I promised to tell you about this great farm I found and here it is - The Duenk Family Farm. It is run by Peter Duenk and Karen Eatwell. The farm is really not too far from London, it is past Ilderton and on the way to Ailsa Craig, but well worth the hike!

I grew up in London. To me, London does not feel too large or too small. It just feels like what I have always known, I guess it feels just the right size. Actually, I feel a bit privileged to be the owner of that feeling. You see, I have made many connections with other Londoners starting from a young age - through school life and then later on in life - through work.

Unfortunately, sometimes living in London you may find yourself feeling unconnected. Perhaps this is because when it comes down to it, London is in fact quite a large city. When I meet people that have come from smaller towns and then have re-rooted themselves in London for a new start, it is common to hear a little frustration. I hear that the city is "too big" to make some of those real "small town" types of connections. It seems that people begin to miss that sense of community and unfortunately it sometimes gets even more lost as the city grows larger. That "small town feeling" is a hot commodity. For instance, as you drive North out Highway 4, you will witness large billboards and slogans that housing developments are using to entice people to live in certain areas - "Lucan, come get that small town feeling". I am guessing that this is a clear indicator that we are all on some level missing that "small town" feeling if it is being preyed upon my thirsty marketers.

I believe most of Londoners are especially unconnected with another part of our community that is sometimes taken for granted and sadly, even forgotten - the vast, fertile farmland that surrounds us as a city. That is one of the main reasons I choose to write this little blog - I want you all to know it and live it. No matter which direction you take out of London - North, South, East or West, you will be met by cow barns, fields of hay, various croplands, sweeping green pastures and really, really friendly people that are working hard on farms - big and small.

So what has me nattering on about feelings and small towns you wonder? Well, last night I enjoyed the company of about 10 woman in a large country kitchen and I felt I was transported to that very "small town" sense of community. It was a get-together at Duenk Farms to harvest and preserve the bounty of the current crop - strawberries! We knew that we shared a common goal, that we all wanted to know how to preserve jam. Strangers I thought, with a common interest - jam making. Strangers I thought, until we all started talking and getting to know one another. You see, as the evening progressed we learned that we all knew someone from somewhere or perhaps had worked at the same place at sometime or another - we were connected.

As I said, I grew up in London and it does not feel too big to me, it feels just right. That said, I feel that the past two years on this little local food adventure of mine has really connected me to new people. Funny as it turns out, they were people that were there all along in my life - they were even feeding me dinner at times and I just was not aware of it. This new feeling and these new people, I can only explain it as more enriching, more rewarding then anything before. I am a foodie for sure, so I will admit I am quite a bit more obsessed with food than most people, but you all should try this adventure, I promise you will like it! Start at the market, introduce yourself to a farmer and you will make one new friend and then another and another and your own "small town" adventure will have begun.

Details about last night:

Our canning expert was Joan Brady who runs "Smokey Hollow Farm Market" in Dashwood (near Grand Bend). Joan can be found selling strawberries, lettuce, raspberries, peas, onions, beans, frozen pork and much more out of the St. Mary's Farmers Market on Saturdays. She also frequents the Grand Bend Market and the Exeter Farmers Market. Joan's farm includes a small strawberry portion that next year will be officially Certified Organic. The berries that she brought to the jam night were the small, sweet variety. Delicious! Oh, and she even whipped us up some fresh strawberry juice on our arrival.

Our host for the evening was Karen Eatwell and it all took place in her lovely farm kitchen at Duenk Farms. Karen even treated us all to a burger when we arrived that was directly farm to plate. Thanks Karen!

If you are like me, you cracked open your freezer when barbecue season opened up, you stuck your head in there and you took a good look around. Then, with great dismay you concluded it was getting far too empty, I mean, come on now, you should not be able to stick your head in there, it should be jam-packed full to the brim!

Okay, I feel a little lost in posting this, simply because I have never actually been to the The Rosy Rhubarb Festival that takes places every year in Shedden, Ontario. I want to go, I really do! Last year was the first time I heard of it and I sadly did not make it. This year I am going to be going north of the city again instead of south towards this cute little festival - Alas, I will miss it again.

I have decided to look up all the info for any of you that may like to go and see what it is all about. I figure maybe some of you will post about it in the comments if you find it worthwhile. Let's face it, rhubarb gets a bad rap most of the time. Mostly because of its tart flavour and primarily because it is just plain misunderstood. Regardless, rhubarb is a real favourite of mine this time of year and I just love that there is an actual festival to pay homage to this green and rose vegetable. I promise I will make it there eventually Rosy!


Onto the info:

• This will be the 17th annual Rosy Rhubarb Festival
  
  
• There will be live music
  (Morgan Tobias, The Tomato Soup Band, John Millis and Hog Wild)
  
  
• Breakfast is available (Saturday and Sunday)
  
  
• Talent Show (one for people and one for dogs!)
  
  
• There will be contests including general baking as well as the "Largest Stalk" and "Longest Leaf" contest
  
  
• There will be horse drawn rides
  
  
• A famous beef barbecue
  
  
• Over 100 vendors on site
  
  
• An antique and custom car show
  
  
• The winning entries from the baking contests are auctioned on the Friday night of the festival
  
  
• There are yard sales to browse
  
  
• A rhubarb pie auction
  
  
• Enjoy local baked goods and a famous Ice Cream With Rhubarb Sauce.

It takes place at The Southwold Keystone Complex. A portion of the proceeds that are raised through the yard sales and auction go towards the Southwold Keystone Complex.

Rosy Rhubarb Days
June 12, 13, and 14th
Located in the Township of Southwold, in the village of Shedden
Camping is available

For more information please contact:
Joan Carrigan
Phone: 519-637-8612
Email: joan_rosyr@sympatico.ca

www.rosyrhubarbfestival.com

Ahhhh spinach. Maybe you love it, or perhaps you hate it. One thing is for sure, wherever you sit on the "feeling scale" on this leafy vegetable, you certainly cannot deny that it's just plain good for you!

It has been a very busy 2 weeks. I forgot how Spring jolts us out of our winter cocoon and shakes us all awake. I have been camping, fishing, canoeing, exploring and of course fitting my work weeks into somewhere there as well.

Want to feel like a King for a day? How about a Queen? Well, it is as easy as picking up some local, Ontario grown asparagus.

Today was the opening day for The Covent Garden Market.  As any of you know that made it out today, the weather was not the greatest :(. Even though very windy (so windy that the tents were threatening to jump their ropes!), the sun still managed to make a brief appearance and it was reasonably warm for a few minutes. That was time enough for me to make a decent dent in my grocery budget.

Here it is! The pulchritudinous and lovely celeriac. I have never grown this root vegetable, have never purchased it and consequently have never cooked or eaten it. Tonight, I went out on a cooking limb and I finally (and bravely I might add!) cooked this ugly, bad a$s looking vegetable. I am happy to report my findings  - celeriac is awesome! In fact, it is so food-life changing that I even had to look up a new word for beautiful that suited it and I have settled on pulchritudinous.

Basically, celeriac has surprised me in the way that Susan Boyle surprised the judges and the audience on "Britain's Got Talent". No matter how many times we are told, collectively as a human race we ignore the old rule of "never judge a book by it's cover". As you can see from the above photo, celeriac is, well.. just plain scary looking. It is completely gnarly, bulbous and dirty! Never mind that dirt though, as you will just be cutting away all of the skin to reveal it's wonderfully pale and fairly delicate inside. I should also take this moment to commend the first person that ever decided that this was edible, just what was that person thinking, I wonder?

Agent Asparagus Reporting:

Local asparagus was spotted for sale at the side of the road on Highway 2 going towards Woodstock on Friday evening. I was driving too fast to get the name of the farm - it may have been Turners? Forgive me for the vagueness, I was on my way to "Angling Outfitters" before they closed (side note here for any fisherman/woman out there - that place is awesome... shop for lures, waders, any gear you can think of, till' your heart's content!).

Sorry! Back to the asparagus. It was located in a farm building on left side of road, between Thamesford and Woodstock. Not very much help for a London locavore, but still - it was a verified sighting.

There is local asparagus all around us - it is only a few days away from being on our plates - do not be tempted - I repeat, do not be tempted by the South of the border green crap they are selling in the grocery store - you will be disappointed!

Please report any asparagus sightings in the comments. Much appreciated!
Kelly

Hi there! I thought some of you may be interested in this (to get you through until the market opens back up). If you get your order into Rick by Thursday night, he has a drop off downtown at the market. He has rhubarb!!!

Kelly

ps Please contact Rick for more details.

Rick Cornelissen
Eco-Logic
519-765-3467
ecologic2001@gmail.com



Attention Locavores;
We're back again to the program! I guess I need to work on my timing and use less compost, but our greenhouse is ready to go. You can order the following items for Sat. p/u, same place and time.

free range eggs-$3.50/dozen
Rubarb-$2.50/lb.
Arugula-$2.50/bag
spinach-$2.50/bag(field-grown )
$3.00/bag(baby,greenhouse-grown)
mesclin mix- $2.50 /bag
mustard greens -$2.50/bag
tomatoes-$3.50/qt.
button mushrooms-$2.50/qt,$1.50/pt.
cremini mushrooms-$4.00/qt.,$2.50/pt
radishes-$1.50/bunch
chives-$1.00/small bag
baby bok choi-$ 1.50/bag
ground beef-$ 4.00/1b.
rib steak-$6.00/lb
sirloin steak-$6.00/1b.
t-bone steak-$6.00/lb.
shitake mushrooms-$10.00/qt.,$5/pt.,$2.50/ 1/2 pt.
sweet potato-$ 1.25 / lb.

thanx
Rick Cornelissen
Eco-Logic
519-765-3467

Hello peeps.
Please bare with me, I got bored with my template and I have unfortunately mixed things up a bit. I promise to have things in order soon!
Kelly
xo

(jamie oliver gives a little xo at the end of his posts - everybody needs a little xo.)