Day Tripping: Peaches, Pizza and Preserving with Farmers Feed Cities

The most wonderful time of the year is almost over….peach season in Ontario is coming to an end! I’m obsessed with peaches and as soon as the season hits, I’m one of the first in line for delicious Ontario peaches. The peaches from our neighbouring country to the south are fine for baking or in pinch when I’m desperate for one in the middle of winter. Ontario peaches however are a thing of beauty. I didn’t always appreciate them and actually when I was growing up I preferred nectarines, since they didn’t have “furry skin” but that all changed when I met a beautifully ripe Ontario peach a few years ago and I haven’t looked back!

Last summer, I had the opportunity to join a wonderful organization, Farmers Feed Cities, on a farm and vineyard tour in Niagara-on-the-Lake with a group of food bloggers and journalists. Farmers Feed Cities is committed to supporting Ontario’s farmers and helping the public to understand their importance. The goal of this farm and vineyard tour was to give us “city folk” a chance to understand and appreciate the contributions made by Ontario farmers. We only experience the end product at our local grocery store but behind the scenes, there are so many people and processes involved to get product from the farm to the market and finally to our dining tables.

We started our day off visiting the fruit and vegetable growers at Quiet Acres Farm in Niagara-on-the-Lake, which is just over an hour away from Toronto. Our first stop was a visit to their peach orchards and they looked like they went on for miles and miles. Rows and rows of peach trees with beautiful fruit hanging down, just ready to be picked. We sampled fresh peaches and cherries, straight from the trees and maybe it was the setting but they truly were the juiciest and most delicious fruits I had ever had!

We then took a tour of their peach processing facility, where all peaches are sized, sorted, washed and packaged for grocery stores. One thing I really admired was that no peaches go to waste. They are all sorted and graded and if they don’t make the cut because they rotted on the tree, they are put into piles around the orchard that compost down and get returned to the soil.

Next, we paid a visit to their garlic and potato barn. The owner opened the doors to a huge, dark barn and asked us to all look up. There, in an attic-type space were bundles of garlic! Down below, there were baskets of potatoes, covered up so that the light wouldn’t harm them. I had never seen anything like it and as much as I call myself a “vegetarian foodie” I realized just how little I knew about the growth and handling of some of my favourite fruits and veggies.

We ended our tour of Quiet Acres with a visit to their fruit and vegetable stand for a little shopping. Everything they sell is grown on-site, so you can imagine just how beautiful all of the produce is. If you can’t, don’t worry, I’ve included a few pictures : )

Our next stop was a visit to Southbrook Vineyards, a company that is close to my heart as I used to frequent their Richmond Hill location, where they had a pumpkin patch and sold fresh pies throughout the Fall season. Sadly, the Richmond Hill location is closing this year, but fear not, their beautiful Niagara-on-the-Lake location is going strong! We had a great tour of the vineyard and ended off with a delicious outdoor luncheon with fresh salads, pizza and wine (of course!).

We ended the day with a lesson in canning and preserving the beautiful peaches and cherries we had tasted on our tour. Lynn Ogryzlo taught us all about how to can Ontario peaches and cherries so that we could enjoy these beautiful fruits and bring back memories of a sunny, warm day by opening up a jar of home-canned fruit, even in the middle of winter!

If you’re reading this, please do support our Ontario farmers, they work so hard and they are a huge part of our economy. Even if you can’t visit a farm in person like I did, the next time you’re at your local farmer’s market, please take a few minutes to speak to the farmers and their staff. They’ll appreciate the effort and this simple act will deepen your connection to the food that you’re putting on your table. P.S. I’ll bet your food will taste even better too!

Links:

Farmers Feed Cities – http://farmersfeedcities.com/

Quiet Acres Farm – http://www.qa.on.ca/

Southbrook Vineyards – http://www.southbrook.com/

Lynn Ogryzlo, The Ontario Table – http://www.ontariotable.com/about-lynn-ogryzlo/

Product Review: ET TU Salad Kits

Whenever there is a family gathering, I’m asked to bring a salad, as I love to experiment with different combinations. A big bowl of fresh lettuce and veggies topped off with a tasty dressing makes for a great start to any meal!

I was asked if I wanted to test some ET TU salad kits and I immediately said yes. I’ve seen them in grocery stores over the years but I had never tried them out, so I was definitely curious about them. A few days later, I received two Family Size salad kits – one Italian Balsamic and one California Honey Dijon. We were having the whole family over for a pasta dinner, so I decided to make both of the salads at the same time:

The Italian Balsamic Kit contains:

• Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing
• Toasted Almonds
• Sun-dried Tomatoes
• Multi-grain Croutons

The California Honey Dijon Kit contains:

• Honey Dijon dressing
• Raisins
• Toasted Almonds
• Calabrese Croutons

Assembly: All I needed to do was add all of the ingredients from each of the kits to a bowl of fresh lettuce or mixed greens, toss and serve. It was so easy that my older nephew had a chance to “cook” with me : )

The verdict:

Both salads were easy to put together and I had appetizers on the table in minutes. At first glance, I was concerned that the portion sizes for the toppings and dressing were too small. However, after mixing up the salads, I was impressed to see that there was enough dressing to cover all of the lettuce and the toppings were nicely scattered throughout. Everyone enjoyed both flavours and said that they would definitely love to have the salads again. These kits are great for those who are “salad challenged” or for busy families who are looking for a quick and convenient appetizer option.

Want to know how much my family loved the salads? Here’s my cute little nephew with one of the empty bowls : )

Have you tried an ET TU kit? What did you think?