Bramblings From Vancouver Island

By: Angeline and James Street

Brambles Market

Well, summer is here for sure-at least in the produce department, if not outside! This is our favourite time of the year. We get excited by every delivery; it's like Christmas every week. We can't wait to break into the boxes to see what new goodies we have received. Asparagus is done, as are fiddleheads and mache. But, then there are other treasures to be had: baby potatoes, baby carrots, strawberries, lettuces,green beans and baby zucchini... Oh, it's hard to know what to eat first!!

We are planning and setting up so many things for the coming year. It's too bad there are so few hours in the day to get everything done. As many of you know, we are working on a website as one of our big projects right now. It is taking longer than expected as we want it to be really great. There are just so many things we want to cram onto the site, but we have to pick and choose what we do put on it, so that it is useful and entertaining and interactive for YOU. And it really is challenging to figure it all out! If there are particular things that you think you would like to see on the site, please let us know. Right now, if you have food photos or recipes featuring local goodies, feel free to send them in to us to use on the site. The more the merrier!

French Breakfast Radishes

Here's an idea: Serve the radish roots in the French fashion: dip them in butter and kosher salt and eat them with buttered bread for breakfast!

The first year and a half have flown by, and we sure have learned a lot! We are taking stock of what we do well, what we need to improve, and what else we want to accomplish in the coming year. (That's where all the thinking and planning come in...) We just have to work really hard at making at least half of our dreams into reality now.

So, here is the first newsletter as part of one of the things we want to make happen this year! Let us know what you think! If it's great, let us know. If it stinks, we suppose you can tell us that too. Till next time, thanks for being part of the Brambles experience with us. We couldn't have done it without you!

Meet the Grower:  Vantreight Farms Saanichton

How many years in business?

126 - Five generations

What are the primary products you offer?

 A wide variety of fruits, vegetables, fresh cut daffodils, bulbs and upick crops.

Fresh cut daffodils from organic, bio-diesel run Vantreight farms, Vancouver Island, B.C.

Please describe your production methods or farming practices, particularly those that are distinguishing or unique to your business?

We are utilizing organic methods and are applying this year for organic certification for our 15,330 m2 (165,000 sq.ft.) state-of-the-art greenhouses and land adjacent to the greenhouses totalling approx 6.5 acres with further certification planned for the future.   Our packing facility is second to none with a 4650 m2 (50,000 sq.ft.) warehouse processing plant, 8  cooler units totaling 1,189 m2 (12,800 sq.ft) of cold storage, shipping and receiving areas with 3 loading docks with room for further expansion.  Future plans include the use of bio digesters for the creation of heat and power to grow food all year round while significantly reducing GHG's for the region.

What inspired your choice for this career?

Aside from carrying on our family farming legacy, I was personally inspired to choose the farm as a career because of our farm's ability to positively contribute to the community and increase local food security on Vancouver Island.

Why do you sell to Brambles?

 The more local businesses support local agriculture by buying from the farmer the better off we all are.

Do you believe that it is important to shop locally?

Absolutely.

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Comox Valley Shellfish Festival

Comox, BC June 3, 2010 – The Comox Valley Shellfish Festival is gearing up for a bigger and even better event this year in BC’s shellfish capital, the Comox Valley.

The festival opens June 19th with the Gala Evening Dinner. 200 guests will be treated to a gourmet nine-course seafood supper served along the banks of Comox Harbour, outdoors underneath tents at the historic Filberg Lodge. Along with locally grown seafood, local vintners Beaufort Winery as well as Surgenor Breweries will be providing the wine and ale infusions throughout the evening. This year we are holding a silent auction to raise funds for local charity Y.A.N.A. Tickets are limited and going quickly.

The party continues on Sunday, June 20th at Comox Marina Park with tasting booths featuring
shellfish delicacies as well as desert treats, live entertainment, a beer garden and the much
anticipated Oyster Shucking Contest.

Visitors coming in from out of town can take advantage of a festival hotel rate being offered at the Kingfisher Oceanside Resort & Spa or discounts being provided for travelers from Vancouver to Comox on WestCoast Air.

Come meet growers, chefs and shellfish aficionados as you savour a truly west coast
experience in scenic Comox Valley.

More information can be found on the festival website at Comox Valley Shellfish Festival
Sea you at the festival!

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Chef Roland St. Pierre, Locals Restaurant

Chef Roland St. Pierre, Comox Valley

Chef Ronald St. Pierre, Locals' "Pride and Joy"

A stay in Comox Valley, Vancouver Island would feel black and white, gray even, without dining out at least one meal - if not daily - at Locals Restaurant in Courtenay. Where the colors of nature greet you at every turn, this is a Valley bursting with vibrancy. If there's one thing nature loves, it's color: The eye-popping yellows and purples of Spring flowers, the deep greens of leafy vegetables, the dark reds of vine-ripened tomatoes, even the fleshy pinks of fresh salmon.

Comox Valley's Pride And Joy

“Locals – Food From The Heart of the Island” is the pride and joy of Chef Ronald St. Pierre who, with his wife, have created a dining experience that represents the culinary best of Vancouver Island's Comox Valley. To walk through Locals' doors is like walking into an Island Chefs Collaborative Farmers Market turned restaurant.

The exterior is humble enough. In fact, the praises that were sung about the restaurant and Chef St. Pierre, his philosophy and his passion for fresh, local ingredients did not prepare me for finding the restaurant to be the cornerstone in a Courtenay strip mall. As a first-time visitor to the Island, at every turn I was struck by the quaintness and charm of old farms, wooden buildings, even Courtenay itself is a picturesque little town entirely walkable with cheerful cafes and shops that line 5^th Street, its downtown core and the center of Comox Valley. But now I know why people had failed to mention the restaurant's exterior – once you've eaten there, what's outside doesn't matter. The restaurant's interior is tastefully appointed, with a second room that has large booths for a private dining experience. But truly, the only thing you remember is how good the food is!

Chef Roland St. Pierre is a pioneer in translating “locavorism” into the driving philosophy behind a successful restaurant. Mind you, on Vancouver Island, locavorism is the common mind-set and to do otherwise is, well, frankly absurd. The Comox Valley especially is an abundant bread, fruit, cheese, meat and seafood basket. It could easily be named “Valley of Plenty” so abundant is all the fresh quality fare within arm's reach. The Locals' website explains their philosophy and reasoning, such as, "Buying habits are shifting with 'food currently tied with health as our 4th top spending priority.'” It's definitely worth reading if you at all consider yourself a foodie. Or a greenie.

So Chef Roland and his wife got to talking with local farmers and growers and saw what could be directly sourced for their table. They create their seasonal menus around the ingredients available. Pattison Farms, for example, supplies their fresh greens such as baby spinach, heirloom tomatoes and spicy mustard greens. Beaufort Vineyards supplies them with wine, as do other local vineyards like Chase & Warren Estate Winery and Cabrea Vineyard & Winery as well as the many vineyards just a bit south in the Cowichan Valley.

As part decoration and as part tribute, Chef St. Pierre hangs his walls with portraits of the farm-to-table suppliers he sources his fresh, local ingredients from. If you are keen to do a tour of the Valley's prime growers for ingredients ranging from pork to duck, tomatoes to broccoli florets, goat cheese to mussels to ancient method balsamic vinegars, take a look at Locals' walls, jot down the names and then work your way down the “wall.” With this itinerary, curated by Locals' Restaurateurs Chef and Mrs. St. Pierre, you are guaranteed to enjoy a thoroughly fresh and authentic introduction to some of the Island's star growers and local farmers.

Local's Market Sheet Menu

The price points are also exceedingly reasonable. More often than not Locals' has a Prix-Fixe or Market Sheet menu to order from. Depending on the season, for $35 you can have a seared duck “prosciutto” appetizer, a main-course of Bison (or fresh caught salmon) and a medley of desserts including fresh off-the-farm raspberry mousse. Or you can order a' la carte from the menu. Either way, you'll leave exceedingly, freshly satisfied.

Reservations suggested.  384 8th Street  Courtenay, BC Canada Reservations 250-338-6493

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