Local produce and organic stores

I decided it was time to have a look see at that other venerable market in our area - the WW Boyce Farmers' Market in Fredericton - last Saturday morning and I'm glad I did. It reminded me that not only do I have lots of farm markets to cover (Thursday in St. Andrews, Friday in Sussex, and Saturdays just about everywhere) but I should remind people that you don't have to run all over God's half acre visiting individual farms to get local food: you have the markets, obviously, and you have CSAs (community supported agricultural boxes which are delivered to you or you can pick up once a week - there are a number of those running in NB right now) and, you have your lovely farm market stores which at least carry some local produce and/or organic produce stores.

If you live in the Fredericton area you really have an embarrassment of riches to choose from when it comes to both local and organic sources. Two stores in the downtown serving this need: the True Food Organics store on Charlotte St. (run by and supplied in part by their organic farm in Keswick Ridge and which carries an amazing array of stuff - including organic sunflower and flax oils from NS) and the long-running Aura health food store. *And* at the market I got to talk to the folks running the Apple Bin Farm store which is *dedicated* to NB produce and is just a few minutes outside Fredericton at Keswick Ridge. The Apple Bin carries NB fruits, veggies, meats, eggs, dairy and other things like honey and cider and herbs etc. Really, Freddybeach has no excuses whatsoever. Nonetheless I had an interesting conversation with the Apple Bin folks who are finding it hard to educate people on local food (the "yes we have no bananas" song comes to mind) and have had to cut their hours back to Wed-Friday afternoons (1-6) and Saturday afternoons (1-5). Phone 506-260-2498. We would die to have such stores in Saint John (more on that soon.) People in the Fredericton area can also drop by Joseph's "Urban Organic Garden" in Marysville on Tuesdays between 4 and 7) or he's in the market on Saturdays. Last Saturday he had scads of scapes and sprouts and he assured me that the number of different things available on Tuesdays is much greater as he pools resources from two of his gardens.

In Saint John we have Baleman's in the market which brings in stuff from its farm and other local producers when available and Grand Bay Westfield has the Corn Crib and there's Cochrane's in the Valley.

Towards Sussex, in Berwick just up the #10 highway towards Cambridge Narrows, there's a new one to me: Goddard Farms Shop (433-2544) which sells both animal and vegetable products "no growth hormones, pesticides or sprays" - and that includes pet food. It's open Mon-Sat. "mornings and evenings are best for dropping in, or call ahead."


Moncton not only boasts two very fine markets on Saturdays but has a lovely natural foods store, Sequoia, 114 Highfield St. (http://www.sequoiafoods.ca)

And, if you're going down the highway towards NS, a great stop is the relatively new "Green Pig" farm store at Salisbury - you know where you'd normally turn off to go to the Tim's and the Irving Big Stop. Well, go right, not left, if you're coming from Moncton and you'll immediately see the Green Pig (http://www.greenpigmarket.com) - open every day 9-8 in the summers. The Green Pig (the story behind the name is on their website) is dedicated to local products (including a lot of stuff they grow/raise themselves). They carry Speerville products, local cheeses, Just Us coffee from NS, and they have a great bakery to boot! (You can get organic pumpkin pie there in the fall).

Now if you get all the way into NS and you're headed for Truro or Halifax, just before Truro and again just 2 minutes from the highway, is Masstown Market. A fabulous stop if you're looking for coffee (they serve Just Us) and a snack - they have a whole cafe counter/bakery thing happening - they also have a liquor store, a plant store, a craft store, a deli counter and a grocery store - but most importantly for our purposes they are again dedicated to local products. It's the only place I know where I can buy local (okay south Shore NS) *line-caught* haddock. They're very into supporting sustainable fisheries. But there's also loads of local meat, cheese and produce. So if you're passing through bring a cooler with you so you can stock up...

Okay, so that's what I know at least in the Southern NB region (or nearby). Feel free to add!

Not in your body but on it... Olivier comes out clean

Okay so this isn't food exactly, but it is stuff that you put on your body and therefore gets absorbed into it. We're talking soaps, shampoos, moisturizers, cosmetics that sort of thing. Now there has been lots of criticism of the cosmetic industry and the stuff they put into "beauty products" like phthalates (plasticizers), but good old US-based Environmental Working Group has a whole database on cosmetic products and the chemicals they contain that is pretty scary. EWG brought this database to my attention again in an email in response to a US Presidential Cancer Panel that admitted that "health officials have grossly underestimated the extent of environmentally induced cancer among the 1.5 million Americans diagnosed with the disease annually". EWG put out its Cancer Prevention Tips - you know, filter your water, avoid things like Teflon and Scotchguard, eat the Clean 15, avoid the Dirty Dozen - but they also pointed to things like avoiding carcinogens in cosmetics (including sunscreen by the way - check out their report on that one!). Well so I checked out their database (you pump in a cosmetic brand name/product and out pops an analysis of just how chemically contaminated the thing is).Well I put in "moisturizer" and what to my wondering eyes should appear on the "clean" list but moisturizer by Olivier soapary as one of the cleanest products they have listed. That's Olivier from right here in New Brunswick. Yup, Bouctouche way for the original soapery but Olivier products are available in Saint John, Moncton and Dieppe markets and they have shops in other spots (they're opening one soon in Riverview across from Moncton, complete with a cafe and local art). And you can order stuff on-line. Anyways, as you can guess from the title the main ingredient of Olivier's stuff is olive oil (obviously not an NB product, but hey, the soaps and moisturizers and shampoos and lip balms etc. etc. are all handcrafted here in NB). So yay for us and Olivier.

Check out EWG's cosmetic database at: http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/?inlist=Y

And Olivier, if you don't know them yet: http://www.oliviersoaps.com/

Fundy Gardeners

Another site of interest is the blog sponsored by Fundy Gardeners, a local group of approximately 125 gardeners who meet monthly to listen to landscapers, expert gardeners of all kinds and specializations, as well as producers, and biologists. These talks are often accompanied by beautiful slide or powerpoint presentations.

During the summer members open their gardens to other members every Wednesday night. The focus tends to ornamentals, shrubs, and flowering plants, but there are many members who have outstanding vegetable gardens as well.

All members receive discounts at a large number of local garden supply stores and nurseries.

http://fundygardeners.blogspot.com/

Peas!

Yes the peas are here now. Beautiful new peas just came in to Baleman's in the Saint John City Market from the Baleman farm. This really does mean that hodge podge (that Maritime treat of fresh garden veggies - peas,carrots, potatoes, beans - drowning in milk and butter) will soon be with us. At the moment I'm happy to eat the peas raw!

Farm gates are opening....

So it looks like things are really starting to happen. There are reports of farm market stalls opening. You can also follows the blogs of a number of organic farms in NB to see what's up and what's in. Here are a few of them....

Kathi Dunphy of Minihorse Farm B&B, which produces organic veggies and berries, has declared that she's putting up her roadside sign to let people know they can now come and get her organic produce in St. Martin's (280 West Quaco Rd, 506-833-6240). She already has mixed salad greens, some broccoli, arugula, onion tops and a variety of herbs. See her blog at: http://www.kathidunphywatercolors.blogspot.com/

You can also check out the goings on at Jemseg River Farms: http//jemsegriver.blogspot.com/
They brought their first harvest in to Boyce's Farmers' Market in Fredericton last Saturday - gorgeous looking greens - and they're offering weekly CSA boxes (still available for sign-up on their blog site) or you can stop by the farm (262 Rte 715 Jemseg; email carr.michael@gmail.com; 506-470-1906)


Another group offering CSAs is:

Dave's Produce Packs:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=121951504487252&ref=ts

Dave is the manager of Kredl's (you see Dave's farm when you come into Hampton, and "Dave's" produce is often featured at Kredl's). See the article on his new "produce packs" weekly delivery idea at: http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/rss/article/1056787
And join the facebook group to join the action.

Another farm to follow is on Kingston Peninsula: Chestnut Acres:http://chestnutacresfarm.blogspot.com/

And near Shediac/Moncton area: Amarosia farms: http://www.amarosia.com/

And rumour has it that the folks at Good Spring Farm in Keswick Ridge (who are die hard local foodies) are also opening a farm gate stand. They're at:
730 Rte 616, Keswick Ridge (they're on the map at http://www.organicdb.ca/)

And the list goes on!

More ways to find organic farms and food in NB

Well there are just no end of resources. See my previous posts labelled "database" for other listings, but I just found three more. A Canadian "map" of organic producers/sellers. Just go to the list of towns for NB click on one and up pops a listing and a map of how to get to them. Marvellous!

Canadian Organic Database

And, oh how could I forget them, there are the amazing folks at Falls Brook Centre - that haven of eco-activity in NB. They have a page dedicated to local foods as well, " the 100 mile challenge" which includes a resource list of NB producers and farm markets.

http://www.fallsbrookcentre.ca/foodmiles/index.htm

And yet another listing for organics in NB from Buy Local Think Global:http://www.buylocalthinkglobal.com/OrganicGrowers_Canada.cfm?local=New_Brunswick

Go to it! (And tell me what you find!)

U-Pick season begins

Since the strawberry season has begun - and therefore we should all be filling our freezers soon - I'm tracking down U-picks in the province. I've found this one listing (and it includes an organic strawberry place I had seen in my travels last year, so I hope it's still around!) If people have more u-pick sources send them on!

http://www.pickyourown.org/canadanb.htm