Slow Food Hamilton's 2nd Annual Holiday Eco-Schmooze - Season's Greenings!

You're invited to join the Second Annual Slow Food Hamilton HOLIDAY ECO-SCHMOOZE on Wednesday December 17 at Tapestry Bistro 7-9 pm. Enjoy complimentary appetizers, holiday punch and a chance to meet and network with people who care about good food and a healthy planet!

It's an opportunity to share stories and strategies; successes and suggestions; mishaps and media contacts... or just chill out and enjoy relaxing in one of Hamilton's most unique dining establishments.

Members of eco-friendly organizations are all invited to attend, such as supporters of Slow Food Hamilton, Hamilton Eat Local, Environment Hamilton, Food Not Bombs and more, so please feel free to share the news with folks who like to live on the green side. :-) Meet us on the mezzanine level of The Tapestry Bistro, located at the amazing Staircase Theatre at 27 Dundurn Street North. Please RSVP if you can, but feel free to drop in! Space is slightly limited, so come early!

Tapestry Bistro Brings Artistry to Tapas (say that three times, fast!)

An Urban Locavore's Dream Comes True: It's not officially open until November 28, but my first dinner at Hamilton's new Tapestry Bistro won't be my last before the end of this month! Located in the heart of The Staircase Theatre complex, Chef Sam Robertson and owner Roger Abbiss' labour of love is a welcome addition to our city's burgeoning local-food-lovin' restaurant scene. Call ahead to reserve your table if you can: 905.481.2166. Tapestry Bistro serves local, seasonal and organic food at 27 Dundurn Street North.

More to come once I've made my first 'official' visit.

Let's Sit Down Together for "TABLELAND"

"TABLELAND": a provocative new film about our rich culinary landscape.

Presented by Hamilton Eat Local and Canadian Organic Growers (film screening)
Friday November 28, Doors open at 7pm
Tableland by Pixel One Productions is a new and thought-provoking film. It is a culinary expedition in search of the people, places and tastes of North American small-scale, sustainable food production. From the Orchards of the interior of BC, to the Napa Highlands, rural Quebec and everywhere in between, Tableland showcases the successful production of local and seasonal food from field to plate. Guest speakers for the event will include farmer Inge Crowther of Clover Roads Organic Farm, writer and urban poultry enthusiast Yuki Hayashi, and Karen Burson of Hamilton Eat Local and founder of The Bread & Roses Cafe.

The film will be shown at The Sky Dragon Centre at 27 King William Street in downtown Hamilton. Doors open for organic popcorn at 7 - film begins at 7:30pm – the speakers start at 9pm - Q & A and snacks starting at 9:30. Please make a $7 donation at the door (2nd floor).

Pear and Cranberry Spice Rolls -- Bring Home the Bakin'

Sure you could spend your hard-earned money buying those dry, tasteless supermarket cinnamon rolls. Problem: who knows where or when they were actually baked? ...But making these yourself is surprisingly easy and cost effective -- never mind the 100% improvement in taste! These ones were surprisingly quick and easy to make.

Don't tell anyone, but you can improve your favourite cinnamon roll recipe by taking advantage of the taste and texture of seasonal fruit. In this case, I roasted some firm pears (to soften them while intenisfying their flavour) but you can used canned or frozen fruit just as easily. Replacing at least half of the butter with a soft pear puree significantly reduces the fat count and the ingredient cost ... no one will know!

Queen’s Park Celebrates Ontario’s Greenbelt Harvest

Preserving agricultural lands means preserving our priceless Greenbelt -- well, not quite priceless. A report published this fall by The David Suzuki Foundation attests to the fact that the Greenbelt contributes $2.6 billion to our economy.


(Toronto) – The Honourable Steve Peters, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, hosted the Queen’s Park Plate on October 29, where MPPs and Mayors along with farming and environmental advocates celebrated a Greenbelt-grown harvest. Top chefs, vintners and brew masters from various Greenbelt regions tempted taste buds with delicious local food and beverages.

“We support Greenbelt agriculture from the ground up,” says Burkhard Mausberg, President of the Greenbelt Foundation. “The Queen’s Park Plate celebrates the restaurants, wineries and breweries that use local food. It is a fantastic way to share the bounty of Ontario’s Greenbelt.” The Foundation is dedicated to supporting farming and has committed some $8 million to local food initiatives. Grantees and projects include everything from environmentally friendly farm practices, to establishing new markets to improving public awareness of and access to local food. The Foundation also launched a new website recently, Greenbeltfresh.ca, where finding a local farmers’ market is as easy as entering a postal code.

Possibility grows in the Greenbelt. Wrapping around the Golden Horseshoe, the Greenbelt is 1.8 million acres of potential to make Ontario, and the earth, a better place. Encompassing the Niagara Escarpment, the Oak Ridges Moraine, Rouge Park, hundreds of rural towns and villages and some 7,000 farms, it is home to some of the most valuable agricultural land in Canada.

With files from The Greenbelt Foundation.

Farmers' Markets Go Futuristic

Could this be an answer to the local food distribution dilemma?

Inspired by permaculture concepts, a new system for online farmers market for families, retailers and bulk buyers is now a reality. As the company's website declares:

LocallyGrown.net gives the internet's advantages to
Farmers' Markets. Whether you manage or sell at a traditional farmers'
market with many other vendors or use a small email list to market produce
off your farm, LocallyGrown.net is for you!

The cost?
It's completely free to start your market, and from there I'll be asking for 3%
of your completed sales to cover my hosting costs and development time. I've
give you a paypal link or a mailing address to send payment, and you can pay on
your own schedule. You'll find it to be much cheaper than trying to host your
own online ordering system!

You can see what we’ve done with our market
at athens.locallygrown.net -- feel free to look around,
"tour" our member farms (They’re used to me doing everything for them, but I’m
walking them through uploading photos, etc.), and browse our product
listings. Some other markets have already begun putting their markets
together using what I have in place so far. Cumberland Farmers' Market in
Tennessee is the farthest along -- you can find their site at sewanee.locallygrown.net.

Feel free to create a site
for your market to get the ball rolling and see for yourself how it works.

Visit the site at locallygrown.net and see the video that sums it all up.

Mother Earth - Terra Madre: A Slow Food Celebration of The Harvest

SLOW FOOD Halton-Peel, SLOW FOOD Hamilton and Hamilton EAT LOCAL
present
Mother Earth - Terra Madre

SATURDAY OCTOBER 25th, 2008
7 – 11 PM

AT GREEN VENTURE’S ECOHOUSE - 22 VEEVERS DRIVE

A food gathering celebrating our local bounty of Mother Earth, featuring gardener, seed saver, speaker and television personality, KEN PARKER Jazz guitarist Nick Bastian will provide dinner music.

Ken is the co-founder of Sweet Grass Gardens, the first Native North American nursery dedicated to native plants. Ken and Linda Parker were part of the Canadian Delegation to Terra Madre 2006 in Turin, Italy, proudly representing the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation community. This amazing experience organized by Slow Food International brought together almost 9,000 people with food producers from 1,583 food communities and 150 nations. Terra Madre is celebrated in Turin, Italy every two years and our celebration coincides with Terra Madre 2008, which runs from October 24-27.

OUR “BOUNTIFUL BASE” MENU

Potato Onion Crunch

BBQ Grilled Free-Range Chicken Wings

Poached Pears with Cinnamon Caramel Sauce
Apple-Cranberry Ginger Crisp

Tea and coffee

Add to this the delicious dishes from our home kitchens that make our potluck events so special!

$25.00 per person OR $10.00 per person bringing a potluck dish for 6!

***Please RSVP to kburson.eatlocal@environmenthamilton.org – SEATING IS LIMITED***

Donations of non-perishable foods will be accepted for
Hamilton Food Share

photo by *karen b

What a Wonderful World Food Day!

Clear crisp October air, fresh locally grown organic produce, apple cider, smiles on faces young and old. If you weren't there you should have been! If you were there, then thanks for your support! We hope to see you at the next Hamilton Eat Local Mid-Week Morning Market... for now, we hope you'll enjoy the slide show. photos by *karen b

A Westdale Village World Food Day Farm Market - this Thursday only!

Join us for a one-day World Food Day Farm Market presented by Hamilton Eat Local, Slow Food Hamilton & My Dog Joe

Thursday October 16th, 2007 - 9am to NOON in the parking lot near 1020 King Street West, rain or shine!

Visit My Dog Joe for:

· Home-made Muffins, Soup and More

· Superb-tasting Organic/Fair Trade Teas, Coffees, Espresso and Cold Drinks

Live Acoustic Music by riot nrrd 10–11 am

Fantastic Fall Farmers’ Market:

ManoRun Farm, Carluke Orchards, Bestow Bakery & Farmer Joanne Feddes

Field fresh flowers, pumpkins, cider, loads of organic potatoes and more!

Food Donations will be accepted for Hamilton Food Share, so see you there!


The IYP Mission: Celebration of the International Year of the Potato (IYP) will raise awareness of the importance of the potato - and of agriculture in general - in addressing issues of global concern, including hunger, poverty and threats to the environment.

Hamilton Eat Local appears on CH Morning Live at Lindley's Farm!

We're not the only ones who find the "Eat Local" Logo Five Acre Corn Maze to be truly amazing... CH Morning Live sent a correspondent to talk to farmer Joe Lindley about all the fun going on at his family farm this season, and naturally Karen and Juby just had to be there!

photos by *karen b

Thanks, Joe, we had a great visit. You'll find Lindley's Farm & Market at 900 Fiddler's Green Road, Ancaster, Ontario 905-648-4212 and there's information at http://www.lindleyfarm.com/. They're open daily from September 20 - October 31. "Solve the puzzle... win a prize".

If you're running a special event on your farm and you'd like us to know about it, don't hesitate to contact Karen Burson (Project Manager) at kburson.eatlocal@environmenthamilton.org or Juby Lee (Communications Manager) at jlee.eatlocal@environmenthamilton.org .

Heartfelt thanks to The Ancaster Old Mill for our Third Annual "Buy Local, Buy Fresh" Map Fundraiser!

Sunday Supper at The Ancaster Old Mill: Scenic, Sensational, and Satisfying!

In attendance were Environment Hamilton's Vice Chair Mark Sproule-Jones and Sherry Revesz, a Director-At-Large (center and right).

A specatular meal spotlights the region's seasonal bounty... thanks to Executive Jeff Crump, but especially Bettina Schormann and John Bullock for putting their hearts and their energy into making this important fundraiser a memorable and important event for Hamilton Eat Local.

photos by *karen b

Hamilton Eat Local Project on the Road - Late September

Straight from The Garden
A Fall Fair on Dundurn Castle Grounds -- Sunday September 28, 2008

photos by *karen

Sunday Supper at The Ancaster Old Mill -- An Art-full Fundraiser for Hamilton Eat Local

ON Sunday October 5th, Sunday Supper guests at The Ancaster Old Mill will gather for a dinner set in the comfort of its stunning main dining room. Executive chef Jeff Crump will prepare an abundant meal inspired by locally grown, sustainable foods that highlight the finest of the Greater Hamilton Region. The featured farms include Monforte Dairy, Shady Lane Farm, ManoRun Farm, Blackbow Farms, and Carluke Orchards.

There will be a small art exhibit by, Guennadi Kalinine. The Ancaster Old Mill commissioned Kalinine to create an original painting especially for this event. This past summer, the children’s mural painting class at the Dundas Valley School of Art produced four outstanding Earth to Table murals. These paintings are also for sale by silent auction.

All proceeds raised by this convivial evening will be donated to Hamilton Eat Local, for the 2009 production of the organization’s much-loved “Buy Local, Buy Fresh!” maps – an important way that Hamilton Eat Local brings together food producers and appreciative consumers. For reservations or information please call Bettina Schormann at The Ancaster Old Mill: 905-648-1827 - www.ancasteroldmill.com - info@ancasteroldmill.com

photos by *karen b

Check out Lindley's Corn Maze featuring our logo!

Lindley's Farm is featuring the Hamilton Eat Local Logo in their 2008 corn maze. It opens Sept 20 and runs until Oct 31st. For more information, visit their site at: www.lindleyfarm.com

Bread and Raised in Hamilton

A Fresh Look at Food! A series of live cooking shows featuring some of the best of Local Area Chefs, Food Producers and Niagara's Wineries. Tickets are $30 per show (Benefit show not included) Available at Gray's Florist (King Street, Dundas) or on the web at http://www.dundaslittletheatre.com Ticket Line: (905) 627-5266. Prizes available to be won each night!

Try a sample of the exciting dishes being prepared by:

• August 20th

Rob Cleland (Liaison College)

Pub Grub - Stepping it Up

Breaded Tian of Smoked Black Cod & Yukon Gold Potato Brandade with Green Olive Sauce Vierge, Roasted Back Ribs with Toasted Macadamia & Fresh Herb - "Loose Peanut Sauce" Shaved Green Onion & Red Pepper Slaw, Mini Duck Confit & Fromage Blanc Pasties, Black Pepper & Triple Sec Brandy Reduction with a Micro Salad.

• August 27th

Special Benefit Show (Proceeds to Prostate Cancer Research on Behalf of the Coppley Apparel Group)

Don Giles (Compass Canada)

Special Guests: Reif Estate Winery

Kasha with Herb Roasted Tomatoes, Fennel, Broccoli, Onion and Gremolata, Adobo Marinated Turkey and Lentil Patties, Quick & Simple No Bake Trail Mix, Silken Tofu Chocolate Mousse with Fresh Berries.

Join the first ever Tour de Greenbelt - Cycling and fun for everyone

On your mark. Get set. Meander.

This September, re-discover the joy of a leisurely bike ride and explorethe world's largest and most diverse Greenbelt, 1.8 million acres ofprotected farmland, forests, green space and vibrant communities wrapping around Ontario's Golden Horseshoe.

Whether an avid cyclist or a recreational rider, the Tour de Greenbelt is for you.

Enjoy the moment and change the future. 100% of your Tour pledges will bedonated to participating cycling clubs to support safe and active cyclingnetworks in southern Ontario.

A fresh air festival on wheels.

September 20 – Rouge Valley
September 21 – Newmarket to Lake Simcoe
September 27 – Burlington to St. Catharines
September 28 – Niagara-on-the-Lake

Register today at www.TourdeGreenbelt.ca.

Fresh Naturally Raised Chickens at Fenwood Farm

Fenwood Farm is selling Fresh Naturally Raised chickens available on September 12 & 13 (4-6lbs) and 19 & 20 (6lb +).

Any questions or to place an order call 905-765-1479.

Hours: 10-6 pm

www.fenwoodfarm.com

Change of date for Sunday Supper at Carluke Orchards

The Sunday Supper has changed venues and will now be held at the Ancaster Old Mill on October 5th at 6:00pm. Tickets are $100 per person and all proceeds raised will support the 2009 Buy Local Buy Fresh! Local Food Map.

August...could it be the most delicious month?

Apples, apricots, asian vegetables, beans, beets, blueberries, brocolli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, corn, cucumber, currants, eggplant, garlic, gooseberries, grapes, leeks, lettuce, mushrooms, muskmelon, nectarines, green onions, cooking onions, parsnips, peaches, pears, snow peas, peppers, plums, potatoes, radicchio, radishes, rapini, rutabaga, spinach, sprouts, squash, field tomatoes, greenhouse tomatoes, watermelon and zucchini.

Don’t forget: locally raised eggs and meats including poultry; beef; pork; venison and lamb, and locally produced preserves such as honey; maple syrup; jams and jellies, locally produced
wines, baked goods and prepared foods are available year round!

Environment Hamilton's first "Volunteer of the Month"

Troy Smith, Environment Hamilton’s first “Volunteer of the Month” recipient, has been instrumental to the success of the Hamilton Eat Local project and its Buy Local! Buy Fresh! local food map. Troy has devoted numerous hours to delivering maps to the area’s farms, community centres and other distribution points for the maps. He has also represented Hamilton Eat Local at community events, handing out maps to the public and answering their questions. Troy is an invaluable part to the Hamilton Eat Local project and we are pleased to name him as Volunteer of the Month!

Hamilton Fruit Tree Project

The Hamilton Fruit Tree Project organizes groups of volunteers to pick backyard fruit trees that would otherwise go to waste. The harvest is then shared with tree owners, volunteers and social service agencies. This year promises to be an exciting year thanks to the Hamilton Community Foundation and Healthy Living Hamilton for providing funding that supports a part-time coordinator, several food skills workshops, picking equipment and promotional materials. We are always looking for new fruit trees to pick and more volunteers to pick them. This season the project will focus on fruit storage and preserving techniques so stay tuned for workshop details in your area. If you would like to get involved as a tree owner or as a volunteer, please contact
Juby Lee at jlee.eatlocal@gmail.com or call 905-549-0900

Eat Well by Vicki Edwards RD

“Eat at least one dark green and one orange vegetable each day.” That’s the recommendation on Canada’s Food Guide for everyone over the age of two.

Dark green vegetables are rich in folate, and orange vegetables are rich in carotenoids, which your body converts to vitamin A. Eat these foods each day to get adequate amounts of these nutrients.

While waiting for orange vegetables such as squash and pumpkin to come into season, you can substitute orange fruit such as apricots, peaches and cantaloupes which are also rich in carotenoids.

To increase your servings of locally grown dark green and orange vegetables and fruit: Experiment with recipes that call for different leafy greens such as beet greens, chard, chicory, collards and kale.
Make a salad with spinach instead of iceberg lettuce.
Barbecue a mix of snow peas, broccoli, and red peppers.
Grate carrots and mix with a light mayonnaise and raisins for a delicious salad.
Use peaches to make a salsa to serve with your grilled
chicken or pork. Recipe found at http://www.5to10aday.com/en_recipe_details.asp?id=65
Vicki is a Registered Dietitian with Hamilton Public Health Services

Roasted Bell Peppers Stuffed with Bulgar and Spinach

• 3 redbell peppers (2 large 1 small)
• 2 large yellow bell peppers
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup coarse or medium bulgur*
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup dried currants
• 2 tablespoons pine nuts
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 6-ounce bag fresh baby spinach leaves
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
• 1 cup crumbled feta cheese (about 4 ounces), divided

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 425°F. Cut large red and yellow bell peppers in half through stem end. Remove seeds and cut out ribs, leaving stems intact. Finely chop small red bell pepper; set aside. Spread 1 tablespoon oil over rimmed baking sheet. Place pepper halves, cut side down, on prepared sheet. Roast 15 minutes. Turn over; roast until slightly softened, about 15 minutes longer. Remove from oven. Meanwhile, bring 2 cups water to boil in medium saucepan; add bulgur and 1 teaspoon salt. Remove from heat. Cover and let stand until bulgur is tender, about 30 minutes. Drain well. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chopped red pepper; sauté until tender, about 3 minutes. Add currants and pine nuts; sauté 2 minutes. Add cumin; stir 20 seconds. Mix in spinach; stir until beginning to wilt, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Mix in bulgur, mint, and dill. Stir in half of cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Divide bulgur mixture among pepper halves. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.) Bake stuffed peppers until heated through, about 25 minutes (or 30 minutes if chilled); serve.

*Also called cracked wheat; available at natural foods stores and
supermarkets. Find this recipe and more at www.epicurious.com

Pick a Perfect Pepper

Bell peppers, also known as sweet peppers come in many colours from green, yellow, red, orange, purple, brown to black. This fruit, commonly referred to as a vegetable, is part of the Nightshade family along with potatoes, tomatoes and eggplants and originated in South America
as far back as 5000BC. They were carried through the world by Portuguese and Spanish explorers who traveled throughout the New World and are now popular in many global cuisines.
Bell peppers are plump and bell shaped with three or four lobes. Green and purple peppers have a slightly bitter fl avour, while the red, orange and yellows are sweeter and almost fruity. This fruit has a combination of tangy taste and crunchy texture. Bell peppers have edible, bitter seeds found within their core.

When buying peppers, choose those that have deep vivid colours, taut
skin and that are free of blemishes, darkened areas and soft spots. The stems should be green and fresh looking. Peppers should be heavy for their size and firm enough so that they will gently give to slight pressure. These vegetables can be stored in the vegetable compartment
of the refrigerator for up to one week.
Bell peppers are an excellent source of vitamin A, vitamin C and beta-carotene where one cup of
raw, chopped red peppers provides over 100% of the daily value for vitamin C and A.
Here are some fun ways to add bell peppers to your meals.
•Use them to create colourful and exciting meals adding a mixture of different sliced or chopped peppers to your favourite salads, Chinese, Mexican or pasta dishes.
•Use as a colourful garnish on salads and sandwiches.
•Include sliced peppers on your next veggie tray.
•Carve out peppers and stuff them with rice.
•Cut off tops and use them as colourful containers for dips or other edible items.
Sweet peppers can be found locally at both Downtown and Ottawa Street Markets and at
numerous farms throughout the Hamilton region such as Bennett’s Apples & Cider Ltd., Brian Novak Farms, C & W Struyk Farm, Cranston Farms, Dyment’s Farm Market, Farm Fresh Country Market, Frootogo Orchards, Greenwood Farms, Jeff-Dan Farm, Jerome Brothers Farm, Josling Farms, Josmar Acres, Laurennsen’s (P&L) Farm and Greenhouses, Lindley’s
Farm and Market, Manorun Organic Farm, Morden’s Organic Farm, Murphy’s Country Produce, Myers Apple Farm, Oliveira Fruit Farm, Parkside Farms, Plan B Organic Farms, Robinson Farms, Simpler Thyme Organic Farm, Tigchelaar Berry Farm, Vince Alampi
Greenhouse and Farm and Wes’s Place.

In search of a localized food system for Hamilton

Hamilton Eat Local has been completely overwhelmed by the positive response to our second annual local food map. Local food – it seems – is on the tip of everyone’s tongue, and we’ve received a lot of feedback on what local food enthusiasts would like to see in Hamilton in the future. Here’s a rundown:
The recurring issue that arises is distribution – how to get more local food to more consumers? Farmers’ markets, on farm markets and CSA delivery programs are enjoyable, relatively convenient and great sources of fresh, healthy food but it is difficult, and often expensive, for most residents to travel beyond the urban boundary for locally grown food and the vast majority
of our local farmers do not attend local farmers’ markets. Moreover, there are only a handful of active farmers at the Hamilton Farmers’ Market – the more central of the two and the general consensus is that there should be many more. The chorus is consistent: “I want to eat local, but it’s easier not to.”
There are those who believe in the benefits of eating locally and incorporate this into their businesses, such as Chef Jeff Crump of Ancaster Old Mill, who makes a point of going the extra mile (literally) to source his menu with fresh locally-grown ingredients. He often works closely with his suppliers to ensure quality and supply. Many businesses strive to include local foods on their menu and shelves because they know that by buying local they are providing customers with the fi nest food available. On farm markets and stores are another terrifi c source of
locally grown food as many farmers retail products raised and produced by their friends and neighbours. However, it remains a logistical challenge to drop off the food service delivery truck route and purchase ingredients from up to a dozen individual suppliers.
There are many different models of local food distribution that can inspire similar developments here, in our city. One example is the Elmira Produce Auction Cooperative (EPAC) - a mini-terminal at which farmers from within a 75 km radius of the warehouse are able to sell their produce to buyers at market prices. Local Food Plus (LFP) has successfully launched its own
producer certifi cation program meant to clearly highlight local, sustainably produced food. LFP certifi ed food is now available for purchase at the University of Toronto as well as retailers such as Fiesta Farms and the Big Carrot. The City of Ottawa recently welcomed the offi cial opening of the Ottawa Valley Food Co-op, a 100 member organization (including 20 producers) whose
goal it is to source and distribute locally grown food year round.
These organizations and scores of others highlight that it’s possible to relocalize the food economy in a way that benefits producers, consumers and all those other actors who strive to insure the sustainability and integrity of our local food system. Hamilton has one of the finest and most productive agricultural economies in the province. We boast one of the most diverse
ranges of agricultural production in the region and enjoy proximity to the country’s largest market for local food. Add to that a growing food scene, a passionate environmental and social justice community, a strong and vibrant farm community, and a supportive political environment and Hamilton has what it takes to become a provincial leader in supporting a sustainable local food system for generations.

Pickles, Pickles, Pickles

This weekend I added to my preserved collection by making pickles. This was my first time making pickles and it ended up being a lot of fun! I found a recipe through a friend that she swore by and decided to use it. It called for fresh dill, garlic, pickling cucumbers, water, pickling salt and vinegar, couldn't have been simpler. I bought the large canning jars to make sure I could fit in as many cucumbers as possible. Then I bought my pickling cucumbers at the downtown farmers' market. There really isn't much to making pickles; you need your ingredients, to scrub and soak the cucumbers in cold water over night, to sanitize your jars and then you basically add the ingredients together and into a jar. I did have a few problems with some of my jars not sealing so I had to re-heat the liquid and add it back into the jar but I think I just wasn't carful enough and let some of the liquid drop onto the rim of the jar. You need to be very carful when sealing I learned, it doesn't take much to stop a jar from sealing. All in all, I made 12 jars of pickles which should be ready in about 4-6 weeks and I can't wait to taste the fruits of my labour!

More map locations

Hello everyone,

If you are still looking for a copy of the map, here's a list of places maps have just been delivered:

The Keeping Room, Dundas;

Picone's, Dundas;

Horn of Plenty, Dundas;

Mickey McGuires Cheese Shop, Dundas;

My Dog Joe, Westdale;

African Lion Safari;

Royal Botanical Gardens;

Wesley Early Years Centre;

Lindley's Farm & Market, Ancaster;

Fletcher Fruit Farm, Ottawa Street Farmers' Market;

Shearlea Acres, Ottawa Street Farmers' Market