Springtime recipes: Hop shoots and dandelion greens

Check out these recipes from LFM members Trevor and Sarah:

Risotto di Bruscandoli (Venetian hop shoot risotto) 
300 gm hop shoots
300 gm arborio or carnaroli rice
½ onion or 1 shallot, chopped fine
60 gm butter
1 glass dry white wine
1 L broth (vegetable or chicken)
75 gm parmesan cheese

Chop hop shoots into small pieces and saute in a little olive oil with the shallots. Melt half the butter in saucepan, add rice, cook until translucent, add wine and let evaporate. Add shoots and a bit of the broth. Stir until broth absorbed. Keep stirring adding broth a little at a time, waiting for it to be absorbed. When rice is cooked through, add rest of butter and parmesan cheese. Cover and let stand for 5 min. Serve hot.

Sicilian dandelion soup 
64 oz chicken stock
5 eggs beaten
1/2 cup grated pecorino cheese
1/2 a plastic grocery bag of packed dandelion leaves (best before they bloom)
5 cloves of chopped garlic
salt to taste
red chili flakes to taste
olive oil for sautéing

Saute the garlic for a few minutes and then toss in the dandelion. Saute until completely wilted. Heat chicken stock to boiling. Stir the simmering stock in a steady fashion while slowly pouring the egg in a steady stream. Stirring the stock during this process is important so that the egg cooks the right way. This part is much like Chinese egg drop soup. Following the egg, put in the dandelion and then the cheese. Salt to taste along with the red pepper flakes. Serve right away.

Seed Lending Library coming to the Lillooet Library March 28 and 31

An update from Eleanor Wright...

Hello Folks,

This year's Seedy Saturday was again a thrilling event and the Seed Lending Library received a good amount of attention.  Ten new people joined the mailing list for the Seed Lending Library, bringing the total number up to 62. Fifteen people took home 35 seeds to try to grow out, with the total number of seeds taken from the Library since it's first public appearance in December 2013 being 250!

We have been very generous (!) with the seeds at the beginning of this project, but in order to maintain a sustainable supply of seeds in the Library, we now are asking seed-savers to take home only 5 different seeds at a time, until such time as more seeds are returned to the Library.

So far only one person has returned seed: Lorraine (yeah Lorraine!) brought back a jar of seed with a crop record on the Purple Peacock Pole Beans she grew out last year. I'm hoping that more people will bring in seed when I bring the Seed Lending Library to the Public Library this Saturday March 28th or next Tuesday March 31st, between noon and 2 p.m. Even if you don't have a completed crop record, please do return some seed if you have any and we can talk about it.

If any of you would like to communicate via email with me about how it has been going for you with the seeds that you borrowed, I'd love to hear from you. There is always a possibility of trying again this year! Just remember to observe the "community" isolation distance as mentioned in the handout, and try to grow as many plants as your garden space will allow/or as many as indicated on the sheet if you have lots of room.

"Any local seed project can only be as good as the seeds that go into it, but even a small jar of seeds can make a big difference to a community seed library." ("A Growing Need for Seed Growers" by Bob Wildfong,  Seeds of Diversity, Winter 2015.)

Thought I would remind folks that there is an excellent collection of Seed Saving books in the library including my current favourite, The Complete Guide to Saving Seeds: 322 Vegetables, Herbs, Flowers, Fruits, Trees and Shrubs (Gough & Moore-Gough, Storey Books 2011). As I start my seedlings for this year's garden, I have been consulting my copy of this book for Spacing for Seed Saving, Plant Breeding Hints, Seed Viability for seeds not listed on the hand-out. There is an incredible wealth of information in this book. It's highly recommended as a resource for any level of seed-saving.

Thanks to all of you for participating. It's a project being created as we go along. Any feedback would be much appreciated. Hope you're all enjoying the early spring!

Please email me with comments or questions at eleanor.ronaele@gmail.com.

Build a Wooden Compost Bin

This weekend I finished my first ever carpentry project: a wooden compost bin. I have a black plastic bin, but it's full and the compost isn't finished. It was the perfect opportunity to build my own bin, something I've been wanting to do for a while. I wanted to build a bin that allowed for easy turning of the compost, since my goal this year is to make a lot of compost fast, which requires a lot of turning according to my research. I found this plan on a gardening blog. The compost bin has four stacking tiers. When the compost bin in full and ready to be turned, the first tier is taken off the pile and set on the ground beside the bin. Then the compost is shovelled into the new location, re-stacking the tiers as you go.

Building the bin was interesting - it took me an entire four day weekend to gather the tools and materials, mostly because I didn't use power tools and didn't have the right materials. The first 30 or so screws were monumentally difficult to screw in, resulting in a lot of swearing and whining and blistered hands. Finally my boyfriend piped in that he's a screw expert, since he used to work at a screw factory (who knew?) and I was using the wrong kind of screw. The new wood screws worked much better than whatever I had found on the floor of my shed.

Here are the plans if you like. I used cedar lumber, which cost about $50. If you can find free scrap wood, this plan could be adjusted to whatever lumber you have.

Gleaning Project 2014

With fruit season just around the corner, Lillooet Food Matters (LFM) is starting up the Lillooet Fruit Gleaning Project once again. The project was created in 2012 to harvest the abundance of fruit available in Lillooet that is otherwise unwanted or unused, and to redistribute it within the community. Through this initiative, LFM volunteers connect fruit tree owners with volunteer fruit pickers to harvest any fruit that cannot be picked by the owner. Fruit is then shared with the tree owner, the volunteer harvesters, and community organizations such as the food bank.

Why should we be concerned about picking excess fruit? Through gleaning, people gain access to nourishing whole foods, which reduces food waste and improves local food security. Gleaning connects neighbors, bringing our community closer together. It also reduces bear attractants in our town, preventing human-bear conflicts and reducing the number of “problem” bears.

If you anticipate having excess fruit that you would like to be picked, or if you would like to become a volunteer harvester, please register with Angela by calling 256-0470. Tree owners need to register before the fruit has ripened to allow time for us to connect you with a harvester. Upon registration, you will be connected with a grower or a volunteer harvester to set up a date for the harvest.

Happy gleaning!

Please mark your calendars: Saturday, March 1st is the date for this year's Seedy Saturday in Lillooet! 

This will be our 6th annual, and it's shaping up to be even more fantastic and inspiring than past years. There will be seeds for sale of all kinds; free (or by donation) seeds at the swap table; interesting booths including one for kids' seed crafts and an Ask The Expert one; a great new cafe; a raffle; a door prize and a presentation by local gardeners and farmers called What's Growing On in Lillooet and area.

WHAT AND WHEN?

Saturday March 1st !

• 9am - 2 pm: SEED SWAP AND SALE!  If you have any, bring your own saved seed if you can share some, as well as any saved seed still in need of cleaning, and use the on site seed winnower, our very own and locally made! 

• Seeds for sale include (organically grown, open pollinated) varieties from Stellar Seeds, Sunshine Seeds, Full Circle Seeds and Planting Seeds Project, as well as native plant seeds from local Split Rock Nursery.  

• 2:30 - 5 pm: "What's Growing On in Lillooet and area" : a series of informal presentations starring local growers of veggies, fruit, grapes, hops and herbs, as well as some raising animals, all ranging from backyard gardeners to commercial producers.  Through their shared stories and discussion to follow, we hope that you will receive an inspiring snapshot of the incredible diversity and abundance of what's growing in our region. This event will be a forum to connect with local food producers and an opportunity to learn more about where and what local food is being produced.

• NEW this year: delicious, healthy and locally created lunch and savory snacks for sale! coffee, tea and sweets too!

A portion of all sales goes towards supporting Lillooet Food Matters projects, such as the successful and expanding Gleaning Project, and our new and beautiful, mobile Seed Lending Library.

WHERE?

• NEW location!  St. Mary's and St. Andrew's church, corner of Main and 6th Ave., Lillooet, BC. 
  

HOW MUCH?

• $2 entrance fee, or pay what you can, all donations graciously accepted and no one will be turned away for lack of funds.  Donations for the Food Bank also welcome.
  

WHO?

• Everyone welcome! Food is essential, and it all starts with a seed! 

FOR MORE INFO, please email smithygilly@gmail.com or call Angela at 250-256-0470

4th annual Seedy Saturday

Lillooet Food Matters is proud to present

our 4th annual
Seedy Saturday !

Saturday, February 18th, 2012

Seed Swap and Sale from 9:30 - 1 pm (suggested admission $2)

Workshop from 2 - 5 pm : "Our Gardens as Seed Banks"
with Susan Davidson (BC Seeds, Glorious Organics, Fraser Valley Common Farm)
and Mojave Kaplan (Planting Seeds Project)
(suggested donation $5)

Lillooet Friendship Centre, 357 Main Street
Everyone welcome, no one will be turned away for lack of funds!

featuring a Seed Swap Table ~ bring any extra saved seed (or perennials, bulbs, etc) to share

Seeds for sale, from:

· Lillooet Feed and Garden (Aimers Organics and West Coast Seeds)

· Mountain Seed Company (Kaslo)

· Planting Seeds Project (Lytton)

· The Splitrock / Sekw'el'was Native Plant Nursery

· Stellar Seeds (Kaslo)

· Sunshine Seeds (Kelowna)

· and books by Dan Jason on seed saving, Robin Wheeler on food security, and S. Davidson & R.Wheeler's Growing Seed Collectives

Educational displays:

· Bitterbine Hop Farm

· The Invasive Weed Council

· The Splitrock / Sekw'el'was Native Plant Nursery

· Seeds of Diversity

and an Ask the Expert table with Sue Senger ~ bring your gardening questions!

Enter our raffle to win great prizes!

Bring any of your yet uncleaned seeds to be cleaned using Mojave's equipment,
your friends, your questions and enthusiasm!
Donations to the Food Bank welcome!
Kids Welcome!
Coffee, teas and snacks available

L e t ' s G r o w L i l l o o e t !

for more info, please call Ina at 250-256-0667
or email Gillian info@gilliansherbs.com

"If SEED SAVING is collecting seeds for replanting in the future…Then SEED STEWARDSHIP is the process of saving seeds with the purpose of maintaining or improving that seed’s health and resilience. It also includes the act of saving and selecting a variety over a period of many seasons, with the end goal of passing it on to others in the future. The ideal of SEED SOVEREIGNTY firmly plants seed saving and seed stewardship in the realm of fundamental human rights. It is the freedom to save seed and determine the foundation on which our food system rests. With the current attacks of industry hitting at the heart of food sovereignty, the simple act of seed saving becomes a major act of resistance and social empowerment." www.seedambassodors.org

Bringing Our Food Back Home!

In partnership with the Ucwalmicw Centre Society, and with funding from the Community Food Action Initiative (in partnership with Interior Health), Lillooet Food Matters hosted a very successful and inspiring, free, public forum on March 19th, 2011, in Lillooet, entitled


" BRINGING OUR FOOD BACK HOME: A FREE FORUM ON MAKING OUR COMMUNITIES FOOD SECURE".

Over 100 people came to hear guest speakers, see colourful and educational displays, enjoy a FANTASTIC free meal (we are proud to say made by volunteers, with 95 % organic and over 90% locally produced and provided ingredients), and then participate in a community visioning and brainstorming session. The results are in! The people have spoken: for food security in Lillooet and area, we need:

• EDUCATION for all, from school aged kids to the general public, on a wide variety of food security related topics, from how to save seeds (and why); how to grow food sustainably and wisely; where does our food come from; how do we store it; how to prepare healthy meals using locally grown food; and so on.

• FARMER'S MARKET IMPROVEMENTS on both sides of the table! The market wants more vendors of locally produced food and value added food products, and more public support for all the vendors! Get involved, come to the market (Fridays 9-1:30) and join the membership.
  

• POLICY CHANGES that support community agriculture and local food security initiatives! Let's see neighbourhood composting; raw milk products being available and legalized; chickens and rabbits in our backyards; healthy local foods served in schools, grown by students; financial incentives to grow food on a small scale and large scale; create a Food Charter, and so on.

• NETWORKING so we are working together towards a common vision of a food secure community. Network the networks!

• GLEANING PROJECTS where extra, or unwanted, undervalued, unused foods are managed wisely, harvested, processed and distributed to those in need.

These top 5 Most Wanted priorities are just a smattering of what we heard at the Forum. There are more ideas, and more details...please check out our page on the right hand sidebar entitled FORUM SUMMARY REPORT for a full review of the day's events.

If you would like a copy of the Summary Report emailed to you, please let Gillian know at smithygilly@gmail.com. A hard copy can also be mailed to you if so desired.

If you were one of the lucky attendees of the Forum, please feel free to leave a comment about your experience that day. Was it successful in your view? Did you learn anything? Are you more inspired as a result? Which initiative or food security issue would you like to see addressed?

To get involved, contact us, and we will also keep you posted on the formation of a Steering Committee whose objective will be to ensure that the priority food security initiatives are addressed and ideally put into practice. We sincerely hope that this report and our day was not just talk...let's grow Lillooet!