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Finally after a long wait: Flavour - The North Vancouver Island Picnic! We were lucky to have Darren walk the grounds of Flavour while recording interviews with many exibitors and guest to find out who they were, what they brought and why they were there. Please enjoy, we sure did.

Dave Semmelink joins Jonathan and Darren today to talkabout his involvement with Lush Valley and his farm, Lentelus Organics. Jonathan met Dave while on a Lush Valley tree-harvesting day, raising money for the Comox Valley Chef's Association, and knew he was the kind of guy we love having on the show. With his feet firmly entrenched in local food production, and deftly involved in community efforts, we asked him to regale us with his LushValley tales. To our surprise, he was more suited as a follow-up to our recentCharcuterie and Local Farming episodes. Listen in as Dave delves into Farming,Food and Philanthropy!  
 
www.lentelusorganics.com

As we near the end of summer, Chef Jonathan and Darren
thought it may be interesting to hear from a few local farmers about how this
summer compared to others, and the state of local farming in the Comox Valley.
In attendance were: Gardening enthusiast extraordinaire: Ms. Toni Dunne; Owner
of Ashbury Farms: Mr. Miguel Laroche; and recently relocated member of Merville
Organics Ms. Robin Sturley. Listen in and hear how they weathered this years'
curveballs, rolled with the changes, and dealt with the excesses. Let us know
how your garden and your bounty may have differed from previous years - we
would love to hear about it!

 
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! 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!

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!

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!

Today we check back in with wonder-couple Brian and Leah of Clever Crow and Clever Crow Farms. There have been many exciting developments with these two in their forays into the local food scene and local food culture; including buying a farm (!) and developing a commercial kitchen / retail shop (!!). Listen in as we get a chance to discuss the last two years with these two - their struggles, achievements and victories! Oh, and the debut of a new product that truly speaks to the Comox Valley's sensibilities...  Don't forget to visit Clever Crow at the Farmer Market which has now moved inside to the Native Sons Hall.

Michelle Hua of Hazelmere farms stopped into the studio today, and what a treat it was! A staple of the Comox Valley Farmers Market, Hazelmere Farms' booth has been a highlight for years. Michelle, who has just returned to the Valley with her husband, was able to give us a wonderful history of the farm and talk about where it's headed as she and her hubby take a more active role in the farms' future. We wish them all the best!Hazelmere
Farm
3222 Grant Rd, Courtenay,
BCPhone: 250-336-2608Email: huawongs@telus.net 

Doug
Smith of Natural Pastures was gracious enough to join us tonight to discuss
cheese! As one of the Comox Valley’s cornerstone food producers that help put
our humble, beautiful Valley on the map, Doug is one of those key talents that
took a small business idea, and turned it into a national brand! He walks us
through the process of getting started, growing to fit your market, and
establishing yourself amongst your peers. We had a great time with Doug – who is
just a wealth of information of Valley history, business planning and above
all: Cheese!