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we, we multitude on sun blossomed leaves

dark spotting petal pistol stamen knowing each flower’s golden mean

  • Cherries and carrots and sweet summer weather

    A weekend stop in Duncan is not complete without coffee at Saison Vineyard, and neither can coffee be drunk without something to nibble on from the bakery.

    Saison Vineyard+Garden July 2011Saison Bakery SelectionsSaison Black Cherry Upside Down Cake

     

     

     

    Choices were very tough indeed on my recent visit, but the black cherry upside down cake prevailed. Some nice looking produce on the veg stand as well, but we were heading to the farmers market on a pretty warm day, so we had to leave it all behind.Maple Bay Mt Maxwell July 2011

    Spent the afternoon lolling about in good company at Maple Bay, where the breeze subsided to leave an utterly perfect afternoon view of Mount Maxwell, with sailboats and kayakers passing by and an osprey busying itself above.

    Meanwhile, back in Victoria, things are well at Haliburton Farm, where the farmstand continues to groan with plenty, and the weekly veg boxes are plumped out with seasonal treats. This week the takings included sui choy and cherries, the plumpest, sweetest sugar snap peas, and bundles of carrots and herbs (Lemon Bergamot, chocolate mint, and tender young cilantro).

    Haliburton Sugar Snap Peas July 2011Haliburton Herbs July 2011Haliburton Zucchini July 2011

    Haliburton Cherries July 2011Haliburton Carrots July 2011Haliburton Sui Choy July 2011

  • A poetry survey – for readers & writers; LifeCycles local food fun-raiser and Sooke farm & garden tour

    Marketing has come to poesie! If you want to make your views known about what you read, where you buy it and what moves you to do so, help yourself to the Literary Press Group’s survey of the poetry market.

    A few short days remain for those wishing to RSVP on a mouthwatering invitation from LifeCycles: RSVP by July 30th! It’s holding a summer soiree – the Local Food Fun-raiser – featuring “local food, drinks, music, a silent auction and great fun.” All happens Thursday August 11th, 2011 from 6-9pm @ Sleeping Dog Farm, 1506 Burnside Road West, Victoria BC, with catering by Nourish and Real Food Made Easy. The price is $60 with local alcoholic beverages for sale (charitable tax receipt given for a portion of the ticket). All proceeds will go to support LifeCycles core programs. For tickets (available via Paypal) head to LifeCycles website, or visit The Good Planet Co. located at 764 Fort St. in Victoria.

    And if you’re out Sooke way, or would like to be, you can support Sooke Region Food CHI Society by attending its second annual Farm and Food Garden Tour on Sunday, August 14, from 10am-5 pm. This self guided tour will feature 11 unique local farms and gardens in and around the Otter Point area.

    If you want to get more involved, you can contact Keeley Nixon if you’d like to volunteer at one of the venues to work with a grower, meet and greet people, and help with any set up/take down. This is a great chance to connect with more people in the community and show you support for our farmers.

    Tickets are $10 (free for ages 15 and under) and are on sale now in Sooke at Shoppers Drug Mart, Peoples Drug Mart, Double D Gardens, Westburn Garden Centre, and Sooke Country Market (Saturdays). In Victoria, tickets are available at all Dig This locations and Moss St Market (Saturdays). Free for ages 15 and under. Tickets are also available in Sooke on the tour day at Shoppers Drug Mart and Peoples Drug Mart. Contact the Sooke Food CHI for more information.

  • A pair of farms and an old dog

    Spent some time at Haliburton Farm this week, collecting my latest CSA basket and seeing what was up with the farmstand and the farmers. “What a beautiful farmstand!” said one woman, visiting for the first time. And she was right: it’s in its glory just now.

    2011 Haliburton Farmstand Carrots2011 Haliburton Farmstand Kohlrabi2011 Haliburton Farmstand Broad Beans

     

     

     

    And the veg box bounty reflects that too:

    2011 Haliburton CSA Blackboard July202011 Haliburton CSA Tayberries July202011 Haliburton CSA Purple Green Onions July20

     

     

    2011 Haliburton CSA Salad Turnips 20 July2011 Haliburton CSA Salad Mix July202011 Haliburton CSA Onions July20

     

     

     

    While elsewhere on the farm, the bees are buzzing, the weeds are growing, and the potatoes need hilling with a nice bit of straw.

    2011 Haliburton Bees Orchard July202011 Haliburton Farmer Emily Weeding July202011 Haliburton Farmer Nate Putting Straw on Potatoes July20

     

     

     

    Last night’s COG-VI farm tour was in Metchosin, at Sweet Earth Farms, where farmer Ian King explained how his mobile greenhouses can be pulled on their metal runners to help extend his seasons. We all admired his radicchio which was fortunately too bitter to interest the deer that had just broken into the field, obliging the purchase and installation of new deer fencing.

    Sweet Earth Farms GreenhouseSweet Earth Farms Greenhouse RunnerSweet Earth Farms Radicchio

     

     

     

    Then we got a look at the raspberries (thriving) and the strawberries (likewise) and were inspected by a couple of bold and curious ducks

    Sweet Earth Farms RaspberriesSweet Earth Farms Strawberries+MikeSweet Earth Farms welcome ducks

     

     

     

    unlike the rest of the flock which were young and skittish. Their duck barn boasts a custom designed water trough which sits on a mesh-covered drainage box so that their wild drinking doesn’t end up soaking the nice thick straw floor. The geese were interested and vocal; they are Pilgrim geese, an endangered species, so Ian is planning to raise goslings to try to safeguard some numbers locally.

    Sweet Earth Farms ducksSweet Earth Farms water trough duck barnSweet Earth Farms Pilgrim Geese

     

     

     

    And the final farewell goes to old Anton, who passed away today after an extremely long and joyful life, aged 15 and 3/4.

    Anton Colquitz Park

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Book cover of Rhona McAdam's book Larder with still life painting of lemons and lemon branches with blossoms in a ceramic bowl. One of the lemons has a beed on it.

In her latest collection, Rhona McAdam navigates the dark places of human movement through the earth and the exquisite intricacies lingering in backyard gardens and farmlands populated by insects and pollinators, all the while returning to the body, to the tune of staccato beats and the newly discovered symmetries within the human heart.

Enjoy

“…A beautiful, filling collection, Larder is a set of poems to read at the change of the seasons, to appreciate alongside a good meal, and to remind yourself of the beauty in everything, even the things you may not appreciate before opening McAdam’s collection….”

Alison Manley

Rhona McAdam is a writer, poet, editor, and Registered Holistic Nutritionist with a Master’s in Food Culture from Italy and a deep-rooted passion for ecology and urban agriculture. Her work spans corporate and technical writing to poetry and creative nonfiction, often exploring the vital links between what we eat and how we live. Based in Victoria, BC, and available via Zoom, Rhona is always open to new writing commissions, readings, or workshops on nutrition and the culinary arts.

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