Saturday, March 6, 1-5pm, Mahon Hall

“Let’s grow more food this year!” An open space action think-tank

Submitted by Shoshana Ray

Would you like to invest in your community’s health while reducing
your food’s environmental impact? Want Salt Spring to be more
self-reliant and resilient? Have or need ideas, land, help, tools, or
others to grow with?

Sponsored by Island Natural Growers, Transition Salt Spring,  and The
Seed Sanctuary, this event is for collectively answering the question
“How can we grow more food this year?” Join others at Mahon Hall from
1 to 5pm on Saturday, March 6th to share our creative solutions,
resources, and opportunities so we can network, brainstorm, and plan
to make Salt Spring more food self-reliant. Creating a secure local
food system requires utilizing the ideas, experience, energy and
resources of our entire community!

In Open Space gatherings like this one, people share ideas in a
circle, then break into many small dialogues based on the topics put forth. The aim is to envision and create concrete and immediatefood-growing projects with the potential to increase the food supply and create new opportunities for people who would like to grow more food. Topics may include community gardens, cooperative gardens, community processing/distribution, community supported agriculture, land/tool/labour sharing, local investment, and anything else we can
dream up!

This event is free. Registration begins at 12:45. Tea and coffee provided, please bring a mug and a snack to share.

Children’s activities – parents are requested to give one hour. Volunteers are needed for: set up, facilitating children’s activities, and clean-up. If you have a laptop and are willing to use it to take notes, please bring it. Contact letsgrowsaltspring ( at) gmail.com; Shoshanah Ray 250-537-4748

To find or share growing space, visit http://www.saltspring.sharingbackyards.com

“Sin on a cracker!”
-Macleans Magazine

Studio 29 – Moonstruck Organic Cheese. Good cheese is hard to come by, so a visit to Moonstruck is well worth the trip.
Julia & Susan Grace have been milking Jersey cows and making fine cheeses for 12 years now.
“We run the farm organically; we handcraft the cheese.  We think it shows.  Enjoy your visit”

Rhapsody in Blue
“Rich and silky, an organic cheese to make you anything but blue”
Globe and Mail, January, 2010

The Salt Spring Studio Tour offers a year round opportunity to meet local artists and artisans and experience the creativity that abounds on this wonderful island. Please follow the sheep signs and enjoy.

Feb 13th – Island Natural Growers present Salt Spring Island’s 14th Annual Seedy Saturday.

The Importance of Saving Seeds

Submitted by Pauline Martins

There are many reasons why the interest in growing food, buying locally and saving seed is on the rise: the appetite for produce that is delicious and nutritious; the desire to support our local farmers; the fear that we will not be able to feed the world’s growing population; the awareness that shipments of food from three thousand miles away may one day stop; and the realization that due to capitalism and climate change, we are losing plant life diversity.

In one generation, we are on the verge of losing much of the agricultural diversity it took humankind 10,000 years to create. As late as 1900, food for the planet’s hungry was provided by as many as 1,500 different plants, each further represented by thousands of different cultivated varieties. Today over 90% of the world’s nutrition is provided by 30 different plants and only four (wheat, rice, corn and soybeans) provide 75% of the calories consumed by man. Where once diverse strains strengthened each local ecosystem, currently, a handful of “green revolution”, super-hybrid varieties are “mono-cropping” farms and gardens worldwide.

The modern world is facing the prospect of feeding hungry billions with a genetically uniform agriculture and little or no diversity to sustain it.

Now gardeners and farmers can play an important role by learning to save their own seeds from varieties that perform best in their own mini-ecosystems. This will assure diversity in the same way that diversity was promoted and protected instinctively throughout the history of agriculture.

Attend Salt Spring Island’s 14th Annual Seedy Saturday  -  at the Farmer’s Institute from 10 am to 3 pm this Saturday Feb 13th, 2010.

…a celebration of seeds, organic agriculture, local food and community…

• A Full Hall of Seed, Plant, Farm & Food Vendors

• Bring your seeds to the Seed Exchange Table

• Enjoy sweet treats, farm delights and a healthy, tasty lunch by Bruce’s Kitchen, Laughing Daughters Bakery and Veggie Heaven.

Admission only $2!

Presentations:

10:15 to 10:55 am: Andrew Haigh
Why everybody should have a Liquid Gold Machine in their backyard; How to build one out of scrap materials; How to deal with humanure; How to design a simple indoor/outdoor humanure collection unit.

11 to 11:45 am: Sharon Sullivan
Backyard Beekeeping on Salt Spring: Introduction to the basics
and the resources available to all beekeepers; Q & A to follow

12 to 12:45 pm: Linda Gilkeson
Grow the most food in the smallest space (with the least work!).  Review five main ways to get the most out of a food garden, including harvesting all winter and still have time to smell the roses!
1 to 1:45 pm: Carolyn Herriot
The Zero-Mile Diet – A Year-Round Guide to Growing Great Organic Food

2 to 2:45 pm: Dan Jason
Onwards and Upwards with the Seed Sanctuary: where we can go from here in terms of continuing to help other places as well as Salt Spring Island to become more self-reliant in food and seeds.

Information: ssiseedysaturday ( at) gmail.com

I can’t prove it, but would be willing bet money, Grant Hunt knows more about shellfish farming then anyone else in BC.

Grant and his wife Ingrid are close friends of mine. When I first met them and asked what they did for a living Ingrid responded “aquaculture.”  I imagined my twenty something self dressed in a full sized salmon suit protesting fish farms in front of Earl’s Restaurant and decided it was best not to delve into this topic.

Grant and Ingrid moved to Salt Spring six years ago to accept jobs with Island Sea Farms mussel hatchery. Grant also works as a consultant for a geoduck hatchery operating near Courtney.

Grant grew up in Nanaimo.  His passion for aquaculture was sparked on a fourth grade field trip to the Nanaimo River Salmon Hatchery.  After he finished high school he completed the Fish Health Technician Program at Malaspina College.

His fourth grade passion came to fruition after graduation when he was hired by the Nanaimo River Hatchery to float down the river in a wet suit counting fish.  He says, “It was one of the most enjoyable jobs I’ve ever had.”

Grant went on to spend three years as a health technician and caretaker at the United Hatchery in Fanny Bay.  He then spent ten years in the employ of Island Scallops marine hatchery.

At the time Island Scallops was the largest diversified hatchery in North America.  This is where Grant gained his shellfish expertise.  It was also where he met Ingrid, who we affectionately refer to as the ‘algae queen’ because of her unique ability to culture large quantities of single celled phytoplankton.

Salt Spring mussels are proudly featured on many BC restaurant menus and are universally raved about by chefs.  Grant developed an efficient hatchery process for mussel production in an effort to keep up with this ever-increasing demand. Under his management Island Sea Farms won an Mid Island Science and Technology award for being the first successful mussel company in BC history.

The Salt Spring hatchery uses broodstock from two different species of mussels.  They condition the brood to spawn ten months a year by manipulating the temperature and food in their tank.  Once the mussels spawn, Grant collects the fertilized eggs and grows them through a two-week larval stage. At this point the mussels are still microscopic zooplankton.

The tiny mussels are then moved to another tank where they go through metamorphosis and settle to grow on a rope made of coconut fiber.  They quickly come to resemble the shellfish you find on a local beach. After eight weeks, when they are two to three millimeters in length, they are transported to the Cortes Island to finish growing.

People don’t often realize that many of the shellfish species we enjoy eating in BC are not indigenous to our coastal waters but rather were brought here for farming purposes.  Grant says, “Pacific oysters originated in Japan, and the local Manila clam is from, you guessed it, Manila. The galloprovincialus species of mussel were first introduced to BC waters on the hull of Greenpeace’s flagship vessel the Rainbow Warrior when it was moored in Bamfield.”

Shellfish farms, though not without controversy, have some environmental benefits.  Mussels, like all bivalve filter feeders, continually clean the local waters.  Shellfish also require clean water to thrive.  Harsh chemical treatments and antibiotics are not used in shellfish farming. The animals eat a diet of natural phytoplankton almost their entire life.

Mussel rafts may also enhance biodiversity.  Recent environmental impact studies on Cortes Island found over a tone of other life forms thriving on the mussel rafts. The rafts also create a safe haven for small fish.

It’s not surprising then that many BC chefs promote farmed shellfish as a bright solar powered light in the movement for sustainably harvested seafood.

Salt Spring mussels are approved by the Vancouver Aquarium’s Ocean Wise program and farmed mussels, clams and other shellfish are designated  ‘best choice’ by Sea Choice.

The issues surrounding sustainable seafood are extraordinarily complex. There is no one solution to the myriad of dilemmas facing ocean ecosystems.  Nonetheless, a simple lesson I’m absorbing is that not all aquaculture is bad for the environment.

BC based environmental campaigns opposing salmon farming have inadvertently tarred and feathered the entire aquaculture industry.  I worked for environmental groups in the nineties and realize I’m probably personally responsible for some of the rhetoric.

I continue to have serious concerns about the effects that salmon farms are having on the wild salmon stocks in coastal BC, and so will not serve farmed salmon it in my restaurant.  I’m also considering removing wild salmon from the Rock Salt Restaurant menus.

If we do remove wild salmon we might replace it with a sustainable, farmed fish like Arctic Char. I also intend to increase the diversity of sustainably farmed shellfish we serve at Rock Salt. I’m hesitant because I know convincing Salt Springers to eat any kind of farmed fish is likely beyond the public relations capabilities of my young servers.

I do however agree with Grant when he says, “The waters of the Pacific Northwest are relatively clean compared to the rest of the world.  We need to protect what we have left. Environmentally responsible farming practices are one way to meet the growing worldwide demand for seafood without overfishing wild populations.”

Saturday December 5th, 12th, 19th – 12- 5 pm. Mistaken Identity Certified Organic Vineyards invites you to come up and visit the winery.  We are offering complimentary tastings for the next three Saturdays.  Come taste some wine and have the chance to win a holiday gift basket!

Submitted by Sue Horth

Come and experience a sensory tour. Experience the textures, flavours and aromas of our wines. Taste our passion for winemaking.

We currently offer a wonderful Gewurztraminer full of life, a Pinot Gris so clean and crisp, our Abbondante Bianco (or ‘abundant white’) with such an impressive nose and our Pinot Rosé which will enhance any festive meal.

We look forward to seeing you.

Mistaken Identity Vineyards 164 Norton Road, Salt Spring 538-9463 (WINE)

This year was another perfect Salt Spring Fall Fair Weekend. The annual Zucchini Races are a fair favorite. We captured some video to share with you. Enjoy.

Photo by Christopher Roy

September 19 – 20. The Salt Spring Island Fall Fair takes place each year, two weeks after the long weekend in September at the Salt Spring Island Farmer’s Institute, 351 Rainbow Road.

This year marks the 113th year for the fair, which is a highlight of island life for residents and draws people to the island from other shores.  It is a fantastic event where gardeners and farmers display their best produce and plants, competing for top spots. The Dahlia competition and Sweetest Apple are hard-won categories with the most beautiful flowers and fruits on display – drawing huge crowds. Also drawing appreciative viewers  are the baking competitions for all ages and classes, the local photographers’ best photos, and stunning quilts, needlework and handicrafts on display throughout the main building.

Other popular events include sheep dog demonstrations, Pet Parade, Horse Show and livestock judging and displays. Kids are avid competitors and you can see a variety of their impressive fowl and farm yard animals up close in the barns and paddocks.

The entertainment on the main stage is always fantastic as local musicians donate their performances to this much loved event. Click here for the full entertainment line up.

Zucchini racing is another big attraction. You have to see it to understand why – kids (and often their mechanically inclined dads) modify zucchinis to make them mobile and able to compete in a speed competition. Very inventive and highly entertaining to watch!

Hats off to organizers at the Farmers Institute who bring this great event to life each year. It does our community proud!

Here are some of the important details and the schedule for this year’s fair:
Admission:
Adults $7, Two Day Pass $9
Children 7 – 17 $3 Two Day Passes $5
6 and Under FREE

Friday Sept 18:

3:30 – 7:30 Fair building is open to drop off entries ( except Photography and Quilts which must be placed on Wednesday Sept 16)
7:30 all entries must be placed. All livestock entries must be placed ( unless otherwise arranged)

Saturday Sept 19

7:30  – Admission gate opens
7:30 – 11:00 indoor judging, no admittance to main building while judging takes place
8:30 All live stock must be penned. Start of livestock judging  – continues all day
9:00  Commercial vendors open
9:00 Horse Show begins ( continues all day)
10:00 am  Free Bus Shuttle service from downtown begins. Bus leaves from the Visitor Centre in Ganges to the fairgrounds. Food concessions open. Games of Chance open. Entertainment begins on the main stage. Ongoing demonstrations at the Demo Tent begin. Zucchini racers building in the Demo Tent
11:00 Main building opens,
11:30 Sheep Dog Demonstration
1:00 Judging the Sweetest Apple at the Demo Tent. Zucchini races begin
2:30 Sheep Dog Demonstration
3:30 More Zucchini races
6:00 Gates closed

Sunday September 20
7:30 Admission gates open
9:00 – 10:30 Main Building open only to special needs and Greenwoods residents
9:00 Commercial vendors and exhibitors open
9:15 Entertainment begins, continues all day
9:30 Pet Parade registration. Horse show opens, continues all day
10:00 Shuttle bus starts running. Pet Parade. Food concessions open, Games of Chance open, ongoing demonstrations in the Demo Tent, Zucchini racers building in Demo Tent
10:30 Indoor exhibits open to all fairgoers
11:30 Sheep Dog Demonstration
1:00 Farmer Vicky and Daisy the Cow. Zucchini Races
1:45 Longest lasting dahlia bloom announced
2:30 Sheep Dog Demonstration
3:00 Rotary Club Muffin Madness
3:00 – 5:00 Prize money may be collected in the main builiding, upstairs
3:30 Zucchini Races
5:00 – 6:00 All entries mus be removed ( not earlier.) Gates closed.

Please note – Dogs are not allowed at the Fair Grounds ( except the dogs participating in the Sheepdog demonstrations) On Sunday, only dogs that are participating in the Hoof and Woof or pet parade will be allowed. Owners must take their dogs home after these events.

For more information – Visit the Farmers Institute website: www.ssifi.org

September 13, 2009: Preserving the Harvest workshop at the Centre for Arts, Ecology & Agriculture, Foxglove Farm.

There is nothing like cracking open a jar of tomato sauce, pickles or jam in the peak of winter and being instantly transported back to the flavours and smells of summer. An essential part of enjoying local foods year-round is preserving summer’s harvest. Explore with Chef David Mincey how to creatively and safely make your own preserves and how to dehydrate and freeze fresh foods. Learn the basic skills that will allow you to turn summer’s bounty into a variety of delicious condiments, pickles, jams, leathers, and frozen products which can grace your table year round.
David Mincey has owned and operated Camille’s restaurant in Victoria BC with Paige Robinson for the past 20 years. He is the co-founder and past president of the Island Chefs Collaborative. David and Paige run Camille’s Canning Program, producing an extensive variety of fruit preserves, salsas, chutneys, jams and pickles.

For more information and details about the workshop go to: www.foxglovefarmbc.ca

Article and photo submitted by Katie Blake

We enjoyed a beautiful summer Sunday again this year at Foxglove Farm’s Annual Farm Tour, especially the food and good music. Watch our video of the day and listen to Michael Ableman introduce the farm while he shares some of the farming philosophy and practice with which the farm is cared for and managed.

Foxglove Farm Festival – Sunday, July 26th 11 am – 8 pm 1200 Mt. Maxwell Rd., Salt Spring Island, BC

Submitted by Katie Blake

Come join us at Foxglove Farm for our free annual festival with live music, guided tours, kids activities, delicious prepared farm food, home-made ice cream for sale, and farm-stand.

Featuring Fito Garcia & Marlin Ramazzini Afro-Cuban Ensemble

Festival Schedule:

11:30 – 12:00   Centre for Arts, Ecology & Agriculture Demonstration

12:00 – 12:45   Fito Garcia & Marlin Ramazzini Afro-Cuban Ensemble

1:00 – 2:00            Guided Farm Tour

2:00 – 2:45             Fito Garcia & Marlin Ramazzini Afro-Cuban Ensemble

3:00 – 4:00            Guided Farm Tour

4:00 – 4:45             Fito Garcia & Marlin Ramazzini Afro-Cuban Ensemble

5:00 – 6:00             Guided Farm Tour