The Edible Valley Podcast

  As Darren undertakes the new challenge of improving his diet and losing a bit of his newfound Covid weight, Jonathan and William offer their ideas and support as they all discuss what exactly is a diet, and what is a healthy approach to dieting.     It’s an illuminating conversation on how to keep your health and well being in mind while improving yourself!   

With Easter just around the corner, we've got eggs on our minds. The boys discuss their preferred method of cooking, eating and sharing eggs - with all of their tips, tricks, and rules of thumb for you, when you cook up your next eggs! 

  This month marks our nine year anniversary of the Edible Valley Podcast. We are so proud of what we've been able to accomplish, and the absolute variety of people in our local food culture that we've been lucky to discuss 'all things food' with these past nine years.    To celebrate, we're bringing you an edited down recast of our first episode, complete with retro intro. (can you believe how tinny the sound quality was back then?). Thank you so much for continuing to listen, and for all of you support of our love for local food and the many stories making up our EdibleValley! 

The boys get down to the nitty-gritty today, in a long overdue conversation about Food Entrepreneurship. In what could be a series or podcast channel all of it’s own, Jonathan, Darren and William just barely scratch the surface of their careers in the various establishments, kitchens, and venues they’ve owned, operated or managed. We’ve highlighted roughly 7 over-arching topics in this info-packed episode, and would love to hear which of those topics you would like us to elaborate on, or go further in depth. So give a listen and get in touch and we’ll do our best to help boost you in your food endeavours and projects!  

  In this episode we discuss how the ongoing pandemic and its related restrictions are affecting the food industry, from restaurants and providers, to our own kitchens.   It's not all doom and gloom, as we dig for some positive takes, and discuss ways we can all help keep the restaurant industry strong in this time of uncertainty.

Welcome to the Edible Valley Podcast. This is Episode 178, and today we are with Sharon Janzen from Alderlane Farmhouse Bakery. Sharon grew up in Vancouver and always had an entrepreneurial flair, spending a lot of her time making and selling things—starting with sling-style baby carriers, which she made and then sold across Canada. Then she moved to Thetis Island, as her husband got a new job at a children’s camp. Sharon decided to start experimenting with baking and selling cinnamon buns, thus laying the groundwork for the future Alderlane Farmhouse Bakery. In 2000 she moved to Vancouver Island. After gaining more baking experience, she saw an opportunity to sell goods from a wicker basket in the schools and businesses throughout the valley. She started by placing a basket in the staff room at Miracle Beach Elementary and Black Creek Elementary, where teachers and staff paid for goods using the honour system. She then quickly moved on to selling at offices, car dealerships, and dentists, operating the entire business just out of the back of her Volkswagen Jetta.  Word of her delicious baking spread throughout the valley, and people started asking Sharon if she was at any farmers’ markets. In response, she scaled up her business and started selling at the Comox Valley Farmers’ Market. Her husband, who is a crucial support, retrofitted her equipment with wheels so she could operate efficiently and continue to grow her business.  We have a lot to share with you about this incredible story of Canadian entrepreneurialism. Edible Valley is very proud to introduce Sharon Janzen. 

In this round table discussion, Jonathan, Darren and William discuss future episodes, covering the merits of restaurants focusing on making 1 food very well and discuss local legendary food destinations as well as Jonathan spilling his coffee all over himself.   

Today we are meeting Twila Skinner who is the GM of Comox Valley Farmers market, Twila can be seen in a high visibility waistcoat at each FM hopping from stall to stall and making sure everything is running smoothly, today we want to learn a lot more about what she does, how she got here and a lot about what makes the farmers market so successful and so pivotal to the food scene here in the CV.    Although Twilas heart is 100% anchored in the CV food scene she actually started out in a very different place, studying Geology at Simon Fraser University, she then landed a job in Mineral exploration working in BC, the Yukon, as well as Ontario and Quabec, This involved Soil sampling, drilling, mineral exploration and mapping, hunting for gemstones, gold ,copper, emeralds and rubies where the overall task would be to discover enough to set up a mine.    Fast forward to 2012 she bought Pirates Pond Farm in Dove Creek, a small farm producing Chicken eggs, duck eggs, turkeys,  pigs and chickens as well as vegetables, some of which she sold at her stall at the CVFM where she joined the board as a vendor. It was at this point she really started to see the importance of food and sustainability and wanted to be part of it as well as being self-sufficient herself.    THIS BRINGS US TO THE PRESENT DAY where the CVFM has over 100 vendors between 3 markets it is put quite simply absolutely critical to our valley's food scene. 

This week we get the chance to sit down with Tessa Gabiniewicz. Tessa started her career in brewing 11 years ago in Vancouver, however her dream job of head brewer at Land and Sea brought her to Comox. Join with us as we try to taste what brought her into beer and learn a little about her craft and the joys of brewing. We travel to the brewery to admire their new patio and all the room inside where you can sample some great food and enjoy Tessa's creations.

The recipe is possibly the most common focus when talking, preparing or planning food, but in this episode we dig much deeper. What is the actual reason for a recipe? How can a recipe help you create a signature style? How can a recipe help you to achieve consistency? What makes up a recipe? And are there any alternatives to using a recipe? In this episode Jon and Darren dive very deep into their own very different cooking styles to help you find your own recipe, (or formula?) for success in the kitchen.