Blog

Don’t forget your bags!

Do you have a stack of reusable bags in your home that you ALWAYS forget to bring with you? It seems this is a common problem among the majority of people. We may want to bring our own bags, but life and forgetfulness tends to get in the way. A farmers' market is a place that means many things to people. Community, high quality food, supporting local business and for some, it's an opportunity to shop with reduced plastic consumption. As single use plastic becomes less common, we want to make it easy for our customers and vendors to make the switch. This week we are moving forward with an initiative called "Boomerang bags." The idea is that there will be a collection of community bags, that vendors can give out for free and customers will return in bulk to the community bin, whenever they remember to do so! To start this we need to get bags together and label them with the signature "Boomerang" label. Please join us at market this Thursday and Saturday and participate by donating your bags to the community, helping us label them and start London's first boomerang community!  

Stories from the Farm

Thames River Melons

In honour of Melon Season we have decided to share the story of how it all started for this Family!

Our farm began in 1984 when our owner and head farmer Rob decided to experiment with growing one acre of cantaloupe. At the time, growing melons in Ontario was somewhat unusual! But in the end, the risk was worth it. Today, we have expanded to over 500 acres of produce ranging from rhubarb and asparagus in the spring, to strawberries and melons in the summer, to squash and pumpkins in the fall. We recently began a line of preserves including jams, jellies, pickles, sauces, and spreads all made fresh from our produce. We only ever sell what we grow and produce ourselves. If you see it, we grew it!

Orchard Hill Farms

It’s time for outdoor BBQ’s and Sweet Corn Roasts! Farming often has it’s challenges. Farmer Ellen Shares these with us here:

The sweet corn has been a sweet disaster this year, folks. The first round of transplants – the earliest variety was eaten by birds (photo 1) – so we have taken some bird deterring measures – tin pie plates that flap and bang in the wind, and a scare-owl. Thus far it seems to be working with the second round of early transplants. The next two seedings of corn were total failures (eaten by birds?! We laid it on thick in the second seeding thinking it was germination problems, to find no seeds in the ground….so we transplanted the last round of corn – and it will be ripening toward the middle of September! This week we should have some at market though!! It will taste so so sweet;)

 

 

Fruiting Crops and Bees

Do you love strawberries? Tomatoes? Melons? Zucchinis? Then you must thank your pollinators! Many farmers bring in bee keepers to their property so that all of our favourite foods can be properly pollinated. What goes in to bee keeping?

Becky Ellis will be here this weekend to give us insight on the beautiful world of honey bees from an Urban bee keeping perspective!

The human and honey bee relationship is tens of thousands years old. These fascinating animals have inspired art, philosophy, and democratic theory and, of course, people love the ‘products of the hive’. Find out about the life and work of these amazing insects and learn about the fun and innovative world of hobbyist beekeeping.

Becky is a permaculture educator, community activist, and hobbyist beekeeper. She is a PhD candidate at Western University in the Geography department and a resident at the Rotman Institute of Philosophy. Her PhD research is focused on the relationship between people and urban bees. Her M.A. in Anthropology (2010), also at Western University, was about gentrification and belonging in a community garden in Toronto. In 2010, Becky attended a permaculture design course – Earth Activist Training – taught by Starhawk and has practiced, taught and been inspired by permaculture ever since. In addition to maintaining the Permaculture for the People podcast and blog, she also conducts permaculture presentations and education around the world.

Saturday 11-12 at the market-Free to Attend, first come first serve.

 

What's on this Week?

Thursday August 8th

Vendor List-Click Here

Musician: Colin Gray

Brewery: Storm Stayed Brewing Company

Hot Food: Balinese Corn Fritters from Petojo Foods-YUM!

Saturday August 10th

Vendor List-Click Here

(Harvest Moon Trading Co. returns this week)

(Blueberry Hill is away this week)

Workshop: World of Honey Bees-Becky Ellis 11-noon

Musician: Tara Dunphy and Larry Smith 10am-noon

Hot Food: Mark’s Fine Meat’s Sliders and Glenda’s feature Cheese Starting at 10:30