Leaves — A Gardener's Best Friend

For many generations, leaves have been one of the most abundant organic resources available to gardeners.

Leaves are 100% organic matter with excellent nutrient-holding capacity, nitrogen-fixing bacteria, mycorrhyzal fungi, and moisture-holding capacity, which equalizes the soil temperature. Leaves provide a wide range of natural 'fertilizers' as they continue to decay into the existing soil.

By gathering leaves in the fall and bringing them to your garden, you will increase the fertility, biodiversity and structure of your soil. Your plant material uses up much of this organic matter as nutrients for their own growth, so we need to replenish it regularly. Mother Nature supplies a rich abundance of leaves every fall, and--best of all--they are free for the taking.

Spread leaves over your garden beds as mulch, or cover empty beds, and let them decay into your soil. In the spring, you can add compost right over top or you can add the leaves to the compost pile. You may notice that certain leaves--thicker, waxy ones--will not decay as rapidly as others. It's best not to use these leaves. Examples are Holly, Rhododendrons, Viburnums--mostly all evergreen leaves.

If we work to use leaves in this way, there will come a day when the city's expenses of collecting and disposing of the leaves will be eliminated by urban gardeners and we will all reap the rewards of using the richness of leaves as nature intended.

At My Living Canvas, we are providing sustainable human-powered gardening practices, keeping you and your neighbors at peace naturally. My Living Canvas believes in feeding the soil rather than feeding the plant. Every year before new growth erupts from the ground we add compost to flower beds and lawns. This process provides all the nutrition plants require for a healthy growing season. All the organic matter when breaking down continues to nourish the soil as well as retain moisture in the ground.

Kindest regards,
Roberto Gaudet
mylivingcanvas.com
604-809-9115

A message from the BC Association for Charitable Gaming

Since 2001, the provincial government has aggressively expanded gambling in cities and towns across the province. In order to get needed municipal approval, applicants for new licenses glowingly cited the benefits to charities and non-profits from all the new money.

There's just one catch: None of it was true.

After using the charities' good name and good will to persuade reluctant municipalities to allow expanded gambling in our communities, the provincial government abandoned them completely. While gambling profits have skyrocketed since 1999 - more than doubling to over $1 billion - payments to charities and non-profits have fallen by $48.5 million to $112.5 million.

Today, charities and non-profits get even less than they did in 1995, and do not receive a nickel, not one red cent, from all the expanded gambling in BC.

This violates a comprehensive and binding revenue sharing formula signed by the province, the Union of BC Municipalities, and the BC Association for Charitable Gaming, which grants 33.3% of net proceeds to charities. The government has unilaterally cut charities to 10.42%.

Edgewater Casino, owned and operated by a major Las Vegas casino developer, is applying to the City of Vancouver for a license expansion, allowing it to build a massive, two hotel, Las Vegas-style mega-casino onto BC Place Stadium. They requested the retractable roof, so we gave it to them.

The BC Association for Charitable Gaming represents some 6800 charities and non-profits affected by gambling policy in BC, including the Canadian Red Cross, the Heart and Stroke Foundation, and the Vancouver International Writers Festival. We ask Vancouver City Council to stand up and protect our charities and non-profits, and delay hearing the Edgewater expansion application until the provincial government adheres to or renegotiates its agreement with the BCACG.

Vancouver and BC charities and non-profits need your help today:

1. Go to BC Association for Charitable Gaming's website and sign the Vancouver petition.

2. Call or write Vancouver City Council and tell them that you expect them to stand up and protect charities and non-profits.

3. Spread the word to anyone you know who volunteers, donates, or helps in our charitable and non-profit sector, or anyone who cares about Vancouver. Share the Open Letter to Rich Coleman on the BCACG's website.

4. For more information or to sign up for the news update list, please contact the BCAGC.

Pasta with Fresh Herbs

INGREDIENTS

1 pound of your favourite pasta (such as pappardelle)
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
3 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cups coarse fresh bread crumbs (preferably from a baguette)
1 cup of chopped fresh pasta mix herbs (or a combination of fresh basil, oregano, and parsley, to taste)

DIRECTIONS

Cook the pasta in lightly salted water according to the package directions.

In the meantime, heat the butter and 1 tablespoon of the oil in a 12-inch or larger skillet or saute pan over medium heat. When the butter has melted and the foaming subsides, add the garlic and stir 1 – 2 minutes until golden. Add bread crumbs and cook 4 – 5 minutes, stirring from time to time, until golden and crispy. Transfer to a bowl and reserve the skillet.

When the pasta is done, remove about 1 cup of water and reserve. Drain the pasta.

Heat the remaining oil in the skillet, add the fresh herbs and stir to cook, about 2 minutes.

Add several tablespoons of the pasta water to the pan. Add the pasta and toss well, adding more water if needed to moisten.

Serve topped with reserved bread crumbs.

Serves 6.

Bell Pepper Soup

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
4 large bell peppers, any colour, seeded and diced
1 medium potato
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 1/2 - 2 cups vegetable broth

DIRECTIONS:

Heat the olive oil in the large saucepan. Add the onion and saute for 3-4 minutes.

Add remaining ingredients except the broth and bring to a simmer.

Cover, reduce heat, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the peppers are tender, about 1 hour.

Puree the soup in a blender (in batches if necessary). Meanwhile, put the broth in the small saucepan and bring to a simmer.

Return the soup to the saucepan, stir in the broth (use more for a thinner soup), and season to taste.

Serve hot or cold, with sour cream, plain yogurt, chives, dill, and/or scallions.

Handkerchiefs or facial tissues?

A handkerchief is actually a pretty useful item to carry around and probably due for a comeback. Besides, it's a lot better - in aesthetic terms and environmental ones - than those fidgety little plastic packages of facial tissues.

Whether it's for blowing noses, mopping sweaty brows, tying into an impromptu bag, or signaling surrender to enemies, handkerchiefs are undeniably handy. It can initially feel a little gross to put something used back in your pocket rather than in the trash, but just trust me that you'll get over it — things don't actually get all that messy, so just fold over the offending area and carry on.

If a handkerchief seems too old-fashioned, keep in mind that it's a heck of a lot more environmentally responsible than disposable tissues, and there's nothing outdated about that. It takes 90 years to grow a box of conventional disposable facial tissues - that's a lot of tree to use and toss.

Once you've amass a week's supply — simply toss the used one in the laundry hamper at the end of the day — you'll be fighting the end-of-summer sniffles in style.

To get started, you can buy handkerchiefs at a department store or check out some small BC businesses making organic cotton options (Hank & Cheef and Hankettes). You can also make your own handkerchiefs to get exactly the size and colour you want. If you don't want to just stuff the cloth in a pocket or purse, you can always try some fancy folding.

If after all that, you just can't manage to convince yourself to use a reusable cloth, you can always use Seventh Generation's facial tissues, made of 100% recycled paper and whitened with an environmentally safe process.

Avalon Butter - Update

Unfortunately, Avalon Dairy is still not able to provide us butter on a regular basis. Some weeks we have been able to get salted butter from them, but unsalted has been completely unavailable for more than a month now. Avalon hasn't been able to tell us when this situation will improve.

In order to keep this staple available while Avalon is out of stock, we are bringing in Organic Meadow Dairy's butter. It is available in 454 grams - the same size as Avalon's butter - and in salted and in unsalted (cultured) varieties. We will be substituting in Organic Meadow butter for all Avalon butter orders until we are able to stock Avalon again.

If you have any questions or concerns about this or anything else about your bin or our service, please don't hesitate to call us at 604-708-2345 or email info@greenearthorganics.com. Thank you for being members of Green Earth Organics!

Spicy Black Bean Cakes

INGREDIENTS

Lime Sour Cream
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tsp lime juice
1 small fresh jalapeno pepper, minced
Sea salt to taste

Bean Cakes
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
1/2 yellow onion, finely diced
6 cloves garlic, pressed
2 fresh jalapeno peppers, finely diced
1 Tbsp ground cumin
2 (540 mL) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
Sea salt and pepper to taste
2 cups grated raw sweet potato
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup plain dried bread crumbs

DIRECTIONS

To prepare lime sour cream, mix the sour cream, lime juice, 1 small minced jalapeno, and salt together in a small bowl. Cover, and refrigerate.

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Cook diced onions until softened, about 1 minute. Stir in garlic, 2 diced jalapenos, and cumin; cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Transfer contents of skillet to a large bowl. Stir in black beans, and mash with a fork. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix in sweet potatoes, egg, and bread crumbs. Divide into 8 balls, and flatten into patties.

In the oven, set cooking rack about 4 inches from heat source. Set oven to broil. Lightly grease baking sheet with 1 tablespoon oil. Place bean patties on baking sheet, and broil 8 to 10 minutes. Turn cakes over, and broil until crispy, about 3 minutes more.

Serve with lime sour cream.