The Rundown In this episode Emm Gryner who rocketed from a chicken farm to singing backup for David Bowie talks about how singers, and the rest of us, can uncover the voices we’ve got inside us. Next up, Ilona Daniel, Harrowsmith’s relatively new food editor explains how Anne of Green Gables and a father named Gilbert changed her life.  Emm Gryner - Uncovering Your Voice Emm Gryner’s new book, The Healing Power of Singing, is, yes, a practical guide to becoming a strong singer and making it in the music business. But, it’s more than that. The book is full of poignant stories of the triumphs and heartbreaks in Gryner’s own life, and the idea of uncovering your voice, putting yourself in the path of opportunity and finding strong mentors is advice we all could use whether we sound like Sinatra or not. Not, in my case. Here’s my conversation with Emm all about voice. Ilona Daniel - A New Food Editor is Served Ilona Daniel has only been Harrowsmith Magazine’s food editor for a new months. I got to speak with her when she had just taken on the gig. We discuss her love of vibrant food, local producers and Anne of Green Gables. Here’s our conversation. End Notes Want more Harrowsmith? No problem. Visit our website. Or you can check out Harrowsmith Magazine on selected newsstands across Canada or you can order subscriptions online at harrowsmithmag.com. By the way, the music in the podcast? It's by good ol' Canadian singer, composer and friend of the 'cast, David Archibald. You can find more of his music at his website, davidarchibald.com. 

Harrowsmith Radio

Emm Gryner, the Uncovered Voice and Harrowsmith's Food Editor

The Rundown In this episode a visit with that self-proclaimed culinary charlatan, Bob Blumer, whose new book teaches us all how to make bombs, flavour bombs that is. Speaking of making, our go-to DIY guy Steve Maxell is back, this time to explain why MIG welding is the glue gun of the future. So, bombs and welds all in this episode. Bob Blumer and Flavourbombs Bob Blumer didn’t start out life as a chef. He went to Western for business, sold heavy metal t-shirts at concerts, managed Canadian indie music queen Jane Sibery and through a surreal cookbook for his sister, tumbled into a rollicking, rock and roll journey into extreme cuisine. In his latest book, Flavourbomb he explains how to dial the savoury, sweet, bitter, sour and umami of everyday dishes right past 11 in full on Spinal Tap style.  Steve Maxell and MIG Welding Steve Maxell wants everyone to fall in love with MIG welding. MIG welding? It stands for Metal Inert Gas welding. It’s a simple form of electrical welding you can get into for a few hundred dollars and a bit of practice. If you think welding is all about acetyl torches, Iron Man-style helmets, and years of training, you’re in for a surprise, because the technology has really come down in size, price, and complexity. So much so anyone can learn how to do simple welds at home. Steve’s been teaching folks how to do just that. Here’s our conversation about welding for the rest of us. End Notes Want more Harrowsmith? No problem. Visit our website. Or you can check out Harrowsmith Magazine on selected newsstands across Canada or you can order subscriptions online at harrowsmithmag.com. By the way, the music in the podcast? It's by good ol' Canadian singer, composer and friend of the 'cast, David Archibald. You can find more of his music at his website, davidarchibald.com. 

The Rock 'n' Roll Chef and the Smartphone of Welding

 The Rundown In this episode, we spend a little time under a virtual umbrella with Harrowsmith’s go-to weatherman, Mark Sirois. Mark’s been doing long-range forecasting for the Harrowsmith Almanac and extreme weather prediction for Southern Quebec for years. Now a modern home weather station has empowered him to think big and broad. Next up Alberta farmer Leona Staples on how entrepreneurship and innovation have kept her farm alive and adapting for generations.  Mark Sirois and Predicting Weather By day Mark Sirois is a Quebec-based senior manager for IBM Canada. But his five-to-nine side hustle is predicting extreme weather for Southern Quebec. And, he also does long-range forecasting for all of Canada for the Harrowsmith Almanac. The self-taught meteorologist started prognosticating when he was a teenager with just a weather radio and an atlas. But, as he explains in this interview, the advent of high-tech, no-moving-parts weather stations has completely changed the game for him and he’s ready to up his game.  Leona Staples and Jungle Farm Leona Staples’ great grandfather, Jacob Daniel Quantz was a homesteader in late 1800 Alberta. Staples and her forebearers have kept that farm alive but in a form that Quantz would hardly recognize. A combination of Staples’ love of home economics education and entrepreneurship has allowed her to reimagine the Quantz farm into a Jungle Farm that’s become a family and school trip destination. I talked to her about how she managed that transformation. End Notes Want more Harrowsmith? No problem. Visit our website. Or you can check out Harrowsmith Magazine on selected newsstands across Canada or you can order subscriptions online at harrowsmithmag.com. By the way, the music in the podcast? It's by good ol' Canadian singer, composer, and friend of the 'cast, David Archibald. You can find more of his music at his website, davidarchibald.com. 

The Weather Wizard and the Jungle Farm Queen

 The Rundown In this episode we go deep into Canada’s beef industry with a young woman who grew up on an Ontario beef farm,  consults to the government about Canadian agriculture, is a politician herself, and can covert vegans to meat-eating on social media. Next up, an elegiac and informative meditation on that most prosaic of feeds, hay. Both interviews are food, for thought. Amanda Brodhagen and Cattle Tales  Amanda Brodhagen has been around beef since birth. She grew up on a cattle farm near Stratford, Ontario. There she developed a love for her animals and for the rich pasture eco-system on which they grazed and which they shared with a variety of natural species. Today Amanda is a proud advocate for the beef industry, an agri-food consultant to the government, and a politician herself. She’s a rural councilor in the Township of Perth East in Ontario. I spoke with Amanda recently about her life with cattle, the challenges the industry faces, and the need for diversity and innovation if the industry is to survive. Judy Silva and Hay for Horses A lot of us take hay for granted. But not Judy Silva. Judy grew up on the prairies tossing bales of hay high into her family’s barn. She developed a deep love for its scent and for the wide variety of brome grasses, fescue, and timothy that go into the fragrant horse feed. I spoke with Judy about the complexity and memory of hay. End Notes Want more Harrowsmith? No problem. Visit our website. Or you can check out Harrowsmith Magazine on selected newsstands across Canada or you can order subscriptions online at harrowsmithmag.com. By the way, the music in the podcast? It's by good ol' Canadian singer, composer, and friend of the 'cast, David Archibald. You can find more of his music at his website, davidarchibald.com. 

Cattle Tales and Memories of Hay

The Rundown In this episode we meet the woman behind a remarkable Canadian documentary, “First We Eat”. Suzanne Crocker takes us behind the scenes of a film she made about the transformative year when she inspired her family to eat totally local for twelve months. In Dawson City, hard by the Artic Circle, through the winter.  Next up, Ontario farmer Ken Dam talks about going whole hog, eating pork from nose to tail as a way of honouring the animal. So, eating honourably and locally all in this episode. Suzanne Crocker, First We Eat Dawson City, Yukon is a northern community of 1,500 people. 97 per cent of the food for those folks is trucked in from thousands of kilometers away.Retired doctor, filmmaker and mother Suzanne Crocker wanted to see what would happen if she and her family could eat completely closer to home for a year - no salt, no coffee no oranges or chocolate. Her coaxing resulted in an at-first resistant family eating only eating local produce, foragings fish and livestock for a year, through a Yukon winter. And, she decided to film the whole thing. The result is a remarkable portrait, no only of a family’s resilence, but also of a bountiful land and a community of independant and inventive farmers, fisherfolk and indigenous elders ready to share their bounty and their wisdom. You can learn more about her film at firstweeat.ca. Ken Dam, From Nose to Tail      Ken Dam and his wife Clare run a small farm near Lyden, Ontario. And on that farm they have some hogs, hogs that the couple wanted to honour by making sure they didn’t waste a bit of the goodness in the animal. So, they decided to eat from nose to tail, struggling with gelatinous headcheese and salty prosciutto along the way. End Notes By the way, the music in the podcast? It's by good ol' Canadian singer, composer and friend of the 'cast, David Archibald. You can find more of his music at his website, davidarchibald.com. Want more Harrowsmith? No problem. Visit our website. And, you can find Harrowsmith Magazine on selected newsstands across Canada. Or you can order subscriptions online cat harrowsmithmag.com.    

First We Eat, From Nose to Tail

The Rundown In this episode a visit with an environmental non-profit that has weathered political, social, and ecological storms and shifts. Earth Day has been around since the Guess Who’s American Woman topped the Billboard charts and the hole in the ozone layer wasn’t even on our radar screen. In the distant 70s. Earth Day Canada was born in the 90s and has been growing and adapting ever since. I chat with the organization’s director about its legacy and longevity. Next up, I talk to our resident astronomer, light pollution Don Quixote and engineer Robert Dick about how we might farm in the future, on Mars. So, legacy and legumes on the red planet all on this episode. Earth Day Canada Earth Day, as a movement and an event, was born in the heady cauldron of peace protests, concern for the environment, and an Apollo 8 photo of earthrise on the Moon. That image helped launch an ecological consciousness that the nascent Earth Day organization latched onto. Since the 90s Earth Day Canada has continued to preserve the activist spirit of the 70s. It’s kept itself decentralized and focussed not on social media clicks or exposure, but on supporting diffuse actions in the community that make a real difference to the planet. I had a chance to chat with Earth Day Canada’s director, Pierre Lussier about his organization’s focus, decentralization, and the secrets of its long life Farming Mars As I record this the NASA Mars Rover Perseverance is slowly trundling over the surface of Mars looking for organic compounds, blasting rocks with lasers, and sending that valuable data back to Earth. But here at Mission Control for Harrowsmith, we have to ask, could we farm Mars? To find out I asked Robert Dick our deep space and engineering boffin. Here’s our out-of-this-world chat. End Notes By the way, the music in the podcast? It's by good ol' Canadian singer, composer, and friend of the 'cast, David Archibald. You can find more of his music at his website, davidarchibald.com. Want more Harrowsmith? No problem. Visit our website. And, you can find Harrowsmith Magazine on selected newsstands across Canada. Or you can order subscriptions online at harrowsmithmag.com.

The Longevity of Earth Day and Farming Mars

The Rundown In this episode we go all-in on planting, planting gardens that are gyms, therapy, and workplaces that don't take a lot of work. And planting that attracts pollinators, our little at-risk insect pals that do all the heavy lifting when plants want to have sex, with a middle man.  Elizabeth Peirce and Grow Hope Elizabeth Peirce is an award-winning author, a mom, and an avid and frugal gardener in Halifax, Nova Scotia. In her new book, Grow Hope, she brings a fresh take on starting a garden from scratch, kitchen scraps, and ingenuity. She sees gardens as gyms, workplaces, and classrooms. And also as a place to toss your banana peels and bicycle box cardboard.  You can learn more about Elizabeth and her book here. Pollinator Partnership Canada Pollinator Partnership Canada is a non-profit that aims to protect and promote pollinators and their ecosystems through conservation, education, and research. I had a chance to talk with the organization’s director, Vickie Wojcik about our pollinator pals, and there are hundreds of different kinds. End Notes Want more Harrowsmith? No problem. Visit our website. And, you can find Harrowsmith Magazine on selected newsstands across Canada. Or you can order subscriptions online at harrowsmithmag.com. By the way, the music in the podcast? It's by good ol' Canadian singer, composer, and friend of the 'cast, David Archibald. You can find more of his music at his website, davidarchibald.com.   

Grow Hope, Save the Pollinators

The Rundown In this episode, you’ll hear the remarkable story of the Farmerettes, a brigade of young Ontario women who saved the crops of Southern Ontario during World War II. You may not have heard of the Farmerettes, I know I hadn’t until prepared for this interview, but it’s a story you won’t forget.  Next up our intergenerational gardening gurus Mark and Ben Cullen give us some tips on why waiting for May 24 to plant is a mug’s game. So two stories about getting back into the good earth. By the way, if you want to read Harrowsmith Magazine instead of listening to it you can subscribe to the print version online at harrowsmithmag.com and you can find Harrowsmith Magazine on selected newsstands across Canada. But for now, settle in for the next half hour of Harrowsmith Radio. The Farmerettes In 1939 the stain of the Second World War spread across The Atlantic to Canada, pulling Canadian men and women overseas to fight. In Southern Ontario that meant fertile farmlands and orchards would be soon would soon be swollen and laden with fruits and vegetables that would rot while able farmhands were fighting Germany. Fortunately, that summer and until 1952 over 20,000 high school girls from Ontario and Quebec enlisted in a homegrown brigade called the Farmerettes. Lured with a promise of sunshine, adventure, and exclusion from final exams, they left their homes and took trains, boats, and bicycles to become newly minted farmers in the fields of gold and green. They stayed in converted sheds and barns, become close friends, smoked corncob pipes, fell in love, and even fell in with good-natured motorcycle gangs. And, they saved the crops and fed the troops. Bonnie Sitter and Shirleyan English have documented the story of the Farmerettes in a wonderful book called “Onion Skins and Peach Fuzz - Memories of Ontario Farmerettes". The book contains letters the Farmerettes sent home to anxious parents and is packed with evocative black and white photographs. And, it was a photograph that Bonnie Sitter found in her late husband’s photo album that started her on her path to harvest Farmerettes tales.  You can buy a copy of the book here. Early Planting with the Cullens     You might think in the earliest days of spring, that you’ve got plenty of time before you have to turn your hand to gardening. But, you would be wrong. Yes, May 24 may seem a long way off but there is plenty you can do now, and score early garden bounty in the process. And, here to give us the details are those early birds Mark and Ben Cullen. Get more great gardening advice from this duo at markcullen.com. End NotesWant more Harrowsmith? No problem. Visit our website. You can find Harrowsmith magazine at selected newsstands across Canada. Or, you can order subscriptions online at harrowsmithmag.com. By the way, the music in the podcast? It's by good ol' Canadian singer, composer, and friend of the 'cast, David Archibald. You can find more of his music at his website, davidarchibald.com.

Lest We Forget the Farmerettes and Early Planting

The Rundown  This episode is about the 5 Hs. First, there’s the H in healthing.ca, a website that amplifies the voices of those living with diseases and disorders and who are looking for options for healthy lifestyles. The next of the five are four H’s are in the 4-H club of Canada …. So, five Hs, six, if you count Harrowsmith, which we do. Lisa Machado and healthing.com Lisa Machado is the executive producer of healthing.ca. And that relatively new website is partnering with Harrowsmith to share evidence-based health and wellness information with our readers, while Harrowsmith shares content about healthy lifestyles. Lisa herself knows all about the desire to live well. She lives with a rare form of blood cancer, a disease that caused her to set aside her life as a financial journalist and head up a unique site that amplifies the voices of those living with diseases and disorders. I talked with Lisa about her plans for the site and its healthy relationship with Harrowsmith.  Stephanie Nagelschmitz and the 4H Club Canada Stephanie Nagelschmitz is the Chair of the Canadian 4H Foundation and is on the Board of 4H Canada. She’s also an avid 4Her herself. 4H is like the Madonna or Lady Gaga of youth clubs. It has rural roots, but has reinvented itself over the decades, but has keep some core principles intact. I chatted with Stephanie about those changes and what’s remained the same.  End NotesWant more Harrowsmith? No problem. Visit our website. And, you can read Vanessa's story on ticks in the Spring issue of Harrowsmith Magazine. It's on selected newsstands across Canada or you can order subscriptions online at harrowsmithmag.com. By the way, the music in the podcast? It's by good ol' Canadian singer, composer and friend of the 'cast, Â David Archibald. You can find more of his music at his website, davidarchibald.com.  

Healthing and 4H

The Rundown This episode takes us on an arctic journey where we explore the life and words of a remarkable Canadian, children’s author and storyteller  Michael Kusugak. Next, the story of how thousands of farmers across the country have assisted the Canada Food Bank to ensure food security for all Canadians and help defeat hunger even in the darkest times.  Michael Kusugak and the Power of Stories Michael Kusugak grew up in Repulse Bay, almost a stone’s throw from the Arctic Circle. As a child he lived a traditional Inuit life, travelling the tundra, snow and sea ice of Hudson’s Bay with his extended family and hearing, from his grandmother and other elders the stories of his people. Michael was one of the first Inuit to write those stories down and share them in books and in person with thousands of Canadian children, and adults. I had the pleasure of speaking with Michael about his life, the power of stories and a way of life dear to his heart. Kirstin Beardsley on Food Banks Canada and Farmers Kirstin Beardsley is the Chief Network Services Officer at Food Banks Canada. For decades food banks have been providing nutritious food to those most in need across Canada. I recently had a chance to talk with her about how farmers help especially when it comes to fresh food, even over long distances.  End NotesWant more Harrowsmith? No problem. Visit our website. And, you can read Vanessa's story on ticks in the Spring issue of Harrowsmith Magazine. It's on selected newsstands across Canada or you can order subscriptions online at harrowsmithmag.com. By the way, the music in the podcast? It's by good ol' Canadian singer, composer and friend of the 'cast,  David Archibald. You can find more of his music at his website, davidarchibald.com.

Northern Tales, Farmers and Food Banks

The Rundown This episode is about native plants and a mode of transportation that couldn’t be more homegrown in this country if it tried - the canoe. First up, Mark Cullen, our perennial, and annuals, gardening experts fills us in on how native plants benefit gardens, birds, bees and well, the environment in general. Next up James Raffan of the Canadian Canoe Museum explains the lowly watercraft speaks to us as old and new Canadians alike. From coneflowers to canoes, all in one episode.   Mark Cullen on Native Plants Mark Cullen has been a fan of native plants for years now. They’re a favourite of indigenous bird and pollinator species, take advantage local conditions and help keep ecosystems in check. He chatted with me about some of his favourite native varieties and we disagree about lawns. Here’s that conversation. James Raffan on Canada and Canoes James Raffan, the director of external relations for the Canadian Canoe Museum, knows how deep the relationship between Canada and the canoe goes. He’s an author, outdoorsman and  collector of Canadian canoe advertising. We talked about why the canoe resonates with so many cultures and how its a symbol of freedom, exploration and entrepreneurship. And, we touch on ways the museum will use its new building to forge and reforge links to the communities where its canoes came from.  End NotesWant more Harrowsmith? No problem. Visit our website. And, you can read Vanessa's story on ticks in the Spring issue of Harrowsmith Magazine. It's on selected newsstands across Canada or you can order subscriptions online at harrowsmithmag.com. By the way, the music in the podcast? It's by good ol' Canadian singer, composer and friend of the 'cast,  David Archibald. You can find more of his music at his website, davidarchibald.com.        

Native Plants and Connecting Canoes to Communities

This episode is about hens and hops. First up, we head out to Port Hope and learn raising urban chickens, not just for the eggs, but for the companionship.  Next, Ben Cullen, the youngest generation of the Cullen garden dynasty, tells us about hops as an ornamental. They’re not just for IPAs any more. Signe Langford on Raising Chickens Signe Langford is a cook, a book author, a gardener and a lover of all things chicken. She grew up with hens and then, years later, rediscovered their wonders as an urban chicken activist in Toronto, bylaws be damned. These days she has four hens, she calls them her girls, in Port Hope, Ontario, another community not so keen on the practise. But Langford is devoted to her girls, not just for the eggs, but for their beauty, personalities and friendship.  Ben Cullen on Hops as a Hedge Ben Cullen and his father Mark wrote about hops as an ornamental in the 2020 edition of the Harrowsmith Almanac. So, I wanted to catch up with Ben to get the lowdown on how a key ingredient in beer can also be an important part of a beautiful garden.  End NotesWant more Harrowsmith? No problem. Visit our website. And, you can read Vanessa's story on ticks in the Spring issue of Harrowsmith Magazine. It's on selected newsstands across Canada or you can order subscriptions online at harrowsmithmag.com. By the way, the music in the podcast? It's by good ol' Canadian singer, composer and friend of the 'cast,  David Archibald. You can find more of his music at his website, davidarchibald.com.  

Of Hens and Hops

The Rundown This episode is about what plants, especially native plants, can teach us about thriving in adversity. We also discover an unlikely Japanese garden in Lethbridge and a B.C. winery where sacred geometry, a pyramid and a reverence for the earth has nurtured award winning vintages. By the way, if you want to read Harrowsmith Magazine instead of listen to it you can subscribe to the print version online at harrowsmithmag.com and you can find Harrowsmith Magazine on selected newsstands across Canada. But for now, settle in for the next half hour of Harrowsmith Radio. Lyndon Penner Lyndon Penner is an Alberta-based garden designer, CBC plant pundit, author and sometimes garden tour guide. One of the gardens he’s helped visitors explore is the remarkable Nikka Yuko garden in Lethbridge, Alberta. The authentic Japanese garden, only one of four in Canada, was a Centennial project for the good folks of Lethbridge. It celebrates the friendship between Canada and Japan. But, because it also substitutes some native Alberta species for the Japanese maples, cherry trees and other plants native to Japan its also a lesson in how to make wise use of native plants, and how, sometimes plants, like people, thrive in adversity. I spoke with Lyndon Penner about all that, and much more. Ezra Cipes Ezra Cipes heads up the second generation that runs the Summerhill Winery in Kelowna, B.C. Summerhill produces organic, vegan wine and stores it within a wooden pyramid built on the principles of sacred geometry. I chatted with Ezra about his family’s reverence for the Earth, what it means for its wines and the lessons of nature. I began, of course, with the pyramid. End NotesWant more Harrowsmith? No problem. Visit our website. And, you can read Vanessa's story on ticks in the Spring issue of Harrowsmith Magazine. It's on selected newsstands across Canada or you can order subscriptions online at harrowsmithmag.com. By the way, the music in the podcast? It's by good ol' Canadian singer, composer and friend of the 'cast,  David Archibald. You can find more of his music at his website, davidarchibald.com.  

A Japanese Garden, Pyramid Wine and the Tenacity of Plants

This episode  is about how a Moroccan stamp entrepreneur became a fish magnate whose offspring are shipping fresh tuna right to your door. And, we learn about why buffalo milk makes 3 per cent from cows look like skim.  Seafood Crate When Phil Behaim’s father, Marc first came to Canada from Morocco, he sold collectable stamps, stamp tweezers and anything else an avid philatelist could want. Then he got the idea of importing octopus and other sorts of seafood and grew his company into   Inter-Canada Fisheries. Phil, now the CEO of the company along with his brother and sister now run the shop and have turned their attention to delivering fresh seafood right to customer’s doorsteps, no stamps involved. He’s our conversation about that journey. Tenderbuff Henry Koskamp is bullish on buffalo. Not for their meat, but for their milk, porcelain white and fat and flavour-rich  For twenty years he’s breeding and milking buffalo on his Stratford farm to serve a growing cheese market, all without a milk marketing board looking over his shoulder Here’s our chat about his beginnings, his buffalo and how not having to worry about quotas is just fine by him. End NotesWant more Harrowsmith? No problem. Visit our website. And, you can read Vanessa's story on ticks in the Spring issue of Harrowsmith Magazine. It's on selected newsstands across Canada or you can order subscriptions online at harrowsmithmag.com. By the way, the music in the podcast? It's by good ol' Canadian singer, composer and friend of the 'cast,  David Archibald. You can find more of his music at his website, davidarchibald.com.  

A Fish Tale and Buffalo Cheese

This episode is a third generation duck farm and a remarkable multicultural handshake that rocketed the unusual poultry farm to success. Next up, an intimate tour of Price Edward Country, bottomless lake and all. King Cole Ducks Patti Thompson is one of four sisters who run King Cole Ducks near Stouffville, Ontario. That farm has been running for almost 70 years. It was a bit of an oddball at first, ducks just weren’t as popular as beef and chicken in the fifties,  but a few decades later, a wave of Chinese immigration washed upon Canada’s shores and that, and an handshake changed the company forever.   A Tour of Prince Edward County Phillip Norton is an avid photographer and a lover of Prince Edward County. He leads van tours around the kind-of-an-island that juts out into the northeastern part of Lake Ontario near Bellville. I caught up with Phillip between van trips and learned about the alcohol soaked past of that landscape and the wine and locals that set it apart. Here’s that conversation. End NotesWant more Harrowsmith? No problem. Visit our website. And, you can read Vanessa's story on ticks in the Spring issue of Harrowsmith Magazine. It's on selected newsstands across Canada or you can order subscriptions online at harrowsmithmag.com. By the way, the music in the podcast? It's by good ol' Canadian singer, composer and friend of the 'cast,  David Archibald. You can find more of his music at his website, davidarchibald.com.  

The Duck Handshake and a PEC Tour

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