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Flavour of September, with a pinch of October

 

 

 

How busy can one month be? Very very in September’s case. Here it is October and I’m still rushing. A quick review will show why I’ve been too crazed to post, though it’s been delightful and stimulating.

Friday Sept. 21 was the long-anticipated (by me, certainly) panel discussion featuring visiting baker Andrew Whitley, community-supported fisherman Guy Johnston and urban farmer Angela Moran, with her chicken wrangler Trevor van Hemert. Whitley kicked off with a description of the organic baking career that led him to his current life as a baking instructor and organic activist. He is helping to launch a local community supported baking enterprise, and through the Real Bread Campaign which he co-founded, to raise awareness about different ways to promote bread in communities. Johnston described his two-year old community supported fishery, which helps him keep his boat in the water and his family in the sustainable fishing business. He urged us to join in the October 22 protest against the Northern Gateway Pipeline, which will endanger the livelihood of all those who fish in west coast waters. Moran and van Hemert have arranged with eight neighbours to share both chicken-shaped responsibilities and egg-shaped outcomes so that Moran’s urban farm is able to keep its flock of laying hens. They’ve come up with a model agreement they want to share with others to spread the joy of shared chicken ownership.

Saturday we put Andrew back in the kitchen to lead a breadmaking workshop for a lucky baker’s dozen who were spared the cost of airfare to Scotland to take the class at Bread Matters. In the beautifully equipped domestic science lab at Royal Oak Middle School, Andrew and the participants faced some challenges with the limitations of domestic ovens and unfamiliar flours while he shared some of his knowledge about bread, flour and the state of grain in the world today.

 

 

 

 

Sunday Sept. 23 marked the first offering of the Flavour Gourmet Picnic, held at Coastal Winery in Black Creek, just north of the Comox Valley. I’d been to Feast of Fields and the Island Chefs Collaborative festivals, and thought it would be interesting to experience a north Island event. Andrew & Veronica joined us to sample the many, many wares on offer at a gentle, sun-warmed and well-organized afternoon of sipping and tasting. One of those who’d attended Andrew’s talk to the VIU Professional Baking program in Nanaimo the week before was there with her Church Street Bakery breads, and he make an appearance in the rather lovely video made to commemorate the day (accepting one of the most delicious items on offer: a piece of chocolate pave from Kingfisher Lodge).

 

 

 

 

 

On Monday, after a relaxing morning gathering oysters for supper, we headed back to Victoria where I attended a meeting of the Victoria Horticultural Society‘s Veggie group – one of the members was explaining her planting calendar and use of cover crops, which is something I’d like to do better even in my tiny garden.

By Wednesday 26th Andrew & Veronica were packed and ready to leave, but not until we’d stopped in to see Cliff Leir’s operation at Fol Epi. He’d described his grain soaking and flour milling operations at the Kneading Conference, but seeing the tiny space in which the magic happens made it the more special. Good things, small packages etc. (and the pumpkin pie and sausage roll we sampled, among other treats, were formidably good).

Wednesday evening arrived promptly and after a small misspelling on the poster had been swiftly corrected (yes, I pine still for England where there is never a D in my name) the maiden voyage of Digging the City took place in a room in my local library filled with interesting and interested people, many from GTUF.

Thursday saw me back on the farmstand at Haliburton and then back on the road to Nanaimo where we were discussing vitamins and minerals in the CSNN introductory holistic nutrition course. Fascinating but mind-blowing.

Friday 28th I went to a permaculture potluck to hear Brandon Bauer, one of the instructors in the permaculture design course I took earlier this year, talk about his work replenishing the soil on his property on Salt Spring Island. He’s currently teaching a permaculture and site planning workshop and as ever had some pithy things to say about his own experiences in those areas. Saturday was a workshop on tenancy management (better late than never) that was fascinating and offered by one of the very knowledgeable souls at ROMS. That evening we went for supper at the Moon Under Water brewpub which I hadn’t had a chance to try out, and enjoyed my Fanny Bay Oyster Burger for auld lang syne.

Sunday was my weekly family dinner, plus some lying-in, sitting-down and catching-up, which meant I missed the Saanich Sustainable Food Festival and the 5th Annual Chef Survival Challenge and Feast at Madrona Farm… I’ll get to one of those one of these days… AND the Slow Food Terra Madre fundraiser Last Hurrah At Orange Hall.

Monday it was suddenly October, and I joined some other GTUFers to talk about food security at Gorge-ous Coffee, our newly opened local hangout. While we did not quite set the world to rights, we had an interesting chat about foraging in the neighbourhood, rooftop gardens, preserving skills, grafting tours and nut trees, among others.

 

 

 

 

After a quasi-restful Tuesday in which I attempted to catch up on a few more things, like a bit of light tomato canning, and a chat with my neighbour who’d attracted a frog to his garden, and a bit of acorn gathering, it was suddenly Wednesday and time for the debut screening of Symphony of the Soil, Deborah Koons Garcia’s (The Future of Food) second feature film  and an excellent one it is. It explains very beautifully what soil is, how it produces food (not just for humans) and how it can be preserved and nourished. Recommended viewing for all living things. We too were nourished with birthday cake as the occasion marked Open Cinema’s tenth anniversary and afterwards there was a panel discussion with Robin Tunnicliffe, Heide Hermary and the filmmaker.

 

Terra Nossa Farm tour

Berkshire PigLast Sunday I got down and dirty with the Victoria Horticultural Society’s Fruit & Vegetable Group, whose monthly meeting was a tour of Terra Nossa Farm. I’d often bought eggs or sausages or chicken from Evelyn, who commands a loyal queue each Saturday at Moss Street Market, so I was delighted to have a chance to see the farm she runs with her husband Jesse.

Labour of love about sums it up here. Jesse says of their pigs that they live their lives in Berkshire pigsheaven, and then they die. They’re fed organic grain, fresh greens and roast sweet potatoes grown on the farm. Ten of their Berkshires, purchased as piglets from Tom Henry (there are very few organic pig breeders, Evelyn remarked), were nearing their slaughter date, and were out frolicking in a field of greens. They came to greet us, flapping their enormous eyelashes and making us question who was looking at whom. I’ve been on pig farms before, and never have I been to one where there was not a whiff of stink: they have plenty of room to run and play, and shelters provided for both summer and winter comfort.

Terra Nossa pigletsJesse Perriera, Terra Nossa Farm, with pigletsTerra Nossa piglets-docked and undocked tails

 

 

 

 

There were some piglets in another field: two varieties, black mule pigs (sourced from Lasqueti Island) and some Tamworth cross pigs bought from a commercial operation in Alberta. The white pigs were very skittish at first and prone to scattering when Jesse approached, but with patience he has been able to get them to become a bit more pig-like, curious and friendly. The white ones’ tails had been docked by the breeder, a common practice where they are kept in such overcrowded conditions they are likely to gnaw on their neighbours out of stress or for lack of anything better to do. Evelyn said they hadn’t checked their teeth but these were likely clipped as well, for similar reasons.

Terra Nossa meat birdsThe chickens are treated kindly at Terra Nossa as well, although in the case of the meat birds, this happy life is a short one. They are purchased as chicks from a commercial breeder, so they have, as Evelyn put it, had most of the chickenness bred out of them. They’re sent to slaughter at around 8-9 weeks (commercial operations only keep them half that time); they can’t be allowed to get any bigger because the way they’ve been bred means their bodies become too large for their legs to support them and they start developing painful injuries. Jesse was out scything some fresh vetch for theJesse Perriera, Terra Nossa Farmm, which they love, and they seemed to be enjoying the commodious chicken tractor, a top-of-the-line pen that keeps them shaded from the sun and lets them enjoy the view, the breeze, and the tasty snacks being delivered at regular intervals. And the tractor is an easy structure to move, which is the most important feature.

The Perrieras are choosy about where they sell their chickens. They’ve become disillusioned with restaurant sales, having experienced situations where chickens were sold to restaurants who put their farm’s name on the menu and then ceased buying from them. So now they limit their sales to the farm gate, the farmers markets they attend (Moss Street in the summer and the Downtown market in the winter), Ingredients Health Food and local food promoters Share Organics.

Terra Nossa Farm, Evelyn PerrieraThe laying hens have a nice big area to run in, and produce enough eggs to supply Moss Street Market, Origin Bakery, Terra Nossa’s farm shop and Share Organics. I noticed that they still peck one another’s tails – I suppose they are  just too numerous, and a few are lost from time to time to the bald eagles we saw circling during our visit. The farm has a license allowing them to keep 399 laying hens (the limit on small producers without such a license is 99 birds) but Evelyn says they won’t be renewing that. New rules are coming in that would mean the small producers with 399 layers would be forced to adopt the same biosecurity measures as industrial producers (meaning no more farm tours, for one thing); would not be allowed to let their chickens run outside on pasture as they do now; would not be allowed to raise meat birds as well as layers; would have to invest in impossibly high-cost equipment and potentially upgrade facilities for inspection. We would not have been allowed access to the farm without suiting up, for example. So the regulatory club is still swinging directly and heavily at small producers and forcing them out of the very markets where they are needed and appreciated.

Evelyn & Jesse are acutely aware of their dependence on imported livestock feed, since Feed supply for Terra Nossa livestockthere is no organic feed producer on Vancouver Island, they must have it shipped from the mainland by ferry. Like any Islander who thinks about food security, they are conscious of the fragility of their supply, so they try to keep a reasonable reserve in store. Because organic feed is more expensive than conventional, this means quite a substantial capital outlay, at about $1000 a pallet.

Terra Nossa sweet potatoesTowards the end of the tour we had a look at the sweet potatoes bravely growing under black plastic mulch. They were planted out in March, but the weather has been so chilly that they are not thriving, although with luck the summer heat should kick in and move them along. At the end of the rows is the winter pig barn, where the porkers can loll about enjoying the roasted sweet potatoes the Perrieras prepare for them (many of the larger sweet potatoes are considered unsaleable, so they go to the lucky pigs).

Spring on the wing

Spring is erupting in all directions. The Anna’s Hummingbird (Calypte anna) nest that graces my fence has very recently produced three newborns and I’m looking forward to watching their progress (and seeing how they all squeeze into a space that’s probably two inches across at most). It’s still damp and chilly here so the mother is spending a good deal of time warming their hairless, featherless bodies. I knew they were big on nectar – hence their value as pollinators – but hadn’t realized they also chow on insects. I’ve hung a feeder nearby that should (for now) be safe from the ants who overran it last time I hung it out. I’ll have to make an ant moat if they become a problem again.

Speaking of moats, I’m intrigued by the idea of a chicken moat. Not a chicken keeper myself, but I’m working on a group project around chickens for the Permaculture Design course I’m taking.

Other airborne creatures have been in the news lately. Meli sent me notice of the headline item that bees are being adversely affected by pesticides. I am not quite certain why it has suddenly become headline news that if pesticides kill insects, and bees are insects, then bees are going to be harmed by pesticide use, but I suppose it does not hurt to belabour this important point. To which should be added the related point that pesticides will also harm beneficial insects besides bees, as well as the higher life forms (hummingbirds, for example?) that feed on those – whether by poisoning them or by removing a food source.

Let us all (who are within geographical reach) celebrate our wisdom in these matters by heading off this Saturday to enjoy a pesticide-free work party at Haliburton Community Organic Farm.

Happy chickens, modern sharecroppers and wild strawberries

Just came across this sweet story about a heritage breed of chicken that has been revived in India, to help counter the trade in industrial egg and poultry production.

And while we’re in a positive mood, another happy story, about the rise of garden-sharing by urban gardeners.

On my eternal quest for food poems, I found this one by Helen Dunmore, called Wild Strawberries.