eatkamloops.org

Michael Schmidt, Raw Milk Activist, Acquitted!

Michael Schmidt has been fighting for the rights of his herd share members to consume raw milk for the last three years. The National Post said today: “Justice of the Peace Paul Kowarsky upheld the legislation, but said in this case Mr. Schmidt did not break the law because he was distributing to joint owners of cows and not the public at large.”

The Globe and Mail today describes the issue as: “really about the extent to which consumers should be free to buy foods, however rarefied, and whether constitutional rights stretch as far as the grocery basket, farmer’s market and the people who own shares in - but do not live on - food producing farms.

This is not just about raw milk, this is about people’s rights to choose whatever foods they want. I advocate for choice, said Joseph Heckman, an organic farming expert at Rutger’s University in New Jersey who has consumed raw milk since childhood and now studies it.”

The court has upheld our individual rights to hire someone to care, milk and pasture animals. They have upheld our rights to jointly own a herd of animals. This ruling may be appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada. But right now, Michael Schmidt can go back to the business of running his farm.

Updated January 23, 2010: Patricia Meyer-Watt CNP From the Weston A Price Foundation Toronto Chapter posted this article from the Toronto Star about Michael Schmidt’s acquittal. The essence of why herd share programs are legal is outlined in the following statement: “Schmidt has long maintained he does not break the law by providing milk to the cow’s owners, all of whom purchase a portion of the cow and pay to board the animal at Glencolton Farms. The prohibition on raw milk in Ontario does not apply to farmers drinking raw milk from their own cows. [Justice of the Peace Paul] Kowarsky ruled Schmidt’s cow-share program did not break the law because the farmer only provided milk and raw milk products to his members, did not advertise or market his operation, and that cow-share members were aware they consumed milk at their own risk.”

Updated January 25, 2010: There is celebration at the Weston A Price Foundation over Michael Schmidt’s acquittal. Kimberly Hartke is the publicist for the WAPF. Kimberly tells the story of her great grandmother’s recovery from TB using the raw milk cure. She has a posting on the Royal Family’s support of raw milk and many other interesting postings.

Special Meeting for Kamloops Herdshare Program

Please note there will not be a potluck on December 20, 2009. There will be a Special Meeting for the Kamloops Herdshare Program on Saturday January 9, 2010.

When: Saturday January 9, 2010 at 2:00pm-4:00pm (meeting) 4:00pm-6:00pm (potluck) 

Where: 2853 Bowers Pl, Kamloops, BC, V1S 1W5 (map)

Contact: Caroline Cooper at 250.374.4646

We will be discussing the formation of the Kamloops Herdshare Program. Naomi Fournier of Birdsong Farm will be answering questions about herdshare formation. She runs a herdshare program in Enderby, BC. We will have a copy of the CFAI grant application we made to Interior Health. We will answer basic questions about herdshare formation and the estimated cost to shareholders. If you are interested in raw milk, please come to this meeting.

After the meeting there will be a Weston A. Price Foundation Potluck. Here are directions to GO BOX Storage, home of eatkamloops.org. Please bring one nourishing traditional dish to share with others. If you are unsure of what a nourishing traditional dish is, please read Dietary Guidelines and Dietary Dangers. Please bring a list of ingredients for the dish or a copy of the recipe. This is for those people with food allergies or sensitivities to even properly prepared nourishing traditional foods.

Update December 11, 2009: Here is a link to Sally Fallon talking about the work of Dr. Weston Price on One Radio Network.

Joel Salatin’s Vision of a Local Food System

This last weekend I had the great pleasure of meeting Joel Salatin of Polyface Farm. He was speaking to a sold-out crowd hosted by the Cowichan Agricultural Society in Duncan, BC. Joel Salatin speaks passionately about family run, grass-based farming. In his own words, he is “in the redemption business: healing the land, healing the food, healing the economy, and healing the culture.” The guiding principles behind “Polyface are:
TRANSPARENCY: Anyone is welcome to visit the farm anytime. No trade secrets, no locked doors, every corner is camera-accessible.
GRASS-BASED: Pastured livestock and poultry, moved frequently to new “salad bars,” offer landscape healing and nutritional superiority.
INDIVIDUALITY: Plants and animals should be provided a habitat that allows them to express their physiological distinctiveness. Respecting and honoring the pigness of the pig is a foundation for societal health. 
COMMUNITY: We do not ship food. We should all seek food closer to home, in our foodshed, our own bioregion. This means enjoying seasonality and reacquainting ourselves with our home kitchens.
NATURE’S TEMPLATE: Mimicking natural patterns on a commercial domestic scale insures moral and ethical boundaries to human cleverness. Cows are herbivores, not omnivores; that is why we’ve never fed them dead cows like the United States Department of Agriculture encouraged (the alleged cause of mad cows).
EARTHWORMS: We’re really in the earthworm enhancement business. Stimulating soil biota is our first priority. Soil health creates healthy food.”

My husband Shaen has read most of Joel Salatin’s books, so much of the information in the lecture wasn’t new to him. Near the end of the lecture, Shaen asked Joel Salatin if there was any big differences in his thinking now compared to when he wrote his books. Joel Salatin answered that in the past he believed thousands of farmers would communicate directly with customers. But most farmers find marketing and distribution very difficult and don’t like the work. Now he sees “clusters of farms” working with “local streams of marketing and distribution”. Joel talked about a six part system for a successful local food supply: producer, processor, accountant, marketer, distributor and customer. My husband and I looked at each other and wondered if there is a place for GO BOX Storage and eatkamloops.org in this new vision.

We realized we could become a local food distribution center for Kamloops. We could form a buyer’s group for Kamloops. We could increase the size of our orders and get better prices for everyone. We could run pocket markets or personal deliveries for a cost. If you do not know about pocket markets please read: Pocket Market Toolkit.

It was exciting thinking that we could become part of a successful local food system which helps all of us get the best in local food at a reasonable price. If we could develop a successful local food system, Joel Salatin believes “we could give the big-box stores a run for their money.”

Update November 25, 2009: I contacted Sally Fallon and asked if she knew of anyone who could mentor me to start a buyer’s group for Kamloops. She suggested John Moody who started a buyer’s club called Whole Life Buying Club. Before a new member can join the Whole Life Buying Club, they recommend the new member watch The Story of Stuff. The Whole Life Buying Club follows a Food Philosophy which defines the type of products the buying club will bring in for members. John Moody has written an essay for the journal Wise Traditions called Building a Local Food Buying Club.

Update December 1, 2009: Here is a link to Martha Stewart’s interview with Robert Kenner producer of the movie Food Inc. and Joel Salatin. I hope you enjoy the hypocrisy of the commercial, marinated in the content, more than I did. This is a link to the Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund about Buyers Club Victories.

Updated December 23, 2009: I have just learned from Sandra Burkholder that Joel Salatin will be coming to Quesnel, BC on March 27, 2010. Joel Salatin will be speaking at the 2nd Annual Poultry and Rabbit Forum being put on by the Cariboo Central Interior Poultry Producers Association. Sandra Burkholder and her husband Chris Newton are building a earthship house in Darfield, BC. An earthship house is made from recycled materials and is designed to be completely self-sufficient housing system requiring no outside support. The earthship is the brain child of Mike Reynolds of Earthship Biotecture.

Updated February 28, 2010: I found a series about Polyface Farm on Watch.MeetTheFarmer.TV. You will get a personal tour of Polyface Farm with Joel Salatin. There is an incredible amount of information in this video series about his pasturing systems for the watchful viewer. He will go into the types of grasses and herbage plus the effect of mass group grazing and resting of the pasture. He goes in to some theory but most of the videos are very practice. If you are interested in the theory behind his practices please read his books for more information. Here is Part I, Part II and Part III.

[The road to] hell is paved with good intentions.
English Proverbs

Learning Home Cooking

Home cooking is fast becoming a lost art. I have had a number of requests for good starter cookbooks. I would recommend:

Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats by Sally Fallon
Recipes and information about nourishing traditional food preparation methods.

Full Moon Feast: Food and the Hunger for Connection by Jessica Prentice
“Moon by moon” seasonal cookbook based on seasonal local foods.

The Joy of Cooking by Irma Rombauer
This is a reprint of the original 1931 edition or get any copy between 1932 and 1979. Later editions start to go low fat and do not have much information about food storage and cuts of meat. I like the 1930s and 1940s editions best.

On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen by Harold McGee
Not a cookbook but full of information about the science of food and cooking.

Thompson Rivers University has a Culinary Arts Program and Retail Meats Processing Program. If you are looking for inspiration, The Culinary Arts Program runs a Cafeteria and Bistro. The Accodales Dining Room is run by Chef instructor Ron Rosentreter, and has won awards for their fine foods.

For online videos and courses, you might want to have a look at Rouxbe Online Cooking School. There are free videos that explain basic cooking techniques. You can get a membership and take courses. The website is supported by Northwest Culinary Academy of Vancouver.

Update November 23, 2009: I have just found a link to an online library of classic American cookbooks from the late 18th to early 20th century. Feeding America is a good source for old-style recipes.

Visit to the Killing Floor at Kam Lake View Meats

Yesterday I visited the killing floor at Kam Lake View Meats. I had a very interesting experience and I am very grateful to Kam Lake View Meats and the local inspector for allowing it. I was there to harvest organs and glands from three heifers from Jocko Creek Ranch. I had ordered from Jocko Creek Ranch, one grassfed two year old heifer and two grassfed veal calves. For more information on why I like grassfed veal read Grassfed Veal.

That day, I learned many things on the killing floor. The hides, once a valuable byproduct, are now almost a waste product. The inspector said: “we are close to the day when the customer will have to pay extra to dispose of the hide.” The kill floor manager said: “when I started twenty years ago, the hides were worth $50.00 each. Now they get $5.00 a hide.”

It makes me think about my vegetarian days, when I did not want to wear leather because I thought it was environmentally unfriendly and cruel to animals. I thought we all should use cotton clothing. Of course, I did not think about all the water, energy, pesticides and herbicides used to produce industrial cotton. I do not think cotton clothing is environmentally friendly anymore. Now, I think about how long a piece of clothing made of leather or fur would last. I think about the skill of being able to tan that hide and make it into a piece of useful clothing, has almost been lost.

The internal organs and waste not harvested from animals includes the head, stomach, intestines, reproductive organs, tail end, hooves, and extra fat. Some can be used in raw pet foods but most has to be composted. There are parts of the intestine that are considered “toxic waste” and must be incinerated due to fears of Mad Cow Disease. The Weston A. Price Foundation has a number of essays on Mad Cow Disease by Mark Purdey called Animal Pharm, Maple Grief, TSE Cluster Data, and Purdey’s Data on TSE Confirmed by Auburn University.

These waste materials are shipped to Alberta because no one in the area wants to have a composting plant in their area. So, trucks full of animal waste moves up and down our roadways. The inspector shared some black humor regarding all the wishful thinking about “reducing our carbon footprint” while regulations require such inefficiencies. Again, the government always thinks big. Big composting plants cause big problems. Little composting plants cause little problems. But for the government it is hard to regulate small operations. For the small operations, government inspection and regulation is not cost effective.

Organs are normally harvested, though the interest in these foods have dwindled over the years. These foods are now commonly added to raw pet foods. This is ironic, because traditional people preferred the organ meats and fat over the muscle meat. During periods of good hunting, traditional people would eat organ meats and fat and would throw the muscle meat to the dogs. Traditional people would dry muscle meat as jerky and add fat to make pemmican. This was travel and starvation food. Read Guts and Grease for more information about traditional diets.

Kam Lake View Meats produces raw pet foods, so this would be a good local source if you need pet foods. Raw pet foods are called the Bone and Raw Food diet (BARF). In my opinion, raw food diets are far better for your dog or cat than dried or canned foods. Read Pottenger’s Cats by Francis Pottenger for more information about raw and cooked food feeding experiments. The Weston A. Price Foundation has an essay called Trends in Home Prepared Diets for Pets. There is a lot of controversy about raw food for your pet. Do your research and make your own informed decision.

We did not harvest the brain or pituitary glands. Kam Lake View Meats uses a 22 caliber rifle to kill the animal. This means the brain tissue is contaminated with lead and is unsafe to eat. In new slaughter houses they are required by law to use the humane hammer. The owner of Kam Lake View Meats has used this humane hammer and has renamed it the “inhumane hammer”. He has found the hammer causes more suffering for the animal but would allow the harvesting of the head meat, brains and brain organs.

The regular harvesting of glands has not been done for over eighty years. Before there was a pharmaceutic industry, people used glands to help heal endocrine problems. People with glands that were damaged by illness or injury might have to take glandulars for the rest of their lives or their condition would quickly deteriorate and they would die. For more information about glandulars read Nutrition Hall of Fame: Royal Lee.

This is why I was on the killing floor. I wanted to harvest a number of glands from the three animals. With the help of these knowledgeable people, we located the thyroid, adrenals, ovaries, and pancreas. This wasn’t easy. Those pictures drawn by artists in textbooks does not do justice to the individuality found in all animals.

I brought home the following organs: heart, kidneys, and liver. I brought home the following glands: ovaries, thyroid, adrenals, and pancreas. When I got home, I cut up the glands into the smallest pieces I could. I cut up some of the heart and liver into small cubes. I then froze those glands and organs on a tray. After the pieces had frozen, I re-packed them into bags. I will leave the organs and glands for two weeks in the freezer to kill any parasites, before consuming raw. I will be able to eat the small pieces like a “frozen supplement pill”. The dose for organs is 1-2T a day or more. The dose for the glands is an issue. It will require some experimentation to get the dose right. I will be using Degeneration Regeneration by Melvin Page as a guide. I will contact Ron Schmid, who produces dried glandulars for human consumption. This will be a long term project for me. I will keep everyone posted about what happens and what I learn. If anyone knows about endocrine treatment with raw glands, please contact me.

Updated December 17, 2009: Here are two essays on adrenal function: What You Should Know About Your Glands and Further Experiments of Cortico-Adrenal Extract.

25 Steps to Eating Nourishing Traditional Foods

1. Purchase your food as whole ingredients and as close to the original natural state as possible. Avoid processed foods. Avoid all additives, coloring, stabilizers and fillers. Avoid Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO). Make it a point to understand the system used to process your food. If you cannot understand the process, do not eat the food.
2. Try to source your food locally. Get to know your farmers and ranchers. Show appreciation for all the work that goes into producing your food. Look for pastured raised or organic. Find the local suppliers for un-sprayed products. There are many local suppliers which are not certified organic but follow organic principles. Un-sprayed products are usually cheaper than certified organic. Use eatkamloops.org to find local farmers and ranchers. For some guidelines about assessing food quality read WAPF Shopping Guide for Canada.
3. Eat local foods seasonally. The food has better nutrition and is cheaper. If you would like to eat these foods out of season, find a suitable storage method. Get a large deep freezer and find an area in your home for dried stores. Consider building a root cellar or cold room. For more information read Winter Storage Part I and Winter Storage Part II.
4. When buying from non-local sources try to buy certified organic. When we can’t talk to the producers about their practices, having a third party certification is a good idea. If certified organic foods are not in the budget, read about The Dirty Dozen and avoid foods with the most contamination.
5. Consider growing your own food. Use container gardening on small properties or a big garden on larger lots. If labor is an issue, you might be able to trade garden space for labor. Depending on your zoning, you might be able to have laying hens for eggs or a miniature goat for raw milk.
6. Start a grease bucket. Save all your drippings and fat from roasted meat and fowl. Use the grease for any high heat frying or roasting. For more information read The Grease Bucket - Something from Nothing.
7. If you eat industrial vegetable oils or foods containing industrial vegetable oil, stop now. For cooking, replace these industrial vegetable oils with your grease bucket, butter, or coconut oil. Save your extra virgin olive oil for salads and uncooked foods. Other cold-pressed oils may be used occasionally in very small amounts. If you have any condition involving inflammation, removing even quality cold-pressed oils may improve your condition.
8. Make bone broth. Save all your bones from meals and store in the freezer until you have a pot full. Cover the bones with water and add 4T cider vinegar and simmer for 6-24 hours. For more information read Beautiful Bone Broth.
9. Eat some fermented foods each day or with each meal. Fermented foods improve our digestion. Fermentation can remove anti-nutrients from our food and increase nutrient availability. Fermented foods are not commonly available in the Industrial Food System and must be made at home. For more information read Wild Fermentation.
10. Start making some fermented foods at home. A good place to start is making yoghurt or kefir. If you do not consume dairy, try making lacto-fermented vegetables or use sourdough for breads and biscuits. Contact eatkamloops.org for free starter cultures. For more information about what starters we have read I Got Culture!
11. If you eat grains, beans, and legumes, soak them overnight in water, salt and fresh lemon juice before cooking. This soaking will remove the anti-nutrients from the food and make it easier to digest. Use bone broth when appropriate for the recipe in place of water. This will improve your digestion of these foods. If you are wondering why you need to soak grains read Be Kind to Your Grains.
12. Purchase all of your grains whole. If you are making flour, grind it yourself, and use it within four days. Flour is very perishable and will go rancid very quickly. Freshly ground flour can be stored in the freezer for later use.
13. If you eat nuts and seeds, soak them overnight in water and salt. Nuts and seeds can be then dried and consumed uncooked. These store well in the freezer for quick use.
14. Look for a local supply of grains, beans, legumes, nuts and seeds. There are many local varieties which will be fresher. Look for un-sprayed or organically grown.
15. If you eat rice, buy organic brown rice. Since this is not a local product, buy certified organic. Brown rice does not need to be soaked overnight but cooking in bone broth will help with digestion and improve flavor.
16. Buy your meat by the whole animal. This allows you to have a variety of cuts, offal, fat and bones. The butcher will package the meats in sizes that are best for your family. Get all the products from the animal even parts you do not know how to cook. They can always be used to make bone broth. For more information read Cooking with Grass-Fed Meat and Fowl.
17. If you consume dairy, find a source of raw milk or raw milk products. This will involve having your own cow, goat or sheep or being a member of a herd share program. If you are wondering what is so great about pastured raw milk please read Let’s Talk about Raw Milk Safety. For more information about herd share programs in the province read Birdsong Farm - Cow Share Program.
18. If you are concerned that you have a deficiency in your diet and want to take a supplement, consider using whole foods, sometimes called superfoods. Examples of superfoods are: fermented cod liver oil, high vitamin butter, liver, spring and fall butter, raw milk products, bone broth and fermented foods. Other superfoods are related to the health problem of the person such as: various fresh or dried glands, kelp, assorted clays, probiotics, assorted high vitamin berries and herbs. For more information about superfoods read Supplement or Superfoods.
19. Look at your cosmetics and decide if you would eat them. If you would not like to eat them, consider stopping use. Our skin is far more porous than was once believed. The use of coconut oil can be a excellent moisturizer. Consider making your own soap or buying brands with very few ingredients. A good source of information about the safety of your cosmetics can be found on Skin Deep: Cosmetic Safety Database.
20. Look through your medicine chest and decide if you can do without most of your medication. Many medications mask symptoms while the condition worsens. It is better to feel the pain and make fundamental changes in our lives, rather than masking symptoms while the condition gets worse. Think about the other drugs you take on a daily basis. Assess if these drugs might be adding to your health problems.
21. Think about food preparation in the home and how the task can be done efficiently. The job of running a traditional household is more work than eating convenience foods. This means someone must be willing to allot time for this important work. Some people use one day a week where they spend a morning in the kitchen producing meals for the whole week. Others cook larger meals and consume the leftovers. Remove all plastics from your kitchen and replace with glass containers. Remove Teflon and aluminum from your kitchen and use stainless steel, glass, cast iron or enameled cast iron. Stop using a microwave for cooking or reheating foods.
22. If you are thinking about having a child, start thinking about what you eat before you conceive. All traditional populations had a special feeding schedule for mothers and fathers to be. For more information read Thinking about Motherhood.
23. If you continue to have health problems after changing over to a nourishing traditional diet, consider looking at the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. This diet is also known as Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS). This diet is for very sick people. For more information about SCD and GAPS please read Specific Carbohydrate Diet.
24. Continue getting educated about health. eatkamloops.org has donated a number of books to the Kamloops Public Library. For a list of donated books read Recommended Reading List.
25. Come to our monthly potlucks. The potluck is on the third Sunday of the month between 2:00pm and 6:00pm. For more information read Weston A. Price Foundation Potluck in Kamloops.

Cooking with Grass-Fed Meat and Fowl

If you are new to grass-fed products and feel unsure about how to cook meat or fowl please read Achieving Culinary Success With Grass-Fed Beef. This is a long essay but it explains the differences between conventional and pastured animals. The essay discusses the interesting topic of artisan butchery and how this specialty is being regulated out of existence.

One tool that is very useful in cooking pastured meat and fowl is to “put away your timer and get a good meat thermometer”. I started doing this after reading The Grassfed Gourmet Cookbook by Shannon Hayes. I found it took all the mystery out of cooking a turkey or a very large roast. The fowl or meat would always turn out wonderful. The temperatures below are from her cookbook and I have found the temperatures to always produce a succulent meal. She recommends allowing the meat to sit on the counter and rest after cooking. It is interesting to watch the temperature continue to increase after the meat is out of the oven. The temperatures are for grass-fed meats and the standard recommended temperatures are in parentheses. I like my meat rare inside, so I normally use the lower suggested temperatures.

Beef: 120-165F (140-170F)
Bison: 120-165F (140-170F)
Chicken (unstuffed): 120-165F (140-170F)
Duck: 160-170F (180F)
Goat: 120-145F (140-170F)
Goose: 170F (180F)
Lamb: 120-145F (140-170F)
Rabbit: 160F (160F)
Pork: 145-165F (170F)
Turkey (unstuffed): 160-165F (180F)
Veal: 120-165F (140-170F)
Venison: 120-165F (140-170F)

One of the joys of buying whole animals, is having a choice of cuts that you have never tried before. If you do not know your cuts of meats, you can learn about cuts from books such as the Joy of Cooking. I have found butchers very helpful with learning about cuts of meat and offal. Get every part of the animal you can, even if you don’t know what to do with it. It’s fun to learn how to cook strange parts of the animal! Another great source is Offal Good.

Dry heat is better for some cuts of meat and moist heat is a must for others. The use of rubs and pastes tenderize meats and add exotic flavors. Or you can tenderize with devices like Jaccard Meat Tenderizer. Super slow cooking can soften the toughest meats by cooking at the lowest temperature your oven will go. Most modern ovens will not go below 150-170F.

Remember to save the juice, bones and fat drippings from fowl and meat. The juice is a wonderful base for soups and stews. The bones can be saved in the freezer for bone broth. The fat drippings are good for frying or oven roasting just about anything. I always try to have a grease bucket in the fridge or by my stove for quick use. Fats from animals can take high heat frying much better than even butter which can burn. Read The Grease Bucket and Beautiful Bone Broth for more information. Coconut oil is safe for cooking but save your extra virgin olive oil for pouring over salads or other unheated foods. I do not recommend using industrial oils of any kind. Actually, I think industrial oils and high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) are the two worst modern food additives. Unfortunately, they are in most processed foods.

Full-flavored meat comes from animals that have led a full life… Life intensifies flavor, and modern meat animals are living less and less.
On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen by Harold McGee

Birdsong Farm: Cow-Share Program

About a year ago Naomi Fournier leased some land from her family and started a Cow-Share Program in Enderby, BC. A cow-share or herd-share program gives a person part ownership of a cow or herd, so the person is able to enjoy the products of the cow or herd. Cow-share programs are fairly new to British Columbia. There are five that I know of:
1. Home on the Range, Chilliwack, BC
2. Wild Thing Organics, Christina Lake, BC
3. Birdsong Farm, Enderby, BC
4. Hunny-Do Ranch, Prince George, BC
5. Graham-Knight Farm, Haida Gwaii, BC
6. EcoReality Co-operative, Salt Spring Island, BC

Naomi started a year ago with one Jersey cow and now has three cows. The cows are on pasture during the summer and hay in the winter. She has staggered the pregnancies of her cows so she can have fresh raw milk all year round. Naomi is considering starting shares in goats and sheep. She is the Enderby Chapter Leader for the Weston A. Price Foundation. If you are interested in owning shares in a herd please contact Naomi for more information and share prices:
Birdsong Farm
Naomi Fournier
3607 Trinity Valley Road, Enderby, BC, V0E 1V5
T/F: 250-838-0235
E: naomisbirdsongfarm(a)hotmail.com

If you are wondering what’s so great about pastured raw milk please read Milk: It Does a Body Good?

Winter Storage Part II

Our household has three types of winter storage. We use a root cellar, dry storage and freezers. The root cellar is humid and cool, which is good for storing: potatoes, carrots, parsnips, rutabagas, cabbages, onions, garlic, shallots, green tomatoes, raw cheese and crocks of fermented vegetables. The dry storage is dry and cool, which is good for storing: dried fruits, ground coconut, grains, beans, legumes, assorted herbs and raw honey. We have over 70 cubic feet of freezer space in which we store: beef, pork, lamb, chicken, turkey, organ meats, bones, raw milk, raw butter, butter, nuts, seeds, berries, tomatoes and assorted vegetables.

Three years ago, we came to Kamloops and moved into an old mining pit. The soil is clay, rock and gravel. The first year we were busy building the warehouse and a home. The second season we started the garden. We had to bring in compost, peat, and manure from all over the city to grow anything. We planted fruit trees, currents, raspberries and other food producing plants. We use drip irrigation and a small number of spray emitters. The soil was so hard and rocky I was using a rock pick to dig shallow holes to plant my herb garden. Many plants died that first year.

The quickest way to build soil is animals. We have run chickens for two seasons now. Shaen is the gardener in the family and he has had some production this year. We have had good production from: raspberries, strawberries, some tree fruits, spaghetti squash, beets, zucchini, chard, tomatoes, green beans, herbs and dried beans. Everything else languished or died.

The last week, has been a race with the weather to remove the remainder of our crops from the garden. We managed to put away some spaghetti squash, pie pumpkins and green tomatoes in the root cellar. We froze some raspberries and green beans. We put away a very small amount of dried beans into our dry storage. It was chickens that really worked this year. We put away 120 chicken or about 600 pounds of meat in our freezers. We have eleven turkeys still growing in the back “pasture”. Our new laying hens are consistently producing over a dozen eggs a day.

Every urban homestead starts from humble intentions. The urban homesteader must be flexible. The land can only produce what the land can produce. The urban homesteader must be patient. With careful tending and a little effort, the land will produce more and more each year. If we are in a hurry, production can be increased, but a cost will be paid in labor or money. The urban homesteader needs to be grateful. Whatever comes is a bounty, a gift, from the land. In our modern world we have forgotten how precious food is. Growing your own food counteracts this delusion.

These are some of the local producers I have used for dry stores and for our freezers:
1. Westsyde Apiaries: 250.579.8518: raw honey, raw honey comb
2. Fieldstone Granary Ltd: 250.546.4558: organic spelt kernels, golden flax seed, oat groats, green lentils, and buckwheat groats, chicken scratch
3. Healthylife Nutrition: 250.828.6680: raw pecans, raw walnuts, shredded coconut, raisins, currents, dates (Once a year fall order from www.ranchovignola.com.)
4. Jocko Creek Ranch: 250.374.9495: grass fed beef, grass fed lamb
5. Lyne Farm: 250.578.8266: grass fed beef, grass fed veal
6. Beaver Valley Livestock Services: 250.243.2257: pastured pork
7. Big Bear Ranch: 250.620.3353: pastured organic pork
8. Golden Ears Farm: 250.679.8421: unsprayed strawberries
9. Highland Farm: 250.803.0048: organic cherries
10. Blueberry Hill Farm: 250.246.4099: unsprayed blueberries
11. Avalon Dairies: 604.456.0550: pasteurized organic butter (Good for cooking.)

Winter Storage Part I

This week my family have been working on a modified root cellar for winter storage. Traditionally, a root cellar would be built into the ground. This would give the vegetables a consistent temperature and humidity throughout the seasons. We will try to build a real root cellar next spring.

This winter we will have to be satisfied with a modified work shed. The work shed is a typical 8′x12′ wood-frame constructed building. The building will be too dry. We will have to put pails of water in the building to increase humidity. We will have to heat the structure during the coldest parts of the winter, something a true root cellar would not require.

We will be sourcing vegetables for storage over the next few weeks. We will be looking for potatoes, onions, carrots, beets, cabbage, assorted types of squash, garlic, hot peppers, parsnips, rutabaga, turnips and shallots. As I said before, I am not a local food zealot. But I like to buy as much as I can locally. My largest household expense is food. When I purchase my food locally, my money stays in our community. Also, the quality is better. It is great to be able to look at my plate and know where everything on it came from. It makes me feel somehow more connected.

I am madly making sour kraut and kim chi. I am always amazed at how many cabbages can go into a crock. These crocks will be stored in the root cellar for later consumption.

There are lots of great places to find local food for root cellar winter storage. These are some of the producers I have used this year:
1. Zaparango Organic Farm (certified organic)
Robert Vanderlip T: 250.318.0235
potatoes, carrots, onions, assorted squash, livestock feed corn
2. Lyne Farm (un-sprayed)
Liz Lyne T:250.578.8266
pickling cucumbers, beets, carrots
3. Farmhouse Herbs (certified organic)
Paula and Mendel Rubinsons T: 250.373.2312
pickling cabbage, onions, shallots, parsnips
4. Gort’s Gouda Cheese Farm (certified organic)
T: 250.832.4274
raw gouda, smoked raw gouda (Have Gort’s cut the large wheels into eight segments and vacuum pack. Each piece will naturally age and easily last through the winter months.)