Happy Canada Day!

On Friday, July 2, our market helped celebrate all that is Canadian by putting out our finest farm products and handmade items. We wore red and white, and balloons beckoned to passersby on the road.

Margaret had extra help from her daughter, Diana, with her preserves, soaps and
cards.

Alpaca Central had a beautiful display of yarns and handknit products of alpaca and alpaca/wool blend yarns.

The heat made these two look pretty
drowsy....:)

George added some beautiful new
birdhouses, to his collection, with hinged sides for easy seasonal cleaning, and little twigs to serve as perches...

Pat and Gord McArthur of Heatherlea Farm Market had their delicious Angus beef burgers and chicken burgers with all the fixings available to buy, hot off the BBQ.

Rebecca and Kerry Landman took turns manning Rebecca's baking table.


Deborah Powell was there to offer temporary airbrushed tatoos, as well as her healthy energy drink product.





And last, but not least, I was there with our
Windy Field Farms mushrooms and Morland Honey House honey, as well as mushroom pastries, dips and photo cards.

Vendor Spotlight

Well, the Countryside Farmers' Market has been running for 3 weeks now, so this week will spotlight one of the vendors, Evergreen Nurseries.


Peter arrives at least half an hour before the market starts to set up his beautiful, colourful display of flowers. Annuals, perennials, herbs, you name it, he probably has it in his truck! Up until a few years ago, Peter ran a successful nursery, supplying smaller local garden centres and Co-ops. Now that he has "retired", he still grows flowers to sell at farmers' markets.

He is more than happy to show you pictures of his own gardens, or to tell you what he will be bringing in the next few weeks. During the winter, he finds time to hand-paint quaint birdhouses, which he also sells at the market.

If you are looking for a specific plant or need help choosing one for your garden, Peter has years of experience to help you make the right choice.


Remember, the market is open, rain or shine, every Friday afternoon 2:30 to 7:30 pm. As the season goes on, we will have more and more vendors, including meat and fresh produce. We are also planning demonstrations with Tony from Fat Boys Catering later in the summer. Watch here for more information.

Hope to see you at the market next Friday! Below is market organizer and property owner, Darlene Daughen.

Week Two

Well, we had another market day on Friday, May 21...with 4 more vendors! The word is slowly getting out about this new venture, and a few extra signs on the road will get attention, too.

In addition to last week's vendors, the market now also offered beautiful garden plants (annuals and perennials), handcrafted decorations for the yard and home, magnetic jewellery and one vendor with assorted goods (knives, paintings, interesting historical artifacts). Hopefully there will be some produce coming in the next few weeks, once the growing season kicks in!

The weather co-operated and the customers left happy! Spread the word and let's see this market grow.

Welcome!

Welcome to the Countryside Farmers' Market! We are a brand new group of local growers and producers, mainly from the Grand Valley, Ontario area, who would like to share our products with you. The market is organized and run by Darlene Daughen on her property (the site of the former Seven Oaks Garden Centre). The exact location is 232375 County Road 24 (or for locals, the corner of Hwy 9 and Hwy 25 South).

We had our inaugural "trial run" on Friday, May 14, 2010, from 2:30 to 7:30 pm, with 5 vendors participating. Alpaca Central brought 3 of their alpacas, as well as an assortment of spun wool, knitted wear and alpaca duvets.



Margaret Hoebeke had homemade soaps, baking, and preserves.


Robert Ireland, of Morland Honey House in Violet Hill was there with his honey, bee pollen, and educational material.


Rebecca Landman's baking (cookies, kuchens, cupcakes, and other yummy treats) was sold by her mother, Kerry, in Becky's absence.


And last, but not least, Julie Baumlisberger of Windy Field Farms, was there with blue oyster and shiitake mushrooms.




We hope to have more vendors next week, and even more as the garden produce starts up in a few more weeks. Watch this site for weekly updates, recipe ideas and more information about the market. Thanks for finding us!