Bailey's Buying Club - sweet potatoes not so sweet

Hi Folks,

Are you sitting down to satisfying meals these days? We've moved into
soup and stew mode. The winter mode. I discovered a "Brunswick Stew"
that is full-bodied flavour. I think the key ingredients are the
Worcestershire sauce and sweet corn. I used a vegetarian recipe from
Sundays at Moosewood and added that lovely turkey sausage from Miriam.

Naamon called me yesterday and asked "So, how are the sweet potatoes?"
I told him that mine were turning black very quickly and even the
non-black parts had a bitter taste sometimes. I thought I had stored
them in too warm of a location. No, he said. It's blight. After
selling us our sweet potatoes, they did not sell anymore because they
saw that they were rotting before their eyes. If you haven't checked
your sweet potatoes, please do so you don't end up with a slimy mess.
Naamon only charged $4 for a half bushel in hopes that you were able
to eat $4 worth before they went bad. He wants to make sure that you
know that local food IS good quality (not black sweet potatoes). With
blight, the plants look fine, the tubers look fine at harvest and then
they rot quickly. It is the second year that they've grown sweet
potatoes so they are still learning. The first year this did not
happen. It is a big loss of time and labour for them. Just think of
all the work of planting those rows, hoeing, harvesting, washing,
sorting and packing. The $4 a box will cover the cost of the cardboard
box and then a little extra to go toward all that work (as well as my
mark up to pay for transportation and costs).

Now, how to refund you the $11 dollars?! For the sake of simplicity,
I'd like to suggest that we donate that money to St. John's Kitchen.
With 33 orders for half bushels of orange sweet potatoes, that comes
to $363 I can donate on your behalf. If any of you are uncomfortable
with this suggestion, please don't hesitate to email me and I'll
propose another solution. If I don't hear from you by Dec 1, I'll
assume you're okay with me donating the money.

Some of you were asking about returning jars to Naamon to be reused.
He is willing to wash and reuse them so if you drop them off here in
our little side porch beside the driveway, I'll collect them and take
them back to Naamon. You can drop them off anytime but if it is Monday
or Friday, I'll probably be home with the kids.

I was talking to a dedicated local food enthusiast who refuses to open
any of her/their canned or dried foods until Winter solstice. Such
discipline! We can't seem to stop eating these peaches - and the pear
apple sauce is going quickly too. I used our dried grape tomato
halves on top of quiche yesterday and they are amazing especially with
sweet corn in the quiche.

I was feeling so rich and so blessed with a houseful of local food so
I wrote a list of everything that we have with some estimates of
quantities. I put that on the fridge along with a list of meal ideas
(and a few page numbers for recipes) that include these ingredients.
It's been helpful when my mind is blank on what to make for supper.

What is happening next year with the buying club? Still a big
mystery. I've been laying low and recovering from a buying club
season that was like a ride on a frisky horse. Exhilarating while also
stressful, exhausting, and a bit out of control. But VERY EXCITING!
Whew! And fun. Did I mention fun?! I'm ready to start wheels turning
and brainstorming now with other folks. I've been stewing over it
everyday, of course. One thing I'm feeling clear about is that I
don't want to lose the residential connection. If this moves to a
commercial location, it really loses something important. To try to
describe that "something important" I'd say it is walkability and the
value of neighbours connecting. I may send you a survey via Google
Docs to bounce a few ideas off of you again and get your feedback. I
did that in June and it was really helpful. That was how I learned
that many of you did NOT want a user fee or a requirement of a minimum
order.

If you've got an idea for how this buying club should or should not
continue, please email me. No idea is too crazy to consider!

I hope you and your families are enjoying each other.
I miss seeing you all.
Nina

order local food from farmer?

Hi Folks,

Are you eating well? We sure are! Chef salads tonight with toasted
local hazel and heartnuts. YUM!

I'm trying really hard to not sell local food this Winter. I will
resist... A farmer asked if I'd tell you how you can buy directly from
him. Sure. Here's their info:

Farmers Sam and Ellen Bowman are offering to deliver the following
certified organic foods to you on Nov. 18 (between 3:30 and 4:30pm)
and Dec 23 after 7pm. To order, phone them at 519-698-2960 (not on
Sunday). They live near Wallenstein with their two children and have
been leaders in the move toward organic farming in that area. There is
a $5 delivery charge per order. I'm not sure what that means if 5 of
you neighbours get together and order and pick it up at one house. You
can ask.

Garlic $4/lb ($1.25 each)
Squash $1/lb
Cabbage $1.50 ea
Beets - Red or Gold $3/quart, $10/8 litre basket, $20 half bushel, $35 a bushel
Spanish or Red $1/lb,
Cooking Onions $.70/lb
Carrots washed and packaged - 1 1/4lb for $2, $4 for 3lb
Carrots unwashed - half bushel $14 bushel is $25
Jars of Tomato Juice 750ml $4.50 ea
Jars of Tomato Sauce 250ml $2.75 ea
Ground Cherries $3/pint
First year transition to organic Mac Apples $6 for 3 litre
Kale $2 bunch
Roasting chickens $3.75/lb frozen
Potatoes - unwashed Red, Yukon, or Gold
50lb $30
25lb $17
10lb $8
5lb 5
Blue potatoes 10lb $15, 5lb $10
Cooking onions
50lb $30
25lb $17
10lb $8
Spanish Onions
50lb $40
25lb $22.50
10lb $10
Turkeys (20-30lbs) limited quantity for Dec 23 at $3.75lb

If someone who lives near me wants to order for Dec 23, I'd like to
order then too and pick it up at your house (switcharoo).

Bailey's Notes for today

Hi Folks,

What a gorgeous day for picking up local food!!
There is too much I want to tell you about. I have to send an email
today rather than try to cram it all on your pick up slips.

Someone asked me if the canned goods are made in an inspected
facility. The fruits jars are preserved in an facility inspected by
Region of Waterloo Public Health Department. The relishes and pickles
are made in a kitchen that is up to inspection standards (just built
this summer) but has not been inspected yet. Both Erma and Naamon are
trained in food handling and are careful in what they do.

PASTA
First of all, the pasta is a SURPRISE! Turns out Rosa (at Vincenzo's)
made us not 50/50 unbleached/whole wheat, it's Unbleached Wheat OR
Whole Wheat SPIRAL pasta. Okay, we can be flexible. You'll be able to
choose if you want unbleached or whole wheat when you come.

APPLES
The low-spray apples have scabs on them. I want to make sure that you
understand that if farmers don't spray the heck out of their orchards,
they get scabs. Scabs do not affect the taste or keeping ability. Just
think of them as polka-dotted apples. Cool, right? : )

NUTS
I'm short on chestnuts and hazelnuts so I lowered everyone's order to
one pound so that more people can taste them. I ordered extra of the
Heartnuts so check them out on the spontaneous table and consider
topping up your amount with those.

PEACHES
We opened a jar for dessert last night for the first time. Oh my. THEY
ARE SO GOOD. They taste like summer. I don't know how else to describe
it. We polished off two jars in one sitting (we had three adults and
two kids who love peaches). Peaches will be on the spontaneous table
if you're wishing you had ordered more. I'll lower the price a little
too. They are just so labour intensive (washing them, skinning them,
slicing them, packing into jars...) and you remember that no-spray
peaches are not cheap to begin with. Lots of work goes into them. Can
we compare them to a Blizzard at DQ? I think they're about $5. Or a
slice of cheesecake at a restaurant? Which is more valuable in taste
pleasure, nutrition and ethical pleasure?

The Spontaneous Table will be FULL of goodies today. I have some
extras of things from other weeks that I'll put out there too. If you
get here early, here is what you'll find on the Spontaneous Table:

Peaches
Apple-Pear Sauce
Pickled Beets
Currant Jam
Canola Oil
Apple Cider Vinegar
Celery
Parsnip
Dried Beans (a few I found through Pfennings)
Peach Custard Pies
Butter

There are bound to be more surprises today so come expecting the
unexpected. I know that we are short on pear slices, dilly beans, and
garlic dill cukes so we will quickly run out. Remember, don't come in
a rush. We are not a store or a factory and do not pride ourselves on
the speed at which we process you or anything else. We'd rather you
take the time to tell us what you're thinking and stop and smell the
celariac (it smells just like celery!).

See you later,
Nina

Bailey's Reminder to Order and deal on Apple-Pear sauce

Hi Folks,

This is your reminder to place an order before 9PM tonight.

I'll be offering another End of the Season Special on Friday:
Apple-Pear Sauce by the case.
I've ended up with about twice the amount I meant to have. I sent bosc
pears with my dad to Naamon and Selema's cider press/cannery with the
instructions to make apple-pear cider (sounds delicious, no?). A week
later Naamon left a message saying that my apple-pear SAUCE was ready
to pick up! Somewhere between me, my dad, Naamon, Selema and their
nine children the order for cider became one for sauce. So, Matthew
and I already canned 80+ jars of pear-apple sauce this year (our most
ever!) so we won't need more than about 20 of these. Even if I give
some away as Christmas gifts, I'll have some leftover by Spring. So,
I'll be selling it by the case at an extremely low price. I'd rather
lose a little money on them and see them go to good homes than have
them sit on my shelve for three years. They will be $25 for a case of
12 quarts (that's $2.08/qt!). If you've already ordered them at the
regular (and accurate) price, please don't be cranky - just order
more!

The history of the pears and apples in the sauce is kind of confusing.
They are all 50/50 apple/pear.The first batch is from Bartletts from a
backyard tree in Waterloo that was never sprayed and conventional
apples. The second batch is from bosc pears from Eva and Rene that
were not sprayed and low-spray apples from Naamon and Selema. We'll
have the cases marked as Bartlett or Bosc and you can choose which one
you want as long as quantities last.

I'm looking forward to seeing you Friday,
Nina

Bailey's Local Food Buying Club

Hi Folks,

In case you've never tried it, cabbage, carrots, celariac, beets and
parsnips easily last four weeks in the fridge (at least they do in my
old fridge). Chinese cabbage keeps well too.

Cheese from Millbank this week. See the new offering of Organic
Sundried Tomato and Garlic Cheddar Cheese Curds. Wendell was handing
out samples of this a monthago. VERY tasty. I'm offering an "End of
the Season Special" on the bulk blocks of Old Cheddar. I'm offering
them to you at cost just for the joy of seeing you walk away with a
big block of cheddar under your arm and the knowledge that you'll be
thinking of me kindly for weeks as you nibble away at it.

Man! This food looks good. I get hungry just reading the list. We are
so blessed with farmers and cheesemakers and bakes who produce all
this food for us.

See you Friday,
Nina

I've invited you to fill out the form Bailey's Local Food Buying Club.
To fill it out, visit:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=p65AudJ1znNWxuDDnozzeDQ

Bailey's Buying Club Oct 31

Hi Folks,

I'm sorry to report that this is the last Bailey's Buying Club until
Spring. I can't run the buying club while finding a new location and
shifting to a not-for-profit structure. It is going to take a lot of
work to find a new location and figure out a good system. So we'll
all have to scrounge on our own for local foods this Winter. I was
looking forward to celebrating how much local food there was available
all Winter but that will have to wait until next year.

The good news is that we're going to have a humdinger of a selection
of local foods this Friday. This is your chance to stock up on food
for the next few weeks and months. I'm trying to decide just how much
cheese I can cram into my fridge. Enough for two months at least. If I
shred and freeze five pounds that will help increase the local cheese
stocks at our house. We'll have cheese from Millbank again which you
need to order by Tuesday at 9PM. They are having a hard time packing
and delivering it for us so quickly so they need that extra day. The
other items on the order form are still available to order until Wed
at 9PM.

This Friday you can buy all-local pasta (and organic) that Rosa at
Vincenzos made for us from Oak Manor flour! They made a 50/50 whole
wheat and unbleached wheat blend for us. I haven't had a chance to try
it yet. I'm just assuming it is as good as the other pasta they make.

The dried bean farmer did not return my phone or email messages. I
hope he and his family are okay. That means no local beans for us this
year. But we do have local nuts!! After much searching, and with the
transportation help of a kind father-in-law of Marnie, we have
hazelnuts, heartnuts and chestnuts to offer. They were grown near
Niagara by the Grimo father and daughter team (Ernie and Linda) who
not only tend a nut orchard, they are leaders in promoting nut tree
planting and cultivation in Ontario. They have helped develop
varieties of nuts that do well in our climate. You can google Grimo
Nursery to read more about them or join SONG the Society of Ontario
Nut Growers. Even if you don't have room to plant a tree, you can
support others by joining. What I want to know is how do they keep
the squirrels away from the ripe nuts? One nut farmer I talked to said
this was his biggest problem. These nuts I have from Grimos are
beautiful. Heartnuts are really heart-shaped. Not just sort of. They
crack best with a hammer tapped on the edge with the seam and then
open like a locket to reveal an even more heart-shaped nut meat
inside. The taste of heartnuts is like a very mild English walnut.
Yum. I want to try toasting them but I just keep eating them as fast
as I can crack them.

This is your last chance to stock up on potatoes from our farmers.
Even without a root cellar, most families can use 25lbs of potatoes
before they get too soft. We also have sweet potatoes! These store
even longer than potatoes. The farmer (Selema Martin but not the same
Selema Martin we've been buying many other things from) says that if
you wrap each sweet potato in newspaper and put them in a cool dry
place, they'll keep until March. She puts hers in an upstairs bedroom
- but she does not have central heat. I think I'll get a half bushel
to keep in my pantry and use in two months (no wrapping needed) and
another half bushel that I'll wrap and put in a closet with an
exterior wall that stays cool in Winter. Selema says that the orange
ones keep better than the white ones.

Apples. Naamon (married to Selema) has got low-spray Empire and Ida
Reds for us. By low spray he means that he sprayed twice instead of
the usual 12 times. The last spray was right after the trees bloomed
(over 120 days ago). He says they have scabs on them but the scabs do
not effect the keeping abilities or the taste. They are just an
aesthetic blemish. These same apples are used to make the low-spray
cider offered this week. It is unpasturized and comes in 2 litre
plastic jugs. If you pour two inches out you can easily freeze the
cider in the jug.

Are you thinking about Christmas yet? Local food makes a great gift.
It doesn't end up in the landfill. Whether you get it from this
buying club or somewhere else imagine the simple beauty of giving a
jar of honey or maple syrup, peaches in a jar, garlic, popcorn,
sparkling cider... Or how about a theme to it: A basket of sweet
potatoes, garlic, onions and apples with a recipe for a creamy soup
that combines all of those. I love giving food. It makes me feel
happy. It feels especially good to be able to include a note (verbal
or written) about where the foods are from.

What else do we have this week? Frozen squash puree. Yes. Naamon and
Selema's family makes this in his cider press facility by steaming the
squash and then putting it through the ricer. It comes in convenient
2 cup containers. This same family canned peach slices, pear slices,
pear sauce and pear apple sauce for us. I was going to offer it slowly
all Winter but now you have one day to buy enough to last you the
Winter months. Unfortunately, I don't have enough for all of you to
stock up. It's first come, first serve on these things. When they're
gone, they're gone. I've not found any other sources of local fruits
preserved in jars. AND these are all unsprayed fruits (all except the
apples in the sauce)!! Before this Fall I don't think I've ever eaten
canned peaches that were not heavily sprayed. The peaches are the
same peaches you were enjoying fresh this summer from Eva and Rene's
farm near Niagara-on-the-Lake - the Red Haven. A Winter staple at our
house is eating pear/apple sauce on our cold cereal for breakfast (and
on yogourt). I highly recommend it.

Erma Martin (who grew our lovely herbs all summer) preserved a variety
of relishes and pickles for us including salsa. Again, I don't know
of anywhere else you can get all-local salsa, BBQ relish, pickled
beets, cucumber pickles, dilly beans and etc... I asked her to use
recipes with less sugar than she was used to. She cranked the BBQ
relish and salsa through a food grinder (by hand). Everything she
canned is from Selema's no-spray garden except for the cucumbers and
green beans which are from the Elmira Produce Auction and so she
doesn't know if they were sprayed or not. Her kitchen was built to
certification standards but she has not been inspected yet. Each jar
is labeled with a handwritten list of ingredients from Erma. If you
only like hot salsa, add hot sauce to the salsa. At our house Matthew
likes hot, I like medium and the kids like mild. So we make/buy mild
and squirt in the hot sauce as needed.

So if you buy strategically this Friday, you can still be eating some
of these foods at Christmas. Here is what will keep and can be part of
your Christmas meals:

Mashed potatoes and roasted chicken
Scalloped sweet potatoes
A light soup made with turkey broth, garlic and miso.
Chili with celariac, carrots (store both of these in your fridge),
potatoes, garlic, onions and turkey sausage
Pasta with a sharp cheddar sauce
Grilled sundried tomato and garlic cheddar cheese sandwiches with a
selection of pickles from Erma
Bubbling peach cobbler
Grated carrot salad with toasted heartnuts
Breakfast guests can be exposed to their first experience of pearsauce
on cereal. (This is going to become our new regional food that we're
famous for, I just know it.)
Roasted and mashed turnip with butter
Roasted chestnuts
Stemmler sausages with Erma's Chili Sauce, BBQ relish and Dill Cuke
Pickles and a coleslaw on the side (Easiest meal in the world.)
Roasted root vegetables (parsnip, celariac, potatoes, sweet potatoes,
beets, garlic)
Pumpkin Pie (actually banana squash pie)
Upside Down Chocolate Pear Cake
A bowl of hazelnuts and heartnuts as an edible centerpiece
Carrot cake with peanut butter icing

Do you get the picture of how you can be eating like Local Queens and
Kings for many weeks if you stock up now? You may have to curse once
in awhile because your fridge is so full but it will be worth it.
Maybe you could temporarily bump the beer out of the beer fridge : )
I pull one of the big drawers out of the bottom and fill it as full as
possible with carrots. If you have an unheated porch, that will work
decently for storing some of these root crops as long as you make sure
they don't get frozen.
Speaking of turkey sausage. We've committed to buy sausage from Miriam
for next week. Is someone who lives near me (maybe on Norman?) willing
to have a few coolers of frozen sausage near their backdoor next
Thursday for an informal pick up? Say 7-8PM...

If you're getting pasture-raised turkey sausage next week (those of
you lucky enough to have preordered before it was all spoken for)
consider getting as many packages of meaty turkey bones (order this
week) as you can fit into your freezer. Think of them as a big frozen
bullion cube. You just need to think ahead and simmer the heck out of
it (crock pot?) for half a day. It makes the most delicious broth (add
a bay leaf and celery leaves or whatever is lying around...) that
makes any soup you make tastier and more nutritious. It is also the
best homegrown medicine for colds and flu. Turkey broth with garlic
and ginger has healing powers. I'll swear on it. If you're lucky,
you'll make more broth then your family can eat that day and you can
freeze a container or two for a few days later when you need a good
broth stock to start a soup or sauce.

Have you discovered celariac yet? It is a lovely root vegetable that
can be used wherever potatoes are used. It has a bit of a celery
flavour. We add it to soups, stews, chilli, casseroles... I find it
milder than turnip.
Let's hope we have a sunny day for Friday and we can savour our last
Buying Club of 2008. Trick or treaters are welcome. If I get my act
together I'll have little bags of popcorn to hand out. If not, it
will be potatoes.

I'll send occasional emails this Winter to update you on how it is
going finding another location and with occasional calls for help for
things like:

We're changing this business to a not-for-profit and looking for local
food lovers to be on the board of directors.
If you have any ideas of a business (store, restaurant?) that would
like to have a buying club like this set up at their location once a
week, let me know.
If you get a chance to talk to a City Councillor, tell them how
important local food is to you and to the City and tell them how
Waterloo needs to create ways of WELCOMING local food initiatives
rather than squashing them.
Does anyone have a connection with Knox Presb. on Erb St. that you can
help us explore that building as a possible location?

I'll miss you this Winter.
Long live local food!
Nina

PS Order form coming in a few hours (have to make supper first)

Bailey's Buying Club Update

Hi Folks,

Sure wish there was buying club this week. The local vegetable
options are pretty slim in our house: squash, turnip, zucchini,
carrots, potatoes and beets. Hmm, when I write it out it looks like a
decent selection. I'm looking forward to next week when we'll have
sweet potatoes, cabbages and all-local organic pasta! I know, pasta
is not a vegetable. Aren't those turnips nice from Selema? Matthew's
been serving raw turnip sticks and the kids say they're almost as good
as kohlrabi. My father-in-law says that before pumpkin carving people
used to carve turnips. I can imagine that with the size that these
are! Turnips for cattle grow bigger yet.

On Friday Rachael Ward, Jessi Ward (no relation), and myself met with
City of Waterloo staff to talk about how to legally run this buying
club from our house. The short answer is that right now there is no
legal way to continue to sell things from a residentially zoned
property. We can push for changes in the Operational Plan that is
under revision but that is a change that would take a year or two to
implement. I'd like to see the OP include an annual permit that is
granted to local food initiatives. This would allow people to legally
sell produce from their gardens, host a CSA pick up site and host a
buying club.

So we need to find another location as close to my home as possible
that is zoned for commercial use. Any ideas? I'm wondering if any of
you know the people who live above the Casa Mia deli. One idea is to
get permission to use their three car garage. The people-traffic would
benefit the deli. Another idea is to hold it in a church. Each church
has its own zoning designation. I'm looking into the zoning for Erb
St. Mennonite and W-K United Mennonite (on George St) and First United
on William St. Other suggestions of churches that might have a
commercial zoning and be open to hosting a buying club? I think we'll
be changing the buying club to a not-for-profit organization so
churches might be more open to that rather than hosting a business.

The other question I want to ask you all is if anyone is going to or
coming from the Niagara area in the next week or two? I've got about
400lbs of nuts that I want to offer buying club members but I need to
figure out how to get them here. If I make a special trip to get them
it makes them really expensive.

We'll go ahead and hold the Oct 31 buying club pick up here at 72A.
I'm kind of tempted to keep holding it here until they fine us and
then going to court (which is how it works, the judge decides the fine
amount) to argue the case and using the publicity as a learning
opportunity. What do you think? The fine could be as high as $20,000
...
I've just submitted a $10,000,000 idea to Google's contest. The idea
is called Local Foods Local Wheels and involves using the railway
going North to bring in local food to a Sustainable Food Technology
Centre on the north campus of U of W. If you're interested in big
picture vision stuff, see the attached description. It's painfully
short because Google limited the number of words for each answer.
There's also a painfully short You-Tube to go with it. You'll find it
if you search under Local Foods Local Wheels. It was still
"processing" when I checked an hour ago but may be running now.
Google chooses 100 of the ideas that help the most people and then the
public votes to choose the five finalists. Very interesting process.
I'm excited to see all the 100 ideas! I think it is a great way to
generate big ideas and visions. We need to let ourselves dream big
sometimes. If you let yourself dream big for five minutes, what do
you see? Don't worry about the logistics of how to implement it, just
imagine it.

With hope,
Nina

Bailey's Endive mystery

I owe Miriam an apology. She DID send us endive. Two kinds of it:

Rhodos and Bianca Riccia Endive. I found photos of these in Johnny's
seed catalogue that match what she sent us (see link)
http://www.johnnyseeds.com/catalog/search.aspx?scommand=search&search=endive
So she was right, I am wrong. I thought she wrongly identified what
she was growing. She knew.
Enjoy your endive!
Nina
PS Thank you to all who offered their houses/driveways as a location
for the buying club! I may take you up on it yet...

shortage of turkeys

Sigh. The "extra" turkeys the farmer said he had, are gone. This is the first year they've sold out before Thanksgiving. So all the orders placed this week can not be filled. I'm sorry you need to go out and forage for another turkey. I don't even know where to recommend as it is possible all the local turkeys are spoken for. The only good news I have is that we'll have pasture-raised turkeys the beginning of November. But that doesn't help you with the Thanksgiving meal you are planning.

With respect,
Nina

Bailey's Buying Club Friday Update

Hi Folks,

Business as usual today!

I didn't talk with anyone at City Hall. At the last minute I decided
that it was not a good idea to do that the morning of a pick up
because I did not want to risk being told not to sell that afternoon
(after buying all this food from the farmers). So I'll try to go next
week. Anyone want to go instead of me? Or with me? It's hard for me to
get in there when I work Tue, Wed and Th. Maybe I can go next Fri.

I talked to Roy Weber at the Small Business Centre and he outlined the
steps to become a Not for Profit organization. It is a good
possibility. I also want to know more about becoming a cooperative.
Anyone want to research the pros and cons of being a co-op and the
steps to doing it?

I stopped in at Beams Bedding at 40-something William St. and had a
great talk with the woman who leases the building. She is thinking
about the buying club setting up there temporarily. I'd like to find a
temporary location while we work things out with the City and Health
Dept.

See you in a few hours for pick-up. It is SO beautiful out there!
Nina
PS If you got ground cherries this week, they need to be used right
away or need to be spread out to dry more. Miriam and her daughter
picked them in the rain yesterday to fill our order.

Bailey's Buying Club Update

Hi Folks,

Wow. It's been great to hear from so many of you! The meeting went
well. In addition to eating carrot cake with peanut butter frosting we
generated a lot of great ideas. I'll include those here. First we
listed the strengths we bring to this journey of needing to convince
the City/Public Health (PH) that there is a way to make this buying
club work. Then we brainstormed ideas for how to move forward.

Strengths:

John a planner at the City is on the Community Roundtable re local food
BC member is a former by-law writer for the City
BC members work in Public Health
BC member worked with Health Inspectors
BC member is a lawyer
BC member is chair of PH at U of W
The local food movement is growing all around us. It is a recognized
and respected change in eating.
History of Fred's Meat Market at 74 William (across the driveway)
could be grandfathered in the zoning as a loophole to allow selling
food down the driveway
72A is a "legal non-conforming" property (more flexible?)
Foodlink has been working on zoning issues to make it easier for
farmers to sell and process local foods. See if they'll work with us.
Neighbourhood Markets set up by Public Health have dealt with zoning
restrictions and found a way around them.
University examples of selling local produce
Fines for by-law infringements are usually proceeded by warnings
We know how to work with the Media
CSAs and ONFC sell from residential areas (others are doing it)
We have over 100 families in the Buying Club
Other neighbourhood food initiatives: Beechwood and Mary/Allen
Farmers like what we are doing and will lend their support

Ideas of how to move forward in a positive way:

Visit immediate neighbours to 72A and nurture their support of the
buying club continuing
BC families write testimonials of the benefits of the BC
BC families and others write letters of support for the BC to
councilors and planning staff at the City
Learn from the experiences of the Waterloo Hen Association
Write a petition and get over 100 signatures
Send registered letters of support to councilors and planning staff
Use City's lingo/vision/own mandate: Sustainability, environment,
"firsts" for Region of W., intelligent
Make the City look good. Be collaborative.
Work with the City before the media – target specific people
Ask farmers to write letters of support
Ask farmers what hoops they go through to sell local food
Learn from example of rural zoning changes in Woolwich and Wilmont
(eg. Well-Fed Foods)
Change Bailey's Local Foods into a cooperative
Ebytown precedent of a cooperative being okay in a non-commercially
zoned property
Move the location of the Buying Club

Next Steps:

Nina will visit City Hall tomorrow to try to talk to planners and a
couple councilors. After that she'll send out an update asking people
to write letters and visit specific people at City Hall. Please wait
on contacting the media. Give City Hall a chance (week or two?) to
quietly work with us before the media puts them on the spot.

Buying Club IS HAPPENING Friday (3:30-6)here at 72A William St. W..
Check your email before you leave for the BC in case we have changed
locations at the last minute. We may move to a BC member's house on
Strange St. just for tomorrow (41 Strange Street at Cherry). If you
are not near email tomorrow, phone Taarini at 888-4442 for an update
of where the BC is held.

My email order to Pfennings was lost and so we are not going to be
receiving the lovely parsnips, yams, salad mix, or organic macintosh
apples from Pfennings tomorrow. No cheese either (they couldn't
deliver it at the last minute). I'm sorry. I really wanted that salad
mix. I want to tell you asap so that you can find these items
elsewhere.

Happy Thanksgiving. We won't have everything we drooled over on the
order form but we still have a buying club and lots of other good
food. We have so much to be thankful for. Next year maybe we can get
cranberries from the Muskoka area. Not 100 miles but as local as it
gets...

Nina

Bailey's Local Food Dilemma

**Urgent Meeting!** Thursday 8:30PM at Wendell's (door in the

carport). Come gather to discuss what to do now that the City may tell
us to stop having a local food buying club here. Bring munchies (if
you have em), bring advice, bring good humour and let's put our heads
together!

Hi Friends,
So on Monday I had a visit from a health inspector who said someone
had called in with a concern that I was selling dairy. I invited her
in and told her how fabulous the Millbank cheese is. (Just kidding but
she should be happy I refrained from selling raw milk.) She took down
all my info and I expected to hear back from her that I could no
longer carry dairy or I'd need to get a fridge or some revision like
that. Instead, I got a message from her today saying she'd passed my
information on to the City of Waterloo by-law and licensing
department. She also advised that I not go ahead with this week's
orders since the City probably has a by-law against it.

I haven't heard from anyone at the City yet. They know us well from
the chicken issue. They were probably saying something like: "Oh, no.
Not 72A William St. again." We've always approached them with respect
and a collaborative spirit. I hope that we can continue that and maybe
this can be a turning point and a learning point. It could be a
chance to raise awareness of the archaic zoning laws that were made to
pave the way for a global food system (separating all commercial
activities from residential areas and needing vending licenses to sell
any food).

Now that we are shifting away from the global food system to one that
is re-localized, we need to change the zoning/by-laws to reflect that.
The by-laws allowing urban hens will be a good step in that direction
(Public Health just made a public statement that urban hens are a good
idea!). Now we need to change our by-laws so that neighbourhood market
stands, buying clubs, and small-scale food processing can happen in
mixed zoning areas. (Picture a noodle-making cottage business in
renovated garage next to a family house that sets up a fresh produce
market stand every Tuesday afternoon. The next house over has a big
greenhouse in their backyard where they grow salad mix all year and
sell from their front porch.)
It is just so IRONIC that this is happening the week of filling orders
for Thanksgiving. The climax of the local food-growing season and
we're supposed to tell the farmers "Sorry, no orders this week, we'll
all have to go to Zehrs instead." It feels TRAGIC to not get our
Thanksgiving turkeys from Kevin and our spinach from Widemans.
Thanksgiving dinner would be pale without some of Martha's squash!
I'd like to go ahead with business as usual. I'm assuming that if the
City does pay us a visit, they'll give a warning first. If they tell
us to stop tomorrow (after I've ordered the food from farmers) we
could have an alternative location where we do the pick up. Does
someone have a church or business or house in the nearby neighbourhood
where we could gather Fri 3:30-6? It's supposed to be a beautiful day.
I even fantasized about using the picnic pavilion at Waterloo Park : )

I'm calling an emergency meeting for tomorrow night because I feel
like this Buying Club has a life of its own. It is much bigger than
me. I feel like I'm riding a wave or a movement and just trying to
figure out how to enjoy the ride. You are an essential part of this
and so you can help decide what to do next.

Much love,
Nina

PS If you can't come but have an insight to share, email me.

Bailey's Buying Club reminder

Hi Folks,

Orders are due tonight by 9PM.

A Health Inspector visited our house on Monday to say that someone had
called them with a concern that we are selling dairy. I gave them all
the info they asked for and am waiting to hear their response. There
is a chance that the cheese will not be ordered this week because of
this. Please go ahead and order as if all is well and I'll let you
know as soon as I know anything.

Long live local food : )
Nina

Bailey's Buying Club Oct 10

Yes, it definitely smells like Thanksgiving. I'm in the mood. Bring on the turkey and squash.

Hi Folks,
I know I said we were not going to be offering many squash but then
Martha calls me up and offers me a delectable selection of uncertified
organic squash at great prices - and great names. Like Uchika-Kuri. It
is a small Hubbard type squash.
http://www.kitazawaseed.com/seed_045-137.html to see a photo of it.
You know about Spaghetti Squash, right? When you scoop it out (after
baking/steaming) it has a texture like spaghetti and is excellent with
a red or white sauce on it. All these squash have given me an idea
for a dinner. I'll bake a variety of these squash (halved and upside
down) and then serve them with stuffing on the side so that it can be
a "squash-tasting" opportunity. It's hard to tell what kind of squash
is used in a pumpkin pie with all the sugar and spices but when you
just bake it and put a bit of salt and butter on it, you can really
taste the nuances of differences between the varieties. So that's what
I'm going to do and I'll report back on my favourite squash. Right now
I don't know what my favourite is. I just know that I like butternut a
lot. But I'm ready to branch out. These squash will keep for 6-10
weeks in your basement or even on the kitchen counter (though they
store better when it is cooler). This is your chance to stock up on
enough squash for between now and Christmas. We'll have a few more
butternuts and pie pumpkins coming in from Selema but that may be it.

Kevin Shantz, the turkey farmer, has a few extra turkeys so if you
didn't order one but want one, you can indicate that on the order
form. They are drug free, fed a vegetarian diet and frozen. They are
18-22lbs.

More lovely cheeses this week from Millbank. And butter.

Through Pfenning's we also are offering yams, parsnips, and a spring
salad mix (shouldn't they call it Autumn salad mix?). Pfenning's is
the queen of local food around here, did you know that? They buy local
organic foods from many farmers locally (and from far away as well)
and then market and distribute them. They also are possibly the
biggest storer of local foods in the area. They are able to sell local
carrots into February most years. Before I order from them I ask
where the item is grown to make sure it is from within 100 miles. I'm
happy to support Pfennings because they do a great job of being a
steady buyer of local foods from local organic farmers. They also are
a genuine family-run business with family members who really care
about organic food.

We're not offering baked goods from Bread and Bretzel this week but
maybe Dad and I can make some cookies to have for Friday so nobody
faints from hunger.

Our next buying club ordering week will be the week of Oct 31. My Dad
is going to Seattle for a couple weeks with his sister and brother to
attend his great-nephew's bar mitzvah. We'll also have buying club on
November 7, November 28 and December 19. Then it is once a month until
mid May.

This is the last week for sweet corn. Paul says he's got smaller cobs.
I wish that Paul and Selema lived closer. They are doing an excellent
job of growing some less common foods and I'd like to buy from them
all year. They live on the other side of Linwood a couple miles. They
are even growing Chinese Cabbage and Celariac this Fall! I hope we get
a chance to taste them!. Last year I first met Paul in February when
we went on a field trip with a few other farmers to see some farmers
who were growing salad mixes in greenhouses all Winter. When we
dropped Paul off after the trip he said he could sell me fresh dug
carrots - in February! Of course, I said "Give me lots!" He, his son
Edgar (15 and out of school and working closely with his Dad to learn
the skills of farming), and I dug baby carrots from their hoop house
(unheated greenhouse). They were like candy! The cold somehow makes
them sweeter. Paul has planted carrots again in that hoop house and
I'm hoping that we get a taste of those candy carrots in February and
March.

I'm guessing that this is also the last week for tomatoes and sweet
peppers and melons. We'll see if the farmers have covered them to
protect them from the night-time frosts so that we can have some for
this week. Not all is lost with a frost, though. The frost means that
the kale and turnips will be sweeter. Selema has kale and turnips for
us this week.

Martha is offering us 25lb bags of potatoes (uncertified organic).
Most of us can finish 25lbs of potatoes before they sprout or rot even
if we do not have a cold cellar. They just need to be stored in a
dark place (the cooler the better). Martha has red, white or yukon.
If you're looking for local carbohydrates for your meals, potatoes are
a great one. I refuse to believe studies that say that potatoes are
bad for us (high on the glycemic index). Humans have thrived on
potatoes in the Andes for centuries. A boiled potato mashed with a
fork and sprinkled with old cheddar is so simple and so tasty. Add a
vegetable and there's lunch.

Miriam has endive for us this week. I've never eaten it! I just
googled it and it looks like it is eaten sauted or braised. Goes well
with spaghetti apparently. I'll give it a try. Mmm, this recipe/photo
looks yum! http://orangette.blogspot.com/2006/01/how-to-endive.html
Braised Endive with Prosciutto.

How are the French Horticultural Beans going over at your dinner
tables? We're having them tomorrow with sausage, pasta and a white
sauce.

See you Friday,
Nina

Bailey's Local Food Buying Club

Hi Folks,

You'll find ground cherries and bulk red peppers below too. The last
week for both of these.

Cheese from Millbank this week. Next time it will be offered is Nov 7.
See the new offering of Organic Sundried Tomato and Garlic Cheddar
Cheese Curds. Wendell was handing out samples of this a couple weeks
ago. VERY tasty.

See you Friday,
Nina

Bailey's Buying Club Oct 3

Hello all you eaters of this land,

Did you see those beautiful purple marbled bean pods on the
spontaneous table on Friday? Those are French Horticultural Beans,
I've learned. Never had them before. On Saturday Mona and I shelled
them (she, quite fast for a three year old) and talked about how
pretty they are and how they don't taste good now but we'll see what
they taste like after boiling and adding butter and salt. They were
lovely! They reminded me of the fava beans my Polish friends would
make and take on picnics. They'd boil them, salt them and then just
take them along like we take carrot sticks. Or potato chips. The beans
from Paul (French Horticultural is such a long name) lost their
stunning beauty in the boiling but we ate them with pasta and tomato
sauce and everyone at the table liked them. Eating those got me
excited for the dry beans we'll be getting from a farmer near St.
Mary's Oct 31. He has a wide variety. More beans, less meat. That's
the way to eat more sustainably, we know. Maybe we can swap favourite
bean recipes for inspiration. Email me a paragraph describing your
favourite easy bean recipe and I'll choose a couple to include in one
of these emails.

We also get to order foods from the Simcoe area this week. Simcoe
was/is a big tobacco growing area where farmers have been looking for
alternatives to tobacco. They have acres and acres of ginseng now (but
what would we do with it?) and a few creative and brave farmers are
branching out into crops like popcorn and peanuts. They have lighter
soils than this area, I hear, and are a bit more temperate because
they are so close to Lake Erie. This is the area I also found the
farmer who sells that lovely golden canola oil we got to try the end
of August. If you want to see that website again, it is
http://www.pristinegourmet.com .

From Simcoe we also have found farmers who sell sparkling apple ciders
(all-juice bubbly beverages with no sugar added) and an amazing black
currant jam. Consider buying a case of the sparkling ciders and
pulling them out for festive occasions. It's cheaper than wine...
Okay, I have to tell you about the black currant farmer. Russell
Blake is a teacher who has planted over nine acres of black currants
and spent the last few years figuring out how to harvest and freeze
them. He uses a blueberry picker that shakes the bushes and a conveyor
sorter where he and his kids sort out the blemished ones and leaves.
Have you ever picked black currants? Their little stems hang on tight
and are a huge chore to pick off. He figured out that if he freezes
them and then dumps them into a milk crate and shakes it a few times,
the frozen stiff stems break off and fall through the holes of the
milk crate. Ingenious! This cuts down on the costs of labour
tremendously. He sells them frozen or as jam. His jam is chuck full of
premium currants. The ingredients are: black currants, sugar and lemon
juice. Consider buying a case of jam (cheaper that way) and having
them on hand for a little gift when you wish you had one.

From Simcoe we also are lucky to get peanuts and peanut butter. Ernie
and Nancy Racz are the farmers, peanut-processors and retailers of
their lovely valencia peanut butter. They are not organic but they do
not use fungicides at all (unlike the peanut growers in the southern
US). I like this peanut butter much better than Picards. It is
creamier. No salt added. Just peanuts. If you know your family eats
peanut butter well, stock up now. We will probably not go to Simcoe
again until after Christmas.

This week we have the last of the last Niagara fruits. Look for
Bartlett pears, Bosc pears, Blue plums, green table grapes, blue table
grapes and wine grapes on the order form. I'll have a a few plums on
the spontaneous table. We also have conventional or organic MacIntosh
apples this week. They are good for saucing or fresh eating. I have
conventional Macs in half bushels. I hope to find an organic apple
orchard or two in the area from which to buy. If you can recommend
one, let me know.

Turns out, only the spelt bread and cookies were made with local flour
last week. There was a mix up and the Bread and Bretzel did not have
the right kind of flour to make whole wheat bread for us. This week
Karen says it really will happen. Prices are changing for the breads
with Oak Manor Farms flour in them because it is organic and local and
costs three times as much as what Karen was using before. If you want
to support a local baker, local mill, and local organic grain farmers
(and a local buying club), we now offer bread that lets you do all
this. I don't know of any other bakery in the area that offers local
wheat breads. The spelt cookies were especially toasted-tasting and
very delicious. Now, if I could just get Karen to use local raspberry
jam...

One way buying locally is different from shopping globally is that we
can't expect retailers or Bailey's Buying Club to carry a steady
supply for us to buy whenever we want. We have to think ahead a wee
bit and stock up on things when we are able. I'm not set up to
warehouse a four month supply of peanut butter, jam, and canola oil
for 100 families, for example. It also doesn't make environmental
sense for my dad to drive to Simcoe for food every month or so with a
half-full van. Now is your chance to estimate how much you'll use of
these items in the next four months (or more) and stock up. These
items are what I call "less perishables". They have a long enough
shelf life (at least a year) so that you can buy a bulk amount of it
and use it steadily over the months. This means a higher upfront cost,
but a lower cost over all. It also means less packaging. Even if you
don't have a large pantry, it is easy enough to store a few boxes or
buckets in the basement or under a bed.

I was thinking that in the deep and dark of Winter we could all submit
photos of our food stores and I could put them on my website for an
inspiring photo gallery of local food. I should take a photo of
Miriam Gingrich's basement. She cans their applesauce in gallon jars!
Row after row! Elmeda, who we are buying the MacIntosh Apples from
said that every year she turns 50 bushels of apples into applesauce
for her family (only five children)! Can you imagine ordering 50
bushels (not half bushels) of apples for me and turning those into
applesauce??!! Kind of makes my canning efforts look puny. Or at least
something I should stop complaining about : )

It's going to frost any week now so enjoy the last of summer's tender bounty.
Nina

Bailey's Local Food Buying Club

Hi Local Eaters,

I think this is the most food offered ever in one week!

We've got beef from Jeff Stager near Ayr. No hormones or steroids
used. Mix of pasture and grains as feed. He only uses antibiotics on a
steer when it is sick (a couple times a year). The hamburger is extra
lean and very tasty. I highly recommend it.

It will be busy at pick up time so we'll extend this Friday's pick up
to 7PM and ask that you don't come in a hurry. If you can, (if you
drive) please park on Euclid and we bring a wagon or cart to wheel
your goodies to the car. We also have a wagon you can use.

Here are things to look for in this order form:
peanut butter, canola oil, maple syrup, black currant jam, sparkling
apple ciders, breads made with local organic flour (!), Mapleton's
yogourt, Niagara fruit, and cilantro.

We are working on creating an order form that has categories of foods
and other handy things. It will come eventually. We ask for your
patience with Google DOCS until then.

Happy eating,
Nina

Bailey's Buying Club reminder and chicken question

Hi Folks,

You have 37 minutes to order before the deadline.
Did you get chicken on Friday? If so, did you realize that the chicken
was not included in your total? The chicken price was written on the
package. Some people looked at the numbers on the chicken and paid the
price of the pounds rather than the price in dollars. If you think you
made an error in paying for your chicken, please let me know.

I forgot to put the summer sausage on the order form. I have 20 chubs
in the freezer and they will be available for $21 first come first
serve on Friday.

Aren't these days beyond beautiful?!
Nina

turkey details

These Oct 10 turkeys are drug free, fed a vegetarian diet from age 2

weeks and up, and are given probiotics and lots of fresh air.
They are 18-22 pounds each and some are bigger. They are $2.75 a pound
(I was able to lower the price from $3.25!).
I cannot guarentee you a certain size and so I ask you to be flexible
about the size you get. Leftover turkey freezes well and makes great
soups and gravies.
Don't forget to email me by Friday midnight if you want your turkey.
Nina

Bailey's Local Food Buying Club

Hi Folks,

Are any of you lucky enough to own a root cellar? If so, we've got
50lb bags of unsprayed potatoes available from Paul.

Will you help me organize a database of members of this wacky and
wonderful buying club? I'd like to make a google map of our addresses
to see where we are located and help decide where the satellite sites
will be. Please fill in the info about yourself at the beginning of
this form. I will not share it with anyone.

I'm not going to carry a wide selection of squash and pumpkins and
gourds. Instead, I'll encourage you to go visit one of the farms that
specialize in that and make a farm visit very fun. We like to go to
Shantzholme but maybe we'll try a new place for us: Pumpkins Galore
just north west of town this year. They are both on the Buy Local! Buy
Fresh! map. I will carry some good eating squash for as long as
possible

Breads from local organic flour (the 100% Whole Wheat, French Wheat
and Spelt breads)! And the spelt cookies too.

Did your Millbank cheese last long? Now is your chance to order it
again. Butter too from Stirling.

I wish I could share with you an idea for something good to cook but
all I can think of is taco salad. Time to make the dishes you love
with fresh tomatoes as we won't have them much longer.

Happy Local Eating,
Nina

Bailey's Buying Club Sept 26

Hi Folks,

Well, Friday was chaos. More than normal! I'm sorry. I'm not sure if
it was because 70 people ordered and that is too much or because I
started my "real" job last week and had less time for the buying club
or because it was an unlucky day. The fruit arriving late was very
unhelpful. The woman who picks it up in Niagara had locked herself out
of the van for two hours so that is why that was so late. Then I made
a spreadsheet error so that your totals were not accurate because it
did not include a few items from Oak Manor (flour and such). I
undercharged you by $509.77! I've emailed those that this effects. I
also had the full box price for the Blushing Star prices switched with
the half box. If you got a half box of Blushing Star, I owe you $15
(you can take this off of your next order). I charged $.75 too low on
the bacon and so lost money on that. Let's see what else can I
confess?

I must confess that the salad mix I sat down to eat in the carport
late Friday with a 1,000 mile pizza was so very delicious. I must
confess that I ordered too many things to preserve this week. What was
I thinking?? I need three of me to get it in the jars and freezer.
Maybe four.

The picnic was fun and almost relaxing. We'll do it again next year.
Miriam and Mervin and their children were so excited to come to the
city and meet all of you. I wish I could be a fly on their wall and
hear what reflections they had on us afterward.

The exciting local news this week is that our bakery, Bread and
Bretzel, is using local and organic flour now in the spelt and wheat
breads!! I'm so thrilled that they are now ordering from Oak Manor.
Let's affirm this move by ordering lots from them this week, okay? The
spelt cookies with raspberry jam are also with Oak Manor spelt. If
they see an enthusiastic response from us, maybe they'll use local
flour for more of their breads, cookies and pastries.

The other newish item is the return of the 100 Mile All Natural Roast
Beef. This is the highest quality and healthiest deli meat I've ever
had. It is from cattle that are never given steroids, antibiotics or
hormones. It does not have msg or nitrates in it! Some think it is a
bit salty but others love it. Because it does not have nitrates in it,
it will not last six weeks in your fridge. The good news is that
Stemmlers just made it this weekend so it is fresh and it does freeze
okay (changes the texture a bit). The bad news is that Stemmlers has
raised their price due to increasing costs so my price is higher too.
The 100 Mile Blackforest Ham is also offered this week. It is from
hogs from Old Order farms (I'm assuming conventional farms) near the
St. Jacobs area where it is slaughtered and then sent to Stemmlers.
Both deli meats are shaved and offered in packages a pound or more (no
halves). The Roast Beef is not available very often so now is your
chance to get it.

We'll have organic all-beef summer sausage with no nitrates available
this week. It sausage that the Niagara fruit woman sold me last week
and so I'm sure who raised it but the ingredients look AMAZING. You
could almost call this sausage healthy. Because it does not have
nitrates, it may turn a bit brown rather than staying pink. That is
normal and much healthier than nitrates. Here are the ingredients for
the sausage:

• Organic Pasture-fed Beef
• Unpasteurized honey from an organic farm
• Crystal Salt - low sodium, high minerals (like Celtic or Himalayan but better)
• Organic Garlic Powder
• Ascorbic Acid
• Black Pepper

It is packed in cotton bags and is naturally smoked over Maple chips.
I'm selling it frozen. I will not have access to more of this (I
think) so this is the kind of thing you like, stock up on it.

I was disappointed in the Blushing Star peaches. I'll be asking if
that is normal for them or if they always have that texture and lack
of sweetness. The sweet corn was not as nice as usual either. I'll get
it from Paul again this week.

Always make sure you see a "thank you" message to confirm your order
went in (four people filled out the form this week but I did not
receive their info in my spreadsheet). We're working on finding a
different order form system that will send you an email confirmation
of your order immediately upon submitting it.

Enjoy the last week or so before frost,
Nina

Bailey's reminder and mushball

Morning Folks,

If you want to order this week, get your order in by 9PM.

On the spontaneous table at Pick-Up we'll have no-spray cider, pink
table grapes, and organic summer sausage as well as peaches to buy by
the piece.

Bailey's Local Foods has a website now! Maybe you're in one of the
photos of a buying club day. See http://baileyslocalfoods.ca/index.php

Below is an invite from Matthew (my hubby).
See you Friday,
Nina
PS If you want a half bushel of smaller beets ($16), email me.

-----------------------

Hi friends

Come on out to a Neighbourhood Mushball Game this coming Monday
evening. Mushball is kind of like baseball except you don't need a
glove because the ball is soft enough to catch with your hands, and
the rules are slightly different to facilitate greater involvement
from everyone. This mushball game will be particularly friendly for
young children (ages 5 and up) and their adults (although adults can
come even if they don't have kids). Younger children can play on the
nearby playground.

When: Monday, September 22
What time: 6:00 pm is the beginning of the game, but you can show up
late. We probably won't play longer than one hour.
Where: Waterloo Park in the grassy area between the splashpad
playground and the curvy road leading to the splashpad parking lot
(beside the large field where people sometimes play cricket)
What to bring: an expectation to have fun
Experience needed: none

Hope to see you there!
Matthew

Bailey's Buying Club September 19

Hi Folks,

Selema said they had a light frost already. That means that any week
I'll have to report that there are no more tomatoes or green peppers
and etc... This is the last week for Niagara fruit. What shall we do?
Get drunk on peaches one last time?? Each fresh salsa, BLTs and peach
pie each night of the week? I'm trying not to feel anxious about it.
It will be a nice break to not have anything else begging to be put up
for Winter (just apples). Seasons come and seasons go... I'm going to
end this one with a few rounds of bacon and tomato slices on toast.
(Bacon from Stemmlers IS on the list this week - nothing organic or
healthy about it. Just crunchy and yummy with a thick slab of
tomato...)

This IS one of the final weeks for preserving a lot of things - if you
are into that. We'll have half bushels of beefsteak tomatoes (if you
want half bushel of beefsteak, tell me that in the comments box) and
paste tomatoes for salsa and other canned tomato favourites, red,
green and yellow peppers (the red ones are amazing roasted and then
frozen in a bit of oil), apples for applesauce, chard to steam and
freeze to use as "spinach" in recipes... Okay, would you rather make
applesauce from apples sprayed with chemicals or apples with a few
worms and bumps in them? I've got both options for you today. The
organic ones have a few red wild apples thrown in to give the sauce a
lovely pink hue and a bit of a tanginess and you can choose if you
want to cut out the worms or just throw them all in the pot (what do
you think humans have been eating since the beginning of time?
Worms!). If you want to borrow my Victorio Strainer to churn out the
applesauce, you're welcome to it.

Even if you are not into canning or freezing, consider stocking up on
garlic this week. Did you know that garlic in a paper bag will keep
until next summer? Then you won't have to buy garlic from China in
January. I'm offering garlic at a bulk price. Put it in a paper bag
and then put it somewhere dry and dark (back corner of a kitchen
cabinet or under the bed).

This is the first time I've ever offered (or been able to buy for
myself!) Hard Wheat Flour from within 100 miles! Oak Manor has a
limited quantity of this flour from the Wellesley area. If you like to
bake bread, I suggest you stock up on it now as it may not be
available in October. How are you liking the Soft Whole Wheat Flour
from Oak Manor? I use it in everything that is not a yeast recipe. I
just used it for brownies last night and, well, they are gone already.
We've got a wide selection of Oak Manor grains and flours. All from
within 100 miles. I'm looking forward to making granola with a mix of
barley, oat, rye and spelt flakes.

This week is the chicken pick up for those of you who ordered those
earlier. We do not have extras for sale, I'm sorry. It will make
pick-up a little slower to sell the chicken so give yourself enough
time to pick up your food without rushing.

I'm going to try to get the Mapleton's yogurt again. Please consider
ordering twice as much as you normally do. It lasts over a month in
the fridge. I need to order by the case so I'm hoping to get enough
orders so that I can buy at least a couple cases. My family goes
through six 750ml containers in two weeks (I know, I know, I should
make my own yogurt...).

Here is the info on this week's Niagara fruit:
There are 2 kinds of peaches available. One is the Crest haven peach
which is the latest variety available. It is similar to the red havens
and Loring peaches. The other variety is called Blushing star which is
another type of white fleshed peach. It is more like the first variety
of white flesh peach that we had than the White Lady.

The blue plums are still in season. This will also be the last of the
plum availability for this year. They will be out of season by the
time I go for grapes next (In a few weeks grapes will be offered
again)!

The Bartlett pears are still available and now we also have the Bosc
pear. The Bosc pear can be kept into January if kept in a dark cool
cellar. They are more famous for being a 'winter eating' pear. They
will likely need a bit longer to ripen since they are so good for
storage!

For grapes, we still have the Sovereign Coronation grape which is good
for eating or juicing. There is also some other table grapes available
for those who like to try something different.......we have pink,
green and blue table grapes. The green and blue grapes are not fully
seedless but have very small seeds similar to the coronation grapes.
All grapes are similar in size to the sovereign coronation variety!

This Saturday is our potluck picnic. I'm looking forward to tasting
all the dishes you'll be bringing! Also bring your own tablewear
(that means cups, plates, cutlery and such), picnic blankets, and
chairs if you want a chair (and label your dish with the ingredients
and where the ingredients are from). We'll be serving local grape
juice and pear juice and - local water too! At the end of the order
form is a question asking if you're planning to come.

Happy harvest-time eating,
Nina

Bailey's Local Food Buying Club

Hi Folks,

No crying in the peaches now. Just savour them.
You'll also see bulk parsley this week. To dry or to freeze (or to
bathe in?). Just kidding.
See you Friday 3:30-6 for pick up.

Happy Local Eating,
Nina

100 Mile Diet book launch tonight

Hi Folks,

There's a neat-sounding event tonight at the Brick Brewery to launch
the One Book One Community (which is The 100 Mile Diet). They are
calling it a celebration of the written and spoken word. I'll be
there because I was asked to "tell a story" about local food. The City
of Kitchener is hosting it. Interesting, eh?

It'd be more fun if some of you were there too. It is 7-9PM. See
attached poster for more details and about the next events in this
series.

Nina

-----------

behind
the
scenes…
a free series for and with creative people

Wednesday, September 10
at the Brick Brewery
7-9pm
Celebrate the written and spoken word!
One Book One Community kick-off.
181 King Street South
Waterloo, Ontario

Tuesday, September 23
at the Barrister Lounge,
Walper Terrace
7-9pm
Songwriters circle. Writers will share their unique
creative processes, challenges and songwriting
successes, while telling personal anecdotes about
their favourite songs. Cash bar.
1 King Street West
Kitchener, Ontario

Friday, October 24
in partnership with
Kitchener Waterloo
Art Gallery
TGIF friday night. After hours at the gallery for creative
and the curious. Mix and mingle, check out the culinary
arts served by the ARTBAR. Light refreshments and
entertainment. Cash Bar.
RSVP to carrie.kozlowski@kitchener.ca for
complimentary tickets.
101 Queen Street North
Kitchener Ontario

Bailey's Buying Club - Grapes!

Hi Folks,

Okay, I just can't resist offering big boxes of luscious local
no-spray grapes this week! I'm getting a few boxes to eat fresh and to
juice. I can just imagine how good that grape juice will taste in
Winter with a big bowl of popcorn.

I have a juicer that makes it super easy. My mom gave me that juicer
when I left for college and I don't think I've used it more than once
or twice. I never had a source of no-spray grapes before! I can lend
you the juicer if you're willing to work around my schedule of using
it.

Another way to can grape juice without a juicer (and it is still super
easy) is to fill sterile jars about half way with grapes and then pour
boiling water over it (most people add a half cup of sugar to each
jar). Put on the lid and ring, and process in a hot water bath to seal
the jar. (Just needs to boil for 10 min). In January you open your
jar and pour the grape and water mixture through a fine sieve and
there you have it: concentrated local grape juice (without sprays!).
You can add water (and maybe sugar) to taste. Matthew likes to drink
it straight up - on the rocks. No sugar no water.

This week there is the sovereign coronation grape. It is similar in
taste and size to the concord grape but it has a smaller seed. There
is also a green table grape which is also similar in size to the
concord but again has a very small seed. They are both good for eating
and juicing!

Come a little later on Friday to give me a chance to get the grapes.
Between 4 and 8PM is good. It will be self-serve. I'll have a box to
leave the cheques in.

Happy juicing,
Nina

PS There will be grapes for sale next week too.

Bailey's holiday week - Niagara fruit next week

Hi Folks,

I just found out that we can still buy fruit on Sept 19 so I will not
be taking Niagara fruit orders this week. We're up to our eyeballs in
pears and pearsauce! Need a breather before doing grapes.
See you next week,
Nina

Bailey's Reminder and Clarity re confusing chicken/turkey orders

Hi Folks,

Reminder that this week's order is due today at 9PM.
No buying club next week.

I've received a number of questions which tell me I need to try to
clarify the Thanksgiving turkey order.
If you ordered Thanksgiving turkeys, your order still stands for a
Thanksgiving turkey (or two), I am filling that order with a drug-free
turkey rather than a pasture-raised turkey (at a lower cost). If you
do not want a drug-free turkey substitute, email me and I will cancel
your order for a Thanksgiving turkey.

Now, want to order a pasture-raised turkey for pick-up November 7?
Turkey breasts, turkey parts and turkey meaty bones for broth are also
available on Nov 7. Use the form I sent on Monday to order or email me
requesting another form.

Want to place a second or third order, go ahead. I will combine the
multiple orders under your name (please use the same name for each
order).
With respect,
Nina

PS Thinking of joining in the salsa canning workshop Sept 11 at 7PM
with Matthew and Paul? You can be the new King or Queen of salsa in
your household! Email Paul or I to reserve
your spot in this workshop. It's $5 and only 10-12 people can join.

Bailey's Local Food Buying Club

Hi Folks,

Remember, no buying club next week so get enough for two weeks.

This week we have cheese from Millbank, the last of fruits from
Niagara (!!), cinnamon rolls for Saturday breakfast, popcorn, honey,
maple syrup (BIG jugs this time too), local apples called "strawberry"
and most of the glorious veggies we had last time.

We have a few half bushels of Roma paste tomatoes. More will be coming.

Happy Local Eating,
Nina

Bailey's Buying Club Sept 5

Hi Folks,

Welcome back to "real life." Some of you may be ready to dig into
this local food stuff now that you're into regular schedules. If so,
good timing! Did you know that September is Local Food Month? It's
true! The 100 Mile Authors will be speaking at WPL on Sept 16 (I
think that's the evening). One thing to consider is joining in a
workshop. We've got a workshop on canning salsa Sept 11 7PM at Erb St.
Mennonite Church (corner of Erb St. and Dunbar).

Join Paul Born and Matthew Bailey-Dick for an evening of salsa
canning. Matthew and Paul will demystify the process of canning and
you will learn (hand-on!) how to make salsa in your own kitchens.
Bring $5 to cover supplies and take home a jar of your own salsa. To
register email paul ASAP! (if you can't make the date but are interested, email Paul). Tortilla chips and tissues provided. While the jars are in the canner you can discuss other
things you want to can and talk about starting a community canning
centre.

Local Food Workshops and Events
Have you ever wanted to collect buckets of honey from your backyard or
rooftop? Little City Farm is offering a workshop on beekeeping on
Sept 27. Matthew and I are excited to attend since we've talked about
having a few hives on top of the carport. Also, if you're thinking
about going to the Taste Local! Taste Fresh! in Victoria Park on
September 21, get tickets before it is too late. Go to the foodlink
website http://www.foodlink.ca/index.php?first=41100ddb5337c It'd be
fun to see you there.

Our 100 Mile Potluck Picnic is Sept 20 at 5PM here at 72A. You are all
invited. Bring a dish to share and include a label with the recipe on
it and the origins of the ingredients (at least the ones you know). It
is not a purist 100 Mile picnic. If you use olive oil, I'm not
complaining. It is a chance to feast on the bounty of local foods
that are available in September. Also a chance to pick up a few new
favourite recipes. Please bring: a dish or two to share depending on
the size of your group (with recipe label), your own tablewear, lawn
chairs, and/or a picnic blanket. If it rains, we will postpone it to
another day so check your email for updates.

No Pasture-Raised Turkeys for Thanksgiving
Bad news on the turkeys, folks. No, they were not all eaten by
coyotes. But we won't have any pasture-raised turkeys from Miriam and
Mervin because the the butcher is too busy to butcher them. So, the
earliest you can taste a pasture-raised turkey is November 7. I'm
assuming that most of you have a Thanksgiving meal where you wan to
serve turkey. Good news! I've found a farmer who can sell us
drug-free turkeys that will be ready Oct 10. So, I'll lower the price
per pound to reflect this farmers' lower costs and have your turkey
here as planned. Kevin Snyder from Breslau mixes the feed himself so
he knows exactly what goes in. (If your heart was set on a
pasture-raised turkey and no other kind will do, email me before
Friday and I'll cancel your order.) The other good news is that Kevin
has a few extra so if you still want to order a turkey for
Thanksgiving, it is not too late.

To order a turkey for the new pick up time of Nov 7, see the order
form I'll be sending out again. If you want to order more than once,
go ahead, I'll combine your orders in the spreadsheet. When you get
the link to the poultry order form, you'll also have a chance to order
some of the world's best sausage. Turkey sausage made from
pasture-raised turkeys. Here are the ingredients for the sausage:
turkey, potatoes, oatmeal, water, sea salt, black pepper, ascorbic
acid, and garlic powder. It's even better than Stemmler's sausage. I
know, hard to believe : ) I'll see if I can have some for sampling at
the potluck picnic.

Waiting List to Join Buying Club
Do you know others who want to join this buying club? If so, have them
email me. Our website will be ready next week and you could pass that
on to others too. Right now I will put new members on a waiting list
to join October 30. We are at our maximum capacity right now but by
the end of October we can welcome more people who want easy access to
a variety of local foods all Winter. The Winter pick-ups will be once
a month. The last summer pick-up is Oct 31 and then the next ones are
Nov 28, December 19, and January 16. I'm attaching the schedule for
the pick-ups and when certain items are offered.

New Offerings
We have butter from Alliston. This butter is made within 100 miles of
us and the milk is probably from within 100 miles but I cannot be
certain since milk is pooled from many farms. We also have North
American Saffron from Lydia Bauman near St. Jacobs. She says it is
milder than the imported saffron but still gives a lovely yellow hue
to food. See also heirloom tomatoes and big jugs of maple syrup.

Preserving Idea
Make your own sundried tomatoes. Widemans are offering bulk grape
tomatoes this week. These tomatoes are excellent for drying. My 3 and
6 year old kids like to cut them in half and put them in the
dehydrator trays. They can do at least 10 pints in a sitting!
This is a great year for pears. Our tree just gave us 6 bushels. We
can pearsauce and apple-pearsauce from them and our kids ask for it
all year. I think we canned about 60 quarts last year and it was gone
by the end of May. They like it on yogurt and cereal. We figured out
an easy and nutritious way to make it: stem and core them, cook em in
a bit of water, and then blend them in the blender. This way there is
no peeling needed and the peel adds extra goodness. Pour puree into
hot sterile jars and put into a hot water bath for 30 min.

Challenges
Those mushrooms last week were not Crimini and were not from within
100 miles. Sorry about that. I'm trying to be careful to only order
local foods from Pfennings but that one slipped through.

Has anyone else had trouble with their raspberry jam not sealing and,
therefore, moulding? One person did; I'd like to know if it is a
wide-spread problem.

No Buying Club September 12
No buying club next week so order enough for two weeks. My dad will be
gone next week and it is too hard to do it without him.

Happy Eating,
Nina

Bailey’s Local Foods Buying Club Schedule for 2008

Fresh vegetables every pick-up day plus the following items on certain pick-up days.

Pick up day	Honey & Maple syrup	Frozen chicken	Frozen turkey	Frozen beef	Peanut- Butter, Popcorn, black currant jam, Canola oil & Sparkling Apple Ciders	Grains & Flours	Baked goods	Preserves	Southern fruits	Sausage	Cheese
June 6						x					x
June 20	x
June 27				x			x			x
July 4					x		x		x		x
July 9							x			x
July 18		x					x		x
July 25	x			x			x
Aug 1					x		x		x		x
Aug 8						x	x
Aug 15					x		x		x		x
Aug 22				x			x
Aug 29							x			x
Sept 5	x						x		x		x
Sept 12							x
Sept 19		x		x			x
Sept 26			x				x	x			x
Oct 3	x						x			x
Oct 10						x	x
Oct 17				x			x				x
Oct 24							x	x
Oct 31	x	x			x		x	x		x	x
Nov 7			x
Nov 28	x		x	x		x	x	x			x
Dec 19	x						x	x		x	x
Jan 16	x			x		x	x	x			x
Feb 20	x				x		x	x		x	x
March 20	x			x		x	x	x			x
April 17	x						x	x		x	x
May 22	x			x	x	x	x	x			x

Bailey's Buying Club - Local Pasture-Raised Turkey and Chicken

Hi Friends,

I've updated the chicken order form with the dates for pick up. We are
no longer taking orders for chickens as they are all spoken for. The
pick up dates have been pushed back to allow the birds to get a little
bigger. The next one is Sept 12 and then Oct 17 will be the last
delivery of chicken. The turkeys for thanksgiving (formerly delivered
Oct 3) will be ready for pick up Oct 10 and are drug-free rather than
pasture-raised.

The pasture-raised chicken and turkey is raised by Miriam and Mervin
Gingerich near Newton (25 min drive from Waterloo). The unique thing
about this turkey and chicken is that it is raised ON PASTURE. This
means that the birds are happier and healthier than indoor birds. They
also produce better-tasting and healthier meat. The Gingerichs have
the birds slaughtered at a licensed facility. All the meat is frozen.

The drug-free turkey is raised by Kevin Snyder near Breslau. His
barns offer lots of fresh air and he mixes his feeds himself so he
knows exactly what goes in them.

If you have any questions, email me at ninabd@gto.net.

The farmers and Bailey's Local Foods thank you,
Nina

Bailey's reminder re ordering and chicken

Hi Folks,

Orders due at 9 tonight.

The August chicken pick up time has been moved back to Sept 18 to let
the chickens get bigger. If you forget what you ordered, you can view
it here http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=p65AudJ1znNXhOJ59NBq8ew.
The September pick up time has been changed to October 16 for chicken
and Oct 9 for turkey. The chicken is sold out but a few more turkeys
may be available.

Are you sucking all the juices out of these last gorgeous days of
summer? We are!
Nina