Louise Livingstone's blog
More and more people are interested in heritage vegetables and some are discovered heritage apples. The townships along the Bay of Quinte had some of the earliest apple orchards in Upper Canada. You can still find ancient apple trees in farm yards or along field boundaries.
County of Hastings Historical Altas 1878
Terry Marsden of the Sustainable Places Research Institute and School of City and Regional Planning, University of Cardiff, Wales spoke at the Sustainable Local Food Systems in Europe and the Americas: Lessons for Policy and Practice conference in Ottawa on March 3. He highlighted the issues facing society; peak oil, water shortages, competition for land, loss of biodiversity, loss of topsoil, green house gases and the huge waste of food. He calls for a transition into an ecologically based economy, with water and waste minimization, and low carbon use.
Prof. Marsden describes the current agricultural system as being in crisis with the introduction of genetically modified organisms, and a growing divide between urban and rural. He calls for a transition or re-grounding to a new, more locally based system.
Much of what he said in Ottawa is in this paper Food System Futures: system transformations and constructed marginalities.
Harvest Hastings members met the Food Security Network of Hastings and Prince Edward counties at Grills Orchards on February 17 to find new ways of making local food available to those facing food insecurity,
Bill West of Stirling Creamery won the The William C. West Memorial Trophy – Stirling Creamery Award, awarded to the buttermaker with the highest scoring butter on exhibition at the British Empire Cheese Show on Thursday December 2. Stirling Creamery unsalted butter was given 98.65 points.
Jim Pedersen, Hastings Stewardship Council co-ordinator and professional forestry consultant Herman Ebbers led a tour of Jack and Christiane Locke’s woodlot near Hoard’s Station. This was part of the very successful 2010 Trenton Woodlot Conference on November 19.
The Locke family had owned the broadleaved woodlot since 1855. The 35 acres woodlot had been harvested in 1970 and had had a light harvest in 1995. Jim Pedersen and Herman Ebbers had prepared a Managed Forest Prescription for Jack and Christiane Locke, whose long term objective is to have a healthy and productive forest as part of working farm and to supply firewood for themselves.
Harest Hastings producers have a lot to be proud about as their products are featured at the Vancouver Olympics. It shows just how lucky we are in Hastings County to have such creative and skilled local food producers.
Stirling Creamery Butter and Maple Dale Cheese are used in the making the savoury cocktail shortbread cookie made at theSprucewood Handmade Cookie Co. of Warkworth. These cookies have been chosen as one of 10 Canadian products to be showcased at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games. Quality Cheese's Buffo Mozzarella made from buffaloo milk from theOntario Water Buffalo Company is also being featured at Olympics. CIPM Farms were also approached about the possibility of featuring their organic Red Fife wheat flour.
One of the issues people talk about is how does one get locally grown produce through the winter months. Peak of the Market is a 67 year old Manitoba organization selling 120 varieties of Manitoba grown vegetables through out the year across Canada and internationally.
Reading the article Rediscovering Natural Gas By Hitting Rock Bottom about the recent discovery of ways of extracting gas from shale at great depths in areas like Pennsylvania, reminded me of the story of James Paraffin Young, whom Scots claim to be the father of the oil industry.
My brother in law James Hawkins is an landscape artist living and working in the West Highlands of Scotland at Rhue Studio, Ullapool. He has an exhibition called The Straight Line Ramblers Club in London, England, from May 4 to May 9 at the SW1 Gallery, 12 Cardinal Walk, London. The exhibition includes many of his paintings of the mountains of Knoyart now owned by the The John Muir Trust. In the exhibition catalogue James Hawkins quotes John Muir, “Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where Nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul alike” “….. Wildness is a necessity…mountain parks and reservations are useful not only as fountains of timber and irrigating rivers, but as fountains of life”, (Son of the Wilderness, The Life of John Muir by Linnie Marsh Wolfe).
Jeff and Jen Ferguson love the fact that their customers believe in what they do on our farm as well as how they do it.
"We often get praises on how good our meat tastes,"" said Jeff. "We have put together some recipes that we use all the time and even some I have invented over the years. We can appreciate how busy people’s lives can be and ours is no different. I especially like the slow cooker recipes because they are time saving and tasty. Hope you enjoy these recipes and that you think locally when you buy the ingredients. It not only supports farmers and communities but tastes great as well, enjoy!!"
