Spring tonics

So Wikipedia tells me that although rhubarb is botanically classified as a vegetable, a New York court decided in 1947 it was to be called a fruit. So there!

One of the first delicious treats of spring, rhubarb is full of vitamin C and is a substitute for citrus when you want "tart". Trudy's Country Kitchen makes a great rhubarb punch concentrate from our local harvest. Cook up some rhubarb at home with sweetener to taste and a little water (not too much - rhubarb is juicy) and try it on your morning yogurt, granola, pancakes or French toast. Or on your ice cream after dinner!

Radishes are another early treat - full of folic acid, potassium and minerals, they're great for your digestion and your liver. Some people eat them like candy but shredded on a salad will give you a more subtle "bite".

Fresh greens are starting to appear in Grey County. Try spinach for your iron and spicy greens like arugula and mustard greens for your digestion and a warm weather wake up.

Grow your own

A farm in the midst of Owen Sound (well technically, Georgian Bluffs) is the beautiful setting for a community garden where you could be getting your hands dirty this summer. Nelson Monk, a gradate of OSCVI who is now studying tourism and hospitality at college, invites you to "grow your own culinary delights, feed a family, create a botanical retreat or contribute to our local food bank". Nelson is offering 6 metre by 20 metre (20 feet by 66 feet) plots in fertile, chemical-free soil for $35 for the growing season, and tools are also available for your use for a small fee.

Call Nelson at 519-376-9988 or email him at vistagard@bmts.com for more details.

Please pass the Bitter Gourd

The other day I was speaking with Kim Delaney of Hawthorn Farm Organic Seeds in Palmerston. I was picking up a beautiful display of herb, vegetable and flower seeds for the store and she was describing their sustainable farming practices with justifiable pride. Suddenly I realized that I had no idea where the seeds in the grocery store seed packets come from, so I asked and was surprised to learn that most large seed houses buy from a world-wide pool of seed. So while companies like Stokes and McKenzie have been around since the 1880's, they have long since ceased to be controlled in Canada, and their seed comes from places like Israel and the American mid-west. Also, many of its varieties are registered and cannot be propogated without credit to the owner. So much for saving your seed.
Why do we care about local, open-pollinated, seed in the public domain? Kim told me a story. All the seed for Delicata squash, a beautiful sweet little squash that has become very popular recently, was being "produced" for the world market on one farm in the US Mid-west. Unknown to the farmers, it was being cross-pollinated by the wind with a weed called Bitter Gourd. The squash resulting from the seed, even years later, could be gaggingly inedible. Only because a farmer had kept some pre-contamination seed in his freezer (possibly contrary to the legal stipulations of 'protected varieties' ) was this variety able to be brought back into production.

For all the history of humans cultivating plants, we have saved and shared seed. Be careful what you buy, read your packages carefully, try some heirloom varieties, and save the seed from your favourites for a seed-sharing party next year.