Farmers’ Markets in Canada
The 100-mile diet kicked off a hunt for locally grown produce and other tasty victuals. Being so far north, it can be quite difficult to eat locally year round. But there’s no time like the present. Things are starting to wind down a little but it really is the season to get your locally grown produce.
To help in your quest, Green Belt Fresh is a fantastic resource for sussing out the locally grown produce in your area. With a handy map of Ontario Farmers’ Markets, you’ll find that local produce may be just a stone’s throw away. The website is also a good stop for food advice, recipes, and contests.
But GreenIndex is a national resource. What’s out there for our fellow citizens? Here’s a quick sample from west to east.
- BC Association of Farmers’ Markets
- The Alberta Farmers’ Market Association
- Saskatchewan Farmers’ Markets
- Farmers’ Market Association of Manitoba
- Farmers’ Market Cooperative Nova Scotia
- PEI Fresh Farms
Not every province seems to have a comprehensive listing by an official body but this Travel to Wellness page has a short list of Farmers’ Markets for every province.
Now, the Farmers’ Market is a good place to start but from my own experience, not everything is identifiably local. For example, in the Guelph Farmers’ Market, Future’s Bakery from Toronto is a bit of a fixture. There are plenty of local bakeries that don’t rent booths at the Farmers’ Market that would be a more “local” choice. While purely anecdotal, I’ve also heard of “farmers” picking up produce at the Ontario Food Terminal and trucking to the Farmers’ Market.
In all cases, it would seem to be “buyer beware”. Not everything that’s for sale at the Farmers’ Market is necessarily organic or local. Get to know your producer and look for alternatives right in your hometown that don’t attend the Farmers’ Market. As usual, knowledge is the key.
posted by: Steve | posted on: 20 09 2008 | categories:
Green Fall Cleanup Tips
After a somewhat washed out summer (in Ontario at least) it’s time to start thinking about winter and getting things in order for when the snow flies. So what can you do around the house and yard to get things ship-shape for spring?
Reduce watering
Hopefully you’ve been a conscientious water consumer over the summer months but with cooler temperatures on the way and plenty of dew in the morning, watering can be reduced even further or dropped altogether.
Get Physical
That leaf blower is not exactly the greenest solution to your leaf problem. Hang it up and get busy with the rake. You’ll not only have a nice clean lawn but a better health as well. And don’t even think about a lawn vacuum.
Compost your Leaves
After raking, consider composting them if you can. It’s likely that you’ll have a great big pile of perfect composting material on hand after you’re done raking.
Save Some Leaves
Got a vegetable garden? Skip the expensive soils and composts on the market in the spring and save some of those leaves. You can till them into your garden bed and enrich the soil. Bonus points if you turn the leaves into the soil with a pitchfork instead of a power tiller. And adding a little manure at this point. Leaves can decompose slowly but if you do this every year, you’ll get some nice rich soil that in the end.
Get Biodegradable
Still have too many leaves? Use biodegradable bags instead of plastic ones.
Send Leaves to the Compost Facility
Skip the dump if you have the chance and send your leaves in for composting.
Start Researching Next Year’s Garden Now
Are there any improvements you can make to next year’s garden? Maybe make it more environmentally friendly than ever? You may want to go with some native plants and shrubs to cut down on watering and reduce maintenance. Or maybe you could get rid of your lawn entirely and replace it with a rock garden. You could also consider xeriscaping your yard to reduce water consumption.
Consider a Vegetable Garden
Rock gardens or xeriscaping not your thing? Maybe a vegetable garden would put some of that lawn to good use. 100 mile diet? Try the 3 metre diet.
posted by: Steve | posted on: 09 09 2008 | categories:
Getting Rid of an Old Mattress in Canada
Mattresses. Those lovely things that make sleep so comfortable sometimes spring up in the most unusual places. My neighbour, for example, has two of them leaning against his garage. I’ve seen them on the streets, in back alleys, and even in the woods on occasion. Generally, I think most people want to do the right thing and get rid of their junk without resorting to throwing in on the street. Yes, there are quite a few boors who will litter to their hearts content but for the most part, trash at least winds up in a landfill.
But mattresses (along with tires) seem to be a special case. It’s a real hassle to get rid of a mattress. They’re big and hard to transport. The dump generally charges you to get rid of it. And considering that every mattress is mostly made up of reclaimable steel, foam, wood, and cotton and other fabric, recycling a mattress just makes good sense.
So where to turn? MattCanada (web site, listing), of course.
MattCanada is Canada’s only mattress recycling company. While they are located in Montreal and do appear to accept drop-offs from the general public, there’s not need to strap the mattress to your roof and make a trip (imagine the carbon footprint of a car driving from Toronto to Montreal with a mattress strapped to the roof!). MattCanada has partnered with a number of national mattress sellers to reclaim old mattresses. Mattress retailers often pick up your old mattress as part of the deal when you purchase a new mattress and those reclaimed mattresses can wind up at MattCanada. MattCanada charges between $10 - $15 per mattress or box spring and that cost is surely passed on to the consumer when a new mattress is purchased and the old one reclaimed by the retailer. Note that old mattresses must be wrapped before they can be picked up. Most retailers provide bags free of charge for this.
And if you don’t purchase a mattress from a retailer that offers old mattress pickup? Well, it seems that your options are limited. You could drive the mattress to Montreal or recycle it yourself. Be warned that mattresses are extremely well built so you probably won’t get the reclamation rate MattCanada does but with a little elbow grease and patience, you can probably separate the wood, metal, and fabric and recycle them.
posted by: Steve | posted on: 03 09 2008 | categories: Recycling