In Canada, I was living in a city called Calgary. To the west of Calgary there are the Rocky Mountains, which go on for
many kilometres, and to the east there are the prairies, which stretch on for many, many more kilometres. For eight months of the year Calgary is covered in snow. Occasionally during this period Calgarians get a mid-winter reprieve in the form of “Chinook Winds”. These winds come in from the west over the mountains and somehow cause the temperatures to rise abnormally for a few days before it quickly dips back down to its more seasonal temperatures of -20 again.
Calgary gets a “guaranteed” 90 days of frost-free weather over the summer months. When, exactly, these 90 days will happen is anyone’s guess. But this becomes the Calgarian’s window in which to grow her produce for the year. Over the May long weekend all the ambitious gardeners prep their beds and plant their seeds and seedlings, which they purchased and propagated in their homes months earlier, as above 0 degree temperatures are pretty much guaranteed after this
point… except for last year, that is, when we still had snow in June. By mid to late August Calgarians are picking and digging up vegetables as quickly as they can and preserving them in various ways for the upcoming winter. Desperately and inevitably the tomatoes are picked when they are green, although sometimes people cover their tomatoes with special tomato blankets to try to extend their life on the vine by just a few more days. Or still other times Calgarians will pick the entire vine and hang it in their basement in hopes of tasting a vine ripened, albeit a in the basement, tomato; a serious delicacy on the prairies. Canadians, particularly Calgarians, tend to their gardens in a desperate, rather than leisurely, manner. Last fall I spoke with my sister who said she was trying to be greedy with her gardening and left her potatoes in until September hoping they’d grow that much bigger. Unfortunately they had a very sudden and very cold snap early that month which lasted for a good week, and all her vegetables were lost. Oh well, she’ll have another opportunity next summer! While Canadians try to maintain their optimistism, this can be very, very difficult at times.
Anyway, what I am trying to get at is this; gardening in Calgary is a brief, stressful and difficult hobby. It is a frivolous activity that most people indulge in, but rarely succeed at. As a result, Calgarians have to import most of their food from various places around the world with the US and Mexico being the closest importers, although it is highly likely for Calgarians to eat kiwis, apples and mandarins from places such as Chile, New Zealand and China at some point during the winter. While living in Calgary I tried to buy “local” produce. A thousand kilometre radius is how “local” is defined in Calgary. At the time, I thought this was quite a reasonable goal, and was trying to maintain this standard in order to make myself feel like a better person, although with much difficulty. Most months my produce, on average, was coming from 1800 kms away or more.
By comparison, I recently had an experience at the local farmer’s market here in Nelson, NZ with a woman selling
blueberries. I asked, out of curiosity, where she grew the berries. To this she shamefully bowed her head down and said, “You know, it is really important to support your local farmers. I am only here this week because the usual guy is sick. My farm is in Blenheim, but you should really support your local farmers.” Blenheim, for those who don’t know, is 67 Kilometres east of Nelson. I was stunned.
Local here means grown in Nelson. That is, within its actual city boundaries! So this is what I’ve been doing; buying produce from the man who lives on the street over from me. This man, Johny- retired and fantastic(!)- charges next to nothing for spray-free, picked-today red peppers, watermelons and tomatoes. I am certain however, if I tried, I could probably find a more local grower, although Johny will do for now!