Tracey Allen's Blog, page 6

Growing Garden - Fava Beans, Buckwheat, and more

This is my favourite time of year in gardening....when everything starts to grow.  Pictured at the far left are fava beans or some people call them broad beans, great eating fresh and green just like peas, sautéed with garlic and onions or dried and good for making falafels combined with chick peas. 

A new to us crop this year is buckwheat pictured top right.  This is the first time I've seen it grow and it is looking pretty neat so far.  You will notice I have it put right up against the raised bed edge...that is because I'm growing it to keep the wireworms from my carrots, turnips and other root crops.  I'll let you know if this works! Article- Reduced-risk Wireworm Management.

The bottom left picture shows buckwheat around the perimeter, turnip and onions (great companion for turnips) in the centre rows in a raised bed.  Amazing how much you can put in a raised bed. 

Finally, the bottom right picture is our snap peas...envisioning the stir-fries now!  More pictures as more interesting crops show themselves.

Gluten-free Restaurant Option: Indian Food

Recently opened on Queen Street next to Beatons Wholesale is Minsoo Café & Restaurant - they offer Japanese, Korean & Indian Cuisine. 
We ordered the Indian Cuisine...two choices samosas or Indian Fried Rice with (Shrimp, Chicken, Beef or Vegetarian).  I was interested in Indian so went with the Vegetarian option.  The chef talked to me about gluten-free and was awesome.  The dishes are made as ordered so fresh and custom.  They didn't use the mixes or ready  made sauces so no worries for celiacs there.  The flavour of the main dish was fantastic, truly enjoyed it.  Priced at $13.50 I feel I received my money's worth.  The dish was served with a small salad that had a very tasty dressing on it.  See the picture at the left.  Top right picture is appetizer edamame or boiled soybean....it was my first time having them and they were very good - definitely get those again and the bonus...they are healthy for you packed with vitamins/minerals.  Note: the spring rolls while gluten-free are deep fried with other battered items was if you worry about cross contamination then don't order any deep fried items. For desert a healthy orange.  There were definitely other menu items for gluten-free or celiac diners.  The pricing is reasonable.  The atmosphere is relaxed and well done.  Overall, I would definitely eat there again.  

Sustainable Food: New crops

Every year we try at least one different crop in our garden and this year was no exception.  Pictured at right is a small sample of our 'new to us' crops.  The large picture to the left is Angelica Archangelica, next to that is Astragalus both are herbs.  The top right picture is celery, underneath that is golden flax and the bottom right is goji berries.  The pictures are taken at the starter stage...hoping I'll have full grown photos at the end of the season. 

Salt Spring Seeds   in British Columbia is where I bought the bulk of my seeds this year and so far they are proving to be very good suppliers.

Angelica Archangelica - interestingly is said to come from the Greek word "arkhangelos" (=arch-angel), due to the myth that it was the archangel Michael who told of its use as medicine.  It grows 4-8 feet high as a bush with huge celery-like leaves and large ball-flowers.  Great bee plant. 

Astragalus a perennial, immune-boosting root, growing to 6ft. And according Wikipedia and herbalist "A. propinquus is used in traditional Chinese Medicine for healing and for diabetes. A. propinquus has been asserted to be a tonic that can improve the functioning of the lungs, adrenal glands, and the gastrointestinal tract, increase metabolism and sweating, promote healing and reduce fatigue."

Celergy and flax likely need no introduction and well goji berries are a powerhouse of nutrition - seed purchased from Sask Power Goji Nursery

We have tried a number of other new crops this year and I hope to post them as they develop.  It is amazing what we can grow in Canada.  Happy gardening!

Gluten-free Cooking Class May 31st - Annie's Table

Join me for a class on cooking gluten-free breakfasts, whether you are a B & B owner or someone in your household is celiac this class is for you.  Learn to make pancakes that taste so good you won't realize they are gluten-free.  We will make a cereal that is simply, delicious and healthy for you and your entire family gluten-free or not.  And wrap up with breakfast wraps great for any meal of the day. 

When: Friday, May 31st
Time: 10am to 12noon
Where: 4295 Grahams Rd
New London, PEI, C0B 1M0

Register Here

New Fiction Book - Sun God Conspiracy

Please read the first two chapters and vote for me....on a new fictional book titled, Sun God Conspiracy

Peter Porter finds himself in mortal jeopardy when he uncovers a religious
artifact find of the century that some people want to remain uncovered.  Paul
Sabre is his major competitor in the field of antiquities and is the only person
who can help him stay alive and protect the discovery.   
 
Paul Sabre is in the middle of relationship problems with his internationally business connected wife and her new acquaintance who presents more than one difficulty in their lives.   
 
When Peter Porter and Paul Sabre put things together and discover the people behind all their troubles, they will need to put differences aside and work as a team to help themselves live and prosper.   
 
Their journey will take them across the globe and reach deep into their knowledge and connections to solve the mystery of why people want them and the artifact to disappear. 

Read the first two chapters of my new fiction book Sun God Conspiracy http://shar.es/Z7w7c
and then if you like it vote for it.....please. (Use Facebook to login or register for the website)  Thank you.

Sustainable Housing Summary of Session

The session started with Tracey Allen giving an overview of her passive solar house, its performance, as well as, some tips to incorporate free solar energy into existing homes.   A copy of her Passive Solar presentation is here.


Next presenter was Darcie Lanthier who provided an overview of an energy audit, noting the importance as a first step in any new energy diet or review.
The review covered everything from your insulation using blower door testing, infrared red imaging to see your cold spots or where the wind blows in, electricity usage, water usage and recommendations to improve those areas to save you money.  Interestingly she noted that the age of your house has a huge impact on its insulation value depending on 2x4 studs, 2.x6 studs etc and how well they insulated.  

A energy modeling software she recommended is free from Natural Resources called HOT2000  and a ton of other software you might be interested in. 

Interested in having someone else do your energy audit: The Office of Energy Efficiency
31 Gordon Drive, PO Box 2000
Charlottetown, PE C1A 7N8
Ph: (902) 620-3690; toll-free: 1-877-734-6336
Fax: (902) 620-3796

Grant MacDonald of www.solarenergyworks.ca spoke next on both the solar hot air heater that he built himself for his house - see pictures at the right.  It worked great for this winter.  Then he gave an overview of each of his solar hot water systems that he sells and how they worked. 

Great presentations all around and lots of information to consider in reducing your housing energy costs.

Sharing Economy - Helping you simplify and save

With budgets stretched tight and for those trying to simplify and save the idea of a sharing economy would be quite appealing to you.  It helps everyone to share resources for the benefit of all.  You have tools you don't use everyday, so why should I go and buy the exact same tool when I can borrow yours and help pay some of that cost? Exactly. There is 'Spare to Share' for that!  Here is a great directory of all things collaborative including 'Adopt a Garden' helping elderly keep a garden while providing a garden to those with no space or "Rent a Local Friend' where you get have a personalize tour by someone on your vacation or earn money providing the service.
The categories are for everything in your life.  You have you share, you don't you borrow.  You can offer services or ask for services for a fee of course.  That is why it is a shared economy.  Many of these collaborative sharing sites are European or US based but nothing says Prince Edward Island entrepreneurs can't start to do something similar here....we are only limited by our imagination.

Sustainable Transportation - Options to fit your budget and Lifestyle

Aaron Lewis presented on www.maritimerideshare.com soon to be www.seeets.com and how you can connect with others to share a ride to the same location.  Aaron also spoke about Carsharing and is interested in developing a carshare program in PEI similar to Halifax's successfully running http://www.carsharehfx.ca/ 

Advantages: Save money, share cars in other cities, and no maintenance etc.

You can review his information/slides here. Russell Cole of Kensington, PEI talked about his converting a Ford Fiesta to an electric car.  Cost $10,000 to convert, goes 80Km before it needs to be charged and costs .70cents to charge it with a regular outlet for about 10 hours.   Read his presentation in part here . E-bikes, scooters and mopeds can help save you money too especially for short distances and in the spring/summer/fall.
Here is a basic overview of what to know.

Simplify Your Funeral and Save the Environment and Your Budget

The two certainties in life death and taxes and by coincidence they both cost money.  Much like you can simplify a number of things your life you can simplify and save on your funeral and even have some environmentally friendly choices.

Casket - you can have a simple pine wood casket.  Monks in Canada make them starting at $1,500. They also note your rights that you should know when dealing with a funeral home in Canada.

Our ancestors did things simply and buried or burned their dead.  Now a days there is much fanfare and business around funerals.  The song by Great Big Sea - The Night Pat Murphy Died gives a great overview of a simple funeral. When you died they dressed you at home, put you in a casket maybe made by your family and they 'waked' you at the house or Church. 

In the simplest terms you can have the following:
- bury the person right away and you don't need to embalm them
- build your own casket or purchase a simple pine box as noted by the monks business above (it is what they use to bury themselves)
- host the wake at home or Church and hold the service from those locations too
- create a simple and long lasting head stone, concrete maybe
- where you can bury or scatter ashes is definitely regulated check your local sources

Government regulations are the only thing you need to be well versed in - here is a consumer handbook to review.

Just know you have choices to have an inexpensive and simple funeral according to your needs and loved ones wishes.

Learned how to make a solar cell phone charger and solar battery charger

Went to Jonesport, Maine for a weekend to learn about solar panels and solar electricity and came home with a solar battery charger kit (to finish at home) and a completed solar cell phone charger. Photo at the left is a broken solar cells cut to make one string and being tested to see if they are drawing electricity from the cloudy day (and yes they certainly did) to use in the solar batter recharger that Darcie is showing at the top. That bottom photo is me holding my just finished solar cell phone charger...that was pulling in 6.6 volts when tested even on a very cloudy day...still enough to charge a cell phone in a couple of hours.

I learned about a lot of very interested projects that Dr. Komp is doing worldwide, creating great business opportunities for third world countries and helping those at low income create a living for their families or how to generate their own power. 
Hoping to have a seminar on PEI to teach people how to do these projects too and trust me if I can learn than anyone can! These projects were done with broken solar cells so that made them cheap and a great recycle project. I'm now looking into suppliers so if you know of any let me know.