, his main interest is on the techniques and strategies for a steady reduction in the per capita use of fossil fuels.
Faith Morgan is the director and co-writer of "The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil".
They will be in Hamilton to address city council and to present the 2009 Spirit of Red Hill Creek Lecture, and they have graciously agreed to speak in several other local communities as part of their Southern Ontario visit.
Co-sponsored by:
For more information call Stephen at 519.888.6917 or email: info@transitionkw.ca
Sunday, November 01, 2009
Workshop - making Waldorf-inspired dolls
We had a lovely busy workshop here on Saturday - how better could a rainy cold Saturday be spent than sitting around a large dining room table with a fantastic group of crafty women, drinking cozy cups of tea, sharing tips on life and parenting...and being productive yet relaxed at the same time. So many skillful hands working at once, it felt like an old-fashioned quilting bee!
The session was on making Waldorf-inspired dolls. A huge range of Waldorf dolls are readily available online, but they are generally quite expensive (understandably so, as they are handmade using good quality natural materials, and are beatifully crafted). We decided, why not learn to make our own, and brought in Amaryah from Sew Oiseau to teach us!
Typically Waldorf dolls are lightweight, have an imaginative shape and are made with only natural materials. They are great to cuddle with and are the perfect size and shape for babies and young children to hold on to. Their heads are filled with pure sheep’s wool, which is known to absorb scents easily the dolls will absorb comforting scents of home, of its parents, things that are familiar for baby. Wool is inherently anti-bacterial, so theyare safe to chew on with no fluff to inhale. These dolls are popular in natural/eco-minded parenting circles as they are not only non-toxic, made with natural materials like wool, but the neutral faces are intended to inspire creativity and imagination in the child who plays with them. The dolls we made were a very basic design, not nearly as elaborate as some (see Bamboletta, for example), but were easily finished in about 2-3 hours, so a satisfying project to complete in short order.
Waldorf education is a whole well-established philosophy, and is based on the teachings of Rudolf Steiner. The Waldorf schools focus on bringing to life the following attributes in children:
- Creative thinking permeated with imagination, flexibility, and focus
- Emotional intelligence, empathy, and self-esteem
- Physical vitality, stamina, and perseverance
- Spiritual depth borne out of an abiding appreciation and responsibility for nature, for work, and for their fellow human beings
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Late October garden tasks
We're looking forward to the winter months, where we take time to reflect, read, research and plan for next season's activities. One point that I took from Vandana Shiva's presentation at the university last week was the imperative to link ecological food production, poverty reduction, and climate change together - any solutions or actions we come up with should be addressing all three areas to be truly effective and sustainable. I hope to delve more into this topic through her latest book, Soil not Oil, this winter. Also, included on the ever expanding reading list are Arundrati Roy's Living with Grasshoppers, Novella Carpenter's urban farming book, a SPIN-Farming manual, and Eliot Coleman's Winter Harvest Handbook, as well as a few crafting books like the Handmade Home (I plan to keep my basket of sewing right near the woodstove, so I take real time to settle down and work on some projects each day). By the way, yes, we did finally take the plunge and decide on a woodstove - a small Jotul model - it has arrived and is awaiting installation. More on this in another post when we install it, light the first fire, warm a pot of soup on the cookplate and take a few photos...
For fall wrap up we are now pretty much done in the yard and garden. Seeds collected, vines pulled out, mulch spread, compost turned, winter greens planted...The garlic still needs to be planted, and as we are planning on reworking out garden layout for next year (putting in smaller 30-inch wide beds, instead of 48-inch as we now have them, and narrower paths - all to maximize our growing potential), I have yet to measure out where to plant garlic so it will be in a proper bed next season. The coldframe has been planted with greens, spinach, chard, herbs, chicory, and mizuna, and the plastic cover is reinstalled to keep the bed warm on sunny winter days. We need to transplant some flats of seedlings into the greenhouse beds (various lettuces for winter consumption) and then we're ready for winter.
For fall wrap up we are now pretty much done in the yard and garden. Seeds collected, vines pulled out, mulch spread, compost turned, winter greens planted...The garlic still needs to be planted, and as we are planning on reworking out garden layout for next year (putting in smaller 30-inch wide beds, instead of 48-inch as we now have them, and narrower paths - all to maximize our growing potential), I have yet to measure out where to plant garlic so it will be in a proper bed next season. The coldframe has been planted with greens, spinach, chard, herbs, chicory, and mizuna, and the plastic cover is reinstalled to keep the bed warm on sunny winter days. We need to transplant some flats of seedlings into the greenhouse beds (various lettuces for winter consumption) and then we're ready for winter.
2nd annual Central Art Walk & Studio Tour successful!
We had a busy Saturday opening our home to the art walk masses and hosting four talented artists for the 2nd annual Central Art Walk and Studio Tour. A few photos here show some of the felted wool vegetables, woolen reconstructed clothing, natural soaps and herbal products, pottery, jewelry, and wooden games. There were 16 houses participating, with over 30 artists in total during this all day walking tour of the neighbourhood. We estimated about 150 people dropped by - it was great to meet so many new folks from the neighbourhood and beyond - thanks to everyone who came out to support this event! This is such an important event for the neighbourhood to be a part of, showcasing hidden talents and bringing people out onto the streets to meet each other and support local art. We're looking forward to next year already...(and, for all the cupcake fans, sorry we didn't have enough to go around this time).
Bring Food Home conference, March 4-6, 2010 in Kitchener connects sustainable food and farming
Bring Food Home 2010
Bring Food Home – Connecting Ontario Farm and Food Networks
Provincial Conference, March 4-6 at the Kitchener Delta Hotel.
“Bring food home” is a seemingly simple directive, one that immediately brings to mind a shopping cart and a family dinner table. But in the case of the upcoming conference sponsored by Sustain Ontario, FoodNet Ontario and other partners it means so much more.
To a low-income earner bringing food home necessitates sometimes difficult choices. It may be the choice between nutrition and empty, hunger-abating calories or the choice between food and some of the other necessities of life. To someone who works in their community promoting healthy choices, bringing food home encompasses the areas of nutrition, health, education and community engagement. Farmers, challenged by a global trading system that places control and profits in the hands of a few multinationals, are re-examining the opportunities to bring food home to local consumers. Others, conscious of the challenges of climate change, peak energy and environmental degradation, see the decision-making power that brings food home as a universal right. To a community, bringing food home is part of the discussion and planning to develop a local sustainable food system.
The conference will bring together a broad range of participants from diverse regions and sectors, including farmers, food enterprises, health promoters, community groups and government organizations. The purpose of this gathering is to facilitate our learning and working together to create food systems that are healthy, just, accessible, culturally appropriate, financially viable and sustainable.
The Conference has been organized into the following streams:
· Training for Emerging Farmers
· Community Food Security
· Strengthening Regional Economies
· Sustaining Food Production – Farm, City and Countryside
To date we have confirmed Joel Salatin of Polyface Farm and of Food, Inc. fame as one of several keynote speakers, as well as Martin Gooch from the George Morris Centre who will lead a workshop in value chain management. The FarmOn Alliance is planning a whole day of events related to new farmer training.
Opportunities for Action - urban agriculture symposium coming up Nov 20 in Guelph
Opportunities for Action: An Urban Agriculture Symposium
There is an urban agriculture symposium being organized in Guelph for Fri, Nov 20 - above is the poster, below is the invitation letter:
Dear Urban Aggies and Friends of Urban Agriculture, Municipal planners, Community and Backyard Gardeners, Environmentalists, Business entrepreneurs, Student’s, Academics, Social innovators, Government officials, Farmers, engaged citizens and local food supporters;
On Friday November 20th 2009 Backyard Bounty and the University of Guelph will be hosting the first symposium on urban agriculture in Guelph. Opportunities for Action: An Urban Agriculture Symposium will bring together the movers and shakers in the Urban Agriculture scene. The Symposium aims to not only inspire action but address key issues and provide connections that enable the Urban Agriculture movement to advance.
The morning will start with a keynote presentation from Dr. Karen Landman who will inspire us with stories of her summer tour of urban agriculture projects across North America. A panel discussion will follow that brings together experience and ideas from those near and far working in the field of urban agriculture. During the afternoon participants will take part in an interactive facilitation process to identify common barriers, seek feasible solutions and set achievable actions. A local lunch and snacks will be provided.
In partnership with Guelph-Wellington Local Food Initiative, City of Guelph Healthy Landscapes project, The Organic Conference, Chris Jess and his army of Locavores. We invite you to join us!
Please register at:
Shannon Lee Stirling
Project Co-ordinator
Backyard Bounty
See below for schedule of the day’s events and rates!
Opportunities For Action: An Urban Agriculture Symposium
This Symposium has arisen out of a need to bring together and build the capacity of the Urban Agriculture movement. Those in attendance will meet with like-minded people and leaders in the field. They will share ideas and make connections with others involved in urban agriculture. The afternoon’s facilitated process, with allow for interaction between various sectors of the movement, and form a dialogue to help better understand and develop collaborative solutions.
Conference Schedule
8:30am -Registration
9am - Keynote Dr; Karen Landman will speak about her recent North American tour of Urban Agriculture Projects
10:15 - Panel –How Can We Move Urban Agriculture Forward?
Experts that will be joining us include:
Paul Winstanley is an urban farmer from Victoria, British Columbia who has been raising chickens and growing food in the city for 8 years.
Katherine Pigott has worked at Region of Waterloo Public Health since March 2000. A key part of her role has been the development of a comprehensive local food systems planning approach in Waterloo Region as Manager of the Healthy Communities and Policy Team. Katherine has over twenty years experience in community based program development, planning, and systems change that has spanned economic development, health promotion and environmental planning.
Katherine is an avid cyclist, distance runner and gardener and lives in downtown Kitchener. She serves of the Board of Directors of the Association of Health Centres of Ontario and on the Steering Committee of Food Secure Canada.
Tracey Tomlik formerly a student of the University of Guelph, now resides on the East coast. She will return to share with us an Urban Perma-culture plan she has designed for the city of Guelph.
More presenters and information to come!!!
Noon- Lunch & networking
One of the most valuable parts of a conference is the connection’s made, so we are planning a long lunch to provide room for this. We are also in the lovely arboretum setting and encourage you to enjoy walk about, you may even spot GCOUF (Guelph Centre for Urban Organic Farming)!
1:30- Interactive Facilitation Process
We are working with a group of students from the University of Guelph to develop an interactive facilitation process that will empower individuals to work as a team! Participants will have the chance to connect with both those that are working in similar capacities and also those with which they may share compatible goals. We will discuss our various projects, resources, experiences and methods. The aim of the process will be to seek ways we can all cooperate to meet our goals and the larger goal of seeing progress in the field of Urban Agriculture!
4:30- Closing remarks
Rates:
Early bird before November 1st
Industry, Academic, government: $90 includes keynote
Producers and Other: $20 includes keynote
Keynote only: $10
After November 1st
Industry, Academic, government: $100
Producers and Other: $25
Final registration date Nov 13th
Symposium Fee (Circle One):
| Early Bird Before Nov 1st | After Nov 1st |
| Industry, Academic, government: $90 | Industry, Academic, government: $100 |
| Producers and Other: $20 | Producers and Other: $25 |
| Keynote only $10 | Keynote only $15 |
Final registration date Nov 13th !!!!!!!
Cheques payable to University of Guelph.
Please Mail registration and payment to:
c/o Beth Livingstone
Crop Science Building
University of Guelph
Guelph, OntarioN1G 2W1
Questions regarding registration: blivings@uoguelph.ca or 519-824-4120 ext 52783
Questions regarding symposium www.backyardbounty.ca or 519-803-2539
Friday, October 16, 2009
Vandana Shiva - speaking locally Oct 21 and 22, on Earth Democracy
The UW Hagey Lecture Series
with the support of Alternatives Journal and WPIRG
presents the 2009 Hagey Lecture
with the support of Alternatives Journal and WPIRG
presents the 2009 Hagey Lecture
Vandana Shiva: Earth Democracy
LECTURE: Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2009 at 8 p.m.
Humanities Theatre, J.G. Hagey Hall of the Humanities, UWaterloo
No ticket is required, but free registration is appreciated here
* * *
COLLOQUIUM: The next day –Thursday, Oct. 22, Shiva will address a student colloquium with a talk entitled Soil Not Oil: Food Security in Times of Climate Change. The colloquium begins at 9:30 a.m. in Environment 1 building, room 221.
WPIRG and Alternatives will be present to offer students an opportunity to become involved in local initiatives that reflect Vandana Shiva’s ideas and values.
Award-winning ecologist Vandana Shiva will propose a new form of democracy to counter financial, social and climate meltdowns in her talk: “Earth Democracy: Beyond Dead Democracy and Killing Economies”
Shiva will discuss her views on why democracy is under siege, yielding to both corporate dictatorship and violent extremism from excluded elements of society. "The triple crisis," she says, "needs a new imagination that transforms the dominant economic systems, political systems and socio-cultural systems into living systems that serve the planet and people. I call this re-imagining of society 'Earth Democracy'."
In India, Shiva established Navdanya, a movement for biodiversity, conservation and farmers' rights. Navdanya means the nine crops that represent India's collective source of food security. She also launched a school for sustainability on the Navdanya Biodiversity Farm in north India.
As well, Shiva is the founding director of the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology, a network of researchers specializing in ecology, health and sustainability. She serves on the boards of the International Forum on Globalization and the World Future Council. She is the vice-president of a global movement called Slow Food International.
Shiva, who completed her PhD at the University of Western Ontario in 1978, is a physicist and philosopher of science, as well as an ecologist, activist, editor and author of many books. Her most recent books are Earth Democracy and Water Wars.
Shiva was a recipient of the 1993 Right Livelihood Award - considered the Alternative Nobel Prize. The award recognizes "vision and work contributing to making life more whole, healing the planet and uplifting humanity."
Hagey lecturers have distinguished themselves in some scholarly or creative field and their work cuts across traditional disciplines and national boundaries. Previous lecturers have included Nobel laureates in various disciplines, internationally renowned scholars, architects, peace activists, and well-known artists.
100-Mile Thanksgiving Feast...in Manitoba, AND the Landless Farmers Collective
I had the fortunate opportunity to travel out west to see family over Thanksgiving. Manitoba is a province that is proud of its farmers, having always been supportive of their local growers and producers. The 100-Mile / eating locally / locavore idea has caught on quickly, with many more tasty options available than would at first have been imagined in a province with long winters and shorter growing season than Ontario. In particular, I found there are many more locally grown organic grains available, as well as some exciting urban farm initiatives going on in Winnipeg.
My family has been happily growing, picking, sourcing, and preserving local foods all season and treated us to an amazing harvest feast. Here's what we had...
From my parent's garden: fresh garden tomatoes, and grapes saved from the last grapevine,
From a friend's organic farm and preserved by my mom: homemade crab-apple sauce, pickled cucumbers and beets, apples and lentils for a vegetarian salad, peas and corn,
From a local organic grain farm and baked by my mom: homemade bread (made of local grains - rye, spelt, wheat, flax), with local butter,
From my sister's partners urban farm (an very innovative project called the Landless Farmers Collective): potatoes, herbs, kale, and homemade apple cider from wildcrafted apples,
From another nearby farm: for the carnivores a free-range turkey,
For dessert of course there were homemade local apple and pumpkin pies, with whole wheat crusts, and a taste of maple syrup from urban tapping of 10 downtown maple trees,
and I brought along herbal tea from our garden. Mmmmm...
More on the Landless Farmers Collective - they are a group of 4 people who had been farming with an organic CSA just outside of the city. They decided to do an urban farm (market garden and CSA) this season, and be able to deliver the produce by bicycle, trailer and cargo bicycle. They approached the city about using a large parcel of downtown land, just infront of the Pan Am Centre and near a highschool. They received approval to till up the land, and set up about 1/2 an acre of raised beds in permaculture style. The garden is gorgeous, with curves and spirals, and not many straight-lined rows to be seen. The group received several grants to help with capital costs (trailers, storage bins, tools), including money from the city, province and also Heifer International. Not a small feat, to be planning a huge garden, marketing your sales, working with volunteers and the community, and also applying for grant money! That's another reason why a collective of four people works well, using each of their strengths in different ways to get the various aspects of the project done. The Landless Farmers Collective also values education, and worked with teachers at the highschool to bring the students out of the classroom and into the garden throughout the season. The week I was in Winnipeg, the group had their last session with the students, showing them the final harvest, talking about winter gardening, demonstrating hands-on seed saving, and reiterating the problems in our global food system, the importance of local food security (and what we can do about it locally). A very inspiring project!
My family has been happily growing, picking, sourcing, and preserving local foods all season and treated us to an amazing harvest feast. Here's what we had...
From my parent's garden: fresh garden tomatoes, and grapes saved from the last grapevine,
From a friend's organic farm and preserved by my mom: homemade crab-apple sauce, pickled cucumbers and beets, apples and lentils for a vegetarian salad, peas and corn,
From a local organic grain farm and baked by my mom: homemade bread (made of local grains - rye, spelt, wheat, flax), with local butter,
From my sister's partners urban farm (an very innovative project called the Landless Farmers Collective): potatoes, herbs, kale, and homemade apple cider from wildcrafted apples,
From another nearby farm: for the carnivores a free-range turkey,
For dessert of course there were homemade local apple and pumpkin pies, with whole wheat crusts, and a taste of maple syrup from urban tapping of 10 downtown maple trees,
and I brought along herbal tea from our garden. Mmmmm...
More on the Landless Farmers Collective - they are a group of 4 people who had been farming with an organic CSA just outside of the city. They decided to do an urban farm (market garden and CSA) this season, and be able to deliver the produce by bicycle, trailer and cargo bicycle. They approached the city about using a large parcel of downtown land, just infront of the Pan Am Centre and near a highschool. They received approval to till up the land, and set up about 1/2 an acre of raised beds in permaculture style. The garden is gorgeous, with curves and spirals, and not many straight-lined rows to be seen. The group received several grants to help with capital costs (trailers, storage bins, tools), including money from the city, province and also Heifer International. Not a small feat, to be planning a huge garden, marketing your sales, working with volunteers and the community, and also applying for grant money! That's another reason why a collective of four people works well, using each of their strengths in different ways to get the various aspects of the project done. The Landless Farmers Collective also values education, and worked with teachers at the highschool to bring the students out of the classroom and into the garden throughout the season. The week I was in Winnipeg, the group had their last session with the students, showing them the final harvest, talking about winter gardening, demonstrating hands-on seed saving, and reiterating the problems in our global food system, the importance of local food security (and what we can do about it locally). A very inspiring project!
New Farmers & Crafters Market in uptown Waterloo
Exciting! For those who haven't seen the signs, or stopped by the new market yet, there is now a Thursday evening Farmers & Crafters Market in uptown Waterloo! Located in the new town square, from 4 pm-8 pm every Thursday in October, this new market hopes to draw on small-scale producers, urban farmers, and local crafts/artisans. Only one more week left for this season, but the plan is to reopen again in the spring for a full season!
For more info go to: www.WaterlooFarmMarket.ca
For more info go to: www.WaterlooFarmMarket.ca
Central Neighbourhood Art Walk & Studio Tour Next Weekend (Oct 24)!
VISIT US DURING THE CENTRAL ART WALK & STUDIO TOUR!
Sat, Oct 24, 10 am-5 pm
This 2nd annual tour includes 16 homes in the Central K-W neighbourhood, and over 30 artists!
At Little City Farm you will find four artists who all focus on using recycled or earth-friendly materials in their work:
Kristen Ciccarelli (Two Cent Sparrow) - encaustic paintings and functional handmade pottery
Todd Schiedel - wooden toys & games, many from reclaimed local wood
Amaryah deGroot (Sew Oiseau) - wool clothing for children & adults made from reconstructed wool sweaters
Karin Kliewer (Homestead Herbals) - natural soaps, herbal salves, teas & bath products, organic teething toys, handmade children's clothing, and maybe even some vegan cupcakes!
See www.centralartwalk.ca for full details and map of tour.
Friday, October 02, 2009
Lime Plaster Finished!
Our strawbale house is nearly finished! There are now three coats of lime on the exterior walls, and we are rodent and weather proof (let's hope!). And good thing, as it's a very cold drizzly rain outside today and we sure don't feel like applying more lime out there right now. The house could use one more coat, which may happen next week, but for now we are at least ready to go for winter weather. On the weekend we are planning to move our fence and build a new front deck/stair area..photos coming
Two Bicycles Bakery launched
The past two weeks my friend and I have been baking sourdough bread for the Fertile Ground CSA (community supported agriculture) program that has it's pick up in our neighbourhood. We call ourselves "Two Bicycles Bakery", as we deliver our bread by bicycle, wagon, bike trailer, or baby stroller! It's a small way to contribute good quality bread to our neighbourhood (which is sadly lacking a bakery in easy walking distance) and be able to do this small venture with our kids at our side.
We will continue to bring fresh bread each week until the end of the month when the CSA ends, and after that hope to have an ongoing weekly roster of breads available to people in the neighbourhood through an email order list. We want to keep things simple. Our motto is: local, organic, delicious!
Our breads are made with locally grown organic flour, and are variations of sourdough - for example, flax & sunflower seed, whole wheat, bohemian rye, 12-grain, cranberry & pumpkin seed, millet, oats & honey....
Photos to follow, this Tuesday when fresh bread is baked and packaged...(our two bicycles logo is above)
Blogged by Margaret Atwood!
Last week we were given a short mention on Margaret Atwood's blog, on the Globe and Mail website!
From the Globe and Mail website - Margaret Atwood's blog:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/blogs/atwood-on-tour/kitchen-kitchener-and-wots-all-this/article1305353/Margaret Atwood writes about her visit to Kitchener:
"At the special lunch, at which Mayor Carl Zehr was present – I don’t always get mayors! – and at which I got an earful about the need for better train connections to Toronto – anyone listening? -- I was given – Yes! – some organic coffee and a basket containing many organic treats, including some Homestead Herbals from Little City Farm, an Eco-Bed and Breakfast, and some honey from Knechtel Apiaries in Wellesley.
There was also a plantable wildflower bookmark from regionofwaterloo.visiblestrategies.com, a lovely tribute book about farmers (Keepers of the Land: Hiebert and Cripps), and a Buy Local, Buy Fresh map guide to local food in the area. Ironically, one of its sponsors is the Government of Canada, which at the moment is planning to close down all of its local-food-crucial prison farms under the pretense that the farming skills taught at them and thus by extension the food grown at them are “useless.” Listen to that, Keepers of the Land! Do I hear some growls? I certainly hope so! (Write to the Hon. Peter Van Loan and tell him you aren’t useless.)"
Canadian Wildlife Federation backyard wildlife friendly certification
We applied to the Canadian Wildlife Federation backyard wildlife friendly certification, called the Backyard Habitat Program. This application is open to any homeowner, and involves a complete description of property listing food, water, shelter and space elements to attract wildlife - listing plants on property which are fruit, nut, or seed bearing, perennial, native to the area, as well as what types of pollinators, birds and other wildlife frequent the property. Also important are water features, compost, and organic methods, water conservation measures, etc. For more details on this certification and how to apply go to the CWF website at:
http://www.cwf-fcf.org/en/what-we-do/habitat/backyard-habitat-program.html
http://www.cwf-fcf.org/en/what-we-do/habitat/backyard-habitat-program.html
Herb Shares for 2009 members
This past week seemed to fly by - the weather was still warm during the daytimes, but getting cool at night with risk of first frost in our area. Many of the farms outside the city have already had first frost, but we've been more sheltered here. However, we did decide to harvest all the last tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, as well as cover our greens, chard, zucchini and basil in hopes of keeping them going for a few more weeks if possible. Also gathering seeds, cutting last herbs to dry, and preparing more cold frames.
The herb shares for this season were also completed, and members came to pick them up this past weekend. Herb shares work like a vegetable CSA, in that members pre-pay at the start of the season and that allows me to know how many herbs to plant and harvest, and how many products to prepare. For this season they included salves, teas, tinctures, soap, cough syrup, migraine oil - and for next season I hope to also offer fresh and dried herb bunches (medicinal and culinary).
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Local fresh raw honey arrives!
Last year around this time we hosted a beekeeping workshop led by a beekeeper from the University of Guelph beekeeping lab. Of the 20 or so participants, several went on to do a more intensive full weekend workshop in the spring, and there are now 5-6 new beekeepers in the community. Two of them brought us a jar of their first honey harvest (we felt honoured) - it looks gorgeous - and they said the extraction went off without a hitch. This lovely jar of wild raw honey is almost too beautiful to eat, but we're looking forward to savouring it. The label adds a unique touch, with an artist friend designing it for them (featuring their cat "the discerning dandy" wearing a dandy kind of hat and lounging near some bees)...
Local pear & pumpkin pie production
Full blown baking day today! 8 hours later...there were 14 pies (pumpkin and dutch pear) for our freezer, and 8 loaves of wholegrain sourdough for the neighbourhood bread delivery...whew!
Needless to say, our 100-mile dessert today was fresh pie!
Sustainable tour - with students from STEP University of Waterloo
Today we were part of an all day tour organized in part by STEP, The Sustainable Technology Eduation Project (STEP) at the University of Waterloo. STEP is a working group of the University of Waterloo Sustainability Project, and aims to research, promote, educate, and demonstrate the feasibility of renewable energy technologies (both on campus and in the community).
The tour group visited a number of sites in our region, looking at sustainable initiatives around energy, techonology (e.g. greywater filtration systems, solar hot water), and sustainable building (e.g. strawbale, geothermal). We were very happy to meet them and talk about our experiences as a small, owner-built, homescale model of what we hope urban sustainability can look like. In particular, the strawbale construction, cob oven, coldframes, passive solar greenhouse, and greywater system were of interest to the group. Next year we are hoping to look into solar hot water heating (to heat our radiant floor hot water), as well as install a living roof on the new addition. When talking to these kinds of groups there are always more ideas and projects to dream about...
More on STEP: www.step.uwaterloo.ca
The tour group visited a number of sites in our region, looking at sustainable initiatives around energy, techonology (e.g. greywater filtration systems, solar hot water), and sustainable building (e.g. strawbale, geothermal). We were very happy to meet them and talk about our experiences as a small, owner-built, homescale model of what we hope urban sustainability can look like. In particular, the strawbale construction, cob oven, coldframes, passive solar greenhouse, and greywater system were of interest to the group. Next year we are hoping to look into solar hot water heating (to heat our radiant floor hot water), as well as install a living roof on the new addition. When talking to these kinds of groups there are always more ideas and projects to dream about...
More on STEP: www.step.uwaterloo.ca
Seed Saving Workshop
The executive director from Seeds of Diversity (Canada's heritage seed saving non-profit organization) was here yesterday to lead his seed saving workshop. It was a well attended session, with 25-30 people here, and the weather was perfect! We had anticipated a crowd, and in addition to chairs and a long bench had also set out strawbales to sit on. The bales always help to make it feel more like a farm here! He had lots of seed saving techniques to show (in particular his collection of sieves of various sizes in which to winnow the small seeds), talked about pollination, how and when to gather or dry the seeds, and about the organization's exciting member-based nationwide seed savers exchange.
There were lots of seeds to take home, including Jacob's Cattle Beans, Mennonite Orange tomatoes (a local heirloom), Persistance swiss chard, and a red tipped winter hardy lettuce variety. The donations raised at the workshop went toward the "adoption" of a heritage variety of brown (purplish) tomato - by raising $250 Seeds of Diversity can preserve a heritage variety in perpetuity in their seed bank. We also spent some time walking through our garden with Bob pointing out various kinds of seeds (in our garden currently lettuce, beans, chard, various flowers, basil and many other herbs are being let go to seed for collection purposes). He also pointed out native species of bees, good pollinators and welcome in the garden, which can be identified by their green heads.
We were very happy to see such interest in seed saving, a vital skill to have for building urban food security (and as we know from the rise in GMO and terminator variety seeds, access and ability to save your own garden seeds is not something to be taken for granted).
Seeds of Diversity - www.seeds.ca
Pear Sauce and other harvest adventures
This is my favourite time of year - the days are warm and mellow, the garden harvest is at it's peak, fall fruits that I love (pears, plums, apples, local grapes) have come into season, evenings are perfect for bonfires and cozy woolen sweaters, and we've pulled out our warm quilt for sleeping again. This weekend saw all of the above - lots of garden harvest, some canning and preserving, some baking, a toasty fire, cozy clothes, and a few long fall walks...
We canned up the bushel of pears, and will be making pear pie (dutch pear pie) tomorrow with a handful of pears left over. Below is the pear sauce recipe - very easy (it can even be done over two days, making the sauce one day and canning it the next) - and no sugar is added. We eat it with homemade yogurt and granola for breakfast, or as a dessert.
It was also time to pack the crock pickles (mentioned on this blog a few months ago when we started the crock) into jars - the flavours are just perfect and that is the point to put the pickles plus brine into jars in the fridge for longer storage. I have a friend who also just keeps these jars of fermented goodness in a dark cool storage area (non-refrigerated). I may have to try that as our fridge is pretty full these days. Fermenting foods is so simple, and so rewarding (and so healthful)! Like the sourdough starter that I've been experimenting with, it seems difficult to go wrong with it. Today's sourdough starter turned into 7 loaves and a large pan of sourdough cinnamon buns, and a pizza crust - this sourdough recipe is very versatile. Between fermented foods, sprouting indoors, winter kale, and our coldframe/greenhouse salad greens, I plan to get us through the winter months with fresh vitamin-mineral-enzyme rich locally produced food. The foods we've canned or put in the freezer will be a bonus too!
Easy Pear or Apple Sauce
Bushel of pears or apples
7-12 large mason jars, rings and lids
1) Wash, cut and core pears (or apples), but do not need to peel.
2) Slowly simmer pears with a little water in large pot until they are extremely soft (several hours). Remember to stir occasionally.
3) Puree pears into thick sauce and heat sauce, continuing to stir often so it does not burn.
4) Meanwhile prepare canner by heating water and sterilizing jars.
5) When canner of water is boiling, fill hot jars with hot pear sauce to within 1/2 inch from top (i.e. 1/2 inch "headspace"). Wipe rims to remove any stickiness.
6) Heat canning lids according to instructions on package (usually 5 minutes in boiling water to soften the seals). Fasten onto the hot jars tightening slightly ("finger tight").
7) Set jars in hot canner, and when water returns to boiling, boil for 20 minutes (20 minutes for 500 ml jars).
8) Take jars out, let sit for 24 hours to cool. Check to see that all lids have sealed (concave if sealed). Label and store for future use!
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