May 25, 2008
Consumers don't know half of what a farmer goes through to succeed.
Consider the sky, for example. The weather must be the only problem coming from that direction, right?. How about ravens that descend and pluck out the eyes of baby piglets. Or a bald eagle regularly dropping in for a chicken dinner.
These are the realities of farming that we discover every time we hold an event. It takes passion and commitment to overcome all these difficulties which helps explain why Bob Ottenbrite and Jane Smith are succeeding with heritage animals at Grass Roots Farm.
A welcoming snail guided the 57 Slow Food visitors up the driveway to the farm in the Rawdon Hills. Bob and Jane run a kennel and dog obedience school from here but three years ago they decided to incorporate heritage animal breeds into the farm.
They have been acquiring expertise and animal stock from all over North America and are determined to see heritage animals survive and prosper in natural surroundings.
Their website details a long list of breeds they are raising and nurturing. Most of the names are foreign to consumers but many are on Slow Food's list of endangered species, the Ark of Taste.
Bob and Jane took the group around the farm property showing the animals and talking about their characteristics.
The farm is not certified organic but the use of feeds and medicines is done to a very high standard and great care is taken to treat the animals humanely and naturally.
The tour was followed by a lovely barbecue of Tamworth pork chops and sausages served with fresh fiddleheads, bread and baked beans. No ravens or eagles were invited!
Heritage Haven
South Shore is Red Hot
May 12, 2008
The little red wheat that could is hot in Mahone Bay.
The Biscuit Eater Cafe is now featuring a special biscuit made from the Ark of Taste heritage grain - Red Fife Wheat. Reports indicate that they are being gobbled up at a terrific rate!
If you are looking for an excuse to have some mussels with your biscuits, this is your time of year... mussels are at their absolute best right now.
Thats why the second annual Mahone Bay/Indian Point Mussel Festival was held this past weekend.
This is the event that features Slow Food member, Peter Darnell and the owners of the Biscuit Eater, Dawn Higgins and Alden Darville (also Slow Food members) and is based on an outing that we held there in 2006.
For the next four days (May 20-23) you can travel further down the shore to Shelburne where Roland and Kathleen Glauser are presenting mussels five different ways including a creamy mussel stew with sherry at their Charlotte Lane Cafe.
The Edible Schoolyard Launch
May 6, 2008
Finally, after nearly two years of planning, fund raising and production we have liftoff! The launch of 'The Edible Schoolyard'.
The 20 minute video tells the inspiring story of the efforts at Dr. Arthur Hines School to build a garden. With the help of the community, the garden is now part of the curriculum and the healthy lunch program. It has also given the students another view of food and cooking that reinforces local food and its role in a healthy lifestyle.
The video was shown for the first time today to the students, staff and parents and invited guests. There was a lot of positive feedback and it was gratifying to hear the praise for the high quality of the production and the authentic way in which the work of the students, staff and parents was portrayed.
We intend to distribute the video to other education decision makers so that they will produce school gardens all across Nova Scotia in the coming years.
Slow+Sugar+Syrup=Spring
April 20, 2008
It is officially Spring now that we have been to Sugar Moon.
This is our fifth annual trek to Quita Gray and Scott Whitelaw's maple syrup property to celebrate Earth Day and the arrival of the first seasonal product that comes from the ground.
Over 300 Nova Scotians joined us this year to sample a pancake meal featuring Red Fife Wheat, blueberries, Tamworth bacon, maple beans and lots of syrup.
Here are some images of a great day spent in the presence of maple syrup:
describe the desserts made by him and Chef Michael Howell
for this special Slow Food Day event...
Chocolat!
April 6, 2008
There are no cocoa trees in Nova Scotia but that doesn't deter Jean-Pierre Gallois and Yseult Bertic.
They use their skills as certified pastry chefs to turn cocoa into wonderful chocolate fancies that captivate customers at the Farmers Markets in Halifax and Wolfville. Today we went to their shop in Eastern Passage to learn how it is done and to try our untrained hands at one of the dark arts.
Jean-Pierre and Yseult know alot about chocolate. They have been working with it for decades and know the intimate science behind its lucious character. They heat it and mix it and take it's temperature (not with a thermometer but with a finger tip) until it is shaped into perfect confections. It takes about a week for chocolate to cure once it is made into a treat so the idea of "fresh" chocolate just doesn't exist.
Jean-Pierre says that technology has helped make better chocolate. He has recently invested in mixing machines but he is still capable of doing everything by hand if necessary and hasn't bothered to install backup generators if the power fails. He was also insistent in having us appreciate that he is not a baker, something that people usually think goes hand in hand with pastry. They are two separate and distinct arts and each requires a separate certification in France where they received their training.
We each had a chance to work with chocolate which quickly makes you realize why it takes years to learn how to perfect it. Even the simple decorating of a Florentine or the hand dipping of a chocolate takes a practiced hand but it was fun trying to make a product that had real eye appeal.
Yseult made perfect hot chocolate for everyone and we snacked on chocolate fans and cigarettes that she made until it was time to leave with bags of treats in hand for later. You have to wonder how many bags actually made it home and how many suppers got spoiled.
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