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Over 75 Years of Experience
16 THE RURAL VOICE
which has a mild climate and
extensive irrigation system perfect
for the art of viticulture. Legend says
California's first raisin crop was
grown by nature, not farmers. A
massive heat wave hit the valley
before harvest in 1873 , and most of
the grapes dried on the vine before
farmers could pick them.
In 1876 Scottish immigrant
William Thompson grew a seedless
grape variety that was thin-skinned,
seedless, sweet and tasty. Today 95
percent of California raisins are made
from Thompson seedless grapes. In
the late 1800s. Armenians descended
from the first founders of vineyards
in Persia began settling in the San
Joaquin Valley. The area now
supplies raisins for nearly half the
world, making it the largest producer
anywhere.
Dried currants are actually
small raisins — the dried fruit
of the Zante grape, originally
from Corinth, Greece. Today, like the
raisin, California had become the
principal source of currants and other
dried fruits for all of the United
States and much of the world.
There's more chance getting the
nuts that are added to many
Christmas desserts from local
sources. According to Todd Leuty,
OMAFRA Agroforestry Specialist
there are currently about 3,000 acres
planted with nuts in Ontario. A long-
term study at the Simcoe research
station is looking at developing the
fledgling industry by evaluating
species and monitoring disease and
pest problems. From the performance
of sample trees, it is estimated that
Ontario farmers could earn $3,000
annually per acre by growing nut
species such as heart nut, sweet
chestnut, filberts, and English
walnuts.
If you're cooking up Christmas
delights, including Christmas
shortbreads, it's much easier to meet
the 100 -mile rule if you use good
old-fashioned butter rather than
modern cooking oils. Even then,
trying to find really local butter in
midwestern Ontario, once home to
dozens of local creameries, would be
a challenge. Gay Lea Food's
Teeswater plant advertises itself as
Ontario's Oldest Creamery but it
doesn't make butter any more. Gay