And boy, are my arms tired

Actually, I’m still in Chicago, but I splurged on the non-free wi-fi at this benighted airport, just so I could share my photos of Eastern Ontario with you all.

This is one of Vickie’s plots, where she grows organic veggies that are famous all over Prince Edward County.

And here is Vickie, probably telling us about how half of her CSA members dropped out last year.

Here is the row of experimental grains that she planted. They’re quite different in color and form.

And this is the Muscovy duck that greets visitors to the farm. It’s the fattest duck I’ve ever seen, and wheezes asthmatically instead of quacking.

This is Ali Baba’s cave of cheeses, at Fifth Town (“Canada’s Greenest Dairy.”) They’re all goat cheeses. Yum.

Yesterday, we took a ferry across from Kingston to Wolfe Island, where we drank beer and ate sweet potato fries. And today it’s been traveling all the live long day.

On Saturday, I continue my summer vacationing in Capitola, but I’ve been invited to a “Farm to Taco Truck” event that day in Salinas. If I can swing the driving, I plan to go; the combination of Chowhound’s Melanie Wong and ALBA is just too good to pass up.

Three of Salinas’ famous loncheras (aka taco trucks) will be selling traditional eats at ALBA farms made with organic produce. Jacquez Hot Dogs will be serving agua fresca made from ALBA’s strawberries and bacon-wrapped hot dogs. Acambaro will have al pastor sliced off the spit, flor de calabaza (squash blossoms), nopales (cactus), and other meats for tacos. Mariscos La Perla will offer seafood:tostadas de camarones, pulpo, tostadas de ceviche, cocteles. The fresh salsas made by Salinas street vendors from closely guarded family recipes can throwdown with the best. The trucks will be serving from about 11AM to 2PM or earlier if the food runs out

And finally, Paul Rogers had an article in the Merc last week about development plans at the WPCP. Evidently, 65% of San José residents polled share my feeling that commercial development is not the best use of the plant lands, but city staff is going ahead, since the plant upgrade is so very expensive. But I look back at previous city forays into commercial projects (the Pavilion downtown springs to mind) and I’m skeptical.