I built my first cold frame back in March of 2011. It has undoubtedly changed the way I grow food. I’m now up to 8 frames under lids, with another 6 soon to be built for the 2013 season – the majority for market. This vid is simply a look at how we’re building them now, after much homework in … Read More
Late September Salad Greens
I find I’ve been under-representing how much I’ve dived head first into salad greens production for market with Travis from LACTUCA. It’s been a weekly harvest and seeding gig for the past few months, and I’ve learned loads, about zero of which I’ve documented here. Can’t win them all I guess. I blame spending most every waking hour in the … Read More
Pears. Edmonton Pears.
Pears rank in my top 3 favorite fruits, for sure. Like with wines, I’m a sucker for the floral, high-toned aromatics. Problem is, until this year my only real source of pears was from the Okanagan. I knew there were pears around here, I just hadn’t seen or tasted any that made me think a realistic replacement to the Okanagan … Read More
Slugs
This is not a complaint. Every time I feel like I want to complain about this year’s inundation of slugs, I consider what my yard was like before when it was an expanse of lawn, with zero life in or near it. Or I think about the west coast with their huge slugs the size of your index finger – … Read More
Merridale Cidery
I dearly wish I could show you via video rather than photos and writing, as I had lined up a video episode for this wonderful place, and realized I forgot my DSLR setup on the lower mainland as we left the dock on the ferry towards Victoria. I don’t think I’ve ever claimed to be smart. I’ve known about Merridale … Read More
Saskatoon Glean 2012
Long, long ago, in a former saskatoon u-pick that is now more lawn than bush, a friend and I harvested saskatoons by the 5 gal pail and I made wine. Not your usual cooler-esque cheery saskatoon wine, but a heavy, dense, rich, viscous wine, aged with american white oak. That was way back in 2009. That vintage is now 3 … Read More
August Salad, week 1
Thursday has turned into harvest day here, and has become one of my favorite mornings of the week. I get to get up early, check out what’s at its best, eat some stuff fresh from the plant, and do some creative food stuff composing salads for Lactuca Micro Farm. I’m going to try to make a point of posting about … Read More
Cold Frame Ramp-Up
Wow have I been blog absent. Not a record stint, as I’ve had a few since 2005 when I started, but this one’s up there. Sorry about that. Back to regular programming. As it turns out, me bringing my greens to market in Ep 45 has steadily evolved into a bustling little business that Travis and I are having a … Read More
Mushrooms For a Salad
My, mushrooms are pretty. It so happens I was chatting with my buddy Travis yesterday about an unexpected advantage of the urban greens growing project – that it pushes us both to get our act together and do stuff far more diligently than we otherwise would. Turns out that applies again today. Ryan at BTV Edmonton asked me to be on morning … Read More
Episode 46 – Veggie Patch
I’d heard of Lisa via Slow Food Edmonton some time ago, but only recently had the opportunity to meet her. The drive north to her family’s farm via the Shaftesbury river ferry is shockingly gorgeous, and I was subsequently enamoured by their mixed farm, to be honest. I’ve heard many people speak or write about the romantic notion of farms … Read More