Travel

Take a Shine

Story by Wes Lafortune

Never mind the natural gas, the sunny southeastern corner of Alberta is hothouse heaven for veggie lovers.

It’s 10:10 a.m. as I enter a part of Alberta that literally shines. This is Redcliff, a town that calls itself the “Greenhouse Capital of the Prairies,” located just outside of Medicine Hat in the southeast corner of the province. In an otherwise typical Alberta town, Redcliff has hundreds of glass structures, gleaming in the sunlight. 

My first stop is a visit to Red Hat Co-operative Ltd. where I meet Lyle Aleman, general manager. Red Hat is a venture that, in 2006, supplied 18 million cucumbers, five million kilograms of tomatoes and 1.3 million kilograms of sweet bell peppers to major grocery stores across Western Canada.   

“We have cheap natural gas and high levels of sunlight,” says Aleman, explaining how Redcliff has been transformed into a major hub for fresh, hothouse vegetables. Curious about how local restaurants take advantage of this bounty, I ask Aleman to recommend a place to eat. He tells me about a spot on Main Street where a friend of his stops for a bowl of soup as a matter of routine. 

The first thing I notice when I walk through the doors of Cocoa Bean Café is two teenage boys munching on large garden salads. This is indeed a strange and wonderful land, I think. Soon, the owner of the café, Jeanine Wilson, is at my table tempting me with a steamy bowl of tomato, tortellini and meatball soup.

“It’s all made from scratch,” says Wilson. “We get the vegetables from local greenhouses.” As I slurp the lovingly prepared bowl of goodness, Wilson informs me that the Redcliff/Medicine Hat area is known as a “banana belt” because of the abundance of sunlight. Environment Canada agrees with her, calling Medicine Hat “Canada’s sunniest city” with more than 2,500 hours of sunshine per year.

Today, like most days, the sun beams brightly as I finish my soup and wave goodbye to Wilson before taking the short drive east to “The Hat,” a city with a population of more than 57,000. Inspired by the story of Redcliff’s greenhouses I’m ready to discover more local food. A stop at the Zucchini Blossom Market and Café does not disappoint. Contem-porary music plays overhead as customers sip on lattes.
The ambiance is chic bistro. A chalkboard above the service counter announces that “back by popular demand” is the smokin’ chipotle sandwich.

In addition to a fresh twist on soups and sandwiches, Zucchini Blossom offers a ready-to-take-home line of foods including creamy tomato and spinach soup, basil pesto and Genevieve’s Hummus, named after a former employee. Owners Kristine and Jim Dalzell aren’t in today. No matter, I am already thoroughly convinced that this region of the province, better known for natural gas than peppers, has somehow been overlooked by the majority of Albertans, who, like me, travel seeking culinary fulfillment in addition to spectacular scenery.

In Medicine Hat, even filling up the car at the local Tempo station, just outside the eastern boundary of the city, can be an opportunity to indulge in the region’s food items. Frozen fruit pies by nearby Kirschenman Farms and a line of jarred products, such as dill pickles, spice beets and gourmet salsa, from Saucy Ladies of Lethbridge compete for my attention against more mundane convenience store items.    

I hit the road again, eastward on the Trans-Canada Highway for approximately 30 minutes and then turn at Highway 41 for a scenic 32-kilometre trip to Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park. Still frosted by snow on this postcard-perfect day, the undulating hills stretch across the border of Alberta and Saskatchewan. The park’s campgrounds are filled on summer weekends by outdoor enthusiasts eager to hike its extensive trail system, which leads to an impressive plateau overlooking the town of Elkwater and well beyond.

Returning to Medicine Hat, I decide to take one more side journey, driving for 90 minutes following a section of Highway 3, (better known as the Crowsnest Pass) past  Bow Island. A major bean producing area, Bow Island is marked by civic mascot Pinto McBean, the town’s statue, which waves to me as I drive towards Lethbridge. 

Just five kilometres east of Lethbridge, I spot a green sign announcing Broxburn Vegetables. I’ve been tipped off that this is a destination not to miss, so I pull off of the highway for the short drive down Broxburn Road.

Owner Paul de Jonge greets me. He arrived from Holland in 1994 and since then has become an entrepreneurial force to be reckoned with.

Starting out growing onions, Broxburn Vegetables has blossomed into a vertically integrated business that any CEO would be proud of. The greenhouse part of the operation supplies vegetables to Red Hat Co-op in Redcliff. It’s also a valued source of Boston lettuce, beef steak tomatoes, onions, peppers and micro greens for many of Calgary’s best culinary establishments.

For tourists and the local population who stop in at this 32-hectare nexus of fresh food, de Jonge runs a retail store and café where the same wholesome veggies are the star attraction. The U-pick strawberry fields are a magnet for summer visitors.

A signature item at the Broxburn Café is a bowl of roasted red pepper soup made from peppers picked fresh in the greenhouse earlier that day. It’s accompanied by a thick piece of homemade bread and can be enjoyed as a tasty metaphor for this region of Alberta, which is responsible for some of the most delicious produce in the province.

“This is who we are,” says de Jonge. And for that I am so grateful. 

Pretty plateau

In 1989, the Alberta and Saskatchewan governments signed an agreement designating the Cypress Hills Provincial Parks the first “Interprovincial” park in Canada. Home to 200 species of birds in addition to coyotes, moose, deer and elk, humans have also been visiting the Cypress Hills for more than 9,000 years, making this one of the most historically significant locations in the entire country.

The area is also closely linked with the North West Mounted Police. Formed in 1873, the NWMP was created partly in response to the murder of 20 Assiniboine in the Cypress Hills. They had been targeted by wolf hunters who blamed them for stealing their horses.

Today, visitors to this unique 2,500-square-kilometre park can experience its powerful beauty by staying overnight at one of 11 campgrounds within its boundaries.