Consumable Earth – Kamloops

In order to strengthen events across BC, Bike to Work Week will be held from Monday May 11 – Sunday May 17, 2009 in all communities.  Interestingly, this timeframe also coincides with National Bike to Work Day in the United States (May 16, 2009).  The combined efforts will reinforce how wonderful and satisfying biking to work is!

Gort’s Gouda Cheese Farm

Village Cheese – home of squeaky cheese!

Carmeli’s Goat Cheese

OK Cheese – making soya cheese products

Happy Days Goat Dairy

Okanagan’s Choice Cheese

Vernon, BC V1T 7G8
(250) 545-8879

- great article about Okanagan Cheese production

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I found this recipe on a wordpress blog the other day. I have been on the lookout for a good granola recipe and this one seems like it might be just that.

If the method seems slightly odd and unfamiliar it is because this is a raw food recipe and you can read more about the raw food revolution here and for ingredients that are quite close to home you can source them at Real Raw Food in Naramata.
gRAWnola
recipe by Ellen Allard

1 cup buckwheat groats, soaked in water overnight
1/2 cup sunflower seed, soaked in water overnight
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds, soaked in water overnight
1/4 cup walnuts, soaked in water overnight
1/4 cup almonds, soaked in water overnight
1 tbsp flax seeds
1 apple, cored
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 cup pitted dates, soaked for 30 minutes in boiling water
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp agave syrup
1 tbsp shredded coconut, unsweetened

Drain the buckwheat and rinse repeatedly in a strainer. I found it best to run my fingers through the buckwheat as I did this. It took a LONG time to drain it until it wasn’t slimey anymore. Offputting indeed, but it’s kind of like flax seeds which get slimey when wet. Set aside.

Drain the sunflower and pumpkin seeds, walnuts, and almonds.

Put the sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, almonds, flax seeds, apple, and sea salt in a food processor and pulse, being very careful not to grind it into a paste. You still want it to have some texture.

Add the drained dates, cinnamon and agave and process until just blended. Remove from food processor and put in large mixing bowl. Add drained buckwheat groats and coconut. Mix until blended.

Spread onto teflex sheets and dehydrate for about 10 hours at 115 degrees.

When the dehydrating is complete, remove the gRAWnola from the teflex sheets and break into small pieces. Store in a container of your choice, though doesn’t it look lovely in the glass jar!!!???

This is a great snack right out of the jar. Or have it for breakfast – I poured pieces of gRAWnola into a small bowl, topped it with strawberries and homemade almond milk and had a yummy breakfast!

Someone near us is building an earthship and they want you to come and see what they are doing!

If you have seen the movie ‘The Garbage Warrior‘ then you know what the heck I am talking about. If you haven’t the movie begs the question what do beer cans, car tires and water bottles have in common? Not much unless you’re renegade architect Michael Reynolds, in which case they are tools of choice for producing thermal mass and energy-independent housing. For 30 years New Mexico-based Reynolds and his green disciples have devoted their time to advancing the art of “Earthship Biotecture” by building self-sufficient, off-the-grid communities where design and function converge in eco-harmony.

The Burkholders are building an earthship in Darfield BC and are sharing their journey and the story on their blog. Also they could use some old tires. Not random tires but fairly specific ones to simplify their constructive process.

"They MUST be 245, 235 or 225 as we use them like bricks so the thickness has
to be the same.  Diameter (anything after the R on the tire) doesn't matter.
We certainly appreciate any donations of these sizes!  And after going
around the tire shops for the last 6 months, there is certainly no end of
tires....a real eye opener."

We would love to go out and visit when they start constructing walls and would like to arrange a group of people who are interested. I imagine they are pretty busy so showing a larger group around once would take up less of their time than a whole bunch of people lots of times. Comment or post here to express your interest and we’ll make it happen!

I discovered an amazing Hemp Producer today at www.livingharvest.com.  The birth of Living Harvest is the story of a father and son in British Columbia, Canada and how their quest for healthful living through whole foods led them to discover the nutritional benefits of nature’s miracle plant – hemp. By launching Living Harvest, this entrepreneurial team has created not only a product, but a platform for educating people about the complete, balanced nutritional profile found in hemp seed.

Check out the Living Harvest Hemp Seed Nutrition

.: Be good to yourself and to others :.