October 2024
Recycling Depot: Spring/Summer Hours Apr 1st - Oct 1st
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Mondays 11 am - 5 pm, Thursdays 10 - 5 pm
Closed on Statutory Holidays. All recycling is monitored. Please bring it CLEAN and DRY.
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Free Store: Spring/Summer Hours Apr 1st - Oct 1st
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Mondays 11 am - 5 pm, Thursdays 10 - 5 pm
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July Trash Barge
Wednesday July 10th, 10am until the barge is full. Call Waste Manager Mark with questions about what is acceptable trash:
250 240 9886
Preserving the Harvest
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Summer is winding down and the island’s gardens are pumping out produce - so much so that there’s no way to eat all the fresh food at once! Now is the time to prevent food waste by using tried and true methods of preserving & storing food which helps you secure your food supply and prevents waste while giving you a sense of accomplishment.
If you have a freezer, it’s easy to pack bags with fruit and vegetables for safe storage. Freezing food can change its texture and there is a risk of freezer burn – both of which lead to the taste of the food changing. Canning is a way to prevent these challenges.
Like the pioneers of old, many Lasquetians are practiced in the art of canning. Canning preserves most of a food’s nutrients and the process protects food from decay. Another consideration is energy use - canned goods require no energy to store (unlike a freezer). Doing your own food preservation also means less single use plastic packaging from the store and a lighter load in your recycling bin – which itself requires energy during processing.
When it’s time to jar up the bounty from my garden, I get out my water canner, the glass jars I am delighted to reuse, metal lids and rings, a funnel and my magnetic jar lifter. If I’m canning low acid foods (like tomatoes, meat, soup stock), then the pressure canner is put into service. The initial investment for this equipment (plus the time and energy it takes to process, seal, and heat) equals a full pantry of a wide variety of foods that can be eaten year-round. If you don’t have these, a friend or neighbour might. It’s great to reduce consumption even on this level of food preservation equipment and it’s often more fun to work in the kitchen together with others.
Canning uses heat and airtight containers to preserve food. If you’ve never done it before, a tutorial with an experienced neighbour, from a trusted online source, or from a government website is essential to ensure safety. It’s important to follow current, tested practices because improper sealing, and insufficient processing time can create the risk of botulism, for instance.
Need a final nudge towards your garden or farmer’s market to gather food to preserve for this winter? Remember, food preservation:
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saves money and prevents waste,
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keeps you in-the-know about where your food comes from and its quality (food that travels further often requires more chemical preservatives),
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reduces food packaging and burdening recycling systems,
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reduces your carbon footprint, and
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demonstrates self-sufficiency
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- JennyV