Little perks of your city

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by harls

Us Quebecers love your millions of peaches. Peaches for me.

Millions of peaches, peaches for free.

Good. Things. Grow.

In.

On. Tar. Ee. O.

[harls]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Good. Things. Grow.

In.

On. Tar. Ee. O.

Either you are gaslighting me or you skipped the 90s.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by harls

Either you are gaslighting me or you skipped the 90s.

You don't remember those ads?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1-bRAS-CxY

[flar]

Originally Posted by Wigs

One of the perks of Niagara is some of the most fertile soil in all of Canada so in the summer the abundance of locally grown fresh fruits (and vegetables), and 100 wineries to choose from. At least 1/4 of them range from good to great quality

That's a good one. Extra bonus for the orchards near Blenheim: there isn't much tourism so the produce is far cheaper than the grocery store.

I actually grow a lot of my own fruit. Strawberries in May, mulberries in June, raspberries in July, grapes in August/September, and hopefully this year, pawpaws and kiwis. I used to have peaches and apricots, but my trees got fungus and died. Not going to replace them since I can just ride my bike down the street and get fresh ones.

[harls]

Originally Posted by Acajack

You don't remember those ads?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1-bRAS-CxY

No. I'm from away, man.

• Video Link

[rousseau]

Originally Posted by harls

No. I'm from away, man.

• Video Link

Wait, what? Someone did a song called "Peaches" after the Stranglers already did a song called "Peaches"?

Has the world gone insane?

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[niwell]

Recognized harls reference immediately. Released in 1996 and “Peaches” was played heavily on MuchMusic. 13 year old me was a big fan, even if I didn’t consider heavy enough to be cool.

[Innsertnamehere]

Originally Posted by flar

That's a good one. Extra bonus for the orchards near Blenheim: there isn't much tourism so the produce is far cheaper than the grocery store.

I actually grow a lot of my own fruit. Strawberries in May, mulberries in June, raspberries in July, grapes in August/September, and hopefully this year, pawpaws and kiwis. I used to have peaches and apricots, but my trees got fungus and died. Not going to replace them since I can just ride my bike down the street and get fresh ones.

My understanding is that Essex county area is good because it’s the warmest part of Ontario and has a longer growing season, but Niagara’s soil is better so yields can be higher with only a slightly shorter growing season.

Ultimately there is a reason Leamington is booming with greenhouses, and it’s because it’s got the lowest energy bills for heating them in the province.

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by harls

Us Quebecers love your millions of peaches. Peaches for me.

Millions of peaches, peaches for free.

Niagara is well known for delicious peaches and apricots. Nothing tastes like summer as a ripened peach.
I forget the stat now but Niagara produces ~75-80% of all Canada's peaches.

Also ~80% of Canada’s total grape and wine production

great tune! (looks like it was just reuploaded to HD, and posted by others already!)

[flar]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

My understanding is that Essex county area is good because it’s the warmest part of Ontario and has a longer growing season, but Niagara’s soil is better so yields can be higher with only a slightly shorter growing season.

Ultimately there is a reason Leamington is booming with greenhouses, and it’s because it’s got the lowest energy bills for heating them in the province.

Afaik, Leamington has the largest cluster of greenhouses in the world. There are hundreds of acres under glass (actually plastic) in Chatham-Kent as well, just not clustered together. A lot of the greenhouses do three crops per year of English cucumbers, slicing tomatoes or bell peppers. A bunch of them are also used for starting tomatoes, peppers, onions, etc for outdoor planting, and flowers and house plants.

There are three key areas for specialty crops: Leamington, Blenheim, and Dover township in Chatham-Kent. The latter two areas have the same long growing season plus rich black earth. A lot it is actually below lake level and water levels are controlled by dykes and pumps.

Pretty much every crop grown in Canada is grown within about 10km of my home. I see cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, tobacco, onions, Brussels sprouts, peas, squash, melons, peaches, nectarines, plums, cherries, apples, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, you name it, all grown at industrial scale. The Dover township farms have traditionally been served by canning facilities in Wallaceburg and Dresden, in addition to the famous former Heinz plant in Leamington.

There's more focus on vegetables than fruits in the SW, part of it involves distribution and processing channels, which are more developed in Niagara, while canning is big in the places I mentioned. The cherry industry completely collapsed in Blenheim about 15 years ago when the processing and packaging facility shut down. Regardless of climate, you need to get the food to market

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by Acajack

You don't remember those ads?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1-bRAS-CxY

I'm dying. I was so young but you trigger my brain deep into the memory bank

My Dad used to sing this to me and my brother
• Video Link

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

My understanding is that Essex county area is good because it’s the warmest part of Ontario and has a longer growing season, but Niagara’s soil is better so yields can be higher with only a slightly shorter growing season.

Ultimately there is a reason Leamington is booming with greenhouses, and it’s because it’s got the lowest energy bills for heating them in the province.

Does Leamington still grow the most amount of tomatoes in Canada? All I know is French's partially helped save that area when Heinz pulled out after like a century or more

I never thought about it but yeah deep SW Ontario seems like it would be the warmest spot. I didn't also realize the growing season is significantly longer.

[flar]

Originally Posted by Wigs

Does Leamington still grow the most amount of tomatoes in Canada? All I know is French's partially helped save that area when Heinz pulled out after like a century or more

I never thought about it but yeah deep SW Ontario seems like it would be the warmest spot. I didn't also realize the growing season is significantly longer.

Still tons of tomatoes grown in Leamington, Blenheim and Wallaceburg areas. There's also a tomato canning plant in Dresden, and used to be one in Wallaceburg. The tomato growing area extends up into south Lambton county around Port Lambton.

Fun fact: field tomatoes yield over 40 tons per acre in SW Ontario

This is a tomato field


I also forgot to mention sugar beets are another big crop in Chatham-Kent, they are refined into white sugar in Michigan (years ago there was a sugar plant in Wallaceburg)

[Proof Sheet]

Originally Posted by flar

Afaik, Leamington has the largest cluster of greenhouses in the world.

More than here?

https://goo.gl/maps/YVgqqdEw8ZiShgrB6

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intens...n_Almer%C3%ADa

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-s9zUtFK3Pc a video celebrating one of Ontario's flattest landscapes

[LightingGuy]

Burlington, ON:

I realize suburban living ain't for everyone, but for those that like su urban living it's pretty tough to beat Burlington. It doesn't have the soullessness that you find in large tracts of Markham and Mississauga.

- We have an actual skyline.

- nice little microclimate within the region. We get 99cm of snow per year vs 130+ cm elsewhere in the GTA. Our temperatures year round are also slightly warmer. We are comfortably in DFa territory.

- Our suburban downtown is actually interesting, and well-used by the locals. There are many pubs, and we have the best lakefront park of all the GTA suburbs. In the summer there are all kinds if festivals, with some notable ones being Sound of Music and Ribfest

- In general Burlington actually has a lot of stuff to do compared to other similar-sized suburbs. We have 2 pool halls, multiple bowling alleys, lord knows how many escape rooms, 2 large indoor malls, a YukYuks, and lots more.

- Access. We have 30 min trains to Toronto all day every day including weekends. When driving, I can get to downtown Toronto in 40 min, downtown Hamilton in 15, Niagara Falls in 50, Buffalo in an hour, KW in 45, London in 1.25hr, and Windsor in 3ish.

- A unique mix of housing stock, compared to Oakville next door at least. Burlington has a LOT of older townhouses that are actually nice, and some of them are very unique styles and frankly, just practical. Not just compound after compound of 600 sqft condos and stacked townhouse crap. Just go on Realtor.ca and check it out.

- We have a strong corporate presence, with lots of mid-sized companies' offices. If you look at Burlington on google maps, you'll notice that the commercial-industrial area around the highway and train tracks is actually quite substantial compared to Oakville next door. A lot of people who live here also work here.

- Low property taxes and the place hasn't turned into a shithole. Hamilton property taxes are double, and their roads are far worse.

- The escarpment is right beside with lots of interesting hiking trails. We have 6 conservation areas within the city, all connected to the Bruce Trail.

[ssiguy]

Chilliwack has the best corn in the country. B.C also has great apples and peaches. Unfortunately the tomatoes are tasteless. My M&D wouldn't buy BC tomatoes due to this and always bought imports. Nothing beats an Ontario Beefsteak tomato.

[harls]

Originally Posted by rousseau

Wait, what? Someone did a song called "Peaches" after the Stranglers already did a song called "Peaches"?

Has the world gone insane?

There is also the Teaches of Peaches..

Back on topic, yes Gatineau does have a great recycling and compost program, and it seems everyone on my street participates. More with recycling than the compost, though.

[Architype]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

Chilliwack has the best corn in the country. B.C also has great apples and peaches. Unfortunately the tomatoes are tasteless. My M&D wouldn't buy BC tomatoes due to this and always bought imports. Nothing beats an Ontario Beefsteak tomato.

I didn't know that about tomatoes, but I stopped buying them because they were tasteless, and I buy grape tomatoes instead; some are from the US, Mexico, etc., and some companies are based both here and in California. Some vegetables, like potatoes, and turnips in particular, are much better from Eastern Canada. That's why no one eats turnips out here. But this thread is about city perks, so maybe I can add that community vegetable gardens (they have flowers etc. too) which are found all over Vancouver are another perk.

[flar]

Originally Posted by Proof Sheet

More than here?

https://goo.gl/maps/YVgqqdEw8ZiShgrB6

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intens...n_Almer%C3%ADa

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-s9zUtFK3Pc a video celebrating one of Ontario's flattest landscapes

Never heard of this place, it's massive. Perhaps it needs to be qualified that Leamington has enclosed greenhouses, whereas these drape plastic over the area. Reminds me of the Simcoe/Aylmer area with all the ginseng fields shaded by black canopy (incidentally, Aylmer is another tomato processing centre)

Ontario greenhouses also use migrant labour and some are plastic, some are glass. There is a 70 acre greenhouse right near me that employs 130 workers growing peppers and tomatoes.

This is a 90 acre greenhouse under construction near Coatsworth. It's difficult to photograph, but as you can see, they cover entire fields.

[TownGuy]

SW Ontario is both a shame and necessity. Food security being what it is, Canada needs to maximize areas like the SW for growing. It is extremely flat, gets the strongest sun in Canada, and has fertile soil. We just simply have to grow things there. It's a shame because Carolinian Forest ecozone is the smallest in Canada and almost doesn't even exist considering it's all farmland. Rondeau and Point Pelee are comically small in comparison to what surrounds them. A pipe dream would be a continuous forested stretch between Point Pelee and Rondeau along Lake Erie. Let the Carolinian Forest actually be a thing and most of the land remains farming.

One of our perks here is that it's not just a pancake of farm fields, the hilly topography doesn't allow for it. Maybe I'll expand on this later.