Planning Your Garden On Tuesday, March 19th we held our wildly popular workshop facilitated by Mark from Urban Eatin’. During this workshop Mark explained the basics in gardening and sent everyone home with some extra tips and tricks to improve your summer bounty. It is important to understand that every year there will be some [...]
My initial goal was to have a single plant that lasted the entire summer. It didn’t even have to produce something edible – it just had to live. I used to joke that I had a “black thumb” because I’d killed every house plant I’d ever had – sometimes by neglect and sometimes by drowning. [...]
Thank you to everyone who attended our 2013 Dig In Challenge Where to Buy Local Foods workshop! In case you missed it, here are some of the topics that we covered. Sign up for more FREE food skill workshops here. There are many different definitions to the term local. Some would describe it as within [...]
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. You’ve heard this, right? Do you know what it really means? Take a look at the word – break, fast. Essentially, you are breaking your overnight fast with that morning meal (or not). This matters because you need to fuel your body quickly but solidly to [...]
This season is one that brings people together with an abundance of love and laughter. And food. Lots of it. Even eating just one or two sweets at each party can add up to some nagging health concerns! You can’t always control what other folks will serve, but you can be a trend setter and [...]
Fall is upon us and the garden bounty is nearing its end. A few hearty veggies remain in the garden including the almighty kale. Kale is a super food packing a huge nutritional punch. It’s very high in vitamin A, C, and K, loads of calcium, iron, and fibre, and much more. But many people [...]
Zucchini must be the most maligned of the summer vegetables. It’s prolific nature has given rise to jokes about zucchini drive-by dumpings, free-zucchini-with-any-favor-done-for-a-neighbor and log-sized zucchinis out in the garden as seating! It’s probably the only vegetable where a bountiful harvest doesn’t seem to be a good thing! Let me just say: your local Food [...]
Today, the cucumbers and green beans are ready to harvest. We have a smaller garden, and I like to put-up my vegetables as soon as they are picked, so small batch canning works great for me. There is lots of great on-line and in-print information about making pickles, jams, jellies, drying and freezer preservation. Bernardin Home Canning at [...]
This week was really crazy and busy. While I’m house sitting, and taking care of two wonderful cats, I’m still working full-time and attempting to keep my garden alive in the heat wave. I like the heat, don’t get me wrong. I just wish there was a magic water-er. Actually, there sort of is. It [...]
We’ve just dug and eaten our first baby potatoes of the season! An awesome experience! We start thinking about fresh-dug, new potatoes in, oh, about February. There is nothing like a baby potato: velvety smooth, with an unbeatable fresh flavor, cuts like warm butter! I’d love a little fresh dill sprinkled on them – wooooo!! [...]
The menu planning workshop last month was well-attended and much-enjoyed! If you weren’t able to attend the workshop and receive the very useful handouts (including a two-week menu planning system, tips for getting the whole family involved and a 21 meals list), click on the link below to download and print them out: Menu Planning Workshop [...]
It’s finally that time of year again! Time to pull out your reusable shopping bags, put on your walking shoes and head out to your local farmers’ market. Spring came early this year and in-season produce is ready to go! Growing and buying local produce from a farmers’ market is a great way to support [...]
Kids can plant, harvest and cook garlic! Read about our family’s garlic adventures…
By Shoni Litinsky and Sean Madden, Dig In Challenge participants Summer has arrived, and my partner Sean and I have had a great time getting all of our plants and seeds into the garden, well mostly – Sean has picked up a new hobby of dropping worms on my shoulders! This summer we decided to [...]
The countdown to school freedom is definitely on! Less than 2 weeks to go and the kiddos are let loose on the world. Whether you are a working parent or one who perhaps isn’t as thrilled about 60 plus days with your children, summer means a change in schedule. The market gardens are open and [...]
Can you help us? We are looking for 20 low-income families to receive free gardening kits (which may include seeds, gardening information, soil, lights and coupons) for joining the DIG DEEPER Challenge. We are defining low-income families as ”those that make an income less than half of the average and are unable to obtain sufficient, safe [...]
Couldn’t make it to our Making Manitoba Delicious workshop last month? Here’s your chance to see the whole session! Thank you to Dean Rennie of the Manitoba Alternative Food Research Alliance for filming and editing the video, and to Natasha Plenert, Jenn Dijk, Lyndon Froese and Valerie Smith of the Mennonite Central Committee for facilitating this excellent [...]
There are few things I enjoy more than creating pleasant outdoor spaces and cooking for friends. The fact that we rent and do not own our property makes it a challenge, but I seem to have found myself a slice of paradise, and a wonderful landlord (and his family) who live next door. I grew [...]
Once, not too long ago I realized that having a good relationship with food was a solid foundation not just for a healthy body, but for an optimal mind. My husband and I grow our own vegetables in our background (we have been for the last three years), it’s like a child of ours and [...]
The life of the small vegetable farmer is fraught with worry and dread. Early on in the season it’s the worry about lack of moisture, wind erosion, late snow and frost. By mid-Spring it’s the worry about too much moisture, hail and, lately, tornadoes (yes, there were tornado warnings in Manitoba this past weekend). Soon, [...]
