Picking
admin
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, 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
Planting
Rick Kelly
Harvest Times

EEk! Sorry everyone - I missed September entirely. Oh well, at least I have a lot to say about the garden.

As you may remember, I've been growing my first real attempt at a garden this year, with a 12x4 foot raised bed. Last time I wrote I was complaining about the water ban, but that's certainly not a problem anymore! I've harvested just about everything now (a little less then I was hoping). What remains is to pick the carrots, beets, and turnip, and to prepare the garden for the winter.

Harvest Times
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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.

St. John's Gardeners: Register for FEASt's Annual Open Garden Day!

St. John's Gardeners: Register for FEASt's Annual Open Garden Day!

FEASt Open Garden Day is a great opportunity to tour some of the edible gardens of St. John’s, share skills and discover new ways to grow food. Open Garden Day 2013 will take place on August 25th, from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm. If you grow food (vegetables, fruit, herbs, edible flowers, or urban livestock) and would like to share your garden with the community, please fill out a registration form

Harbour Breton Celebrates the Life of a Young Friend by Growing a Garden in her Name

Harbour Breton Celebrates the Life of a Young Friend by Growing a Garden in her Name

They built signs labeling everything growing in the garden. Dominie did workshops with the summer camp on life cycles, ‘how things grow’, and Canada’s Food Guide. She says the children loved it. “Especially the grade 2’s who had started the garden earlier,” she says. “Knowing it was named after their classmate, Averee, made it hold a special meaning for them."

Farmers' Market Food Safety

Farmers' Market Food Safety

Farmers’ markets are becoming a valuable community activity across the country and their presence is growing across Newfoundland and Labrador. Farmers’ markets are important ways of providing public direct access to locally grown and prepared food of all kinds. Typically, farmers’ markets provide an opportunity for a wide variety of food vendors to offer their products including locally grown vegetables, fruit, and meats. Vendors are also selling prepared foods such as baked goods, preserves as well as hot, ready-to-eat foods. Until recently, there were no food safety regulations to guide food safe practices at the growing number of farmers’ markets across the province.