FARM NEWS

Going Forward we will only accept Kootenay Natural Meats Egg Cartons

We’ll still accept egg cartons but only if they’re from Kootenay Natural Meats as they are now our only egg supplier. Thank you for helping us reduce our packaging consumption!

 Meet Ryan Morin of Emerald Grove Farm

Ryan is a new local farmer out of Winlaw that we’ve had the privilege of working with this fall. If you’ve been enjoying our parsnips and our purple AmaRosa potatoes, those were grown by Ryan! He spent the last two seasons working at Linden Lane Farm in Krestova, and this year he took his first step toward starting his own farm called Emerald Grove. When he wasn’t working at Linden Lane he managed to start his first garden on leased land. Ryan practices small-scale regenerative farming and puts the utmost importance on soil health. He grew some beautiful veggies this year and we’re thrilled to be able to support him on his journey to becoming a full-fledged farmer.

Since moving to the Kootenays two years ago we’ve gotten to meet many of the farmers here. The majority of them are young and eager to keep their dreams of growing food for our community alive. These farmers are the future of our local food movement and the backbone of our food security. Our veggies aren’t coming from a faceless factory farm from America or Mexico. They come from hard working folks like Ryan who care deeply about our planet and our community, and who have decided to dedicate their life to making our community a better place to live. We feel it’s important to get to know the people who grow our food and we’re proud to share some of Ryan’s story with you.

5 Things You Didn’t Know About Your Local Farmer

1.What is your name and where are you from originally?

My name is Ryan Morin and I was born and raised in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

2 How did you end up in the Kootenays?

Upon returning home from overseas travel with my newfound love Aparna, and a mission to find some land and live a permaculture lifestyle. Nelson was the first town I visited in British Columbia, and I really liked it. After living a few other places while working at organic vegetable farms I decided to try moving there, so I secured a job working at Linden Lane Farms as a market manager/farmhand. I really enjoyed farming in the pristine mountains, and knew I would make my farm here.

3. What inspired you to become a farmer?

I was inspired to become a farmer when I learned about toxic forms of industrial agriculture, and widespread pollution. I knew there could be another way to eat food, and I wanted to learn how to do it.

4. What's your favourite part about being a farmer?

My favorite part of becoming a farmer is the amazing food, and the freedom that comes with it. Learning about a bunch of delicious fresh vegetables, and learning to grow them for yourself and others is really rewarding. As well, being able to work outside on a peaceful and beautiful farm is something I am very grateful for.

5. What are your future dreams?

My future dream is to transform the empty field full of bracken and knapweed that I found into Emerald Grove. It will be a productive small market garden that is surrounded by a food forest. It will have lots of diverse plants, and diverse yields. There will be gardens, berries, trees, flowers, fungi, worms, ducks, and chickens all working together to cycle nutrients on the farm. I want to build a passive solar greenhouse that allows me to push the limits of what can be grown in this climate, and help grow heat loving eastern medicinal herbs to supply for Aparna's ayurvedic practice. I would like to build a CSA that has 40-50 members, and also build a farm stand for farmgate sales.

NEW PRODUCTS

Bake-At-Home Apple Pie With Brown Sugar & Oat Crumble Is Back!

Description: For this pie we started with organic Ambrosia apples from the Okanagan. We cut the apples into small chunks and mixed in brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice for that classic apple pie flavour.

For the crust we went with our freshly-milled Soft White white wheat flour. We then incorporated butter, sugar, and Pink Himalayan salt and rolled it out into a beautiful pie crust. The texture is tender and flaky with a delicate buttery flavour.

The crumble is a mixture of brown sugar, cinnamon, old-fashion oats, Soft White flour, warm melted butter with a hint of salt to balance out the sweetness of the apple filling. The chewy oats and caramelized brown sugar give the pie layers of texture that make every bite a magical experience.

Bake-At-Home Chewy Molasses Cookies

Description: You want to bake warm and chewy homemade cookies, just like your mom used to, but you don't have the energy or the time, and store-bought cookie dough uses old refined white flour and a boat-load of refined white sugar.

Why not try our Bake-At-Home Chewy Molasses cookies? Just place the pre-portioned cookie dough balls on a baking tray, slide them in the oven and let your home fill with the amazing smell of freshly baked cookies.

In just 12 minutes you can pull them out of the oven and you'll have soft and delicious molasses cookies.

About Our Cookie

These molasses cookies are crisp around the edges and chewy in the center with a perfect balance of spices and that satisfying molasses flavour.

We started with our freshly milled Red Fife whole wheat flour for its slightly nutty and buttery flavour. We then added thick blackstrap molasses, organic cinnamon, organic ginger and organic cloves to give it that classis flavour that will remind you of the holiday season.

Carnival Squash

Description: These colourful Carnival squash have a creamy texture and a very sweet flavour with notes of caramel.

Grown by Salix & Sedge Farm, Salmo.

Classic Pie Shell (New & Improved Recipe)

We’ve recently changed the recipe for our Classic Pie Shell. We’ve improved the texture and flavour and we feel like it’s a much better crust now!

FOOD FOR THOUGHT 🍎

This is a free documentary I came across that was just released called "Into Weeds: Dewayne ‘Lee’ Johnson vs. Monsanto Company.” It’s about a man who was a former public school grounds keeper. His job was to go to local schools and spray a concentrated form of Roundup to control the weeds. One day a hose that was attached to the Roundup sprayer on his truck got caught in a crack in the road as he was driving. The sprayer hose ripped off, showering Roundup far into the air. He quickly got out of his truck to fix it and was doused from head to toe.

Monsanto, the makers of Roundup, have claimed for years that their herbicide doesn’t cause cancer. They’ve even claimed it’s “safe enough to drink” but months after Dewayne was doused he developed a painful skin rash all over his body. The rash gradually got worse and Dewayne started to become very ill. He went to his doctor to see what was wrong with his skin and the doctor told him the devastating news. He had developed a rare form of skin cancer called non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. It turns out that he wasn’t the only one who had developed non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma after being repeatedly exposed to Roundup.

This documentary is about Johnson’s court case, which was the first to go to trial in a series of lawsuits involving tens of thousands of plaintiffs who claim that Monsanto’s weed killer Roundup (and its other glyphosate-based herbicide Ranger Pro) caused their cancer.

This is a powerful documentary that we highly recommend watching. Roundup is the most popular herbicide used today. Billions of pounds of it are used every year in our agriculture, towns, cities, forests, you name it. It’s being sprayed here in the Kootenays as well.

I’m not sure how we can get Roundup banned in our community but if anyone knows how we would help out in any way that we could. Click the “Watch Now” button to view the documentary.

WATCH NOW