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 stories [...]

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 Beach and [...]

30 Days of Local Food – How Was It?

Editor’s Note: Don’t forget to turn in your 30-Day Food Challenge passports at Brambles by midnight tonight to be eligible for the great prizes to be drawn for this week. If you’ve got 12 stamps, you’re eligible for the grand prize. But, don’t let numbers deter you. Anyone who participated and turns in a passport [...]

A Great Day In Union Bay & a Foodie Film Today

Good morning. Another hot, sticky Summer day means that it’s the perfect time to sneak away this afternoon to catch the first in our Chew On This Film Series – Nick Versteeg’s Island On The Edge. Check out the trailer for this fantastic Vancouver Island film on food security HERE.
The showing, in partnership with World [...]

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 having [...]

Getaways – Plan for June: Family Farms, Food & Wine

Welcome to my 30-day reminder that another month has escaped us (gasp!). Nearly HALF of 2009 is over and I still think it’s January.
While I realize this could be construed as a personal issue, I seriously suspect that time is simply speeding up and laughing at me as it whizzes by.
In an effort to [...]

Plan Some Family Fun in May

Did I say May? This year is racing by at the speed of light for me. I can’t believe we’re already nearing the middle of 2009. But, what that does mean is that things are starting to get very, very busy again around the region and doing some family fun planning for the next month [...]

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 foods [...]

Holiday Gems for the Heart (& The Kitchen)

I like to think of our family as a crew of non-traditional traditionalists.
We love Christmas and birthdays, presents and sweets. But, in ways that present the age-old traditions of those times with a classic sense of heart, not necessarily a classic point of view.
After falling hard for Eve Bunting’s holiday gem The Night Tree this [...]

Time to Hit the Pumpkin Patch

After waking up yesterday morning to freezing rain, my enthusiasm for taking 30 kiddos and their parents out to the pumpkin patch waned more than a little.

But, as usual, Mother Nature remembered there was one of our events going on at 12:30 p.m. So, the rain broke and we had a totally GORGEOUS afternoon out [...]

The Farm – Everyone Loves Apples

Last Sunday we had a house full of old friends from Vancouver. The combo of energetic kiddos and sleepy adults meant we b-lined for the backyard, only to discover something fantastic – the apples are ready.
That may not mean much to anyone else. But, we weren’t even sure there would be any apples in the [...]

Book Review – Life on The Farm and Ferdinand

When I was a kid, I loved the loners.
The ones who stood out and moved away from the crowd always won my heart – especially if they found themselves stepping back in the name of a big, gentle heart.
Characters like Thumbelina, Aslan and Pippi Longstocking took their rightful places as staples in the imaginary world [...]

It’s (Sort of) Berry Season

Mother Nature has not been kind in the U-Pick universe this year.
The whole June-uary weather event means that berry ripening and picking is well behind schedule. But, the good news is that berry farms are starting to open and local fruity yumminess will be available for early risers for the next few months in one [...]

The Farm – Cow Lips

Happy Canada Day.
While you are soaking up all of the family good times in the Valley that is celebrating the nation’s birthday, we are busting out our maple leaves and saluting the cow in Canada – in honour of our Hands-On Farm Friend Popsicle.
First, a few facts:
- Popsicle is a Holstein, the breed of [...]

Valley In Sight – Williams Beach & Seaview Game Farm

Editor’s Note:
As part of our Valley In Sight series we take a look today at the first Valley beach our daughter and I ever truly loved and its neighbouring farm that has become a mainstay in our Summertime and eating universe.
If there’s one thing the Valley has plenty of, it’s beautiful beaches.
I still find it [...]

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 Okanagan fruit) [...]

The Parents Primer for North Island Birthday Party Locales

If there was ever one day that makes kiddos screech with excitement and parents cringe just a bit with knowing the work that will go into it all, it has got to be your tiny person’s birthdays and the ensuing parties that make childhood sweet.
Finding the perfect locale to celebrate that special day can be [...]

“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 – actually [...]