Ultimate Block Party

What a beautiful afternoon for all the families that made their way down to Old Fort York in Toronto on Sunday! It was an extra special show for me 'cause my twin brother Doug joined me on stage with Steve Fruitman as well. The sound was great!!

Check out www.andrewqueen.ca for loads more fun and PLEASE make sure you visit me on Facebook sometime!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Andrew-Queen/181666579014

Get Growing!

"I'll help you pick the green beans, and even shell the peas,
but please don't put them on my plate, I just want mac and cheese!"

I love this time of year! The air smells so earthy, plants are peeking up from the ground, and I start planning my “best kitchen garden ever.” Each year it gets a little bigger and I learn what works/doesn’t work in my soil. The kids absolutely love to plant and harvest, and we have great farmer friends to lean on for advice and support. Lewis stills talks about his afternoon of “putting carrots into sand” in the fall at Porcupine Creek Farm. Last year I planted asparagus for the first time and several rows of garlic; I can’t wait to see how they do!

A few years ago, I read The Omnivore’s Dilemma, and there was no turning back. I can no longer buy meat from the grocery store, and I am absolutely torn and perplexed every time I go shopping for food in our small town, particularly in the winter. We are committed to buying local food whenever possible, but I’m afraid convenience still sways me towards other food choices. I try to limit my grocery tour to the outer perimeter of the store, but somehow or another, a box of chicken fingers, or granola bars, will sneak its way into my cart.

Part of my dilemma is that our eldest child, Ivan, is an extremely picky eater who will only eat a total of five different fruits and vegetables. He has been raised on macaroni and cheese and is very reluctant to try new foods. I hope that he will absorb some healthy eating habits by osmosis—being part of the growing process, visiting farms and markets, and watching the rest of his family eating and enjoying our greens. Our younger son, Lewis, is quite the opposite and will pretend to be a dinosaur eating a dozen broccoli "trees" or gobble down a pint of berries in twenty minutes.

Real life inspires music, and we invite you to check out a live version of our new song, Good Things Grow. We hope it inspires you to think about the small things you can do in your life to make a difference. We’re nowhere near where we’d like to be in terms of becoming locavores, but we're trying, and each year we change a few habits that improve our family's health and support our local food economy.

We would love to hear about your food journeys and what you're doing to Get Growing!—whether it's planting a garden, visiting farmers’ markets, making jam, tapping your own trees... Please leave your comments or send your stories and photos to andrewqueenistootall@gmail.com . We might use your photo in a video or on a website to share ideas and experiences about food.

A couple of great links to share:

FoodShare Toronto—they have ongoing events and great curriculum in their Field to Table program that is free to use.

100-Mile Diet—check out their Why Eat Local? and find out what your 100 miles looks like with their 100-Mile Mapping Tool.

Small Pond Arts—A community-based arts centre/farm near Picton--they are planning a really cool event, "an artistic exploration of our twisted relationship with food" or "Cornography," on July 24th.

Happy Spring and grow gently,

Karen

I Love Winter!

We love winter at our house! Please enjoy this video of friends and family taking in all the joys of the season in our backyard--every year we celebrate the family traditions of building a "sled run" into the woods and shovelling off the pond for skating.

The music in the video is an instrumental version of "I Love Boating" followed by "Rippling Waters"--both are available on my CD Too Tall. You can download "I Love Boating" for free at the Smartboater website, hosted by the Canadian Safe Boating Council.

I'd love to hear about what other people are doing to have fun this winter--please send your stories to andrewqueenistootall@gmail.com

Happy Winter!

Too Tall

Our Family's "Playlist"

People often say that our kids are so lucky to have such a musical dad. Truth be told, Ivan (7) and Lewis (4) often say, “Daddy, can you please stop singing that?” They are extremely musical kids and definitely dictate the majority of music choices in our car, as well as when and where Andrew can rehearse. I’d love to share our family’s top picks for music from some really great "kindie" artists. And as a wife/manager of a family act, I can honestly say that all these folks are extremely hard-working, put a lot of effort into their performances, and really love to make great music for kids/everybody (because they're definitely not doing it for the $$$!).

1. Jon Samson/Cocreative Music—like no kids’ music you’ve heard before, totally fresh and groovy, with a Jeff Buckley-ish voice that makes me swoon… Check out “Nothing Rhymes with Orange” and “The Conductor.”
   
2. Charlie Hope—has one of the loveliest/sweetest/ear-pleasin’ voices around… Check out “Train Song” and “I’m Me.”
3. Ratboy Jr.—just plain likeable and fun--makes me nostalgic for the skateboarding friends from high school… “Never-Melting Snowman” and “Dirt” are family faves.
   
4. The Monkey Bunch—they are up for a Juno next month for “Power to the Little People”—the album is an eccentric/eclectic/electric experience from start to finish--highly recommended! We love “Don’t Let Your Cars Idle” and “Poopie Diaper.”
   
5. The Funky Mamas—same kind of genre as Andrew’s music, folky/bluegrassy feel with great harmonies, friendliness and joy. They are in the midst of recording their third album—check out “Alligator Romp” and “”Go Bananas!”

Hope you love these bands as much as we do, and help support these artists by going to their shows and buying their CDs! And get your kids listening to great music!

~Karen

p.s. Andrew will start recording his third album in March! It's all about food and chock full of originals!

Too Tall wins Children's Album of the Year!

It was such a great experience to be in Winnipeg last November for the Canadian Folk Music Awards. Here I am pictured with Kathy Reid-Naiman, fellow nominee in the Kids' Category. What a night! Thanks so much to all the talented friends and family who contributed to the album, and a special thanks to Nik Tjelios for his fantastic ear!