Foodscaping

Cherries

Most people like a yard with nice landscaping. Trees, shrubs, etc.

I like foodscaping – landscaping with food.

As we can afford to, we have been working to make our property more productive, while trying to maintain the nice looks of the yard. Our yard came with an abundance of cottoneaster (a.k.a. catoni aster) shrubs. Three of the corners of our house have these large plants which can make a nice, shape-able hedge. There are two more in the front garden, and two complete hedges along the back and one side of our backyard. I would love to replace the hedge across the back with something that would give us edible berries, but that would take quite a bit of work to dig them up, and we would have to do without the privacy for a few years until something else grew into the spot.

This spring we ripped out the one on the front corner of the house and planted two saskatoon berries. The saskatoons are native to this area and can grow to be quite large and have a small berry that looks like a blueberry, but not quite as flavourful. I plan to replace a few more of these around the house this summer.

useless hedge plants

useless hedge plants – the big one in the corner has been replaced by saskatoons

Hedge out, saskatoons in Saskatoons

Speaking of blueberries, last year we planted four bushes and they survived our relatively mild winter this past year and we will be getting some berries in a few weeks. Probably only a handful this year, but as the plants get established there will be more.

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Since moving in to this house we have planted three apple trees (one just last summer), and after a few years of them getting established, we are going to get some apples this year. We have Goodland, Parkland, and Battleford varieties, but only the Goodland looks like it is going to produce this year. Unfortunately, the tree has dropped a good percentage of its apples, so I need to do some research to find out what is going on.

Goodland Apples

This year our two haskap (a.k.a. blue honeysuckle) were producing. The bushes are still small so here isn’t a lot of them, but they taste great! They are ripe by around mid June and were the first things outside the garden we could eat. I think we could have had some last year, but the birds got them first. I hope to plant a few other varieties of haskap soon.

Haskap berries

 

Haskap berries

We also have around 35 strawberry plants in the gardens and a few other spots on property, so we will be enjoying quite a few of these this summer. First strawberry of the year was June 29, and now we can get a small bowl full every second day.

First strawberry of the year.

FoodscapingStrawberries

Nanking and Carmine Jewel cherries are growing nicely and we plan to plant more of these in the yard soon.

Cherries

The raspberries are producing lots.

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Carmine jewel cherries, strawberries, and raspberries from the foodscaped yard.

Looks like we will have some red and black currents too.

Red currants

Black currants

We will also have choke cherries, but those taste awful. They can be added to jams and such though, but with lots of sugar.

Our grape vines are doing well, and looks like we will have a good crop this year. We are having a bit of a problem with some grape rust moths though.

Grapes

Last year’s grape harvest looked like this!

6 lbs of grapes

Foodscaping is an investment that sometimes takes years before you start to see a payoff. But when it comes, it is a sweet and tasty payoff.

Grape Jelly

Grapes
We had to harvest our Valiant grapes a bit earlier than planned this year because of an unseasonably early snow and heavy frost in early September. Apparently, waiting to harvest until after a frost is not good if you are looking to make jelly as this leads to the grapes losing their pectin and then you will have a harder time getting it to set, which was a problem last year.

Harvesting grapes before the hard frost

Harvesting grapes before the hard frost  An early September snow...

Naomi’s Vineyard had an decent harvest for our first year of having a proper trellis for our grapes. The vines were planted four years ago and their yield is increasing each year.

grapes

We harvested about 2.7 kg (6 lbs) of grapes…
6 lbs of grapes!

 

…and Naomi turned them into this!

Grape Jelly!

Ode to the Potato

Looks like my favorite food group, the potato, may once again take its rightful place as one of the greatest foods. With the rising cost of other staples and growing suspicion of the impact of biofuel crops, the potato may become a staple for many of the hungry people of the world. This wonder food..

..can be grown at almost any elevation or climate: from the barren, frigid slopes of the Andes Mountains to the tropical flatlands of Asia. They require very little water, mature in as little as 50 days, and can yield between two and four times more food per hectare than wheat or rice..

Potatoes are a great source of complex carbohydrates, which release their energy slowly, and — so long as they are not smothered with butter — have only five percent of the fat content of wheat.

They also have one-fourth of the calories of bread and, when boiled, have more protein than corn and nearly twice the calcium, according to the Potato Center. They contain vitamin C, iron, potassium and zinc.

From Year of the Potato – http://www.reuters.com/

May I say that I love the potato in it’s many forms. Mashed, french fries, chips, hash browns, wedges, stuffed potatoes, potato breakfast cereal (not yet, but I think it is a great idea), potato bread, potato potato, baked potato, red potato, purple potato, they are all my favourites. I remember reading about how potatoes can contribute to weight gain and that they should be reduced in our diets. I couldn’t think of what I would eat each day if I eliminated them! How depressing. I guess I should have some potato chips to cheer me up.

Speaking of potatoes.. I have often faced persecution for a preference of mine regarding potatoes. Most people enjoy ketchup on their fries. Sliced potatoes fried in many different shapes (straight cut, wedges, curly, crinkle, waffle, etc) and all taste good with ketchup. I add one more to that category of ketchup assisted flavoured potatoes: potato chips. Before you run to the washroom to spew, think about it. It is just a thinly sliced potato that has been fried, just like french fries. There is no difference! And stop making that face!

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I have met very few people who share this preference, and many who express their utter disgust. One day at lunch my coworkers were berating me for my alternative food-style and telling me that it is gross. During this very conversation, out of the corner of my eye I witnessed one of my attackers dipping his Salt and Vinegar potato chip into his yogurt and taking a bite. He obviously liked it because he then did it again. I’m not going to mention any names (JRC), but I thought it was ironic and welcomed the chance to deflect other’s food borne attacks back at one of my assailants.

For those of you still doubting.. try it.

Whats for lunch?

With your host, Chef ‘Roy.

Good Day and welcome to Chez ‘Roy. On today’s program, we will be exploring bachelor meals. Our master chef has gone A.W.O.L. (Absent With Our Loot – out shopping with Ellie) leaving me to prepare lunch for myself and Adelaine.

After a quick survey of available ingredients, I decided that today’s lunch will be one of my greatest recipes: Roy’s Eggs and Stuff.

Just Beat It

First you must start of with some Grade A eggs, preferably from a chicken. I chose four this time as this is a meal for one and a half. Next, crack the eggs into a bowl. Be careful to take out all the little bits of shell that you may have also dropped in.

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Add some milk, salt and pepper, and just beat it, just beat it. Oooh!

Now comes the ‘and Stuff’ part. Mix in some cheese, pre-cooked bacon and fried mushrooms.
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Unfortunately we were out of fungus today, but as an intrepid chef, I pressed on. As a side dish, I fried some leftover mashed potatoes, another favorite!

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And, voila!
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As usual, our customers at Chez Roy were happily satisfied.
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Towards a Pizza Eaters Code of Conduct

Here is a familiar scenario ::
Five hungry people decide to get pizza. Excellent choice. But a problem arises when it is revealed that two of the five want to have the abomination pizza: Hawaiian. So eventually a compromise is made. For the five people two pizzas will be ordered, one good one and one Hawaiian.

The two Hawaiian pizza lovers (HPL for short) will dutifully take a few slices of their Hawaiian pizza. Meanwhile, the other three good pizza lovers (GPL) look in dismay over their slice at this little pizza that has to be divided by the three of them.

Then it happens.. the HPLs decide that they also want to partake of the good pizza too (it is good after all) and take a slice or two each. The GPLs are distraught and hungry over this grave injustice. The end result of this sad situation: two full Hawaiian pizza lovers, three other hungry people, and four slices of unwanted leftover Hawaiian pizza.

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This is exactly the situation where a Pizza Eaters Code of Conduct is needed. What I propose is this:

Should you be in a group and want a lesser pizza (be it Hawaiian, vegetarian, or really anything not loaded with cheese and meat) you must then consume only that lesser pizza. Once the others have sat back and loosened their belts you may then abandon your lesser pizza and proceed to eat a slice of the greater pizza (Meat Lovers, Canadian, etc.).

Your comments are welcome. Oh, and Stephen Harper, if you have dropped by again, please talk to your guys about bringing this into law.