I wonder why we have very few tree fruits being grown in this region or on the east coast of Vancouver Island?
There is no reason we could not be home to many orchards with apples, pears and cherries. I know of no serious commercial tree fruit growers on the island.
The climate here is perfect for growing apples, we could have thousands of hectares of apples being produced here, we could easily rival the Okanagan for apples, but we are not growing them. Why now?
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Monday, May 4, 2009
Vista 18
I have like liked the food in this restaurant in the last few years, though I have not been there for about a year now. Sounds like things are not going well there based on some of the recent comments at Vibrant Victoria about the place.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
10 Pound Turkey
Chickens have been too small for dinner when all the boys are here so I thought I would get a small turkey. I bought a ten pound bird the other day and roasted for dinner. I thought there would be masses of leftovers but there were not a lot.
Daniel and Ben can easily eat more food than Sheila or I do during dinner. It is only going to get worse as they are only 14 and 11 at the moment.
Daniel and Ben can easily eat more food than Sheila or I do during dinner. It is only going to get worse as they are only 14 and 11 at the moment.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
2009-2010 Community Food Action Initiative
---------------------------------------------------------
The 2009-2010 Community Food Action Initiative (CFAI) for the
websites:
- Public Health Association of BC - http://www.phabc.org/
- Food Link
- Cowichan Green Community - http://www.cowichangreencommunity.org/
- Capital Families Association - http://www.capfamilies.org/
- Community Council (CR-FAIR) - http://www.communitycouncil.ca/new.php
The deadline for applications is May 12, 2009 at 4pm. The instruction document that can be found on the above websites will also provide contact information for community and VIHA resources that can be contacted regarding the 2009-2010 Community Food Action Initiative.
Interesting page here on the election and food security issues.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
New plantings in the garden
I bought the apricot tree a few weeks back and it is doing well, lots of green shoots.
This week I planted six blueberry bushes. My aim is to have enough to allow us to be able to get a pound a day in the peak season. I am not sure I have enough for that, I will see in a year or two.
There are 60 strawberry plants in the ground, about 60 garlic plants as well. I have spinach, basil and lettuce sprouting. The seed trays have numerous cucumbers, pumpkins and zucchini happening. I will be planting this along the sidewalk on Maddock street to try and get rid of the lawn there.
Four of the peach trees from last year are doing well, one is sickly and one died. No blossoms on them yet, they are still very young. I hope for some fruit next year.
Pictures in a few days on all of this
This week I planted six blueberry bushes. My aim is to have enough to allow us to be able to get a pound a day in the peak season. I am not sure I have enough for that, I will see in a year or two.
There are 60 strawberry plants in the ground, about 60 garlic plants as well. I have spinach, basil and lettuce sprouting. The seed trays have numerous cucumbers, pumpkins and zucchini happening. I will be planting this along the sidewalk on Maddock street to try and get rid of the lawn there.
Four of the peach trees from last year are doing well, one is sickly and one died. No blossoms on them yet, they are still very young. I hope for some fruit next year.
Pictures in a few days on all of this
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Romano's Macaroni Grill - on Douglas outside of Mayfair Mall
Monday night we had a long day with many frustrations and at 6pm we had nothing ready for dinner. We decided we would go out for dinner. Our first choice was Floyd's @ at Douglas and Burnside. But is was closed, that may have been a Monday night thing, but it might also be closed for good, I have no idea.
We had walked so were considering where to go next and after some thinking decided on the Macroni Grill. I had always thought this was part of a chain and of the same quality as White Spot and others of that ilk. It is owned by a larger company, The Spectra Hospitality Group, but it is a one off.
It was not busy for a Monday night, but it was also not empty. The service was very good and made us feel valued as customers.
I had the calamari fritti to start and was not thrilled, the breading was not what I like on calamari, though the aioli that went with it was very good. Sheila had a starter salad which looked good and tasted good.
As a main I had the penne with spicy sausage and peppers. It was well done, but there was a lot of it, enough for two adults. I like the fact that spicy really means spicy, this was not some weak hint of heat, there was good heat here. I would most certainly order this again.
Sheila had the chicken parmesan. I was not interested in that as it was heavier than I wanted for a meal and honestly I had still not gotten over the horror chicken parm I had at Romeo's in Broadmead. Her meal was very good as well, but once again very big.
We had litre bottle of San Pelligrino, which was reasonably priced. Sheila had a margarita which was good. I also had a beer and the price was crazy $8.49!
Total bill for two - $70
We will go back, but I suspect not order booze.
We had walked so were considering where to go next and after some thinking decided on the Macroni Grill. I had always thought this was part of a chain and of the same quality as White Spot and others of that ilk. It is owned by a larger company, The Spectra Hospitality Group, but it is a one off.
It was not busy for a Monday night, but it was also not empty. The service was very good and made us feel valued as customers.
I had the calamari fritti to start and was not thrilled, the breading was not what I like on calamari, though the aioli that went with it was very good. Sheila had a starter salad which looked good and tasted good.
As a main I had the penne with spicy sausage and peppers. It was well done, but there was a lot of it, enough for two adults. I like the fact that spicy really means spicy, this was not some weak hint of heat, there was good heat here. I would most certainly order this again.
Sheila had the chicken parmesan. I was not interested in that as it was heavier than I wanted for a meal and honestly I had still not gotten over the horror chicken parm I had at Romeo's in Broadmead. Her meal was very good as well, but once again very big.
We had litre bottle of San Pelligrino, which was reasonably priced. Sheila had a margarita which was good. I also had a beer and the price was crazy $8.49!
Total bill for two - $70
We will go back, but I suspect not order booze.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Kuku's East Indian - 24 Burnside Road West
Last night we decided not to cook, the boys were off to Catherine's and we walked over to the new restaurant in our neighbourhood, Kuku's.
Kuku's is at Burnside and Harriet and is just in the process of opening. At the moment they are only doing take out food in the space that used to be Balkan Pizza - those Albanians did a good pizza and miss them being there. They have also taken over the space next door that was the Muffin Girl and working to make it a sit down restaurant with a buffet. They have some, though not all, of the permits from Saanich in place. Saanich does not seem to be interested in making the process of red tape for small businesses or homeowners very easy. There is no sense of the municipal staff being there to help people get things done. The owner of Kuku's talked about how much he had already had to spend on the permitting process.
The place was busy at just before six last night, almost a line up out the door. We ordered a lamb curry, butter chicken, garlic naan and vegetable pakoras. It took them 20 minutes to get it to us, so we just went for a walk with Max.
Inside they have a display case filled with various Indian sweets.
We got our food and took it home. We should have had some rice with it as well.
The butter chicken was amazing, I highly recommend getting it. The pakoras were also wonderful - crispy, light and moist inside. The flavour of the lamb curry was good, but some of the meat was tough and could have used more stewing time. The garlic naan was so light on the garlic that I could not taste the garlic - maybe they gave us regular naan.
I am looking forward to being able to take a seat inside soon. I would love to invite guys from the Victoria Buffet Blog to come join me as soon as I here it is open.
--------------------------------
Update on Sezechan City on Burnside Road. This high quality Chinese buffet restaurant has been closed for a few months for renovations, or so the sign says. The outside has been very, very quiet and there has been no evidence of anything going on inside until this week.
Earlier this week lights were on inside and there was a large dumpster full to the brim with stuff from inside. Looks like something is happening there. I will look in the windows this weekend and see if there is anything else to report
Kuku's is at Burnside and Harriet and is just in the process of opening. At the moment they are only doing take out food in the space that used to be Balkan Pizza - those Albanians did a good pizza and miss them being there. They have also taken over the space next door that was the Muffin Girl and working to make it a sit down restaurant with a buffet. They have some, though not all, of the permits from Saanich in place. Saanich does not seem to be interested in making the process of red tape for small businesses or homeowners very easy. There is no sense of the municipal staff being there to help people get things done. The owner of Kuku's talked about how much he had already had to spend on the permitting process.
The place was busy at just before six last night, almost a line up out the door. We ordered a lamb curry, butter chicken, garlic naan and vegetable pakoras. It took them 20 minutes to get it to us, so we just went for a walk with Max.
Inside they have a display case filled with various Indian sweets.
We got our food and took it home. We should have had some rice with it as well.
The butter chicken was amazing, I highly recommend getting it. The pakoras were also wonderful - crispy, light and moist inside. The flavour of the lamb curry was good, but some of the meat was tough and could have used more stewing time. The garlic naan was so light on the garlic that I could not taste the garlic - maybe they gave us regular naan.
I am looking forward to being able to take a seat inside soon. I would love to invite guys from the Victoria Buffet Blog to come join me as soon as I here it is open.
--------------------------------
Update on Sezechan City on Burnside Road. This high quality Chinese buffet restaurant has been closed for a few months for renovations, or so the sign says. The outside has been very, very quiet and there has been no evidence of anything going on inside until this week.
Earlier this week lights were on inside and there was a large dumpster full to the brim with stuff from inside. Looks like something is happening there. I will look in the windows this weekend and see if there is anything else to report
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