Food on the Horizon

While I have not yet figured out what to sink my teeth into to get me out of this slump, I wanted to share with you some events coming up over the next two months that are guaranteed to lift everyone's spirits. They're food events, naturally.

Only three and a half week away, the first annual Toronto Garlic Festival is expected to bring together foodies of all stripes: not just professional chefs but amateur cooks and anyone with a healthy love of garlic. Urban farmers and gardeners are invited to come and ask Ontario garlic growers how to start their own garlic patch at home, and the rest of us can stock up on our favourite varieties for winter and watch cooking demos. The festival would be incomplete without a tasting event where all are invited to enjoy garlic-inspired creations... don't forget your breath mints! The festival runs from 9 am to 4 pm on Sunday, September 25th, at the Evergreen Brick Works. Admission is $5 for adults and free for kids.

If you can spend a little more and want to get a little more, why not come to the fifth annual Picnic at the Brick Works? It's a fundraiser for Evergreen and Slow Food Toronto that features local growers, ranchers, and fishers from different regions in Southern Ontario alongside chefs and brewers who know just what to do with seasonal ingredients grown close to home. Additionally, community partners working on environmental and food issues will be on hand to share their ideas and strategies for action, because everyone who enjoys food should know about the issues! The picnic will be held on Sunday, October 2nd, from noon to 4 pm, at the Evergreen Brick Works. Tickets are $120 and well worth it.

I know it's a little scary to think about late October, but please save the date for the Toronto Food Policy Council's 20th Anniversary Celebration on Thursday, October 20th! Come for the conference, the dinner, or both, and commemorate two decades of innovative food policy and action in Toronto. At the conference, ("Together at the Table: The foundation and future of food in Toronto"), food advocates, community groups, City staff, City Councillors, concerned Torontonians, and food systems experts will reflect on the past and imagine the next 20 years of food in our city-region. The conference runs from 8:30 am to 5 pm at St. Lawrence Hall, with the dinner to follow from 6 to 9 pm in the William Doo Auditorium at the University of Toronto. A suggested donation to cover the cost of the food ($10-40) will be collected on the day of the event. Please RSVP with Leslie Troy at ltroy (at) toronto.ca or 416-338-7934.

What kinds of food-themed events are you planning on attending in your neck of the woods in September and October?


Photo of garlic used under Creative Commons from David Goehring (CarbonNYC/flickr).
Photo of picnic basket used under Creative Commons from Steven Depolo (stevendepolo/flickr).
Photo of birthday cake used under Creative Commons from Will Clayton (flickr).

Preserving Summer Flavours

In my neck of the woods, the summer season is a mysterious creature that provides an enormous bounty of food over a very short period of time. While I'm busy getting over the shock of the flavour explosion contained in a handful of blueberries, brightly coloured stalks of rainbow swiss chard, and heirloom varieties of tomatoes, the summer quietly slips away and suddenly I'm wearing hoodies to keep warm again. Thankfully that's still a few months away this year, but before it happens, some canning and preserving is in order.

Back in June I attended a workshop put on by Young Urban Farmers CSA and facilitated by chef, food activist, and writer Joshna Maharaj. I'd like to share the recipes we used to save summer flavours for the long winter months ahead. The benefits go beyond merely enjoying great tasting food when nothing is growing outside; by doing your own canning, you avoid purchasing products at the supermarket, which means...

• you decide exactly what goes into the preserve, and more importantly what doesn't
• you can use local ingredients from the farmers' market, your backyard garden, your CSA share, or another source of food grown close to home
• you take back control of your food - let's be honest, canning is a skill everyone should know!

Let's start at the very beginning of the growing season with asparagus.

Pickled Asparagus

Makes 2 x 500ml jars

Ingredients

30 asparagus spears

1/3 cup coarse salt

2 quarts cold water

1 2/3 cups white vinegar

2/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon coarse salt

1 teaspoon mustard seed

1 1/2 teaspoons dill seed

1 white onion, sliced into rings

1/2 teaspoon chili pepper flakes

2 sprigs fresh dill

Method

1. Trim the cut end of the asparagus spears and cut them into 3" lengths. Place them in a large bowl with 1/3 cup salt and cover with water. Let stand for 2 hours. Drain and rinse under cool water and pat dry.

2. Sterilize two pint-sized wide mouth jars in simmering water for 5 minutes. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the vinegar, sugar, 1 tsp of salt, mustard seeds, dill seeds, and onion rings. Bring to a boil, and boil for one minute.

3. Pack the asparagus spears, tips up, in the hot jars, leaving 1/2" of space below the neck. Tuck one dill sprig into each jar and sprinkle in 1/4 tsp of red pepper flakes. Pour hot pickling liquid into the jars, filling to within 1/4" of the neck. Wipe rims with a clean damp cloth, and seal with lids. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

4. Cool to room temperature. Check seals when cool by pressing the centre of the lid. They should not move. Label and date; store in a cool dark place. If any jars have not sealed properly, refrigerate and eat within two weeks.

Moving ahead a few weeks past asparagus season, strawberries begin to emerge in the fields.

Strawberry Freezer Jam

Makes 5 x 500ml jars

Ingredients

10 cups strawberries, hulled, washed, and chopped into quarters

2 cups granulated sugar

2 packages (45g each) freezer jam pectin

Method

1. Sterilize 5 x 500ml preserving jars and lids and set aside. Place strawberries in a bowl and mash well, until berries are pulpy and liquidy.

2. Add sugar and pectin and stir well for 2-3 minutes to dissolve in strawberry mixture. Taste and adjust sweetness if necessary. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or so to make sure that pectin and sugar are completely dissolved and incorporated.

3. Fill bottles to just below the neck with jam, cover, and freeze for up to 8 months. Once jam has been thawed, you can store it in the fridge for up to 2 months.

Chinese napa cabbage, grown commercially on a limited scale in southern Ontario, is available continuously through the season. Why not make kimchi with it?

Classic Napa Kimchi

Makes 4 x 1-litre jars

Ingredients

1 cup + 1 tbsp coarse sea salt or kosher salt

2 litres of water

2 heads Napa cabbage, cut into 2” wedges

1 bulb garlic, cloves separated and peeled

1 x 2” piece of ginger root, peeled

1/4 cup fish sauce or Korean salted shrimp

1 small daikon, peeled and grated

1 bunch of green onions, cut into 1” lengths

1/2 cup Korean chili powder

1 tsp sugar (optional)

Method

1. Dissolve 1 cup salt in 2 litres of water. Soak cabbage in the salt water for 3 to 4 hours.

2. Combine garlic, ginger, and fish sauce or shrimp in food processor until finely minced.

3. In large bowl, combine radish, green onions, garlic mixture, chili powder, 1 tbsp salt and optional sugar. Toss gently but thoroughly. (If mixing with your hands, be sure to wear rubber gloves to avoid chili burn.)

4. Remove cabbage from water and rinse thoroughly. Drain cabbage in colander, squeezing as much water from the leaves as possible. Stuff radish mixture between cabbage leaves, working from the outside in, starting with the largest leaves to the smallest. Do not overstuff, but make sure radish mixture adequately fills leaves. When entire cabbage is stuffed, take one of the larger leaves and wrap tightly around the rest of the cabbage. Divide cabbage among 4 x 1-litre jars, pressing down firmly to remove any air bubbles.

5. Let sit for 2 to 3 weeks in a cool place before serving. Remove kimchi from jar and slice into 1" pieces. Refrigerate after opening.

Carrots and pears honour us with their presence in late summer. Bet you didn't think they went together!

Carrot Jam

Makes 4 x 250ml jars

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups carrots, grated using a food processor

2 cups pears, peeled and chopped finely

1 3/4 cups canned pineapple with juice

3 tbsp lemon juice

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cloves in a cheesecloth sack

1 package pectin

6 1/2 cups of sugar

Method

1. Boil everything but the sugar and pectin for 20 minutes. Add pectin off heat and return to a boil.

2. Add sugar, stir, and bring to a hard boil for 60 seconds.

3. Can in 4 x 250ml jars, process for 10 minutes.

Look at what we made in less than three hours!

What's being preserved in your kitchen this year?

Meet City Seed Farms

If you live in Toronto and haven't heard of City Seed Farms, you're missing out! City Seed Farms is a brand new backyard farming business that grows veggies in west end gardens and sells them at Sorauren Farmers' Market. I asked founder Erica Lemieux to tell us more about her new business.

How did you come up with this concept?

It hit me like a lightning bolt while visiting an urban farm in Kelowna, BC. I had been working with another backyard farming group in Toronto, the Young Urban Farmers CSA, and so urban farming already consumed my mind. Seeing the operation in Kelowna work so well and enjoy numerous successes in its first year was fodder in the trough. Fuel on the fire. It just added electricity to an already raging thunderstorm of excitement going on in my own head. I was really recognizing an opportunity that I needed to seize. Potential to harness. Bicycle-powered backyard farming in High Park. It all made so much sense.

I recall saying to the head farmer in Kelowna, "I think I should do this in Toronto". He replied, "Heck yeah! Get on the next bus home and start asking your neighbours if they'd be interested in sharing their yards". So I did. I went door to door with a City Seed Farms brochure, saying, "Hi, I'm your neighbour. Are you interested in seeing part of your backyard turned into a productive vegetable garden?" I just wanted to assess the interest of the homeowners in my neighbourhood. Within a couple of days I had seven responses. To date, I have ten yards under cultivation.

What else will you be doing with your crops besides selling them at the Sorauren Farmers' Market? Does any of it go to the homeowners, and will you be selling your produce to any restaurants?

We give a weekly share to each landowner and bring the rest to four restaurants in the area.

From my experience volunteering with Young Urban Farmers CSA, I know that turning a back yard lawn into veggie beds is hard work. Who helped you do all of that double-digging?

My sister and my cousin, as well as about ten other friends and volunteers. I provided the granola bars and they provided the strong backs and stamina.

Your backyard growing method is a form of SPIN (Small Plot INtensive) farming. Can you explain to the readers what that's all about and how you make it work?

SPIN farming is a method of farming that maximizes yield and profit in small plots of land. It is meant for plots in the 1/8 - 1/2 acre range. It uses farming methods like relay cropping and standardized bed sizes to make the operation efficient and consistent. For instance, I will plant one backyard with entirely low-intensive crops like squash and beans so that I can allot a certain amount of attention to that yard and not leave any crops to become neglected. All the high-intensity crops like lettuces, arugula, spinach, radishes, etc., are also clustered together. This allows me to focus my time and energy at the sites that need it.

If the SPIN farming method comes through for you, how long do you think it might take until this business transitions from a cost-recovery model to making a healthy profit?

End of next year. Once I pay off my start-up costs like my rototiller and double-door refrigeration unit, I feel that City Seed can profit.

A very important question: what are you growing this year?

Mmmm. We have so much bounty in the gardens right now. Carrots, beets, radishes, leafy greens of all sorts, herbs, broccoli, cauliflower, onions, pearl onions, bunching onions, peas, beans, squash, pumpkins, tomatoes, peppers. My favourite plant is the beautiful and tasty Bordeaux Spinach. It has a fiery red stem and tastes more spinachy than any spinach I've ever had.

What do you think City Seed Farms will look like in five years? In ten?

I hope that City Seed Farms flourishes the way I imagine it. I want this business to continue on its path toward becoming a trusted name in west Toronto, and a legitimate and substantial contribution to the food supply in my community. I want to see our fleet of four bikes grow to forty. Our yards from ten to one hundred. Ideally, every backyard in Toronto will be a mini-farm by the ten year mark.

What advice do you have for young farmers who might like to follow in your footsteps?

Do it. The resources and support are there. The opportunity and need that exists around urban farming is real and pertinent. Hope on board! There is no better time than now.


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If you would like more information, check out the City Seed Farms website! You can also e-mail Erica at lemieux.erica(at)gmail.com.


All photos used by permission from Erica Lemieux/City Seed Farms.

Pick-Your-Own Strawberries, 2011 Edition

If you've been following my blog since you last year, you know I enjoy picking my own fruit in the summer. Last year I told you about my trips to pick-your-own farms for raspberries, blueberries, and apples. Today I've got pictures from my weekend strawberry picking adventure - all 17 minutes of it!

The plan was simple: drive 45 minutes to Andrews' Scenic Acres in Halton Hills, which is 52 km (32 miles) from home. I've been to this farm before, and the last stretch of the drive is really pleasant on a winding, hilly country road. The less fun part is on Highway 401, a major thoroughfare through the Greater Toronto Area that is always densely populated with vehicles, even on the weekend. Hence the need to spend 45 minutes to drive 52 km.

What I hadn't expected was construction, or more specifically, construction that closed one stretch of the highway overnight but which did not end at 9 am as planned. Four lanes of traffic were merged into one and directed to a detour route through suburbia. Total driving time: two and a half hours. This left 17 minutes to get to the fields, pick as quickly as possible, grab another pre-picked basket on the way out, wait in line to pay, and navigate the crowded parking lot on the way out to make it back to town in time for an appointment I couldn't cancel.

But the berries... they were so lovely! I couldn't hold a grudge against the universe for making my one car trip of the week a total nightmare. Take a look at this photo and remember that all it takes to grow such a beauty is for one of those tiny seeds to germinate in healthy soil and create a plant when exposed to sunlight and water. That's it. Nature is incredible, no? Makes it easy to forget about silly drivers and silly construction and my inability to cycle all the way to the farm!

That's as far as we got in 17 minutes. I'll be visiting family in Montreal over the long weekend and may be able to squeeze in another farm trip then to make up for my minuscule harvest. Meanwhile, this first batch went to good use with cream scones (thanks Marc):

Trust me, there was actually a scone underneath all of that whipped cream, as well as slices of strawberry and a lovely strawberry coulis. What's your favourite application of farm-fresh strawberries? Do you pick your own?

Fresh Food in the City

Good news for students, staff, and faculty of Ryerson University: a brand new MyMarket® farmers' market is coming to you starting tomorrow!

The new Ryerson market will run weekly on Tuesday evenings throughout the summer and early fall. Featuring locally grown produce as well as meats, cheeses, honey, maple syrup, baked goods, artisanal breads, and skin care products, the Yonge & Dundas community will finally have a place to shop that is much more local and sustainable than the Eaton Centre mall!

Time: Tuesdays between 3:30 and 7:30 pm from June 14th to October 25th

Location: Gould Street just east of Yonge Street

Special Events: official grand opening and strawberry fest on June 28th, corn boil on July 19th, peach delight on August 23rd, and applemania on September 13th.

Volunteers: the market needs volunteers. Please get in touch with Diana at diana.mymarket(at)gmail.com if you're interested.

Three of my friends live ten minutes away on foot, and I'm excited that they'll have fresh, local food options that should keep their trips to the supermarket to a minimum. Congrats to Ryerson and everyone in the neighbourhood!


Photo used under Creative Commons from Thomas Hawk (Thomas Hawk/flickr).

Get Your Share of Locally and Sustainably Grown Veggies

Take some seeds, one part rain, two parts sun, and a generous amount of heat, and all that's missing is you: it's time to purchase your share in Young Urban Farmers Community Shared Agriculture program!

It only costs the equivalent of six lattes a week to get your hands on a bounty of the freshest, most locally grown veggies in Toronto. This is Young Urban Farmers CSA's second year growing food in backyards in the Wychwood, Lawrence Park, and Riverdale neighbourhoods, and it's going to be a great season. I've already told you how thrilling it was to receive and cook with veggies grown minutes from my home (especially considering I don't have a garden of my own), and I've alluded to my rewarding volunteer involvement with YUF CSA; now it's time to fit you into this picture. I am shamelessly advertising this great opportunity because I've benefited so much from it and really want to see the organization thrive.

What do you get? Only the tastiest GMO-free, organically grown heirloom varieties of leaf lettuce, spinach, swiss chard, kale, broccoli, radishes, beets, carrots, leeks, garlic, spring onions, shallots, tomatoes, bell peppers, hot peppers, eggplant, beans, peas, zucchini, summer squash, cucumbers, and herbs. Southern Ontario simply overflows with food in the summer months; why would you want to buy imported veggies trucked in from far away to the supermarket? Even a farmer's market can't beat this freshness - you take home your share mere hours after it was harvested, often in the very same garden it was grown in.

Support your health, the environment, and the local economy by investing in YUF CSA today. If you don't live in Toronto, please pass this on to those you know that do, and click here for a list of CSAs in Ontario.

Do you own a share in a CSA? If not, what's holding you back?