I’m taking a little break from food and farming blogging over the next few days. We’re heading south on a roadtrip that will take us through Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama. Some have already pointed out to me how crazy an undertaking that is for the middle of August given the heat and humidity in this region in the summer months, but in any case, the travels are under way.

I’ll be blogging about our adventures as we go – you can check them out on my personal blog at www.lilianschaer.com.

Food and Farming Canada posts will return to regularly scheduled programming in a couple of weeks.

Back in the spring, I wrote a post about an Ontario farmer who is experimenting with growing edamame this year.

Edamame is a succulent soybean that is popular in Asian cuisine. Currently virtually all edamame consumed in Canada is grown in Asia, which means there could be a market opportunity for Ontario farmers to begin growing the crop here. This is what led farmer Jason Persall, a fourth generation farmer who markets a line of 100 percent Canadian oils, wine vinegars, soya sauces and cooking wines under the Pristine Gourmet brand, to trial different varieties on his Waterford-area farm. [Read the rest of this entry...]

We took advantage of the recent long weekend to spend a few days in the Kawartha region of Ontario. The village of Lakefield was our principle destination – and the highlight of our weekend a visit with our friend Jennifer MacKenzie. Jen and her husband, Chef Jay Nutt, own Nuttshell Next Door, a cafe in downtown Lakefield. [Read the rest of this entry...]

We’re in the middle of prime fruit and vegetable season. The heat and sun of the summer bring with them roadside stands, farmers markets and local food stores brimming with fresh, Ontario-grown produce. I, for one, as someone who supports local food production and values Ontario’s farmers, am in my element as I’m revelling in the seasonal bounty of our fields.

But this season also annually gives new life to the ongoing debate about whether or not we should be using crop protection materials in our food production. Earlier this summer, a U.S. activist group released its yearly list of fruits and vegetables they say consumers should avoid because they contain the highest levels of pesticide residues. [Read the rest of this entry...]

I make no secret of my love affair with chocolate. In fact, as someone born in Switzerland, I sometimes feel like it’s my cultural duty to my heritage to ensure that my blood flows as chocolate-brown as possible.

So, given that background, the thought that products like Nutella and Fererro Rochers might soon be considered locally grown makes my chocolate-loving heart beat just a little bit faster. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Farmers are looking at many different solutions for dealing with rising energy costs. For one greenhouse grower, the answer lies with a new technology, a thermal blanket installation, which is expected to lower his energy costs by about one-third.

Gerard Schouwenaar of Orchard Park Growers, a St. Catharines-area flower producer, retrofitted a 30,000 sq ft greenhouse in the fall of 2009 with the technology—also called a thermal curtain—as a
way of combating rising energy costs and he’s very satisfied with the results.
[Read the rest of this entry...]

Weetabix, a global cereal brand, is sponsoring a wheat art competition for Ontario farmers this year. Sounds a little out-of-the ordinary at first glance and I must admit it is. After all, cereal, art and farming aren’t usually things I tend to link in my head.

Ontario wheat farmers are encouraged to give their artistic selves free reign to express themselves by taking part in a competition to build the best straw bale sculpture in Ontario. [Read the rest of this entry...]