Found: Ancient Disc Plow

 Hiking through the forest in Muskoka, we came upon this very old farm implement, I believe it's a disk plow. Nearby was the remnant of a wire fence, probably to section off the field. How long ago was this area farmed? 50, 75 years ago? More? Was it machine or, horse powered? I can imagine it being used again, some day.

Canada's Single Use Plastic Ban

 To reduce waste at the 2022 Festival, and to prepare for the Federal single-use plastic ban, we partnered with Dream Zero (dreamzero.ca), a Canadian company that rents reusable dishware for public events and food businesses.

The two main goals of our program were to reduce waste from being produced in the first place; and second, to divert any produced waste from going to the landfill. Under our Waste Reduction Program vendors served food on reusable dishware, and visitors returned their used plates, cutlery and cups at Eco Stations throughout the Festival. At each Eco Station, volunteer Green Team Ambassadors helped visitors sort their waste into the appropriate stream (recycling, compost and landfill).

With 18 vendors in participation, we achieved an estimated 65-75% decrease in waste. We hope that the methods and lessons learned from our Waste Reduction Project inspires other event managers to make waste-reducing changes.

Garlic in the Classroom: You've Come A Long Way since 1928!

 Toronto Garlic Festival has created the Ontario Garlic in the Classroom lesson plan. Starting with Autumn planting this versatile guide takes students on the garlic growing journey through the school year. It incorporates modules in Math, Science, Humanities and Language Arts and is suitable for grades 3-5 but is easily adapted for other grades. Garlic is a forgiving plant offering great rewards.

Created with help from teacher/farmer Shawn Stevens, the Ontario Garlic in the Classroom Student Lesson Plan will engage your students on many levels:

• It brings them closer to the soil

• It helps them gain a better understanding of where food comes from

• It gives them an opportunity to participate in a team activity

• It helps them understand their connection to other cultures through garlic

• It channels their new-found interest in Ontario garlic into an interest in cooking and diet

Ontario Garlic in the Classroom Student Guide and Teacher’s Guide are available to download for free on Toronto Star’s Classroom Connection.

This Garlic Growing handbook is a step forward from 1928, when a meeting of the trustees and teachers for a school near Sudbury debated whether students who smelled of garlic could be admitted to class. “The question of whether or not we could send pupils home if they ate garlic, arose. It was decided that we could."

Soil is not be the carbon sequestration saviour we thought It was

According to this article from Quanta Magazine... "a new generation of soil studies powered by modern microscopes and imaging technologies has revealed that whatever humus is, it is not the long-lasting substance scientists believed it to be. 'There are a lot of people who are interested in sequestration who haven’t caught up yet,' said Margaret Torn, a soil scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory."

https://www.quantamagazine.org/a-soil-science-revolution-upends-plans-to-fight-climate-change-20210727/

A lesson from General Motors vs Ford

 

A business marketing story to help us think about the challenge of attracting certain parts of the market for our new e-com store, is Alfred Sloan's classic, "My Years at General Motors."

Until the 1920’s Henry Ford dominated the automobile market with his factory produced cars and low price. He could build cars cheaper than his competitors and he dominated the market based on price by building just one model: The Model T. Car buyers back then saw the automobile as just a form of transportation, nothing more. Cars as a commodity. So they were happy to own Ford Model T.

GM challenged this paradigm and grew to be one of the dominant automobile makers in the world. How did they do this? One of their weapons was through product segmentation and in understanding their market. They changed the public’s perception of the automobile from just a means of getting around to being a symbol of status and luxury. They created several models, from the low priced Chevrolet to the high priced Cadillac, each targeted to a different market segment. Thanks in part to their product and marketing strategy GM eventually surpassed Ford Motor Company.

This is not a perfect comparison, but to look at garlic in context of Ford vs General Motors gives a sense of the challenge. For us, the equivalent of Ford is cheap imported garlic. Many consumers see garlic as a commodity, sure it’s a desirable flavour in their food, but it’s seen as one dimensional, sharp and strong. They wouldn’t consider paying more than $2 or $3 per pound. They were like the early buyers of the Model T. Our challenge is the same challenge that General Motors had over 100 years ago: How to make Ontario garlic and the products made with it, attractive to the segment of the population that sees garlic as a commodity, an essential ingredient maybe, but not worth more than the price paid for imported garlic.

 

 

Crisis in the seed tray!

A morning glory seedling seems to have broken its stem. Its hanging on by a thread. Still getting nutrients, the young leaf is doing ok. But if this little guy is gonna survive I'll have to make a splint.

Where Robots go to Weed

A lot of hours are spent weeding on an organic farm. If weeds are not removed they steal soil fertility and moisture from the crop. That means smaller, less nutritious crop and less profit for the farmer. For organic raised farm products the farmer has access to a very limited arsenal of herbicides to selectively kill or hinder the growth of weeds. Many hours are spent physically removing weeds by hand, handheld tools or human driven machine (See my Sept 20, 2010 post on weeding). A potential solution from the field of machine robotics is a machine that can distinguish weeds and either remove them or spray them with a targeted quantity of herbicide. A machine that can physically remove weeds  would greatly reduce the cost of production for organic farmers. And for conventional farms that use herbicides the machine could reduce the quantity of herbicide required by applying it directly on the weeds and not in the surrounding area. This is an instance where robots can and will make small-scale farming easier and more profitable.

Whole Circle Farm for Sale

                                                   2010 (Back l-r: Devon, Monique, Farm stewards Maggie & Johann,                                                                     Peter; Front l-r: Andrew, Heather, Nana, Farm Manager Abi; Far back in hat: Rob)

For more than a year the property on which Whole Circle Farm resides has been for sale. The owner sold his house at the north end of the property, and while contented to see Johann and Maggie running the farm the ast 15 years, he has elected to sell the land. This is a blow for Johann and Maggie, and for the hundreds of farm interns, like me, who have come and gone. A core group of people are now trying to assist J and M, to find a buyer willing to allow them to continue to farm and to have a not too onerous Return on Investment. 

Stating the Obvious But Making It Sound Special

I was in KFC (I get cravings) and saw a rustic looking sign claiming that their chicken is, "Farm Raised." Wait a second. All chickens are raised on a farm. Whether it's a one acre hobby farm or a 1,000 acre commercial complex, both are a type of farming. Clearly KFC is appealing to our sentimentalized idea of farming.

Chanel's enchanted forest show angers environmentalists

Fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld "turned the vast glass nave of Paris’s Grand Palais into an autumn forest for the event, strewing dead leaves, moss and logs on a mirrored runway and installed nine tall trees inside."

I admit, it's a brilliant idea from the perspective of a fashion designer . But the concept of putting on a fashion show in a simulated forest setting reinforces our acceptance of being once-removed from nature.  

Tiny Cabin in the Woods & The Great Contrarian Strategy

Deborah and I got back Sunday night from a week in a cabin on Penyck Lake, near Sharbot Lake, Ontario. It was advertised as an “off-the-grid tiny cabin”. I loved it because it reminds me of one of the best jobs I ever had: when I was 19 years old I had a summer job as a bush cook 400 miles north of Sault Ste Marie in a 12 man mineral exploration camp, with my weekly shopping list -  suckling pigs, coho salmon, filling for 30 pies -  ordered via ham radio and flown in on a twin otter by Glen, the deaf pilot.

At Penyck Lake I relished the feeling of being away from civilization. In the 21st century it's  merely a feeling because civilization is a click away. I went online twice only, to check work email, otherwise I did not miss reading or hearing any news or clicking emails like a trained lab rat.

This rectangular-shaped “tiny cabin” is 160 square feet of main floor space; plus two small lofts, one at each end, up a 6 rung ladder, about 30” from the ceiling, each loft large enough for a double bed. The place was designed and built by millennial artist friends of Deborah. It’s advertised as “off the grid”. There is a solar power unit on the roof, which creates enough battery-sourced power to run the energy efficient lights and the lake water pump. The propane powered furnace wasn’t working so on cold nights we resorted to an electric space heater run off a gas-powered generator. Does that constitute “off the grid”? Hmmm. It’s amusing and maybe a bit worrying, that people think they’re off the grid, when they’re not, actually. The 2 gallon gas container for the electric generator and the propane tank to run the gas stove didn’t sprout from the forest floor.

The owners told us the night before we arrived to bring our own firewood for the firepit because previous occupants used it up. What!! I figured there must be wood on the cabin property, we’d just have to scrounge. But we hit a bonanza on the drive up. Stopping for a break at the side of Hwy 7 I spotted a pile of chopped wood. It didn’t appear to belong to anyone, and we stuffed it in the back seat. It burned beautifully.

And there was tons of wood at the place, piled up, in plain view. It was damp and motly, but perfectly good. I couldn’t figure out why they told us to bring wood. But I spotted a few pieces of pretty looking firewood, the size and shape like what you see at gas stations, 3d printed. Ahh ok. They were running low on the perfect sized, cured wood. They didn’t think that visitors would want or know how to use the damp odd-shaped wood in their wood pile. That’s all I could figure out, because it made no sense. Of course, I used lots of their wood when my Hwy 7 wood ran out.

Most meals were cooked in the fire pit, even when it rained: chicken legs, steak, sausage, grilled over red hot embers. Bacon and eggs fried in a pan balanced on two logs, red fife pancakes, ten vegetable soup, mixed berry stove-top bumble pie, and a buttery egg and whisky custard in a cast iron skillet set to the side of the pit, away from the hellish heat, served drowned in fruit with cinnamon and maple syrup compote. My best meal was kidney beans made with blackened onions, purple cabbage, celery, parsley, smoked bacon, roasted garlic, maple syrup, tomatoes, tomato paste, fresh cracked pepper, chili peppers, rosemary, and stout beer from the Perth Brewery, served with a two dollar package of wieners sizzled to wiener perfection.
 
The best part was the daily, sometimes twice daily, dunk in the lake. It was incredibly cold. But once in, I felt great, and when I got out I wanted to go back in. Then I'd run up to the fire to warm up and nosh. I havn't done crazy drugs like crack, but I compare it to that. Such an incredible high. The great thing with freezing water is, you get the same high again and again as the first time, and you don't destroy your brain. Even Lou, my dog, wanted to go back in, to get another hit of the Penyck Lake high.

There was a propane barbecue at the cabin. Deborah and I hate those things. They’re fey. They remind me of tv commercials where the car is driving through a forest, with the occupants looking out from behind tinted windows. Propane barbecues, images of a luxury car in a verdant forest, and cabins not-very-much-off-the-grid, they’re props in a marketing driven imitation world or simulacrum. Is having skills on how to truly live off the grid the great contrarian strategy of the 21st century? Instead of owning gold bullion or shares in a water utility company, knowing how to grow food, skin a rabbit and start a fire may be more valuable assets.  The few who have true survival skills will prevail. Ok, I’m not going to devote my time and energy to living off the grid, and I should avoid judging people who own a propane barbecue, but the week in the cabin reminds of the stuff we’ve all talked about, that we’re in a kind of Jared Diamond scenario where western civilization is untethered from things crucial to our survival.

If I stepped out of my car and walked into the forest, could I survive by my wits? No chance. But I’m not pretending that I could. 

Preaching to the Choir

Lovely day speaking to fellow garlic lovers about my book at Plant Work on 4000 Eglinton Ave West. George, my host, is incredibly earnest and was very helpful in getting things set up for the talk.

Two Good Friends at the Guelph Organic Conference

Johann Kleinsasser kind of scared me when I met him.He has a terse seeming tone to his voice that can put you off at first, but then you realize he's a gentle soul. Luckily I got past that and became an intern on his farm, Whole Circle Farm, in 2010.
But I kind of scared Cookie Roscoe when we first met. It was around 2009 when I visited her Artscape Wychwood Farmers' Market to inquire about being a vendor selling pancakes from fresh ground flour. I was still in New York City mode, asking question upon question, not letting her speak. She later said that she gets a zillion such inquiries. Thankfully she told me in so many polite words that day to get lost. I did, and while I was lost I discovered garlic.

Leveraging the Collective Brand of Farmers' Markets with Market Bucks

I was wondering, farmers' markets have a powerful brand, in part due to the trust that farmers enjoy - they occupy the most trusted occupation, after firefighters and nurses. How can farmers' markets leverage their strong brand? While consulting with the Greenbelt Farmers Market Network I suggested the idea of creating a coupon or voucher, to Anne Freeman. These would be spent by customers at participating markets, and the redemption cost covered by sponsors. Anne thought it was worth pursuing, and now, for three consecutive years, TD Bank has been the sponsor of the TD Bank Farmers' Market Buck.

The buck has had many iterations, with individual markets creating their own market buck and soliciting local businesses to be a market buck sponsor using sponsor pitch material I created. Sponsors pay up front and sponsors' fees cover the cost of redeeming bucks presented by vendors. Because not all market bucks find their way back to the market - some get lost or laundered beyond recognition - this is profit for the market.

The idea behind this is to get farmers' markets to be more entrepreneurial.

This is why I started the Toronto Garlic Festival

People like Edward Kuciak, who came out to the 5th Annual Toronto Garlic Festival on Sunday. We spoke for just a couple of minutes, but it was obvious to me that he's a big lover of Allium Sativuum.

http://szlachta.blogspot.ca/

Even the Cameraman Likes It

We did an on air interview with Le Dolci. Afterward the camera guy swarmed the table for a bite of the home-made black garlic marshmallows.

On air garlic chopping

I had a great time with Frank Procter on AM 740 am. He didn't mind that I chopped some fresh garlic, on-air, for his garlic bread. Garlic smell can't travel over radio waves, too bad.

When to harvest garlic

A few people have asked me when to harvest their garlic. Here's an excerpt from my book which explains when and how to harvest garlic.The book, Ontario Garlic: The Story From Farm to Festival (History Press, 2015) weaves archival research with stories and anecdotes from farmers, chefs and New Canadians. It's available in bookstores and local libraries.


"The harvest is when the mature plant is dug up from the soil. Garlic should  be harvested when the tip of three to five of the leaf sheaths have turned brown. It means the plant has reached its maturity and is starting to decay.  Why do the leaves provide a clue when to harvest? Each leaf is part of a structure that serves different functions, from photosynthesis to structural support for the stem, to providing a protective layer for the bulb. Because the leaf sheath and covering on the bulb are part of the same structure, the change in colour is an indicator that the plant has reached peak maturity.  Leaving the plant in the soil beyond this point will cause the layers on the bulb to decay. It’s important to preserve as many of these layers as possible—they protect the bulb during curing and storage. Some farmers advise digging up and examining a few test plants before the leaves have started to turn brown, especially in wet weather. Moist soil can cause the layers on the bulb to degrade prematurely. If this is the case, don’t wait for the leaf tips to turn brown. It’s time to harvest.

How to Harvest

Loosen the soil by digging straight down

Loosen the soil with a fork, spade or other digging tool, taking care to dig straight down—parallel to the stem of the plant, six to eight inches (fifteen to twenty centimetres) deep and at a distance of three to four inches (eight to ten centimetres) from the stem—far enough not to damage the bulb. Lever the tool back and forth, gently loosening the soil around the bulb. Now, grasp the base of the plant, near to the soil surface. Pull straight up, taking care to not bend the stem, and gently brush off loose dirt and dead leaves, as these can potentially harbour moisture-loving pests and disease during curing and storage. Lay each bulb on the ground. Before digging up too many plants, check your already harvested bulbs to ensure  they have not been damaged by your digging implement. If necessary, adjust your digging method with the next plants to be harvested and send those damaged bulbs to the kitchen!

Tie the Plants for Curing

Tie garlic plants together in bundles of five or ten (or of your choosing), with a string approximately four feet long—two bundles per length of string. Wrap each bundle twice around using a wide-diameter string, such as hemp rope, to lessen the possibility of cutting into the stem of the plant. Tie tightly to avoid having plants slip out of their bundle—the stems will shrink as they dry. Each set of two bundles is hung by the string to dry or “cure.” Remember, a cut or bruise in the stem or in the leaf sheaths that cover the bulb can allow fungus, mould or other undesirable organisms into the plant.

Curing

Immediately after harvest, garlic is hung to cure for two to three weeks. This allows moisture to escape and prepares the plant for long-term storage. Hang garlic bundles in a shaded, ventilated locale. In places with high humidity, set up a fan.

Cut the Bulbs from the Stem

After curing, use household scissors to trim the roots and gardening cutters to cleanly cut the bulb from the stem. Most growers cut the stem very close to the bulb, in part because any amount of stem left behind can pierce adjacent bulbs while in storage. For bulbs that have tight-clinging skins and are difficult to crack, such as the Music strain (a porcelain variety), farmer Patrick Carter prefers to leave about two inches (five centimetres) of the stem on the bulb, as this makes it easier to crack the bulb in preparation for planting."


    Excerpt from Ontario Garlic: The Story From Farm to Festival (History Press, 2015)

Brewers Plate was very busy, very beeery

The Toronto Garlic Festival table feature garlic braised tacos made by chopped Canada winner Chef Anne Sorrenti.

Chef Sorrenti's Taco Nixtamal with Garlic Braised Beef, and Garlic Greens and Cabbage Slaw

Chef Anne Sorrenti centre left