On Salt Spring Island, a court challenge about the noise of three roosters may have an outsized impact on the future of local small-scale farms throughout the region.
Looking for ways to extend the growing season? By warming the soil and protecting plants from the rain and cold, gardeners can gain weeks or months of additional growing time in early spring, fall, and winter.
Season extension does not need to be costly—especially when you use scrap and natural materials already at hand. Mulches, raised beds, wind protectors, and surroundings designed to capture the sun’s heat are just a few of the low-cost and no-cost ways available to resourceful gardeners. (Article continues below slideshow.)
Home fries with an attitude! If you haven’t tried parsnips, you’re missing out on a great local winter vegetable. Similar to carrots, parsnips are root vegetables with a sweet, nutty flavour that mellows when roasted. The trick with parsnips is to steam them first in the oven, and then roast them to ensure they are evenly cooked.
Seasonal eating can cut your food bills and your carbon footprint at the same time.
When energy was cheap and the climate was more predictable, you might have given no thought to eating fresh tomatoes or cucumbers in mid-winter. But times have changed. Now, the high cost of fuel is making it expensive to transport food long distances. And, on the farm, climate-driven droughts and unpredictable weather events are impacting crops. So how can we eat better in these changing times?
If grocery-store produce has you wishing for something fresh from the garden in winter, consider this: you can grow a surprising number of vegetables throughout the winter in our moderate south coast BC maritime climate. (Article continues below slideshow.)
RECIPE
This recipe for Pumpkin Apple Bread pairs two fall favourites, pumpkins and apples, in a deliciously spiced bread. Moist and full of flavour, this sweet bread works well with canned or fresh pumpkin and almost any kind of apple. To capture the taste of the season, try using a fresh pie pumpkin (sugar pumpkin)—just bake, scrape out the pumpkin’s flesh, and puree it in a food processor.
A handful of walnuts a day could make a great difference to the health of your heart, research shows.
Walnuts are an important plant source of Omega-3 fatty acids.
In a study in the journal Metabolism in 2013, German physicians confirmed that walnuts can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. By eating just a handful of raw walnuts (43 grams/1.5 ounces) each day for eight weeks, subjects improved their blood lipid profiles, bringing about a significant six percent reduction in heart disease risk.
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Gardeners often ask how they can grow and harvest vegetables all year long. Here are our top ten tips for a sustainable, organic year-round garden:
Is eating organic worth it? A study in the journal Environmental Research says yes. The research, conducted on four families across the United States, offers a snapshot of how pesticides in our food accumulate in our bodies.
This refreshing salad combines the tang of sweet cherry tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and garlic with quinoa in a fresh basil vinaigrette. For a sharper flavour contrast, try this salad with crumbled feta or blue cheese.
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By planting native flowers, plants and herbs, you can create habitat in your garden and help rebuild threatened bee populations.
A mason bee on a pear blossom in a bee garden.
Most of us are familiar with honey bees. In addition, Canada has 800 species of native bees, ranging from tiny black foragers to blue orchard bees and yellow-striped bumblebees. The survival of these important pollinators is essential to the reproduction of approximately three-quarters of the fruit, nuts, vegetables and herbs we eat.
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