HOME GROWN

With The Interest in home grown food sweeping Vancouver Island there is a corresponding desire for beginners to just jump in and join the parade. The gardening guide I rely on is the West Coast Seeds Catalogue. You can order it online or the one nursery here that carries it is Campbell River Garden Centre. The seed company makes it so easy for neophyte gardeners to be successful right from the start. The vegetable planning chart for coastal B.C. takes away all the anxiety of what to plant and when to start. For instance you could be starting your basil indoors now and keep it in potting soil on the kitchen windowsill then place it outdoors in June. The biggest mistake the newbie gardeners can make is charting out too much space. That’s why it is strongly recommended to start out with filling a few pots on the patio or small containers on the window sill.

Another hugely popular concept is Square Foot Gardening. The idea was originated by Mel Bartholomew. If you follow his plan it allows you to grow 100 percent of your harvest in only 20 percent of the space. The best part is there’s no digging. Just build a 4 foot by 4 foot bottomless box. Lay it down on the existing soil, remove grass and weeds and fill the boxes with a high quality soil mix. For a family of four he says you’ll need a total of four boxes. He claims that if you follow his directions you’ll have the most sensational gardening experience of your life. His book is available in the library or go online to his site, Square Foot Gardening.

For Readers Asking me to repeat recipes and ideas for small space gardening they can find them here, the Urban Gardener. All my columns for the past two years are archived in the column to the right of the screen on the opening page. So many readers have exclaimed over the recipe for cooking kale. In fact, you can use the same process on coarse outer leaves left over after preparing beet leaves, broccoli buds and cabbage heads.

Here’s Another Idea for turning the much maligned beet root into a delicious treat. This lonely veg is a powerhouse of nutritional value but it gets passed by when busy people are shopping and planning the evening meal. It just takes too long to cook…unless you try my way of producing a succulent steamed beet in 10 minutes. Take a half dozen medium size beets and cut them crosswise in circles about half an inch thick or less. Melt a good knob of butter and mix with olive oil in a thick bottomed frying pan on medium heat. Cover with a lid and and 10 minutes later you’ll be serving shiny red, juicy, mouth watering beets and with no loss of nutrition as they cook in their own juice.

WHEN TO SALAD

Salad Before, Salad After, Salad in Between…what is the answer. Travelling back and forth to the U.K. and Ireland in order to care for an elderly sister has made me very aware of the many differences in the preparation of food and the times of day in which the meals are taken. When in Ireland it is quite likely that salad isn’t served at all or may be included on the same plate as the main meal. In the U.K., due to its proximity to Europe salad served after the main course is de riguer for the more sophisticated classes but not necessarily adhered to by the less privileged. In France the order in which food is served is highly ritualistic with salad unquestionably following the main meal.

Listening to a debate on BBC Radio I gained from the discussion the understanding of why the order in which food is served is really a matter of the tummy’s ability to digest whatever is sliding down the gullet. Vegetables are more easily absorbed by the body if eaten separately. Meats and chicken require a more acid environment so the most natural process would be to eat one’s salad first.

In Europe class differences still count, one only needs to read a Jane Austen novel to realize the past is still with us. Her rules described breakfast as being served around 1000 am, as befitted a leisure class. (This distinguished them from the lower orders, who ate very early before going off to work.) The next main meal was dinner served at 700pm preceded by afternoon tea at 400pm. As most of the population now adheres to working hours, lunch which is called dinner over here, is quite a substantial meal followed by a late afternoon tea and then supper/dinner, again generous portions, served around 700pm. In France the enormous midday meal, followed by a siesta, is what the country revolves around. The French come to a halt for a leisurely three to four hours before returning to the workplace at 400pm. As a leading member of the European Union this enviable lifestyle doesn’t fit well with the standard working hours of its fellow members. The French are reluctant to change but despite their reluctance the shift is taking place.

Ireland, is now digging out from under the collapse of the Celtic Tiger years. This small nation, once considered the fastest growing member in the European Economic Union, is now facing potential bankruptcy unless the EU is willing to bail them out. In the glory days of the boom with all that wealth available for the first time to the working classes the Irish took to Take-Out meals with a vengeance. Reluctant to give up their newfound leisure time the Irish began to pave over their front gardens. In fact many citizens loved their pavement so much that they ordered the back gardens to be paved over as well. Now that the good times are over the Irish are learning to cook, some for the first time. Book stores are flooded with material on meal preparation and food gardening. The next instruction books one can expect to see on the shelves are manuals on how to remove all that tarmac that surround their cottages so that they can experience the joy of growing one’s own food.

CONVERTING KALE TO A DINNER TREAT

Turning A Big Flat Green Kale leaf into a divine dinner ingredient is a bit of a stretch but it can be done. Take a few of those large outer leaves and slice out the tough stem. Fold the leaves over to create a loose roll and cut them across the grain. Try and slice the leaves into narrow ribbons, about ¼ inch wide. In a heavy frying pan melt a combo of olive oil and a knob of butter. Grill a tablespoon of chopped ginger and a similar amount of chopped garlic. Frying them for a minute should do it. Toss in the kale, sprinkle ½ teaspoon of sugar and a tablespoonful of water. Now, cover with a heavy lid and set on medium heat. Five minutes later pop the lid and you will discover a heap of intensely green, tender, delectable leaves. I do this recipe constantly and it never loses its appeal. Preparing veggies this way is going to make you feel good about what you are feeding the family because you haven’t lost any nutrients or had to pour excess cooking water down the kitchen sink. You have just captured all the intense colour and goodness of the food. You can transform any coarse outer leaves, including cabbage or beet leaves that show up in your garden or your shopping bag, into life sustaining edible food.

Having A Grown Grandson who has Celiac Disease (CD) has made me very aware of how difficult meal preparation can be when one is suffering from this disorder. CD is a medical condition in which the absorptive surface of the small intestine is damaged by a substance called gluten. This result in an inability of the body to absorb nutrients: protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals which are necessary for good health. Celiacs generally get relief from eating a gluten free diet. Gluten is found in wheat, rye, triticate and barley. It is the gluten in the flour of these grains that is the trouble maker according to info I checked on the Canadian Celiac Assoc. website. It is really time consuming to check out the ingredients on store bought products… and eating in a restaurant is like treading around hidden land mines. So when I discovered this week that Locals Market is featuring gluten-free meals prepared on site and gluten free baking supplied by Sylvie’s Market it sounded like a winning collaboration. Crackers made with grated cheese, oregano and potato flour served with their renowned clam chowder is an irresistible combo.