Hot Happenings in the Big Smoke!

What a week! Between a trip to Montreal (work related), fending off reporters wanting to hear about our Syrup in the City project (more on that later) and watching every minute I could of the Olympics, I managed to get a whole night off! And what better way to spend it than at a book launch for Gayla Trail's new book about gardening- Grow Great Grub! Organic Food from Small Spaces



Held at Lula Lounge here in Toronto, the evening was chock full of yummy food from The Local Cafe, a slide show of Gayla's stunning garden photos, freebies, door prizes ( I won a bag of goodies!), and even a seed planting station! So wonderful to play in the dirt again- I planted two types of tomato seeds- Cherokee Purple and Black Brandywine which are both new for me. Colette came with of course; we met up with other YGGers and talked garden plans and the CanJam (punctuated by regular updates on the Canada/Russia game by text - gardeners are hockey fans too!). Check out all the swag I came home with! Oh, and the book is lovely too!


We'd Tap That! Maple Syrup in the City has been attracting quite a bit of attention, not that it's entirely surprising considering the name and all. The Star ran a article last week talking about the project and some of the hurdles we've been dealing with. None the less, the project is still in full swing with tapping getting under way this week! I expect we will be officially announcing the date of our Sugaring Off party any day now ( hint- it's on a Sunday, about two weeks from now, in a west end park!) In the meantime we have the hottest shirts in town ( now that the Olympics are done)and you can get one for a mere $20 here

Today being March 1, it's St David's Day, the patron saint of Wales, and a perfect day to announce that the CanJam Ingredient for March is Alliums! For those unacquainted with the name, members of allium family include onions, garlic, shallots and, you guessed it - leeks, which just happen to be the symbol of Wales. You got to hand it to the Welsh- England already had the rose, Scotland the thistle, and of course the Irish shamrock, so why not pick something that smells strongly and looks silly pinned to your jacket? Luckily they're delicious and I'm sure we'll be seeing them in some interesting canning recipes later this month!

Spring is fast approaching- can you smell it yet?