We are going to be at Mayne Island's Christmas Craft Show. See you there!

Garlics, Garlics and more Garlics!

Last Sunday was a lovely Fall Day.  I sat outside on our deck and prepped and sorted all our garlics from our 2011 Harvest.  All our garlics are Certified Organic and because they have been hardened off, they can be either consumed or planted.  Some of our garlics will available to buy at Happy Tides Health Food Store here on Mayne Island.  

The following Garlic varieties are available to buy at Happy Tides Health Food Store.

Leningrad 

Leningrad packs a lot of punch! It is very hot

and strong. Leningrad has become a staple 

thanks to its excellent flavour, ease of growing

and long storage life. Leningrad is listed in the 

Seeds of Diversity Canada catalogue of 

heritage varieties as endangered and very hard

to find.

Chesnok Red

Chesnok Red is a gourmet delight. 

It is a purple stripe hardneck variety

and one of the best cooking garlics.

Highly flavourful.  It holds its shape 

and retains flavor well when cooked. 

It has large, easy-to-peel cloves.

Northern Quebec

Good strength, flavour, size and 

vigour. A strong, hot garlic! 

Northern Québec is listed in the 

Seeds of Diversity Canada 

catalogue of heritage varieties

as endangered and hard to find.

Tibetian

It is an excellent keeper and has 

a flavour that entices one to 

eat more.

Sicilian Gold 

Sicilian Gold is a medium strength

garlic with a pleasant flavour. 

It has consistently produced 

large softneck bulbs, probably 

of the Artichoke variety.

I reserve a good selection of the harvested garlics for next year's harvest.  I will be planting our own Starry Night Meadows Farm certified organic garlics  Thanksgiving weekend.

The garlics that don't get sold or replanted make their way into the kitchen.  I love to cook with garlics!  I am looking forward to preserving a new jelly made with roasted garlics.  Enjoy!

What to do with Lemon Cucumbers?

Today I was faced with what to do with a wonderful bounty of Lemon Cucumbers from our Greenhouse. So,  I went out onto the InterNet to see what I could find.  Of course, I found many great ideas, but, I especially liked this site.  If you check this site out you will find the recipe that I adapted for my own pickles.  The difference was I cut my cukes into segments and added red peppers with the onions to give some contrasted colour.  The results were amazing!

The Lemon Cucumbers are at their best when they are just turning yellow.

This picture shows how I cut the Lemon Cukes into segments.

Once the liquid mixture came to a boil, I added the cukes and onions and brought it back to a boil.

Just look at the beautiful colours!  I put a grape leaf at the bottom of each jar to help the cukes stay crisp.

Lemon Cucumber Pickles.

Lemon Cucumbers have been called, Lemon Apples, too.

The cukes have also been called, Salt & Pepper cukes because of the black bumps on their skin.  The bumps look like peppercorns.

Whatever you want to call them, Lemon Cukes are a lovely mild, less tart cucumber!  Enjoy!

Apple Time is Here!

Today I picked our Hall's Pink Apples.  They are a pink-fleshed apple.  Not only are they delicious but they are also beautiful to look at and to bite into!

Just picked!

The Hall's Pink apple is tinged with pink flesh on their inside.  

DELICIOUS!

I made some Fermier Calvados Jelly with our Red Fleshed apples

Some of my Preserves made with wines, like the Fermier Calvados Jelly,
included as Wedding Favours.

The apples sauce made from the red-fleshed apples is a brilliant pink.
The flavour is amazing and no sugar was added!

Alpaca Fibre 4 Sale/SOLD

Good News!  The Boys are happy to say that all their fibre has been sold!  Buttercup's yarn blended with silk  went to a Silk Weaving Studio on Granville Island and the rest of the yarn went to Baad Anna's Knitting Store in Vancouver.

The Boys are enjoying the fall sunshine.  Taking well deserved naps!

Starry Night Meadows Farm now has

their Alpaca Boys' second year fibre ready for sale.

It was milled at Qualicum Bay Fibre Works in

British Columbia. All the yarn is $1.50 @ 10

grams. The yarns are on spools. The rovings are

$10.00 @ 100 grams. The rovings are bagged.

View this slideshow to meet our boys and see their fibre

http://flic.kr/s/aHsjvNFfQW

Here is what is available

Shogun's Blanket with 10 % wool

Dusty Rose Gray

2 ply worsted weight

2 pounds 7 ounces

1113 grams

$166.95

Shogun's Seconds with 11% wool

Dusty Rose Gray

2 ply worsted weight

2 pounds 13 ounces

1266 grams

$189.90

Buttercup's Blanket with 20% Tussah Silk

Ivory

2 ply worsted weight

4 pounds 5 ounces

1945 grams

$291.75

Buttercup's Rovings

Ivory

1670 grams

$167.00

Robbie's Blanket with 15% wool

Black

2 ply worsted weight

2 pounds 9 ounces

1157 grams

$173.55

Rudy's Blanket

Sable Brown

2 ply worsted weight

3 pounds 4 ounces

1468 grams

$220.20

Rudy's Seconds with 12 % wool

Sable Brown

2 ply worsted weight

3 pounds 3 ounces

1441 grams

$216.15

The Boys Blend I( Monty, Shaggy, Arthur, Ted and

Walter) with 10% wool

Heather Mix

2 ply worsted weight

5 pounds 12 ounces

2600 grams

$390.00

The Boys Blend 2( Monty, Shaggy, Arthur, Ted and

Walter) with 10% wool

Heather Mix

2 ply worsted weight

1 pound 13 ounces

819 grams

$122.85

The Boys Blend (Monty, Shaggy, Arthur, Ted and

Walter)

Black

washed ready for felting

1560 grams

$156.00

The Boys Blend

( Monty, Shaggy,

Arthur, Ted and

Walter)

Black/Brown

washed ready for felting

715 grams

$71.50

Cucumbers to the Ceiling!

I have been busy making cucumber Relish, Cucumber Onion Mustard Delight and the old time favourite, Piccalilly.  All available at our Mayne Island Saturday Farmers' Market.  See you there!

Cucumbers taste like summer!

Cucumbers are picked fresh and taken to Market .

Lovely, crisp, delicious, Slicing Masters.

The Green House is a green jungle!  Cucumbers growing
 to the ceiling.

Summer 2011

Welcome to our Summer of 2011.  Yesterday I picked the Black Currants and made some delicious Black Currant Jelly.

Blackcurrant Nutrition ...the nutritional value of blackcurrants and full blackcurrant nutrition information... Fancy a high dose of vitamin C? You cannot go wrong with the blackcurrant as this particular fruit contains more than three times the amount of vitamin C as oranges. Blackcurrants have an extremely high content of vitamin C (302% of the Daily Value per 100g) and also good levels of iron, vitamin B5, potassium and phosphorus. Blackcurrants contain anthocyanins (a powerful antioxidant), which are compounds naturally found in berries. These are very potent antioxidants which are responsible for the colour of blackcurrants. The darker the blackcurrant, the more anthocyanins it contains and the better it is for you. Anthocyanins are also associated with anti ageing benefits. Blackcurrants contain a good amount of potassium which help the muscles and nerves to function and also maintains the bodies' acid balance. Potassium can also help lower the risk of high blood pressure. Blackcurrants also contain good amounts of phosphorus which plays a part in bone and teeth formation. Phosphorus works with calcium for maximum effect in this area. The blackberry fruit as well as the leaves, work as an anti-inflammatory, which is very helpful for rheumatism, arthritis and gout. Their nutritional values also stimulate digestion and the function of the liver, pancreas, spleen and kidneys and have diuretic qualities. One cup of blackcurrants contains around 71 calories.