Grow Write Guild No. 8 - The Essence of Summer

To me the plant that best encapsulates summer is one I recently had to say goodbye to - tomatoes.  Each year I am getting better at growing them, but I seem to make some pretty big mistakes every time I try to grow them.  This year I started my seeds about a month later than I should have, and it really showed in the final product.

These four tiny yellow tomatoes were some of the five that actually ripened on the vine.  (If you look closely you can see the tiny bite mark from where Little Forager taste tested one.)  The rest I picked early since every night threatens to frost and I don't have enough blankets or sheets to cover the tender summer vines.  

I was pretty sad while I pulled up the plants since they were looking like some of the best I had ever grown.  If I had started them on time I would have had so much fruit!  Next year I am determined that I will get a better start on my tomato plants.  This year as it is I managed to get just over 3 kilograms of unripe fruit that thankfully I had an interesting pie recipe to try them in.  I love everything about growing tomatoes.  Their flowers are adorable, and their fruit is delicious.  One of my favourite things to do in the garden is to brush the foliage and enjoy the entrancing smell wafting through the summer air. 

I was surprised to find this tiny volunteer tomato (pictured below) that came up from my compost pile and actually started to form some tomatoes!  None of them ripened in time, but I was still surprised to see them.  This area is so perfect for growing tomatoes that you don't even have to actually plant them yourself for them to grow.  My friend even had one volunteer in a crack in her driveway!

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.

Bake Some Pies with Fannie Farmer - Apricots Galore and Heritage Pies with Nana

I've got a bit of a backlog of pies to share with you.  I have still been making them, I just haven't got around to writing about it!  These first two I made for our life group - one straight up apricot pie, the other a yogurt custard with mixed fruit.  I found the apricot to be just slightly more tart than I would have wanted it, but others thought it was exactly right.  My personal favourite was the yogurt custard.  I used the most amazing vanilla bean yogurt from Tree Island, as well as duck eggs from a neighbour, and a mix of apricots, cherries, and raspberries for the fruit.  This was a lovely little pie and a super easy process.  Chop fruit.  Mix custard.  Pour over the fruit in the prepared pie shell and bake!

This month we had our holidays, and I took this opportunity to make some heritage pies with my Nana.  We took a break from the regular basic pie crust recipe since of course we had to use my Nana's secret recipe!  So far I have never had anyone be able to guess the secret ingredient!

The first pie was a very interesting vinegar pie.  The main flavouring is apple cider vinegar and I was not sure how it was going to come out.  The few reviews I could find online suggested it was a unique flavour that not everyone appreciated, but a few people absolutely loved.

As a side note, I have such beautiful grandmothers (inside and out).  I hope to grow up to be just like both of them.

This pie looked super weird when it was cooking.  Like really incredibly strange.  The custard was boiling in the oven, and I was wondering what kind of texture it would have when it finished.  The bubble that the top photo shows was twice as large when I opened the oven door!  In the end the custard was so perfect.  When we cut the slices the edges were sharp - almost like jello!

The flavour was very interesting and seemed to change over time.  The vinegar was much stronger tasting in the leftovers we had in the next day or so.  What was really interesting was how much the apple flavour came through.  I would like to try this pie with different vinegars like the fruit scrap vinegars I am making right now.  No time to try things twice right now, but this is one from the overall list that I would definitely come back to again once I am done with this pie challenge I have set for myself!

The other pie we tried was a raisin pie.  I am no fan of raisins in baking and I purposefully decided to do this one when there were lots of raisin lovers around me.  However it turns out I needn't have worried.  Something about this recipe elevated the humble raisins into something even I could appreciate!

The recipe called for golden and dark raisins and that made a rather pretty pie filling.  The sauce they were cooked in to make the filling made the raisins so juicy and accentuated their flavour.  A little bit of lemon zest is not always called for (and often overused) but it truly does help the overall flavour profile here.

I had a lot of fun making these pies with my Nana.  Not pictured here was the deep dish apricot and pineapple pie we also made.  It was incredibly tart, but when paired with vanilla ice cream it was perfect!  Some pies just aren't complete without ice cream!

Foraging With Friends - Apricots

This is not exactly foraging, but it is something like it!  During July in Kamloops there are so many people who have trees in their yards that are loaded with apricots.  We live in close proximity with bears here so it is very important to keep your fruit trees picked to discourage the local wildlife.  Since we have no land to plant trees of our own I feel very lucky to be here when people are trying to get rid of all their excess fruit!

In this case I was also happy to have a chance to spend some time with a good friend and introduce her to my baby.  Hopefully this year we can see each other more than once during apricot season!

Little Forager really enjoyed his first taste of apricots!  They are the perfect size for his little hands and the fruit is a great choice for babies since the skin is virtually nonexistent and it all turns into mush pretty quickly anyway.  He gets this really thoughtful expression when he tries new foods that makes it seem like maybe he doesn't like it, but I guess he is just processing it all.  We know he likes it when he goes back in for more!