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.
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.
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.
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.
If time constraints, cost, reliance on convenience meals, and unfamiliarity with cooking skills are some of the barriers you face to home cooking, you're in luck. This year's Nutrition Month campaign from Dietitians of Canada, Simply Cook and Enjoy, seeks to inspire Canadians to get back to cooking basics and involve children and youth in food preparation.
A little while back I experimented making pulled moose, with phenomenal results. Here's the second moose slow cooker experiment I tried and it was also a big hit with my family. I packaged and froze the leftovers for lots of warm lunches at work afterward. This recipe is inspired by my Grandma Elisabeth’s traditional Hungarian beef goulash.
The combination of increased cooking skills, knowledge about nutrition, being more aware of how to stretch your food dollar, hands-on learning, peer support, and learning about other programs in the community all contribute to success for these participants. “People had the idea that buying fresh vegetables, or healthy food, was more expensive. We do a comparison of that and then they realize that they can afford to buy healthy food" explains Bernice.
