The Healthy Butcher’s Road Trip 2014

Tags

Bambrook Beef Farm, Berkshire, Cathy Heintz, Dave Meli, de Martines, Donaldson, duck, Everspring Farms, Field Gate Organics, Galleria Shopping Centre, Geese, Goose, Healthy Butcher, Heintz, Ilderton, Jonathan Abrahams, Mario Fiorucci, Muscovy, Ontario, Pekin, Perth County, Perth Pork Products Ltd., St. Agatha, Tamworth, Wild Boar

On Sunday, October 19, 2014, my wife and I along with our friend Jennifer took part in The Healthy Butcher’s Road Trip. This was the third time The Healthy Butcher had organised this tour. Our tour included transportation via a luxury coach along with visits to three farms, and we enjoyed coffee, muffins, snacks, wine, beer and a fantastic lunch.

Our day began very early on Sunday morning at our meeting place, the Galleria Shopping Centre at Dupont and Dufferin. (Click on any photo to see a larger version.)

We got underway shortly after 8 a.m. and were all served fresh coffee along with muffins and croissants. Our hosts from The Healthy Butcher included Mario Fiorucci, Dave Meli and Jonathan Abrahams. Mario and Dave provided us with lots of information regarding the farms we were about to visit.

Our first stop was Bambrook Beef Farm, owned by Ken and Cathy Heintz.

the drop pin shows the farm location northwest of St. Agatha

Cathy and Ken Heintz

Dave Meli and Mario Fiorucci, The Healthy Butcher

Bambrook farm is unique for several reasons. First, they are 100% Organic. Their calves and cows are fed organic feed, which is grown on the farm by Ken and Cathy. There is no use of hormones or antibiotics and the herd is raised outdoors. The livestock are free to leave their barn whenever they want to graze. Bambrook Farm is a member of the Field Gate Organics family.

Ken Heintz

Cathy Heintz

Saying goodbye to one of the other residents at Bambrook

Our next stop was Perth Pork Products owned by Fred and Ingrid de Martines.

the drop pins indicate the location of the farm northwest of Stratford

Ingrid and Fred de Martines

Fred de Martines and Mario Fiorucci

Fred and Ingrid told us that last winter was very hard on their livestock. Many of the pigs had not been able to put on enough weight before our brutal winter struck. As a result he lost many, many pigs. Fred and Ingrid raise the traditional white or Duroc breed along with heritage breeds like Berkshire, Tamworth and Wild Boar.

black walnuts that are fed to the Wild Boar

the Wild Boar cracking the black walnut shells with their back molars

Here is a brief video of the Wild Boar in action:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-3QzHoFuJg

we were all advised to bring boots since the farms would be muddy – they were correct!

the Berkshire and Tamworth pigs can be kept together, but the Wild Boar must be kept separately due to their aggressive nature

the classic markings of the Berkshire breed of pig include six points of white: hooves, snout and tail

our friend Jennifer didn’t think too much about the “fresh” air!

After our tour of the farm, it was time for lunch. The Healthy Butcher team put out a fantastic spread for us including Perth Pork Products’ Berkshire pork sausages and we also had some amazing beef brisket, salads, condiments, beer and wine. It was a fantastic lunch!

Jonathan grilling up some Berkshire pork sausages for lunch

Our final stop for this trip was Everspring Farms, which produces duck and goose products. Everspring is owned and operated by Dale and Marianne Donaldson.

located northwest of London near Ilderton, Ontario

Everspring owner Dale Donaldson along with Mario Fiorucci

Everspring is unique in that it has its own in-house processing plant for its ducks and geese. The entire process, from killing the birds to storage refrigeration, takes only 15 minutes. The birds are humanely stunned by electric shock and then bled out. They are immersed in a hot water bath which helps loosen their feathers. (The feathers are removed and sold for down.) Their insides are removed and they receive a cold water bath and then are refrigerated.

after the hot water bath, the birds receive a wax bath to remove any remaining feathers

We saw the one-week-old and 3-week-old Muscovy duck chicks. The ducks are processed once they reach 12 weeks of age.

one-week-old Muscovy ducks

three-week-old Muscovy ducks

The geese were honking up a storm! Check out this brief video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEUz4OBQo50

We were able to purchase products from the on-site store at Everspring Farms. After we sampled some smoked Muscovy duck, we just had to buy some!

Following some refreshments we all boarded the bus for the return to Toronto. We reached the Galleria Shopping Centre at 6:30 p.m., right on schedule.

Many thanks to all the fine people at The Healthy Butcher and to all of the farm owners, who were the most gracious of hosts. It was a very long day, but such a treat for city folk like ourselves who are interested in knowing where our food comes from and what our animals are being fed. Great job, Mario and Dave!

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Walkabout – The Beaches Boardwalk

Tags

birds, boardwalk, Cape Seed Baguette, Cobs Bread, dogs, Fernwood Park Avenue, Goose, ice, Kew Gardens, Kippendavie Avenue, Lake Ontario, Leuty, lifeguard station, manhole cover, Martin Goodman Trail, Queen Street East, swans, The Beaches, Toronto

On Friday, March 8, we were lucky to have a bright sunny day with above 0°C temperatures. My wife and I decided to drive down to The Beaches which is only ten minutes from our home. Parking can be a challenge on weekends, but during the week it’s easy to find lots of free parking. The first street east of Woodbine Avenue is a one-way street running south called Kippendavie Avenue. If you go to the end of the street and turn left, there is lots of parking on Kew Beach Avenue. (Click on any photo to see a larger version.)

Typically the boardwalk is home to joggers, walkers, mothers with strollers, and dogs — lots and lots of dogs. There is an enormous off-leash section south of the boardwalk and it extends right to the edge of Lake Ontario. Technically dogs are to be on a leash everywhere else in this area, but many owners were allowing their dogs to run freely all over the beach.

Ice had formed on the shoreline as well as on the rocks and the groynes (breakwaters).

what looks like snow/ice is actually a thin layer of slush on the lake near the shoreline

the often-photographed Leuty Lifeguard Station silhouetted against the Toronto skyline

Needless to say, no lifeguard was on duty!

We came upon this large frozen mass and sitting on the slush were two swans and a single white goose.

As curious as we were to get up close to the swans and the goose, the off-leash dogs wanted to see them as well. A few smaller dogs slipped off the edge of the ice and more than one stupid owner had to go in after their pet. There were two enormous Great Danes that decided they wanted to get a closer look at the birds, but their owner screamed at them to get out of the water. This Great Dane is actually standing in the water:

We continued along the shoreline taking more photographs.

We left the boardwalk just west of the Balmy Beach Club and went north on Fernwood Park Avenue. This home is right on the edge of the Martin Goodman Trail:

the last house on Fernwood Park Avenue

A home was undergoing renovations and the City insists that existing trees must be protected on any construction site. It makes me chuckle when I see more lumber used for the protective fence than in the tree being protected:

My wife thinks I am crazy, but I am searching for a manhole cover from the year of my birth – 1952, which I have yet to find. The Beaches is a very old neighbourhood and here are some very old manhole covers:

it’s hard to read, but this one is 1910!

We walked up to Queen Street East and stopped at Cobs Bread for our favourite Cape Seed baguette, and then back to the car and home. It was a fabulous couple of hours in the sunshine.