AUGUST 8, 2007 - The Tlell Fall Fair on the northerly Queen Charlotte Islands bills itself as the earliest in British Columbia. On the first weekend of August, it may well be first on the continent; even in Alaska, the State Fair, which calls itself "the last blast of summer", starts on August 23. That's in the Chugach Mountains an hour north of Anchorage.
Nonetheless, the Charlottes (which many locals refer to by the native name of Haida Gwaii) put on a good show. Farmer Bill MacKay of Riverworks Farm made up 100-Mile omelettes from his "gianormous" eggs, mixed with farm herbs along with chicken, crab, or salmon smoked by Haida man Dick Bellis two booths over.
How do the eggs get "gianormous"? For the innovative local farmer, no genetic modifications or factory-bred chickens are necessary. It's the gentle loving care of his and wife Wendy's Buff Orpingtons. "We keep them going a year longer than most laying hens," says Mackay as he flips an omelette on a campstove at the fair. "They don't produce as much but the eggs are bigger."He can afford this lower productivity because an island fishing lodge pays premium price for these man-size eggs.
The Tlell fall fair was better integrated with the nearby native community than others we have seen, with welcoming categories such as best button blanket and wild foods in the home-artsand agricultural competition. Wild huckleberries, why not? It takes skill and experience to find the biggest ones on the island.
On the cultivated side, the red and black currant winners were the largest we'd ever seen, by double the size. Thank the ever-present rains that have squeezed back the fall fair to early August, as locals claim there is only a three-week window each year that you can realistically hope for sunshine.
On the far western edge of the continent, the weather watchwords are changeable and squally. However, the same cold squalls that make many cultivated crops fussy ("we can't do watermelons here" one local bemoaned) ensure that the plant ecology is probably the richest and most abundant in North America, as is the natural larder of seafoods and fish.
So, we say, go with the flow. Roadsides are thick with thimbleberries free for the picking. And the raspberry bushes that escaped from early settlers' yards? By far the most delicious raspberries ever: one was so complex, floral, and sweet, it tasted like a jujube candy. But healthy!
And where else can you go to the beach and pluck from a dense, clean patch of seaweed or sea asparagus? Or go to the beach with nothing more than a bucket to pick up the abundant crabs? As the Haida say, "When the tide is out, the table is set." -ADS
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AUGUST 8, 2007 - The Tlell Fall Fair on the northerly Queen Charlotte Islands bills itself as the earliest in British Columbia. On the first weekend of August, it may well be first on the continent; even in Alaska, the State Fair, which calls itself "the last blast of summer", starts on August 23. That's in the Chugach Mountains an hour north of Anchorage.
Nonetheless, the Charlottes (which many locals refer to by the native name of Haida Gwaii) put on a good show. Farmer Bill MacKay of Riverworks Farm made up 100-Mile omelettes from his "gianormous" eggs, mixed with farm herbs along with chicken, crab, or salmon smoked by Haida man Dick Bellis two booths over.
How do the eggs get "gianormous"? For the innovative local farmer, no genetic modifications or factory-bred chickens are necessary. It's the gentle loving care of his and wife Wendy's Buff Orpingtons. "We keep them going a year longer than most laying hens," says Mackay as he flips an omelette on a campstove at the fair. "They don't produce as much but the eggs are bigger."He can afford this lower productivity because an island fishing lodge pays premium price for these man-size eggs.
The Tlell fall fair was better integrated with the nearby native community than others we have seen, with welcoming categories such as best button blanket and wild foods in the home-artsand agricultural competition. Wild huckleberries, why not? It takes skill and experience to find the biggest ones on the island.
On the cultivated side, the red and black currant winners were the largest we'd ever seen, by double the size. Thank the ever-present rains that have squeezed back the fall fair to early August, as locals claim there is only a three-week window each year that you can realistically hope for sunshine.
On the far western edge of the continent, the weather watchwords are changeable and squally. However, the same cold squalls that make many cultivated crops fussy ("we can't do watermelons here" one local bemoaned) ensure that the plant ecology is probably the richest and most abundant in North America, as is the natural larder of seafoods and fish.
So, we say, go with the flow. Roadsides are thick with thimbleberries free for the picking. And the raspberry bushes that escaped from early settlers' yards? By far the most delicious raspberries ever: one was so complex, floral, and sweet, it tasted like a jujube candy. But healthy!
And where else can you go to the beach and pluck from a dense, clean patch of seaweed or sea asparagus? Or go to the beach with nothing more than a bucket to pick up the abundant crabs? As the Haida say, "When the tide is out, the table is set." -ADS
