Well Preserved

I woke up this morning and went up to the Evergreen Farmer`s Market at the Brickworks.  It`s an amazing indoor-outdoor space that is essentially converted industrial wastelands. This is the same space that we preserved 1,000 tasting samples for the SlowFood Toronto picnic last year (that`s the last post in a 10-day series that showed [...]

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It’s been a while since I’ve posted about the availability of winter produce in our fair region.  I am excited to report that our CSA (from Kawartha Ecological Growers) continues to be exceptional. Our $70 order last night included: a dozen government inspected eggs from a small farm. Dried celery leaves (an awesome herb) Giant [...]

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There`s not a whole lot to this post this morning – then again I`ve just gotten back to Toronto from California and it`s the equivalent of 2AM in my inner clock so we`ll just have to all agree that simple may be better.  Besides, the definition of `not a whole lot` is likely dependant on [...]

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I was so excited to be heading back to the Ceili Cottage last night.  The cozy Irish pub in the East end of Toronto is also the dropoff for our CSA.  And, yes, that means we can have a beer (including a rotating selection of local taps) while we do our grocery shopping. There are [...]

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The singular use of `farmer`in the title is both intentional and applicable.  Sort of. When we wrote about How to Choose the Right CSA (Community Shared Agriculture) for You, we mentioned that we were signing up with Kawartha Ecological Growers (who we introduced here). Kawartha Egological Growers is a farmer-run co-op of more than 20 [...]

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This is, in no way, representative of all the diverse farms and farming regions within Ontario.  It is, however, a feeling of the `pulse` of some of Ontario farmers – 10 of whom I chatted with on the weekend about our summer so far. We are definitely turning the corner between spring and summer.  Variety [...]

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It`s exactly 8:00AM as I write this on a Saturday morning.  I know where I will be exactly 14 days from now.  Here`s a hint from last year: Brickworks Farmers Market (and many other Toronto summer markets) open in the next 2-3 weeks.  I am bounding with excitement. Toronto has a truly amazing Farmer’s Market [...]

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We often think of farmer’s market as a place for food which is why I’ve heard many people avoid the early spring markets.  Unfortunately this means missing some seasonal items that won’t be at the market by the time it gets up to full speed including leeks, fiddleheads, spring garlic and rhubarb. You would also [...]

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It`s not something we hear a whole lot of (depending on the circles one runs in I suppose) but I thought this short video was really clever at debunking so many of the common myths of pigs (i.e. that they are dirty, happy in cages, unintelligent, are well suited for life in a pen). The [...]

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I did not know Harlan Clark – our conversations were generally limited to the weeks price or availability of eggs.  I am not a giant breakfast eater so even these conversations were scattered (or scrambled as the case may be). I frequently saw him from a distance.  A lot.  Harlan Clark was an egg farmer [...]

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