Top Stories Category

photos and story by Janis Jean – I returned to Bullock Lake Farm, one of Salt Spring Island’s many hidden gems, for my second mid-summer workshop focusing on Farm to Table food photography. The workshop, taught by the talented women behind the Eat Creative team, is intended to inspire a photographic story that connects people, and the food on their table, to their local farmer. For three magical days we dug into local farming practises and developed a deeper appreciation for local organic food production, the importance of family farmsRead More

by Joan Saunders – As both my parents were teachers, we spent summers either here on the Island or in the Interior camping in a heavy, old canvas tent trailer. At the end of our journeys through the Okanagan we would load up the station wagon with boxes of fruit for mom to can when we got home. The trip back was heavily laced with the sweet, rich scents emanating from pounds of peaches, apricots, pears or cherries. Fruit is ready when it’s ready, so mom then spent hours canningRead More

by Karen Elgersma – West Coast Reach Association (REACH!) is a registered charity that celebrates inclusion and diversity of ages, cultures and abilities through the performing arts. The idea for this unique model that combines trained performers with people of diverse abilities and backgrounds is the brainchild of Anne-Marie and Peter Brimacombe, who ran a non-profit arts program in Trinidad and Tobago for six years before coming back to the Peninsula to be closer to family. Peter and Anne-Marie, what was your vision for REACH!? To practice and share someRead More

by Courtney Thomas – Quince Café & Ice Cream – It’s late summer and the air sits heavy with heat and dust. In the garden everything is happening at once: beans and vines race for the sky, basil nods under its heavy load, onions are wilting and garlic has been picked, while blackberries ooze in the shade and apples begin to show their rosy glow. This time of year represents seasonal eating at its best, and there is perhaps nothing greater than a tomato, fresh and warm off the vine,Read More

by Tania Tomaszewska – Whether it’s from our patio chairs, going to neighbourhood markets or hitting the roads, we’re blessed with being able to support local farming. We can meet producers and experience their land. We can bite into apples or sip grapes which have been cultivated in our beautiful and bountiful backyard. Great artisanal wines and ciders are being made in our neck of the woods. Here are just a few of my local favourites! Rathjen Cellars, Saanich Winegrower and owner Mike Rathjen has repurposed the former Babe’s HoneyRead More