Welcome to the online journal of Plenty, written by Trevor Walker, the shop owner. Feel free to post comments and engage in discussions.
Bobbie, co-worker and Plenty’s Alchemist of Activities, recently e-mailed a photo of the new filly (Lexie) and mama-mare (Ferrah) at the stables where she rides - a beautiful Mother’s Day photo:
Photo by Bobbie Holob of filly (Lexie) and mama-mare (Ferrah)
Public Domain image of a Mayan God
Masha, who works with us at Plenty, recently shared some wonderful trivia about chocolate and the Mayan creation myth of Cabaguil (Heart of the Sky) in the store Communications Log:
Short Story: In Mayan creation myth the Creator (known as “Heart of the Sky”) made all the world, sky, earth, water, plants, animals and insects and all living things before deciding to make humanity. After attempts with mud and wood and clay, none of which held together or sparked to life, H. of S. mixed a little of everything together and bound it all with cocoa. Success! That is one of the reasons that eating chocolate brings us joy. It’s What Binds us together and fills us with life!
Also, in the realm of chocolate trivia, the SOMA Black Science Madagascar [available at Plenty] uses Criollo cocoa beans. This variety is considered to be the best, most flavourful bean in the world but the trees are finicky and slow to produce, meaning that only 5% of the chocolate in the world uses them. It’s very elite. I know a couple of the other regional bars use the trinitario beans which are a cross between the Criollo and the other variety of cocoa (a bit, hearty, heavy producing plant with less exciting flavours but lots of cocoa butter (50%) which makes up 80% of the world’s available cocoa beans) meaning that the Trinitario is also considered a superior bean and relatively uncommon @ only 15% of the beans used. Serious gourmet chocolatiers use only Criollo or Trinitario.
Thanks Masha!
We recently received a shipment of colourful kites and fliers. Perfect to take along on a picnic this Mother’s Day (May 9th) or Father’s Day (June 20th)!
Ever since the first kite was flown in China nearly 2500 years ago, kites have been considered works of art. High Art kites explore art and air by transforming a diamond shaped nylon fabric kite into an artist’s canvas. Two designs are offered, “Little Winged Demon” by Jan Kallwejt, and “Sky DuckWorm” by Julian Pablo Manzelli. The kites assemble quickly and come complete with instructions and a handle with string. They make it a breeze for art to take wing!
We also have some beautiful plane kits — The wonderful result of art meeting air!
A quality balsa wood rubber band powered model plane transformed by art into a delightful flying machine. “In the Clouds” was illustrated by Maki. The plane assembles quickly and easily so you can get straight to the good part – dazzling observers with lofty flights and graceful landings. Complete instructions are enclosed. It will quickly become a cherished belonging, so try to avoid crash landings!
On May 4th from 11 - 5 Edmond Segbeayas will be sampling his award winning hot sauce at Plenty!
Ebesse Zozo is a hot, tasty pepper sauce. Because of the tropical climate in Edmond’s home country Togo, they use a lot of hot peppers in their daily food. Ebesse Zozo is Togolese for hot pepper and gets its firy heat from the Habanero pepper, which is native to Africa. The sauce is a combination of many vegetables with the principle ingredient being peppers. Ebesse Zozo hot sauce has a very loyal following and it makes a fantastic Father’s Day gift (June 20th)!
Ebesse Zozo is made in Edmond’s adopted home of Nelson, BC. All the ingredients are natural, without vinegar, sugar, MSG, and with no chemical preservatives.
Use Ebesse Zozo sauce to accompany meals including: rice, spaghetti, macaroni, soups, couscous, polenta, meat, poultry and fish dishes. It is also wonderful with potatoes, tortilla chips, and in marinades for barbecued foods.
Edmond has been a local celebrity in Nelson for some time but recently received national exposure when he pitched Ebesse Zozo sauce on the CBC’s Dragon’s Den!
Victoria, British Columbia
By Barbara Kingstone, Indulged Traveller, An online travel magazine for the passionate adventurer.
Not all bars are equal. And not all are the boozy type we’ve come to think of. Some are for ice cream junkies, others go for their latte or frappacino fix. However, when I was in Victoria B.C., I discovered Plenty Epicurean Pantry where the most popular item is chocolate dipped local figs filled with cognac truffle. Now that’s my happy hour. But owner Trevor Walker’s fave is an organic chocolate bar from Spain made with 70% dark chocolate.
View some of our previous chocolate posts.
Chocolate makes a great gift for Mother’s Day (May 9th) and for Father’s Day (June 20th)!
On Good Food (KCRW), one of my favourite food programs, this week Evan Kleiman interviews Laura Wright. Laura recently wrote a fascinating article about food waste for On Earth, where she is a a Senior Editor. According to the USDA, Americans waste 30 percent of all food produced. Laura reports that that number is probably more like 40 percent. Consumers can reduce food waste by composting, and by encouraging food recovery programs.
A wonderful local program that helps to prevent food from going to waste is the Lifecycles Fruit Tree Project and there are some wonderful composting projects in town including Pedal to Petal (they pick-up Plenty’s compost), Community Composting, and reFUSE. Best yet, learn to create your own fantastic compost at the Greater Victoria Compost Education Centre!
To listen to just the Food Waste segment of Good Food select the yellow start button (below) and then use your mouse to move the progress bar to about 20:40.
On May 5th Terralicious and Plenty will be co-hosting Table Talk. These lively sessions take place in the store on the first Wednesday of each month, from 7 - 9 pm, and are an opportunity to sample wonderful food, share preparation and growing tips, and engage in great discussions about food and sustainability.
Garden Seedlings (2009) - photo courtesy of Mary-Lou Leidl
We have some wonderful organic seedlings available this week from Dayle at Terralicious and from Fiona at Metchosin Farm. In May we will also start receiving fresh cut flowers again from Brian at Cotyledon Farm.
Terralicious Gardening & Cooking School
Dayle Cosway, Haliburton Community Organic Farm, Saanich, BC
All in 4” pots at $4. 60 each:
o Julia Child
o heirloom Italian
o Beefsteak
o Earl of Edgecombe (orange)
o Green Zebra (green striped)
o Taxi (small yellow)
o Sweet Basil
o Musque de Provence Fairytale squash
o Winter Luxury pumpkin
Seedlings are certified organic. They are planted in organic growing medium and top dressed with compost. Please water the seedlings in the morning in the tray supplied. Keep the leaves dry as much as possible and be careful not to damage the stem. The seedlings have been “hardened off” but are still frost sensitive.
Fiona Chambers
Local, Heirloom, Organic
Black Cherry: Medium-sized cherry tomatoes, 1.5” across, on vigorous indeterminate* plants. Prolific yields start early and continue all season long. Dark, think-skinned, juicy, sweet and flavourful for fresh eating and salads. No cracking. No shoulders. Grows well in the garden or in the greenhouse, and also does well in containers. A beautiful tomato on a decorative plant.
Red Cherry: The classic red cherry tomato. Indeterminate*, superb flavour, and high production of pretty, bright red fruit.
White Cherry: Prolific producer on indeterminate* plants of the palest cream yellow, almost translucent white fruit. Incredibly sweet, juicy, and, well — just darned yummy!
* Indeterminate tomatoes are actually vines that continue growing in length throughout the growing season. Also referred to as “vining” tomatoes, indeterminate tomato varieties will also continue to set and ripen fruit until killed off by frost.
Stop in at Plenty on April 22nd and show us your reusable shopping bag and / or reusable water bottle to receive a free organic lollypop. We will also be offering 10% off reusable shopping bags and water bottles on Earth Day.
Plenty is an updated version of the classic general store, designed with a focus on community, sustainability and craftsmanship.
At Plenty we celebrate the pleasures of feast and field, yet are conscious of the need to make sustainable choices.
Photo courtesy of Kathleen Daunhauer
Kathleen has recently accepted the role of Provocateur of the Tea Cabinet at Plenty and will be coordinating a carefully edited selection of fine teas that are unique to Plenty, are appealing, and are of premium quality yet not beyond the means of the majority of our customers. This is her first instalment of a new series of articles about the teas of Plenty:
White Teas at Plenty
This month at Plenty we are featuring the lesser known White Teas. We encourage you to sip a cup of tea (preferably white) as you discover why these teas are so rare and the amazing health benefits they provide plus tips on how to brew white tea for your maximum pleasure.
White tea is made from immature tea leaves that are picked shortly before the buds have fully opened in the Spring. The tea takes its name from the silver fuzz that still covers the buds, which turns white when the tea is dried. The exact proportion of buds to leaves varies depending on the variety of white tea. For example, White Peony contains one bud for every two leaves, while Silver Needles, the crème de la crème of white teas, is made entirely from downy buds picked within a two day period in early Spring. After the buds are plucked they are spread on large racks for 2-3 days. The grower watches over the tea as it is a delicate balance between too much and not enough humidity. It is the least processed tea and the most tricky to produce as it is so vulnerable to the weather conditions. [ READ FULL ENTRY ]
Plenty Pantry Boxes for Easter
We’ve created some Pantry Boxes for Easter. There are two versions with the one in the photograph above featuring Similkameen Honey (possibly the best honey ever), Bonnie Bea’s Oatcakes, a Denman Island Chocolate Bunny, and Green Tea Mints. It is $26 and the second version with Strawberry Fig Jam instead of the honey is $22. They make wonderful hostess gifts or presents for family and friends.
Rebecca has created two wonderful displays in the front windows. One features her adorable and quirky animals (featured in a window last Easter as well and in a previous Journal article here). She creates an eclectic array of stuffed animals representing endangered creatures from around the world including the: Western Harvest Mouse, Grizzly Bear, Northern Leopard Frog, Woodland Caribou, Nuttal’s Cottontail Rabbit, American Badger, Red Wolf, Asian Elephant, Wild Water Buffalo, and Vancouver Island Marmot. We have several Nuttal’s Cottontail Rabbits at Plenty that would love to be adopted as Easter Bunnies!
Endangered Animals by Rebecca Harvey-Glynn
The other window features beautiful antique botanical prints that we are selling in partnership with Jean Hutton, whose framing studio is across the street at 1031 Fort Street. We also have a selection of her large botanical prints inside the store. Below is the image of a print similar to some of the ones we have in stock. [ READ FULL ENTRY ]
