Thinning sugar snap peas

Farmers on 57th garden plot, 3 weeks old

Farmers on 57th garden plot, 3 weeks old

Farmers on 57th garden plot, 3 weeks old

Farmers on 57th garden plot, 3 weeks old

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Garden Bites #001: Documenting the growth of our own food

Leave a Comment March 21, 2012

Garden Bites

Moving from our 28th-floor Yaletown apartment to a duplex in Marpole has its perks. Immediate access to the outdoors. A lack of white noise from sirens, construction, drunken Granville Street revelers, or party-loving neighbours. A huge patio basking in the sun instead of a shady, windswept balcony.

Patio container garden, Mar 2012

Headlining our plans for this space is a fruit and vegetable container garden. Regrettably, I have zero skill in the sphere of caring for plants. Friends who have seen my black thumb in action might even laugh aloud at the idea of me cultivating an entire garden plot. But I am determined to educate my family and I on the rewards of a backyard harvest, and perhaps to save a few grocery bucks in the long run.

Farmers on 57th instructional plots

Supplementing our container harvest is an organic vegetable plot with Farmers on 57th. I signed up for the Organic Gardening Course that they’ll run every Wednesday evening from April 4th to September 5th. While the upfront cost is $300 per plot, it works out to about $25/week for the plot, instruction, supplies, plants, plus your harvest over the course of six months. There are only 12 plots available but there’s still space. Hope you sign up, too.

Our Green Streets traffic circle garden

I really should have stopped there, but I couldn’t help myself with this last one. We’ve been driving by the traffic circle at Heather and 64th Ave since we moved into Marpole, and one day, a sign was posted on it about Green Streets. Drove home, hopped onto the website, and volunteered to be the garden steward for this traffic circle. I’ll just be maintaining what’s already there for now, but over the season, I intend to identify the plants that I’m dealing with–maybe with your help–and see if I can find a couple of colourful lavenders to brighten up the set.

Our Green Streets traffic circle garden

What are you tending this year in your green spaces?

Categories: Food, Urban Gardening

Links and resources for the 2012 Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival

4 Comments February 28, 2012

Equipped for VPIWF 2012

I’m excited to check out this year’s Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival! 3 months’ gestation is not going to stop me from furthering my wine education, though my tasting notes will mostly be secondhand or drawn from the archives.

Watch this space for spotlights on the Chilean winemakers present at the Festival. Tell me what you want to ask them via comments here, on Facebook, or on Twitter, and I’ll make sure to pass your questions along.

To help you navigate this week-long affair, I’ve compiled and will continue to update my favourite Festival reports and resources below.

Official Festival resources

If you’re attending Festival events, consider downloading the official app to your iPhone to take notes and favourite the wineries that appeal to you in the tasting room.

Festival tips and etiquette

Festival highlights

Be sure to frequent the Vancouver Sun’s Salut! section for a plethora of wine festival features.

Reports on Chile – 2012 Feature Region

Reports on Cabernet – 2012 Global Focus

Wineries and Wine Media

Follow these personalities on Twitter  for live commentary during the week.

Festival Reps

Wineries

Media and Oenophiles

If there’s a tip, link, or channel that needs to be added, let me know and I’ll add it to the list.

Drink well and be merry!

Categories: Events, Food, Wine

Our tiniest Valentine

3 Comments February 14, 2012

I hope you are spending this Valentine’s Day surrounded by those you love. We are–we, in fact, got acquainted this morning with the newest member of our family:

Perhaps this is sufficient reason for some of you to forgive me for the lack of food commentary of late. Morning sickness crested last week but I’m still reliant on Diclectin (you wonderful drug, you) to calm the waves of nausea. Meat’s tough to neighbour, let alone ingest. Doesn’t make for a very adventurous diner, but I’m optimistic that my appetite will be back in full force by the time we explore Chile at the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival in two weeks.

On Eating for Two: Post-Script

Typically, pregnant women are advised to stay away from practically all foods of gourmet interest: unpasteurized dairy, sushi, raw or undercooked meats, caffeine, alcohol, and more. I was paranoid and obsessed with eating rules in those first few months. I’m thankful that the experience taught me many lessons on how to eat prenatally without paranoia. I will indulge in occasional sips of wine in my later trimesters, and I’ll relish the charcuterie, sashimi, and aged dairies that our local purveyors stand behind. We’ll also crack open our well-referenced book, The Panic-Free Pregnancy, which was instrumental in pinpointing the non-edible issues that one shouldn’t stress over.

Hope you enjoyed peeking at our little one.

Categories: Food, Miscellany

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