A recipe for Old Time Pork Cake, just in time for #FoodwaysFriday!

We want your old North River, Conception Bay, recipes for a community heritage book!  You can email a photo of your recipe to dale@heritagenl.ca or drop off a copy to Mayor Joanne Morrissey at the Town Office.

Old Time Pork Cake

1 cup finely ground pork

1 cup hot strong coffee

1 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon each of allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs well beaten

⅔ cup of molasses

3 cups sifted flour

2 cups raisins

1 cup currants

2 cup mixed peel

Place pork in bowl. Pour hot coffee over it and let stand until cold

Sugar spices and soda - stir into pork and then add well beaten eggs and molasses.

Two tablespoons of flour over fruit, add raisins

Flour to the pork mixture, stirring until well blended

Add the floured fruit. Use a nine or ten inch baking pan and line it with three layers of brown paper.

Bake at 275° for about three hours.

#FoodwaysFriday - Goats Galore

Trinity. Goat cart. (30 01 078) Rev. Edwin Hunt Photographs - Trinity.
Geography Collection - Historical Photographs of Newfoundland and Labrador on DAI.

When we discuss foodways of Newfoundland and Labrador the first food that often comes to mind is the codfish. Cod has played a major role in everything from the province’s economy to its culture. It is featured in many traditional dishes however it is not the only food tradition in the province. Seafood and fish, caribou, seal, sea birds, berries, root vegetables, and imported products such as molasses and tin milk all play a part in the province’s food traditions. In celebration of the diverse foods harvested, grown, cooked, and eaten in Newfoundland and Labrador we will be doing a #FoodwaysFriday feature on the ICH Blog.

This week we are featuring an interview from the Baccalieu Trail Heritage Corporation interviews in 2005 with Mr. Carl Smith of Hant’s Harbour. In this video interview Mr. Smith talks about growing up in Hant’s Harbour, the games he played, going to school, and the traditional work in the area. He also discusses picking berries and growing vegetables. Tune in around 24:00 minutes to listen to Mr. Smith talk about keeping goats and telling the story of his sister’s surprise when she noticed the goats were missing only to be told they had eaten them!

If you want to learn more about Mr. Carl Smith’s life in Hant’s Harbour click here to watch the full interview!

Have you kept goats? What are you memories about keeping them?

Share your stories and knowledge of food with the hashtag #FoodwaysFriday.

~Terra Barrett

#CollectiveMemories Monday - Easter Buns with Betty Rumbolt

On March 31st, 2011,  Melissa Squarey interviewed Betty Rumbolt about her tradition of Easter Buns. Rumbolt is originally from Upper Island Cove, Newfoundland.

In this interview she talks about her first memories of the baked good, Easter celebrations in Upper Island Cove, the tools used in making Easter Buns, when they are prepared, and some specific memories tied to the tradition. Rumbolt goes into detail about how to make the buns as well as referencing differences in recipes and alterations made within the family. Rumbolt speaks to the tradition of baking goods among the women in her family, and concludes by speaking about the importance of traditions in families.

Listen their chat about Easter buns here.

Abir Zain's Baklava for #FoodwaysFriday

Finished product!

Abir Zain leading the baklava workshop.

Today on the blog we feature Abir Zain's baklava recipe and share the results of last month's baklava workshop. This workshop, which sold out overnight, was led recent immigrant Abir Zain, who is new to province and has recently started making baklava. Abir explained that when she lived in Syria she never learned how to make baklava as she was easily able to purchase the sweet pastry in many local shops. Since her move to Newfoundland Abir has been unable to find the dessert and has created her own recipe based on family recipes from her mother and mother-in-law. Abir's baklava uses homemade cream cheese in addition to chopped pistachios and syrup.

Heritage Foundation Executive Director, Jerry Dick, measures and cuts the phyllo pastry for baklava.

In early March the Heritage Foundation worked with Abir to offer a baklava workshop to showcase this traditional pastry which is being baked and shared in the province today. Twelve participants came out to learn how to make their own baklava and were joined by a video crew from CBC.

Phyllo pastry with homemade cream cheese - ready to be folded!

Abir started the workshop by explaining how to prepare the phyllo pastry with melted ghee and how to properly cut the squares necessary to create the traditional triangle shaped dessert. Abir then went through the process of making homemade cream cheese and whipped up a batch to cool in the freezer. While the cream cheese was cooling Abir demonstrated how to make the syrup which is spread over the pastries as a finishing touch. The participants then placed a dollop of cream cheese in their pasties and shaped the baklava into triangles.

Abir showing two participants how to shape the pastry.

Michael Philpott and Dale Jarvis of the Heritage Foundation trying to lit the propane oven.

While there were a couple of technical difficulties lighting the propane oven once these were taken care of the baklava was placed in the oven at 350' F for 20 minutes. During this time folklorist Dale Jarvis sat down with Abir to discuss traditional Syrian food, what food she remembers from her childhood, and the types of food she cooks and bakes for her family of seven.

Abir Zain talking food with folklorist, Dale Jarvis.

Once the baklava had baked for 20 minutes it was broiled for a short time to colour the top of the pastry. Then the syrup was spread over the pastries and crushed pistachios were sprinkled on top! The finished product looks beautiful and tastes amazing! Abir has been taking orders for her baklava and is hoping to soon sell the pastry at the local St. John's Farmer's Market.

Abir Zain with several baklava workshop participants.

If you would like to see the full recipe please click here to download the recipe!

Or if you want to see CBC's video clip from the event and watch Abir in action see below!

Be sure to let us know in the comments what other traditional workshops you would like to see in the future.

A huge thank you goes out to CBC for coming out to the workshop and filming this video of Abir! ~Terra Barrett

From Syria to St. John’s: Newfoundland Foodways Workshops. #NLheritage

From Syria to St. John’s: Newfoundland Foodways Workshops

When most people think about the food culture of Newfoundland and Labrador they think about Jiggs Dinner, toutons, and tea buns but rarely do they think about  shawarma, falafel, and baklava.  Immigrant culture is an important part of our community that often goes unnoticed. Here in Newfoundland there is a strong international community, which is slowly growing.

This year, the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador (HFNL) wants to celebrate Newfoundland foodways traditions with a series of baking workshops in St. John’s.  The first two workshops will share some of the food being baked in the city.  The first will be a workshop on traditional Newfoundland tea buns, and the second on Syrian baklava.

"Through this project we hope to celebrate the variety of traditions and cultures in  Newfoundland and Labrador today," says Dale Jarvis, folklorist with the foundation.  "These are important traditions which are a part of the changing culture of St. John’s.  The food we eat is an important part of the culture of any place and is often an expression of identity.”

Tea buns are a staple in the province with many mothers and grandmothers handing down recipes to their children and grandchildren.  Baker Alanna Wicks of The Rolling Pin Bakery, who learned her great-grandmother’s recipe from her father, will teach students the basics of tea bun baking including her family’s secret ingredient.

Abir Zin, a recent immigrant to the province, has perfected her rosewater cream cheese filled baklava recipe since her move to St. John’s.  Abir will teach participants how to make baklava, a sweet Turkish pastry, popular in the Middle East.  This recipe has been perfected by Abir since her family’s move, and is adapted from her mother and mother-in-law’s recipes.  

Registration for each workshop is $20, which includes detailed instruction, a copy of the recipe, and all supplies.  While we wait for the buns and baklava to bake we will also have a chat about the food traditions of Newfoundland and Syria.  

Newfoundland Tea Bun Workshop
Wednesday, March 1, 7:00pm
Canon Wood Hall, St. Thomas’ Church, 8 Military Road

Register for the Newfoundland Tea Bun workshop here.

Syrian Baklava Workshop
Wednesday, March 8, 6:00pm

Canon Wood Hall, St. Thomas’ Church, 8 Military Road

Register for the Syrian Baklava Workshop here.

Pre-registration is required, and there are limited tickets per event. You may register online, or contact Terra Barrett at the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador at 739-1892 ex.5 or terra@heritagefoundation.ca

Living Heritage Podcast Ep067 Cod Sounds

Lori McCarthy grew up in the small fishing community of Bauline, of about 200 people, on the east coast of Newfoundland and Labrador. The traditional foods of her childhood feed her passion to tell the stories of her province through its people, culture and food. Out of this passion she started Project NL Food, a province-wide endeavour to visit various communities and speak with generations of people that hold their culture close to their heart. Lori also owns and operates Cod Sounds, a company which is devoted to celebrating the province’s unique foods with travellers and locals alike through hands on experiences like beach boil-ups, mussel picking and berry picking.

In this interview, we talk about how the Project NL Food got started, traditional recipes, family foodways, the barter system, hunting, teaching, workshops, and food tours.

photo: https://www.instagram.com/codsounds/

Listen on the Digital Archive:

http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/singleitem/collection/ich_oral/id/703/rec/1

#FoodwaysFriday - Name that meal!

Photo by Meghann Jack.

Last Thursday Dale, Kelly, and I drove to Marysvale for a series of oral history interviews as part of the Collective Memories project. The interviews took place at the Heritage House which functions as a museum and tea room during the summer. The community has received some funding to have the interviews fully transcribed and these first four interviews were sent to a transcription company in central Canada over the weekend.

We received the full transcripts this week and noticed something a little curious. During the interview with Patricia Whalen and Shirley Ryan, the pair discussed garden parties in the community. They were talking about a particular food which was eaten at the party as well as taken away. The transcribers in mainland Canada were unable to figure out what food was being discussed. Read the excerpt or listen to the clip below and let us know what food they were talking about!


Shirley: And when I first moved down here we had garden parties. I'd never seen a garden party, I mean we had fairs up in the mainland, but garden parties, oh my gosh … Oh it was marvellous.

Dale: So what would happen at a garden party?

Shirley: They'd have little boats for the children and they spin wheels for numbers and they had boats and … Oh it was grand … In the churchyard … Either that or in the hall … On the hall. It was great, oh my gosh. And they had a big meal. [Unintelligible 00:32:12] plates, everybody would go in the hall and sit down and pay for their [unintelligible 00:32:17] plate and have it … Either that or takeout.

Patricia: Take it home.

Shirley: Either one.


Name that meal!
~Terra Barrett

#FoodwaysFriday - Berries with Bridget Jacobs

Local blackberries - also called black crowberries, heathberry, earthberry, and curlew berry in some locations.

When we discuss foodways of Newfoundland and Labrador the first food that comes to mind is the codfish. Cod has played a major role in everything from the province’s economy to its culture. It is featured in many traditional dishes however it is not the only food tradition in the province. Seafood and fish, caribou, seal, sea birds, berries, root vegetables, and imported products such as molasses and tin milk all play a part in the province’s food traditions. In celebration of the diverse foods harvested, grown, cooked, and eaten in Newfoundland and Labrador we will be doing a #FoodwaysFriday feature on the ICH Blog.

This week we are featuring a series of photos and videos taken by Maureen Power with Bridget Jacobs of Joe Batt’s Arm. The collection features a number of local berries including blackberries, marshberries, tea berries, blackcurrants, goose berries, raspberries, partridgeberries, poison bush, blueberries, crackerberries, and blue herts. Maureen takes short video clips of Bridget showing her the location and type of berries. Bridget also gives little stories about the berries including the clip below where she describes how blackcurrant cured her niece when she was sick.

If you would like to see the full collection click here!

Share your stories and knowledge of food with the hashtag #FoodwaysFriday.

~Terra Barrett

 

Traditional Bread and Jam making workshop in Pasadena, July 23, 2016

Strawberry jam, fresh made bread, and heritage: a perfect combination!

Our friends at the Pasadena Heritage Society are starting up a series of traditional skills workshops, and their first one is happening on July 23rd, as part of the the Humber Valley Strawberry Festival.

You'll learn how to make bread and strawberry jam from scratch! The workshop is only $5 and is open to all ages. For more information, and to register, contact pasadenaheritage@outlook.com

Two more Newfoundland recipes for #mustardpickles (and one from Niagara Falls!)

Our ongoing quest for mustard pickle recipes continues. First up is from Jason Sellars, who writes, "This recipe comes from my mom and is made annually by the case from ingredients grown from her vegetable garden in Winter Tickle, Newfoundland. Try finding that on a map, I dare ya! Way better than any store bought."
RUBY SELLERS' GREEN TOMATO MUSTARD PICKLES

5 lbs green tomatoes
2 small cucumbers
2 green peppers
1 red pepper
2 1/2 lbs onions
1 head cauliflower
1 small cabbage

Paste:
1/2 cup flour
1 cup vinegar
2 tbls tumeric
2 tbls dry mustard

Cut vegetables in small pieces and soak in water and 1/2 cup salt overnight.
Drain and add:
2 cups vinegar
4 cups white sugar
Boil for 45 minutes.
Add paste gradually to thicken.
Place in sterile bottles.

---

Next we have a recipe from Sheila Cooke, who writes, "This is my late husband's recipe with comments (in parentheses)."
WAYN'ES MUSTARD PICKLE RECIPE using a food processor

(Note: I double dry mustard, and put all veggies except cauliflower through French fry blade on processor. You choose.)

Step #1
Use a stainless steel or granite enamel bowl

3 quarts cucumbers (baby dill size) sliced like bread & butter pickles
1 large head cauliflower--broken into tiny flowerettes
3 - 4 large yellow onions
1 large Jalapeno pepper, cut fine (wear rubber gloves as these have oil that skin sucks up)

Salt all above with 1/2 cup pickling salt and let stand over night (or all day)

Step #2

After standing time passes, drain well and rinse well using sieve.
Add:
1 bunch celery cut to preference (I slice across the stalks)
4 large sweet red peppers, chopped (I use pimentos if they are available)
8 cups white sugar
40 oz. (5 cups) white vinegar
2 1/2 cups water Use half the water to blend 4 tblsp dry mustard
1 scant tblsp turmeric
1 1/2 tblsp mustard seed
1 1/2 cup flour into paste to thicken the juice
Boil 20 minutes, stirring constantly.

Seal in sterilized pint jars. Let sit in jars at least 1 month before using--if you can wait this long. Enjoy!

---

News of the 2016 Pickle Crisis has spread far and wide. Wendy Lechner writes, "I just read of the mustard pickle crisis in Canada. Here’s my grandmother’s recipe. She lived in the Niagara Falls, Ontario area. Unfortunately she never wrote down her recipe for butter tarts." Here is her recipe:

GRANDMA BROMHALL’S (NANNY) MUSTARD PICKLES

6 quarts

1 quart large cucumbers, cubed
1 quart small cucumbers, whole
1 quart silver-skinned onions
1 quart green tomatoes, chopped course
2 red sweet peppers, chopped fine
1 large cauliflower, broken into small pieces

Brine solution

1 quart water
½ cup canning salt

Dressing

6 tablespoons Coleman mustard
1 tablespoon turmeric
1 cup flour
2 cups sugar
2 quarts vinegar

Place clean, prepared veggies in crock.
Cover with brine solution. Let stand 24 hours.
Bring to boil in same solution. - (make sure the whole batch is up to boiling temp, but don’t boil for very long - it makes the cukes too soft.)
Drain.
Make dressing: mix dressing ingredients thoroughly and cook until thick.
Stir in pickles and heat thoroughly, BUT do not let cukes get soft.
Place in jars. Process

---

Obviously, I need to do some butter tart research next... - Dale

We asked for your favourite mustard pickle recipes. Look what we got!

We put out a call over the weekend for your favourite mustard pickle recipes, and a couple people responded immediately! If you have a recipe you want to share, you can email us your version at mustardpickles@heritagefoundation.ca.

One of the delights of recipes, as any cook will agree, is the story that often accompanies the recipe. The first two recipes emailed in were no exception!

The first recipe I received was from Elizabeth Winter, who writes, “Have not made this for years since I am now 88, but found it in my old tattered files. I now buy my pickles from Belbin’s or Jocelyn in The Square. There was a similar recipe in the Spencer Club Cook Book but we were Prince of Wales girls in the fifties sharing our mothers’ recipes.” Here is Elizabeth’s recipe:

PRINCE OF WALES SWEET MUSTARD PICKLES
5 lbs of green tomatoes
2 1/2 lbs pearl onions
1 large cucumber
1 large cauliflower
2 bell peppers

Cut up veggies and soak in brine of 1/2 cup of salt (pickling salt if possible) in water to cover over night.
Drain and rinse.
Add 2 1/2 pounds of sugar to 1 quart less 1 cup of vinegar. Boil 20 minutes
Make a paste of 1 cup of flour mixed with 2 tablespoons of mustard powder and 1 1/2 teaspoon turmeric and 1 cup of vinegar.
Boil 10 min.


Our second mustard pickle recipe comes from Marian Dawe, who says “I've made these for years now and people always want them again… Around 15 years ago, I found this in a ‘Bye D'Bay Cookery" recipe book that I had in my collection. The book itself has no date on it and I am thinking it was sold sometime in the late ‘70s or ‘80s. The forward says the recipes were collected by members of Micron Chapter, Beta Sigma Phi whose members live along the shore of CBS. They were fundraising for community projects.” The recipe is attributed to Brenda Skinner. Here is the recipe, with Marian’s notes:

MAIME'S MUSTARD PICKLES (I've halved the recipe. This makes 4 pint bottles.)

3 cups peeled, cubed, and seeded cucumbers
1 head of celery, chopped
1 head of cauliflower, chopped
1/2 red pepper, diced
1/2 green pepper, diced
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups white vinegar

Place the above in pot, bring to a low boil, and simmer slowly for 1/2 hour.

Dressing:
3/8 cup flour, i.e. 1/4 cup + half of 1/4 cup
1 1/2 tsp. dry mustard powder
1/2 tsp. turmeric

Mix the flour, mustard and turmeric with about 1/4 cup of cold water to make a paste. Add to the vegetables and stir to combine. Simmer slowly for 3/4 hour. Bottle right away.


And one more recipe! Food blogger Liz Feltham has shared a classic recipe from her late late mother-in-law’s copy of The Treasury of Newfoundland Dishes on her blog here.

Traditions at Risk - Saving Traditional Mustard Pickle Recipes! #mustardpickles

As some of you may have heard, mustard pickles under the Zest and Habitant labels have been discontinued by producer Smucker Foods of Canada Corporation. Mustard pickles are an important part of Newfoundland and Labrador foodways, and people have been upset!

Of course, there are other options for pickle lovers (Belbin's makes mustard pickles, as does the Newfoundland Jam and Pickle Factory).

Numerous people have responded on social media saying, "I'm not worried, I make my own mustard pickles."

So here at the intangible cultural heritage office, where we are always thinkings about traditions in flux, we want to help! We want YOUR mustard pickle recipes! In the tradition of sharing and transmitting knowledge about local foodways, we will share those recipes and get people making pickles the old fashioned (and maybe new-fashioned?) way!

You can send your family mustard pickle recipe to:

mustardpickles@heritagefoundation.ca

and we'll share them on ichblog.ca.

Let's get pickling!

- Dale Jarvis

photo from http://www.4theloveoffood.ca/index.php/mustard-pickles/

Living Heritage Podcast Ep028 Multi-ethnic food, music, and festivals, with Zainab Jerrett

Zainab Jerrett is the Executive Director of Tombolo Multicultural Festival Newfoundland and Labrador. She is also the Coordinator for International Food and Craft Expo and owner and operator of Multi Ethnic Food Kitchen. She obtained her PhD in Folklore at Memorial University in 1998. We discuss her move to Newfoundland, her PhD work on folk songs in Nigeria, her start at food and craft fairs, starting her business, and her work with the Tombolo Multicultural Festival and the International Food and Craft Expo.

 

Welcome to the world of intangible cultural heritage, here are your fish heads!

I am in Victoria BC this week, teaching a course on Intangible Cultural Heritage for UVic's Continuing Studies program. Today was our first day, and we had a series of great discussions around ICH in communities.

Before students arrived, I gave them all a pre-course assignment. And, because I love food, I made them all think about food experiences and the link to culture. We all eat, but we sometimes don’t think about the deeper meanings of food behaviour, and how the symbols and practices of food consumption are embedded in our daily lives.

Students were asked to prepare a short report on a food event, tradition, or event that has meaning to them, their family, community, or region.

I started them off with a discussion about the Mediterranean Diet, which was inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2013. We talked about the link between food, community, and traditional skills, about Newfoundland cuisine, and then I showed them one of my favourite short foodlore videos, "Green Jell-O and Fry Sauce: Food Folklore at the Fair," with folklorist Eric Eliason of Brigham Young University.

Then it was their turn, and we were treated to an amazing array of food experiences. We talked about Iranian Nowruz food traditions, BC sport salmon fishing, NWT cranberry hooch, Starbucks rituals, cider and cured meats, two battling presentations on traditional vs vegan Tourtière, fish heads, potlatches and bum guts, Vietnamese Thit Kho - braised pork with eggs, Norwegian lefse, and Chinese dumplings.

Yum, b'y.

Tomorrow we are off to explore Chinatown, hopefully with some Dim Sum along the way.

Image: Pacific cod, 2004, David Csepp, NMFS/AKFSC/ABL

Living Heritage Podcast Ep007 Food Knowledge and Skills with Sarah Ferber

Sarah Ferber is the Education Manager at Food Security Network NL. Their mission is to actively promote comprehensive, community-based solutions to ensure access to adequate and healthy food for all people in the province. Sarah works closely with community groups across NL to gather, share and preserve food skills and knowledge. In this podcast, folklorist Dale Jarvis talks with Sarah about the "All Around the Table" film series, creating food celebrations with seniors, traditional knowledge, food skills workshops, and advancing farm-to-school and school gardening initiatives.

Roy Hiscock of Champney's West - Weekly Meal Pattern

Snelgrove, Eric and Olive. Vegetable storage in their historic Quidi Vidi home.
LaDuke, John.
Photo courtesy of Memorial University's Digital Archives Initiative.

What is your weekly meal pattern? Do you have one? Have you ever followed the one below?

Today I have a short video clip of Roy Hiscock of Champey’s West which is located on the Bonavista Peninsula in Trinity Bay, NL. If you saw the video earlier in the week of Ben Hiscock, Roy is Ben’s older brother. During a trip to Port Union and Champney’s West doing some workshops Dale and I interviewed these two older members of the community.

Ben and Roy Hiscock are brothers whose families have been in the community for generations. They had great memories of growing up in the community, ship wrecks and rescues, square dancing, old graves, and local characters. Both brothers had great stories and I would like to showcase a couple of their stories on the blog.

In the short video Roy describes the meals the family would eat during the week. I did a quick search on Memorial University’s DAI and came across a thesis on traditional Newfoundland foodways written by Pamela Gray in 1977. I included two pictures below of Gray’s work with examples of weekly meal pattern. I’ve seen the tradition of the weekly meal pattern mentioned in other articles but it isn’t something my family followed growing up.

How about your family - do you follow a weekly meal pattern? Is it similar to these examples of the traditional weekly meal pattern? Do you still have a cooked dinner (Jiggs dinner) on Sunday? Let us know in the comments below!

-Terra

Tuesday’s Folklore Photo - Food Fishery

Courtesy of MUN`s Digital Archives Initiative

Today’s folklore photo is a photo of freshly caught cod being processed in Quidi Vidi during the food fishery. This picture was taken by folklore student Christine Blythe during the folklore field school in the fall of 2013.

I managed to get out on the water over the weekend and I figured this would be an appropriate photo given the ongoing food fishery. The fishery is open until August 10 and opens again September 20 to the 28.

Do you participate in the food fishery? Have you been out yet the year? Did you catch anything? Let us know in the comments below!

Bonus photo:

Breakfast is served!

Here is a picture of the lovely breakfast I was graciously served – including the freshly caught cod tongues and britches seen in the upper left hand corner.

Tuesday's Folklore Photo: Something fishy this way comes

Plowing under caplin for fertilizer [VA 110-32.2] 1930
International Grenfell Association photograph collection
Fred Coleman Sears photographs
Photo: Courtesy of The Rooms Provincial Archives.

Although it is not quite caplin time – the weather we have been having for the majority of June could be considered caplin weather. The RDF (rain, drizzle and fog) which prevails during Newfoundland’s “spring” and early summer is also known to coincide with the appearance of caplin which roll across our shores late June or early July.

Caplin used on field as fertilizer [VA 14-105] 1939
Newfoundland Tourist Development Board photograph collection
Gustav Anderson photograph album
Photo: Courtesy of The Rooms Provincial Archives.

In honour of the lovely caplin weather and the hope that summer is just around the corner I took this opportunity to select some caplin related pictures for today’s folklore photo.

Caplin used as fertilizer in garden [VA 14-106] 1939
Newfoundland Tourist Development Board photograph collection
Gustav Anderson photograph album
Photo: Courtesy of The Rooms Provincial Archives.

These pictures from The Rooms Provincial Archives show one of the many uses for caplin – as an all natural fertilizer!

Home Gardening, Decks Awash [vol 11, no.1, February 1982]
Photo: courtesy of MUN's Digital Archives Initiative 

In my search for garden fertilizers I also came across this lovely article from the Decks Awash newsletter proclaiming all the benefits of seaweed and fish offal as a natural soil conditioner and compost.

Gathering kelp on Back of Beach [Kenneth Nash]
Jackie Nash personal photo collection
Photo: courtesy of MUN's Digital Archives Initiative 

What do you use for fertilizer and compost in the garden? Any tips on what could help a garden grow on this rock?

The benefits of kelp and caplin seen in a potato garden [William Snelgrove]
Terra Barrett personal photo collection
Photo: courtesy of Digest [vol 3, issue 1, summer 2014]

For more information on the local food system check out these videos done by Root Cellars Rock showcasing seniors’ food knowledge.

Tuesday's Folklore Photo - Waterfront Gardening

I've heard that because of our cold start to Spring, locals gardeners are feeling a bit anxious to get started. Surely things will soon warm up and people will be able to get their seedlings in the ground....right? Hopefully this photo will provide a little bit of inspiration, and remind us that the wait will be worthwhile.

Taken in Conche on the Northern Peninsula in Spring 2010, a family works together to dig potato trenches, getting the ground ready for planting. This waterfront garden plot is one that this family has been using for decades. Its location near the ocean ensures that it gets optimal exposure to sunlight, is easily accessed by boat, and can easily access kelp, which is an effective soil fertilizer.

-Lisa

Nan's Cookbook: Tea and Talk

Recipe for Seven Cup Pudding, provided by Natalie Austin.
This recipe belonged to her grandmother on her mother's side,
 Lily Butt of Carbonear/Old Perlican. 

This past Friday the Intangible Cultural Heritage Office hosted  Nan's Cookbook: Tea and Talk at The Cupids Legacy Centre. It was a lovely afternoon where we invited people to bring out their favorite old cookbooks and recipes and share their memories of cooking and baking.

Along with Mary Ellen Wright, Professional Development and Outreach Officer with the Association of Newfoundland and Labrador Archives, we provided advice on scanning and preserving these documents for long term access and how to best preserve the original cookbooks and recipes, which for many are family heirlooms.

Spanish Cream Recipe provided by Linda Saunders.
This was her mother's recipe and Saunders notes,
 "We used to have this with fruit and jelly for dessert on Sundays."

-Nicole