Events

 
With
the Comox Valley’s fourth Flavour Festival approaching quickly, Chef Jonathan
Frazier and Darren Howlett have the chance to sit down with organizer and executive director of the
North Island College Foundation, Susan Auchterlonie.  This event is returning after a year long
hiatus, and we talked about all the exciting plans that will occur at this year’s
highly anticipated festival.
As always this festival
allows the Comox Valley to showcase its finest
chefs, vintners, farmers and producers in support
of education and culinary culture in our community. If you are one of the lucky
500 people that were able to get a ticket (it sold out in five minutes), you’ll
definitely have a memorable time and we look forward to seeing you there!

GARLIC pt2! Following up with everything garlic in our lastepisode (and with the Garlic Festival just around the corner), Arzeena Hamir returns togo into greater detail about the variety of flavours and textures of this keyingredient; growing techniques, and choices you have when considering yourgarlic. She speaks of the benefits of eating our locally produced vs. imported types,local strains and varieties, and the methods required to grow your own hearty garlic.It’s always a treat to have such a passionate and compelling proponent of localfarming in the studio for this podcast - listen in and let us know what youthink!  

GARLIC! Tonight we sit down with the ever lovely Arzeena
Hamir of Amara Farms and Craig Freeman of the Merville Hall to talk garlic.
With the Garlic Festival just around the corner, there is just so much to
cover! Arzeena has so much to say about flavours, strengths, varietals, and
more, and really gets to the heart of why there needs to be an annual Garlic
Festival. Craig then walks us through the reinvigorated Merville Hall and lays
out their accomplishments and ambitions – not the least of which is hosting
this great event! You are not going to want to miss this event – listen in for
all of the details!

Today Chef Jonathan Frazier and Darren Howlett had the wonderful opportunity to sit with Vickey Brown of the Comox Valley Farmers Market, Sue Smith formerly of Beyond the Kitchen Door and Chef/President Leslie Stav of North Vancouver Island Chef's Assosciation. In a lively discussion about the direction and future of Comox Valley Farmers Markets, we discuss the growth and continued trends towards supporting (and eating) local and the connection between our local Chefs and the Market. 

#100 – We did it! We hit our first major milestone with episode 100. Passing this threshold would have felt off if we had anyone other than Mr. Blayne Prowse as our guest. There would not have been an episode100 without him. There would not have been an episode 1 without him!
 
Jon, Darren and Blayne take this opportunity to reflect on the podcasts beginnings and through it’s hurdles, adjustments,refinements and victories. They also speak to where EdibleValley is heading for the next 100 episodes – format, guests, and changes. Listen in and find out some of their favorite episodes, some that may have been a little more challenging and some that changed their lives entirely.
 
Thanks for tuning in. We share this milestone with you, our cherished audience. Thank you!

With summer quickly approaching Darren and Jonathan sit down to discuss some of the interesting events that are taking place around the Comox Valley.

Once again the boys take a moment to catch up with what's going on in their busy lives and give an update on what's about to happen in our exciting Edible Valley. 

Chef Aaron Rail of the White Whale and Hans Peter Meyer of #WeareYQQ join Darren and Jon with a topic on their mind - 'Local'. What defines 'Local'? Is it important? What's the alternative? This question was brought up by one of listeners as a write-in question, and we are happy to oblige with a balanced discussion on the matter. Great conversation highlighted some excellent points all around. Listen in and let us know what you think!

The hot topic in the Comox Valley, Food Trucks? Joining Chef Jonathan Frazier and Darren Howlett tonight is none other than Hans Peter Meyer - bon vivant and man about town, to discuss Food Trucks in Courtenay. Unexpectedly, we all had a very different take on this issue! It made for some great conversation and counter-points though (and Hans makes a pretty convincing argument). Listen in and let us know where you stand on this oft debated issue! Let us know how you feel @ediblevalley and here is the  link to an online survey about the issue at www.courtenay.ca/foodtrucks open till Friday, March 11, 2016. Hard copies of the survey are also available at Courtenay City Hall, or by request at courtenay@courtenay.ca

In
tonight’s episode, Jon and Darren chat about the local food scene, including
upcoming events such as Dine Around Comox Valley. They also touch on the recent
change in format and other exciting changes on the way. There's a small recap
of previous episodes, and a glimpse of what’s to come! Listen in and let them
know what you think, or pose your questions - they'll be happy to answer!

Comox Valley Dine Around 2016 is coming up quick, so we sat down with Deana Simkin for all of the details. Deana is A member of the committee that organizes the event, as well as a participant with her own local business - Billy D's Pub and Bistro. Deana brings us up to speed on the history of Dine Around, its growing success, and the future of where it's headed! We also talk a little bit about its branching into other events, such as the Sip Around and Brews Cruise. Everyone in the local food industry is gearing up and getting excited as the event itself is right around the corner! Listen in and get all the details.
Check the menus
www.comoxvalleydinearound.com
#cvdinearound

Switching gears for this episode, we invited a few friends (Arzeena Hamir and Blayne Prowse) to discuss the issue of rising produce costs. Specifically, 'How did we get here?', and 'What can we do about it?'.  We are living in a time when our current models are starting to fail us, and new models, or outright change from the ground up is required. It was an illuminating chat with some great ideas and options, and an interesting new format for the Edible Valley. We hope to pepper in a few of these throughout the year - let us know what you think!