If you liked the idea of taking advantage of “green baskets” during Summer, you can continue to support local farmers while eating local organic produce during Fall and part of Winter.

The baskets contain vegetables such as garlic, carrots, potatoes, various types of squash, onions, leeks, radish, rutabaga, turnip, etc. They are all locally harvested and kept under controlled conditions until delivery to preserve their freshness.
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Did you know that you can now pick grapes in Quebec? From mid-September to mid-October, certain vineyards such as la Bauge and Domaine du Ridge invite visitors to become ‘winemakers for a day’ by taking part in grape picking and stomping, thereby working together to create their own vintage.

Professional winemakers greet you in the morning, give you a brief background on viticulture in Quebec and explain how to harvest grapes. Then it’s off to the vineyards with pail and pruning shears in hand to harvest grapes for a good hour or so (sufficient time to enjoy yourself without getting a backache!)
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Originally published in the Journal de Montréal on September 17, 2011.

From mid-August up to the first frost, small, beige-coloured ‘Chinese lanterns’ that contain orangish-yellow berries become available in our markets: These small fruits are called ‘groundcherries’, although they are neither cherries nor gooseberries. They belong in fact to the tomato family and also go by such names as cape gooseberry, alkekengi, love-in-a-cage, etc.

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Here is a vegetable that wins over gourmets and nutritionists alike, because, in addition to its refined flavor, the asparagus abounds with a great quantity and variety of antioxidants. It is also rich in minerals, folate and vitamin K. Low in calories, with a 90% water content, it is known for its re-mineralizing and diuretic properties.

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Originally published in the Journal de Montréal on May 28, 2011.

We’re back again: The first locally grown vegetables have started appearing on the shelves of local markets and supermarkets. Even if heavy rains over the past few weeks have somewhat slowed down the deliveries as compared to previous years, you can still sink your teeth into asparagus, lettuce and rhubarb, not to mention tomatoes and cucumbers locally grown in greenhouses.

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Lufa Farms, which is located atop a two-storey office building in Ahuntsic, is starting to produce pesticide- and herbicide-free vegetables in its 33,000 square foot rooftop greenhouse. The company aims to become the “family farmer” of about 1,000 Montreal families.

For more info: http://www.lufa.com/en

Happy Earth Day!

In all likelihood, the answer will be yes, because it is one of the compounds found in maple syrup, more specifically, a polyphenol (antioxidant) compound that was unknown till very recently and which was thus named in honour of Quebec. In fact, in a study commissioned by the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers to a team of researchers from the Rhode Island University, the latter identified 54 antioxidants in maple syrup. Among these, five were identified for the first time in nature, including Quebecol, which is formed during the boiling process that transforms maple water into syrup.

So, here is one more reason for eating this little treasure, but be careful not to go overboard and binge on it, otherwise you will fall ill!
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