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Haliburton Farm

Cheese and cheers

Before April goes out like a lamb, let me share some cow’s milk cheeses with you – much enjoyed at the Cheese & Blues event that Hilary’s Cheese presented in Cowichan Bay last week. Pictured to the left is the king of British cheese, Colston Bassett Stilton, which goes down well with port generally but which paired acceptably with the blackberry dessert wine on offer that evening.

Don Genova was the honorary cheesemaster, forging his way through cloth-wrapped cheddars (Keen’s and Avonlea) and hefty wheels of Shropshire Blue alongside Hilary and Patty. The cheeses – except for the PEI cheddar – had been imported from my spiritual home-from-home, Neals Yard Dairy in Covent Garden, London.

Sunday evening I joined a poet’s dozen (i.e. I lost count) and read a poem from the magnificent new anthology, Force Field – 77 Women Poets of BC, introduced by publisher-poet Mona Fertig, and hosted by contributor Yvonne Blomer. The place was packed, the readers disciplined and the audience appreciative. We drizzled off through the rain to a delightful after-party where we solved a few of the world’s problems before retiring.

Last night was the long-awaited Food Talks event at the Belfry, where this year’s local Food Champs were invited to speak their piece before the winner was named. Some superb nominees both present and unable to be there included: Maryanne Carmack – for the Victoria Downtown Public Market Society (Victoria’s public market opens July 2013); Haliburton farmer Derek Powell – for his involvement in Victoria’s Food Swap Program; Miranda Lane – who works with people with multiple challenges at the Community Kitchens Network; Kim Cummins – for the Camosun FarmBox Program which organizes markets and food boxes at local college campuses; Naomi Lyons – for Stone Soup‘s community building and micro-lending fundraising; Dwane Maclsaac – for the Island Chef Collaborative‘s micro-finance initiative; Elizabeth Upton – on behalf of Meadowbrook Farmily (4 local Victoria families that farm together); Jeanette Sheehy – for LifeCycles‘ many projects, but particularly the Growing Schools project; the Salt Spring Agriculture Alliance – for the community abattoir; and the Sooke Food CHI for their work on the Sunriver Community Gardens and Sooke farm bike tour.

And the winner was… Miranda Lane, Community Kitchens Network, with Kim Cummins, Camosun FarmBox a close second. She is shown below with CRFAIR coordinator Linda Geggie, evening MC chef Heidi Fink, and Kim Cummins. Other pics L-R: chef Heidi with chef Dwane MacIsaac, Naomi Lyons, Derek Powell, Kim Cummins, Elizabeth Upton.

Oysters, Abattoir, perennial food crops and Eco-Fair

All blissfully quiet at my end of the Gorge these days, now that Craigflower Bridge has been closed for rebuilding and traffic re-routed. I was gratified to learn that not only were there viable oyster beds in the Gorge, but the planners had taken steps to relocate and preserve them so that the construction does not do away with this rare species (for the next eight months or so). These are our native Olympia oysters, not the Pacific upstarts introduced from Japan that now dominate the West Coast’s shoreline and oyster farming operations. I happened to pass what I assume to be the relocation action as it was unfolding and snapped them at it.

Meanwhile, I’ve been spreading myself thin in recent weeks, trying to keep up with different social media (Twitter, Facebook and most recently Pinterest), working on some of my own writing, and going nose to grindstone with my holistic nutrition studies. We’re deep into preventive nutrition this month, studying up on nutritional approaches to digestive, blood sugar, cardiovascular and arthritic conditions. Quite a ride.

On Friday I returned from Nanaimo via Salt Spring Island where the community abattoir was officially launched with an open house in the drizzly rain. I’d visited earlier this year but was interested to have a look at the finished structure. There is more work to be done if larger animals (cattle) are to be slaughtered here, but it’s up and running for poultry, rabbit, goat and lamb. It’s going very well so far: an arrangement with a local farmer has meant all the offal and skins are being composted, which has taken one of the main economic headaches for an abattoir out of the picture, and has solid community support – no small achievement for this kind of business.

Saturday I took in a workshop on perennial fruit crops at ALM Farm in Sooke, in which farmer Jordan took us for a tour of the farm’s apple, pear, fig and plum trees, kiwi vines, strawberries, raspberries, rhubarb, Jerusalem artichokes, hazelnuts, gooseberries, herbs and asparagus before I had to whistle off to take my place behind my books, alongside the Haliburton farmers at the Reynolds School Eco-Fair. It was a lively and well-attended event with speakers including Green Party leader Elizabeth May and Brandy Gallagher from O.U.R. Ecovillage, and lots of well-chosen information tables, including Pedal to Petal, LifeCycles, Growing Young Farmers, Organic Gardeners Pantry, BC Sustainable Energy Association and more. The Hali stand was peddling organic food boxes (CSA subscriptions), seeds, plants and good advice.

First seeds

Even here in Lotusland we were reminded it’s still winter with a run of frosty nights, but the chill gave way to a clear sunny day last Saturday in which Haliburton Farm’s friends and neighbours gathered at the farmhouse to buy seeds, plant starts and organic produce and talk about the gardens to come. It was the first Seedy Saturday on Vancouver Island and the beginning of a long season for the seed-sellers who attended: Salt Spring Seeds, Seeds of Victoria and some of the farmers of Haliburton Farm: New Mountain Farm, H&R Veggies and Sunbird Farm II.

Below, Dan Jason – representing Salt Spring Seeds – and farmer Heather – with a tasty selection of  organic produce from H&R Veggies – await customers as the day begins. Visitors, board members and farmers alike listen to Dan Jason’s noontime talk about the importance of seed saving and the value to food and community of knowing where your seeds come from. New Mountain farmers Nate and Mike offered seeds and produce.

Stones in your Soup

I was thrilled to be among those invited to present at Victoria’s Stone Soup event back on December 2: much like the story it grew in a few short weeks from nothing to a sold out celebration of food and community. There were storytellers, artists, musicians, writers and farmers in the lineup, two cauldrons of soup to warm us on another rainy evening, and even a vegetable auction! Funds raised were destined for agricultural micro-lending projects. Below, one of the organizers, Neil Johnson, explains the event; local farmers Robin Tunnicliffe, Sol Kinnis and Goldie Paquette were part of the farmers panel; Mason Street farmers Jesse and Angela explain their crowd-funding efforts towards hiring interns and creating Victoria’s first urban greenhouse aquaponics operation; Chef Dwane MacIsaac of the Island Chefs Collaborative discusses the soups he and his volunteers made from entirely donated ingredients; and my book, which someone purchased using only No Tanker loonies.

Eat there then

Eat Here Now signI’m a week behind in my entries, so here goes the catch-up. Last Sunday’s Eat Here Now festival looked to me to have been enormously popular, with lots of food being eaten and bought and talked about in Market Square.

The square had been divided into an eating and entertainment side, and a vendors’ side. Crowds seemed to be milling evenly between the two by the time I left, but as I arrived at lunchtime, I headed with sooo many others to the taste for a toony buffet provided by locally-oriented restaurants. Cosmo Meens, as always, drew a crowd, this time offering a curried tofu soup with focaccia, an offering from his new Hot and cold Cafe. Relish was there with a “Vietnamese sub” of house-smoked pork terrine and asian vegetables; Sooke Harbour House’s lovely little quinoa salad with salmon, seaweed and other local delicacies, came with an all-too tasty edible scoop, but I’d be surprised if many of them lasted long enough to do their job. All in all it was a hard day for vegetarians: aside from those mentioned, and some mushroom ravioli from Cowichan Pasta, almost every stand offered meat; of which Kulu’s spicy sausage got my vote, if only because it came laden with kimchi! (Luckily for the non-carnivores, Green Cuisine was open for business on the fringes of the festival.)

Relish Vietnamese SubSooke Harbour House Salad

 

 

Canoe Brewpub's Pulled PorkKulu's Spicy SausageSmoken Bones Meaty Sandwiches

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then it was time to browse the vendors’ stalls, which of course included Haliburton Farm, where Farmers Nate & Mike were holding the fort; Libby Seabrook was doing a brisk trade in InfuseTea (her blueberry & rosemary blend is to die for, just for the record); Fry’s Bakery was selling mini-pizzas, blueberry scones and rather beautiful baguettes – can’t wait for them to open their shop on Craigflower Rd, which is rumoured to be happening later this month. City Harvest was there with urban abundance, Wildfire had some tempting shortbreads (lavender and local wheat were my picks) and Sun Trio’s tomatoes were as beautiful as the day was long and sunny.

Haliburton - Farmers Nate & MikeInfuseTea - Libby Seabrook

Frys BakeryFrys BaguettesFrys Blueberry SconesCity HarvestWildfire Bakery

 

Sun Trio Tomatoes

Spring at Haliburton Farm

Managed to get to my first Haliburton Farm work party on Saturday. A lovely day for planting spinach, which we then covered with row cover to keep the critters out and give it some warmth while it grows. Might be the solution for my own garden where the leafminers dine well on all my leafy greens. Meanwhile, back in the kitchen Naomi had whipped up one of her nourishing soups for lunch, which we ate with some bread from her local organic bakery, and then ended the work party early. We had to clear out to make room for the new course running there, Growing Food in the City, but that left the better part of a (finally) sunny afternoon to play in our own gardens.

 

 

 

 

 

I was delighted to come across this clip of local TV coverage showing off Haliburton’s farmers. Thanks to Permaculture BC for posting it.

Of those featured, some extra info: Farmer Derek is in the process of taking over Carolyn Herriot‘s organic seed company, Seeds of Victoria, and Farmer Ray will be showing his considerable skills in compost building to attendees of the next COG-VI meeting that takes place at the farm next week (Canadian Organic Growers is another endangered species due to funding cuts – membership an inexpensive and hugely worthwhile way to help support organic farming – join today!).