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Available episodes
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Jun 8, 2022
Up Schitt's Creek and a Walk in a Historic Garden
The Rundown
In this episode, I chat with Andrew Barnsley, an executive producer of the Canadian comedy Schitt’s Creek. We discuss how and why small-town Canada has found a place in the hearts of audiences around the world. Next up, is a walking tour of the historical kitchen garden of Dundurn Castle in Hamilton, Ontario. We learn about how two acres of produce sustained the family of Sir Allan Napier McNab a Premier of the United Canadas in the mid-1800s.
So huge gardens and small towns all in one episode.
By the way, if you want to read Harrowsmith Magazine instead of listen to it you can subscribe to the print version online at harrowsmithmag.com and you can find Harrowsmith Magazine on selected newsstands across Canada. But for now, settle in for the next half hour of Harrowsmith Radio.
Up Schitt’s Creek
The comedy series Schitt’s Creek is a sitcom phenom. Over its six seasons, the show, set in the fictional small Ontario town of Schitt’s Creek, hard by the bigger smaller town of Elmsdale, attracted a passionate international audience. Its final emotional and heart-felt season hit the streaming service just as COVID hit that audience hard. Andrew Barnsley, an executive producer on the show along with show creators Dan and Eugene Levy, says the epidemic of isolation is of the reasons for the show’s unparalleled success. But, he argues, there’s something about small towns like Schitt’s Creek that resonates with folks looking to reconnect with simple values, family, and the ties that bind. Even when the going gets tough. Here’s our conversation about a huge success and small towns.
A Walk in a Historic Garden
Victoria Bick is head gardener for the historic kitchen garden for the Dundurn Castle in Hamilton, Ontario. That means she carries on the work started by William Reid, the gardener there when Sir Allan Napier MacNab was Lord of the castle in the 1800s. Amazing, Bick is still growing the same varieties of flowers, vegetable,s and herbs Reid did. In Reid’s time that two acres of produce sustained the 18 residents of the castle. These days Bick keeps the garden thriving to sustain interest in the gardening heritage of centuries past. Here’s my conversation with Victoria as we strolled the pathways of a castle’s garden.
End Notes
Want more Harrowsmith? No problem. Visit our website. Or you can check out Harrowsmith Magazine on selected newsstands across Canada or you can order subscriptions online at harrowsmithmag.com.
By the way, the music in the podcast? It's by good ol' Canadian singer, composer, and friend of the 'cast, David Archibald. You can find more of his music at his website, davidarchibald.com.
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May 14, 2022
A Reborn Mill and the Sustainability of Birds
The Rundown
In this episode, we learn how COVID and a fortuitous canoe trip led to an affordable housing expert and an architect buying and giving fresh purpose to a 135-year-old grist mill in Paisley, Ontario. Next, how cities and citizens can make their communities more friendly for birds, and why that makes sense for urban sustainability. So birds and flours all in one episode.
By the way, if you want to read Harrowsmith Magazine instead of listen to it you can subscribe to the print version online at harrowsmithmag.com and you can find Harrowsmith Magazine on selected newsstands across Canada. But for now, settle in for the next half hour of Harrowsmith Radio.
The Reborn Grist Mill
When COVID hit, Graham and Emma Cubitt wanted to get outside and away from it all. For the affordable housing expert and architect, that meant an August 2020 canoeing on the Saugeen and Teeswater Rivers, just east of Lake Huron near the little town of Paisley, Ontario. That trip, in turn, led them to discover the old Stark mill, once a thriving flour then grist mill on the Teeswater River. The mill imported grain from across Canada and delivered flour around the world through a robust railway system and the port of Owen Sound to the north. In 2002 Paul and Helen Chrysler renovated parts of the mill and opened it as Nature’s Millworks, a beloved hub for artists, crafters, and tourists to Paisley. The Cubitt’s bought the mill 18 years later, after that canoe trip. Their plans for the five-storey mill and four-storey wooden silo are ambitious, as you’ll hear. And they intend to be good stewards of the 30-acres of wetland and two kilometers of Teeswater riverfront they now own. Here’s our conversation about a conversion that started with a canoe outing.
You can learn more about the Paisley Mill at https://paisleymill.ca
The Sustainability of City Birds
Barry Coombs is a visual artist, an avid bird, and the former co-chair of Bird Friendly Hamilton-Burlington. Barry’s been tirelessly working to make cities more sustainable for birds, which in turn contribute to urban biodiversity and sustainably. Here’s our conversation about the biggest threats cities pose to our feathered friends and what we can do about it.
You can learn more about saving birds at https://www.birdscanada.org
End Notes
Want more Harrowsmith? No problem. Visit our website. Or you can check out Harrowsmith Magazine on selected newsstands across Canada or you can order subscriptions online at harrowsmithmag.com.
By the way, the music in the podcast? It's by good ol' Canadian singer, composer, and friend of the 'cast, David Archibald. You can find more of his music at his website, davidarchibald.com.
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Mar 11, 2022
The COVID Departure Lounge
In this episode, I chat with world traveller and advocate for tossing your bucket list Heather Greenwood Davis about how to think about and tackle travel now that restrictions are being lifted, and maybe, just maybe we can start returning to the new normal. Next up cookbook author Claire Tansey tells us how to get dinner ready faster than a trip to your favourite frozen food aisle and back. So jet planes, and fast cooking all in this episode.
The COVID Departure Lounge
In 2011 Heather Greenwood Davis was a successful but miserable litigation lawyer in Toronto. She’d dreamed of travelling the world with her husband Ish and her two sons, Ethan and Cameron. A one year window opened up on that dream and the unhappy Greenwood Davis, family in tow, leapt out of it. What she learned in that year-long journey, about living for now and not deferring your dreams, can serve us well now as we contemplate travel into a world very different from the one we left behind when we shut our doors and donned our masks.
You can learn more about Heather here https://heathergreenwooddavis.com
Uncomplicated Cooking
Now, it’s time for a short conversation about living responsibly on our planet, brought to you by Oroweat Organic Bread. Great Taste that’s Sustainably Baked.
Claire Tansey has been a cook, a baker, a cooking teacher a restaurant critic the Food Director of Chatelaine and a singer in a rock ’n’ roll band. Along the way, she’s learned to cook in uncomplicated but delicious ways. Her new cookbook, Dinner Uncomplicated unpacks some great ideas about how to cook a meal in less time than it takes to listen to Bohemian Rhapsody and Stairway to Heaven back to back. I talked to Claire about fast cooking and why that can also be sustainable cooking. You can find her latest book here
and you can find her website at https://www.clairetansey.com
End Notes
Want more Harrowsmith? No problem. Visit our website. Or you can check out Harrowsmith Magazine on selected newsstands across Canada or you can order subscriptions online at harrowsmithmag.com.
By the way, the music in the podcast? It's by good ol' Canadian singer, composer and friend of the 'cast, David Archibald. You can find more of his music at his website, davidarchibald.com.
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Feb 8, 2022
This Old Smart House and Banana Peel Bread
The Rundown In this episode, I chat with pioneering tech consultant, keynote speaker, and proud PEIer, Amber MacArthur, AmberMac to her friends. I talk to her about how she turned a 140-year-old Charlottetown house into an eco-friendly smarthome showcase. A showcase sporting 38 lightbulbs you can talk to. Next up, former food stylist and chef Christine Tizzard explains how to shop, cook and dine with zero-waste. Is there a banana peel bread in your future? So, smart appliances and smart eating all in one episode. By the way, if you want to read Harrowsmith Magazine instead of listen to it you can subscribe to the print version online at harrowsmithmag.com and you can find Harrowsmith Magazine on selected newsstands across Canada. But for now, settle in for the next half hour of Harrowsmith Radio.
The 140-year-old Smart Home - Amber MacArthur
Amber MacArthur has been helping Canadians and corporations understand technology and social media for decades now. But, she grew up in a decidedly untechy PEI. She’s living in Toronto now, but in 2019 she and her partner videographer Chris Dyck decided to buy a 140-year-old home in the heart of Charlottetown and go to town on a renovation. They also used their connections and social media cache to bring companies like Home Depot, LG, and Google along for the ride. The result? A renovated home with smart TVs, washers, driers, lights, sensors, and outdoor security cameras. Sort of like Tony Stark’s vacation home if he was into Anne Shirley. I had a chance to talk with Amber about that reno and what she learned by doing it. You find more about AmberMac here.
Zero Waste with Christine Tizzard
Now, it’s time for a short conversation about living responsibly on our planet, brought to you by Oroweat Organic Bread. Great Taste that’s Sustainably Baked.
As a food stylist and chef, Christine Tizzard has seen her share of food waste. These days she’s doing something about it. Tizzard recently wrote Cook More, Waste Less. It’s a terrific guide to buying, cooking, menu planning, and storing food in sustainable ways. You can find her blog here.
End Notes
Want more Harrowsmith? No problem. Visit our website. Or you can check out Harrowsmith Magazine on selected newsstands across Canada or you can order subscriptions online at harrowsmithmag.com.
By the way, the music in the podcast? It's by good ol' Canadian singer, composer and friend of the 'cast, David Archibald. You can find more of his music at his website, davidarchibald.com.
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Jan 3, 2022
Good Burdens and a New Table
The Rundown
In this episode we learn how some burdens, the ones that bring us together in the physical world, can be good burdens. I chat with author Christina Crook about her new book all about just that. Next up, a beautiful cookbook that centres around the seasons, family and a kitchen table. We coming together, all the time, on this audio outing.
The Good Burdens of Christina Crook
Christina Crook is an author, workshop leader and speaker. She’s also worried that as a species we fail to thrive if we don’t connect. If we don’t take on, as the title of her new book suggests, “Good Burdens” Those are the tasks that bring us together not isolate and divide us the way Crook thinks social media does. I talked to her about good burdens and connections. Here’s our conversation.
Trish Magwood’s New Table
Chef and entrepreneur Trish Magwood also has a new book out. Hers is about bringing family together around the dining table. The book is a beautiful celebration of good, local, seasonal food and essential ingredients, the most essential being the people who come together over food. Here’s our conversation.
End Notes
Want more Harrowsmith? No problem. Visit our website. Or you can check out Harrowsmith Magazine on selected newsstands across Canada or you can order subscriptions online at harrowsmithmag.com.
By the way, the music in the podcast? It's by good ol' Canadian singer, composer, and friend of the 'cast, David Archibald. You can find more of his music at his website, davidarchibald.com.
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Dec 6, 2021
Brittlestar and the DIY Tomboy
The Rundown
In this episode, we meet up with Canada’s favourite Internet dad, Stuart Reynolds, or as you might know him, Brittlestar - the comedic nemesis of Covidiots everywhere. Next up, that jovial jill-of-all-trades Karen Bertelsen explains why making, fixing, and cooking stuff yourself is good for the planet. So, funny people with a purpose in this episode.
By the way, if you want to read Harrowsmith Magazine instead of listening to it you can subscribe to the print version online at harrowsmithmag.com and you can find Harrowsmith Magazine on selected newsstands across Canada. But for now, settle in for the next half hour of Harrowsmith Radio.
Brittlestar
Stuart Reynolds (aka Brittlestar) got famous six seconds at a time on the once-popular short video sharing platform, Vine. But these days Brittlestar - more about the name later - has won the hearts of YouTube watchers with his deadpan takes on mask-wearing and taking a humourous jab at folks who don’t want to get one. We talk about his musical, and Scottish past and his plans for humour on the other side of COVID - Omnicron variant notwithstanding.
That was Brittlestar, scourge of idiots everywhere. You can learn more about Brittlestar at https://www.brittlestar.com.
Karen Bertelsen
Karen Bertelsen is a rare bird - a funny Do It Yourselfer. On her blog The Art of Doing Stuff, Karen teaches us how to raise chickens, and dough and roofbeams, and well, tackle just about any home and garden reno you could imagine. Here’s our chat about how all that helps keep the planet ticking along. And you can learn more about Karen at http://www.theartofdoingstuff.com
End Notes
Want more Harrowsmith? No problem. Visit our website. Or you can check out Harrowsmith Magazine on selected newsstands across Canada or you can order subscriptions online at harrowsmithmag.com.
By the way, the music in the podcast? It's by good ol' Canadian singer, composer and friend of the 'cast, David Archibald. You can find more of his music at his website, davidarchibald.com.
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Nov 3, 2021
An Urban Gardening Doc and the Nutella Waiting Game
In this episode we discover the incredible variety of folks, produce, places, and methods involved in urban gardening in Toronto in a new documentary by Jamie Day Fleck called In My Backyard. Next up, a decades-long waiting game played with hazelnuts, farmers, and science.
In My Backyard
Jamie Day Fleck is a documentary filmmaker and an avid backyard (and soon front yard garden). Her passion for gardening, a well-timed pregnancy, and her film-making chops lead her to make a fascinating documentary about other folks, like her in Toronto who grew plants, well, just about anywhere they could find space. The documentary is called In My Backyard. You can learn more about it at https://www.fleckpro.com I spoke with Jamie about her film and the importance of urban gardening for the soul and the planet. Here’s our conversation.
The Nutella Waiting Game
GrimoNut Nurseries https://www.grimonut.com/ pioneered growing nut trees in Ontario almost 50 years ago. One of the species they produce is the hazel tree. I spoke with Linda Grimo, the farm manager about a fascinating story of foresight and patience. It all has to do with hazelnuts and Nutella. Here's our conversation.
End Notes
Want more Harrowsmith? No problem. Visit our website. Or you can check out Harrowsmith Magazine on selected newsstands across Canada or you can order subscriptions online at harrowsmithmag.com.
By the way, the music in the podcast? It's by good ol' Canadian singer, composer, and friend of the 'cast, David Archibald. You can find more of his music at his website, davidarchibald.com.
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Oct 4, 2021
Emm Gryner, the Uncovered Voice and Harrowsmith's Food Editor
The Rundown
In this episode Emm Gryner who rocketed from a chicken farm to singing backup for David Bowie talks about how singers, and the rest of us, can uncover the voices we’ve got inside us. Next up, Ilona Daniel, Harrowsmith’s relatively new food editor explains how Anne of Green Gables and a father named Gilbert changed her life.
Emm Gryner - Uncovering Your Voice
Emm Gryner’s new book, The Healing Power of Singing, is, yes, a practical guide to becoming a strong singer and making it in the music business. But, it’s more than that. The book is full of poignant stories of the triumphs and heartbreaks in Gryner’s own life, and the idea of uncovering your voice, putting yourself in the path of opportunity and finding strong mentors is advice we all could use whether we sound like Sinatra or not. Not, in my case. Here’s my conversation with Emm all about voice.
Ilona Daniel - A New Food Editor is Served
Ilona Daniel has only been Harrowsmith Magazine’s food editor for a new months. I got to speak with her when she had just taken on the gig. We discuss her love of vibrant food, local producers and Anne of Green Gables. Here’s our conversation.
End Notes
Want more Harrowsmith? No problem. Visit our website. Or you can check out Harrowsmith Magazine on selected newsstands across Canada or you can order subscriptions online at harrowsmithmag.com.
By the way, the music in the podcast? It's by good ol' Canadian singer, composer and friend of the 'cast, David Archibald. You can find more of his music at his website, davidarchibald.com.
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Sep 6, 2021
The Rock 'n' Roll Chef and the Smartphone of Welding
The Rundown
In this episode a visit with that self-proclaimed culinary charlatan, Bob Blumer, whose new book teaches us all how to make bombs, flavour bombs that is. Speaking of making, our go-to DIY guy Steve Maxell is back, this time to explain why MIG welding is the glue gun of the future. So, bombs and welds all in this episode.
Bob Blumer and Flavourbombs
Bob Blumer didn’t start out life as a chef. He went to Western for business, sold heavy metal t-shirts at concerts, managed Canadian indie music queen Jane Sibery and through a surreal cookbook for his sister, tumbled into a rollicking, rock and roll journey into extreme cuisine. In his latest book, Flavourbomb he explains how to dial the savoury, sweet, bitter, sour and umami of everyday dishes right past 11 in full on Spinal Tap style.
Steve Maxell and MIG Welding
Steve Maxell wants everyone to fall in love with MIG welding. MIG welding? It stands for Metal Inert Gas welding. It’s a simple form of electrical welding you can get into for a few hundred dollars and a bit of practice. If you think welding is all about acetyl torches, Iron Man-style helmets, and years of training, you’re in for a surprise, because the technology has really come down in size, price, and complexity. So much so anyone can learn how to do simple welds at home.
Steve’s been teaching folks how to do just that. Here’s our conversation about welding for the rest of us.
End Notes
Want more Harrowsmith? No problem. Visit our website. Or you can check out Harrowsmith Magazine on selected newsstands across Canada or you can order subscriptions online at harrowsmithmag.com.
By the way, the music in the podcast? It's by good ol' Canadian singer, composer and friend of the 'cast, David Archibald. You can find more of his music at his website, davidarchibald.com.
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Aug 9, 2021
The Weather Wizard and the Jungle Farm Queen
The Rundown
In this episode, we spend a little time under a virtual umbrella with Harrowsmith’s go-to weatherman, Mark Sirois. Mark’s been doing long-range forecasting for the Harrowsmith Almanac and extreme weather prediction for Southern Quebec for years. Now a modern home weather station has empowered him to think big and broad. Next up Alberta farmer Leona Staples on how entrepreneurship and innovation have kept her farm alive and adapting for generations.
Mark Sirois and Predicting Weather
By day Mark Sirois is a Quebec-based senior manager for IBM Canada. But his five-to-nine side hustle is predicting extreme weather for Southern Quebec. And, he also does long-range forecasting for all of Canada for the Harrowsmith Almanac. The self-taught meteorologist started prognosticating when he was a teenager with just a weather radio and an atlas. But, as he explains in this interview, the advent of high-tech, no-moving-parts weather stations has completely changed the game for him and he’s ready to up his game.
Leona Staples and Jungle Farm
Leona Staples’ great grandfather, Jacob Daniel Quantz was a homesteader in late 1800 Alberta. Staples and her forebearers have kept that farm alive but in a form that Quantz would hardly recognize. A combination of Staples’ love of home economics education and entrepreneurship has allowed her to reimagine the Quantz farm into a Jungle Farm that’s become a family and school trip destination. I talked to her about how she managed that transformation.
End Notes
Want more Harrowsmith? No problem. Visit our website. Or you can check out Harrowsmith Magazine on selected newsstands across Canada or you can order subscriptions online at harrowsmithmag.com.
By the way, the music in the podcast? It's by good ol' Canadian singer, composer, and friend of the 'cast, David Archibald. You can find more of his music at his website, davidarchibald.com.
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Jul 5, 2021
Cattle Tales and Memories of Hay
The Rundown
In this episode we go deep into Canada’s beef industry with a young woman who grew up on an Ontario beef farm, consults to the government about Canadian agriculture, is a politician herself, and can covert vegans to meat-eating on social media. Next up, an elegiac and informative meditation on that most prosaic of feeds, hay. Both interviews are food, for thought.
Amanda Brodhagen and Cattle Tales
Amanda Brodhagen has been around beef since birth. She grew up on a cattle farm near Stratford, Ontario. There she developed a love for her animals and for the rich pasture eco-system on which they grazed and which they shared with a variety of natural species. Today Amanda is a proud advocate for the beef industry, an agri-food consultant to the government, and a politician herself. She’s a rural councilor in the Township of Perth East in Ontario. I spoke with Amanda recently about her life with cattle, the challenges the industry faces, and the need for diversity and…
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Jun 7, 2021
First We Eat, From Nose to Tail
The Rundown
In this episode we meet the woman behind a remarkable Canadian documentary, “First We Eat”. Suzanne Crocker takes us behind the scenes of a film she made about the transformative year when she inspired her family to eat totally local for twelve months. In Dawson City, hard by the Artic Circle, through the winter.
Next up, Ontario farmer Ken Dam talks about going whole hog, eating pork from nose to tail as a way of honouring the animal. So, eating honourably and locally all in this episode.
Suzanne Crocker, First We Eat
Dawson City, Yukon is a northern community of 1,500 people. 97 per cent of the food for those folks is trucked in from thousands of kilometers away.Retired doctor, filmmaker and mother Suzanne Crocker wanted to see what would happen if she and her family could eat completely closer to home for a year - no salt, no coffee no oranges or chocolate. Her coaxing resulted in an at-first resistant family eating only eating local produce, foragings fish and…
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May 10, 2021
The Longevity of Earth Day and Farming Mars
The Rundown
In this episode a visit with an environmental non-profit that has weathered political, social, and ecological storms and shifts. Earth Day has been around since the Guess Who’s American Woman topped the Billboard charts and the hole in the ozone layer wasn’t even on our radar screen. In the distant 70s. Earth Day Canada was born in the 90s and has been growing and adapting ever since. I chat with the organization’s director about its legacy and longevity. Next up, I talk to our resident astronomer, light pollution Don Quixote and engineer Robert Dick about how we might farm in the future, on Mars. So, legacy and legumes on the red planet all on this episode.
Earth Day Canada
Earth Day, as a movement and an event, was born in the heady cauldron of peace protests, concern for the environment, and an Apollo 8 photo of earthrise on the Moon. That image helped launch an ecological consciousness that the nascent Earth Day organization latched onto. Since the 90s Earth…
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Apr 10, 2021
Grow Hope, Save the Pollinators
The Rundown
In this episode we go all-in on planting, planting gardens that are gyms, therapy, and workplaces that don't take a lot of work. And planting that attracts pollinators, our little at-risk insect pals that do all the heavy lifting when plants want to have sex, with a middle man.
Elizabeth Peirce and Grow Hope
Elizabeth Peirce is an award-winning author, a mom, and an avid and frugal gardener in Halifax, Nova Scotia. In her new book, Grow Hope, she brings a fresh take on starting a garden from scratch, kitchen scraps, and ingenuity. She sees gardens as gyms, workplaces, and classrooms. And also as a place to toss your banana peels and bicycle box cardboard.
You can learn more about Elizabeth and her book here.
Pollinator Partnership Canada
Pollinator Partnership Canada is a non-profit that aims to protect and promote pollinators and their ecosystems through conservation, education, and research. I had a chance to talk with the organization’s director, Vicki Wojcik abo…
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Mar 10, 2021
Lest We Forget the Farmerettes and Early Planting
The Rundown
In this episode, you’ll hear the remarkable story of the Farmerettes, a brigade of young Ontario women who saved the crops of Southern Ontario during World War II. You may not have heard of the Farmerettes, I know I hadn’t until prepared for this interview, but it’s a story you won’t forget.
Next up our intergenerational gardening gurus Mark and Ben Cullen give us some tips on why waiting for May 24 to plant is a mug’s game. So two stories about getting back into the good earth.
By the way, if you want to read Harrowsmith Magazine instead of listening to it you can subscribe to the print version online at harrowsmithmag.com and you can find Harrowsmith Magazine on selected newsstands across Canada. But for now, settle in for the next half hour of Harrowsmith Radio.
The Farmerettes
In 1939 the stain of the Second World War spread across The Atlantic to Canada, pulling Canadian men and women overseas to fight. In Southern Ontario that meant fertile farmlands an…
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Jan 11, 2021
Healthing and 4H
The Rundown
This episode is about the 5 Hs. First, there’s the H in healthing.ca, a website that amplifies the voices of those living with diseases and disorders and who are looking for options for healthy lifestyles. The next of the five are four H’s are in the 4-H club of Canada …. So, five Hs, six, if you count Harrowsmith, which we do.
Lisa Machado and healthing.com
Lisa Machado is the executive producer of healthing.ca. And that relatively new website is partnering with Harrowsmith to share evidence-based health and wellness information with our readers, while Harrowsmith shares content about healthy lifestyles. Lisa herself knows all about the desire to live well. She lives with a rare form of blood cancer, a disease that caused her to set aside her life as a financial journalist and head up a unique site that amplifies the voices of those living with diseases and disorders. I talked with Lisa about her plans for the site and its healthy relationship with Harrowsmith.
S…
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Dec 11, 2020
Northern Tales, Farmers and Food Banks
The Rundown
This episode takes us on an arctic journey where we explore the life and words of a remarkable Canadian, children’s author and storyteller Michael Kusugak. Next, the story of how thousands of farmers across the country have assisted the Canada Food Bank to ensure food security for all Canadians and help defeat hunger even in the darkest times.
Michael Kusugak and the Power of Stories
Michael Kusugak grew up in Repulse Bay, almost a stone’s throw from the Arctic Circle. As a child he lived a traditional Inuit life, travelling the tundra, snow and sea ice of Hudson’s Bay with his extended family and hearing, from his grandmother and other elders the stories of his people. Michael was one of the first Inuit to write those stories down and share them in books and in person with thousands of Canadian children, and adults. I had the pleasure of speaking with Michael about his life, the power of stories and a way of life dear to his heart.
Kirstin Beardsley on Food Bank…
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Nov 9, 2020
Native Plants and Connecting Canoes to Communities
The Rundown
This episode is about native plants and a mode of transportation that couldn’t be more homegrown in this country if it tried - the canoe.
First up, Mark Cullen, our perennial, and annuals, gardening experts fills us in on how native plants benefit gardens, birds, bees and well, the environment in general. Next up James Raffan of the Canadian Canoe Museum explains the lowly watercraft speaks to us as old and new Canadians alike. From coneflowers to canoes, all in one episode.
Mark Cullen on Native Plants
Mark Cullen has been a fan of native plants for years now. They’re a favourite of indigenous bird and pollinator species, take advantage local conditions and help keep ecosystems in check. He chatted with me about some of his favourite native varieties and we disagree about lawns. Here’s that conversation.
James Raffan on Canada and Canoes
James Raffan, the director of external relations for the Canadian Canoe Museum, knows how deep the relationship between Canad…
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Oct 12, 2020
Of Hens and Hops
This episode is about hens and hops. First up, we head out to Port Hope and learn raising urban chickens, not just for the eggs, but for the companionship.
Next, Ben Cullen, the youngest generation of the Cullen garden dynasty, tells us about hops as an ornamental. They’re not just for IPAs any more.
Signe Langford on Raising Chickens
Signe Langford is a cook, a book author, a gardener and a lover of all things chicken. She grew up with hens and then, years later, rediscovered their wonders as an urban chicken activist in Toronto, bylaws be damned. These days she has four hens, she calls them her girls, in Port Hope, Ontario, another community not so keen on the practise. But Langford is devoted to her girls, not just for the eggs, but for their beauty, personalities and friendship.
Ben Cullen on Hops as a Hedge
Ben Cullen and his father Mark wrote about hops as an ornamental in the 2020 edition of the Harrowsmith Almanac. So, I wanted to catch up with Ben to get the lowdown on…
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Sep 10, 2020
A Japanese Garden, Pyramid Wine and the Tenacity of Plants
The Rundown
This episode is about what plants, especially native plants, can teach us about thriving in adversity. We also discover an unlikely Japanese garden in Lethbridge and a B.C. winery where sacred geometry, a pyramid and a reverence for the earth has nurtured award winning vintages.
By the way, if you want to read Harrowsmith Magazine instead of listen to it you can subscribe to the print version online at harrowsmithmag.com and you can find Harrowsmith Magazine on selected newsstands across Canada. But for now, settle in for the next half hour of Harrowsmith Radio.
Lyndon Penner
Lyndon Penner is an Alberta-based garden designer, CBC plant pundit, author and sometimes garden tour guide. One of the gardens he’s helped visitors explore is the remarkable Nikka Yuko garden in Lethbridge, Alberta. The authentic Japanese garden, only one of four in Canada, was a Centennial project for the good folks of Lethbridge. It celebrates the friendship between Canada and Japan. But, beca…
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Aug 10, 2020
A Fish Tale and Buffalo Cheese
This episode is about how a Moroccan stamp entrepreneur became a fish magnate whose offspring are shipping fresh tuna right to your door. And, we learn about why buffalo milk makes 3 per cent from cows look like skim.
Seafood Crate
When Phil Behaim’s father, Marc first came to Canada from Morocco, he sold collectable stamps, stamp tweezers and anything else an avid philatelist could want. Then he got the idea of importing octopus and other sorts of seafood and grew his company into Inter-Canada Fisheries. Phil, now the CEO of the company along with his brother and sister now run the shop and have turned their attention to delivering fresh seafood right to customer’s doorsteps, no stamps involved. He’s our conversation about that journey.
Tenderbuff
Henry Koskamp is bullish on buffalo. Not for their meat, but for their milk, porcelain white and fat and flavour-rich For twenty years he’s breeding and milking buffalo on his Stratford farm to serve a growing cheese market, a…
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Jul 13, 2020
The Duck Handshake and a PEC Tour
This episode is a third generation duck farm and a remarkable multicultural handshake that rocketed the unusual poultry farm to success. Next up, an intimate tour of Price Edward Country, bottomless lake and all.
King Cole Ducks
Patti Thompson is one of four sisters who run King Cole Ducks near Stouffville, Ontario. That farm has been running for almost 70 years. It was a bit of an oddball at first, ducks just weren’t as popular as beef and chicken in the fifties, but a few decades later, a wave of Chinese immigration washed upon Canada’s shores and that, and an handshake changed the company forever.
A Tour of Prince Edward County
Phillip Norton is an avid photographer and a lover of Prince Edward County. He leads van tours around the kind-of-an-island that juts out into the northeastern part of Lake Ontario near Bellville. I caught up with Phillip between van trips and learned about the alcohol soaked past of that landscape and the wine and locals that set it apart. Here’s…
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Jun 14, 2020
Mushrooms From the Edge, Beer in the Heart
This episode is about mushrooms from the edge of Canada and beer from the heart of the nation. First up, Stephanie Lipp co-founder of Gillis Naturals tells us about how she and her partner Leo have launched a mushroom farm in Bonavista Newfoundland. Yes, devoted listeners, that’s the same place the Newfoundland Salt Company calls home. Next, we learn about how Harrowsmith inspired craft brewing and the dozens of reasons Ottawa is the beer capital of Canada.
Stephanie Lipp was an Ontario girl, born and bred, until she met her partner Leo, a Stephenville, Newfoundland lad. The two visited Leo’s hometown, Stephanie fell in love with the province, and when a chance to start a business in the entrepreneur friendly Bonavista, they jumped at the chance. Now their passion is bearing fruiting bodies, in the form of six different types of mushrooms.
Who knew that back in 1978 Harrowsmith Magazine just might have kicked off the craft brewing industry in Canada? Shawn McQua did and he wrote…
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May 14, 2020
The Rhythms of Nature and the Buzz of Bees
This episode takes us down on the farms - first to a sheep farm near Perth where we learn about the capricious rhythms of Mother Nature from a farmer and cello instructor. Next, to Dr. Dolittle of a farm – Caberneigh Farms – jubilant with animals and abuzz with newly hived bees lost in their own dances and rhythms. All in all, a timely podcast that gets us back to our roots.
By the way, if you want to read Harrowsmith Magazine instead of listen to it you can subscribe to the print version online at harrowsmithmag.com and you can find Harrowsmith Magazine on selected newsstands across Canada. But for now, settle in for the next half hour of Harrowsmith Radio.
Sarah Loten
When we last spoke with Sarah Loten of Drover’s Way Farm in Lanark country, she was lamenting the love hate relationship with water that both drowned her tractor and gave life to her crops and livestock. This time out I speak with the veteran farmer and cellist about a elegy to nature’s pace, cadence and rhyt…
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Apr 8, 2020
Remembering Wingfield Farm and Trees for Heroes
The Rundown
This episode is about plays, a fictional farm, heroes and highways. I start off by chatting with Dan Needles, a mainstay for Harrowsmith readers and the author of the WIngfield Farm mediaverse. We touch on turnip-mashing drudges, the parallels between Walt and Dan and how Needles is taking to the boards himself these days. Next up, Mike Hurley tells us about the ambitious charity, the Highway of Heroes Tree Campaign, that aims to plant a tree for every man and woman who’s served in Canada’s armed forces. So, one way or another, we’re getting back to roots.
End Notes
Want more Harrowsmith? No problem. Visit our website. And, you can read Vanessa's story on ticks in the Spring issue of Harrowsmith Magazine. It's on selected newsstands across Canada or you can order subscriptions online at harrowsmithmag.com.
By the way, the music in the podcast? It's by good ol' Canadian singer, composer and friend of the 'cast, David Archibald. You can find more of his music at his…
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Feb 11, 2020
Of Blooms and Bees
The Rundown
In this episode we combine two natural, literally natural partners, blooms and bees. First up I chat with Terry Caddo, the executive director of Canada Blooms, a venerable gardening show that will soon be celebrating 25 years of gardening glory. Next up, we decode honey jar labels.
For almost a quarter century the Canada Blooms show in Toronto has brought gardens, gardening wisdom and gardening supplies and suppliers under one roof for a giant garden celebration. The next one, the 24th, is just a few weeks away as I record this. I talked with the show’s executive director, Terry Caddo about the changing demographic the show attracts and why its a literally, perennial favourite.
Buying something as natural as honey should be an easy consumer choice. But, these days, honey labelling makes that choice more complex. Does "Canada’s Favourite", mean it's Canadian honey? Does "Canada #1"? And what does "Graded in Canada" mean? To help sort it out I spoke with Guy Chartier o…
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Dec 16, 2019
Dr. David Suzuki and the Christmas Walking of the Goats
The Rundown
A while back I got to meet one of my heroes, Dr. David Suzuki. He had just published Letters to my Grandchildren, a heartfelt retrospective of his life, learnings and legacy. I got to sit down with him in the David Suzuki Foundation offices to chat about that life. Next, a visit with a different family and a very different life. I chat with Danielle French, the owner of South Pond Farms in the Kawarthas. We talk family, food and the walking of the goats.
End Notes
Want more Harrowsmith? No problem. Visit our website. And, you can read Vanessa's story on ticks in the Spring issue of Harrowsmith Magazine. It's on selected newsstands across Canada or you can order subscriptions online at harrowsmithmag.com.
By the way, the music in the podcast? It's by good ol' Canadian singer, composer and friend of the 'cast, David Archibald. You can find more of his music at his website, davidarchibald.com.
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Dec 9, 2019
Winterizing and Big Bags of Bird Seed
The Rundown
This episode features a return visit from Harrowsmith’s resident handyman from Manitoulin Island, Steve Maxwell. This time out Steve offers some good, and timely advice about how to keep your house warm in the winter.
You can learn more about Steve and his tips at https://baileylineroad.com
Next up, another timely topic, bird seed. I visit with Barry Bogel, who runs a bulk seed business on equipment his grandfather would recognize. Ten pounds bags of seeds? That’s for punters.
Barry Bogel’s grandfather bought a farm in Flamborough, Ontario in 1874. Back then he raised bees. These days Barry grows plants for seed. Bird seed, mostly. He runs the operation out of a barn filled with ancient but admirable equipment some of which his grandfather would recognize. Join me on a soundscape tour of Bogel Seeds, where a fifty pound bag of sunflower seeds is small potatoes and the grain silos and feeder tubes loom like benign giants.
End Notes
Want more Harrowsmith? No proble…
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Dec 5, 2019
City Gardens and Christmas Leftovers
This episode begins with a chat with guerrilla gardener, gardening planner and writer Lorraine Johnson about the bounty that can be had from gardens in every nook, cranny and backyard in our cities. Next up, a seasonal exercise in making good use of holiday leftovers. Harrowsmith food writer Signe Langford, you might remember her from the exploding chestnuts, salvages carcasses, toasts stuffing and murders for a curry.
You can learn more about Lorraine's writings at http://www.douglas-mcintyre.com/author/lorraine-johnson-2
End Notes
Want more Harrowsmith? No problem. Visit our website. And, you can read Vanessa's story on ticks in the Spring issue of Harrowsmith Magazine. It's on selected newsstands across Canada or you can order subscriptions online at harrowsmithmag.com.
By the way, the music in the podcast? It's by good ol' Canadian singer, composer and friend of the 'cast, David Archibald. You can find more of his music at his website, davidarchibald.com.
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Nov 29, 2019
Hempbassadors and Christmas Chestnuts
The Rundown
In this episode I get the lowdown on one of the most misunderstood and maligned crops in North America, hemp. It’s a delicious breakfast topping, it’s a construction material, it’s great for clothing and plastics! Stop, you’re all right. I speak with hempbassador Marie Eisenmann about the fibre of the future. Next up, food writer and chef Signe Langford tells us all about delicious and dangerous chestnuts and how to weaponize them.
Marie Eisenmann is a hempbassador. She and her colleagues evangelize a sorely mistreated and marginalized crop, hemp. While hemp has, for centuries, been a valued crop in Asia and elsewhere on the planet, its relation to marijuana has led to North Americans having a complicated relationship with the fast growing, low maintenance, and non-psychotropic plant. That’s too bad, because, as Marie explains, the prohibitions placed on its cultivation have meant North Americans have lost decades we could have used developing ecologically frien…
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Nov 27, 2019
Living Off the Grid and Coffee Alternatives
The Rundown
We start this episode talking about living off the grid using solar, wind, batteries and a generator with Canada’s handyman and Harrowsmith contributor, Steve Maxwell. Then, on a lighter note, but with no less energy, I speak with Signe Langford, Harrowsmith’s food editor about alternatives to hot chocolate on cold winter evenings, on the grid, or off.
You can learn more about Steve Maxwell at https://baileylineroad.com/
Signe Langford's writings can be found at https://www.signelangford.com
End Notes
Want more Harrowsmith? No problem. Visit our website. And, you can read Vanessa's story on ticks in the Spring issue of Harrowsmith Magazine. It's on selected newsstands across Canada or you can order subscriptions online at harrowsmithmag.com.
By the way, the music in the podcast? It's by good ol' Canadian singer, composer and friend of the 'cast, David Archibald. You can find more of his music at his website, davidarchibald.com.
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Nov 25, 2019
From the Wildfire Into the Soup Pot
The Rundown
This episode starts with a sobering conversation with science writer Vanessa Farnsworth about the wildfires that have ravaged the West, including, most recently, California - and in 2017, B.C.. We talk about how human-induced climate change has a lot to answer for and what we can all do to fight the fires, or their consequences, anyway. Next, into to soup, soup bred of compost and stone.
Western Wildfires and Human-induced Climate Change
A study published in Earth’s Future last year is clear: the fires that ravaged B.C. in 2017 were made terrifyingly worse by human-induced climate change. We made weather worse, whipping up winds, calling down lighting and causing the fires to burn up to 11 times more land than normal. And, things might get worse still. To understand what’s at stake, and what we can do I spoke with a western voice of reason, and a Harrowsmith magazine contributor Vanessa Farnsworth. Things get dark, but we offer hope. Hang in there.
Soupalicious
How…
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Nov 21, 2019
Women in Agriculture and a Royal Winter Fair
The Rundown
In this episode we talk about the changing role of women in agriculture and the future of the largest agricultural fair in the world. I speak with Iris Meck, the force behind the Advancing Women in Agriculture conference. And I chat with the CEO of the Royal Agriculture Winter Fair about produce, horses and, yes, royals.
Women and Agriculture Conference
Since 2014 The Advancing Women in Agriculture has brought together women from across Canada to share, learn and grow and farmers, producers and entrepreneurs. Over the years it's seen attendees and the agriculture sector itself change dramatically, and, for the better. Part of the change is due to the conference itself. I had a chance to speak with conference organizer, Iris Meck, about the morphing landscape and the challenges of leaning in in a sector that is still steeped in isolation.
Royal Winter Fair Intro
Just after the First World War a cluster of classically inspired buildings near the waterfront of Lake Onta…
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Nov 8, 2019
Feeding Winter Birds and Crafting Homemade Cider
Mark and Ben Cullen, a father and son dynamic duo of gardening expertise, have been guiding home-based horticulture fans for years, decades and now, generations. This time out they team up to guide you to getting the best birds in your backyard this winter. Along the way, they shatter a couple of myths, crack jokes and diss cracked corn.
Craig Daniels works at Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto as a a project manager and scientific writer and editor. So, it’s not surprising that he and his partner, Ben Pakuts took a scientific approach to making cider. They wrote abut the process in Harrowsmith Magazine and in the latest issue of the Harrowsmith Almanac. I spoke with Craig recently about fermentation, cider and the apple strewn path he eschewed a few years back.
End Notes
Want more Harrowsmith? No problem. Visit our website. And, you can read Vanessa's story on ticks in the Spring issue of Harrowsmith Magazine. It's on selected newsstands across Canada or you can order subscript…
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Jul 1, 2019
Growing Up, and Growing Strong
The Rundown
When Ken Dam was diagnosed with a malignant melanoma he started getting really serious about the food he was putting in his body. Ken’s fine now, but his quest to eat healthy propelled he and his wife Clare into an adventure of homesteading near Copetown, Ontario. It didn’t go as planned. But, the Dams are still at it, eight years later. They’ve learned a lot, learned what they don’t like and discovered what they’ve come to love. I spoke with Clare about their journey.
Aquaponics isn’t a new idea, but it’s one that improving technology has made more and more practical. The idea is simple, take the symboitic relationship between plants and animals on a farm, in soil, and bring it indoors. Now replace the soil with nutrient rich water, cows and pigs with fish and root vegetables with microgreens. That’s aquaponics. Catalina Margulis wrote about the process in Harrowsmith. We chatted about how going wet and vertical might be a life saver where local matters a…
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Jun 1, 2019
A Garden of Varieties and the Water of Our Discontent
This episode of Harrowsmith Radio is about extraordinary vegetables, wild weather and the water it brings with it.
First up, we head to the east coast, the outskirts of Halifax, Nova Scotia, to be exact. There we meet Niki Jabbour. Niki’s a bestselling gardening writer and author of Veggie Garden Remix. She's discovered hundreds of vegetables beyond the rank and file tomatoes, lettuces and squash and other produce you might have already tucked into the soil of your garden. Ground cherries and snake gourds for everyone!
Next, we head to Perth County and chat with sheep farmer Sarah Loten. She's had to cope with the wild, wet weather that has been playing merry hell with a sheep farm.
End Notes
Want more Harrowsmith? No problem. Visit our website. And, you can read Vanessa's story on ticks in the Spring issue of Harrowsmith Magazine. It's on selected newsstands across Canada or you can order subscriptions online at harrowsmithmag.com.
By the way, the music in the podcast? It's by g…
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May 1, 2019
Truffle Farming in Ontario and a Tick Invasion
Adam Koziol - Earthgen International
Adam Koziol used to be an ad man in Toronto. Then he and a friend got a crazy idea of growing mahogany trees with superpowers roots in the Caribbean. Over the years that idea morphed into something even more fantastic, growing truffles from the roots of hazelnut and oak trees in Ontario. Working with Spanish scientists Adam has inoculated young trees with the stuff that truffles are made from. He’s sold those trees to over thirty growers in Ontario who now are counting down the years to a possible truffle windfall. I visited Adam on his farm, and the headquarters for Earthgen International, near Dunville, Ontario to talk about his fantastic fungus factory.
Kathleen Gailas
I speak with Kathleen Galias is a pharmacist who, with her husband, Patrick Hazen, have started Open Hazelnut Farm in Guelph. They're just shy of four years away from a potential truffle crop.
Extra
Learn more about Earthgen
Learn more about Kathleen Galias and Patrick Haze…
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Apr 1, 2019
Gardens That Heal
This episode of Harrowsmith Radio is all about gardens and their value to our minds, bodies, spirits and communities.
First up, I speak with Mitchell Hewson, a veteran horticultural therapist who use the growth, resilience and hope of renewal that gardens offer as a balm on the troubled minds and bodies of those in need of rebirth. Next, I catch up with Heather Phaneuf, who fills us in on how to start a community garden in a lot near you.
Mitchell Hewson
Horitcultural Therapy is used as a treatment tool to develop a relationship with clients to improve their cognitive, social, behavioural and spiritual well being. At institutions like the Homewood Health Centre in Guelph, Ontario, it encourage clients to engage in the natural world. Mitchell Hewson started the horticultural therapy program at Homewood. Now retired, he continues to teach his discipline online to students around the world. He encourages his students to help their clients think about new ways of life and self-care, off…
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Mar 1, 2019
The Lemons Below, the Stars Above
The Rundown
This episode of Harrowsmith Radio is about hydroponics, subtropical fruit in Canada and the stars in the winter sky. We begin on the opposite coast from last episode. Last time we visited a salt maker in Bonavista, Newfoundland. This time we travel to Salt Spring Island off the coast of British Columbia. There we find Jane Squier, who’s nurturing a citrus grove under glass (well, poly, really). Next we look up, way up, and ask Harrowsmith’s resident astronomer, Rob Dick why it is that the night sky in winter looks so clear?
Jane Squier
Jane Squier has learned that when life hands you a greenhouse you make lemons, and limes and lettuce and basil and, well, all manner of hydroponic produce. Jane started hydroponic gardening in Calgary, back when hydroponics was just a wacky idea and an article in Harrowsmith, she used for inspiration to build a thriving greens business based on the Nutrient Film Technique (NFT for short). These days Jane has a 6,000 square foot green hou…
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Jan 22, 2019
Salt from the Rock and Ice for the Rink
Some of you listening may not be that familiar with Harrowsmith. While this is a podcast, Harrowsmith began as a groundbreaking Canadian magazine. It came to life on the kitchen table of James Lawrence in Camden East, Ontario in 1976. Back then it didn’t seem likely that his vision of a national magazine on the virtues of getting back to the land would last.
But before long Harrowsmith took off, quickly attracting legions of fans. Tapping into an urban desire to move to the country, the magazine also appealed to dyed-in-the wool ruralites. What Canada got was its magazine to promote green living and a country lifestyle. It also got the venerable Harrowsmith Almanac.
Over its 46-year history the Harrowsmith name became synonymous with Canadians living sustainably.
In this podcast we proudly continue the spirit of James Lawrence’s vision of sharing useful information for country dwellers and anyone seeking to tread a little more lightly upon the earth.
In this episode of Harrowsm…
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