Okanagan Food
Wildflight Farm-Winter Farm Market
Last Updated on Tuesday, 09 March 2010 11:49 Written by Pamela
Written by Emily McConnellFarm News
We've had a lot going on around here lately. Louise has started seeding the first trays of onions, leeks, spinach, salad turnips, beets, and lots more. We also spread compost in all our greenhouses, roto-tilled, and direct seeded beds of radishes, spinach and lettuce mix. I have to say it's great to be back outside and to get my hands into the soil again.
Vendors
1.) Wild Flight Farm
We'll have lots of corn salad this week (also listed on the bulk list below) and even some claytonia. Add grated watermelon radish, carrots, and cabbage for a really nice local fresh salad -- quite a treat for early March!
2.) Brigitte's Bread Basket
3.) Vale Farms
We're happy to welcome Vale Farms as a vendor to the market. Many of you may already have seen their high quality selection of grass-fed organic meats at one of the summer markets. Check out their website (click on farm name above) for more info on featured meats and recipes.
Apples for all.
Apparently in ancient Greece, tossing an apple to a girl was a traditional proposal of marriage; catching it was acceptance.
Well, we aren't throwing any apples or marriage proposals at you but we always get a lot of questions about our varieties so I'll pass on some information.
Gala apples are fairly resistant to bruising and are sweet, grainy, with a mild flavour and a thinner skin than most apples. Selling quality include firmness, crispness, and sweetness. One of the most widely-grown apple varieties, with a sweet pleasant flavour, and good keeping qualities.
Braeburns are superb apples for eating out-of-hand, with very firm, crisp and juicy flesh. They are sweet with a hint of tart, and a firmness that stores well. These traits plus the fact that they bake well have made them a very versatile apple. It is thought to be a cross between Granny Smith and Lady Hamilton. The apple itself is named after Braeburn Orchard where it was first commercially grown.
Fuji, have a predominantly sweet, very refreshing (especially if slightly chilled) flavour and a firm texture, but the occasional apple can be bland. Fuji is a cross between the widely grown Red Delicious, and Ralls Janet, which is much less well known but is probably the reason for Fuji's attractive pink flush.
Sweet Orins are excellent sweet, yellow-green apples and are very crisp and juicy with a subtle pear-like flavour. Excellent for eating out-of-hand, in salads and sauces; some say it's good for pies. Sweet Orin is a Golden Delicious cross and has low acidity.
The Ambrosia apple was discovered as a chance seedling in Cawston, BC. Ambrosias are crisp, sweet, and aromatic. The fine-grained, cream-coloured flesh is slow to oxidize, making this apple a great choice for fruit trays, salads, and fresh displays. Naturally sweet, Ambrosias require very little sugar when used for cooking. Ambrosia is a Golden Delicious and Jonagold cross.
The Spartan apple has a snowy-white flesh with skin a darker red colour than its McIntosh parent. Long a consumer favourite, Spartans make excellent all-purpose apples. Out of all our apples, the Spartan's flesh is the least firm.
Apple Walnut Spice Muffins
from ExtraVeganZa, by Laura Matthias
Makes 10-12 muffins
Ingredients:
1 cup whole spelt or wheat flour
1 cup white spelt or wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp of each baking soda, sea salt, and cinnamon
1/4 tsp each ground cloves and nutmeg (optional)
1/2 cup vegetable oil/canola oil
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup vanilla soy milk, or milk
1/2 cup apple juice
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1.5 cups apple, grated (about 2 apples)
1/2 chopped walnuts
To prepare:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine the flours, baking powder, salt, spices in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the oil, sugar, vanilla, milk, apple juice, vinegar, and whisk together until emulsified. Stir the grated apple into the wet ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and gently stir, careful not to over mix. Fold in the walnuts. Scoop spoonfuls of the mixture into oiled muffin tins.
Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes before gently lifting them out of tins.
I love Riesling, a little for the recipe, a little for the cook!
Green Cabbage and Apple Saute
from foodandwine.com
Ingredients
3-pound head of green cabbage—halved, cored and coarsely shredded (12 cups)
1 cup Riesling or other sweet white wine
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
2 tart apples like Braeburn or Fuji, cored and sliced 1/8 inch thick
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Directions
In a large bowl, toss the cabbage with the wine, lemon juice and sugar. Let marinate for 1 hour, tossing often.
In a large deep skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the onion and cook over moderate heat until golden, about 8 minutes. Add the cabbage and its marinade and cook over moderately high heat, tossing, until wilted, about 5 minutes. Cover and cook over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until almost tender, about 20 minutes. Add the apples and toss well. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the apples are just tender, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and serve.
Cabbage Slaw with Applesauce Vinaigrette
from straightfromthefarm.net
VINAIGRETTE
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon applesauce
1 teaspoon honey
1/3 cup olive oil
SALAD
4 cups grated (or sliced thinly) green cabbage
1 large grated, or julienned watermelon radish
3 or 4 tart apples grated or sliced
1 lemon, juiced
1 teaspoon mustard seeds (optional)
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
Salt and black pepper to taste.
* You can make this salad like a slaw by grating the vegetable, or salad by slicing thinly.
Make vinaigrette: In a bowl, mix together mustard, salt, vinegar, honey and applesauce. Slowly whisk in olive oil a little at a time until dressing emulsifies. Set aside.
Combine the apple, cabbage and radish and toss with vinaigrette. Add mustard seeds and toss again. Sprinkle walnuts on top of slaw. Season with salt and pepper.
(makes 6 servings)
"WFF" stands for Wild Flight Farm
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The 100 Mile Diet Challenge comes to an end
Last Updated on Wednesday, 06 January 2010 11:19 Written by Administrator
By Mary Stockdale
A group of festive ‘locavores’, or eaters of local food, gathered recently to mark the end of their 100 day, 100 Mile Diet Challenge. This was celebrated with homemade eggnog and hot apple cider, and a range of Christmas treats, from pastries filled with homemade jam to mince tarts made from green tomatoes. They also made their own Christmas wreaths featuring such 100 Mile components as cedar and fir boughs, oregon grape clippings and bright red high-bush cranberries.
The 100 Mile Diet Challenge was launched at the Interior Provincial Exhibition in early September by two local groups: the Food Action Society of the North Okanagan (FASNO) and the Armstrong Community Food Initiative (ACFI). These groups challenged people in the North Okanagan to eat food that has been produced or processed within a 100 mile radius of home. Fortunately for those of us in the North Okanagan, this is a geographic area that encompasses the fertile Okanagan Valley, the hardy west Kootenays, and the beef rangelands around Merritt, Kamloops and Cache Creek.
The 100 Mile Diet is a creation of two Vancouver-based writers, Alisa Smith and James MacKinnon, who decided to eat only food that was produced within a 100 mile radius of their home for one year. Their example, described in a best-selling book, has inspired thousands of individuals, and even whole communities, to change the way they eat. The reasons cited for eating more local food range from economic: buying from local businesses has a ‘multiplier effect’ on the entire local economy; to environmental: it reduces greenhouse gas emissions caused by the transportation of food; to health: fresher food is much better for people; to taste: it also happens to be far more delicious.
Of particular note is the need to support local farmers, whose livelihoods are threatened by the globalization of food supplies. In the North Okanagan, the average age of farmers is 54 years, meaning that if people don’t start buying more local food, there might soon be none available for them to buy, which is not at all a secure situation for our region to be in.
A total of one hundred and fifteen people signed up to follow a diet ranging from the ‘Gold’ standard of 100% local food, to ‘Silver’ at >75%, to ‘Bronze’ at >50%. They accessed local food from local shops, farmers’ markets, vegetable box delivery programs, farm gates or by growing it themselves. In the final weeks of November and December, access to local produce gets much more difficult, and people learned, or re-learned, to preserve food by dehydrating, canning, freezing and root cellaring.
At the final Christmas gathering, people reflected on what they had learned from taking part in the 100 Mile Diet. Their thoughts included: ‘It takes more time and planning, but it is so much more satisfying’; ‘I learned much more about what was NOT available - no local cooking oil, and limited grains and dried beans’ and ‘Eating seasonally, especially in winter, means using more recipes from our pioneering days and from northern and eastern Europe’.
Many people plan to go on eating more local food, and are already planning how they will plant their gardens next year, and improve on the way in which they will put food by.
For more information on FASNO and the 100 Mile Diet Challenge, see www.foodaction.ca.
The Armstrong Farmers' Market Christmas Sale
Community Voices - Events & Dates
Last Updated on Friday, 11 December 2009 23:47 Written by Administrator
The Meating Place Custom Cut and Sausage would like to invite you to join more than 30 vendors at The Armstrong Farmers' Market Christmas sale on Saturday, December 12th, 9:00 a.m. -- 2:00 p.m.
The sale is being held at St. Joseph's Catholic Church, 3335 Patterson Street, Armstrong (follow the signs).
Come check out dozens of vendors offer beautiful crafts, local fall produce, Christmas goodies, tasty hot foods, and, of course, a large selection of meat products, fresh and smoked sausages.
Enter in a free turkey draw. Note the premises are wheel chair accessible.
Following the Christmas Market, our products will be available directly from our shop in Armstrong. You can place your meat/sausage orders by calling 250-306-2887, or by
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us.
Thank you for your support in 2009, we look forward to serving you for your holiday needs and in the new year.
Merry Christmas and happy New Year!
Farm Gate Sales Act would allow purchase of animal products from local farms
Community Voices - Current Issues
Last Updated on Friday, 11 December 2009 23:46 Written by Administrator
First Published: November 24, 2009 in by the BC New Democratic Party
VICTORIA— British Columbians will once again be able to purchase fresh meat products from local farmers if a bill introduced in the legislature by New Democrats today is passed.
“Even as increasing numbers of British Columbians are looking for local food choices, the centuries-old tradition of the family farm is at risk,” said New Democrat MLA Nicholas Simons, who introduced the bill. “I hope that MLAs from both sides of the house can come together to support local food and B.C. farmers by backing this bill.”
The bill amends the Food Safety Act in order to allow farmers to sell meat directly from the farm to local customers. Under the current rules, all meat offered for sale must be processed at centralized facilities despite the fact that this is not an option for many small producers, particularly in rural communities. Since the B.C. Liberal government outlawed farm gate sales many small farms have gone out of business.
“Forcing farmers to ship their animals hundreds of miles for processing not only makes local meat unaffordable, it also puts undue stress on the animals and contributes to greenhouse gas emissions,” said Lana Popham, New Democrat agriculture critic.
“I hope both sides of the house can come together to support this common-sense bill that promotes local economies and encourages environmental stewardship.”
Please encourage your mla to support an amendment to the food safety act, meat inspection regulation, that would allow an exemption for on-farm processing and non-retailed direct meat sales in an effort to keep small and specialty local farms viable and provide consumers with a choice.
Copies of the bill are available upon request.
Media Contact: Jennifer Jones 250-889-6308
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