2009 June : Tiny Bites

Langley goodie giveaway results

1 Comment Karen HamiltonJune 22, 2009

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the Langley Circle Farm Tour. Everyone that posted an eligible comment was put into random.org for a chance to win the Langley goodie bag you see below:

Mini-bottle of Domaine de Chaberton’s Chaberton Cuvée Blanc
200ml jar of Vista D’oro rhubarb and vanilla artisanal preserve
Keychain from Erikson’s Daylily Gardens
Lavender lip balm and body/environment spray from Tuscan Farm Gardens
Tour and personal wine & cheese party for 4 care of Fort Wine Company
Tourism Langley tote bag and trinkets
Info on the Langley participants plus all of the Circle Farm Tours available in the rest of BC

And the winner is…

Congratulations, Jemmen! I will be contacting you by email to arrange drop-off or shipment of your goodie bag.

There will be more giveaways this year as I explore the other Circle Farm Tours and culinary destinations in British Columbia. If you didn’t win this time, stay tuned for the next one.

Categories: Canada, Food, Food Purveyors, Travel

Tiny Bites does the Langley Circle Farm Tour circuit

25 Comments Karen HamiltonJune 15, 2009

I love being a tourist in my own province. Our region’s agricultural plenty makes me feel so lucky to live in BC, and meeting the people behind our farms, gardens, and local businesses makes it even easier to support them with my dollars. However, my wanderlust had a more international focus up till recent years, and despite eyeing the 6 self-guided Circle Farm Tours every summer, I had never made it a priority to do one.

Thanks to Tourism Langley, I finally got the chance to try one out this year (and I promise that this tour won’t be the last). Take a look at our day-long sojourn into the growers’ heart of Langley, British Columbia.

Our Circuit

Aldor Acres Dairy Centre

After breakfast at the nearby Holiday Inn Express and a warm welcome from Tourism Vancouver, our group hopped on a West Coast Sightseeing bus towards Aldor Acres Dairy Centre. We were promptly steered to the stables behind the Visitor’s Centre to feed the cows and snap photos of a few of the newer members of the herd.

Inside, we learned how to milk Claire (above) and had a sampling of finished product in the form of chocolate milk. As we sipped at our drinks, we were entertained by the bottle feeding of Claire’s calf, Rusty, who in his eagerness attempted to board the bus as we made ready for our next stop.

Driediger Farms

Meet Rhonda Driediger, whose family has been running Driediger Farms and its U-Pick operation since the 1960s. As the farm hadn’t opened its doors to U-Pick visitors in time for our visit, Rhonda hopped onto our bus for a quick hello and a passing out of an entire blueberry pie for each guest. My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed the natural sweetness of the blueberry and its flaky crust for days after my return from the tour.

Krause Berry Farms

Next was neighbour Krause Berry Farms, another U-Pick destination in the Circle Farm Tour family. Many on the bus were already familiar with this destination; hopes were high that the famously towering Krause berry pies were already on sale.

Pies were indeed in the freezer as we scurried inside for a seat, with Alf and Sandee Krause warning us to pre-order for Father’s Day. In front of each place setting was a shortcake bursting with strawberries and cupfuls of coffee to go with. I downed half of mine before exploring the rest of the Porch and the U-Pick fields beyond. I cannot wait to return once the farm opens on June 18th.

Erikson’s Daylily Gardens

Another whistle stop visit, this time from Pam Erikson of Erikson’s Daylily Gardens. Since she was still getting the place ready for summertime showings, she told us how she achieved notoriety for bestowing the name of Crotchless Panties to one of her top-selling hybrids.

JD Farms Specialty Turkey Store

Our bellies were still digesting the strawberry shortcake from Krause Berry Farms when we pulled into JD Farms for a lunch of turkey sandwiches and curried turkey & vegetable soup served with refreshing lavender lemonade.

For those that preferred to graze or mingle, booths ringed the patio, representing Circle Farm participants Vista D’oro, Full Bloom Farm, Fort Wine Company, and Tuscan Farm Gardens as well as the Langley Community Farmers Market, which opens on July 8th.

Full Bloom Farm

A quick pass of the beautiful property of Full Bloom Farm as owner and Registered Aromatherapist Robyn Wyman spoke to us about her lavender products, massage services, garden yoga, and more.

Domaine de Chaberton

My husband and I tasted Domaine de Chaberton last year in our day trip to see some of Langley’s wine producers. The visit this time around included a short tour of the vineyard and peeks into the processing facility and cellar.

It was scorching under the glare of the sun, so our time at the estate ended on a refreshing note: samples of Domaine de Chaberton’s summer whites in their spacious tasting room.

Select Roses

Langley’s newest Circle Farm Tour member is Brad Jalbert’s Select Roses. At this pit stop, we meandered through the fragrant blooms and humid greenhouses to find our favourite varietals. I even spotted a rhododendron with my name on it (literally!).

Brad was kind enough to offer a pot of miniature roses for our own gardens. My plant has already grown two inches since the tour and is budding the first of what I hope to be many delicate, cream-coloured flowers to prettify our solarium.

Tuscan Farm Gardens

Our last whistle stop was at Heather and Arleigh Fair’s serene garden getaway, Tuscan Farm Gardens. The couple vends an array of organic, hand-crafted body care products from the lavender and herbs that they grow on their property. If you’d like to take in the gardens, gazebo, and pond at your leisure, you could also book a room at their B&B for stays of at least 3 days.

Cedar Rim Nursery

Our last stop on the Langley Circle Farm Tour was a doozy: the labyrinth that is Cedar Rim Nursery. If we had a plot of land to cultivate to our hearts’ content, we’d be regulars here.

I made a beeline for the Japanese maples on the perimeter of the retail store to scout varieties that would work well as a bonsai in our balcony garden. Little did I know that awaiting all of us back at the bus was a dolly full of baby Japanese maples, ranging 2ft – 4ft tall, gifted to us by Cedar Rim! Almost all of the tour guests opted for a tree. It must have been an odd sight to behold…a busload of people with trees sprouting from their laps.

Planning your Circle Farm Tour

This whirlwind day around Langley’s Circle Farms made it clear that you cannot fully experience all of these stops in a single day. With you behind the driver’s wheel and a lunch break in the mix, you’d probably hit 3 or 4 before the itinerary gets exhausting.

I’ve grouped the locations into a few themes below, denoting the ones that could double as lunch stops with an asterisk *.

Tipsy: Vista D’oro, Domaine de Chaberton*, Fort Wine Company, Dead Frog Brewery, with a bonus stop at Township 7 (not on the Circle Farm circuit but worth going to as well!)
Berrylicious: Driediger Farms, Krause Berry Farms*, Vista D’oro, Domaine de Chaberton*
InnagoddadaLangley: Tuscan Farm Gardens, Cedar Rim Nursery, Full Bloom Farm, Erikson’s Daylily Gardens, Select Roses
Animal Farm: Thunderbird Show Park, Aldor Acres Dairy Farm, JD Farms*, Krause Berry Farms*

If you’d like to read more about the Langley Circle Farm Tour before planning your day trip, take a gander at others’ adventures in Langley and the full list of Langley participants:

Langley Circle Farm Tour – My Urban Suburban
Langley Circle Farm Tour – Fraser Valley Pulse
The Langley tour – Circle Farm Tour website

Blog Giveaway: Langley Circle Farm Tour Goodies

We were treated to so many goodies during this tour launch that I’d like to pay it forward with a giveaway. Here’s what is inside the Langley care package I’m bundling up for the winner:

Mini-bottle of Domaine de Chaberton’s Chaberton Cuvée Blanc
200ml jar of Vista D’oro rhubarb and vanilla artisanal preserve
Keychain from Erikson’s Daylily Gardens
Lavender lip balm and body/environment spray from Tuscan Farm Gardens
Tour and personal wine & cheese party for 4 care of Fort Wine Company
Tourism Langley tote bag and trinkets
Info on the Langley participants plus all of the Circle Farm Tours available in the rest of BC

Contest eligibility:

You must reside in British Columbia since I will be shipping you a package that contains alcohol.
You must submit a comment to this post describing which Langley Circle Farm Tour participants you have either visited or would like to visit.
You must submit your comment on or before noon on Saturday, June 20, 2009. Winner will be announced on Monday, June 22, 2009.

Good luck!

Update: Congratulations to Jemmen for winning the Langley goodie bag giveaway. Thanks to all that participated by sharing their thoughts about Langley and its Circle Farm Tour.

Categories: Canada, Events, Food, Food Purveyors, Travel

Visual Bites: Peaceful Restaurant

2 Comments Karen HamiltonJune 11, 2009

I’d been wanting to try the fare at Peaceful Restaurant for quite some time, but leaving the cocoon of downtown Vancouver is always hard for this reluctant commuter. Luckily, dining companion and design partner Jason Lau was willing to play chauffeur during one lunch hour last week.

The restaurant sits across the street from the new London Drugs and 50 paces from the sparkly Whole Foods along the Cambie corridor. Also nearby are a camp of similar noodle shops such as Sha Lin and Lucky Noodle. Why these restaurants decided to operate under such stiff competition is beyond me, but Peaceful Restaurant scores a point in my book for most engaging storefront.

Despite the array of items that peddled housemade noodles of every variety, our eyes were drawn to their selection of dumplings. We opted for the Mandarin pork dumplings pictured above – 10 pcs for $6.95.

We also couldn’t resist the Schezuan hot chilli wontons for $5.95. Its nomenclature leant towards redundancy, but it was a fitting name and our favourite of the meal.

Rather than the usual order of cutting noodles with beef or pork, we selected a stew-like dish called Xin-Jiang noodles: chicken, potato, star-anise reduction, and 3 types of hot pepper with a bed of hand-pulled noodles. The neighbours to my left were riveted by the arrival of this bowl as it sizzled and crackled and wafted rich spice in their direction. It was enough diversion for them to tell us that they’ll order the Xin-Jiang noodles on their next visit.

What’s on the menu for our next visit to Peaceful Restaurant? Another bowl of those fabulous chili wontons and further exploration of their affordable dumplings and noodle soups.

Peaceful Restaurant
532 W Broadway | Vancouver
(604) 879-9878
www.peacefulrestaurant.com