For Canada Day, Let's Eat Local, eh!

On this Canada Day weekend, I've been giving some thought to what it means to be Canadian. When I was growing up, we were taught how our country was full of natural resources, and how wonderful our fertile lands were. The song, This Land is Your Land, a Woody Guthrie song, Canadianized by The Travellers, always comes to mind when I think of this Land.

Now I believe we are in a sorry state. Our fertile  farmlands are being paved over and the majority of our food, even food we can easily grow here, is being imported! The food we are growing is being grown by "corporate" farms and not family owned farms.

Have a look at this video, "Are you eating Canadian", produced by Hellman's, for some stats:

It's time to take our Land back. We need to support our local farmers. Let's buy and eat local whenever we can. Visit your local farmers market and look for food grown locally in your grocery store. It may cost a little more, but the taste, superior nutrition and support to our economy is worth it!

Happy Canada Day!

When harvesting Zucchini wear gloves!

Look at this mother of a zucchini!
Grown by moi. I feel like a proud mama. And it's 100% organic. I would have preferred to pick it at a smaller size, and it was the perfect size one day, but then when I finally picked it, two days later, it became mammoth.

Now, I've not grown zucchini, or as they're sometimes known, courgettes, before this season. Up to now, I've grown mostly flowers and only dabbled in growing vegetables. I've grown tomatoes, peppers and herbs, but that's about it.

As for the zucchini, I stuck my bare hand in the maze of zucchini leaves and pulled the zuke off the vine. It felt a bit prickly. Later I noticed what felt like a few slivers. I should have known better, as I just finished reading a very funny book called, "Merde Actually", by Stephen Clarke - it is a halarious book.

The main character, Paul, or "Pool" as the French say, is visiting his girlfriend's family. They have a farm on the French country side. He is recruited to pick courgettes by his girlfriend's mother and finds out that, "The courgettes were surprisingly prickly ...".

I see more zucchini coming along. This time I'll pick them as soon as I think they're the right size. In the meatime, I need to dig out some recipes. How many ways can you cook zucchini? When I have some time I'll post some recipes.