Get Local Gaspésie

Heritage seed movement is gathering steam in Gaspesie!

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 09:49:54 -0400

Heritage seed movement is gathering steam in Gaspesie!

Présentation 9h 30 – 10h 30 (présentation bilingue) Samedi 23...

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 11:48:38 -0400

Présentation 9h 30 – 10h 30 (présentation bilingue)

Samedi 23 mars, à la vieille école de Hopetown

Réussir son jardin écologique la pratique du jardinage écologique et les principes de base du compagnonnage.

Je m’appelle Annie Poitras, j’ai 30 ans, et ce sera ma cinquième année de production maraichère à Saint-Godefroi, en Gaspésie. J’ai développé une passion pour le jardinage quand j’étais enfant, et, aujourd’hui, pour moi, l’agriculture biologique semble être la seule façon durable de cultiver la terre.

Photo

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 22:23:27 -0400

Semer la graine avec le forum sur le jardinage! Samedi le 23...

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 22:22:13 -0400

Semer la graine avec le forum sur le jardinage! Samedi le 23 mars à la vieille école de Hopetown.

From the forest to your table : Discovering...

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 12:02:08 -0400

From the forest to your table :

Discovering some of our natural delights

Join us to discover the goods that are hiding in the forest near you. From mushrooms to spices, to wild fruit, you will learn when and where to find them, how to identify them and how to cook and conserve them. Everybody welcome!

Why not make your gardening passion a growing business? With...

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 10:04:00 -0400

Why not make your gardening passion a growing business?

With ever growing demand for fresh local produce, now may be the time to turn your vegetable garden into a cash crop. Etienne Goyer, local producer and member of Baie des Saveurs will present his experience with gardening for profit, how to start up, evaluate the market and share valuable resources for those looking to take the plunge in market gardening.

Save the date, March 23rd at the Hopetown Old School. Growing Forward Gardening Forum - get your green thumb on!

Boeuf Gaspesie is the good stuff! Follow this link to find where it is sold near you!

Sun, 10 Mar 2013 10:37:17 -0400

Boeuf Gaspesie is the good stuff! Follow this link to find where it is sold near you!

Put down that bug spray, and step away from the beetle...

Sun, 10 Mar 2013 10:10:24 -0400

Put down that bug spray, and step away from the beetle powder!

Growing organically is all about preventative planning in your garden. Annie Poitras will be presenting tips and tricks to maximize your garden’s potential WITHOUT using chemicals. See you at the Old School in Hopetown on March 23rd!

How does your garlic grow? Ever think about growing garlic? What...

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 14:17:57 -0500

How does your garlic grow?

Ever think about growing garlic? What is the difference between spring garlic and fall garlic? How does the garlic from your garden differ from what you can buy at the grocery store? And once you successfully grow it, how do you preserve it?

Local garlic producer Brigitte Beaudoin will be at the Growing Forward gardening forum at Hopetown Old School on Saturday March 23rd to share her growing tips and tricks for this increasingly popular crop.

(image courtesy of http://insidestorey.blogspot.ca/2010/07/garlic-update-e.html)

See you at the forum!

Dreaming of gardening?

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 09:38:38 -0500

Dreaming of gardening?:

Seeds of Diversity Canada will be among the presenters at the upcoming Growing Forward Gardener’s Forum on March 23rd at the Hopetown Old School. This organization specializes in protecting heritage varieties of seeds for future generations. Why is this important?

heritage varieties belong to the PUBLIC, not corporations
heritage varieties are adapted to perform in our local Canadian climates
heritage varieties are often the most flavourful and nutritious. Hybrid varieties often sacrifice taste and nutrition for yields and appearance

So, if you are interested in what heritage varieties are available for local gardeners, how to successfully save your seeds and how to participate in a nation wide program to build a robust network of heritage seeds, then this BILINGUAL presentation is for you!

See you at the forum March 23rd! More presenters to follow!

Together for healthy communities

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 13:28:00 -0500

A very important initiative has been launched in our English community here in the Baie des Chaleurs region of the Gaspésie. The CSSSBC (Centre de santé et de services sociaux de la Baie-des-Chaleurs) in conjunction with several partners, are consulting the English residents in the communities of Shigawake, St. Godefroi, Hopetown, Hope, Paspebiac & New Carlisle. Please note that the English municipalities in the MRC of Avignon along with New Richmond, Cascapedia St-Jules will be included in a future round of consultations. The goals of these consultations are:

1) Identify our community’s needs from health services.

2) Identify how these needs ARE or ARE NOT being met.

3) Identify concrete actions that can be taken to remedy these gaps in service to the English community.

These consultations will only be successful and meaningful if the English community in these municipalities come out and participate. This is our opportunity to finally address so many of our complaints and concerns about health services, directly to the organizations that provide these services (including but not limited to the CLSC in Paspebiac, the Senior’s long term care residence facility in New Carlisle, the Hospital in Maria…)

These meetings have been scheduled for January 22 (in Hopetown), January 23 (in Shigawake), January 29 (in New Carlisle) and February 20 in a location to be announced which will regroup all municipalities and government agencies involved.

The powers that be are finally listening; let’s be heard!

Remember when home economics was just some outdated class you had to take in high school?

Thu, 06 Sep 2012 13:38:57 -0400

With the ever increasing cost associated with leaving the home to work (gas, day care, eating out, time lost in transit) coupled with growing local resources for do it yourselfers, AND the availability of so many diverse online resources, do you think that there is actually a decent career to be made for one parent to stay home with the kids and be the "home economist"?

What do you think.

Old school crunchy dill pickles

Thu, 06 Sep 2012 11:09:21 -0400

I like my dill pickles crunchy, and to pack a dill and garlic wallop, and this recipe (which was my great-grandmother’s) delivers! I’ve kept these bottles for up to 2 years and the pickles have always kept perfectly.

I pick a rounded 4l vegetable carton full of fresh cucumbers varying in size and length. They can be as big or as small as you prefer them, just as long as they are picked fresh and have no bad spots on them. Wash the cukes very well in cool water to remove all dirt and thorns.

Prep your jars. I reuse old jars year after year, just as long as you have tight fitting rust free caps you are good to go. My jars vary in size from 2 liters to 1.25 liters; 5 or 6 jars should do the trick. Wash bottles and caps well, rinse and scald with boiling water.

Brine: 1 quart vinegar
3 quarts water
1 cup sugar
1 cup of coarse salt
Note: 1 quart = 4 cups (if you happen to run short of brine you can mix up a partial batch to finish up a jar)

Stir brine till dissolved on medium heat, and then turn high to bring to a rolling boil.

Add 2 or 3 dill heads to bottom of each clean scalded jar, and 2 or 3 garlic cloves. Then pack in your cukes. Add another 2 or 3 dill heads and garlic cloves to the top of the jar. Fill each jar with boiling brine, make sure cukes are covered. Screw on your caps tight. I like to put my jars all together in close group and cover well with towels to keep the heat in until they seal.

I never do a bath or Bain Marie on the jars unless they haven’t vacuum sealed. Store in a cool dark place.

The longer these babies sit, they better they get! Pop a jar in the fridge the night before you open, and of course keep refrigerated once opened.

The Adventures in Taste Nova Scotia app for smartphones…. best...

Thu, 16 Aug 2012 09:39:00 -0400

The Adventures in Taste Nova Scotia app for smartphones…. best idea ever. Listings by area or category with GPS maps to get you there. Super smart, well done. Used it our entire visit.

We stayed at the Historic Victoria Inn in Wolfville; beautiful building, cozy, clean, reasonably priced and lovely breakfast. A short jaunt from the village center, so everything in Wolfville was within walking distance.

We didn’t manage to hit all of the area vineyards, but as many as we could. We particularly appreciated Luckett vineyards, which had a lovely patio where visitors could order light fare along with some wine. We had the charcuterie board and the cheese board, and were not disappointed. Informed and friendly service there as well.

We crashed a wedding at Gaspereau, tasted sparklings at l’Acadie, and busted a bench at Blomidon Estate (funny story, but you had to be there).

One of the above pics is taken in the dining courtyard at Le Caveau at Grand Pré Winery where we had an excellent meal, but had to remark that it was whisper quiet there. I guess we were feeling a bit more exuberant than the ambiance suggested. Awesome night out nevertheless.

Also had a surprisingly good meal at the Library Pub and Wine Tavern. It was a little long in the making, but was so worth it when it finally arrived. Cabbage salad was to die for, as was the beet salad. I must also say their tapas selection was impressive.

I can’t end this note without a shout out to the new appellation “Tidal Bay” wines which prior to my visit I had no idea even existed. I brought some back home to Quebec and shared with some good friends on their sailboat; it was a hit!

Last but not least, Wolfville, you should be proud of your farmer’s market. I was so impressed with the range and quality of local production. Wow. What a treasure; Nova Scotians must really get behind their local producers to have fostered such a vibrant local ag scene.

Love you Nova Scotia!

Dear Nova Scotia, This is a love letter. I just spent a weekend...

Sat, 04 Aug 2012 09:19:00 -0400

Dear Nova Scotia, This is a love letter. I just spent a weekend in your Fundy Shore and Annapolis Valley region, and I can’t wait to go back and visit you again! I shamefully admit, when I was a child I used to dread visiting you. I was just a silly young thing interested in shopping malls and amusement parks, and you were just a lot of trees and fields to my childish eyes. You were simply too mature for me then, but I have since grown up and my eyes have been opened.

You are rich with farmers markets, shops and quaint little towns; vineyards and superb restaurants; local produce and quality crafted goods.

I will come back to you Nova Scotia; we enjoyed a weekend of rediscovering one another…. but do you mind if next time I bring my husband and the kids?

We had the salmon and quesadillas for dinner at Resto...

Sat, 28 Jul 2012 18:04:00 -0400

We had the salmon and quesadillas for dinner at Resto L’Antre-Deux in Port Daniel. Absolutely delish! Great little restaurant with a unique menu and super reasonable prices. Lovely decor; we will be back!

The Local Products Festival in Shigawake this past weekend was a...

Tue, 17 Jul 2012 09:43:00 -0400

The Local Products Festival in Shigawake this past weekend was a great success! Thanks so very much to all of the visitors who came to shop (& visit!). We were so pleased to see people from as far away as Carleton, and it has to be said that New Richmond and Black Cape came out in force!

Thank you also to the vendors who made the Festival an awesome venue by bringing their wonderful and diverse products to sell and display. We have taken a huge step in the right direction in encouraging the growth of our own local markets.

Thank you to the Bonaventure Agricultural Society Division A (Shigawake) for having the conviction and vision to support this new venture.

Thank you to the various partners, volunteers and contibutors, each whose unique support came together to ensure a successful weekend.

Finally, a huge thank you to Wendy Dawson and Dave Felker at CEDEC, who rode this project all the way from conception to reality. Both of you are a testament to the fact that when people who are already mobilized in our communities are given the tools, training and resources, great things happen. You have both served notice… expect big things to grow in our small but mighty communities!

Uniglobe The Travel Times: Canadian Adventures in Quebec's Gaspe Region

Sat, 14 Jul 2012 17:09:49 -0400

Uniglobe The Travel Times: Canadian Adventures in Quebec's Gaspe Region:

worldgetaways:

A cacophony enveloped me as I stood amid some of the 60,000 pairs of nesting northern gannets on Bonaventure Island, two miles off the southern side of Quebec’s Gaspe Peninsula in eastern Canada. It was mid-July, and the female birds protected their chicks in the nests at this most populous…

The Trough looks awesome! Note the beautiful artwork adorning...

Sat, 14 Jul 2012 13:16:54 -0400

The Trough looks awesome! Note the beautiful artwork adorning the walls; courtesy of Normand Desjardins. Shigawake Fairgounds sure dress up nice! See you all for the beer and cheese tonight. Sausages on the BBQ for anybody who is hungry.

Radio promo for the Local Products Festival THIS WEEKEND!!

Thu, 12 Jul 2012 12:06:41 -0400

Radio promo for the Local Products Festival THIS WEEKEND!!