I need to be honest here – I’m a wool sweater kind of guy.  I look forward to the crispness of autumn when I can dig out my trusty sweaters, and breathe in their rich natural odours.  Mind you, when I was doing chores while growing up on the farm, I didn’t care for the smell of wet wool quite as much.

Many of you know the concept of a foodshed and the idea of eating locally.  But have you ever heard of a fibreshed, with the end goal of dressing in local products?  “But,” you ask, “how would we get to 100 mile clothing?”  Well, we could start with wool.  Much of it is thrown away these days.  There are campaigns about not wasting food, but where are the campaigns about wasted fibre?  And just as regional secondary production is necessary for food, it is also a requirement for a better use of local wool.

Wool is often seen as a byproduct of food production, or as an inconvenience of raising sheep.  But it is a primary product in its own right.  In the days before we had petrochemical clothing (made from fabrics like polyester, nylon, spandex, and more), sheep were as prized for their wool as for their meat or milk.  Today on Fit to Eat we head to Cow Head to meet Veronica Bavis, who is doing her part to put wool back in its rightful place in our wardrobes, and on our heads and shoulders.

This morning Joyce and I are heading for Skivvers Fibre Studio and Wool Craft.  As we drive across the fields from the Viking Trail highway to Cow Head, we notice a few sheep on the way in.  Once in town, we find our destination – a cozy old pink house.  It’s a sunny day in October.  The sign outside says it is wool weather, but it doesn’t quite feel like it today.  We head inside.   There are pots of wool being dyed on the stove in the kitchen, the sweet smell of lanolin in the air, and wooden shelves loaded with plenty of brightly-coloured woolen goods.  Take off that petrochemical jacket and join us.

Season 3 of Fit to Eat is supported by the Community Radio Fund of Canada.

Fit To Eat S3E19 Veronica Bavis

Endless Turn of Day Into Night

Lucky Star

Tom Luck

Rise Again

One More

After Dark

Welcome to Routes & Branches & Beyond and to a show with the Almost Nearly Perfect People.  Of course, I'm referring here to the Nordic nations of Sweden, Iceland, Denmark, Finland and Norway.  A British journalist wrote a fine book about this region and its people, who he called "the almost nearly perfect people."  It is a clear-headed view of why this area of the world is so highly desireable, at the same time as pointing out some of the downsides of life in these modern nations of nirvana.  But on this show, we won't talk about the wisdom of Nordic politics, but just listen to some fine music from that area of the world.  Oh, and there could be a bit of Estonian and Greenlandic music that ends up on the show as well.  That's how things roll in the Nordic world.

You'll hear Danish chain dances, intoxicating post-classical folk, grunge Klezmer, Humppa music for pensioners, Swedish wedding marches, whimsical yet earnest blonde singer-songwriters, nordgrass, and wistful country songs with fierce guitars.  From musicians such as De Fries & D. Beck, Klezmofobia, Afenginn, Eläkeläiset, Hoven Droven, Tallari, Väsen, Louis Andreasen, Icelandic Symphony Orchestra & Langholt Church Choir, Ingólfur Steinsson & Friends, Frigg, Trad Attack!, Svavar Knutur, and Annbjørg Lien & the Brazz Brothers.  Grab a hunk of licorice and join me.

Routes & Branches & Beyond show # 366 2025 04 10

OK, quick - for extra points, and to win the sterling silver salad spinner set, name the five Nordic countries.  Go.  [insert pause here while you think].  What's that you said?  Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland?  Well, you are right.  Now, sing their national anthems in alphabetical order.  Just kidding...  Today on Routes & Branches & Beyond I have another show of music from this area of the world - the one that tends to be at the top of the world Happiness charts.  Is it because of their climate?  Because of their diverse political system (with multiple parties that have to learn to work together)?  Is it their economic system of democratic socialism, with high taxes but equally high public services?  Maybe it is the music?  Well, on this show we'll see if the latter is the case.  

I have round dance polkas, Finnish heathen forest maidens, polonaises (not the kind you eat), Arctic ethno-tekno, transcendent free-bass button accordions, Norwegian gospel blues, ladies with dark soul voices, enigmatic kanteles, and anthemic folk singalongs from Greenland.  From musicians such as P.A Røstads Orkester, Hedningarna, Bäsk, Fromseier & Hockings, Suistamon Säkhö, Maria Kalaniemi & Aldargaz, Marianne Antonsen, Knut Reiersrud, KK & Maggi, Brimkló, Vilma Timonen Quartet, Rasmus Lyberth, and Sarah-Jane Summers & Juhani Silovla.  Take off those skis and join me.


Routes & Branches & Beyond show # 367 2025 04 17

It is not uncommon to hear people talk about the important relationships that can be built between humans and non-human animals – often they are mammals, but there are a few fish fanciers and bird lovers out there as well.  And that isn’t even taking into consideration the folks who have developed endearing connections to plants.  The argument is that we clearly benefit from close relationships with non-humans.  It isn’t just pets, but there are a host of businesses doing horseback riding for folks with particular challenges, or goat yoga for those who find such things calming.  And I’ve also heard about tourist farms that let you hang out with a cow for awhile, just to get the blood pressure down.  Yours, that is.  Can’t tell about the cow, exactly.  Well, my guest today understands all about that.  He finds great comfort in being around his cattle.  As he told me at one point “cows just live in the moment; we all need to be just like cows; they don’t worry about where their food’s coming from tomorrow; they just eat the grass in front of them, and lay down.”

Today we are in Central Labrador, at Aldercroft Farm.  If you take Highway 520 out of Happy Valley Goose Bay, heading toward Sheshatshiu and North West River, and you take the correct turnoff, you may come across a herd of Scottish Highland Cattle.  You’ll want to get your camera out for that.  They are very photogenic.  I meet up with Darren Dinsmore.  He loves farming, and especially appreciates cattle, and has made it his mission to build a farm, and a herd of cattle, here in Labrador.  And speaking of missions, he is also a Pastor.  At some point, I’ll likely ask him about the connection between those two roles.  Here, put on some bear grease for the bugs, and join us.


Fit to Eat S4E6 Darren Dinsmore

You have likely already figured this out, but the strategy of this show is pretty much to share msuic with you that I've been playing for my own enjoyment.  It's not quite the whole range - I spare you the Benedictine thrash metal or the obscure scat joiking or the heavy dark age gothic meanderings.  But over the past three months here at Routes & Branches & Beyond I've been doing a series on compilation albums.  So I have several piles of CDs waiting to be played on the show.  I guest that it's time for some Spring Cleaning!  This time out, helping me are musicians such as Geraldine MacGowan, Brian Campbell, Belle Star, Wendy Luella Perkins, YoYo Ma & Stuart Duncan & Edgar Meyer & Chris Thile, Oysterband, Tragedy Ann, Shack of Peasants, Blind Boys of Alabama, David Myles, and Maria Muldaur & Her Garden of Joy.  Put on your dusting clothes and join me.


Routes & Branches & Beyond show # 368 2025 04 24

It could be that, in your domicile these days, there is a certain focus on "spring cleaning."  Sometimes this is simply a focus for conversation and good intentions.  Though occasionally, it may actually materialize into concrete actions such as sweeping under the couch or washing the wall behind the fridge or checking through the cans well beyond their best-before dates in the back of the cupboard.  Here at Routes & Branches & Beyond, it means cleaning off a shelf and playing the music that I've been meaning to get to all winter.  

I'll have incessant and driving Cape Breton fiddle (just like the rain there...), legendary Irish quartets devoted to your own good health, traditional government rams, celtic punk attitude from the suburbs, deep folk from the west, Scottish moist-eyed tributes, heavy wood from a guitar guru, lush love fiddles, thrift store americana, NL cultural anthems, and old-timey chamber music from York County.  All from musicians such as Andrea Beaton, Planxty, The Government Rams, The Swinish Multitude, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Dougie Maclean, Don Ross, Jay Ungar & Molly Mason, The Rough & Tumble, Tarahan, Shane MacGowan & the Popes, and The Creaking Tree String Quartet.  Get out a new broom and join me.


Fit To Eat S3E19 Veronica Bavis

Ivan Emke

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