Fill Your Basket from a 50km Radius

Niki is the co-owner/ operator of Tatlo Road Farm, and proud member of the Duncan Farmers Market.

Autumn is my favourite time of year because as a farmer it means things are finally slowing down, it’s time to reflect on the season and celebrate with a delicious meal... It’s time to give thanks for all the hard work, as well as the natural systems- the air, water, soil, and microbiology that produce the food that sustains us.

This Thanksgiving I encourage you to connect with folks who are producing food right here in the Cowichan by challenging yourself to enjoy a truly local feast (a 50 km feast!). So much local food abounds this time of year and the freshest and best can all be found at the Duncan Farmers Market.

Plan your Thanksgiving feast around seasonally available meats, wine, cheese, and produce. Perhaps stretch yourself to try something new (celeriac potato mash?!), and if you can’t find brussel sprouts why not try roasted cabbage wedges instead, or one of the numerous other vegetables available in abundance, such as beets, colorful carrots, parsnips, every type of squash you can imagine, turnips, radishes, potatoes, leeks...

Tatlo Road Farm vegetables available at the Duncan Farmers Market

Sure Thanksgiving is about tradition, but the tradition was not to eat exactly the same meal of turkey, brussel sprouts, and sweet potatoes every year, the tradition was about celebrating a region’s LOCAL harvest! In our region we cannot grow yams (which are a tropical crop) and we are barely able to grow sweet potatoes (we’re on the northern cusp of their growing region, so if you do see local sweet potatoes snap them up and thank that grower!), but we are lucky to produce many Thanksgiving staples such as cranberries, squash, potatoes, carrots, parsnips, celery, apples, and pumpkins.

Filling a Thanksgiving spread based on a 50 km radius at this time of year is really no challenge at all- it’s easy! If you head to the Duncan Farmer’s Market on a Saturday it’s pretty much a one-stop shop for all your holiday fixins’. Not to mention it’s outside! Come shop in the fresh air and meet the people who grow your food! And if you’re looking for something you can’t find, ask the farmers there about a good substitute, or ask them simply what they prepare for their own Thanksgiving meals. Farmers love eating too and they are experts at how to prepare the many different items they produce. Who knows, you might just discover a new Thanksgiving tradition.