I’m hanging up laundry on the balcony on a cold sunny day, when I hear the angry voice down the street. Two men stand beside my garden, one is pointing to my new leaf- mulching box complaining loudly how it touches the cinder block wall that marks his property line....
The importance of eating well has never been as popular as it is today. Given the increase in the number of processed foods available in supermarkets, it is a challenge for anyone who wants to snack on fresh, healthy food. Growing your own snack food is a great way to...
I first grew Reisetomate in the summer of 2017, and it quickly became one of my favourites. Why was it one of my favourites? Because it surprised me. I didn’t expect this tomato to look the way it did. It’s always great to find an unfamiliar wonder in your garden, and...
While much of Canada is still in the grips of a deep freeze, in the Kansai region of Japan, February is the first potato-planting season of the year. The fact that I am not only beginning a new planting season, but am still harvesting a wealth of vegetables from last...
The land I farm lies in the mountains of southern Kyoto, a one-hour train ride, and two small mountain ranges east of Osaka. It’s within the boundaries of the Kansai region, an area 27,340 km2, of nearly 23 million inhabitants. To put that into perspective, that is an...
Introducing our newest gardening blog: Dispatches from a Japanese Garden, by Keith Adams. Through the magic of social media, our food editor, Signe Langford, reached out to an old high school buddy, who had moved to Japan decades ago; this collaboration is the result....
For both my family and Beretta Farms, National Farmer’s Day (October 12th), has always provided reason to celebrate and reflect on sustainable Canadian agriculture.
This summer’s evenings have been magical, so ideal for enjoying meals outdoors.
The film’s opening moments – the shadow cast by a mother and daughter crunching down a chilly dirt road in Nova Scotia – are the first steps taken in what would become a ten-year journey for filmmaker, Aube Giroux, and her mother, Jali. This bittersweet,...
Fall in love with Harrowsmith’s 2019 Almanac… This edition is full of nostalgia! Have you ever wondered about the history of the annual Milk calendar? Every responsible cook has a coveted Milk recipe in their files thanks to the Dairy Farmers of Canada. We’re thrilled...
Street Farm - Growing Food, Jobs and Hope on the Urban Frontier By: Michael Ableman Chelsea Green Publishing, 2016 Paperback, 256 pages $41.95 Fragility and strength. In Michael Ableman’s latest book, Street Farm - Growing Food, Jobs and Hope on the Urban Frontier,...
Fifty-five bunches of chard, 75 heads of lettuce, 110 bunches of kale, 18 kg (40 pounds) of salad mix, 13.6 kg (30 pounds) of spinach, and many more items are assigned, and we set off to harvest. I finish harvesting my last bunch of kale and starting walk back to the...
My dad taught me all the essential stuff: how to throw a knuckle ball, pop a wheelie, crack off a slap shot and take a fish hook out of my shirt after my kid sister cast her line. He came to ALL of my soccer games and cross-country races and clipped out every crappy...
The winter was especially long — deeply cold days with lots of wind and interjections of ice and snow. It’s only once we think the bad weather has passed that we begin again, stacking wood, planting, trimming, and cleaning the layers of dust that have accumulated in...
Think you know tomatoes? Maybe. But what’s the tasty fruit saying about community and food security in Lanark County, Ontario, and way up in Iceland? Down the highway southwest of Canada’s capital, the Neighbourhood Tomato Community Gardens project is all about...