Category: Meet Vancouver Island Farmers & Food Producers
Earth Day – Top 10 Reasons to Eat Local
Editor’s Note: As we celebrate the Earth today, I have to admit that I am ALWAYS thinking about food. With 7 billion people on the planet, keeping everyone fed and healthy is a big issue that I often find myself trying to wrap my head around. That’s a lot to take in. But, what goes [...]
Think Spring, Think Veg Delivery, Think Faires Farms
With all of this gorgeous Spring-like sunshine here on Vancouver Island it’s no wonder that many of us have gotten our kitchen mojo back after a long Winter’s nap. The urge to whip up some new and wonderful culinary delights makes Spring so much fun. It also makes us long for a regular fresh veg [...]
Top 10 Reasons to Meet A Local Farmer
It’s that time of year when all of the delicious edibles in the Comox Valley start coming in to season. One of the best parts of it all is getting out right into the fields and meeting the farmers, ranchers and food producers in their own territory. We love the Farmer’s Market. But, there are [...]
Out and About – Picking Blueberries under Blue Skies
It’s the season I wait for all year. Not summer. No, it’s blueberry season. And there is one lovely U-Pick blueberry farm in Comox that you can hit for the next six weeks or so and snack down on those tasty blue morsels – Blue Haven Farm on Anderton Road and Idiens Way. If you [...]
The Benefits of Eating Locally Sourced Food
Editor’s Note: Happy Saturday! This morning Gayle Bates is on site with a look at the importance of sourcing out local food. Here she is: The 2010 Comox Valley 30-Day Local Food Challenge is on! We have before us a July filled with opportunities to celebrate our local food producers and vendors. It is fantastic for [...]
Year In Review – Your Favorite Comox Valley Farm of 2009
Happy Wednesday. This year has been packed full of Comox Valley food here on Our Big Earth as we hosted the first Eat Real. Eat Local 30-Day Food Challenge and connected families to some of the incredible farmers, ranchers and food producers that make this region such a special and unique place to live. The [...]
Farm to Family – Nature's Way Farm
It’s a tale that’s become the stuff of childhood legend in the Comox Valley. That moment when George Ehrler slips a slick glass pebble into a kid’s hand and something magical begins for them as they’ve just acquired their first dragon tear. The story of fairies and guardians, dragons and blueberries may live for tiny [...]
Farm to Family – Go Organic at Pattison Farms
When Gerry and Dagmar Pattison broke the news to their family 14 years ago that farming was their future, disbelief seemed the appropriate response. After decades as a marketing professional, Gerry knew his decision to get back to the land would spark some wrinkled eyebrows. But, they bought their first piece of land at Saratoga [...]
Top Questions to Ask Producers About Local Food
Editor’s Note: Good Morning. Today we are out at Simms Park for NeighbourWood Eats and the Wednesday Farmers Market. Folks from the Comox Valley Regional District will be on hand teaching adults and kids alike about the food lifecycle and composting. So, come join us from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. over by the covered [...]
Six Local Food Gems to Check Out
Editors Note: Today we are headed out to the Wednesday Farmers Market at Simms Park in Courtenay for the first of four NeighbourWood Eats events as part of the Eat Real. Eat Local 30-Day Food Challenge. Bring a picnic (including a dish to share) and join in near the band stand as kids get to [...]
Farm to Family – ASHBerry Farm
Don and Louisa McClellan once saw themselves as the unlikeliest of farmers. Globe hopping with the Canadian Armed Forces, they lived in corners of the Earth most North Americans rarely see. But, it was that time away, and the start of a family, that brought a military pilot and his self-professed “B.C. hippie” bride back [...]
Farm to Family – Island View Lavender
Editor’s Note: Good morning. As we dig into our regular Farm to Family column this morning, I’ve got to say that my eyes were opened last week as to how truly special the food system in the Comox Valley is. I went to Toronto with an open mind, and came out surprised for the better [...]
For the Love of it – Good Earth Farms
One day, not so long ago, there was a couple who would soon know that a life in the garden would be something they made together. On that first date, the guy – Simon Toole – brought with him some home grown gems and seeds he’d saved and offered them to a gal named Heather. [...]
Green-e-ology – Equitable Eating's Many Forms
Genetic engineering. Antibiotics. Pesticides. Additives. Air pollution. Animal welfare. Economics. Irradiation. Hormones. rBGH. Water pollution. Now that I’ve got your attention, do you think about any of the above before making food choices? If so, then you’ve likely been far ahead of me for years. I’m a little slow with the food. [give that head [...]
Family & Freshness – Seaview Game Farm
Editor’s Note: This is a bittersweet day as Robyn Butler hangs up her OBE columnist pen when she moves into her new role as our advertising and marketing associate. I have been inspired over the last half a year to spend way more time cruising the local farm scene. Eating local is as easy as [...]
Go Old Skool (and delicious) at DeeKayTee Ranch
Ah, how I live for Saturday mornings. It’s become a necessary ritual to indulge in some “me-time,” and my favorite way to cap off yet another busy week is to set out to explore what’s fun on the farm market scene in our beautiful little corner of the Earth. My latest discovery is DeeKayTee Ranch, [...]
Preserving the Comox Valley, One Bite at a Time
When Karen Pattison bottles up local crops using the age-old tradition of preserving fruits and vegetables, she’s also preserving fond memories of her childhood in Willow Point near Campbell River. Now the owner of Bite Size Specialty Foods, she grew up eating tasty veggies from her grandparents’ garden in their neighbouring property. And after a [...]
Enjoy A Local Chinese New Year Feast
With the Lunar New Year starting Monday (January 26), what better time to gather the family and celebrate by creating a local feast to commemorate the Year of the Ox. In Chinese culture, food prepared during this celebratory season is meant to bring luck as many dishes have symbolic meaning in relation to their appearance [...]
Local Fresh Bread – Wheat- & Gluten-Free
Eating wheat-free or gluten-free doesn’t mean you have to give up foods you love! It seems these days. Many families have to eliminate wheat products from the household grocery list because of intolerance or allergy. Bread lovers (myself included) find it hard enough to curb this staple from our daily diet (who can resist carbs!), [...]
Prontissima Pasta – A Taste of Italy in the Valley
Life is a combination of magic and pasta… …these famous words of Italian film maker Fellini have come to life in our little slice of paradise. From their home-based commercial kitchen on Courtenay’s Fifth Street, Prontissima Pasta owners Sarah and Wally Walsh have seen their year-old business flourish so much that they’re in production four [...]
A Holiday Feast Filled with Local Food
It seems that each year the pre-holiday craziness sets in earlier, our wish-lists get longer and our expectations get higher. Add the task of preparing a tasty designer dinner and it’s downright daunting. We’re so incredibly lucky to be living in the Comox Valley as it allows us access to fresh, local produce and specialty [...]
Wholesome Goodness In A Nutshell – Happy Creek Farm
Editor’s Note: A trip to just about any local farm – or as a rainy-season alternative, your local Farmers Market – is a great way to connect kids to food. Putting that together with family reading of a book like This Is The Feast by Diane Z. Shore, illustrated by Megan Lloyd, which we reviewed [...]
Hidden Secrets at Finlay Creek Farm
Editor’s Note: Today our intrepid local food writer Robyn Butler is revealing a true diamond in the rough when it comes to local charm and absolutely amazing products. I had the chance to meet the women who run Finlay Creek Farm on Halloween and, I have to tell you, they are two of the most [...]
A Slice of the Apple Harvest from Watrin Orchard
Editor’s Note: One of the fantastic additions to Our Big Earth-Comox Valley are the talented columnists whom you are about to meet for the first time over the next couple of weeks. Today, you get to know Robyn Butler, who takes local food to the next level – introducing families to local agricultural producers across [...]
Eat Local at Comox Valley Farms
Ash Berry Farm, on Royston Road in Royston – U-pick strawberries, raspberries and gooseberries. Blue Haven Farm, at the corner of Anderton Road and Idiens Way in Comox – U-Pick blueberries. Seifert’s Farm Market on Knight Road in Comox has a farm market open daily and packed full of locally grown (some from BC like [...]
Ashprington Farm
With berry season in full swing, I have been running around like crazy trying to find a u-pick raspberry spot in the Valley. They are, in the end, not very easy to find. On our way to and from the beach, other farms and adventures along the Old Island Highway I’d seen a sign for [...]
"Green" Meat
OK, the first thing you think of when you see a post titled Green Meat is nothing edible, for sure. But, while folks devote a whole lot of time to organic vegetables and fruit, switching over to free-range, drug-free and organically raised meat is – I was recently told by a friend and naturopath – [...]
Pattison Organic Farm Stand
I am always on the lookout for the least expensive way to eat organics. Going the organic route with food has become more and more important to us – especially after the tiny person came along and I started reading up on the effects of pesticides, herbicides and fungicides on the immune systems, mental health [...]
ASHBerry Farm
Since I first discovered the earthy goodness of hitting the berry patch for a day of digging in the dirt and coming home with buckets full of freshness, U-Pick food of any kind has ranked right up there. The simple notion of literally knowing where your food comes from – since most of us aren’t [...]
