The Impromptu Road Trip!

Saturday was such a nice bright sunny day.  Boy I've missed those!!!  My morning started out at Monigram Coffee Roasters for my Americano.  If you haven't been to Monigram you must check it out!  It's a hidden gem in Galt!  Their store front is behind Cafe 13 - from the Parking Lot.  They have the most amazing pour overs and Americanos I have EVER had!  And now I can vouch for their Cappuccinos too (YUM!).  Great food too - homemade soups, pizzas, salads etc.

If you're lucky there will be some local talent singing and strumming on a guitar too - such a fun treat!

My friend came by and suggested we go see the bison in Ayr.  Wow - they are HUGE!!!  Even from a far away (and safe) viewpoint I could not get over how large the Bison were!  I've never seen anything like it! Right down the street was Oakridge Acres.  What a neat little market!  When you visit there you benefit from over 40 local farmers!  They also carry other great items to make it a one stop shop!  They even have items from Vincenzos and Baden Coffee Company!  They have cooking classes which I will be going to soon and will let you know how that goes!  I will definitely be making this one of my regular stops in my buy local adventure!!!  Such friendly people!  I met Cindy Gerber and her daughter Jessica and they were helpful and full of information!  Two sweet pups greeted me too - forgot to get their names!  Check out their site (link above) to see the dates for Winter Sleigh Rides too!!!

From there we decided to keep driving and found ourselves racing to see the frozen lake over Lake Huron in Bayfield!  What a stunning site.  I have many childhood memories of Bayfield and Grand Bend in the summer - but this was very cool!  Every time we got close we had to try another route due to cottage roads not being cleared.  Finally we got close enough to see it and it was well worth the trouble!!  Although since it was an impromptu trip I only had my cel phone for pics.  Shame on me!  Oh well the memory is in my head!

Lovely olympic inspired dinner at the Oakwood Inn Resort and then headed back home!  For someone who lives for road trips like this, the winter has been too long.  This is what my soul needed for sure.

Our first farm visit...

Family Day 2014 and I decided it would be fun to visit a farm. The Organic Farmer's Daughter in Baden was offering a fun excursion at the farm.  The website said..."Join us for some family fun at the farm! Tour the farm and try your hand at milking a cow, collecting eggs from the chicken coop, get a photo with a baby calf, games, and enjoy some gluten-free sugar free organic treats."

Sounded like a great time to me ... so we bundled up and invited a friend and her daughter and off we went. Now the friend and her daughter were not as new to farming as we were.  When we first arrived we signed in and joined groups!  There were a few different stations we could partake in.

First up was a nice warm bonfire and treats! Who doesn't love treats!  They were gluten free and yummy. Brownies with squash, maple syrup, hmmm can't remember what else but YUM! And some timbit looking balls with dates and coconut ... all good.  Warm apple cider too!  Then the kids got to try maple syrup poured on the snow to make taffy. I think that was the highlight of Jess's day!!

Next up ... feeding a horse.  A first for Jessie - she thought that was pretty fun!  And then collecting eggs from chickens ... I think I want chickens!!  How fun would that be!!  I'm sure we stressed those poor birdies out but cool first experience for us!  Then we got to milk a cow.  Not Jessie's favourite activity.  In fact I had to talk her into it and I doubt that I could do it again.  LOL!  Oh well she's a trooper for trying.  Apparently no cows in our future (but lots of llamas!).

So our first farm visit was fun!  I think in the Spring we will try to do more of this type of thing.  Looking forward to it!  Definitely will have to head back to this farm for some beef!!!

#buylocal #afarmerdaughter

Where to begin...

As long as I can remember I have seen the importance of food grown locally.  My father had a plot in his friend's garden.  As a kid I would wander up and down the rows enjoying his (and other people's) fresh grown goodness.  Raspberries stained my fingers and mouth as I would pop them in my mouth.

Every Saturday he would wake me and we would hit the market.  Lots of veggies and meats - some sweets too!  He was like the King of Kensington and knew everyone and everyone knew him too!  I got lots of little tastes along the way and although I didn't always appreciate the early morning wakeup ... the end result on the dinner table was well worth it.  So many fresh and yummy choices.

I've always loved my vegetables and I credit my father for that.

As an adult I started taking my kids to the local market and sharing my childhood memories with them.  It wasn't every weekend but it was often.  I would always buy sunflowers when in season and put them on my desk at work and at home - just to make me happy!  I would incorporate my 1974 VW Campmobile in the adventure and we would have such fun.  People stopping us for a tour of the camper or to tell us their experiences with their vintage vw's.

It was more than just the food to me ... it was spending time - getting to see the locals, hearing music, seeing art, spending time just enjoying the day.  Grabbing a coffee and conversation with someone.  Amazing vegetables, meat, fruit, etc. was just the icing the cake for me.  Dropping by the local businesses to get a cupcake or chat with friends made the adventure always THAT much better.  In turn I have made some friends along the way!

But back to buying local.  Every year I would get the Foodlink Buy Local Food map and look through it and promise myself to check some places out.  But I never went beyond that step.  I did start buying a local bag of veggies through our local health food store but I found that by winter I really did tire of potatoes and beets ...

The diagnosis of Type II Diabetes hit home with me and the realization that vegetables were key in my diet ... made me think a little more seriously.

But I want to go beyond the market - I want to go to the source.  Meet the farmers and learn more.  Now at this point it's going to be my eggs, meat, vegetables and fruit ... and the special stuff like honey, and other organic goodies too.  If we don't buy what's around us it will disappear.  That just makes me sad!!

So this blog is about my adventures of learning about what's around me ... what I can buy and my successes in buying local.

I will include links and pics... and recipes if I find them...