Greenbelt Fund News

Chinese red hot peppers are just as good grown in Ontario soil as they are in their native China. That’s the feedback researchers at the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre are getting from a pilot project which has recently garnered them a provincial award.

You can only imagine how excited we were to be going to the Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers’ Association (OFVGA) Annual Farm Tour and BBQ.  The name of the event can give you, the reader, an idea of what this entailed, but experiencing it went beyond our expectations.  This year the Tour was held in Niagara Region.  The area is well-known internationally for a unique agricultural profile that makes it perfect for growing tender fruits and a wide variety of vegetables.  And, of course, everyone knows Niagara luscious and world-famous wines, nature trails, and a particular waterfall.  It’s not possible to visit all of the farms and facilities, but the tour gave us and the 75 or so other guests a literal taste of the many agricultural activities in the region.

Sometimes, I just have to say how much I enjoy my work.

There is no better time than July to visit Norfolk County, and there is no better place than Norfolk County to visit in July.  We had the chance to take a road trip through the area and soak in all that this beautiful southern coast of Ontario has to offer. 

It has been quite a week.  We are fortunate enough to be hosting 15,000 delegates from all over the world for the Microsoft Worldwide Partners Conference.

When Anthony Bourdain said “Garlic is divine,” he could have easily been describing the gourmand pleasing, Ontario-grown garlic-based products of The Garlic Box. For the past ten years, this Ontariofresh.ca member has been locally sourcing great ingredients from the abundant Ontario countryside for their gourmet seasonings, soups, sauces, dressings, condiments, preserves and pickled garlic cloves.

Recently the MTCC welcomed Fresh City Farms to the Total Health Show. My office happens to look right down onto the show floor, and when spring arrives, exhibitors go all out, decorating their booths with spring flowers, plants, and even food. Fresh City was no exception.

Springtime is icumen in, loud sing kuku! In this case, not the bird, but the dish. From Persia (modern Iran) it is similar to an Italian frittata or Spanish tortilla. However, this contains far more in the way of fresh green herby flavors.

One of the best things about spring is the arrival of fiddleheads at your local grocery store – and they likely came from Norcliff Farms in Wainfleet Township, one of the newest members ofOntariofresh.ca.  

Erie Innovation and Commercialization along with partners from the producing sector, processors and end users are investigating the feasibility of a regional food distribution system to access and serve the Broader Public Sector (BPS) in south-central Ontario in order to improve the livelihoods of south-western Ontario growers.