Vert-à-Go

“Do you know where I could find pork products that are natural…from happy pigs, etc?”

- Rachel, Saskatoon

I am not a fan of the way most pigs are treated to provide grocery stores with quantities of pork. Permanently confined in a windowless smelly building on hard bare floors in cramped conditions, large-scale pig barns certainly do not allow pigs to express their “pigness”, as Joel Salatin would say. It is a cruel way to raise these animals, who would spend their time foraging and rooting if left to their own devices. I also found, when I used to buy it years ago, that grocery store pork often had a nasty backtaste to it–to me, it sometimes smelled (and seemed to taste) like a pig barn! I now buy my pork from Pine View Farms. It has a wonderful flavour with none of that taste. They don’t raise the pigs themselves on their own farm, but sub-contract out to another farmer near Hague, who raises them in small numbers on straw:

“Our hogs are raised according our All Natural protocol. No antibiotics, growth hormones or animal byproducts are fed or administered. We do not use gestation crates, sows roam free and farrow in birthing pens on straw. The feeder pigs can roam around outside and root in deep straw to satisfy their natural instincts.” –Pine View Farms web site

We usually buy a side of pork from them at a time, but there are a number of retailers in town who sell their products. Steep Hill Co-op usually has chops, bacon, and ground pork. Their bacon and chops are available at Dad’s Nutrition Centre, as well as their mild Italian and chorizo sausage. Greystone and Attridge Co-ops also stock Pine View pork (cuts will vary). It is cheaper to buy directly from Pine View Farms, however. You can go out to the farm store, or they will also deliver to your house for a flat fee of $18/order. I have combined an order for friends in the past, which saves on time and gas for everybody.

There will soon be another option for pork raised to ‘beyond organic’ standards in the Saskatoon area: Lori Walldner, a former organic producer of pastured livestock, is now marketing a variety of food products by organic fellow-farmers ranging from meat and eggs to grains and (coming this summer) vegetables. She expects to have pork available in March–I’ll post again on her other products when I have more information (I’m also double-checking a longer list of Saskatchewan producers and suppliers and will add it when it’s done).

Naturally and/or organically-raised pork (Saskatoon area)

Pine View Farms ph: (306) 239-4763

Lori Walldner ph:(306) 955-8402

(photo: Saskatoon berries on vanilla ice cream with chokecherry syrup)

My neighbour brought over a tub of Saskatoon berries the other day. She’d been picking at a friend’s farm about 30 miles south of the city, and said that she’d never seen such an incredible crop–the bushes looked almost entirely blue, and you could practically pick fistfuls of them at a time. They just came off the bushes in huge clumps.

Now, I might get drummed out of the province for saying it, but I’m not actually a huge fan of Saskatoon berries once they’re cooked–I think they become cloying and overly glutenous in pies and jam. But fresh berries are another matter. Sprinkled over breakfast cereal, served up with fresh cream, or scooped up by the handful, they’re just amazing. They’re a blueberry with attitude (although of course they’re not technically even a berry–did you know that they’re related to the rose family and the fruit is in fact a tiny apple?). They also have the same antioxidant potency as blueberries, so along with the strawberry, they’re another incredibly healthy local fruit choice. Great for reducing your personal food miles!

The Saskatchewan Fruit Growers Association has some good advice on picking and freezing Saskatoon berries so you can enjoy them throughout the winter:

How to freeze Saskatoon berries

Choose firm, dry berries. Lightly inspect berries for foreign matter or blemishes. Refrigerate immediately in shallow containers. Freeze unwashed on trays in a single layer until hard (about 30 minutes). Pack quickly into freezer bags, removing as much air as possible, or place in freezer containers leaving 1 cm (1/2 inch) headspace. Rinse and drain just before use.

Here are the details for half a dozen local Saskatoon berry farms. Most places have only just opened for the season, so you might want to give the berries another few days growing time to ensure good fast picking. (update: it’s a good idea to phone ahead to check picking conditions before heading out)

The Berry Barn

• 830 Valley Road
• 978-9797
• 8am-8pm daily
• U-pick $10/ice cream pail, or 3/$20. Pre-picked $15/pail.

Their season opens Monday 14 July–the berries should be up to speed by mid-week.

Berry Masters

• 5 miles NW of Saskatoon (call for directions)
• 242-4780
• call ahead to arrange picking time
• $10/ice cream pail

U-pick isn’t their main business, so please call ahead to arrange a convenient time.

Tim Epp

• Heading east on 8th Street, the farm is precisely 5km past the Briarwood gate on the left-hand side of the road (their mailbox says 295)
• 373-6114
• open anytime within reasonable hours
• $5/ice cream pail (please bring exact money for honour system payment)

The berries are slowly ripening and should be in full swing within the next week.

Lorraine’s Saskatoon Berries & Gifts

• 3625 Mount Royal Avenue, Furdale. Head south on Lorne Avenue/Highway 219 and turn right on Cartwright Street (the Concordia Club is on the left). Mount Royal is the third road, you turn left and Lorraine’s is the second or third place on the right. Follow her signs; you can’t miss it.
• 665-0818
• open 8am-8pm
• $7/ice cream pail or 3/$20

Moon Lake Saskatoon Berry Farm

• 775 Valley Road
• 382-9574
• 8am-8pm daily
• $8/ice cream pail u-pick; $15/pail pre-picked

Strawberry Ranch

• 325 Valley Road
• 384-4842
• 8am-6pm daily (weather permitting–call ahead to confirm)
• $8/ice cream pail; $16 pre-picked

Saskatoon berry picking is now underway, but they will be heavier by the middle of this week.

(photo: thanks to Clairity Daily)

The Strawberry Ranch has opened for the season. Why not organise a picking party and take a carload of friends? They also sell pre-picked berries if you’re short on time or inclination.

I froze a bunch of SR berries last year and they were delicious thawed out on cereal throughout the winter–much more flavourful than the frozen ones from the grocery store, and cheaper too (plus, they hadn’t been shipped from Chile!). Strawberries also contain more vitamin C than oranges, so you can happily eat locally-produced berries throughout the entire Saskatchewan winter without worrying about contracting scurvy by April (they’re also a great source of potassium and folic acid).

How to freeze strawberries

Refrigerate strawberries as soon as possible after picking, and don’t wash or hull them until you’re ready to freeze them (it’s best if you do this as soon as possible to maintain nutrients). To freeze, wash and hull them, then place them whole in a single layer on a baking sheet in the freezer. When they’re frozen hard (about 30 minutes), you can then stick them into bags or containers without worrying that they will all freeze together in one big clump. You can add a sugar pack (3/4 cup sugar per 4 cups of berries) or freeze them in a syrup (equal parts sugar and water boiled for 5 minutes), but they should last perfectly well throughout the winter without any added sugar if they’re in an airtight bag or container.

My four-year-old and I also made a very easy strawberry freezer jam with some of the smaller berries last summer–we’re only just finishing the last couple of jars now. It should last a year frozen.

The Strawberry Ranch is located 4 miles southwest of the city on Valley Road. Their hours are 8am-6pm daily (they won’t be opening evenings this year because it wasn’t busy enough last year). If the weather is dodgy, call 384-4842 to check that they’ll be open. U-pick strawberries are $8/4L basket.

This morning I was nearly out of ground flax seed, which I use in a number of different things–oatmeal, smoothies, and my sister’s virtuously fibre-rich yet still diabolically good pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. In the past I would pick up a bag at the grocery or health food store, but I had vowed to stop by the SaskMade Marketplace the next time I was passing.

Along with a myriad of Saskatchewan-made products (including clothing, gifts, frozen food and assorted food staples like flour, dried grains and pulses, jam, and more), the store has just about the biggest selection of flax products I’ve seen. Today, I picked up a 454g (1lb) bag of organic brown milled flax seed from Northern Quinoa Corporation–at $5.45, this is considerably cheaper than what I was buying at the grocery store.

Northern Quinoa Corporation is a specialty seed and grain processor based in Kamsack, SK. Although its initial focus was on quinoa seed, it now handles a wide variety of commercial and food-grade grains (including all pulses, legumes, cereals, oilseeds and some spices), sourced from Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Alberta, and the northern United States. Many of their products are gluten-free, making them a great locally-produced choice for people with dietary restrictions (check out their recipe section here). They also have a wide range of certified organic products, and are certified kosher.

Here’s their full product list–it’s impressive!

• quinoa (golden quinoa fully processed, golden quinoa flour, cold rolled quinoa (flakes), black quinoa, quick quinoa powder–extra fine, quick quinoa flakes, crispy quinoa)
• quinoa pasta (elbows, spaghetti, spirals)
• amaranth (grain, flour)
• barley (pearled barley, purple hulless barley)
• beans (clear hilum soybeans, black turtle beans, cranberry beans, small red beans, brown beans, pink beans, dark red kidney beans, light red kidney beans, pinto beans, great northern beans
• buckwheat (kasha/toasted whole groats, whole groats, buckwheat hulls)
• canola (whole seed, ground)
• chick peas (desi brown or green chick peas, chana dhal chick peas/split desi, garbanzo chick peas/kabuli)
• flax (milled brown flax, brown flax, golden flax, golden milled roasted golden flaxseed)
• flours (chana dhal/desis flour, cici/garbanzo flour, crimson lentil flour, green lentil flour, green pea flour, spelt flour, yellow pea flour)
• lentils (black lentils, crimson lentils, crimson split lentils, Eston lentils, French green lentils, laird green lentils, pardina lentils)
• millet (millet groats, millet hulls)
• oats (regular rolled oats, instant rolled oats, quick rolled oats, steel cut oats, whole groats oats)
• peas (yellow whole peas, yellow split peas, green whole peas, green split peas)
• spelt
• spices (caraway, coriander)
• Canadian lake-grown wild rice

You can find Nor-Quin brand food products at SaskMade Marketplace (1621 8th St. E), Mom’s Bulk Foods (901 F 22nd Ave W), Ellen’s Whole Body Health Ltd. (507 Nelson Road (Kenderdine), and Early’s Farm and Garden (2615 Lorne Ave) or you can contact them directly to place an order:

Northern Quinoa Corporation
Box 519
428 3rd Street
Kamsack, SK S0A 1S0
Phone: (306) 542-3949 Fax: (306) 542-3951
Toll-free order line: 1-866-368-9304

consumer orders and general inquiries: quinoa@quinoa.com