Year of the Pulse

There has been a lot of talk about this being the UN's Year of Pulses. I first learned that in November when I heard Vandana Shiva speak in Toronto. It is fantastic that there has been so much buzz about pulses. And it is only February. It seems a bit of a shame that last year's honouree, Year of Soils, seemed to pass without much discussion. Soil, like air and water, is necessary for all life on earth. And our soils are under great pressure agriculturally.

But back to the celebration of pulses. They are members of the legume family and, as such, fix nitrogen in the soil. This is their great contribution to the health of soil in a sustainable agriculture model making them an essential component of crop rotation.

Pulses are the dried seed of a pod and include dried beans, dried peas, lentils and chickpeas. Canada has a big role to play as one of the world's biggest producers of pulses and the largest exporter of lentils.  The largest market for our lentils and peas is India, also one of the biggest producers of pulses. Other heavy hitting producers are Pakistan, the US, Australia and Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.

Various lentils including the French delicacy, De Puy lentils
 

Heirloom beans I grow including Blue Jay, Orca, Jacob's Cattle, Carmina  and  Vermont Cranberry

And more heirloom beans; Black Valentine, Cannellini and another I've lost track of which I call Brown Mottled.

In addition to their important role as nitrogen fixers in the soil, pulses are a powerhouse of nutrients. At a time when feeding the world's exploding population is an ongoing concern, they have an important contribution to make. Pulses are high in protein and fibre, low in fat and also contain zinc, iron and phosphorus with traces of folate and B vitamins. As food from plants they also contain phytochemicals. Phytochemicals are not essential for sustaining human life but the same properties that help protect the plant are thought to also protect us against some diseases. Pulses are also complex carbohydrates which are beneficial for slow absorption of nutrients and therefore good for slow release energy and low on the glycemic index.

Being such a food powerhouse, it is not surprising that pulses have been cultivated for millennia and that virtually every cuisine has at least a couple signature dishes made from pulses. When cooking pulses they all come dried and in some cases, also canned. If you have the time, dried versions are preferable to canned which will have added sodium. When reconstituting dried beans it is important not to add salt until the beans have completely absorbed the water and plumped up.

Some of these dishes include, from the Middle East and made using chickpeas

Hummus

Falafel

Baked beans are a classic from North America. The process of reconstituting dried beans includes low and slow cooking with water and often dried or dijon mustard and often maple syrup - a real pioneer dish.

Slow baked beans

From the British Isles comes split pea soup or pease porridge. Dried peas need less time to absorb the liquid and naturally become mushy. You can puree the soup or not according to the consistency you prefer.

Split pea soup

Italian minestrone soup contains beans and is never pureed.

Minestrone soup

India's many versions of Daal is made from lentils. Each region has its own characteristic spices.  Like split peas lentils tend to absorb liquid and reconstitute quickly, also breaking up on their own.

Daal

Off piste with Scylla

It is always an adventure cross country skiing from the back door of the farmhouse. With the first snow of the season there is just enough of the white stuff to cover most of the grass but not deep enough to make me sink to my knees with each step (no gliding in that much snow...) as I break through virgin snow.

I love skiing from the house. It is such a treat not to have to get in the car and so nice to have the companionship of Scylla, our Australian shepherd. But it is probably not everyone's cup of tea.

For bona fide skiers conditions are probably less than ideal. First of all there is the need to break a trail. And then there are the fences to be crossed between the fields which lie between our house and the entrance to the woods.

The split cedar rail fence at the end of our field.

The next fence has the added challenge of two heights of barbed wire in addition to the spit cedar rails which have mostly collapsed

Entering the woods is easy for Scylla but I have to do the limbo to get underneath the wire fence.

Once in the woods there are further obstacles, all of which need to be circumvented; branches and other trash on the path, the occasional fallen tree, pools which have not yet frozen in low-lying spots and barely exposed stones which would be quite unfortunate to hit on a nice downward slope when one was enjoying a bit of well-earned speed (having herringboned up the hill to get to the top).

A fallen tree lying across the trail

Protruding branches and barely covered rocks

Here we need to make a big detour to avoid the open water in the lowest part of the trail

A rock not quite covered by snow

In the woods it is clear that the snow may be new for us but many have gone before - there are tracks of deer, rabbits, small rodents to name a few.

I love the way the animals, especially the larger ones like deer often prefer the trail to forging a path through the woods

Deer footprint

Here our paths diverge - I to the left, the deer to the right

I will never be a skilled and elegant skier, skimming along the snow with style and grace. The challenges of this trail with its daunting steep hills are much more suited to my rough and ready "never say die" enthusiasm.

It is difficult to capture but this hill is short and steep followed by an equally daunting ascent . At least there's no open water at the bottom...

All those tracks make a ski much more stimulating for Scylla than a walk along the road or through the park in the city. But she is also all about playing the angles. As we head out she will never go first - no breaking trail for her. Whenever I stop to turn around and see if she is following she freezes and stalwartly also looks behind - another scout on the lookout for any danger sneaking up from behind.

Having decided to go back Scylla is happy to lead the way

Once we are ready to turn around and head back she is very happy to take the lead. The snow is easier for her to navigate now that it is nicely packed under my ski trail.

The fences provide a challenge for Scylla too. But of a different nature. Instead of scrambling over them she needs to find an opening to squeeze her considerable girth through.

Scylla squeezes through a gap in the fence

Now that we're back in the warmth of the house, having eaten lunch, it is time for a well-deserved lie-down on the red couch.

At home at last