Bailey's Local Foods - spinach and eggs

Hi Folks,

I noticed that Eating Well is selling local spinach! If you're
craving it like I am, that's the place to go. I'm not going to share
the little bit I'm harvesting from under my solar cones in the
backyard, sorry. I picked enough on Saturday for a salad and it was so
sweet and so fresh and so good. The problem is I ate it at the table
with three children 6 and under who like spinach but do not get how
very INCREDIBLE it is to be able to harvest it from the backyard in
March! I should've eaten it alone while gazing at a sunset.

I'm writing you to give you the tip on spinach at Eating Well (also
great place for local eggs from chickens not in cages) and to invite
you all to join me at the Waterloo Council Chambers this Monday at
7:15. They are finally voting on whether to allow urban hens or not!!
Bring your kids, bring your parents, bring your neighbours. I
realized this week that the Council voting yes on urban hens is NOT a
done deal. I think it is 50/50. We got an email from a councillor
suggesting that he will vote against urban hens! Now I'm scared.
Urban hens are an integral part of a vibrant urban ecosystem with nut
trees, bee hives, salad farms, community gardens etc... This is a
pivotal point for the City of Waterloo where we can decide to be
innovative and take a lead in creating more sustainable cities, or we
can be afraid of change and stick to an outdated goal of sterile
cities.

What do we need to push this to the "tipping point" so that Council votes yes?

Councillors and the Mayor need to see a CROWD of people wearing
stickers that say "SOME PETS LAY EGGS" at the Council Chambers Monday
night. We need LOTS OF WARM BODIES !
Councillors and the Mayor need to be inundated with emails and phone
calls in support of urban hens in the next four days
http://www.city.waterloo.on.ca/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=539
Councillors and the Mayor need to hear why urban hens are a good idea
from presentations/delegations: a lawyer, a business person, an
engineer, a nurse, a teacher, a professor, a grandparent, a parent, a
doctor... (Delegations/presentations are not scary - max of 10 min -
just read a statement)

I've got the stickers. I'll meet you at City Hall 7:15. (When you're
emailing the councillors, email your friends too.)
We can't stop global warming or the economic recession but we CAN make
sure that backyard hens are legal in Waterloo.
When they vote YES YES YES on Monday night we can go out for eggs and
toast to celebrate!
Nina

Bailey's Buying Club Good News - register for 2009!

Hi Folks,

Good news! We will be up and running May 29! First United Church is
renting us their gym on Fridays (corner of King and William St.).
Rachael Ward has joined me in this buying club project and we are
getting organized! This year you'll be able to order from our website
with the benefits of being able to change your order after you make
it, receiving a confirmation of your order and the list of foods will
be easier to navigate.

I'm emailing you now to invite you to register for the second season
of Bailey's Local Food Buying Club. We are planning for feeding 300
families so you can also invite your neighbours, friends and families
to join in the good food fun. We will be doing this similar to last
year. You'll be able to order from Saturday at 11PM to Tuesday at 8PM.
Pick up is Friday 3:30-7PM. We are asking members to pay a $20 annual
membership fee starting this year. The fee will be added onto your
first order and can be paid when you pick it up. The fee will help us
pay the $200/week rent at the church and the hawkers and vendors fee
to the City. There are lots of other details you can find on the
website under: Information for Members (baileyslocalfoods.ca). We
plan to offer local food all year with monthly pick-ups November to
May.

I've been talking to farmers since January to line up who is growing
what for us. It's kind of tricky. I'm working on having a #1 and #2
grower of most vegetables so that we aren't dependent on one farmer
for a crop that may fail (you know, hail, pests, disease). I met with
Selema and Edward Martin a few weeks ago. They have ordered more seeds
than ever before and will be growing for us: lettuce heads, leeks,
sweet peppers, sweet corn, butternut squash and more. It's a
fascinating puzzle to piece this all together. Each farmer has her or
his preference of what they like to grow (often influenced by what
their family likes to eat as "seconds" that are not good enough to
sell) and what grows especially well in their soil and microclimate.
I have not found anyone to grow us carrots yet. I HAVE found Mark and
Debbie Loebbe near Wallenstein who will grow cucumbers and tomatoes in
the greenhouse for us.

To give you an idea of the challenges the farmers live with let me
tell you about sweet corn. Edward Martin grows the sweet corn on his
farm with Selema. He grows it without chemicals for us. He was
explaining that he has to charge me retail price because even though
he plants a patch of sweet corn every week May-July for a continuous
harvest, if the corn is ripe on Monday and we won't buy it until
Friday, he has to plow it under and it is all a loss. He can't sell it
at the auction because buyers there don't want to see the occasional
worm in the unsprayed corn. Next year I'm hoping that we'll be at the
place where we will offer a Tuesday and a Friday pick up. Buying
twice a week is better for the farmers since produce is ripening all
the time and does not just stand in the soil waiting until Friday to
be harvested.

Are you finding any local food out there these days? I wish Perry
would drop off a big bag of whole wheat bread flour from Oak Manor.
It's hard work eating locally in March! Miriam sold me a few cabbages
in February and they are waiting to be eaten in the fridge. I can't
say that we are excited about eating more coleslaw and borscht but
when it is sitting before us and we are spooning it in, it still
tastes good. We expect our meals to be exciting, eh? Makes me think
of living with Albertina's family in Guatemala and how we ate beans
and rice everyday. It was not a hardship or because of extreme
poverty. Meals were not expected to be exciting - just a different
mindset. Wish I could get into that mindset. I just want a really big
bowl of chef salad with Selema's buttercrunch lettuce…

Alright, let's be more positive about local food. I still have about
dozen potatoes left from October 31. They've kept beautifully. My
neighbour Kim picked us up some super sweet carrots at the Kitchener
market. We've got the aforementioned cabbage and Chinese cabbage from
Paul. Frozen red peppers. Frozen raspberries and strawberries. Frozen
chicken, turkey sausage, bacon, beef… See, we're not suffering over
here. It's all perspective eh? Cup is half full or half empty. I
still think "I'm rich!" when I look into my freezer. I just wish it
had more peas and beans in it (note to self for this year).

I'm excited about beginning another year of channeling local food into
the city to urban families. I hope that the church gym will be a
welcoming and fun spot to meet neighbours and pick up food. I'm
worried that I've forgotten many of your names. I wish I could
remember your kids names. Maybe I should ask for that on the
registration so that I can have a cheat sheet to remind myself what
your kids names are before Fridays. Maybe you can just accept that
I'll forget your names and know that I'm still fond of you. 300
families is approximately 1,000 names!

So I'll be using this email list for a few updates and reminders to
register (up until May 29) and then I'll only be emailing those who
have registered. Registering is easy with the awesome form Andrew
created. More than one email address per household can be added later,
please go ahead and register with one email address. Go check it out:
http://www.baileyslocalfoods.ca/register.php. We are relying on
word-of-mouth to work again this year so, please, think of other
people who love local food and live or work near First United Church,
tell them about us and they can go to our website to learn more and
register. Send them this link:
http://www.baileyslocalfoods.ca/m2_buyingclub.php

In love of local farmers and local food,

Nina

PS We think that we will reach our maximum of 300 families quickly so
register now to be sure you get in.

Bailey's Buying Club Feedback Jan 28

Hi Folks,

What did you think of the peaches or pickles you bought in October?
Your feedback will help us decide how to approach sourcing preserves
this year.

Your feedback on the questions below will also help us determine what
direction to go with the buying club this spring. THANK YOU for taking
a few minutes to help us out.

Nina and Rachael

Bailey's Buying Club News

Hello all of you Lovely Eaters,

What ARE you eating these days? Enjoying goodies from your freezers
and jars? Thinking of me as you open a jar of pearsauce?

I'm sure thinking of you folks a lot. Rachael and I are now in active
planning mode for 2009. I called a few farmers today to plan what
they'd grow for us this year. Miriam wants to order seeds this week
so she needs to know if we want fall cabbage and how much as well as
what kinds of winter squash. It may seem early to be ordering/needing
seeds but some farmers start seeds in greenhouses in February
(tomatoes, for example). We just finished the last of our butternut
squash. One out of 15 rotted so I think they liked our laundry room
environment. I'm going to ask Miriam to grow a few varieties that are
especially good keepers (like the Hubbards) so that I can keep squash
in my laundry room until March or April next year.

Are you wishing the buying club was going? Imagine it is January 2010.
This is what you'll be able to order from Bailey's Buying Club:

variety of squashes
potatoes
onions
carrots
garlic
pearsauce
cabbage
rutabagas
celariac
parsnip
dried beans
flours
honeys and maplesyrup
herbal teas
jams and applebutter
cheeses
popcorn
peanut butter
apples
pears
salad mix
jars of pickles/relishes
frozen meats
pasta
and more

Eating locally in the Winter can be an abundant feast - if we just get
organized! Farmers need to know that we will be there ready to buy all
year and then they'll take on the risk of storing the food. If you're
feeling dreary about local food, go look at our website. The photos
are enough to make you drool and revive your local food passions
(baileyslocalfoods.ca).

Many of you have asked me what the plan is for next year. We are
still figuring it out. We think we'll have a few pick up locations.
When you place your order on-line, you'll indicate which neighbourhood
group you are a part of. You and 40-50 other families meet at the
host house Friday afternoon or evening (depending on the host's
preference) to pick up your food much like you did at my house here
but on a smaller scale. The host house can choose if they want to add
a lemonade stand/pastry stand to the scene or add other things to make
it fit their style and their family. The host house would need to
have space indoors or under a roof (carport) for the food.

Many of you have asked me to let you know how you can help to take
this buying club to the next step. It's now becoming clear what some
of the things are we need to take the next step. Here is how you can
help:

Offer us a no-interest loan (we need about $5,000 to get started)
Join our team as a "Friday Coordinator". We're looking for two Friday
Coordinators who will take turns working at the selling sites. This
person needs to be detail oriented, highly organized, able to lift
half bushel boxes, have a decent sense of humour so that she/he can
take the food as it is delivered and divide it into the appropriate
neighbourhood groups. There will also be helpers to this Friday
Coordinator so he/she needs to be nice to work with.
Do our bookkeeping since Nina sucks at it (help!). We think this
would take 1-2hrs a week.
Fill in the feedback survey I'll be sending soon to help us plan for next year.
Offer to be a host house in your neighbourhood. Two neighbours may
want to team up as the host house so that it if one is at the cottage,
the other host's it.
Volunteer your expertise
Spread the word that convenient local food is here. Tell your friends
and family. Send them an email extolling the glories of the buying
club. Get your journalist friends to write articles about the buying
club. Add us to your website or blog.

Thank you for all of your help!

Much joy,
Nina

PS Below you'll find descriptions of really neat workshops you can
join in at Little City Farm (just on Duke St!). Foster and I are doing
the one on fermenting foods. Why put it in a jar and seal it if I can
just let it sit in a crock for a few months??

Urban Homesteading Workshop Series 2009

Little City Farm, Kitchener

More details at: www.littlecityfarm.ca

Little City Farm is a small-scale urban homestead in Kitchener. We
are dedicated to promoting urban agriculture, basic homesteading
skills, and hands-on sustainable living in the city. All workshops
listed will be held at Little City Farm, 508 Duke St. W, Kitchener.

Each workshop costs $20/person (family rate available). REGISTER AT:
info@littlecityfarm.ca / OR call 519-575-9174

Knitting Basics – January 31, 1-3 pm – with Pamela Mulloy
(pre-registration required) In this hands-on workshop you will be
introduced to the wonderful world of knitting! Learn to knit, purl,
cast on and off, as well as a few other basic stitches while creating
your own dishcloth. As well, gain knowledge about reading patterns
and different types of wool. Bring your own set of needles and a
small ball of yarn. Additional needles and yarn will be available.
Pamela is an avid knitter & member of the K-W Knitters Guild.

Fermented Foods – February 21, 1-3 pm – with Jackie McMillan
(pre-registration required)

Let your taste buds tingle! Discussion will cover background on
fermenting foods, how and why to ferment foods, health benefits, and a
spectacular taste testing of various lactic acid ferments. Workshop
participants will prepare colourful multi-vegetable sauerkraut as part
of this interactive session. Jackie recently completed an intensive
week-long workshop on Fermentation, Food Culturing & Medicine Making
at the Algonquin Tea Company.

Starting Seedlings at Home – March 21, 1-3 pm – with Angie Koch from
Fertile Ground CSA

It's time to get the garden started! Enjoy a few hours with your
hands in the dirt, learning about how and when to start various seeds,
germination success, transplanting, soil mixes, organic techniques,
where to purchase seeds, and more. Participants will take home sample
seedlings for their own garden. Sponsored by Farmers Growing Farmers,
a program of Everdale Organic Farm and Environmental Learning Centre.
Angie Koch is a local organic farmer with Fertile Ground CSA and is
also a vendor at the Kitchener Market. www.fertilegroundcsa.com

Beyond Band-Aids: A Homeopathic Approach to First Aid – April 18, 1-3
pm - with Rachel VandenBerg

Looking to stock your first aid kit with natural remedies that work?
Look no further! In this workshop you will learn the basics of
homeopathic prescribing including how to select and dose appropriate
homeopathic remedies. Focus is on the most common remedies in a
summer first aid kit. Rachel VandenBerg is a licensed naturopathic
doctor with an additional specialty in classical homeopathy. She
practices at Healing Path Centre for Natural Medicine in uptown
Waterloo. With an emphasis on women and children's health, her
practice is eclectic and open to all. www.healingpathcentre.com

7th Annual Organic Seedling Sale – May 23, 9 am-12 noon FREE!

Join us at Little City Farm as we host our 7th Annual Organic Seedling
Sale! Find organic and heirloom varieties of vegetables & herbs ready
for planting. Specializing in heirloom tomato varieties. This is a
free event. Seedlings cost $2-$3/each.

Natural Twig & Willow Construction – June 20, 1-3 pm - with Alfred
Rempel and Robert Kramer

Learn to build simple beautiful structures using natural materials
that can be sourced in your own backyard! During this hands-on
workshop we will be building a low wattle fence/arbour using locally
grown willow, dogwood, grapevine and Manitoba maple. We will also
discuss coppicing, living fences, and other forms of natural
construction.

Building a Home Composter – July 18, 1-3 pm – with Greg Roberts

Composting is the wonderful process whereby biodegradable household
and yard "waste" products decompose into extremely useful rich
humus-like soil. Discover how to make great compost, and how to build
an effective home composting system. Workshop will also include
discussion on vermicomposting (worm bins) and composting toilets.

All about Fruit Trees – August 22, 1-3 pm - To Be Confirmed
Fresh fruit picked in season from your own backyard!
From planting to tending, pruning to harvest, in this workshop you
will learn which fruit trees grow best in our climate and organic
methods for maintaining healthy trees. Also information on how to get
involved with the local Fruit Tree Project, harvesting fruit from
abandoned trees in our city.

Seed Saving Basics – September 19, 1-3 pm – with Bob Wildfong from
Seeds of Diversity Saving seeds & knowing how to grow our own food may
be some of the most important skills we can have, as food prices rise
and crop diversity declines. Attend this workshop to learn proper
techniques for collecting seeds from your own garden this season, from
beans to tomatoes, herbs to flowers. Proceeds from this workshop go
to Seeds of Diversity, Canada's Heritage Seed Program. More info at:
www.seeds.ca.

Making Natural Waldorf-Inspired Dolls – October24, 1-3 pm – with
Amaryah deGroot (pre-registration required) Learn to make simple dolls
from natural materials such as wool, cotton and silk. In the tradition
of Waldorf education, these cuddly dolls inspire children's creativity
and fantasy. Their neutral features help to develop a child's
imagination to see the doll laugh, cry, sleep, etc. Participants will
work on their own doll throughout the workshop. All materials
provided. Amaryah makes reconstructed clothing and toys from
reclaimed wool sweaters with her business Sew Oiseau.
www.sewoiseau.com

Intro to Soap Making – November 14, 1-3 pm – with Karin Kliewer
(pre-registration required) Make beautiful, natural handmade soaps
just in time to give as gifts this Christmas. Join local herbalist &
soap maker, Karin Kliewer, to learn the simple art of traditional
cold-process soap making. This is a busy hands-on workshop where
participants will be asked to bring a variety of supplies to create
their own soap. Organic herbs and basic essential oils will be
supplied. List of supplies will be emailed upon registration. Karin
operates Homestead Herbals creating natural soaps & organic herbal
products. www.littlecityfarm.ca/herbals

Living Foods: Sprouting for Winter – November 21, 1-3 pm – with Karin
Kliewer (pre-registration required)

It only takes a few minutes per day to reap the great rewards to
sprouted "living" foods. Sprouted foods add tremendous health &
vitality to your meals, and provide an inexpensive source of fresh
local greens during the winter months. Learn simple ways to
incorporate sprouted seeds, grains, beans and nuts into your diet.
We will sample and share recipes for microgreens, sunflower sprouts,
and wheatgrass, as well as sprouted "cheese", sprouted milk, sprouted
breads, and even sprouted dessert! Participants each take home a
sprouting starter kit.

Bailey's Buying Club Feedback

Hi Folks,

What did you think of the peaches or pickles you bought in October?
Your feedback will help us decide how to approach sourcing preserves
this year.

Your feedback on the questions below will also help us determine what
direction to go with the buying club this spring. THANK YOU for taking
a few minutes to help us out.

Nina and Rachael

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).