Traced Elements

Tag: Spring

The Do Over

My favorite strip in the ol’ daily commute is in full bloom: Dogwood Row aka the false flat of Nairn Falls. When this magical time finally happens I know spring has officially arrived. These native beauties symbolizes this time of the year perfectly: rebirth and resurrection, durability and reliability, strength and resilience.

So, life has felt a little backwards lately and I’ve been dormant like the bulbs I planted in the fall: slowly growing in hibernation, slowly surfacing to flower. While the green glow of spring delivers a healthy dose of new beginnings there will always be things that don’t survive the winter.

The beauty is, you can always replant.

Spring offers up a chance to do over everything from last year… literally, start fresh, change the pattern and do it better. Prune away the dead to promote new growth, leaving some things the same (they’re called perennials for a reason) and don’t forget to tend to your evergreens as they are there for you every season.

It’s not always as simple as it seems: a large puzzle with small pieces. Sometimes you’re rewarded beyond expectation in an instant and sometimes patience is a virtue.

But by saying yes to growing new things and experimenting with new varieties we can create a new palette to work with.

There is little risk in gardening if you’re willing to fail and get your hands dirty. Notable and new to my garden this year are Jerusalem artichokes, shiso and fennel (which will actually be nowhere near my garden because it’s friends with no one). Oh, and way more flowers! Because why not? And pollination is key to life. Other plants are bound to sneak their way in too.

When supported by a cast of usual suspects: beets, carrots, cabbage, cauliflower, cucumber, tomatoes, brussel sprouts, squash, cantaloupe, onions, garlic, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, peppers, peas, beans, all the herbs, chard, radish, daikon, celery, kale, romaine, greens, kohlrabi, leeks etc, one can be nourished and flourish quite well.

There is a good chance I’ve already said this but I’m just going to keep saying it:

Grow what you love, try new things, revisit old favourites and savour the process.

May 9, 2019
Happy Anniversary, to me.

It was a year ago to the day while consuming a couple tasty Steam Works IPAs in a Richmond Irish Pub en route to a family vacation in Mexico that I took the plunge and joined the Traced Elements family. Maybe it was liquid courage that egged me on because at the time I was scared to dive into a world I knew nothing about: writing. The only constant I had to offer was my deep love for gardening. As luck would have it I learned I also loved to write – or maybe this whole endeavor came into my life when I needed a new outlet more then I realized at the time.

Regardless: it’s one of my favourite decisions to date.

The winter’s sun, as of late, has been flooding my living space with a warming heat reminiscent of sandy beaches and margaritas while the arctic air swirls around outside. My cheeks are constantly blushed in colour having been kissed by the cold. Overall, I welcome this false warmth; it’s a perfect excuse to devour a bowl of spicy miso ramen, everyday.

As the days get longer I look forward to my garden springing to life, even if they are currently blanketed in more snow then I can recall in the valley in years, my thoughts are hopeful, green and full of blooms. Many days I get lost and overwhelmed by the potential of things to grow as I browse numerous websites. Basically, my urge to propagate as many cool things as possible usually wins. You already know if you’ve read my other blogs that I’m a firm believer in the, “there is no harm in trying” experimental method.

Seeds; they fuel everything. (A little bit of love doesn’t hurt either.)

Plant anything and something good is bound to come from it. Sometimes there is growth and sometimes there are failures; either way you’ll learn something.

I have been carrying the following quote with me for years but it is only now that I finally feel like I am acting on it (after all spring ushers in rebirth). So, in the words of Byron Pulsifer I leave you with this,

“Passion creates the desire for more and action fuelled by passion creates a future.”

…get ready to see some really cool things from me.

#summerofmeesh

February 19, 2019
Mindful Morning Musings •

This past month I have been thinking a lot about mindfulness and mindful eating.

Anngela Leggett (Evergreen Fitness) and I recently ran the Mindful Morning Retreat at Blue House Organics. It was a magical morning consisting of a beautiful yoga practice with Anngela, raw treats, and a circle of discussion around the way we eat and the way we think about food.

What an amazing experience it is to openly share your experiences with mindfulness and food with a group of unique and inspiring individuals. I was blown away.

I knew I wasn’t going to be delivering exactly what people would expect. I was there as a guide, to show people the ball was already in their court, and help them to discover how they could realistically apply mindful eating to support mental health, to their own individual lifestyles.

As it turns out, I may have learned more from the group than they did from me! I learned new ways to approach mindfulness, I was taught how to be grateful for the action of making dinner for your loved ones, I was taught how to be mindful through your purchases of food, not just at meal times, and I learned just how important these reminders are.

I shared this reading with the group from Peace Is Every Step, by Thich Nhat Hanh:

“One day, I offered a number of children a basket filled with tangerines. The basket was passed around, and each child took one tangerine and put it in his or her palm. We each looked at our tangerine, and the children were invited to meditate on its origins. They saw not only their tangerine, but also its mother, the tangerine tree. With some guidance, they began to visualise the blossoms in the sunshine and in the rain. Then they saw petals falling down and the tiny green fruit appear. The sunshine and the rain continued, and the tiny tangerine grew. Now someone has picked it, and the tangerine is here. After seeing this, each child was invited to peel the tangerine slowly, noticing the mist and the fragrance of the tangerine, and then bring it up to his or her mouth and have a mindful bite, in full awareness of the texture and taste of the fruit and the juice coming out. We ate slowly like that.

Each time you look at a tangerine you can see deeply into it. You can see everything is the universe in one tangerine. When you peel it and smell it, its wonderful. You can take your time eating a tangerine and be very happy.”

Lisa Richardson writes for the Pique, and had this to say about the Mindful Morning Retreat:

“They offered to help us connect the dots between food and mood. I went to pick up a few good lifestyle hacks that would help me come away from that moment when I’m standing forlornly in front of the fridge, with a fistful of carrot sticks and a dash of psychic resilience instead of a spoonful of Nutella and a guilty conscience.

Our guide, Maguire, having survived six years of disordered eating and come out the other side with practical wisdom to partner with her science degree, informed us that there is no such thing as good food and bad food. She invited us to replace that hazardous dichotomy with mindfulness. Self-care and slowing down. The Mindful Morning Retreat wasn’t an intervention, a six-step program or even a specific solution. It was quite simply a beautiful morning of yoga followed by tea and treats, and the chance for a circle of people to sit together and make connections—between our experiences and other people’s experiences, between our eating habits and our emotions. It was the welcome mat to mindfulness. It was the reminder that attention, not willpower, will save us, from pathology, addiction, the downward spiral of self-loathing.”

Some questions to ponder:

What does mindfulness mean to you?

What does mindful eating mean to you?

How can you realistically apply this to your own life?

Do you think about food as being ‘good’ or ‘bad’?

Do you feel guilty after eating certain foods?

Does social media influence how you feel about food?

❤

Nutrition Mind Collective

@nutritionmindcollective

June 26, 2018
Nootka Rose Jelly

For me the art of slowing down and smelling the roses has turned into taking advantage of the surplus of this native shrub behind my house, plucking their petals and creating something delicious. As it is in my garden where I rarely follow my planting plans the same holds true to my style of cooking; recipes are but a base. I’ll admit my first batch, from a recipe I followed, did not set. This led me to taking matters into my own hands, going with the flow and trusting my strong sense of jamming. So, queue up some Bob Marley as I guide you to making your very own wild rose jelly.

INGREDIENTS

≈4 cups wild rose petals, lightly packed

4½ cups boiling water

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

5½ cups sugar

2 pkgs liquid pectin

Other: cheesecloth, jars, lids, tops, a big pot & lots of love

Start by foraging for rose petals: try to pick in areas away from the roadside and pick higher then a dog may pee! Give them a small bath in the sink to get rid of the majority of bigger bugs and pick out any of the greens. Don’t stress too much about getting everything, as you’ll end up straining the lot later. Place them in a nonreactive bowl, cover with the boiling water and allow steep for 1-2hrs. The petals will lose their colour and look quite dull but patience is key here.

While your petals are steeping prepare your jelly vessels. This recipe makes approximately 8-9 cups of liquid gold; I use a mishmash of 125ml and 250ml jars and usually prepare a few more then what’s needed, just incase. Wash every thing then put the lids and tops in a pot submerged in water and place on the stove over medium-high heat. Jars can go on a cookie sheet in the oven at 250°F. You want these to sit in their respective mediums for at least an hour.

When you’re satisfied with how long the petals have steeped or you can’t wait any longer get ready for some magic. Add the lemon juice and watch the water go from blah to vibrant pink! It’s science.

Pour the petals and water through a strainer lined with cheesecloth straight into a big pot squeezing all the liquid out that you can. You want 4 cups of rose water; if you’re a bit short just add a bit of filtered water. I found this recipe made the right amount of water so you should be fine but feel free to measure if you’re not sure. I like to wing things. Add the sugar and bring up to a boil, stirring to ensure all the sugar incorporates into the rose water. Once at a hard boil keep it here for 2 minutes skimming any foam off the top. After the time has elapsed remove from the heat, add the pectin and stir to combine for 5-6 minutes – no less – more is okay but no less.

Now you’re ready to put your creation into jars and await the sweet satisfying sound of popping lids. Some recipes call for a water bath to finish the canning process but I’ve never done that. I just go with what my mom taught me, which is what’s outlined here, and it’s never failed me just like her.

This simple tasty treat can be enjoyed may ways but my favourite thus far is on coconut ice cream or straight out of the jar… Happy jammin’!

June 4, 2018
Wildflower Gummies!
On May 11, I hosted a camp where we were supposed to make dandelion jelly. I had all these beautiful ideas in my head about the kids picking a huge bowl of blossoms out in the back field with the bees and other pollinators, their, fingers becoming stained yellow with pollen… how romantic. Of course, this is not how it happened in real life.

“Jelly, what’s that?” one of the girls asked.

“Well, it’s like jam, except there are no chunks in it, and we can make it from flowers!”

“THAT SOUNDS GROSS!!” They replied in chorus. “EWWWW! WE ARE NOT MAKING THAT!! DISGUSTING!!”

Well, that stumped me. For a moment.

“Wait… we could make dandelion GUMMIES. Would that be better?”

“YES!!” It was unanimous. GUMMIES were obviously WAY better than jelly.

While we were waiting for our gummies to set in the freezer, we went outside and picked dandelions in the front yard. I showed the girls something my dad taught me when I was a little kid: that if you pick the largest dandelion stem you can find and take off its flower, it makes a noise like a kazoo! It takes a bit of patience to find the right stem, and sometimes you have to break it shorter and shorter before it will start to make noise. It’s some kind of magic that happens when the dandelion milk in the bottom of the stem starts to vibrate, so it helps to have a juicy one! Two of the girls got bored and wandered away to play tag with Vinnie the sheep. But Avery was very excited about playing dandelions. “This is the best day of my life!” she exclaimed. “Now I can annoy everyone FOREVER!”

Our gummies after being cut into bite sized morsels!

As we cut up, divided up and packaged our very own homemade dandelion gummies, I realized this gummie making is an incredible way to get even the most squeamish of kids interested in the world that is growing all around them. If seasonal edible flower gummies can lead them to being able to identify a few species growing in their own back yard, then they learn to have a relationship with that particular plant, and that relationship can be a gateway to curiosity. In what other ways that plant can be used? What kind of environment does it like to grow in? Knowing a single plant intimately is enough to make the natural world come alive. I bet that even from reading this post you will notice dandelions more. Your awareness of them will become sharper, more open. And this kind of curiosity- this relatedness- is precious. It leads to a sense of belonging to the maze of green abundant life that exists outside our windows, the same way that knowing a friend in a crowd makes being amongst that many strangers less overwhelming. So if all we need is a few cups of cane sugar to kindle this relationship, then so be it!

Posing with our finished product!

And don’t worry, I am going to give you recipes. I am also going to acknowledge I am leading you on a little, as dandelion season is almost completely over in Pemby. Don’t worry, you can use any edible fragrant flower to make your gummies. That means, lilacs = yes. Peonies = yes. And those wild roses that are just starting to bloom? Yes, you can use those too!!

First, you need to make a flower syrup. I make mine in big batches, as I like to be able to keep some to make into summer drinks (a few tbsp and a bit of mineral water over ice on a hot day = heavenly). Please note that the syrup recipe is not intended to be canned, as the proportions are not tested for safety. So please keep your syrups in the fridge! I am confident you will use them up before they have a chance to go bad. This recipe makes about 6c of syrup, which is quite a lot. You can always halve or quarter the amounts if you want to make a smaller batch.

Wildflower Syrup:

2c flower petals

4c cane sugar

5c water

1 organic lemon, sliced
1. Prepare your flowers. It is best to harvest them in full sun at the height of the day. (From noon to 3 pm.) That way the flowers will retain the most potency and fragrance. Whichever kind of flower you are using, do your best to use only the petals. (In the case of dandelions, this means removing the green base of the flower.) Use flowers as close as you can to the time of harvest, as they will lose potency as soon as they are picked.
2. Bring the water to a boil and add the cane sugar and stir until dissolved.
3. Add flower petals and sliced lemon and cover your pot or bowl with a tea towel or cheesecloth to keep out flies, and leave out at room temperature to infuse for 2-4 days, stirring once per day. You want to optimize the length of your infusion without your syrup starting to ferment. If you see lots of bubbles or you are happy with the flavour, it’s time to move onto step 4…
4. Strain and bottle your syrup. Enjoy!
Wildflower Gummies

1c flower syrup

3pkj (3tbsp) gelatin*
1. Find a mould for your gummies. I used the bottom of a tupperware container and cut them into squares, but you could get super creative here. You don’t need parchment or non stick spray or anything.
2. Heat your flower syrup until just before boiling. Separate 1/4 -1/2 c of syrup and shake or whisk the Gelatin into it. (I used a small Mason jar and shook it to combine the gelatin, then strained out the residual lumps using a tea strainer as I feel you get less foam this way.)
3. Add the gelatin mix to the rest of your syrup, stir well to combine, then pour it into your mould. If foam has accumulated on top of your gummy, skim it off with a spoon.
4. Let your gummies set. I put mine in the freezer, but if you are not in such a rush you can just leave them out.
5. To get your gummy out of the mould, dip your mould into warm water for a few minutes (being careful not to get water on your gummy). Then run a knife around the edge of your mould and you should be able to pull it right out. Don’t be afraid to use your fingers to pull it out of the mould- you won’t wreck it.
6. Now you can cut your gummy into shapes with a sharp knife or cookie cutter. You could also roll them in sugar and leave them out for a few days is you want a chewier texture. I was happy with mine as they were as I found them already quite sweet. If you don’t go the additional sugar method, I would keep your gummies in the fridge as they do have quite a bit of moisture in them and will mould if they are not devoured within the first few days. Enjoy!
*I used Knox Gelatin which comes pre-portioned in little paper packages, but I saw Stay Wild has boxed gelatin that is also gluten free!
May 23, 2018
Food and Feelings: Caesar Trail

There’s a scene from the movie Now and Then where all of the girls are joyfully riding their bikes around their town. Often when I’m riding my bike with my friends, around Pemberton, I pretend I’m in that movie. Perhaps it’s because what I’m doing is a simple yet heart-fulfilling activity? Perhaps when I’m on my bike it feels like all of life’s complications melt away? Perhaps I just really love that movie and wish I was in it?

I’m not sure what it is but I love being on my bike and riding the “mellow” trails and routes around town.

Being from Winnipeg, where the biggest hill I had growing up was a bridge, inclines and declines can be intimidating to me. So, I’ve established that there are certain trails in town that I’m comfortable with.

One of those trails is called “Caesar Trail.”

Upon moving to Pemberton in 2012 I was introduced to the activity of riding my bike along the dike to the golf course zone. It’s quite magical and beautiful to ride my bike on the dike and to be able to choose where to go next once the dike ends. I found myself more often than not riding that trail and ending up at one of the golf courses for a Caesar.

Yum….Caesars.

The fact that the route/trail didn’t have that exciting of a name, in my opinion, I started to call it the “Cesar Trail.” Maybe this is a name that will catch on? Maybe this is the name that only me and my friends will use?

All that matters is that at the end of the beautiful and chill adventure is a Caesar.

It’s my favorite trail to ride in the whole Sea to Sky Corridor and I recommend you try it out (especially if the sun is shining).

Cheers to Tara and Kalmia for being my partners-in-caesar and to Shayne for taking pictures of us!

May 16, 2018
The Joy of Hummingbirds

The first time I saw a hummingbird was in Sooke, on Vancouver Island, while visiting my boyfriend’s parents. They had several feeders around their property, and the first time one of these minuscule, zippy birds approached, I was completely rapt. I’ve found them fascinating ever since, but we lived in Vancouver, where no hummingbirds dared venture.

When Nathan and I moved to Pemberton four years ago, his mother Lisa gave us a hummingbird feeder as a housewarming gift. It was December at the time, and I couldn’t wait for spring to arrive to set up our feeder.

And now every year, as much as I look forward to spring for the fresh green scent of new growth and the return of warmer weather, what I really look forward to is the return of the hummingbirds. I get immense joy from putting out fresh, homemade nectar for these precious visitors, and take special care to ensure my feeder is always stocked. (I haven’t planted my garden yet, but I’ve already refilled my feeder twice.)

Part of my joy comes from being able to watch these fascinating birds closely, as the feeder is located right by our living room window. But a good portion of this joy is from the feeling that I’m helping these tiny creatures by providing them with food. Especially at this time of year, when the flowers are still just returning and nectar is low, and they are vying for the attentions of potential mates. (It must take a lot of energy to execute those dive-bombing shows the males use to impress the ladies.) Since moving here, I’ve learned there’s plenty of wildlife you shouldn’t feed, but thankfully the hummingbirds aren’t one. It gives me joy to feed these birds, while they in turn feed my joy.

Hummingbirds can be seen as a symbol of lightness, for the incredibly light way they move about their world. They can help remind us to try to use similar lightness in the way we move through our world. To leave gentle footprints on the Earth, to care for one another, and to treat everyone with gratitude and respect. So here’s to spring, here’s to joy, and here’s to the hummingbirds.

May 3, 2018
Honor Thy Weeding

It’s funny how life can throw us curveballs when we least expect. Call it coincidence that I have struck out during a season that literally celebrates rebirth and renewal. But as the saying goes; everything happens for a reason. What has kept me sane is my garden.

When you’re forced to slow down in a life that is typically robust it’s truly hard to cope – every day brings new challenges. Many of which I am not comfortable with and have had a hard time accepting.

So, what does an active gal do when forced to step outside of her skin and just be?

She sits with her garlic. She weeds. She envisions where all the little seedling starters will eventually go and thrive. She checks on these seedlings at least 20 times a day. She walks and appreciates the revival of the forest after a long winter. She watches the ants. She buys plants (retail therapy for the win).

A calming sensation genuinely lifts me up when I’m gardening. It’s my therapy. No stress involved – just the dirt and me. It has always been this way: before I was concussed, now while I’m concussed, and indefinitely when I’m past it.

There is something to be said about stopping to smell the roses. Going back to the simpler things gives us a greater appreciation of the bigger picture. Through my minor setback I have learned the importance of this phrase and will celebrate it beyond my recovery. Gardening has an effortless way of healing.

Spring. I surrender my ego to you… and the weeds in my garden.

April 18, 2018
Smells of spring, sweat, and soil

It would not be an exaggeration to say that I love all the seasons. Apologies if anyone finds this level of optimism off-putting, I have been told it can be a bit much. I think farming demands it: to anticipate each season’s arrival, to enjoy the process, and to be thrilled to see one go in order to welcome what comes next.

Spring is all about smells. After a winter of snow and soup and spreadsheets about farm planning and field layouts and budgets, it is so nice to smell dirt. Or “soil”, depending who you ask. I did not grow up on a farm and only started to dabble in it as a profession within the past decade, so the novelty of spring has not yet worn off. I hope that it never does.

This will be the third growing season of Four Beat Farm here in the meadows, and I would be lying if I said that I felt ready for it. But that’s the great part about farming and growing food—often the best option (the only option?) is to jump in before you are ready, because nature does not wait, and if you procrastinate too long to till or plant or weed or water or harvest then it may be another 365+ days before you can realistically try your hand at growing that particular crop again.

Right now, spring smells like freshly turned earth, compost, and sweaty horses who, along with their farmer, had a pretty quiet winter. Call it lazy, call it restful, either way the sudden workload of April can be a shock to the system. Thank goodness for variety. For every hour that is spent moving fresh manure into the greenhouse to keep it heated on cold nights, there are taxes to finish, cultivators that still haven’t been repaired, onion seedlings that need haircuts, and horses that appreciate an afternoon head scratch as their muscles rest after morning fieldwork.

When it comes to fieldwork, plowing with horses is slower than with a tractor, no arguments there. Our ever-improving farming systems for 3ish acres of certified organic vegetable seem to be functioning adequately throughout the summer season with the two horses at hand, often called a “team”. When people want to talk about it (or even when they don’t), I can and do enthusiastically chatter on that there are many jobs on the farm that horses do on par or better than I have seen done with a tractor. This is without even getting into the added benefits of having two 1600lb colleagues who eat local fuel, constantly produce compost, and bring a level of determination and sass to the field that I have yet to see in a combustion engine.

For this year’s planned spring tillage, however, which will allow for better crop rotation and attention to soil health, our current two horses are fully employed and could easily share the workload with two more given our short and intense growing season here in the valley. So, as in past years, we as a farm leave the option open to phone one of our many generous neighbours to bring in some extra horsepower for big jobs.

On a practical level, getting a few hours of custom tractor work here and there feels more efficient than feeding and caring two extra animals who are only going to work for a few weeks out of the year. I drawn parallels with fellow small farmers who might choose to rent heavy machinery for excavation projects, or how it can make sense to have a small car for your family and borrow a neighbour’s pickup truck when you need to bring home a few loads of compost to kick off the gardening season.

When weighing the options, I have to remind myself that we are a young farm that is in the business of growing food for our community, and that there are many ways to best do this. That said, if someone in the valley has a well-trained team of draft horses I can borrow to spell mine for a few days when their shoulders get sore, feel free to drive up the valley and drop by.

Our place is the one with plow lines that are not entirely straight, horses that still have their winter coats, and a hoophouse bursting with onion plants that are already dreaming of farmer’s markets at the community barn downtown.

-Naomi

Getting in shape, late March

April 13, 2018