CFN – Our family has been enjoying the weekly fresh offerings of our Local Area Food Producers. “First time ever” items discovered and taste tested this year are summer squash and garlic scapes. The yellow summer squash had a texture and consistency of zucchini. We chose to simply slice the vegetable as we would a zucchini and pan fry with butter, salt and paper. The best words to describe this summer treat are sweet and scrumptious. Have you ever heard of Garlic scapes? Garlic scapes are the greens which grow from the bulb of the garlic which I found to be peppery in flavour and make a nice raw addition in a potato or green salad and which lend a delicate kick to your stir fry. According to our neighbour they freeze very nicely should you not have immediate use for the entire product purchased.
I often find myself frustrated with supposed “family” companies that continue to produce products which are either disposable or are packaged with a plastic film which is not recyclable and has deadly consequences to our environment and the many life forms that inadvertently consume these plastic bits thinking it is food. Case in point, Popsicles. These summertime treats used to be packaged in paper. Now the majority of these frozen treats on a stick are packaged in plastic film. I have sent manufacturers correspondence in the past mentioning the benefits of returning to the paper packaging. Alas they still are packaged in a plastic film. If this irks you, and you would still like a frozen summertime treat…try making your own. My five year old niece was visiting over the past week and we made our own popsicles. Not only was it an activity we could do together it gave us the added benefit of controlling exactly what went into the treat with no garbage. We made two batches of popsicles. Both with whole 3% fat Organic Plain Yogurt, maple syrup, vanilla and a fruit option. One batch was with pears and the other with bananas. The frozen treats were delicious, nutritious and a big hit.
One of Eastern Ontario’s organizations, All Things Food/Bouffe 360° has recently launched The SDG Community Gardening Network. http://allthingsfoodbouffe360.ca/en/2011/05/14/community-gardens/
This on-line network is an interesting resource connecting gardeners with community members who have land available for gardening and connecting gardeners and volunteers to existing community gardening initiatives. As per Dana Kittle, “Our hope in creating this Network is to enable greater connections between community members and gardening spaces, in turn, helping to create a vibrant, flourishing local food system where everyone has access to local, healthy and sustainable food!” For more information about this project kindly contact Dana Kittle, All Things Food Coordinator, by e-mail at dana@allthingsfoodbouffe360.ca or by phone 613-989-3830.
Earth Matters sends out a “big thumbs up” to The City of Cornwall who have added stations with “doggy doo” bags for the dog owners who find themselves in the Downtown Waterfront area without their refuse bags for their dog’s droppings. Not only are they providing this service for the community and visitors, they are also serving future generations by using a product that is completely biodegradable.
Your commentary is always encouraged and welcome below or to earthmatters@cornwallfreenews.com
