Outdoor Living Aug 18

Wednesday, August 18, 2010 - North Shore News - A27

living Host a late-summer garden party

A special feature of the

NEWS PHOTOS: CINDY GOODMAN

Win a cool ice cream party

A28 - North Shore News - Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Talkin’ ’bout a heat wave!

treat Cool contest DEANA LANCASTER

THE

In the past week temperatures climbed to highs we don’t often hit around these parts, and North and West Vancouverites were seeking surefire ways to cool off.

original

ALL WEATHER WICKER

The sweetest solution is an easy one: cold ice cream in a cone.

Earlier this summer, Loblaw Companies Limited introduced 14 President’s Choice Ice Cream Shop flavours including nation-wide favourite, Mango, and Western Canada’s top pick, Mint Chocolate. Made with 100 per cent Canadian cream, the ice cream is $3.50 a tub.

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1400 Marine Drive, North Vancouver across from Tim Horton’s

604-988-2789

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Enter to win our President’s Choice Ice Cream giveaway

and you can host a cool ice cream party of your own.

The prize includes a PC-branded cooler bag, four PC melamine dinnerware bowls, dinner napkins, six PC tasting spoons, a PC Home stainless steel ice cream scoop, PC Waffle Bowls, PC Waffle Cones, a $20 PC gift card to buy five tubs of PC Ice Cream Shop flavours ice cream, PC Sparkling Fruit Juice in Peach Mango flavour (to create a Love Float with the PC Mango ice cream) and PC Sunscreen lotion SPF 30.

To win, send an e-mail to dlancaster@nsnews.com.

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Wednesday, August 18, 2010 - North Shore News - A29

Summer’s not done yet — why not wind down the season with a garden party?

blooms Garden grooming JENNIFER LUTHER, JLUTHER@NSNEWS.COM

Herman suggests the usual trimming and dead leaf removal for garden beautification, especially if company is about to come knocking.

Garden party hosts nervous about the appearance of their outdoor spaces this late in the season can breathe a sigh of relief; West Van Florist, operating since 1933, can offer tips to those with plots of all shapes and sizes.

In gardens where excitement is scarce, Herman suggests selecting asters, mums, and dahlias as well as perennials like rudbeckia, shasta daisies, echinaceas, and agapanthus, for pops of colour or stunning white blooms.

To those looking to quickly breathe life and colour in to their gardens, garden centre manager Elizabeth Herman suggests picking up a fall tub with mixed perennials and seasonal flowers. If it’s whimsy you desire, purple fountain grass and plumed grasses that will bend in a breeze can achieve the intended effect on a sunny day or by candlelight.

Echinaceas in particular come in a variety of vibrant colours, and could be used to either to achieve a planned colour blocking effect, or scattered to evoke wildflowers. Asters would pair nicely if selected in purple hues, since the cooler tones coupled with the flower’s finer petals would serve to contrast the (mostly) warmertoned echinacea heads.

Dahlias can be used to make a statement, since the range of cultivars is wide. The dahlia called “Aurora’s Kiss” can produce a geometric look, their short and broad petals forming orb-like blooms. This unique shape could transform a minimalist garden, and would accompany modern place settings well.

Since dahlias can produce flowers in harvest colours, they are a good investment in the transition between summer and fall.

If the holes in your beds resemble swiss cheese, Herman’ suggests “...lots of shrubs to fill in holes, and things like Rose of Sharon which is the perennial hibiscus. And pansies and kale are the cooler season things that will be coming very shortly.”

Gardeners should watch out, though, because ornamental kale is usually sprayed with chemicals.

“If you want to eat your kale, grow it in the vegetable garden, but the ornamental kale is for your flower garden.”

Ornamental kale grows purple or white in the middle, and since its leaves are feathered outwards, the effect can be quite beautiful: “The growers know people like it for its ornamental quality, they almost look like roses.”

Herman suggests the usual trimming and dead leaf removal for garden beautification, especially if company is about to come knocking.

Though hanging baskets can be colourful additions earlier in the season, at this point it’s all about using outdoor planted containers and carefully groomed beds to wow guests.

Seasonal arrangements to liven-up table settings can also be purchased on the store’s website, at westvanflorist.com.

The Great Canadian Landscaping Company Celebrates Ten Years Of Growth Congratulations from:

Ten years ago, Chris O’Donohue started a North Shore landscaping business with a pickup truck, a trailer full of landscaping tools, an 8’ x 10’ Garden Shed, and 15 customers.

Today, the Great Canadian Landscaping Company has 8 trucks, 4 trailers, 26 full time landscapers and a management team of 3.

They make over 250 weekly visits to their customers and run year round, also doing snow removal in the winter.

“In the beginning, we maintained our 15 weekly customers and along the way picked up more regular clients when we entered the landscape renovation business,” says Chris. “Our marketing plan consisted of dropping off flyers in our neighborhood and homes that appeared to be in some state of renovation which could lead to our next lawn maintenance customer.”

According to Chris, simple things like listening to his customers have helped him grow.

“If you ask me about success, the way I measure it is from the positive comments I receive from my customers when the job is done and customers who take the time to tell me when my staff is doing a good job. It is that recognition that makes me proud of my achievement and of the company I have created.”

It’s an attitude that has earned his young company accolades and the respect of his peers.

“It really hit me when I won the 2003 Young Entrepreneur Award from the North Vancouver Chamber of Commerce and then in 2006 received recognition from the BC Landscape and Nursery Association Award of Excellence for ‘Landscape Installation -$60,000100,000’ for the Luongo Residence.”

In the 10 years since he began his company, there have been a lot of changes in local regulations that have a direct impact on how he operates but he sees it as an opportunity.

“The banning of pesticides and herbicides has allowed us to focus on organic and integrated pest management solutions in our landscape practices. By banning pesticides and herbicides in our cities and municipalities, it has forced our customers to stop and think of ‘Green’ Landscape Practises for the sake of the environment, their health, the health of their loved ones and their pets, instead of a quick fix approach. This is the future.”

As for his company’s future, Chris understands the importance of the team dynamic.

“It is my job to grow the company responsibly, but also to help create an environment where the staff’s workday has elements of excitement and spirited teamwork, so that working at The Great Canadian Landscaping Company is not so much just a job, but more of a career. It’s the same way I feel every morning when I show up to work!”

111 Bowser Ave., North Vancouver 604.924.5296 www.greatcanadianlandscaping.com

A30 - North Shore News - Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Even if your backyard party is the social event of the season and the grill fires up dinner to perfection, you still need something to break the ice with guests.

PHOTOS: CINDY GOODMAN

a ball Backyard party games TESSA HOLLOWAY, THOLLOWAY@NSNEWS.COM

,,,from traditional favourites like horseshoes, bocce balls and croquet to more unusual games like ladder toss.

For that, there’s a wide variety of yard games, from traditional favourites like horseshoes, bocce balls and croquet to more unusual games like ladder toss. Not sure how to play? No problem. We’ve got a handy guide to the most popular backyard pastimes to help get things rolling.

that is about as competitive as you can get short of aiming the shots at each other. The hoops, or wickets as they’re called, are usually laid out in a double diamond course.

Each player takes the mallet and hits the ball through the wickets in order. Players get a bonus shot by hitting their ball through the wicket or striking another player’s ball, which is where the strategy gets dicey.

The winner is whichever team guides all their balls through the course first. Best to get lots of practice for next year’s West Vancouver Library Croquet Tournament, held each year in June, for a chance to win the

Speaking of rolling, there’s croquet, a game developed in the 1800’s and played by hitting a ball through several hoops with a mallet. The game can be played as teams of two or three, or even individually in what’s called “cutthroat style,” an unpredictable, everyone-forthemselves version of the game

Bricks ‘n’ Blocks

coveted Mallet Masters Trophy.

Now that would look good in the back yard.

Horseshoes is another great game for the backyard and comes in sets made of cast iron or plastic for the kids.

The court should be 40 feet long and relatively flat, with stakes driven into the ground at each end. Each player throws two horseshoes each round, hoping to encircle the shoe around the stake, called a “ringer” and worth three points. If nobody scores a ringer, the closest shoe to the stake, as long as it’s no more than 15 centimeters away, scores a point, and a

player gets two points if both of their shoes land closest.

Typical games last either a set number of rounds or to a set score, such as 21 points. The game is thought to have first developed in ancient Greece and Rome as a poor-man’s discus, originally called quoits, so maybe try to pair the game up with souvlaki for a Greekthemed party.

Ladder toss is a similar game to horseshoes, but vertical.

Instead of tossing horseshoes, you instead throw two balls attached by a rope at a ladder.

Typically the ladder has three rungs, ranging from one point at the lowest to three points

at the highest, and the goal is to toss the balls so they wrap around the rung without falling off. The first team to reach 21 points wins, and the game can be played in even the smallest lawn or on concrete or wooden surfaces, unlike most lawn games, which usually require a lawn. Not recommended for condominium balconies, however.

Bocce balls is another fun backyard game, and one of the simplest. Originally from Italy, players throw coloured balls with the goal of landing closest to a smaller target ball, called the Jack. Whoever lands their ball closest wins a point, or if both their balls are closest they get two. Mix it up with hills or different surfaces to keep it challenging.

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Wednesday, August 18, 2010 - North Shore News - A31

Your garden’s prettied up, you’ve got games on deck and ready to roll, now it’s time to plan the menu for your late-summer garden party.

Salmon and Blueberry Salad with Red Onion Vinaigrette

treats

INGREDIENTS 1 medium-sized red onion, thinly sliced in half rings

Homemade Lemonade with Raspberries and Mint

¼ cup (50 mL) red wine vinegar

The weather is still warm, so choose lighter fare, and make the most of summer produce, like blueberries and the last of this year’s raspberries.

INGREDIENTS 5 cups cold water 1 cup granulated sugar 2 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 8 - 10 lemons) 1-1½ cups fresh raspberries fresh mint sprigs ice cubes DIRECTIONS

PHOTO: DREAMSTIME

Place one cup of the water in a small pot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the sugar and cook, stirring, until the sugar has completely dissolved and the liquid is clear, about two to three minutes. Remove from the

heat, cool to room temperature and pour the mixture (called simple syrup) into an eightcup serving jug. Mix in the remaining four cups of cold water and the lemon juice.

Cover and refrigerate until needed. To serve, place ice in a glass, drop in five or six raspberries and a sprig of mint.

Pour the lemonade and serve.

To make a summer cocktail, add 1½ ounces of vodka to each glass before adding the lemonade.

FROM EVERYONE CAN COOK FOR CELEBRATIONS, BY ERIC AKIS; $24.95, PUBLISHED BY WHITECAP BOOKS.

1 tsp (5 mL) sugar 1 tsp (5 mL) salt, divided ¼ tsp (1 mL) ground black pepper, divided 3 tbsp (50 mL) olive oil, divided 750 g salmon fillet, cut crosswise in 4 portions 6 cups (1.5 L) lettuce leaves in bite-sized pieces 1 cup (250 mL) fresh blueberries DIRECTIONS In a microwaveable cup, combine onion, vinegar, sugar, 1/2 tsp (2 mL) of the salt and 1/8 tsp (0.5 mL) of the pepper; cover loosely with plastic wrap; microwave on high power for one

minute. Let stand, stirring occasionally, until onions turn pink, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat grill or broiler. Brush 1 tbsp (15 mL) of the olive oil on both sides of the salmon fillets; sprinkle with remaining 1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt and 1/8 tsp (0.5 mL) pepper. Grill or broil salmon, skin side down, until just cooked through, about 6 minutes. Divide lettuce leaves among 4 dinner plates; place salmon in the centre. With a slotted spoon, remove onions from vinegar; scatter onions, along with the blueberries, over and around the fish.

Whisk remaining 2 tbsp (25 mL) of the olive oil into the vinegar mixture; drizzle vinaigrette over salmon.

Yield: 4 portions COURTESY OF THE BC BLUEBERRY COUNCIL

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