Skip to content

LifeCycles

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.

Fruit Tree Project strikes again

I spent a fruitful morning yesterday with a dozen teens from the CISV Peace Bus out at Island View Beach on my first pick of the year for the Fruit Tree Project. As part of their cross-Canada tour, the teens involve themselves in community projects, aiming to make the trip carbon neutral. Picking local fruit fits the bill because it means less imported fruit is needed to feed the communities and enterprises where the unwanted urban fruit is distributed.

We were picking from trees that had been planted in a beachside campsite that the CRD took over a few years ago. Because the irrigation that had watered the trees had to be taken out (not up to code, apparently) there hasn’t been any watering since then, so the fruits tend to be small while the trees adapt to their new micro climate.

The Fruit Tree Project van holds all the ladders and picking equipment, together with weigh scales and as many sturdy boxes as can be found. Jesse, one of the program coordinators, lays it all out ready for the arrival of the bus, and gets everyone started, while a local TV cameraman covered the event.

 

 

 

 

 

A peaceful period of picking passes

 

 

 

 

 

and then it’s time to weigh and load the fruit in the van, clean up the fallen fruit, and head off to store it.

 

 

 

 

 

The cooler at Fruit Tree Project’s HQ – LifeCycles – where it’s normally kept is full to bursting while the team works on distributing the seasonal bounty to community groups and local food processors. So, with the help of Fruit Tree Project co-coordinators Renate and Jesse, we park nearly 500 lbs of apples in a trusted garage while the smaller quantity of pears and plums goes back to LifeCycles.