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If you have any questions or concerns, please call us at 604-708-2345 or email info@greenearthorganics.com. Thank you!
Green Earth Organics Inc. is a home and office certified organic grocery and natural product delivery service. We have a wide selection of 100% Certified Organic fruit, vegetables, and other grocery products. We also carry a growing list of environmentally friendly products that make it easier for our customers to tread lighter on our planet. This blog offers exiting information on organic food and healthy eating habits.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Cheesy Stuffed Banana Peppers
INGREDIENTS
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1 cup crumbled feta
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
10 - 12 banana peppers
1 (739 mL) jar pasta sauce
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Mix the three cheeses in a medium-sized bowl.
Prepare the peppers by cutting off tops and carefully scraping out the seeds with a knife (try not to poke holes in the peppers).
Stuff each pepper with the cheese mixture, using the end of a spoon or your finger to pack the cheeses tightly.
Pour a small amount of the sauce into a 9" x 9" baking dish, coating the bottom. Arrange the stuffed peppers into a single layer in the bottom of the dish.
If you had any remaining cheese mixture left, you may sprinkle it on top of the peppers now or simply freeze it for next time. Pour the remaining spaghetti sauce on top of the peppers, covering them completely.
Bake, covered, for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the peppers are soft and the sauce is nice and bubbly. Serve with spaghetti or other pasta.
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1 cup crumbled feta
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
10 - 12 banana peppers
1 (739 mL) jar pasta sauce
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Mix the three cheeses in a medium-sized bowl.
Prepare the peppers by cutting off tops and carefully scraping out the seeds with a knife (try not to poke holes in the peppers).
Stuff each pepper with the cheese mixture, using the end of a spoon or your finger to pack the cheeses tightly.
Pour a small amount of the sauce into a 9" x 9" baking dish, coating the bottom. Arrange the stuffed peppers into a single layer in the bottom of the dish.
If you had any remaining cheese mixture left, you may sprinkle it on top of the peppers now or simply freeze it for next time. Pour the remaining spaghetti sauce on top of the peppers, covering them completely.
Bake, covered, for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the peppers are soft and the sauce is nice and bubbly. Serve with spaghetti or other pasta.
SSL Certificate Gremlins and Firefox Users
From our wonderful website programmer, Shone:
Recently we renewed and updated our SSL certificate to a higher encryption level. Unfortunately a handful of Firefox users have reported that they have received a security warning while accessing our site.
The issue is with the SSL provider having incomplete information in Firefox which is causing some users to get a security warning when ordering.
Our site is in fact using a valid and secure SSL certificate running on 2048 bit encryption. We are working on putting a fix in place to stop this warning to Firefox users. Internet Explorer users do not appear to be effected.
Recently we renewed and updated our SSL certificate to a higher encryption level. Unfortunately a handful of Firefox users have reported that they have received a security warning while accessing our site.
The issue is with the SSL provider having incomplete information in Firefox which is causing some users to get a security warning when ordering.
Our site is in fact using a valid and secure SSL certificate running on 2048 bit encryption. We are working on putting a fix in place to stop this warning to Firefox users. Internet Explorer users do not appear to be effected.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
More Details About the Freeze in Mexico
One of our fruit and vegetable suppliers have provided us with the following information regarding the weather in Mexico and what it means for produce:
On February 2nd and 3rd, huge areas of Northern Mexico were devastated by temperatures that plunged to levels never seen in recorded history. These same areas, between the Sierra Madre and the coast of the Sea of Cortes, are extremely important production areas. Hundreds of thousands of acres of producing areas were damaged or destroyed.
The same cold also impacted major producing areas in the winter growing regions of southern desert areas in California and Arizona. Temperatures dropped to near-freezing as far south as Mazatlan. Even banana growing regions hundreds of kilometers farther south sustained temperatures low enough to cause chill damage to the current banana crop.
This is a tragedy for farmers who grow all the things we eat in the winter that can't be produced anywhere else – not only destroying their export crops, but also food grown for the local people – predominantly corn (maize), rice and potatoes, all of which were killed off over a large area.
With much more limited supply, and an ever-increasing demand for organics, prices will continue to climb. Most of the farms who grow things like cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini, green beans, etc., do not have time to replant before it is either too hot, or before the new crops from California are ready for market.
Many growers also survived quite well, especially those growing in shadehouses and greenhouses, so there will be produce available, but with limited availability. Growers trying to recoup losses by selling what they have left at higher prices will affect the retail prices for some time.
Asparagus: The major growing regions (Caborca, Mexicali) lost all current growth and had damage to some of the producing crowns. Availability will be limited to asparagus being flown in from Peru until the first new crop comes from California in a few weeks.
Green Beans: Only a handful of growers on the west coast of the Baja Peninsula were spared. Availability will be limited and expensive for four weeks.
Tomatoes: Prices have doubled in the past three days. Greenhouses survived but open field plantings died.
Cucumbers: These will be virtually non-existent or extremely expensive as most are grown in open fields.
Bell Peppers: Prices have doubled or tripled as growers near the US border lost, in some cases, their entire production as cold air filtered into their mesh shadehouses.
Zucchini: Over a thousand acres were flattened and killed. Supply will be limited and prices high until the first crops come in from California. Prices tripled in one day.
Lettuce: Except for coastal California, lettuce quality will be poor, most of it being frost-damaged.
Salad Mixes: Most salad is grown in the area around Yuma, where temperatures dropped to -4C. There will be some recovery, but production will be limited until new plantings are ready in 3 weeks.
Other items that may be impacted include melons, cherry tomatoes, peas, cilantro, hot peppers, grapefruit, parsley, chard, green onions, and more. We will be doing the best we can to continue to bring you the best and most affordable organic fruits and vegetables available during this disaster.
On February 2nd and 3rd, huge areas of Northern Mexico were devastated by temperatures that plunged to levels never seen in recorded history. These same areas, between the Sierra Madre and the coast of the Sea of Cortes, are extremely important production areas. Hundreds of thousands of acres of producing areas were damaged or destroyed.
The same cold also impacted major producing areas in the winter growing regions of southern desert areas in California and Arizona. Temperatures dropped to near-freezing as far south as Mazatlan. Even banana growing regions hundreds of kilometers farther south sustained temperatures low enough to cause chill damage to the current banana crop.
This is a tragedy for farmers who grow all the things we eat in the winter that can't be produced anywhere else – not only destroying their export crops, but also food grown for the local people – predominantly corn (maize), rice and potatoes, all of which were killed off over a large area.
With much more limited supply, and an ever-increasing demand for organics, prices will continue to climb. Most of the farms who grow things like cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini, green beans, etc., do not have time to replant before it is either too hot, or before the new crops from California are ready for market.
Many growers also survived quite well, especially those growing in shadehouses and greenhouses, so there will be produce available, but with limited availability. Growers trying to recoup losses by selling what they have left at higher prices will affect the retail prices for some time.
Asparagus: The major growing regions (Caborca, Mexicali) lost all current growth and had damage to some of the producing crowns. Availability will be limited to asparagus being flown in from Peru until the first new crop comes from California in a few weeks.
Green Beans: Only a handful of growers on the west coast of the Baja Peninsula were spared. Availability will be limited and expensive for four weeks.
Tomatoes: Prices have doubled in the past three days. Greenhouses survived but open field plantings died.
Cucumbers: These will be virtually non-existent or extremely expensive as most are grown in open fields.
Bell Peppers: Prices have doubled or tripled as growers near the US border lost, in some cases, their entire production as cold air filtered into their mesh shadehouses.
Zucchini: Over a thousand acres were flattened and killed. Supply will be limited and prices high until the first crops come in from California. Prices tripled in one day.
Lettuce: Except for coastal California, lettuce quality will be poor, most of it being frost-damaged.
Salad Mixes: Most salad is grown in the area around Yuma, where temperatures dropped to -4C. There will be some recovery, but production will be limited until new plantings are ready in 3 weeks.
Other items that may be impacted include melons, cherry tomatoes, peas, cilantro, hot peppers, grapefruit, parsley, chard, green onions, and more. We will be doing the best we can to continue to bring you the best and most affordable organic fruits and vegetables available during this disaster.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Cold Weather in Mexico
Some important information from one of our suppliers from Friday, February 4th:
"Hard to believe, but it was warmer in Edmonton last night than in many parts of Northern Mexico. This is the coldest blast that has hit some of these major growing regions in recorded history."
This will have major impacts on the produce available over at least the next couple of weeks: price and quality. We will be working around this to make sure everyone gets beautiful full bins of fruits and vegetables, but there may be some changes to what we can offer. Lettuce, asparagus, green onions, carrots, radishes, cucumbers, bell peppers, zucchini, celery, cilantro, and cauliflower are all expected to be impacted. Even if we normally wouldn't get some of those items from Mexico, we will still have supply issues when everyone is competing for produce from Arizona and California.
If you have any questions or concerns, please call us at 604-708-2345 or email info@greenearthorganics.com.
"Hard to believe, but it was warmer in Edmonton last night than in many parts of Northern Mexico. This is the coldest blast that has hit some of these major growing regions in recorded history."
This will have major impacts on the produce available over at least the next couple of weeks: price and quality. We will be working around this to make sure everyone gets beautiful full bins of fruits and vegetables, but there may be some changes to what we can offer. Lettuce, asparagus, green onions, carrots, radishes, cucumbers, bell peppers, zucchini, celery, cilantro, and cauliflower are all expected to be impacted. Even if we normally wouldn't get some of those items from Mexico, we will still have supply issues when everyone is competing for produce from Arizona and California.
If you have any questions or concerns, please call us at 604-708-2345 or email info@greenearthorganics.com.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Butternut Squash Dessert
INGREDIENTS
Batter:
8 Tbsp butter
3 eggs
1/2 cup demerara sugar
3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
Pinch of sea salt
Butternut squash:
1 tsp butter
75 g (2 1/2 oz) butternut squash, chopped
1 tsp demerara sugar
Icing:
4 Tbsp icing sugar
1 - 2 Tbsp water
DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350 Fahrenheit (180 Celsius).
To make the batter, place the butter, eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt into a food processor and blend until smooth.
For the butternut squash, melt the butter in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the butternut squash and fry for 2 to 3 minutes, until golden-brown. Add a teaspoon of demerara sugar and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes.
Add the cooked butternut squash to the batter mixture and stir well.
Grease and flour a small, deep baking tray (8 by 12 inches). Spoon the butternut squash batter mixture into the tray and place into the oven to bake for ten minutes, or until slightly springy to touch. Remove from the oven and allow to cool, then turn out onto a serving plate.
Place the icing sugar into a bowl. Mix the icing sugar with enough water to make a runny icing and drizzle this over the dessert.
To serve, dust the pudding with icing sugar and cut into generous wedges.
Batter:
8 Tbsp butter
3 eggs
1/2 cup demerara sugar
3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
Pinch of sea salt
Butternut squash:
1 tsp butter
75 g (2 1/2 oz) butternut squash, chopped
1 tsp demerara sugar
Icing:
4 Tbsp icing sugar
1 - 2 Tbsp water
DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350 Fahrenheit (180 Celsius).
To make the batter, place the butter, eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt into a food processor and blend until smooth.
For the butternut squash, melt the butter in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the butternut squash and fry for 2 to 3 minutes, until golden-brown. Add a teaspoon of demerara sugar and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes.
Add the cooked butternut squash to the batter mixture and stir well.
Grease and flour a small, deep baking tray (8 by 12 inches). Spoon the butternut squash batter mixture into the tray and place into the oven to bake for ten minutes, or until slightly springy to touch. Remove from the oven and allow to cool, then turn out onto a serving plate.
Place the icing sugar into a bowl. Mix the icing sugar with enough water to make a runny icing and drizzle this over the dessert.
To serve, dust the pudding with icing sugar and cut into generous wedges.
Winter Gardening Projects
Our Vancouver winters are a perfect opportunity to observe and make notes of how your naked garden has sustained itself during the seasons. Notice the amount of soil present: are any roots showing? Are there any plants, shrubs or trees that are struggling, searching for light or simply are not happy in this location? Are there any signs of disease?
Doing some research to find out what plants you have and under which growing condition they grow best will allow you plan your next gardening season.
Do you like the current look your garden offers? Start thinking about changes, extending existing beds, and creating new ones.
Winter pruning will promote tree and shrub health. It is a very good time to guide and establish their shape. Proper pruning promotes good air flow, which will reduce disease causing organism infiltration in the spring. You may also see that an area of grass is dying due to the shade provided by the trees and may a good reason to enlarge an existing flower bed and to thin the tree canopy.
We recommend amending your soil every year. Is there enough soil? The soil is what feeds the plant material and 4-5 inches (7-10 cm) is a good initial amount of soil to provide your plants for a healthy growing season.
Kindest regards,
Roberto Gaudet
mylivingcanvas.com
604-809-9115
My Living Canvas is providing sustainable human powered gardening practices, and pesticides alternative. We are promoting a healthy, sustainable growing environment for you and your community. My Living Canvas believes in enriching the soil with compost which in turn feeds the plants material. Every year we add soil amender to your flower beds and your freshly aerated lawns. This process provides nutrition plants require for a healthy growing season. All the organic matter when breaking down continues to nourish and equalizes the soil PH. Liming is no longer required for lawns. The organic matter in the soil also enhances moisture retention which reduces water consumption.
My Living Canvas is providing all your gardening needs without gasoline powered leaf blowers, lawn mowers or trimmer. We use pesticide alternatives, keeping you and your neighborhood at peace naturally. We are dedicated to having our garden looking at their very best and to provide helpful knowledgeable advice with a highly reliable service.
We also support earth friendly, biological pest control methods for your health benefit as well as your entire yard ecosystem.
Call us so we can schedule an appointment to get your yard looking its healthiest for the 2011 growing season.
Doing some research to find out what plants you have and under which growing condition they grow best will allow you plan your next gardening season.
Do you like the current look your garden offers? Start thinking about changes, extending existing beds, and creating new ones.
Winter pruning will promote tree and shrub health. It is a very good time to guide and establish their shape. Proper pruning promotes good air flow, which will reduce disease causing organism infiltration in the spring. You may also see that an area of grass is dying due to the shade provided by the trees and may a good reason to enlarge an existing flower bed and to thin the tree canopy.
We recommend amending your soil every year. Is there enough soil? The soil is what feeds the plant material and 4-5 inches (7-10 cm) is a good initial amount of soil to provide your plants for a healthy growing season.
Kindest regards,
Roberto Gaudet
mylivingcanvas.com
604-809-9115
My Living Canvas is providing sustainable human powered gardening practices, and pesticides alternative. We are promoting a healthy, sustainable growing environment for you and your community. My Living Canvas believes in enriching the soil with compost which in turn feeds the plants material. Every year we add soil amender to your flower beds and your freshly aerated lawns. This process provides nutrition plants require for a healthy growing season. All the organic matter when breaking down continues to nourish and equalizes the soil PH. Liming is no longer required for lawns. The organic matter in the soil also enhances moisture retention which reduces water consumption.
My Living Canvas is providing all your gardening needs without gasoline powered leaf blowers, lawn mowers or trimmer. We use pesticide alternatives, keeping you and your neighborhood at peace naturally. We are dedicated to having our garden looking at their very best and to provide helpful knowledgeable advice with a highly reliable service.
We also support earth friendly, biological pest control methods for your health benefit as well as your entire yard ecosystem.
Call us so we can schedule an appointment to get your yard looking its healthiest for the 2011 growing season.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Winter Pruning - Organic Gardening Advice from My Living Canvas
There are three main objectives when deciding to prune a tree or shrub: strength, shape, and airflow. Winter offers easy access and a good view of the tree’s “skeleton” and their dormant phase is ideal for pruning and shaping.
Pruning for strength means to prune so that the limbs and branches are strong and stable. Removing weak limbs and small angles will improve the general health of trees and shrubs. This will reduce the chances of it being damaged by winter elements. Pruning for shape will produce an aesthetically pleasing tree or shrub that is balanced and sized correctly for the space it occupies. Trees and shrubs have an overall structure, and some branches will grow into their structure while others will grow too far out and spoil the overall shape. Removing branches that are out of alignment will improve its overall structure.
Trees and shrubs are part of your landscape as a whole and may also need to be pruned to accommodate the need of other items in your yard. Internal branches fill the structure of a tree or shrub and both inhibit airflow and reduce light to the interior of the tree. This creates a perfect environment for disease-causing organisms to take hold.
Pruning trees and shrubs promotes good airflow. Thinning them out is also important because branches that are growing into the tree's internal structure will eventually butt against one another. Their junction can gather moisture and cause decay. There is also a tendency for the limbs to grow together, which is not healthy for trees. Water sprouts or suckers are found in the interior of the tree as well as at the base of the trunk. They grow rapidly and use more of the tree’s energy than they return, so they are better pruned away.
All these problems will be apparent in late winter and can be corrected without tangling with excess growth in spring or summer. Late winter pruning should be completed before the new growth cycle begins.
Kindest regards,
Roberto Gaudet
mylivingcanvas.com
604-809-9115My Living Canvas is providing sustainable human powered gardening practices, and pesticides alternative. We are promoting a healthy, sustainable growing environment for you and your community. My Living Canvas believes in enriching the soil with compost which in turn feeds the plants material. Every year we add soil amender to your flower beds and your freshly aerated lawns. This process provides nutrition plants require for a healthy growing season. All the organic matter when breaking down continues to nourish and equalizes the soil PH. Liming is no longer required for lawns. The organic matter in the soil also enhances moisture retention which reduces water consumption.
Did You Know: Giving Green Earth Organics Gifts
"Did You Know" is our new series of blog posts about Green Earth Organics: how it works, how you can do more with your account, etc.
Coming up with an original, thoughtful, useful, environmentally- and socially-conscious gift can be hard. If organic food is something you would be interested in gifting, then Green Earth Organics has a way to help you.
We do now deliver out as far as Abbotsford, Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows, and we've recently added a weekly delivery route to Bowen Island. If your recipient is within our delivery area, we can bring their gift to them.
There are several gift options available. We have some predesigned gift baskets available, which can be customized. We can also build a gift basket from scratch or arrange for your recipient to receive a set number of our bins. For any of these options, you can phone us in the office (604-708-2345) or create an account with your recipient's information and instructions in the "Delivery Instructions" such as: "One time gift delivery" or "Deliver 3 bins only - gift". To give a gift basket, choose the "Custom Bin" option when creating an account and add the gift basket after, or customize it by adding any items you want and then call or email us to have it packed in a basket (the basket currently costs an extra $5 if you aren't using one of our pre-designed gifts).
When we see that an order is a gift delivery, we will deliver it in a gift basket if one is ordered or in a cardboard box otherwise, so you won't have to worry about paying a bin deposit and the recipient won't have to return anything. When the gift has been delivered - whether it is one basket or a dozen bins over several months - we will put the account on hold automatically.
If you aren't sure when your recipient will want to receive food - say, if you're giving a wedding gift - we can also do gift certificates. To arrange for a gift certificate, just give us a call or email. We can do any amount and we can customize it, then we can mail it to you or even directly to your recipient.
We have done gift deliveries and gift certificates for all kinds of situations: to welcome new babies, to wish someone to "get well soon", to express sympathy, to celebrate weddings, to warm a house, and to celebrate a birthday. Whatever your occasion, we'd be pleased to help you create the right gift.
Coming up with an original, thoughtful, useful, environmentally- and socially-conscious gift can be hard. If organic food is something you would be interested in gifting, then Green Earth Organics has a way to help you.
We do now deliver out as far as Abbotsford, Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows, and we've recently added a weekly delivery route to Bowen Island. If your recipient is within our delivery area, we can bring their gift to them.
There are several gift options available. We have some predesigned gift baskets available, which can be customized. We can also build a gift basket from scratch or arrange for your recipient to receive a set number of our bins. For any of these options, you can phone us in the office (604-708-2345) or create an account with your recipient's information and instructions in the "Delivery Instructions" such as: "One time gift delivery" or "Deliver 3 bins only - gift". To give a gift basket, choose the "Custom Bin" option when creating an account and add the gift basket after, or customize it by adding any items you want and then call or email us to have it packed in a basket (the basket currently costs an extra $5 if you aren't using one of our pre-designed gifts).
When we see that an order is a gift delivery, we will deliver it in a gift basket if one is ordered or in a cardboard box otherwise, so you won't have to worry about paying a bin deposit and the recipient won't have to return anything. When the gift has been delivered - whether it is one basket or a dozen bins over several months - we will put the account on hold automatically.
If you aren't sure when your recipient will want to receive food - say, if you're giving a wedding gift - we can also do gift certificates. To arrange for a gift certificate, just give us a call or email. We can do any amount and we can customize it, then we can mail it to you or even directly to your recipient.
We have done gift deliveries and gift certificates for all kinds of situations: to welcome new babies, to wish someone to "get well soon", to express sympathy, to celebrate weddings, to warm a house, and to celebrate a birthday. Whatever your occasion, we'd be pleased to help you create the right gift.
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