Happy Friday!

Brand new event tent for Friends of the Market - this kickbutt volunteer group works in support of the Horton Farmers' Market. Members are always welcome!

It's been a whirlwind of a week and a lot of changes are happening with Elgin Harvest. I've been feeling 'out of sorts' for the past few days but I'm looking forward to interacting with the crowds and friends for some much needed sharing and smiling.

For the past three years (almost four), I have been a vendor and very active volunteer with the St. Thomas Horton Farmers' Market. Through the market I've had the fortune to meet not only some incredibly unique artisans and passionate farmers, I've also had the fortune to meet and share my love of food with many of the customers that religiously attend the hustling and bustling farmers' market every Saturday morning from May through November.

St. Thomas Horton Farmers' Market is the little market that could. Run by a dedicated part-time market manager with help from generous volunteers and friends, the market is unique to this area in that it is a producer-only market. That means you either have to grow it or make it in order to be a vendor. The market is a small business incubator, has become a centralized community meeting place, and most importantly provides a lively, fun atmosphere with access to fresh and LOCAL foods and products. It's a welcomed contrast to the industrial manufacturing plants and fast food chains that can (and has) overshadowed the city in a monocultured cloud.

With Spring and the beginning of a new market season right around the corner, I know other vendors and market attendees are just itching to get back into the Saturday morning routine of picking up seasonal fruits & veggies, fresh baked goods, and artisanal crafts. While I wait for May to roll around, I'm going to make the best of my time by continuing to experiment with new recipes and culianary techniques and plan out my vegetable garden.

Plans For the Weekend

You know the tulips will be popping out of the ground soon when Canadale Nurseries in St. Thomas holds their annual Spring Garden Show. All weekend long, The Horton Farmers' Market volunteer-based fundraising and promotional group will be meeting and greeting customers from under our brand spankin' new event tent at the garden show. We're offering complementary tastes of salsas and jams (yay Elgin Harvest!), organic tea blends, and soap samples to everyone who stops by our table. It's your chance to say hello to the volunteers and some vendors whom you might have missed over the winter. I'll be helping out Friday afternoon and all day Sunday so I hope to see you there!

Canadale Nurseries Spring Garden Show runs March 15-17, 2013, 9am-6pm (5 on Sunday).
The Horton Farmers' Market is located in St. Thomas, Ontario. Open Saturday mornings from 8am til noon, May 12 to November 3, 2013.

My Week in a Maple & Ginger World

I've been experimenting with different pickling strengths and flavours this week. The two jars of carrots on the far left are pickled in a maple-ginger brine. Crispy and tasty, they have the sweetness of carrot with the spicy heat of ginger. The 3rd jar from the left is red cabbage, radishes, and carrots pickled in the same maple brine. (I had leftover brine so I used what veggies were in my fridge.) The jar on the right is pickled ginger. I've got a craving for nori & rice rolls.

Another technique and recipe I attempted this week is a ginger bug. A ginger bug is a blend of ginger, sugar, and water that is permitted to ferment then used as a starter to make homemade sodas.
Because ginger (the skin especially) is full of naturally occurring yeasts and bacterias, it ferments easily and can be used to prepare nutritious, delicious beverages full of flavour and probiotics.
It's quite fascinating to realize our world is full of microorganisms that can be utilized to actually preserve food and not destroy it. Different cultures have used fermentation to preserve foodstuffs for thousands and thousands of years. Canning and refrigeration are relatively new preservation techniques in comparison. How else did people nourish themselves and their families when food wasn't plentiful? Fermented foods not only make use of what is available, they taste absolutely wonderful and the rituals for preparing them are entrenched in tradition.

I'll be starting a strawberry fizzy drink and a blueberry fizzy drink within the next few days. My freezer is full of last years harvest and it's time to make room for the Spring bounty that is on the way.

Things might explode. I might make something alcoholic. It's all part of the fun and I can't wait to taste what happens!

I've also started my second batch of kimchi. As I've gained confidence (and the craving) for preparing fermented vegetables, this version is more suited to my taste and is also bigger. I used more green onions and radishes because they were my favourite tidbits and sliced the carrots thinner because they were my least favourite. I went a little lighter on the spice but didn't shy away from the fish sauce at all. Now I just have to wait - again.

I'm still riding the high of having my picture and recipe featured in the local publication, Relish Elgin. You can pick up a printed copy at many local establishments  or you can view it online through Relish Elgin's website.

Even as I type this blog, there is a batch of pavlova baking in my oven. I plan on bringing the pavlova and several of my preserves as a display to Canadale's this weekend if you want to stop by and see the real deal.

"Elgin Harvest preserving the produce of the county"

"Elgin Harvest preserving the produce of the county"

Edit: March 15, 2013

My local newspaper has printed an article about Elgin Harvest, too!

This is no small potatoes!

I shared my excitement on my Facebook page but failed to share it here in the blog. Thank you, Aylmer Express and Rob Perry for sharing Elgin Harvest with your readers.   

"Elgin Harvest preserving the produce of the county"

Look for the article in the March 6, 2013 edition of the Aylmer Express (Farm Edition).

*Thanks, Mary for the comment :)