Saskatoon HOME magazine Summer 2022

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INSIDE

ON THE COVER BACKYARD RAILWAY— PAGE 13 When a child’s fascination with the Old West and model trains turns into a grown man’s hobby, the backyard landscape can become something unusual. ~ Photo Lillian Lane

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HOME FRONT A Greeting from the Publisher

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POLLINATOR PARADISE Happy Healthy Biodiversity

13

29

41

Bringing the Wild West Home

Food Preservation

An Enchanting Garden

BACKYARD RAILWAY

20

TAKING THE PLUNGE

Keeping the Vacation Vibe Alive ~ Photo Lillian Lane

HOMETOWN REFLECTIONS

37

MAUREEN’S KITCHEN

Making Friends with My Air Fryer ~ Photo Maureen Haddock

OASIS ON ADELAIDE ~ Photo Lillian Lane

HOME FRONT Our mission at Saskatoon HOME magazine is to bring you the stories of the people and homes that shape our big little city. Sharing stories is an important way to connect with our community. Our homes and outdoor spaces are a reflection of ourselves, and a perfect way to express our own creativity!

In this issue we bring you a collection of stories about residents who dance to the beat of their own drums, and have created some unique outdoor spaces right here in Saskatoon.

A pollinator paradise, a pond oasis, an outdoor locomotive layout, and a pool that is ready to party—all created by locals with a vision and who embrace good old-fashioned hard work and ingenuity.

I know these stories will bring a smile to your face—and inspire you to create your own HOME story—whatever that might be.

Happy Reading!

Amanda Soulodre OWNER & PUBLISHER

Issue 58, Summer 2022 ISSN 1916-2324 info@saskatoon-home.ca

Publishers Amanda Soulodre Rob Soulodre

Editor Karin Melberg Schwier

Contributors Jeff O’Brien Julie Barnes Karin Melberg Schwier Lillian Lane Maureen Haddock The booking deadline for advertising in the Fall 2022 issue is July 22, 2022.

Contact Amanda for more information.

Email: amanda@saskatoon-home.ca Phone: 306-373-1833 Text: 306-717-0663 Saskatoon HOME is printed four times a year. Subscribe to receive every issue direct to your mailbox for $20/year.

Visit www.gethomemagazine.ca.

Connect with us: www.saskatoon-home.ca www.facebook.com/saskatoon.home /saskatoon.home

Saskatoon HOME is published by: Farmhouse Communications Telephone: 306-373-1833 Fax: 306-500-2993 info@saskatoon-home.ca

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POLLINATOR PARADISE Happy Healthy Biodiversity BY: KARIN MELBERG SCHWIER

They say a city isn’t just built. It’s planted. And it’s pollinated. The ‘they’ who say that are the dedicated members of Wild About Saskatoon, a non-profit that promotes, educates and celebrates the fact that nature, including native plants, is a vital element of any cityscape. They work

to restore the wild world to Saskatoon to create a paradise for pollinators, one bee, one bird, one garden, and one gardener at a time.

Supporting the Eco-web Chad Hammond and Joanne Blythe are involved in a unique movement to improve the chances for

pollinators of all types to grow and thrive. Understanding how natural connections work is the first step.

“Pollinators are the agents that move pollen from one plant to another. That ensures successful seed and fruit production and the propagation of more flowering plants,” explains

Chad. He converted his boulevard (seen above) from grass to a little slice of bee heaven with wild lupines, milkweed, bergamot, and wild onion.

“I think images of bees first come to mind when someone says ‘pollinators,’” he says. But it’s more than that. There are over four hundred species

SASKATOON HOME SUMMER 2022 |

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Gardeners who meet the requirements receive certification and a colourful sign to show off their pollinator-friendly efforts.

of native bees in Saskatchewan including bumblebees, sweat bees, mason bees, and leaf cutter bees. But there are also butterflies, moths, flies, wasps, beetles, ants, birds, and bats.

“They’re all pollinators,” Joanne explains. “Part of the local natural food web— native plants, insects, and animals that have evolved together for millennia. We need to do what we can to support them.”

Wind also helps a host of grains, nuts, trees, and grasses move across the landscape.

“We have no shortage of wind,” says Chad. “But animal pollinators are in trouble worldwide due to habitat loss, overuse of poisonous chemicals, introduced and invasive plants and animals, and diseases and parasites.”

“Fewer native plants, fewer larvae, fewer birds. It’s as simple as that,” Joanne adds.

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Promoting Paradise Pollinator Paradise YXE, a project to “keep the web strong,” was initiated by Wild About Saskatoon. Launched in spring 2021, it’s designed to protect, enhance and plant pollinator-friendly spaces.

“Our certification program recognizes both those who were already growing native plants and those who are just starting out,” explains Joanne. “We’re also providing instruction about

the importance of native plants and what they need to grow as a healthy part of the eco-web.”

By the end of the 2021 season, 49 sites were certified, including private residences, a boulevard garden, and public areas like naturalized parks, the University of Saskatchewan’s Prairie Habitat Garden, and a nature restoration site. All received a colourful sign to show the space protects

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POLLINATOR PARADISE DO’S AND DON’TS DO

DON’T

…connect with other native plant growers, a great source of experience, knowledge, and plants.

…dig up and transplant plants from the wild.

…grow native plants that host the highest number of butterfly and moth larvae. …grow native plants that support the highest number of pollinators. …watch, learn and adapt as the garden evolves.

and encourages pollinators.

“We need to do more than encourage them,” says Joanne. “We need to support and nurture them and stop their freefall. We are beginning to restore our relationship with the land by growing, celebrating and planting native plants back where they belong.”

Urban areas can become refuge habitats. City spaces can be “hotspots of food, water, and nesting sites among the concentrated greenspaces of gardens, parks, and even cemeteries,” Chad adds.

The Steps to Create Paradise Gardeners who sign up will be connected with the growing network of native plant enthusiasts.

A designated Pollinator Paradise YXE includes four

…worry about what is or could become invasive, like baby’s breath, creeping bellflower, Dame’s rocket. The Native Plant Society of Saskatchewan at www.npss.sk.ca has advice on what to choose in their Grow Me Instead resource.

…rush to buy “wildflower” seed packets. They’re mostly wild somewhere else, and can be invasive here. Get native flower seeds from trusted suppliers. …use pesticides or herbicides. …worry if you need to “disturb” plantings by thinning or moving plants. …get too ambitious. Start small and focus on weeding, tending, and watering. If the space is large, do it in stages.

For more information visit: https://wildaboutsaskatoon.org/pollinator-paradise-yxe/

essential elements. Creating paradise isn’t difficult, but there are some must have’s.

The starred items are required for certification; others are highly recommended.

1 Fifteen flowering plants (flowers, grasses, trees, and shrubs) native to this area and at least one that provides food for native caterpillars. Plan for a succession of blooms May to October.* Many introduced plants provide nectar for pollinators, but some don’t. Native plants are the best for native

10 | SUMMER 2022 SASKATOON HOME

bees, caterpillars and other insects.

2 Nesting and wintering sites for native bees, butterflies and larvae.

Don’t rake leaves or mulch piles up until the daytime temperature stays above 10 degrees C for about a week in the spring. Leave stems standing, rock piles, brush piles, undisturbed ground.* These sites help make the garden more than just a stopover for passing pollinators.

3 A source of water for birds, wild bees and butterflies.

A shallow pan with a few stones is all you need so insects don’t drown.* 4 Ongoing care means plants might need to be thinned or moved, eliminate pesticides, control and avoid growing invasive plants.* Consider replacing turf with native grasses and flowers. Wait until June to mow the lawn or it can disrupt nesting sites.

Keep outdoor lighting to a minimum. It disrupts the cycles of wildlife.

Karin Melberg Schwier

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BACKYARD RAILWAY Bringing the Wild West Home

BY: KARIN MELBERG SCHWIER PHOTOS: LILLIAN LANE

Brian Couldwell isn’t certain where his fascination with historical steam locomotives comes from exactly, but within a few minutes of conversation, several memorable experiences clearly point to the root of his passion.

And maybe explains Brian’s backyard where steam locomotives ply over 150 feet of G gauge train track through 460 square feet of model railroad and an Old West mining town. And that’s not counting what he’s got inside his house.

Brian’s father and grandfathers, all World War II veterans, dabbled in trains. One grandpa worked for Canadian Northern. Too old for regular service in the war, he went to work for the military branch of the British Railway during the bombing

of London. His father, a crane operator, worked periodically at the IPSCO steel plant near Regina where a Canadian Pacific steam locomotive was on display. Brian's dad cut a hole in the fence so he could sneak young Brian in to spend glorious hours

SASKATOON HOME SUMMER 2022 |

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A panorama in automotive paint, the backdrop to Brian's 1890s boomtown is a landscape of the Colorado Rockies. This backyard railroad features a working waterfall, a Western Pacific railway station, water tower, grain elevator, blacksmith’s shop, general store, sheriff’s office, saloon, and a church.

exploring the locomotive.

As a youngster, Brian would be rendered speechless by the prospect of a day seeing the trains on display at the Battleford or Moose Jaw Western Development Museums. He was six when he got his first model train.

The die was cast.

Passions Unite “Once when I was a little guy, my mom took me to see the CPR Royal Hudson when it stopped in Saskatoon.

I remember smelling the steam and oil, hearing the whistles and the chug chug as the steam locomotives moved along the track,” says Brian, a semi-retired long-haul trucker born and raised in Saskatoon. “That and my fascination with the

14 | SUMMER 2022 SASKATOON HOME

American Old West just came together and turned into my little hobby.”

Brian, who is also a self-professed “realistic environmentalist” created his Wild West boomtown-on-hardtimes following the ‘reuse, recycle, repurpose” motto.

He found materials like old pallets and barn board for the buildings and train trestles. He combs garage sales, flea markets, Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore and Value Village.

Inspiration hit him on the long drives all over North America, and in the years he’s been hauling, he’s filled notebooks with ideas from places he’s been: Virginia City, Chehalis, Ely, Old Sacramento, and Salinas.

He’s got a list of favourite

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The elevated display makes railroading easier. The mountainous terrain in Brian’s backyard features rocks collected during his long-haul trucking trips.

spots to stop where tourist railroads operate and he became a familiar enough fixture at some to volunteer when he could spend some time.

“I tried to work in a layover anywhere a steam railroad operated,” he says. “I parked the semi and while I waited for a pick up of say, fruits and vegetables, I’d hop on the steam locomotives like the Roaring Camp Railroads in Felton, California. Or the Sierra Railway steam locomotive in Jamestown, California, which has been in lots of movies.” That’s the one in the Back to the Future Part III and westerns like Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven.

“I actually got to apprentice on Number 93, a 1908 steam locomotive in Ely, Nevada.”

A Higher Elevation Brian’s first live steam railroad in his own yard was at ground level, but “the constant weeding was a pain, and all the kneeling to fire and run the locomotive.”

So he devised a plan for his train track to follow a double figure eight pattern, raised up on a ‘mountain’ of rocks at either end that would allow his trains to run continuously.

Most of Brian’s trains are 1/20th scale O-rolling stock and live steam. That means most of his locomotives are alcohol or butane-fired.

Giving in to his passion for the authentic Old West, Brian began retrieving interesting rocks on his trucking trips. He can point out the ones he hauled home from the Continental

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During the winter and on rainy days when Brian’s not on the road or working on his classic Harley, he tinkers with one of many antique live steam O scale locomotives in his basement. There’s a 1930s Pony Island carnival display and a 1938 Virginia City N scale V & T (Virginia and Truckee) railroad.

Divide, Donner ’s Pass, and the Painted Desert. To complete the collection, he scoured farmer’s fields in Saskatchewan. The precarious looking trestle bridges were inspired by train journeys like the White Pass and Yukon Route and Denver Rio Grande.

An appropriate backdrop to the 1890s boomtown is marine plywood with a landscape of the Colorado Rockies done in automotive paint. It’s durable and it keeps out curious eyes in the neighbourhood. Townsfolk include Wyatt Erp, Johnny

Ringo, and Doc Holliday, figures he picked up in places like Tombstone, Arizona and Carson City, Nevada.

There’s a working waterfall, a Western Pacific railway station, water tower, grain elevator, Logan’s blacksmith’s shop, Clayton’s general store, sheriff’s office, and the church is a stone’s throw from the ubiquitous saloon called The Paris.

Life’s About the Journey Brian’s creative bent goes beyond the trains displays he builds. He wrote and published an

SASKATOON HOME SUMMER 2022 |

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GAUGE AND SCALE Two parameters measure the size of model trains: scale and gauge. Scale is the proportionate size (length, width, height) of the model to its prototype, the real thing). Gauge is the distance between the tracks—standard and narrow gauge. HO or H0 is a rail transport modeling scale using a 1:87 scale (3.5 mm to 1 foot). It is the most popular scale of model railway in the world. The rails are spaced 16.5 mm (0.650 in) apart for modeling 1,435 mm (4 ft 8-1⁄2 in) standard gauge tracks and trains in HO.

“action murder mystery” called Dead Freight about, naturally, a steam locomotive possessed by the ghost of a murdered gangster. In 2016, he gave a copy of the novel to Clint Eastwood during an encounter at the actor’s Mission Ranch House restaurant in Carmel, California. “I named the lumber yard in my Wild West boomtown East Wood Lumber.” He grins. “A little homage to the man.”

Another homage has been to charity. Brian opened his display to the public a few times and set out a work boot to collect donations. He raised $2,000 one year for a church in Africa, and nearly $5,000 for Telemiracle.

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TAKING THE PLUNGE Keeping the Vacation It was a blissful trip to Bora Bora that sparked Sheri and Lyle Goebel’s interest in adding a pool to their Willowgrove backyard.

During the couple’s 2019 honeymoon on the French Polynesian isle, they began discussing how they could

bring that relaxed vacation feel home with them.

“We like to entertain, we like to be outside, and we like to be by the water,” says Sheri.

Fast forward to summer 2021, and what started as a plan for a pool ended

20 | SUMMER 2022 SASKATOON HOME

up becoming the ultimate staycation space once the couple completed an extensive backyard transformation.

Maximizing Every Inch of Space

The summer following their honeymoon, Sheri

and Lyle began planning and obtaining quotes. But it wasn’t as simple as choosing a standard rectangle shape and hiring a company to install it. There were easements to contend with— and they certainly weren’t starting with a blank slate.

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Vibe Alive A three-metre SaskEnergy easement along the back fence, and a power line along the west side restricted the size of the pool’s footprint, but the couple worked with SaskPower to have the power line moved, which helped them gain two extra feet.

“That dictated everything we could do as far as the design,” says Lyle. “If they weren’t willing to move the power line it would have changed the design drastically.”

The couple had purchased their home in 2015, and

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the previous owners had installed a hot tub, a stamped concrete patio, and a large grassy area. A spacious deck and stairs to the patio below also hemmed in the potential pool perimeter.

“We were really tight on space, and we wanted to have a pool as big as physically possible,” says Sheri. They ended up moving and rewiring the hot tub, redesigning the deck and relocating the deck stairs to open up the space.

Most of the pool’s future footprint was sheathed in the stamped concrete, and removing it was no easy feat. The couple hired a local concrete company to handle the task. “The 1000-squarefoot patio and walkway were cut into three-foot by four-foot squares with a concrete saw and hauled out,” says Lyle.

Although it wasn’t as simple as installing a pool in an undeveloped yard, the Goebels are happy they took the extra steps to maximize the size. The result is a custom lagoon shape with undulating curves that wraps around a corner of the back deck.

With a maximum depth of six feet, diving is verboten, but the pair added a 10-foot “TurboTwister” slide for a fun, feet-first way to take the plunge. Complete with plumbed-in water, the slide is their 13-year-old son Zack’s favourite part of the backyard transformation.

Patent-Worthy Project The deep end of the Goebels' saltwater pool is 32-feet across—perfect for swimming laps, but a challenge to find an off-theshelf pool cover for.

22 | SUMMER 2022 SASKATOON HOME

Before breaking ground on the pool installation, about 1000 square feet of stamped concrete patio had to be cut up and hauled away.

Orange spray paint outlines the future pool’s footprint.

Due to its large size, the automated, underground pool roller (at left) was installed before the pool was built.

The pool stairs jut out of the pool instead of extending into the shallow end, to further maximize space to swim.

Lyle designed and built the under-deck drawer that serves as storage for the family’s pool toys in the summer, and deck chairs in the winter.

Sheri flips a switch on the pool house, which lifts the lid on the underground pool roller. A separate remote control spins the roller when the couple are ready to cover or uncover the pool.

SASKATOON HOME SUMMER 2022 |

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The poolside cabana acts as a convenient spot to serve up cocktails all summer long. One of Lyle’s specialties is a Miami Vice—a 50/50 mix of strawberry daiquiri and Piña colada.

The Goebels redesigned their deck and moved and rewired their hot tub to maximize the size of the new pool.

24 | SUMMER 2022 SASKATOON HOME

“Nobody built a roller big enough,” says Lyle. “The biggest cover we found was 24 feet and we needed 33 feet.”

An engineer by trade, Lyle designed and built his own custom roller. Encased in an aluminum box, the roller was installed underground before the pool and new concrete patio was installed.

With a flip of a switch, the lid opens hydraulically and the roller spins via a remote control. The whole system is inconspicuous—clad in deck board, the lid sits flush with the surrounding hardscaping when the roller is not in use.

Lyle’s invention does double duty as a conduit for runoff. “When we did the design, we plumbed all the drainage in the yard through that box, and it goes to a sump in the back to alleviate any build up of water in the yard,” says Lyle.

“That is all Lyle’s design,” says Sheri. “I keep saying he needs to patent it and sell it.”

If You Like Piña Coladas A number of Lyle’s other projects punctuate the space, including a custom cabana and a pool house. Located just beyond the pool, the cabana’s bar is the perfect perch for the couple to serve up margaritas, piña coladas and strawberry daiquiris to their guests. A rolling shutter on the cabana’s window retracts, providing easy access to the cocktails and provisions inside.

Inside, the vaulted ceiling, overhead fan, and white tongue-and-groove wall panels lend a beachy feel to the space. “That was really the feel we were going for,” says Sheri, “to feel like every time we went into the

backyard, it was like being at a resort.”

The pool house sits closer to the home, and serves two functions: it houses a change room and storage space for pool equipment.

More storage seamlessly integrates into the deck— Lyle designed and built a large under-deck rolling drawer to stash pool toys in the summer, and outdoor furniture in the winter.

Activated Spaces The couple briefly considered putting in grass just beyond their patio and hot tub. “But we thought it’s a very small area to have to mow, so we were just going to put in synthetic grass,” says Sheri.

On further reflection, they decided they could get more use out of the area as a putting green, and the extra cost to add the holes was negligible. “We went with it because it gave us another activity in the yard,” says Lyle.

Tucked around the corner is another activity area Zack enjoys—a sport court the family added in 2017. “We have nets there, so we can shoot pucks or play shinny, or basketball,” says Lyle. Before the space was transformed, it was an unused patch of gravel. Installing the sport court made the space functional, and keeps it clean, adds Lyle.

With a plush seating area arranged around a fire table, a ping pong table they can roll out from the garage, and a free-standing outdoor fireplace, there are several distinct areas for both lounging and activities to keep that vacation vibe alive all summer long.

Instead of having a small patch of grass they would need to mow, the couple decided to install a three-hole putting green.

Once an unused patch of gravel, the sport court now gives the family space to play basketball, shoot pucks and play shinny.

SASKATOON HOME SUMMER 2022 |

25

Zack plays with Leddy, the family’s mini Bernedoodle. Sheri and Lyle chose fibreglass stairs that can withstand Leddy’s nails better than a typical pool liner would.

The pool lighting can be completely customized, says Sheri. “We can do multi-coloured lighting, we can do strobe lighting—it’s very pretty at night.”

When the sun goes down, landscape lighting and pool lights produce an ambient glow, creating a magical backdrop for al fresco movie nights. With a projector and portable screen, the family can watch movies from their floats in the pool.

The Goebels have managed to keep the vacation vibe alive, so much so that they no longer travel during the summer, aside from trips to their cabin at

26 | SUMMER 2022 SASKATOON HOME

Turtle Lake. “We’ve made our yard our vacation,” says Sheri.

Asked whether there’s anything else they’d like to add to the space in the future, and Lyle deadpans: “A dome.”

Sheri laughs. “So we can use it year-round.”

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Students at R.J.D Williams school learn the art of canning, 1949.

Photo Credit: Local History Room - Saskatoon Public Library - B-2445

HOMEtown Reflections

BY: JEFF O’BRIEN

FOOD PRESERVATION

People often talk about home canning in the past tense. Something our grandmothers once did. Or those hardy pioneers back in Ye Olden Days, before refrigerators and fresh fruit shipped in year-round from tropical lands. But even today, here in Saskatoon

where we have 23 months of winter and two months of bad snowmobiling, you don’t have to look too far to find shelves stocked with rows of sealed glass jars, lovingly put away in the fall to ensure a taste of summer in the dead of winter.

Left to itself, food spoils.

In times and places where populations were small and the climate salubrious, this may not have mattered so much. But life isn’t usually that easy, and people very quickly figured out how to make their surplus food last longer.

The goal is to create

what the food scientists call “microbially challenging environments.” Perhaps the oldest method is drying.

Bacteria need moisture.

Get rid of the moisture and what’s left behind lasts a lot longer. On the prairies, Indigenous people have been making pemmican

SASKATOON HOME SUMMER 2022 | 29

Saskatoon grocery store shelves are stocked with canned goods, ca. 1940s.

Women work on the canning line at Intercontinental Packers, 1950.

30 | SUMMER 2022 SASKATOON HOME

Photo Credits: Local History Room - Saskatoon Public Library - A-1458 (top) - LH-3321(bottom)

(a mixture of dried meat, rendered fat and berries) for as long as anyone can remember. Correctly made and properly stored, it lasts for years, possibly decades.

An archaeological site in Jordan yielded evidence of meat being dried 20,000 years ago.

Fruit is another food that was typically preserved by drying. Most of us buy dried fruit of some type even today, and "evaporated fruit” was a grocery store staple here for a long time.

Freezing food or just keeping it cold—in a root cellar or an ice house, for example—are also timetested techniques. As is simply burying it. Anyone who stores their carrots in buckets of damp sand already knows this. But does anyone still make bog butter?

This is butter stored in containers and buried in a peat bog, which apparently was a thing in Ireland and Great Britain. Peat bogs are cool, acidic and low oxygen, all of which aid preservation.

Some bog butter caches have been found that are thousands of years old.

But we’ll keep ours in the fridge, thanks.

“Liquid Bread” Very early on, people also discovered salting, pickling and fermenting, the latter of which, if applied correctly had the added benefit of creating drinkable alcohol.

It’s an innovation we continue to appreciate today.

Indeed, one of the benefits of fermentation is increased nutritional content. In 1915, the Saskatoon Brewing Company even

An Indigenous man in Loon Lake dries a rack of meat in the sun, 1940.

Photo Credit: Local History Room - Saskatoon Public Library - LH 5001

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marketed its beer as “liquid bread.” Sort of like a health food for manly men. Local temperance advocates shot back that it was actually liquid poison, to which Fred Wentzler, the brewery owner, replied that the men working at the brewery drank ten pints of beer a day “with no apparent ill effect.”

The Invention of Modern Canning The modern practice of putting food in cans was originally developed in the early 1800s to help France feed its army. Someone discovered that if you pre-cooked the food and sealed it in airtight containers it lasted longer. They didn’t know about germs in those days and didn’t know why it worked. Just that it did.

Initially the process was very labour-intensive and as a result, expensive. In England, the big market for canned goods in those days was the Royal Navy, which up to then subsisted mostly on salt meat and “hard tack”—a rock hard, nearly inedible biscuit that if kept dry, lasts practically forever. But canned meat and vegetables were the perfect solution for long sea voyages, and the navy leaped on the idea with great enthusiasm. After a while, so did everyone else.

Home Canning Terminology notwithstanding, when we talk about home canning, we’re nearly always talking about putting stuff in glass jars. A 1917 Ontario Department of Agriculture guide gave instruction on home canning in tin cans. But it was a much more involved process and certainly beyond the capacity of the average housewife, who was the

Workers can whole chickens at Hub City Produce, 1950.

Chicken in a can, Hub City Produce, 1950.

Photo Credits: CoS Archives - Star Phoenix Collection - S-SP-B-1037-002 (top) - S-SP-B-1037-004 (bottom)

person to whom nearly all literature on the subject was aimed.

Home canning got a big boost during the First and Second World Wars as a way to support the war effort. As one writer in 1917 admonished her readers, it was the duty of every housekeeper to plant gardens, put up the surplus, and see that no food went

32 | SUMMER 2022 SASKATOON HOME

to waste. The point wasn’t to send jars of pickles to the guys overseas. It was to ensure an adequate domestic supply, thereby freeing up food for the military.

Some of the older recipes seem strange to modern eyes. Maybe not bog butter strange, but still, the idea of deep-frying meat in paraffin to preserve it feels a bit queasy. Afterwards, you

dipped it in melted paraffin again to coat it, which you melted off with hot water when you wanted to eat it.

Clostridium botulinum In canning, the goal is to kill the existing bacteria, then keep new ones from getting in. The most common method was boiling in a water bath. But the bacterium that causes botulism forms heat

resistant spores, making it impervious to simple boiling.

And this is a serious thing.

Botulinum toxins are one of the most lethal substances known. Before modern medicine, the fatality rate for botulism was well over half. Even today, it’s around five percent, and it can take months to fully recover.

Some people never do.

One way to defeat c. botulinum was by tripleprocessing. After boiling your jars for an hour, you took them out and let them sit for a day. This tricked the bacteria into thinking it was safe to come out of hiding.

Then you zapped them again, and a third time for good measure. The recipes didn’t require you to shout, “Die, Evildoer!” as you did this, but it can’t have hurt.

And it must have worked.

There aren’t any records of mass epidemics of botulism sweeping the nation.

But by 1917, authorities were recommending the use of pressure canners, which reach much higher temperatures than simple water baths. 1929, there were 35 cases and 21 recorded deaths from botulism in the United States that were linked to improper home canning. Comparing this to the millions of people who would have been eating home-canned food that year, it’s clear the incidence of botulism was low.

Still, at a “Safe Food Fair” held in Saskatoon in 1956, the emphasis was on freezing food, while the city’s Medical Health Officer warned about the dangers of home canning.

In fact, canning declined precipitously in the 1950s, a victim of the home freezer

and the availability of cheap, commercially-canned food. “The days of the big canning binges are over,” the Saskatoon newspaper declared in 1960.

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It’s one thing to put up the surplus from your own garden or fruit trees, which is more-or-less free and otherwise is probably going to go to waste. But it was also a common practice to buy fruit from the grocery store for this purpose. Starting in mid-August, the newspaper here would be full of ads for fresh fruit, arriving by the trainload from BC or California, just in time for the canning season and priced to sell.

In September 1953, a 16-pound case of fresh peaches cost $2.95 at the grocery store. This was the best price we found that year. In comparison, a case lot of canned peaches cost 25.7 cents per 20 fluid ounce can. Using a can of Delmonte Peaches which we bought from Safeway for this purpose and later ate with ice cream, we worked out that in 1953, a 20-ounce store bought can of peaches would have cost 16.37 cents per pound compared to 18.44 cents per pound if you bought fresh peaches and canned them yourself. And that doesn’t even include the cost of sugar, supplies, and time. So if you were buying your peaches from the store, there was no cost benefit to home canning.

Not even in 1953.

But people still did it. And still do. For plenty of people in Sask atchewan,

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A woman extols the benefits of home freezers at the Saskatoon Safer Food Fair, 1956.

Photo Credit: CoS Archives - Star Phoenix Collection - S-SP-B-4273-001

Well stocked cold room shelves in a Saskatoon-area farm house, 1981.

Photo Credit: CoS Archives - Star Phoenix Collection - S-SP-A-15308-007

34 | SUMMER 2022 SASKATOON HOME

younger and older, rural and urban, fall is still the canning season, when the fruits of their labour—or the ones they bought at the store— are lovingly transferred to jars, carefully sterilized and sealed, and put away for the winter.

The reasons are as varied as the people who do it.

Because fresh fruit in season tastes better than what you get in mid-winter. Because it’s wrong to let food go to waste. Because it gives you complete control over what you eat. Or because people are worried about food security and rising prices.

In April, store shelves in Manitoba were stripped bare by people hunkering down for the biggest spring blizzard in decades. How comforting it would have been to have had a room in the basement loaded with sealer jars.

Sometimes it’s simply about nostalgia and tradition.

Lots of people we talked to

waxed poetic about helping their mothers put up jars in the fall. Canning connects them to their past and to who they are.

And finally, everyone needs a hobby. It will probably surprise no one to learn that in the fall of 2020, when the pandemic was keeping everyone at home, the Saskatoon newspaper reported an unprecedented demand for canning supplies.

If you’re thinking of canning this year—again or for the first time—there’s plenty of resources available, including the friendly folks on the Pickling and Canning in Saskatchewan Facebook group, who we’d like to thank for their generous response to our questions.

Jeff O’Brien

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MAUREEN’S KITCHEN Making Friends with My

Air Fryer

I was drawn to the idea of an air fryer because I wanted to crisp foods with almost no oil, and I had heard that the clean-up was easy. I discovered that air fryers do not heat your kitchen during summer and are perfect for preparing small servings.

I knew that buying another appliance for our kitchen would mean giving up some counter space. We have a large, older kitchen without a butler’s pantry, so we keep many items on the counter. We never put away

the toaster, the coffee maker, the stand mixer, or the knife block. Buying an air fryer would mean moving my double-drawer heirloom recipe box to another room.

I needed to be sure this countertop sacrifice would be worth it.

I am attracted to the air fryers that have front openings, reminiscent of an oven, because I love oven cooking. People who deep-fry frequently may gravitate to the basket style air fryer. Prices vary widely

BY: MAUREEN HADDOCK and sales are frequent, so shop around for the air fryer that’s right for you.

On the day I bought my Vortex 10, I was motivated by a young sales associate who enthusiastically told me that I should go for it. He raved about reheating pizza to perfection and making grilled cheese sandwiches in minutes. He told me his air fryer was a perfect dorm room appliance, and clean-up was always easy.

Suddenly, I was transported back to university, making

Kraft Dinner in my electric billypot.

I was determined to make friends with this new appliance. My air fryer has hot air vents at the back, so I move it to my island each time I use it. That way the hot air can release freely without overheating the appliance or ruining the wall. I like to listen to soft music before dinner, but my air fryer is noisy so I often air fry food ahead and keep it warm in the oven while we relax before eating.

I keep notes about

SASKATOON HOME SUMMER 2022 |

37

Get More RecipesAt:

www.getabiggerwagon.com

recipes I try in any new appliance, so I can remind myself what worked. For recipes that I prepare weekly, notes soon become unnecessary, but for recipes I make less often, like air fryer rotisserie chicken, I still rely on photos and notes.

The Internet offers a large selection of air fryer videos and recipes. In the beginning, it is best to try recipes designed for your specific brand of air fryer.

Once you feel confident, you will automatically begin adapting old family recipes for your air fryer.

I tried my hand at making air fryer doughnuts. They were delicious. I shared the recipe with my friend who has a different air fryer and they worked for her too. Air fryer recipes, for all brands,

38 | SUMMER 2022 SASKATOON HOME

offer temperatures and cook-times that can be used as a guide.

I love air frying grilled cheese sandwiches or reheating pizza to crisp perfection. We also enjoy Chicken Parmesan cooked in the air fryer. We use the rotisserie basket for cooking fresh or frozen fries, and I love air-fried vegetables.

Every Saturday evening, we make one tray of hot wings, which is enough for us. We buy packaged nachos and cheese sauce from our grandson’s business, and I prepare carrot and celery sticks.

We look forward to our “Saturday Night Naughty Supper” all week. For us, this is like a fast-food outing in the comfort of our own home, without the excess grease and oil.

The joy we get from such a feast is almost ridiculous.

My new air fryer is definitely worthy of a place on my countertop.

For more of my favourite air fryer recipes visit www.getabiggerwagon.com

Maureen Haddock

Saturday Night Hot Wings Buy one tray of drumettes, the pretrimmed meatiest part of chicken wings. To avoid overeating, we cook one pound of wings.

There are usually 10 to 12 on a tray. I eat three or four and my husband eats the rest.

My air fryer recipes suggest setting the temperature and cook times at the beginning.

Refer to your air fryer instruction manual for managing these settings.

Set the air fryer temperature to 400°F and the cook time for 20 minutes. When you press the start button the preheating begins.

While the air fryer is preheating, pat the drumettes dry with a paper towel. Place the drumettes on 1 tray (or basket) which has been greased with 1 teaspoon of oil.

When the air fryer is heated, it will beep, and the screen will say add food. Open the oven door and place the tray inside the air fryer.

My air fryer has three cooking levels. I use the middle one when cooking one tray of wings. Closing the oven door, triggers the timer and the countdown begins.

After 10 or 12 minutes, the timer alerts me to turn the food over. During the remainder of the cooking time, I make the sauce and heat my oven to 250°F to keep the wings warm until serving.

Remove the wings from the air fryer and test with a meat thermometer. We like our wings crispy, so they often reach 190°F but if you prefer them less crispy test them at 18 minutes. Once the wings are cooked to your taste, brush sauce over both sides.

Place them in the warming oven and resume chatting and sipping your drink.

Hot Wing Sauce

It is fine to brush the wings with Frank’s RedHot® Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce, right from the bottle. We make this sauce recipe for 10 or 12 wings. If I cook two trays of wings in my air fryer, I double the sauce.

Mix the following ingredients: 2 tablespoons Frank’s RedHot® Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce ½ teaspoon vegetable oil ½ teaspoon melted butter ½ teaspoon red wine vinegar A pinch of garlic powder Heat the sauce for a few seconds in the microwave. When the wings are cooked, use a pastry brush to coat them on both sides with the hot sauce.

Keep the wings in the warming oven at 250°F until ready to serve.

SASKATOON HOME SUMMER 2022 | 39

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OASIS ON ADELAIDE nc h E n A

To walk through the arbour gate into Sandra and Al Ritchie’s backyard on Adelaide Street East is like stepping through a magic doorway that leads to something completely unexpected.

anting Garden

A charming, lush landscape replete with everchanging colour awaits.

Goldfish glide beneath the water under lily pads in the rock pond. Nuthatches and chickadees flit through the shrubs. Every glance reveals

BY: KARIN MELBERG SCHWIER PHOTOS: LILLIAN LANE

another hidden treasure.

This is no stiff and starched, over-manicured plot; this lovingly tended garden with just a hint of topsy-turvy is a perfect sanctuary for both solitude and fellowship.

The Journey Al, a public elementary school teacher, and Sandra, a student affairs administrator at the University of Saskatchewan, are both retired now. They met during a community theatre

SASKATOON HOME SUMMER 2022 |

41

The creation of the goldfish pond may have produced an aching back, but it is a stunning focal point beside the deck.

felt they were “old enough to take out a mortgage” and looked for a home they could make their own, and make it accessible and easy to manage as they aged.

“We wanted a place where we could live comfortably until they take us to the graveyard,” insists Al. In 1981, the Ritchies purchased the 1961-built home in Nutana Park. Over the course of forty years, the exterior and interior of the house have been renovated, and the front yard altered. But it’s the backyard transformation that literally stops people in their tracks.

The lot originally featured a side driveway, plenty of gravel, an old clothes tree, a dilapidated shed, cottonwood and mountain ash trees that dropped annoying detritus; all in all, an uninspiring landscape.

All that changed.

The Oasis

production of The Wizard of Oz in 1978—they both were in the chorus. Along with three other six-foot basses, Al shuffled about with shoes attached to his knees so he’d be the proper height for a falsetto Munchkin mayor.

During a pause in rehearsal, he whispered a request to the pianist and asked Sandra to waltz with him across the TCU Place stage. That threequarter time soon became full time. They “married late”—he in his 40s, she in her 30s—a year later. They

42 | SUMMER 2022 SASKATOON HOME

It’s been, perhaps, a rags to Ritchies story. “Oasis. It’s the one word we hear most often. We have different small groups of good friends who come for dinner parties, and they find it so welcoming and peaceful,” says Sandra. “But it is the reaction from people who just happen upon the backyard that reminds us how special it is.”

Not long ago, a pizza delivery person arrived, and stepped through the magical gate. He just stood still and stared. “He kept saying he couldn’t believe how pretty it was, how unexpected,” Sandra laughs. “He asked if he could take pictures.”

Al was a bit more practical about the young man’s reaction. “Good thing he stopped because it gave

him a second to notice there was a step. Had he missed that, I had visions of the pizza sailing across the deck straight into the pond.”

Literary and Familial Connections Most of the items in and about the garden were “inspired by things we’ve read or are artifacts from family,” explains Sandra.

The metal rooster who lords it over the garden up on the hose stand is called Charlemagne after the infamous cock-a-doodler in Peter Mayle’s A Year in Provence. The Garden Architecture cement rabbits remind Al of Watership Down and are a nod to the alarmingly reproductive local jackrabbits who “roar down the middle of the street like Alice in Wonderland ’s March

Hare.” The little maiden was a statue that once resided in Sandra’s parents' garden. Some favourites have returned themselves to the soil. A long since disintegrated flower box was made from her father’s hand-hewn sawhorses. Also dust-to-dust are pieces of driftwood and a huge hunk of a wooden dock piling the couple dragged home from a beachcombing expedition in Victoria years ago.

Fanciful Hardscapes It was in the pages of Saskatoon HOME magazine where Sandra found a solution to the barren garage wall off the deck and pond.

It seemed a blank canvas in need of an artistic touch.

Remnant Steel created a triptych called ‘A Thousand Wishes.’ It adds an

Scattered throughout their backyard, the Ritchies have meaningful items that add character and whimsy.

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This metal art―titled A Thousand Wishes―creates a focal point for one of many seating areas in the yard.

interesting visual element year around.

The company also offered a practical yet aesthetically pleasing solution to a gas meter problem. Meters are never attractive and Al built a long buffet counter over theirs for dinner parties and their own al fresco dining and happy hours. A problem was soon evident.

“SaskEnergy told us we couldn’t have any ‘permanent’ structure over the meter. So it had to be torn apart,” Al explains. “Remnant Steel to the rescue. We talked to them about doing three panels that detach. They have a number of designs and can build them to fit any size you need. So we still have the useful buffet top with the wood and tile surface.

The meter is accessible so everyone is happy. And it ties in nicely with the garage wall steel artwork.”

On Golden Pond

This elegant buffet cleverly and artfully disguises a gas meter that needs to remain accessible.

44 | SUMMER 2022 SASKATOON HOME

As befits any true oasis, the water source is the main feature. The rock pond went through a few iterations before Al was satisfied. The final more natural version meant collecting, with permission, very large rocks from farmers’ fields. As a teacher, his project-filled summers included taking Sandra to and from work at the University. “One morning I left and it was just a big hole in the ground. When I got home, it was this beautiful rock-encircled pond and waterfall.” Happy with the result, Al does admit “it’s why I have a bad back now.”

Over the years, fellow pond enthusiasts in the Prairie Water Gardening Society had many meetings and barbeques here.

On the fence now that the kids have moved out?

C ossmount is a safe, pet-friendly 55+ aging-in-place community located just 5 kms south of Saskatoon on Lorne Avenue (Highway 219). r

400 acres of natural prairies provide a stunning setting and on-site in-home health services are available. Unique amenities such as apple and pear orchards, an on-site working cidery, coffee shop and prairie market, natural pond and winter skating surface, cross country ski and snowshoe trails, greenhouse and resident-run community gardens, walking trails, residents' library and programs mean you can stay as busy as you choose while our independent homes also offer a safe place to spend time on your own.

Six designs of independent homes are currently available. Not only do we make it easy to move to Crossmount, we make living here easy since we take care of snow removal, landscaping and maintenance of the homes inside and outside.

For more information about our independent homes or to schedule a personal tour, please email hheimann@crossmountvillage.ca or phone 306-374-9890

www.crossmount.ca

HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW? It’s been a 40-year evolution. Al and Sandra have planted, dug, torn out, replanted, relocated, and experimented to the point where all the flora and fauna in their back, side and front yard contentedly flourish. Vibrant all-weather deck furniture upholstery in “circus tent” colours mirrors many blossom hues.

Perennials: tall grasses, a variety of hostas, giant red poppies, pink

clematis, dwarf spirea bushes (lime greens and pinkish), Barberry bushes, iridescent blue delphiniums, deep red Dianthus, reddish pink achillea, various lilies (yellow, deep burgundy, purple and cream), golden day lilies, fushia-coloured rose, deep pink phlox, Johnny Jump-ups, red and yellow sedum, creamy artemisia around the pond, pyramid cedars and blue junipers, thick Virginia creeper on the fence turns a glorious burgundy just before frost.

Annuals: a variety of spreading super petunias, coleus, impatiens,

scented sweet peas, portulaca, nasturtiums (the blossoms go in salads and dress up dinner plates or float in margaritas with Johnny Jump-ups), fragrant alyssum, mixed marigolds, bronze, gold and orange gazinias, various mixed stuff in hanging pots.

Herbs: some in ground, some in pots include basil, chives, thyme,

lemon thyme, golden oregano, Greek oregano, curly parsley, Italian parsley, rosemary.

46 | SUMMER 2022 SASKATOON HOME

The pandemic put the kibosh on most gatherings. “We do deck dinners now that we, our family and friends are vaccinated, but we still keep entertaining to a small group,” Sandra says. “We’ve got it down to the same menu because everyone likes Al’s homemade Caesar salad, baked potatoes, steak filets on the barbecue and lovely wines. It’s the perfect setting and often we stay until after dark when the solar garden lights come on. We sit around the firetable and share lots of fun and laughter. It’s our real ode to joy.”

Al’s favourite vantage point is one preferably in the shade with a good book where he can view the whole yard. Even so, some hidden nooks and crannies have to be explored in person.

Sandra’s favourite spot has more to do with timing.

“We’ve created a space where no matter what season or what time of day, there is something to see, different colours and textures in the flowers and shrubs,” says Sandra. “I still get up at 6 o’clock and brew my one cup of McQuarrie’s extra strong organic fair trade coffee. I put my housecoat on, go out and pull one of the comfy chairs up to the edge of the pond. I talk to the fish and get into my best Zen space to set me up for the rest of the day. The garden is so quiet and peaceful for us, yet it transforms into a welcoming oasis for family and friends, too.”

Karin Melberg Schwier

now Starting to meet and plan for Summer time ConStruCtion

ndly Neighbourho e i r F r od You Landscaper

Landscaper

Serving Cit y and Country

After

Before

Swim Spa Sport Court

Specializing in Extreme Yard Transformations Contact Jonathan today to discuss your desires!

306-291-9504 www.ahlstedts.ca

Full Yard Development / Landscape Design / Water Features Decks and Fences / Putting Greens and Artificial Turf Lighting / Sport Courts / Driveways, Pathways and Patio