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Picutred: John Hutton in his garden. photo by Gary Hynes

Winners announced for the Lifecycles "Urban Agriculture Hub" contest for Best Food Garden and more. http://bit.ly/5auNbP

John Hutton - Best Food Garden 

An incredible amount of effort and ingenuity has gone into developing this large (35' x 40') plot within a community garden in Esquimalt. John started with a near vacant and overgrown piece of land that is open to the winds and has built windbreaks, fencing, raised beds, cold frames - all with his own labour and using recycled wood and wire.  

Rather than use rows the aesthetic is to plant in patches sized to fit the required crop of each planting. The garden is very eco-friendly. He makes his own compost (both vegetable and worm) for the soil and the diversity of plants being grown is quite astounding - somewhere near 55 - not including flowers (bees and hummingbirds were in evidence). Plantings are staggered according to the season and he manages to get as many of four crops of some vegetables (i.e. broad/fava beans).

Among the unusual plantings are quinoa, amaranth, New Zealand yam, and chickpeas along with corn, raspberries, heirloom tomatoes, Jerusalem artichokes etc (too many to name).

John is a vegetarian and set himself the goal of living off his garden as much as possible - setting a goal to spend no more than $50/month on his grocery bill - which he has achieved. Excess fruit and vegetables are donated to "Plant a Row-Grow a Row".

According to John, "It's thrilling and exciting to garden in a community garden-it's a social context. I get to be around other gardeners and sometimes help to get them started. We all learn from each other." Welcome to the new urban farm.

http://bit.ly/5auNbP

from the press release

A BC-wide casting call! Team up with a young friend or family member, create your own cooking show, and win amazing prizes.

VANCOUVER, August 30- Better Together, www.bettertogetherbc.ca, today officially announces the launch of the Hands-On Cook-Off Contest, a BC-wide contest happening throughout September that challenges parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends to team up with a young friend or relative and create a home video cooking show in celebration of making meals together.

”This contest is all about encouraging people to enjoy cooking and eating together,” says Barbara Finley, Founder of Project CHEF and contest judge. “Winners will be selected based on how much fun the participants are having together in the kitchen while making their recipe, and how appetizing their featured recipe is! This is a fun, simple contest- people can make any type of yummy recipe they like from breakfast, lunch, snack, salad or even BBQ.” 

Contest Submissions

The rules are simple! Contest submissions can be made by any BC resident throughout the month of September. Videos must include two generations cooking together and be no longer than three minutes. There are no tech skills required- videos can even be made using phone video cameras. Full contest details, including where to upload videos, can be found on the contest site: http://contest.bettertogetherbc.ca/ . The contest opens September 1. 

Judges

Contest submissions will be judged by a panel of experts that includes celebrity chef John Bishop and Project CHEF Founder Barbara Finley.

Prizes

Prizes for first and second place are $1000 and $500 gift certificates to Cookworks (www.cookworks.ca ) or winners can opt for cash amounts of $750 and $375, respectively. A People’s Choice Winner will also be selected based on number of votes from the public and will receive a $200 gift certificate to Cookworks or $150 cash.

http://contest.bettertogetherbc.ca/  

About Better Together

Better Together, is an active online community forum, designed to celebrate family meals, cooking, and trying new recipes. Our vision is to reconnect food and fun in the kitchen!

We exist because eating together, whether as a family or other group, offers many health and social benefits for both children and adults - including better nutrition, school performance and social adjustment.

Better Together is a partnership between BC Ministry of Healthy Living & Sport and BC Dairy Foundation.

The Globe and Mail reports that the abundant Fraser River salmon run has brought about a return to roadside sales:

"For more than a decade, some British Columbia Indian bands have been allowed to sell specific amounts of salmon – in addition to what they catch for food and ceremonial purposes – under agreements negotiated with the federal Fisheries and Oceans Department. In many years, that for-profit catch didn’t amount to much, as bands that have for centuries cast their nets into the Fraser River encountered the same meagre runs that sent the commercial salmon fishery into the doldrums."

Read the full article here. 

The Guardian reports that "at least 18 Italians have died in the past 10 days in the shadow of the Alps and Apennines – not because of rock falls or mountaineering accidents, but for the love of mushrooms. Recent weather conditions have brought about an explosion in the number of edible fungi clinging to tree stumps and undergrowths in northern Italy. Coming after weeks of dearth, the sudden abundance has caused a correspondingly abrupt surge in the number of pickers or "fungaioli" – many of whom seem willing to take extraordinary risks in pursuit of elusive delicacies like porcini, chanterelles and Caesar's mushrooms."

Read more here. 

Vancouver-based Online Advertising Sales Rep wanted. Part-time. Good commissions. Email with a cover letter and resume to eatpublisher@shaw.ca.