Summer Recap

We really love ice cream.  This is a roundup of some of the places we tried this summer!

Of course we had to take Little Forager to his first Stampede!

This year marked our third Ribfest in Riverside Park.  This was one of the first things we went out to do when we moved to Kamloops, and now we always make a point of going.  It's become almost like a little Kamloops-iversary celebration for us.  Misty Mountain is our personal favourite of all the ribbers, since we really like beef ribs, and they have the best sauce.

Little Forager has grown up so much already.  It is hard to believe that his first birthday is coming up in a few months.  This summer we discovered that the absolutely loves swings.

He's already so big, but still looks small in this huge room in the Vancouver Art Gallery.

Later that summer we got a chance to visit Mr. Forager's family on their ranch in Saskatchewan.  Little Forager absolutely loved meeting the horses.

It was great to have some time with them since we are not able to make the long trip out there as much as we would like.

Stretching our legs during the ride home.

This year I actually had some success with growing beets!  This has been a goal of mine that for some reason has never been realized.  This mix of different types of beets from Westcoast Seeds was a huge hit for me this year!

We made our first (and last) visit to the Golden Ears Fruit Stand.  We were sorry to learn that it was closing down due to the highway expansion.

This summer was the most incredible year for fruit.  Many people were blessed with overabundance and felt the need to share with us.  We did not turn it down!  I also picked up a steam juicer from the fruit stand that was closing down and made a whole lot of grape juice from free grapes!  I am now excited to try to juice many other types of fruit.  It has become one of my favourite ways to process fruit!

We are now ready to welcome fall and all it entails!

Kamloops Farmers' Market Vendor Spotlight: Berry Sweet Garden, Farm Gate Market, and Laughing Swan Farm

If you know me, you know I love the Kamloops farmers' market.  Every Saturday feels like a little holiday.  We head downtown, pick up the freshest, most beautiful produce you've ever seen and then spend some time walking around downtown either shopping Victoria Street or walking in Riverside Park.  Over the past two years since moving here we have gravitated to a few different vendors at the market and I wanted to introduce them to you. 

Three vendors graciously agreed to answer a few questions for me this time, and I am hoping for a chance to interview a few more before the season is over.  I thought I had come up with some pretty boring - albiet open ended - questions, but I was really surprised by the variety of answers I received.  These three are special to us - we make sure to stop by every time we are at the market - and the more we talked the more I realized why we keep coming back.

Emma Molina - Berry Sweet Garden

berries, eggs, assorted vegetables, dry beans

What is your favourite thing to grow?

Berries.  Raspberries and strawberries.  I like growing them because they are unique.  They are special and delicate.  Not everyone can grow them.

Why did you decide to farm?

We have a passion for growing.  My husband likes to grow, and I like to sell.  Harvesting is so wonderful - it is so amazing to plant and then later to pull up a potato.  It is such a great process, to grow.

Why are markets like this so important?

We are able to sell to local people, and then the local people get the freshest stuff.  This way the money also stays in the community.

Mike Bayley - Farm Gate Market

assorted vegetables, strawberries into October

What is your favourite thing to grow?

I am an experimenter.  I love challenges and learning things.  I love to push the envelope to see what I can grow.  We'll have strawberries here at the market until October.  I've tried ginger root, sweet potatoes, and peanuts - all will grow here but it takes work.  I tried sugar cane, but that didn't work.  Light isn't an issue here.  In Kamloops we have the same amount of light in the spring as the equator but the problem is heat.  For me the growing year starts in February and I have things growing year round. 

Why did you decide to farm?

I've been gardening since I was 12 years old.  I have an attachment to nature - you have to pay attention.  I love the wild, but I love to be able to participate.  Generating abundant food is a wonderful gift but you have to be aware - we're not the master.  We think we are too smart and sometimes we mess it up.  I am very interested in permaculture and housing.  There should be a smoother blend, a transition into nature.  Humans shouldn't stand separate from nature - we are a part of it!

Why are markets like this so important?

Local food.  The structure of industrialized food is incredible, but the distance from people is a problem.  The focus on cheapness causes the consumer to suffer.  Health is integrated into that as well, and if you don't have health what do you have?

Shirley and Ken Wells - Laughing Swan Farm

tomatoes, garlic, mushrooms, shrubs, perennials, ornamental grasses, seeds

What is your favourite thing to grow?

Tomatoes!  We have 110 varieties.  My favourite are the black tomatoes.  They are rich and complicated.  The way some people feel about wines is how I feel about tomatoes (Shirley).  Afghan Rumi is a favourite as well as Purple Calabash.  I like the orange and red ones (Ken).

Why did you decide to farm?

My family have always been farmers.  Where my family comes from - the Black Sea - if you didn't save your seed you didn't eat.  Knowing what you are eating and that it is fresh is important so you are not held hostage by the grocery store.  I like to say 'There is nothing more local than growing your own, and the second best is the Farmers' Market'!

Why are markets like this so important?

One on one connection with the consumers, and the potential for education.  It's all about teaching people.  When they come here sometimes they get a botany lesson.  My goal is to change peoples' lives and to inspire them.

June Harvest Totals

GARDEN AND FORAGING HARVEST TOTALS FOR JUNE

• Amish Snap Peas: 549 g
• Beet Greens: 38 g
• Chamomile: 12 g
• Dandelion Blossoms: 22 g
• Elderflowers: 23 g
• English Thyme: 2 g
• Garlic Scapes: 226 g
• Green Arrow Peas: 1389 g
• Green Garlic: 5 g
• Mojito Mint: 16 g
• Nasturtium Blossoms: 43 g
• Radish Blossoms: 16 g
• Radishes: 54 g
• Radish Greens: 709 g
• Radish Seed Pods: 153 g
• Raspberries: 95 g
• Rhubarb: 190 g
• Strawberries: 9 g
• Sugar Ann Peas: 298 g
• Wild Asparagus: 1470 g

TOTAL: 5.414 kg

Another harvest highlight was this beautiful bouquet of wildflowers I grew from some seed blends from West Coast Seeds.  They are so beautiful and great for attracting pollinators and other beneficial insects to the garden.  I will for sure be incorporating more flowers in my future gardens!

Grow Write Guild No. 7 - In Bloom

Right now it feels like my garden has turned a corner.  Spring is officially over and all my plants associated with that time have spent their blossoms, set fruit, and either been harvested or have been allowed to go to seed.  Currently all that is blooming in my garden is some accidental buckwheat, some nasturtiums, and some wildflower seeds that I received in a few mixes from West Coast Seeds.  Some were throw-ins with my order - blends to encourage beneficial insects and pollinators.  Some were in a mix designed to discourage deer from coming around.  I haven't been able to put it to the test yet, but currently I am hoping the plants in this blend will co-exist with my three sisters garden.  So far there have been a few deer coming around.  We haven't seen our friend "Tom Unibrow" yet, but I'm sure he will return.  Usually the deer get really close to our place in August, but there was a new house build next door in what used to be an empty lot they used to like to wander through.  Now with that and a new retaining wall separating their usual trail from my garden I am curious if that will give me some more protection or not.

In this mix are some of the tiniest poppies I have ever seen.  I am not sure if they are supposed to be that small, or if they were stunted from being crowded in with the buckwheat and the peas, but they are super cute like that!  For reference they are about the size of a Canadian two dollar coin.

The buckwheat is blooming somewhat by accident.  I had planted it as a cover crop before I put the peas in, but it never came up before it was time for the peas to be planted, so I figured the seed was no longer viable as it had been several weeks.  I threw in the peas, and a little while later all the buckwheat started popping up!  I tried initially to pull it out (tedious), but eventually gave up and allowed it to grow together with the peas.  I was worried it would shade them out, but the peas came up faster and the opposite almost happened.  Buckwheat is tenacious, and didn't allow that to stop it from blooming.  Right now it is going to seed and I am hand harvesting it (also tedious) to get the largest yield possible from my small accidental crop.  The amount I have growing makes this feasible, but I would not recommend it if you were growing any more than me!  Normally you should wait until somewhere between 75-90% of the seed is ready on the plant and harvest then.  The seeds mature at all different times, so you don't want to wait too long or the seeds will drop and you will have more buckwheat growing.  Did I mention it was tenacious?

Most people let buckwheat grow and then till it under for green manure, but there is a benefit to allowing it to flower since bees absolutely love it!  I am trying to incorporate more flowers in my garden (bonus points if they are also edible like the nasturtiums!) to encourage more pollinators and beneficial insects to visit.

Grow Write Guild No. 5 - Listen

I had to do this prompt at night.  My days are filled with a glorious clamour; the baby shrieking - usually an outpouring of joy, occasionally an expression of grief or want.  There are things to do - endless dishes and laundry.  Bandit the Ancient always has a tale of woe to tell of some perceived injustice (usually food related).

At night the day to day bustle comes to rest and - if I choose to - so can I.  So often I use that time to catch up on the ever growing list of personal projects I hope to someday come to the end of, but tonight I am grateful for the prompt to sit. 

To be still and listen.

The crickets are the predominant thing.  A backdrop in the blackness - well, blueness.  We are in the height of summer, only one day past Solstice so the sun has just barely 'gone down in the west behind the hills into shadow'.

But this is meant to be about sounds.

The train rumbles.  I am almost surprised I notice it.  It seems nearly every place I have lived in has been near a train.  Cars drive by on the streets and highways below.  In this valley even slight murmurs are amplified.  I can hear dogs barking that are likely miles away.

The train is fading further away, but the low whine and steady rhythm are still rumbling.

In this intersection of the urban and rural it is quiet, but there are still electronic and mechanical hums from lights, generators, and laundry machines in people's homes.  An unidentifiable low whine is coming from the neighbours' place still under construction.

The sounds of the day have faded.  The many chattering songbirds, quorking ravens, screeching hawks, rasping magpies, and screaming eagles must be sleeping.  Once in a while there is a small squeak of a vole or mouse, or a rustle from some invisible night creature.  Something mechanical switches off at the neighbours house, but I can still hear the hum of the dishwasher escaping from my own windows.  A lone barking dog isn't planning on sleeping yet.  My cat pads almost silently through the long grass.  Moths flutter a dull thud as they bump into the overhead lights.

Even at night the world is living and active.