A lighthearted, self-deprecating account of one fledgling beekeeper’s misadventures. With wit and warning in equal measure, this informative, refreshingly honest narrative will resonate with any new beekeeper.
When Dave Doroghy’s sister gave him 15,000 honey bees as a Christmas gift, his practical knowledge of beekeeping would have fit on the proverbial backend of an Apis mellifera. He spent the next two years learning everything he needed to know to keep that beehive alive and well—he attended a beekeeping conference, joined a bee club, and even went to bee school. But bad things still happened—he sustained multiple stings, wasps attacked his hive, he fought an ongoing battle with killer varroa mites, and even lost his queen—twice!
In Show Me the Honey Doroghy recounts his often tension-filled misadventures in beekeeping with self-deprecating humour and lightheartedness. Whether it’s the impending chaos of transferring tens of thousands of insects to an outyard, the horror of discovering bees on the inside of his beekeeping suit, or just wondering if he will end up with even an ounce of honey for all his efforts, Doroghy shares the joy, the surprises, and the less-acknowledged financial sting of keeping bees. Above all, he relishes in the details of keeping a hive and getting to know the fascinating little creatures that inhabit those mysterious wooden boxes.
Dave Doroghy has worked in radio broadcasting and advertising, and has spent the last 30 years in sports marketing. He was the Vice President of the former NBA Vancouver Grizzlies and more recently the Director of Sponsorship Sales for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Dave now lives on a floating home just outside of the city, where he raises bees and blogs about it at houseboathoney.com. He is the co-author of 111 Places in Vancouver You Must Not Miss.
Rick Hansen is the Founder of the Rick Hansen Foundation and a passionate supporter of people with disabilities in Canada. He is best known as the “Man In Motion” for his epic 26-month, 34-country, 40,000-km wheelchair trip around the world to prove the potential of people with disabilities and raise funds for spinal cord injury research.
The story behind Alberta's craft beer boom. An insider’s look that brings together tasting notes, social history, politics, and science.
When Alberta eliminated its laws around mandatory minimum brewing capacity in 2013, the industry suddenly opened to the possibility of small-batch craft breweries. From roughly a dozen in operation before deregulation, there are now more than a hundred today, with new ones bubbling up each month. It’s an inspiring story, one that writer Scott Messenger tells in impressive scope.
At a time when Alberta was still recovering from the plunge in oil prices in 2008, deregulation represented a path to economic diversification. Messenger takes readers on the road with him to investigate artifacts left behind by Alberta brewers dating to the late-1800s, to farms responsible for the province’s unrivalled malt, and into the brewhouses and backstories of some of Canada’s best new beer makers. It’s an insider’s look at history in the making.
With humour, straight-talking tasting notes, and a willingness to challenge stereotypes, Messenger introduces us to key players in the industry. We meet Graham Sherman of Tool Shed Brewing, who helped spearhead the change in legislation; Greg Zeschuk, whose Belgian-inspired brewery is poised to put Alberta beer on the global map; the sisters behind Northern Girls Hopyard, Alberta’s first hop farm; and many more.
Messenger winds up his narrative with a good, old-fashioned pub crawl, a fitting finale for the story of an industry that is, at its heart, about having fun with friends. Bringing together social history, politics, and science, Tapping the West is engaging and balanced—not unlike the perfect you-know-what.
Scott Messenger’s blog One Year of Alberta Beer was featured on CBC radio, and led to a deeper examination of the steadily booming craft beer industry in Alberta. His writing on a variety of subjects has appeared in the Guardian, Eighteen Bridges, Canadian Geographic, Avenue and more. He lives in Edmonton with his wife and two daughters.
A robust and inspiring travel companion for both local and visiting food-lovers alike that reveals the stories, inspiration, and friendly faces of the people who craft great food in Saskatchewan.
From the province’s southern grain fields to its northern boreal forests, from its city markets to its small-town diners, Saskatchewan is the humble heartland of some of the nation’s most delicious food.
Author Jenn Sharp and photographer Richard Marjan spent four months travelling Saskatchewan, chatting at market stalls, in kitchens, bottling sheds, and stockrooms. Flat Out Delicious is the culmination of interviews with small-scale farmers and city gardeners, beekeepers and chocolatiers, ranchers, chefs, and winemakers. Together they tell the story of Saskatchewan’s unique food systems.
The journey is organized into seven regions (including a chapter each for restaurant hotbeds Regina and Saskatoon), with essays that delve deeper—into traditional Indigenous moose hunts, wild rice farming in the remote north, and berry picking in the south. There are profiles of over 150 artisans, along with detailed maps, travel tips, and stunning photography, making the book the ideal companion for a road trip that involves plenty of stopping to eat along the way.
You’ll meet a lettuce-grower who left a career in the city, and the small-town grad who worked his way up in the Saskatoon restaurant world; couples who are the first in their families to raise livestock, alongside new generations maintaining century-old operations. Whether you’re visiting for the first time or are Saskatchewan born and bred, prepare to be surprised by the abundance of personalities and culinary experiences to be found here in the land of living skies.
Jenn Sharp is a writer based in Saskatoon. She was a features writer, columnist, and editor at the Saskatoon StarPhoenix for five years. Today, her Flat Out Food column runs in the StarPhoenix and the Regina Leader-Post. She's a regular contributor to CBC Saskatchewan and Eat North. Her work has appeared in the Globe and Mail and numerous other Canadian publications.
Richard Marjan first picked up a camera when he was ten and has loved everything about taking pictures ever since. After thirty-five years as a photojournalist at the Saskatoon StarPhoenix, he's now retired and does occasional freelance photography. He's won several photography awards from the Canadian Press, and his work has appeared in Canadian Geographic, the New York Times, and the Globe and Mail.
The definitive guide to Interior BC wineries, covering the Okanagan, Similkameen, Thompson and Kootenays. With updated maps and travel tips, it’s your ultimate glove-box guide, now in a newly expanded and updated edition.
For nearly fifteen years Okanagan Wine Tour Guide has been the definitive companion for travelling the winding roads of BC’s Interior wine region. In this, the 6th edition, John Schreiner and his new co-author—wine writer, podcaster, and instructor Luke Whittall—chart the latest developments at the oldest wineries and the very first vintages from the newest startups in a region that stretches along Okanagan Lake, west to the Similkameen, north to the Thompson, and east to the Kootenays.
This edition includes 240 wineries (that’s over 40 openings in five years!), revised and updated maps, contact information, tasting room information, and recommendations. From pioneers like Quail’s Gate on Mount Boucherie to the newest arrivals like Cliff & Gorge in Lillooet, these stories are as varied as the personalities of the wines themselves—a few vines planted as a retirement project, a few acres purchased on a whim, or a gala grand opening underpinned by years of planning and consultation. What emerges across the guide is the sense of community and the room for wildly different philosophies on everything from growing to fermenting to naming.
Whether you’re paging through the aisles of the local liquor store, sorting your Viogniers from your Syrahs, or relishing a family vineyard’s journey from its Quonset-hut years to international acclaim, John Schreiner’s Okanagan Wine Tour is the ultimate guide to and celebration of Interior BC wine.
John Schreiner is the best-selling author of fifteen books, and Canada’s most respected and prolific wine writer. He is a celebrated member of both national and regional wine communities across Canada, and has judged in numerous wine competitions. He lives in North Vancouver.
Luke Whittall has worked in cellars, vineyards, and wine shops since 2005. He is a wine instructor at Okanagan College and the producer of "Wine Country BC," a podcast and blog. He has contributed articles to many wine-focused publications and websites, and is the author of Valleys of Wine: A Taste of British Columbia’s Wine History.
"As tasting rooms start to re-open through the Okanagan, this is an incredibly useful book to guide your way. It's an equally enjoyable window on a world that some of us might not be in a position to visit again for a while." —Christopher Waters, Globe and Mail
"Equally useful for those unable to travel to wine country but wanting winery information for future trips, or use it to order wine now, online."—Anthony Gismondi, Vancouver Sun
"No better guide." —Tony Aspler, The Wine Guy
All the most common questions about growing vegetables in the prairies are answered in this first installation of the new gardening series, Guides for the Prairie Gardener.
Too often people think of vegetable gardening in the prairies as challenging, but certified master gardeners Sheryl and Janet are here to show you how rewarding it can really be.
From planning to planting, they encourage you to take a hands-on approach with your prairie garden. They let you know when—and how!—to transplant your carefully nurtured seedlings in the spring, ways to shelter your plants from that inevitable July hailstorm, and how to determine how much irrigation is necessary in the arid prairie climate. They help you figure out if you should prune your tomatoes, how to hold up your pumpkins off the ground, and maximizing your harvest by planting in succession. And they show you how you can directly influence the quality of your produce, minimizing problems such as woody radishes, buttoning cauliflower, and split cabbage heads.
This Q&A-style resource covers all your most common questions about cultivation practices, preventing damage from frost, flood, and drought, harvest and storage, and they cover your questions about the veggies you love to grow:
Whether you’ve just acquired your first garden space, or you’ve been growing vegetables for decades, gardeners are always learning and experimenting, building on the wisdom gained on their own or from others. With Sheryl and Janet on your team you’re that much closer to achieving success in your prairie garden!
Janet Melrose is a garden educator and consultant, and an advocate for Calgary’s Sustainable Local Food System. She is a life-long gardener and holds a Prairie Horticulture Certificate. She has a passion for Horticultural Therapy and facilitates numerous programs designed to integrate people marginalized by various disabilities into the larger community. She is a regular contributor to The Gardener for Canadian Climates magazine. She lives in Calgary where she runs her education and consulting company, Calgary’s Cottage Gardener.
Sheryl Normandeau is a life-long gardener, and holds a Prairie Horticulture Certificate and a Sustainable Urban Agriculture Certificate. She is a freelance writer specializing in gardening writing with hundreds of articles published. She is a regular contributor to Farmers’ Almanac, Heirloom Gardener, Herb Quarterly, The Gardener for Canadian Climates, The Prairie Garden Annual and many more. She lives in Calgary.
Your guide to trouble-shooting weeds, pests, diseases, moulds, critters, and other common prairie gardener’s problems in this second title in the Guides for the Prairie Gardener series.
Whether you’re an experienced prairie gardener or have just a few weeks under your belt, chances are you’ve come to know at least a couple of pesky insects, moulds, or much larger lurkers on a first-name basis. But what to do about these interlopers who can seem hell-bent on ruining your hard work?
Lifelong gardeners Janet and Sheryl are here to help. In this second installment in the Guides for the Prairie Gardener series, the authors tackle the full range of suspects, including weeds, insects, microorganisms, rodents, birds, deer and even other people’s pets. Premised on a respect for the natural world and using an integrated pest management approach, they’ll show you how to identify the culprit and how to deter it, while respecting the broader environment.
Should I use landscape fabric? Does vinegar work? What do I do about tent caterpillars? Why are my potatoes scabby? Why does it look like my cabbages have been attacked by miniature buckshot? And the recurring What is this thing?! Janet and Sheryl take your most pressing questions in this Q&A-style resource on all the prairie gardener’s most common pests, including thistle, dandelion, crabgrass, slugs, aphids, beetles, moths, mildew, fungus, rust, deer, rabbits, and porcupines. With elegance and a sense of humour, their solutions reveal their fascination with the natural world and belief in your ability to garden well in its midst.
Janet Melrose is a garden educator and consultant, and an advocate for Calgary’s Sustainable Local Food System. She is a life-long gardener and holds a Prairie Horticulture Certificate. She has a passion for Horticultural Therapy and facilitates numerous programs designed to integrate people marginalized by various disabilities into the larger community. She is a regular contributor to The Gardener for Canadian Climates magazine. She lives in Calgary where she runs her education and consulting company, Calgary’s Cottage Gardener.
Sheryl Normandeau is a life-long gardener, and holds a Prairie Horticulture Certificate and a Sustainable Urban Agriculture Certificate. She is a freelance writer specializing in gardening writing with hundreds of articles published. She is a regular contributor to Farmers’ Almanac, Heirloom Gardener, Herb Quarterly, The Gardener for Canadian Climates, The Prairie Garden Annual and many more. She lives in Calgary.
“An intriguing mix of character, plot, time, and place. Highly recommended.” —Ian Hamilton, author of the bestselling Ava Lee novels
Lane and Darling's Arizona honeymoon is interrupted by gunshots in the newest instalment in a series Kirkus Reviews calls "relentlessly exciting."
It’s November, and Lane and Darling have escaped the chilly autumn in the Kootenays for a honeymoon at the posh and romantic Santa Cruz Inn in sunny Tucson, Arizona. But despite her very best intentions to relax, soon after their arrival Lane’s plans to spend the holiday poolside with a good mystery are interrupted by gunfire. One of the hotel’s wealthy guests has been shot point blank and Lane is second on the scene.
Though Lane and Darling attempt to distance themselves from the investigation, the longer they stay at the Santa Cruz Inn, the deeper they are drawn into a web of suspects and bystanders, and a collection of seemingly perfect marriages fraught with jealousy and violence. The situation threatens first their honeymoon and then their lives when Lane puts herself directly in the sights of local criminals who will stop at nothing to get what they want.
Back in Nelson, Sergeant Ames has been left in charge of the department during Darling’s absence. As he investigates a case of vandalism at the Van Eyck garage, it seems to lead directly to the death of the suspected vandal himself. Working with Constable Terrell, the new recruit, to piece together what happened in this strange and unsettling murder, Ames finds his romantic interest in mechanic Tina Van Eyck creates complications that are more than awkward; they could be deadly.
Fans of Maisie Dobbs and the Kopp sisters will delight in the latest Lane Winslow, a study of matrimony and mirage in the American Southwest.
Iona Whishaw is a former educator and social worker whose mother and grandfather were both spies during their respective wars. She lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, with her husband. Visit her at ionawhishaw.com.
Praise for the Lane Winslow Mysteries
Mouth-watering Indo–East African dishes that will become instant classics for home cooks.
A Spicy Touch is Noorbanu Nimji’s celebration of her North Indian Ismaili Muslim ancestry and the East African cuisine from her homeland in Kenya. Noorbanu collaborates with food writer and tour operator Karen Anderson to present more than 200 time-tested family favourites and new recipes.
With beautiful photographs, the book takes the home cook step by step through soups and snacks, samosa-wrapping, three chapters of main dishes (including Noorbanu’s famous Butter Chicken and Beef Nihari), a dedicated chapter on Indian tandoori grilling, vegetables, daal, Indian breads and rice dishes, chutneys and specialty Indian sweets. Learn how to make:
Many recipes are vegetarian and/or gluten-free and all original recipes have been re-tested and rewritten to reflect the increased availability of ingredients today. With an extended section on pantry items, and tips and techniques that can only come from a master, readers will feel the authors at their side while they prepare the 200+ recipes. Welcome Noorbanu into your kitchen and find out for yourself why she’s considered the expert in her field by people all over the world.
Noorbanu Nimji is an East African Ismaili Muslim with ancestral roots in Northern India. Her family moved to Canada in 1974. Soon after her arrival in Calgary, Noorbanu was asked to teach cooking to youth in the local Ismaili community. She taught for a decade before beginning to publish her recipes. She self-published three cookbooks prior to beginning the manuscript for A Spicy Touch, with sales of over 250,000 copies.
A unique and fascinating cookbook that examines the relationships between food, culture, and place in Alaska.
From fish and fiddleheads to salmonberries and Spam, Alaskan cuisine spans the two extremes of locally abundant wild foods and shelf-stable ingredients produced thousands of miles away. As immigration shapes Anchorage into one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the country, Alaska’s changing food culture continues to reflect the tension between self-reliance and longing for distant places or faraway homes. Alaska Native communities express their cultural resilience in gathering, processing, and sharing wild food; these seasonal food practices resonate with all Alaskans who come together to fish and stock their refrigerators in preparation for the long winter. In warm home kitchens and remote cafés, Alaskan food brings people together, creating community and excitement in canning salmon, slicing muktuk, and savoring fresh berry pies.
This collection features interviews, photographs, and recipes by James Beard Award–winning journalist and third-generation Alaskan Julia O’Malley. Touching on issues of subsistence, climate change, cultural mixing and remixing, innovation, interdependence, and community, The Whale and the Cupcake reveals how Alaskans connect with the land and each other through food.
Julia O’Malley is an Anchorage-based food journalist, writing teacher, and editor-at-large at the Anchorage Daily News. She was the Atwood Chair of Journalism at the University of Alaska Anchorage from 2015 to 2017. She has written about food, climate, and culture for the Guardian, Eater, National Geographic, High Country News, and the New York Times, among other publications. She won a 2018 James Beard Award in the foodways category.
Kim Severson is a Pulitzer Prize–winning food correspondent for the New York Times. Earlier she served as news and features editor and reporter at the Anchorage Daily News. A four-time James Beard Award recipient for food writing, she is the author of four books, including Spoon Fed: How Eight Cooks Saved My Life.