Welcome to my Blog! This is a first for me as i am generally computer illiterate. But with a little persuasion from friends and family and some help from a more computer savy comrade, i am well on my way to becoming part of the 21st century.
I lean a little towards the side of "hippy" when it comes to my lifestyle. People often raise their eyebrows when my husband Jonathan and I say we don't have cable television, iphones, or internet. Mind you we did have to cave and get an internet stick for Jonathan's business and this does seem to make more sense when one wants to start a Blog.
Fresh food has always been an issue for me. I'm sure it drove my mother crazy when i would constantly check expiry dates and refuse leftovers as a kid. My first five years were spent on a farm in Saskatchewan. My biggest memories seem to be of time spent raiding the crisp carrots and sweet peas from mom's garden. The smell of fresh buns filling our house. And of course, riding my horse in the wheat fields.
Warp ahead 26 years and i find myself wanting these very things for our three children. I find it crazy that I buy Canadian beef from a very American COSTCO. How many miles has that beef travelled to get on to our plates. Eating local seems to solve many problems occurring today. Of course environmental; the fewer miles travelled=smaller eco-footprint. It also supports producers who could be our friends, family or neighbors. And most importantly, for me, i know what I am putting into our children's mouths. Growth hormones, chemicals to promote longevity in food, and god knows what else is "added" for travel/taste. These things actually scare me. It was a little different when we didn't have kids. But now? now i am hypersensitive to what is in our food and how it affects their health, growth and behavior.
Having a background in Disability Studies, I worked with children of varying disabilities within their home and school environments. I really found that the parents who did their research and promoted healthy eating habits had better results with their child's behavior and overall health. This sometimes included limiting processed foods, removing sugars, and being generally more aware of food allergies occurring. I was able to SEE the difference with the children whose parents did the above and those who did not. This was one tidbit( along with many others) i chose to store for when i had my own children.
This will be an exciting journey for me. I look forward to all the ups and downs as well as the learning curve that is bound to happen.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Snow Storms in March???



O.K. So what puts you more in the mood to start your garden than a spring snow storm. Gusting winds of up to 90km an hour, power out at our place for over six hours and snow covering the ground. What really gets my goat though is frozen water troughs. Ugh! thought i was home free of dragging 100 feet of hose in and out of the house so the horses won't dehydrate!
So seeds were postponed until today.
Again, snow. But we will tough it out because we are 100% Canadian and our children will not take no for an answer. Amber, my mother and our seven children set out to Bowden for an adventure in seed collection. The convenience of the location is astounding right off the highway (QE2). Alberta Nurseries and Seeds is well marked and so easy to find. We were greeted with outstanding service from a gentleman who had been working there for the past 16 years. The variety of seed is quite amazing. They do however sell more of a majority of seed shipped from other provinces and the U.S and then repackaged at their Nursery. That being said we bought all the brands we could that were actually produced in Bowden. They had many varieties of tomato, corn, and tons of flowers. One thing I wished they would have better labeled where it was coming from. Everything has their name on it, but for someone trying to eat locally it is difficult to see where it actually came from. We ended up having to ask which seeds were grown by the nursery. I am finding it very difficult to decipher where much of our food comes from. I remember watching a program on CBC that was outlining the way companies label their food and products. Loblaws (which is company that owns the Superstore, No Frills, chains) are very tricky in how the will state something is made in Canada or 100% Canadian, when really it was only packaged in Canada. Or perhaps one out of fifty ingredients are locally produced. Anyhow this had led me to my next challenge...finding out where some of my groceries are coming from! I think i would like to research 5 items that we use often; Post Shreddies cereal, Alymer canned tomatoes, Kraft Premium Plus Saltines, SunRipe Fruit Bars and DairyLand Classic Vanilla yogurt. Wow lets add ONE more thing to my growing list of to do's Lark?? Well better to be busy than idle...Right?
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1 comment:

  1. UnknownApril 12, 2010 at 5:57 PM

    Good old Canadian prairies. We had a storm here too right after I cleaned one of my perennial beds...guess I should've waited..sorry 'bout that. Good work at finding local seeds...too bad it's such hard work to find out where the heck stuff comes from. Tricksters ;)

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