I went out foraging stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) last weekend. I harvested young leaves for eating and have set aside most to be made into a liquid fertilizer for my plants. Stinging nettle is very high in magnesium and iron making it good for both your bod and your plants’ too. I went out partially …
A friend of mine recommended this New York Times piece about Prince Charles and his involvement in the Slow Food Movement. Be sure to listen to his speech on small-scale and sustainable agriculture given at the Terra Madre conference in Turin, Italy (2004). “The one resource the developing world has in abundance is people so …
I was recently interviewed for Peta2 magazine as a way to get young vegetarians excited about growing their own food. They’ve got a contest going to win a You Grow Girl prize pack that includes the You Grow Girl book, an “I Heart Dirt” t-shirt, and a Garden Button Set. A few questions didn’t make …
Since I have begun talking about seeds and showing photos of my little seedlings, people have been writing in to ask me what I’m growing. I have been purposefully avoiding saying too much about my choices this year because a large number of the varieties I am growing are new-to-me. I have a tendency to …
This is a good pie to make during the winter since apples and pears are the only local fruits still available at the farmer’s market. I first came up with this recipe as a way to make apple pie sweeter and juicier. In fact it really began with the addition of ripe pears to apple …
I really hate to get all gooey and girly and squeee here because it’s very embarassing and unbecoming but holy cow how much do I love Michael Pollan. I believe you have to be a subscriber to read it, but take a look at this article in the New York Times. “Cook. And if you …
A friend pointed me to this interesting article about a group of indigenous farmers in South America who are taking the multinational corporation Syngenta to task against terminator potato technology that they fear will cause extensive harm to “their region’s biodiversity, culture and food sovereignty.” “Peru and its Andean neighbours are the potato’s centre of …
I posted back in October about my new-found culinary interest in dandelion greens and a few of you have been writing to ask where I got the seeds. In my case the dandelions have been coming up all on their own in my community garden. If you’ve got the short-leaved variety and you’re looking for …
I don’t think I’ve ever done a “Best of” gardening list* but it seems about time to get started. I have done a “Things Killed” list but this year I’m going to accentuate the positive. Picking favourites is difficult for someone like me who tends to favour several things at once. Be warned that what’s …
I discovered these compostable cups made of a sugar industry derivative called “bagasse” while partaking in my weekly cup of solar-roasted cacao drink at the Farmer’s Market. That’s my used cup in the photo above. Online environmental products store Branch carries a complete line of “bagasse” dinnerware, and at $2-4 for a pack of 50 …
I have just returned from my local Farmer’s Market (which also just happens to be the best Farmer’s Market, ever) where I was lucky enough to score a piece of Maria Solakovski’s amazing organic Spiced Fruitcake. I’ve been buying Maria’s cake for the last few holiday seasons and while I have tried other fruitcakes I …
I recently sat down and watched, The Future of Food, a documentary that investigates the problems we face in the industrialization and corporatization of food production. Wow, I can’t say enough about this film and am sorry it took me this long to make a point to watch it. If you have any questions about …