wet friday

A heady day in Muskoka, with wildly variable weather, flat calm lakes one minute, whitecaps the next. It was the Firefly Festival or Midnight Madness on Friday, depending on which side of the cash register you were on, and other than the weather, it seems to have been a hit. I'm sure that there will be more than a few people with a bit of a cold following the evening. Laganza was a big hit as usual, though they got rained out of their last set (on a ricketty barge in the river!).

Foodwise, things are late getting out of the garden this year, and it is no different in the woods. Our bear neighbours have been making their presence known on a rather more intimate basis these last few weeks, due to a lack of forage in said woods. The berries are late and small, and the chipmunks are extra fast! This may all seem simply a news tidbit to those in the city, but when a 2 year old, teenage bear decides to use you as a forage point it gets a bit exciting!

This young fellow got lucky when I accidentally left the garbage can out of the garage, and ran off with a bag of loot. Subsequently, he has decided that we are a stop on his food path, and when you wander into the bedroom after lunch to find him scrapping with the resident, overfed Bluejays at the birdfeeder, (on the 2nd floor deck!), it gets a little too intimate... My wife played him a pots and pans symphony to hasten his departure, however I'm sure we haven't seen the last of him yet.

It makes one think on food and its sustainability. We are both blessed and plagued with a worldwide food economy. One can get anything, anytime. In less fortunate nations, there is still scarcity, and often famine. I can only shudder at the feeling of helplessness that would bring me, and makes me that much more proud of the folks that labour so hard year round to bring us the wonderful foods they produce, raised with great toil out of this wilderness region. Other than bears, one must take into account the deer and other wildlife that try on a regular basis to "sample the wares, " and the efforts that go into slowing the regular pillage! It encourages me to show my kids that things can be raised from seed to feed our family, and continues to drive this company to continue to provide the service that will get this wonderful food to you on a regular basis, bears or no bears!

Someday, I would love to have the kind of small, self-sustaining farm that could keep my clan going in times of scarcity, and I have started to amass the kind of literature that will feed the minds of my children to that end. It occurs to me, especially after my last visit to Toronto, and some of the comments I heard in conversation, that we, as a people, are losing touch with the very land that sustains us. Our forefathers made this country the vibrant place it has become, through their hard work, and foresight. It should be something we, as parents, and the reapers of what our forefathers sowed, ensure is taught to our children, and in fact, taught in schools as well, to relish what we have, appreciate it, and to try to keep it in the public eye.

On a lighter note, I've some more recipes to post on the Muskokavore site for your delication, including a fabulous Garlic scape Carbonara... Yum! I'm working on a lamb dish too, but must needs get it right before posting. Am off to finish pestoing my scapes, and make a chicken stock before the bears get everything!

THINK GLOBALLY - EAT LOCALLY!