Hi all. I wanted to officially invite you to my newest project "The Edible Valley" podcast. My long time friend Jon Frazier(who happens to be the executive chef of Atlas Cafe in Courtenay) and I are teaming up to bring weekly podcast about the food culture of the Comox Valley. Our mission is to bring together chefs, farmers and consumers in one place where we can discuss the wonderful things that are happening in our area.
Jon and I go way back. We have been friends since we were 12, so we have over 20 years of history and chemistry, plus several years of working at the same restaurant and other projects over the years. In recent years we have become strangers. Not that we never talked, we just never got a chance to hang out. We work very different hours, each have a daughter, home lives and other hobbies. Wanting a new project and to reacquaint with my old friend I got an idea. I had been listening to Podcasts religiously for about year, my favorite being "The Sprocket Podcast". It began with two friends with a love of bicycling and alternative transportation and decided to record one of their conversations. It has now grown and they have fantastic guests and very interesting content as the show matures. I liked the format and thought "Why not"
I approached Jon with the idea last fall, and he was gung-ho to be involved. Neither of us had any skills or knowledge of how to make a podcast, what equipment we needed, how to publish it. So many questions, so little answers. But with much more time than money we plugged away over the winter learning how to get an episode online. Much frustration followed but we persevered and eventually had success. We are now five episodes in and they keep getting better.
We hope to keep bringing new episodes weekly as our time works and as guests are available. I hope to talk to a wide variety of people. We see the potential for so much growth for us personally in learning more every episode. We hope to add video in the near future and we have many more ideas that are incubating. I am pondering a big commitment for next year based on Edible Valley. I will save that for a later blog.
The Comox Valley holds so many possibilities for food lovers. Our farmers grow basically any kind of vegetable and meat that one can wish for, from pheasant to bison, kohlrabi to wasabi, it is all here. We are a national leader in shellfish aquaculture generating the majority of product farmed in B.C. We have exciting young chefs and farmers, value added producers and cutting edge wineries. We even have a scotch distillery! Fresh salmon, halibut, prawns, and Dungeness crab are available for purchase at the Comox Marina. The Comox Valley farmers market grows in size every year, with the prospects of a permanent location being constructed. Several food festivals take place at various times of the year, including B.C. Shellfish festival, Mt. Washington Alpine Wine and Food festival, and new for this year, Flavour the North Islands gourmet Picnic.
Stay tuned for updates on the Edible Valley facebook page, follow us on twitter @ediblevalley, or email ediblevalley@gmail.com. I thanks you for supporting my blog, and hope that can carry onto the next phase.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Adventure 25- Beaver Lodge Forest
Interpretive Sign |
Look at the beaver deterent on the culvert |
Douglas fir. I love the branches |
Rail Trail |
Racing |
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Adventure 24- Car Free on Fathers Day
Ghost town?? |
What a better way to celebrate Fathers day for Natalie and I. Today just so happened to be Car-Free day in the Comox Valley. Cumberland and Courtenay celebrate this occasion, and this year is the second annual for the festivities. I was unable to attend last year so I was quite excited to participate this time. And even better that Natalie could ride with me.
Ripping through those cones |
It has already been a good bikey weekend for us. I did my Epic Ride on Friday, then cycled around Courtenay and Comox on Saturday with the skinny tires, and an evening ride with Natalie around the old Number 5 mine site. Today promised to be mellow, just two blocks of Dunsmuir were blocked off. Dunsmuir being the main street in Cumberland. I had originally proposed going snow shoeing today, but being involved with a car-free day was lower impact and involved less planning. Plus the weather was looking ominous. With gusty wind and cloud mixed with darker cloud, the mountain could have been miserable. It could also have been great. Impossible to tell. I am happy with our decision and so is Natalie.
Nice soaps |
We pedaled onto Dunsmuir at almost one o'clock. It was pretty quiet, aside from a pair setting up the bike rodeo and some chalk artists. The intersection of Dunsmuir and Third were to be a palette for whom ever wished to create a picture. We coasted up and down the street a few times. That is such a great feeling to have that much road to play on with a bike and be unafraid of motor vehicles. The rodeo was completed so Natalie and I spend a good portion of time doing loops of the slalom cones and the figure 8. We had a great time cheering each other on. Soon Natalie spotted some friends from school and they raced up the street to check out the soap factory. The proprietor creates brilliant soap in many shapes and scents, including apple pies, cupcakes, apples and flowers. Beautiful, and she had also had a bubble maker operating above her establishment. What a child draw that was. Every kid in the area flocked to the bubbles.
Artist in resident |
We zig-zagged our way back down the street to give a hand at the chalk drawing. Natalie began drawing bikes and I drew her one to show how I would do it. However I soon realized that the bike decorating booth was open. Off we went to see how her bike could be beautified. Natalie's mom had shown up to take some pictures and the two of them went to work creating a masterpiece of ribbon, streamers and a playing card in the spokes. I busied myself catching things that were flying off the table because of the wind. Natalie was thrilled for this art project. We had to wait another half an hour for the decorated bike parade so we rushed home so Dusty could join her for the event. Once all settled down the kids cruised down the block and back in front of the parents and onlookers. It was "kidical mass". And lucky her, she won a prize for her bike decorating. How cool! It was a gift certificate for the Wandering Moose. After a couple of pictures with the other kids we make a hasty retreat for the Moose for gelato. Excellent. We sat in the rare glimpse of the sun and people watched for a little while and indulged on the tasty treat.
Thanks Mom! |
Natalie went back out and drew some more and rode around the figure 8 again. I had a peaceful few minutes to see the world go by and reflect. I thought that the turn out was kind of low for our town, which prides itself on its bike culture. On the other hand, children and families made up the majority of the attendees. Plus many just came and went. I was pretty low key in socializing today, but the community of people all chatting and visiting in a central area was really awesome to see. Maybe I am just oblivious to the social gatherings of people, it seems like this kind of stuff doesn't happen in public often. Most of the parents all know each other from the elementary school and their kids are friends, so I am probably out of the loop. Anyways, I was still happy to see it and made the "cynical one" a little less so. We returned home and had a game of crib before dinner to cap a really nice afternoon of biking and being outside. Find Adventure.
My bike. How could you tell? |
Friday, June 15, 2012
Epic Ride
Buggered Pig |
Great signage |
Great vista |
I was so pumped about going for a long ride, the actual hard work of the ride was not taken into consideration. Straight away the lungs and legs were hurting. Catching my breath was not coming easy. Russ was feeling about the same way, but we knew that a lot of hard work to get up to see this new trail and enjoy the "fun" part of the day. The first trail we hit was "Missing Link" which travels through a few year old clearcut and has a flowy end section that dumps you onto the end of "Two and a Juice". This is the section where "Two" has two steep downhill sections. Take some care to ride down, with some flat rock and many roots. They are fun, take your time if you are not a confident rider. We had earlier mused about what our classification of beginner trail is in the Comox Valley. Many of our XC trails have steep decents that border on downhill, but the decents are mixed in with bridges, skinnies, roots and other technical ingredients. Our XC is a real mixed bag, making it fun and challenging.
Clever sign |
My pal in the creek |
Sykes Bridge |
It was a great time today. Unfortunately I think that dehydration was the root cause of my challenged ride. That was probably the biggest day I have had on a mountain bike thus far in my involvement of this sport. Get out and enjoy Cumberland and all that the trails have to offer. Find Adventure.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Adventure 23- The Chinese/Japanese cemetery
This weeks adventure was the one that spawned the idea for Natalie and I to expend more energy to spend time doing something different every week, exploring new places in the Comox Valley and surrounding areas. We drove past the cemetery at the end of 2011 and both spoke that we had never visited this park, and that we should do so. Then we talked about other places to visit and soon the list was growing in length and the rest is history.
I didn't take any pictures of the cemetery. It felt disrespectful to the deceased to take simple photos. Maybe I am wrong, but that is how I felt so this blog will not be accompanied by any images. I have already posted plenty of Natalie and I riding our bikes around Cumberland on this blog, so use your imagination or browse around to see more pictures.
It was going to be a quick adventure. I had a load of firewood getting delivered at noon, and there were many chores to do outside that had been neglected while I have been at school. I was able to get some siding washed, lawn mowed, weeding and moved some of my leftover firewood. It felt good to accomplish these tasks, and after a quick lunch we mounted our wheels and went for a nice ride. Natalie is gaining so much confidence and skill that I was comfortable letting her race me on the street. It was so much fun, even when she beat me. She did have a major crash. She spotted a curb, about six inches tall and figured that she could ride up on it. I heard "Hey Dad, watch this" I turned my to look over my shoulder, and I knew exactly what was going to occur. She hit the curb sideways, not perpendicular to it, and had a spectacular wipe out. She ended up with her bike on top of her and crying really hard. She didn't realize that you have to pop your tire up over things like the curb to get over it. I felt so bad for her, because she was trying to do something to make me proud, and it caused a crash. I am proud of her for trying, and more proud of her for getting back on her bike and continuing on with our mission. It was a symbol of how much her confidence has grown. A year ago she would have been done, and I would have had to carry her bike home.
We pedaled out to Royston road and turned on Union road. We raced the whole length of this road, a crossover from Royston road and Cumberland road at the highway. We rolled into the park and carried on up the hill to the Japanese side of the cemetery. We slowly meandered our way around, through the trees, checking out different monuments and memorials. All the headstones were gathered in one area on top of a large circular platform of exposed aggregate concrete. These stones varied from polished, colored granite to normal boulders with carvings. This monument was really quite beautiful. I am not sure of the history of this burial park, but I wondered if these stones were all moved to this central monument to protect them from erosion and vandalism. We did a few headstone rubbing to try this out, and they turned out pretty neat.
Down the hill is where the Chinese cemetery is located. The markers were still in the ground, and were different than the ones up the hill. These graves were capped with concrete with a flat granite marker placed on top to mark the deceased. Natalie was curious with all the Leungs that were in the cemetery, and I explained to her how there were many Leungs in the Comox Valley, and there still are. She would tell me in a caring voice that this person had a good life by the length of the life they lived. It was very cute and grown up. The clouds were beginning to open up and spit rain so I decided that we should get going home before we got soaked. We were unprepared for any kind of bad weather and I really didn't want us to get soaked.
We had a fun, interesting, quick adventure to complete this close to home excursion. We have finished most of the adventures that are close to home and now that I am on the eve of being back from school we will venture further from home and check out some new territory. Find Adventure.
I didn't take any pictures of the cemetery. It felt disrespectful to the deceased to take simple photos. Maybe I am wrong, but that is how I felt so this blog will not be accompanied by any images. I have already posted plenty of Natalie and I riding our bikes around Cumberland on this blog, so use your imagination or browse around to see more pictures.
It was going to be a quick adventure. I had a load of firewood getting delivered at noon, and there were many chores to do outside that had been neglected while I have been at school. I was able to get some siding washed, lawn mowed, weeding and moved some of my leftover firewood. It felt good to accomplish these tasks, and after a quick lunch we mounted our wheels and went for a nice ride. Natalie is gaining so much confidence and skill that I was comfortable letting her race me on the street. It was so much fun, even when she beat me. She did have a major crash. She spotted a curb, about six inches tall and figured that she could ride up on it. I heard "Hey Dad, watch this" I turned my to look over my shoulder, and I knew exactly what was going to occur. She hit the curb sideways, not perpendicular to it, and had a spectacular wipe out. She ended up with her bike on top of her and crying really hard. She didn't realize that you have to pop your tire up over things like the curb to get over it. I felt so bad for her, because she was trying to do something to make me proud, and it caused a crash. I am proud of her for trying, and more proud of her for getting back on her bike and continuing on with our mission. It was a symbol of how much her confidence has grown. A year ago she would have been done, and I would have had to carry her bike home.
We pedaled out to Royston road and turned on Union road. We raced the whole length of this road, a crossover from Royston road and Cumberland road at the highway. We rolled into the park and carried on up the hill to the Japanese side of the cemetery. We slowly meandered our way around, through the trees, checking out different monuments and memorials. All the headstones were gathered in one area on top of a large circular platform of exposed aggregate concrete. These stones varied from polished, colored granite to normal boulders with carvings. This monument was really quite beautiful. I am not sure of the history of this burial park, but I wondered if these stones were all moved to this central monument to protect them from erosion and vandalism. We did a few headstone rubbing to try this out, and they turned out pretty neat.
Down the hill is where the Chinese cemetery is located. The markers were still in the ground, and were different than the ones up the hill. These graves were capped with concrete with a flat granite marker placed on top to mark the deceased. Natalie was curious with all the Leungs that were in the cemetery, and I explained to her how there were many Leungs in the Comox Valley, and there still are. She would tell me in a caring voice that this person had a good life by the length of the life they lived. It was very cute and grown up. The clouds were beginning to open up and spit rain so I decided that we should get going home before we got soaked. We were unprepared for any kind of bad weather and I really didn't want us to get soaked.
We had a fun, interesting, quick adventure to complete this close to home excursion. We have finished most of the adventures that are close to home and now that I am on the eve of being back from school we will venture further from home and check out some new territory. Find Adventure.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Adventure 22- The Vancouver Island Visitor Info Center
Nice face Natalie |
My girl in blue |
Tough going |
No Hanna..... |
Tah Dah |
No kayaking without a life jacket! |
You too!! |
Lets go home |
Monday, June 4, 2012
Letter to John Duncan(I sent it to Harper too)
To John Duncan M.P.
I am writing to vent my frustration with the Conservative governments hidden agenda in Bill C-38. How can Canadians trust our Federal government that hides such important issues in a bill that is supposed to be about the finances of our country. Changes to the Fisheries Act, dismantling the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, removing the decision making power of the National Energy Board by giving Cabinet last say on any declaration of the Boards finding, and making the National Energy Board exempt from the Species at Risk Act. These are appalling insertions to the Act. I ask you why is it so important to potentially ruin our environment and to remove the safety nets that were in place to consider these risks in the name of short term job creation. We have such a rich country in more than just our energy. What is the big hurry to sell it off? The world isn't creating any more and it will just get more valuable. Why are we burning so much natural gas to make the dirtiest of carbon fuels? And why do we need to send it overseas? All this energy makes Canada rich in so many ways, we SHOULD be self reliant in our energy needs. Natural gas is such a wonderful fuel and Canada could be implementing this fuel and leading the world in using natural gas as transportation fuel. Burning natural gas to make bitumen is like burning gold to make coal. It is totally backwards thinking. By allowing these environmental irresponsibilities brings Canada's environmental protectionism to the level of the third world. Short term employment and multi-national pocket stuffing before fragile eco-systems, endangered species and ruining an area that SHOULD be protected as a National Park. Pipelines and super tankers do not belong on our coast, period. It is sad for me to think of the future for my child and my grandchildren. I am teaching her to respect the environment because her generation will have so much more to fix than we had to save. I hope that the next generation will make smarter political decisions and NEVER elect a government that is removing our democratic rights and liberties, making the right to clean air and water up to multi-nationals who are padding the ruling parties coffers. I can proudly say that I didn't waste my vote by supporting the Conservative government and I never will.
Just a little background. My father, grandfather and many family members on both sides of my family worked and work in the forest industry. I am a journeyman sheet metal worker. I make a living on progress. But it must be sustainable progress. Canada SHOULD be at the fore front of clean renewable technologies. The 5.5 billion Enbridge wishes to spend to build there "pipeline of death" would build a heck of a lot of renewable energy sources.
I hope as a man from Vancouver Island you stand up to Steven Harper and make the right choice and say "no" to Bill C-38
Sincerely, your frustrated and upset constituent Blayne Prowse, Cumberland.
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