It was great to meet fellow gardeners at this year’s Toronto Seedy Sunday! Although it’s only February, you can tell that there are a lot of people getting excited for the upcoming gardening season. This year we had a particularly large interest in our Edamame seeds.
We had great success with this ‘Champion’ variety of soybean, which we sold at the Dufferin Grove Farmer’s market back this past August. Edamame taste beautifully fresh, but freezes quite well so you can enjoy them throughout the winter. We’re looking forward to growing this type again this year, and we’ll be using the ‘succession planting’ method for a longer season.
For those lucky enough to still have frozen Edamame in the freezer, here is a great recipe for Edamame hummus:
- 1.5 cups of frozen shelled edamame
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tablespoons tahini
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Pulse edamame, garlic, tahini, juice, oil, salt, cumin and pepper in a food processor until mixture is the consistency of guacamole; add water 1 tablespoon at a time if too thick. Cover; refrigerate until party time. Serve with pita toasts and peppers for dipping.
- Published:
- February 16, 2011 – 2:11 pm
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- By Growing Spaces
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This week we put a twist to one of our most favorite traditional recipes. With Valentines quickly approaching, we decided to combine our Spy apples with our favorite seasonal candies with the end result being the most delicious light dessert any ‘sweetheart’ could ask for. That’s right ….‘Cinnamon Heart’ Apple Sauce!
Apple sauce is made by cooking down apples with water and then puréeing the apples to make a nice smooth texture. Some people add sugar and spice for flavoring, but we combined the steps with simply adding cinnamon hearts. The cinnamon hearts also give the sauce a nice red colour.
Apple sauce is a nice winter treat eaten on its own or can accompany main course meals. For instance, apple sauce is a great condiment for roast pork or potato pancakes. If you’re like me, and looking for a healthy treat for your loved one try making them ‘Cinnamon Heart’ apple sauce for the holidays.
- Published:
- February 8, 2011 – 10:58 pm
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- By Growing Spaces
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Growing Spaces is pleased to be back at Seedy Sunday Toronto for another successful year! We’re looking forward to seeing all of our fellow gardeners at the event’s new location at Hart House on Sunday February 13th, 2011 from 12:30-6. There’s lots of opportunity to learn more about gardening and buy and exchange vegetable and flower seeds for the upcoming season. We will have a number of our new gardening products coming from the farm including; Birch log feeders, Garden ironware, Vegetables seeds, Fresh herbs, and some of our garden preserves. Hope to see you there!
- Published:
- January 23, 2011 – 2:06 pm
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- By Growing Spaces
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ABCD Gift Basket
- ABCD Gift Basket
Growing Spaces has been busy preserving this fall! Check out our new gift baskets for the holiday season. All products are local and organically grown on our farm in Ayton, Ontario. We have some already made up or you can pick and choose what you like to see in the basket. Sure to make the perfect gift! Here is an example of one that we donated to ABCD: Art Building Children’s Dream Silent Action.
Some Products include:
Annie’s Pickled Beets, Grandma’s Chili Sauce, Ginger Pear jam, Apple Jelly, Pickled Caully, Cornation Grape Jam, and my favorite Autumn Chutney! etc, etc.
Come check us out at the Dufferin Grove Organic Farmer’s Market on Thursdays 3-7 or at our Farm’s store location at 3 MacPherson in Rosedale, Toronto.
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- December 3, 2009 – 11:45 am
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- By Growing Spaces
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Wow, what an exciting week at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair! So much to see, smell and taste…talk about a sensory overload! Friday was a beautiful day to bike down to the Royal and see the sights. Some of our favorites exhibitions were:
- All the amazing local foods including jams, chutneys, salsas, mustards, sausages, ice cream, cheese etc….. etc…. SO MUCH FOOD!!! We especially liked -An Apple a Day- dried apple chips
- Carrot City Urban Agriculture exhibition- great to see that the Royal is supporting new and innovative ideas coming from our universities
- the Bernardin Preserving competitions – I was so inspired after seeing all the imaginative preserves that people had made… got some great ideas for next years preserving!
- The giant vegetable challenge – you should have seen the world’s largest pumpkin!
- The cattle competitions – As a farm girl, I enjoy watching the cattle shows, as I am transported back to my 4H days with all the excitement and anticipation that comes with showing.
It was such a great day that we didn’t want to leave! But luckily we brought home some great food that we’ll be able to enjoy all year round. Already looking forward to next year!
- Published:
- November 15, 2009 – 7:14 pm
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- By Growing Spaces
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- Purple and Green Planter
- Self Watering Container
- Entrance Colour
Heres a garden we did in Toronto last June. Along the side of the house, a previously under used part of the house was transformed into an edible corridor! A bed of raspberry bushes, cabbage, and leeks were planted along with one of our self-watering ‘recycle bin’ planters filled with tomato plants, swiss chard, and herbs. These are essentially reclaimed recycle bins converted into planting bins that have a built in artificial water table. You can leave it for a few weeks without any watering – great for those that travel in the summer.
At the front of the house we focused on adding colour with an edible flower and herb mixture, some lavender and asparagus. We also put together some entrance planters. Instead of the traditional (and non-productive) annual planters, we went for a selection of harvestable plants with a purple and green focus – eggplant, purple cabbage, purple basil, and climbing beans.
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- November 8, 2009 – 7:16 pm
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- By Growing Spaces
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- Garden at its peak
- Early in the growing season
Alas, our wonderfully bountiful market garden ended another chapter with the picking of the last of the leeks. In memoriam, we thought it would be nice to show what it looked like at the beginning of the growing season (before) and what it looked like at its peak (after).
- Published:
- November 8, 2009 – 6:50 pm
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- By Growing Spaces
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Growing Spaces Greenhouse
- Growing Spaces Greenhouse
Check out our mini-greenhouse!
This greenhouse is constructed out of 100% reclaimed wood trim windows that were on their way to the dump. This is a great way to start your seedlings in early spring, or extend your growing season well into the fall!
See it this week at Toronto’s Royal Winter Agricultural Fair, on display at the Carrot City exhibit.
Tagged: Growing Spaces greenhouses, Growing Spaces Products
- Published:
- November 6, 2009 – 9:54 pm
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- By Growing Spaces
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Growing Spaces has now entered the digital realm! We’ll be working away at getting this website functional, so stay tuned and in the meantime send any questions/comments to info@growingspaces.ca
Happy Fall!
- Published:
- November 6, 2009 – 2:33 pm
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- By Growing Spaces
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