Picking
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As We Fish and Farm

I came to Newfoundland for the first time just over four years ago. I can still vividly recall taking the ferry across from Nova Scotia in the late winter, listening to the groaning sounds of the ice around the boat. Within two months of arriving I made my first trip to Bonne Bay, a remote fjord on the west coast of the island. I went to learn about the food system and fisheries in the region as part of a PhD program I was beginning at Memorial University that fall.

As We Fish and Farm
Picking, Preparing
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DIY Maple Syrup

Maple syrup conjures up images of towering arboretums in places like Quebec or Vermont, but it’s a little known secret that the rugged and hardy maple trees of Newfoundland make darn fine maple syrup. With nothing more than a half dozen maple trees, some old salt beef containers and a handful of 25 cent metal tree taps, you’re good to go and can expect to end up with over a dozen bottles of hand made maple syrup.

DIY Maple Syrup
Picking, Planting, Preparing
Andreae C
My front yard grocery store
My front yard grocery store
Events, Picking, Planting
Costa Kasimos
Bits and Pieces: Along the Shore

Spectacular vistas, whales breaching, ice bergs floating by, and a foragers paradise. We are blessed with many wilderness areas that offer abundant edible plants. I rarely go on a hike without stopping to have a little taste of this or that. In this post, I will touch upon some of the edibles currently available in our wonderful wilderness.

Bits and Pieces: Along the Shore
Planting
Matthew Middleton
Growing In A Potato Box

Thanks to the listing from Seeds of Diversity, I was able to locate a gentleman in Newfoundland who has a great deal of experience growing a wide variety of potatoes here. Last week, I recieved by my set of samples from George, and here's what my benefactor told me about the varieties:

Red Dutch: A very dry, yellow flesh red from Holland in the 1940’s. An excellent potato. Late maturing.

Northern White: A white flesh variety, from Quebec apparently, from the early 1900’s. Very high yield. Good taste.

Growing In A Potato Box

Preserving

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Community Freezer in Hopedale

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Community Freezer in Hopedale

The community freezer in Hopedale, Labrador, is getting an upgrade this year that will allow it to serve the community even better. A community freezer is a freezer where country food, wild hunted fare such as moose, caribou, seal, partridge, and geese, is donated and stored until given out to families and individuals who are lacking their own. The current community freezer program in Hopedale has been operating for over 2 years with two chest freezers. A new walk-in freezer is about to be installed that will greatly increase the program’s capacity.

School root cellar in Sweden stores fresh food for students

School root cellar in Sweden stores fresh food for students

I've never seen or even heard of a double arch root cellar although they probably exist somewhere up here in the higher latitudes. Considering the problems of storing, for example apples and onions in the same space for any length of time, the double arch made sense, and heck, I love a design challenge, and the thought of building something with the theoretical life span of a Giza Pyramid thrilled me.

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Food Security Network Launches Collection of Food Traditions Videos Showcasing Interviews with Local Seniors

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Food Security Network Launches Collection of Food Traditions Videos Showcasing Interviews with Local Seniors

The Food Security Network of Newfoundland and Labrador (FSN) is thrilled to launch a new collection of short films called All Around the Table, which highlight traditional food skills and knowledge of seniors in Eastern Newfoundland. The films will be available for free viewing online beginning today, Wednesday May 1st, 2013, on the Root Cellars Rock blog. Film screenings are planned for throughout the spring to take place in multiple communities on the Avalon Peninsula.