Fresh Greens in the Great White North

It can be difficult to eat local when you live in a country that is covered with ice for a good portion of the year, especially when it comes to fresh produce. My resolve to eat seasonally weakens when my body begins to crave fresh greens and I have to walk quickly by the produce section of the grocery store so I don't get tempted by things like green beans from California and asparagus from South America. I confess I caved last week and bought fresh dandelion greens but I justified them as medicinal- my liver was suffering from a overdose of holiday treats!


January is usually the most challenging - it's the point in the year where I'm looking less than longingly at the pile of root veggies, the stash of frozen, dried and pickled things from last summer is dwindling and it's too early to start planning for the gardens of this summer. Last Christmas my sister gifted me with a sprouting kit and it's been a godsend. Sprouts don't care if there's not enough daylight or it's minus 11 out! All they require is water and a place to start growing. The kit is simplicity in itself- a jar, some netting to cover the opening, an elastic band to hold the netting in place and some seeds that will sprout.

My original kit included a spicy lentil mix- green lentils, mustard seeds, radish seeds and non GMO canola. I experimented with all kinds of different seeds and dried legumes and found everything was a success. My favourites include arugula, soybeans, mixed lettuces and mustard seeds- I like things with a bit of bite. Sprouted chickpeas are delicious and apparently make a mean hummus but I've yet to try it- I keep eating the sprouts right out of the jar.

Here's the step by step directions:

Start with a clean jar. Place 1-2 teaspoons of seed mix in the bottom. Cover the jar mouth with netting- my kit included a 5" square of tulle but any soft netting would work. Secure to the top of jar with elastic.

Fill jar with cold water, shake and drain. Fill again and allow seeds to soak overnight.

Next day drain water and then refill with fresh cold water. Shake the jar gently to loosen any clumped seeds and drain. Place jar in a bowl so that it sits at a an angle to drain the remaining water. Put the bowl in a warm spot- I use a sunny window sill but they really don't even need the light.

Rinse the sprouts as above every morning and evening- I put the whole jar in the sink and let cold water run for about 30 secs, making sure any clumps are loosened. Drain and place back in the bowl. Make sure to rinse the bowl out every time too or it will begin to smell unpleasant. You will begin to see sprouts as soon as the first day!




In 3-4 days you will have a lovely mess of sprouts ready to eat! You can remove them all from the jar at this point and refrigerate - they'll last up to a week if properly stored. I have left them in the jar to continue growing a few days more but eventually they begin to need more nutrients and start to deteriorate. Easier to start a fresh jar!

Happy New Year!

The CanJam officially begins today and we have our first ingredient- citrus fruit! Already Colette and I are perusing recipes and ideas- Should we use lemons? Limes? Grapefruit? I've never been a marmalade fan so maybe now is a good time to try a few and find a recipe I like. So many options....

Happy 2010!

Year End Wrap Up

Well here it is Dec 31 and I have a total of 10 posts for the year. Not very prolific, although in my defense I didn't set out to be blogger, rather just needed a place to keep a record of my gardens. But along the way I discovered a number of blogs that appealed to a wide variety of my interests and frankly I'm a much better reader than writer. So here's a list of my latest addiction

Well Preserved ( wellpreserved.ca)Joel and Dana set out to blog about a year's worth of preserving food and other food related issues. They are based here in Toronto and I found out about them through my work with Not Far From The Tree- more on NFFTT later.

Tigressinapickle/Tigressinajam.blogspot.com. Tigress is another blogger who is passionate about preserving food. She has created a CanJam contest that starts tomorrow and Colette and I are signed up! The goal is to do one canning project a month using a designated ingredient and then blog about it. So I am mandated to post at least once a month for the next year.


From the CanJam sign up I discovered Smallmeasure.blogspot.com. Ashley lives in a remote area in North Carolina and writes about things I aspire to do, like raising chickens and bees. Jealous!

Not really a blog but I find many kindred spirits at yougrowgirl.com. Gayla Trail, another Toronto native, has turned a love of gardening into online world where anyone who grows anything ( or dreams of growing anything) is welcome. There's even a fairly active forum where there's no such thing as a dumb question.

Not everything can be about food and gardening so here's my favourite unrelated blogs.

God Stole My Boyfriend (http://godstolemyboyfriend.blogspot.com/)- written by my dear friend as she continues her spiritual journey and obtains her Masters of Divinity. Sometimes hilarious and sometimes heartbreaking but always honest and intense.

The Daily Asker (http://thedailyasker.blogspot.com/) In which La Roxy blogs about her goal to ask for at least one thing everyday. Not nearly as selfish as it could be and full of sound advice and thoughtful insight.

My latest passion, at least while the weather is cold, has been genealogy. I stumbled onto Brenda Merriman's blog recently (http://brendadougallmerriman.blogspot.com/) while researching a family name we have in common. The advantage is she's a paid professional and a damn good writer.

Lastly, the aforementioned Not Far From the Tree (http://www.notfarfromthetree.org). Of all the things I was involved with this year I am most proud of this one. Created by Laura Reinsborough to make use of fruit that grows unharvested in the city, NFFTT picked over 8000 pounds of fruit this year that was going to waste and diverted to homeless shelters and soup kitchens. I was one of the volunteers this year and had a great time picking apples, pears and whatever else we could. It was nice to find another activity that got my away from the computer for a change!



So my resolution for 2010, if I believe in such things, is to be a more frequent poster. Not because I think what I write will be all that exciting but in hopes that things I discover along the way will be useful to someone else. And in the words of Ashley, maybe we can all "attempt to craft a good life"

Happy 2010! Now bring on the CanJam!