More local eating! Farmer's markets and pick-your-own.
This week was a great week for us in terms of eating locally. Since
eating locally is our challenge this month here at BlogHers ACT Canada,
we are pretty proud! We took advantage of two awesome ways to eat
locally, the farmer's market and a pick-your-own-produce farm.
On Friday afternoon I went with my friend Kelly to the farmer’s market. The Oshawa Centre Farmer’s Market has been in operation since 1959. That’s almost fifty years that locally grown produce, including fruits, vegetables, herbs and perennial flowers have been available to the citizens of Oshawa. In addition to fresh foods, vendors also sell baked goods, maple syrup and preserves.
Shopping at a farmer’s market is terrific because the food sold there is at its very best...locally grown, freshly picked and in season. Try to compare a can of wax beans to a pint of fresh green beans bought at the farmer’s market. You’ll never buy those cans again!
The only downside to farmer’s market produce is perhaps that the food is rarely grown organically. I asked one farmer there if he grows any of his food organically. He looked at me as if he couldn’t believe the question had come out of my mouth. He said that no, it just wasn’t possible for him, that if he used organic farming methods, he wouldn’t be able to provide such high quality produce for his customers. His stuff was beautiful...
On Saturday morning, Kelly and I chugged our coffee early and met up at a local farm to pick our own strawberries. Watson Farms is located in the Town of Bowmanville. The family offers up crops of strawberries, raspberries, beans, peas, corn and apples, all for you to pick yourself.
At Watson’s, the food is sold by weight. Strawberries cost just $1.75 per pound. We’re still working on getting through the 10 pounds of strawberries I picked!
Picking your own produce means you get to literally hand pick the food that is coming into your home. It’s a fantastic way for a family to spend a morning or afternoon together. Many farms like Watson’s offer hay rides, and often have a corn maze or petting zoo for children to enjoy, ensuring that the concept of gathering one’s own food becomes fun for kids!
To find a farmer’s market or pick-your-own farm near you, visit one of these websites:
(Similar sites are available in other provinces.)
Buying direct from the farmers and growers in addition to knowing exactly where your food has been from the moment it came out of the ground is empowering in a totally cool gastronomical way.
Posted by: motherbumper | July 14, 2008 at 09:00 AM
Heh. I built a page on it for BC for easy access for myself: http://resolvingtimelineissues.wordpress.com/glocality/
Of course, there are more wine links than food links on there, but hey :)
I have a pile of cherries from MIL's trees - anyone want some?
Posted by: Nicole | July 18, 2008 at 08:50 AM