Tag Archives: Sarilia Lifestyle

The cows come home to Sarilia

November 22, 2017 Julie Barnes Leave a comment

Michael Pollan, a food writer and journalist, only eats meat about once a week. When he does eat it, he’s careful to purchase it from farmers who raise their animals humanely. “But it’s delicious, it’s nutritious and I think there is a place for farms where animals get to live a good life and, as the farmers like to say, have one bad day,” he says.

Sarilia is home to several cows. They graze freely among 120 acres of natural grasslands and drink from a natural spring. Overall, they have a great life, and when the time comes, they too have just “one bad day.”

The cows are co-owned between three Sarilia residents: Jordan, Joe and Gwen. We recently chatted with Jordan, to learn what it’s like to raise cattle in our river valley community.

How did you get involved in cattle raising?

I was born and raised on a cattle/grain farm. I’ve always enjoyed the cow side of farming so it was kind of nice to have a little bit of agriculture at Sarilia.

How would you describe the pasture to someone who hasn’t seen it?

It’s really quite pretty down in the coulees and the natural spring that runs through. It’s really a great place for a picnic actually. It’s just peaceful. I take my boys out and they feed the cows. It’s just kind of nice. There’s no cell service so it’s quiet.

What kinds of cows have you been raising at Sarilia?

This year we had four black heifers and two black angus cows, one speckled park cross cow and one Charolais cross cow. We also had a bull, temporarily, that we borrowed from a friend.

How old are your boys and what do they feed the cows?

Jaxon is five and Nash is one. We take oats to them once and awhile. They like to do that. I wish they were a little more scared of the cows (laughs), but they like it.

What do the cows eat?

It’s just natural grasses, and a block of salt for them. I give them oats probably once every two weeks. Just to get them used to (people) coming up and keeping them calm.

Do you name the cows?

Jaxon likes to name them. The black and white cow (the speckled park) he calls “Chocolate Chip.” We actually had three calves out there this year so he called one calf “Joey” and the other one “Georgie.” We wanted to name it George, but it’s a girl so we named it Georgie. Gwen named our red cow “Emily.”

What is it like to co-own the cows with two other Sarilia residents?

It’s a lot of fun. We’re all partners. It works out really well. That way, if something happens to one animal, someone’s not out a whole animal, we’re all out a little bit. But that hasn’t happened. I’ve gotten to know Joe and Gwen really well through it.

What do you end up doing with the meat?

We make roasts, steak, ground beef and sausage. Joe likes liver so he takes the liver.

What have been the benefits of raising the cows here?

It’s good camaraderie with your neighbours. It’s good bonding with my boys, to take them out. It’s fun to watch the cows grow and how they really get used to you and learn to trust you. I really enjoyed checking on them in the summer and taking them oats. Just kind of watching their progress.

It’s probably nice to know where your food is coming from.

Exactly. And we know they range free all summer and they’re grass fed, so the meat is pretty lean. It’s nice to have control over your food.

What are your plans for next year?

We’re going to do a few fundraiser cows, with all the proceeds going back into Sarilia—whether it’s boardwalks or building warm up shacks for ice rinks down on the river.

Dogs of Sarilia

July 7, 2017 Julie Barnes Leave a comment

We have our fair share of four-legged friends here at Sarilia. In fact, many of our residents say that the dog-friendly nature of the river valley is one of the reasons they chose to move here. Whether it’s a walk along the beautiful trails, a stroll on the beach in summer, or playing fetch amongst our wide open green spaces, there are plenty of fun activities for dogs and humans alike in our community. Here are just a few of the adorable pups who call Sarilia home.

Names: Tucker and Peaches
Ages: 13 years old
Owners: Amber & Matt (Responses from Amber)

How long have you had Tucker and Peaches?

We’ve had them since they were puppies. We adopted them from the U of S College of Veterinary Medicine.

What are some of their likes and dislikes?

They like food, sleep, and getting into trouble. When they were younger they use to live to escape the backyard and run all over the neighbourhood, but now they’re a bit old for those types of adventures. They both hate the water and getting their nails trimmed.

Do you have any funny stories about them?

When they were younger they got out of our backyard in Saskatoon early one morning, so I called my mom to come and help me search for them. On her way over, she called me from her cell and told me she knew where they were. People were calling in to the radio station to report two little beagles running around the intersection at Avenue H and 22nd! Thankfully they were safe and I went and got them. When I got to work I was trying to explain to my boss why I was late and it turned out she had heard the calls to the radio as well and assumed it was them because they had been escaping so often.

What activities you do with your dogs?

Runs on the beach, walks on the trails, socializing with other Sarilia dogs, etcetera. Unfortunately, the beagles don’t have as much pep in their step as they used to, so we usually don’t stray too far from home. They do love short walks though and every so often we’ll take them down to the river trails. They are 100% calmer since we moved out to Sarilia from the city. They used to be very anxious would constantly bark and howl at every noise, now they hardly make a peep. They love the quiet and serenity!

Names: Mr. Brooks and Halle
Owners: Georgie & Jared (response from Georgie)

Tell us about your dogs.

Mr. Brooks is a brindle English bulldog. He is now 7 years old and taking up sleeping as a full-time job. He loves taking in the views from our deck and sleeping all over the house! He is very social and not shy about being overweight. He likes to cuddle right up to you—all 70 lbs of him! 😳

Halle is our 11-month-old hanging tree cowdog. She is conveniently name Halle because we adopted her on Halloween. She is a bundle of puppy energy and loves our home and everything it has to offer. She is an avid hiker on the trails and also loves the pasture when we go out to the horses. She is very eager to please and gets very down on herself when she messes up. She loves her buddy Mr. Brooks, but when he is sleeping she plays with our cat Lump.

Names: Teebo (9-year old shih tzu lhasa apso) & Tuskie (9-year-old pug)
Owners: Linda & Mel (response from Linda)

Tell us about your dogs.

Teebo and Tuskie love walks and relaxing with us. They are our babies and they are both spoiled way too much! They enjoy going to the beach and playing in the water. Teebo just puts her paws in, but Tuskie walks right in up to his belly.

Teebo added her own perspective:

“I like squirrels and have been trying to make friends with the ones in our yard for the four years we’ve lived here, but they are still scared of me. My best pal Tuskie is the same age as me but way bigger. He’s a pug and mommy and daddy got him when he was 14 weeks old—just a few weeks after they got me—so we’ve grown up together and are besties.”

Q&A with two of Sarilia’s community gardeners

May 9, 2017 Julie Barnes Leave a comment

We love seeing all the signs of spring at Sarilia. The robins are out; the crocuses are blooming, creating beautiful patches of purple; and most importantly, the sunshine is drawing everyone out of their houses. Our residents are revelling in the warm weather with sunset drinks on their patios, walks along the river trails, and even stand-up paddle-boarding.

One of the most popular outdoor spring activities here is gardening, and our community garden seems to gain more green thumbs (from experienced to aspiring) every year. We recently chatted with two of Sarilia’s community gardeners, Kathleen and Dennis, to learn about what they’re planning to grow this year, what they’ll make with their fresh produce, and what they like best about gardening as a community.

How long have you been a gardener, and how long have you gardened in Sarilia’s community garden?

Kathleen: Growing up, I helped on the farm with gardening. It was just part of our job to help. I’ve gardened all my life, on and off, depending on where I was living. When I was living in apartments I wasn’t, but otherwise, if I’ve got a house and a yard, I garden.

I’ve gardened at Sarilia since 2012. I didn’t garden in the community garden last year, but I gardened in my yard. However, I found that I couldn’t grow what I wanted on my patio, so I’m going to go back to the community garden this year.

Dennis: I’ve been gardening since I was a child of about eight years old. I’ve gardened at Sarilia’s community garden for three years.

Kathleen & Gwen in the community garden

What are you planning to grow in Sarilia’s community garden this year?

Kathleen: I’m going to grow all the things I need for salsa. And then potatoes, peas, beans, some squash, some other root vegetables, lettuce and that sort of thing. I’ll also grow some flowers for the bees, and marigolds to keep pests away.

Dennis: Potatoes, beets, carrots, Roma tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, white onions, yellow onions, multiplier onions, dill, Swiss chard, yellow beans, green beans, cabbage, garlic, zucchini and some herbs.

What do you make with the food you grow?

Kathleen: I make salsa every year and the veggies and lettuce I eat fresh. Everything else I freeze. Potatoes and Spanish onions I usually keep in the garage where it’s cool and they last well into the spring. I really like having lots of fresh organic stuff on hand.

Dennis: I eat the fresh produce, can pickles, freeze beets and make salsa.

What’s your favourite thing to grow in the garden?

Kathleen: Probably tomatoes because it doesn’t matter how nice they are in the store; you just can’t get a tomato that tastes like a tomato if you buy it. So that would be probably my most favourite. It actually tastes like a tomato when you grow it.

Dennis: Cucumbers, beets and onions.

What have been the benefits of community gardening for you, versus gardening in your own yard?

Kathleen: Absolutely the social aspect. Getting out to see your friends and neighbours. Getting tips and tricks from people. It’s nice to be up there alone, in the quiet, and it’s also nice to be up there and be able to take a break and have somebody to chat with.

It creates a sense of community and I think that’s important. Anything that you can do in a community to create that sense of community is always a win-win.

Dennis: Joint tilling, friendship and sharing produce. It provides time to share different planting techniques and the outcome of the harvest.

The fruits of Dennis’ labour: cucumber

Red onion

Zucchini

Q&A with our new neighbours – Kayla & Chris

February 27, 2017 Julie Barnes Leave a comment

Kayla and Chris, along with their daughter, Wren, and their English Mastiff, Gus, are some of our newest neighbours at Sarilia. Hailing from southwest Saskatchewan, they met in high school, were married in 2013, and baby Wren was born last May. We chatted with the busy couple to learn a little bit more about them, and how they’re planning to enjoy spring in the river valley.

What do you both do for a living?
Kayla is a social worker and Chris is a journeyman instrument technician.

How did you first hear about Sarilia?
We Googled “river lots,” and one popped up for sale on Kijiji, so we went for a drive and got the contact information for the developer (Gwen Lepage) while we were out there.

What made you decide to move to Sarilia?
We had talked about getting a cabin and were getting tired of being in the city, so Chris brought up building something on the river to live in full-time and we both felt it would be a great fit for us.

What company did you choose to build your house, and what was the experience like?
We went with D.W. Elash Enterprises, a small company out of Martensville. We had a great experience with our builder. Alanna was very agreeable to work with and she made sure we got what we wanted.

What are you most excited for about spring at Sarilia?
We are looking forward to having our first garden in the community plots!

What do you like to do in your spare time?
There’s not much spare time anymore with a little one running around, but we love to go for walks along the river and are really looking forward to enjoying the beach this summer.

Has moving to Sarilia changed your day-to-day lifestyle at all?
We are definitely more content just being at home and looking out at the amazing views. We never want to go into the city!

Is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
We are looking forward to getting to know our neighbours once everyone is outside a little more with the warmer weather.

Q&A with Annette: How does your (community) garden grow?

October 3, 2016 Julie Barnes Leave a comment

Sarilia’s community garden is a favourite spot for many residents to socialize, tend to their flowers, veggies and fruits, and learn from one another. We sat down with Sarilia resident, Annette Horvath, to learn what she—and others—grew this year, what flourished, what didn’t, and what she’s learned from her fellow green thumbs.

What did you plant in the community garden this year?
I planted lots of flowers—mostly zinnias—and lots of vegetables too: lots of carrots because they can keep for a long time, peas, potatoes, beans, corn, onions, garlic, the usual.

Garlic and dill in the community garden

Garlic is always such a nice treat in the garden because it keeps for a long time. It takes a little longer to grow. You plant it the season before (at the end of the season) so it’s always amazing to see what comes out and it’s so much better to have fresh garlic from your garden than buying it from the store. The texture is so creamy and the flavour is so much better.

When you have a vegetable soup from your garden, it’s just amazing how much flavour is in the vegetables—it’s so good. I also planted a whole row of beets. We had a few issues with some chipmunks—they are really fat in our garden because we feed them very well. They stole all my beets! (laughs) Just mine. Other people didn’t have problems with that.

A well-fed Sarilia chipmunk

Raspberries were a big thing. My raspberries did very well this year because of the rain. It was really nice to have fruit in the garden. Pretty much everything did quite well. Everybody had a good harvest of peas, beans, carrots, onions, beets, and all the things they planted.

One of our neighbours always plants sunflowers and they’re such a nice addition to the garden too. They’re just such a happy flower and they do so well.

Sunflowers in bloom in Sarilia’s community garden

What are some of the benefits of community gardening?
One of the benefits is that a lot of sharing takes place. One of our neighbours had grown an abundant amount of kale. I didn’t know this, but when you pick kale, it grows back. You don’t pick it from the root, so it keeps on giving back, week after week. She had so much more than she could use, and luckily the chipmunks didn’t like the kale, so they stayed away. We tried making so many different things—like salads and kale chips, and I juiced a lot and now I’ve frozen it to use it for smoothies.

We also have some extra room in the garden that nobody has claimed yet, so we grow pumpkins and potatoes, and we share them with our neighbours if there’s extra. And of course zucchini. There’s always more zucchini than we need, but that’s kind of nice.

Have you learned any lessons from your neighbours who you garden alongside?
Always. You’re always learning, because nothing is ever the same. It’s always different from year to year and it’s so interesting to find out what other people are growing that’s working for them.

One of our neighbours plants a lot of garlic, tomatoes, and hot peppers. It’s always interesting to see the different coloured peppers in his garden—from green, orange, yellow, red and even a very dark aubergine colour. I imagine a lot of them are really hot. He’s even grown habaneros (not in our community garden, but at his house). So it’s like a salsa garden where you grow all the ingredients yourself to make an amazing tomato sauce or salsa.

My garden is such a small part of it because it’s such a community effort. I really like wandering through other people’s gardens and enjoying what they’re growing. The sharing of the harvest is always kind of special—when somebody says, “here, I grew this, you gotta try it.” Just seeing what they grow and thinking, “well, I can do that next year.”

Have you planted anything new this year that you’d never tried before?

Jerusalem artichoke potatoes

We planted Jerusalem artichoke potatoes, which we’ve never had before. It’s like a gourmet potato. They don’t look like a traditional potato plant. They grow into this beautiful, tall flower that looks similar to a sunflower, but they’re small flowers. They grow over six-feet tall. The idea is to harvest the tubers after the frost, so that they’re a little bit easier to digest. It must bring out the sugars in the tuber. We haven’t tried them yet, because we haven’t had very many frosts yet, but we’re going to try them soon. You can roast and cook them like a potato, so we’re looking forward to trying those.

Zinnias in bloom

I talked one of my neighbours into growing zinnias. She tried out different varieties than I did. They’re very hardy flowers and they’re beautiful. To me, they’re a little bit like a gerber daisy, but they have vibrant colours and come in different varieties. Some are really big, some are like pom-poms, and they flower all summer long—so that’s a really nice flower for the garden. And the bees really are attracted to them.

Do you have any favourite recipes for your garden veggies?
A lot of times, if I’m making a vegetable soup, I make it up as I go. I know some people really like recipes because they get consistency and they make the same thing over and over again, but a lot of the time I just clean up a whole bunch of vegetables, throw them in a pot, and see what comes out! For pumpkin pie I usually find a recipe, and I don’t normally use the same one all the time. I check my old church parish books—I’ve got a lot of of old ones—because those are tried and true.

One of Annette’s favourite pumpkin pie recipes

Sarilia’s new “garden park”

August 24, 2016 Julie Barnes Leave a comment

This summer, we added a mini playground next to our community garden. Its creation was a group effort by Sarilia residents and our families. I am very grateful to see so many people come together and offer their time and talent to improve our community.

In the past, the kids at Sarilia had to go to Langham if they wanted to visit a playground. Now, they can visit one just steps from home. Its proximity to the community garden means that parents can garden while their children play nearby. And it turns out the kids aren’t calling it a playground—they ask their parents: “Can we go to the garden park?”

Whenever I go to do some gardening, I check out the playground and love seeing all the tiny footprints in the sand. It makes me super happy that we’ve built something together as a community that puts smiles on our kids’ faces. It was time well spent and thank you again to everyone who helped out.

— Gwen

Construction day

Swing set installation

Playground & sandbox

Our favourite holiday recipes

December 17, 2015 Julie Barnes Leave a comment

At Sarilia, we love to get together over good food, and the holidays are no exception. We thought we’d share a few of our favourite holiday recipes to provide a bit of culinary inspiration.

Gwen’s favourites

Welsh Cakes, from Company’s Coming
“My family is Welsh and we have always been a big fan of anything that has currants, raisins, mixed peel and cheese. Welsh cakes with layered Camembert is one of our family’s favourite appetizers. I have been making it for over 20 years.”

2 cups all purpose flour
½ cup granulated sugar
2 tsp. Baking powder
½ tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
½ cup hard margarine or butter

½ cup currents
1/4 cup cut mixed peel, finely chopped

1 large egg – fork beaten
1/3 cup milk

Combine first 6 ingredients in large bowl. Cut in margarine until crumbly.

Stir in currents and peel.

Add egg and milk. Stir until dough forms a ball. Roll on lightly floured surface to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into 2 or 3 inch rounds. Heat frying pan on medium-low. Cook cakes, in batches, until both sides are browned. Pan should be lower temperature than for cooking pancakes. Serve cold. Makes 24-36 small cakes.

Serving tip: Accompany the Welsh Cakes with a soft cheese, like Brie or Camembert for easy spreading.

Bruschetta, from Company’s Coming
“I was having tea with my Pilates ladies last night and we were talking about Christmas and food. Kathleen said, ‘I just love your bruschetta recipe, so yummy!’ Sometimes, I serve it as an appetizer, sometimes, I eat it for dinner, and sometimes I have it on toast for breakfast because I ran out of baguette. Seriously, it is so delicious and easy to make!”

You can find the bruschetta recipe here.

Annette’s favourites

Dried Cranberry Sticky Toffee Puddings
“My favorite Christmas dessert is Sticky Toffee Pudding from Best of Bridge. I once had dinner at a fancy restaurant and the waiter kept going on about how awesome their chef’s sticky toffee pudding was and how the recipe was handed down to him from his Grandmother who brought the recipe to Canada from England. It was their most popular dessert and often they would have people order it for delivery all over Canada. I ordered it and, yes it was good. Then I went home and made this recipe and it was better. Sorry Grandma.”

You can find the Dried Cranberry Sticky Toffee Pudding recipe here.

Cracker Jack Popcorn, from Broma Bakery
“Another Christmas favorite is baked Cracker Jack popcorn. I’ve been making this at Christmas for more than 30 years.”

Find the Cracker Jack Popcorn recipe here.

Amber’s favourites

“For me, the holidays bring a lot of entertaining, so I always keep some “appetizer staples” around, which, for me, are cream cheese, crescent rolls, and cheese. You know, all that healthy stuff. Here are two festive apps that always do well at parties.”

Appetizer Wreath Recipe, from Taste of Home

You can find the appetizer wreath recipe here.

Apple Pecan Baked Brie, from Crazy for Crust

You can find the Apple Pecan Baked Brie recipe here.

Ronn’s favourite

Ronn’s favourite holiday recipe is for mulled wine.

You can find the mulled wine recipe here.

We’d love to hear about your favourite Christmas recipes too. Please share them with us in the comments!

See you on Spotify

October 7, 2015 Julie Barnes Leave a comment

This summer the White House joined Spotify when President Obama hand-picked 39 songs to create two playlists for both “day” and “night.” Named The President’s Summer Playlist, the collection of songs includes musicians such as Van Morrison, Ray Charles and Canada’s own Joni Mitchell.

Here at Sarilia, we were inspired to create our own Spotify playlist of songs we love and songs that remind us of home. It includes a few Canadian acts like The Deep Dark Woods and David Myles, and some favourites added by our residents.

We’ve made it a collaborative list because we’d like you to add your own favourites to it. Spotify is free, you just have to download it to your computer, or get the app on your smart phone or tablet. You can pay for an optional upgrade if you want to avoid hearing ads from time to time.

If you already have Spotify, simply search for “Sarilia’s Spotify Playlist” or click here . Have a listen, follow us, and add your favourite tunes!

Here’s a sneak peek of our playlist…

Checking in with our new neighbours

September 22, 2015 Julie Barnes Leave a comment

Matt and Amber moved into their new home at Sarilia last May. Now that they’ve had a chance to settle in, we thought we’d follow up with Amber to see how their lives have changed since moving here, and how they feel about life in the river valley. Our beautiful photos were taken at Sarilia by Julie Schappert Photography.

What makes life so different at Sarilia?
Number one is the sense of calm and peace that I feel being surrounded by nature. It may seem cliché, but moving out to the country has really transformed our lives. It seems like we take more time to sit and enjoy our surroundings and each other. Taking care of our home and the surrounding area has a little bit more pride and joy than it did in the city, probably because there are so many more possibilities with the space we have. There’s also the fact that when you’re home, you’re home. The distance may seem limiting to some, but I really enjoy the fact that when I’m here I’m not pulled to do some errand, I can just enjoy my home and my family without thinking that there’s some place else to be.

Were there any lessons learned during your home building process?
The main thing I learned was that it was helpful to have a clear vision of what we wanted our home to feel like, and then communicate that often. Our build was truly custom and we chose every single detail, but it’s good advice for whatever type of build you’re doing. Salespeople and sub-contractors are so much more helpful when you’re able to say, “my house is such-and-such style and we want it to feel ‘X’” (warm, quaint, modern, clean, rustic, etc.).

Also, I learned to stick to my guns and never be afraid to ask. As a woman making the vast majority of decisions I was lucky to have a very patient builder who would take the time to explain the process. I was able to make informed decisions and not back down when someone wanted to change my mind. Not everyone values the same things as you when they’re giving you advice about your home.

Aesthetics are important — so is functionality but I would remind myself that we are the ones who are living here so we had to prioritize what we wanted. A perfect example was the manufactured wood beams in our kitchen. They were an expensive custom touch and some people questioned me about them but I knew they would do so much to create that “feel” that we wanted. Now everyone remarks about how much they love them when they walk in!

What kinds of activities do you do at Sarilia?
I’ve been up at the community garden often, weeding a lot as I’m still learning the ropes! We walk the dogs and go down to the beach. We’ve also taken a couple of bike rides to explore the area. Matthew went on a canoe trip down the river to Petrofka Bridge with some other community members. I’m looking forward to getting back into a regular running schedule now that the busyness of the move and summer is winding down.

Day to day, we’ve been working on our deck and our yard which we both enjoy. Now we can eat dinner outside or just sit out and enjoy a glass of wine. I’ve found that my free time is a little more “quality.” We watch less TV, and spend more time outside.

What is it like to be part of the Sarilia community?
I’m so happy and excited to be part of this community. Summer is tough to get out and meet people as most people are busy or away on weekends, but recently we’ve had the chance to meet some of the families that live here at a community get-together and we had an amazing time! I’m so excited to get to know the other residents. Dinners with friends, bonfires on the beach, our kids growing up together…I’m so looking forward to this at Sarilia.

What do your family and friends say when they visit?
I feel like when our family and friends visit, they get it. They get why we decided to move to the country when we’ve always been city people. The other day my mom was sitting on our deck and she said, “it’s just like being at the lake,” which is a big deal because our cabin at the lake is definitely the family “happy place.” They’ve also remarked on the sense of privacy that our well-treed lot provides. We have the best of both worlds — we can be out mingling with our neighbours while at the garden or on a walk, but we also have our little nook in our backyard which means that we’re not bothering anyone when we have company over. The number one phrase I hear when we have company is, “it’s beautiful.” I have to say, I agree!

Birds of Sarilia

June 16, 2015 Julie Barnes Leave a comment

We love being surrounded by nature at Sarilia, and our diversity of feathered visitors is always a delight. Sarilia resident, Annette Horvath, took these gorgeous photos of blue birds, a swallow, a yellow-headed blackbird and a bald eagle recently. They’re so beautiful you’d think they’re stock photos, but they’re 100% original, taken right here in our river valley community. Thanks Annette!