Archive for December, 2010
December 20th, 2010
My Quebec contraband per Prohibition-era law
A couple months back, I wrote about a food co-op in Gatineau, Quebec called Marché de solidarité régionale de l’Outaouais. This local food distribution cooperative offers products from the Outaouais region’s farmers, manufacturers, and artisans. For a 15% premium over the producer’s regular price, customers can place their orders online and pick up their order at a downtown Hull location. The cost to join is $20/year.
I decided to join this co-op for a couple reasons. One is that the co-op includes some of my favourite producers in Ripon, Quebec, including Ferme Fée et Fougère (organic meat), Ferme aux Pleines Saveurs (organic produce and amazing strawberry pies), and Fermes Les Folies Bergères (sheep cheese).
The other reason for joining is that the co-op sells wine and ice cider from some terrific Quebec wineries. My order today included strawberry wine from Domaine Mont-Vézeau and ice cider from Vignoble du Clos Baillie. In the future, I will order ice wine from Verger Croque-Pomme, and the 2011 organic wines from Domaine des Vignobles Météores.
It’s really great to be able to order local wines and pick them up with my other local products from the co-op. The only problem is… it’s ILLEGAL for me to take these wines across the border to Ontario. Read the rest of this entry »
December 16th, 2010
Sue Dyer with a pre-cut Christmas tree (larger ones also available)
There’s not much time left before Christmas, but if you still haven’t bought a tree, you might want to check out Kings Creek Trees and Ornamentals in Ashton. Tim and Sue Dyer sell pre-cut Concolor Fir, Douglas Fir, and Fraser Fir – varieties that are very rare in this area. The trees are from Sue’s brother’s tree farm in Pennsylvania, where her family has been growing Christmas trees for over 30 years. The plan is to eventually start selling trees from their own farm (more on this in a moment), but their own trees are still young and not ready to harvest. So in the meantime, you can buy some gorgeous Christmas trees from Sue’s brother’s farm – some of the nicest trees I’ve ever seen.
Kings Creek also offers Evergreen Wreathing Workshops on weekends in November and December. At most of the workshops, customers create large evergreen wreaths, but the final weekend (Dec. 18 and 19) is dedicated to evergreen table centrepieces and Christmas urn inserts/planters. If you want, you can also make the centrepieces or urn planters during a wreath workshop, as I did last weekend. Read the rest of this entry »
December 11th, 2010
Come discover our vast 200 acres Domain, with our apple orchard, sugar bush, sugar shack, bed & breakfast and kiosk. The ceilings dressed with 120 year old tin from church benches, floors covered with 300 year old slate originally from a church roof, doors also from a church, the staircase recycled from a presbytery, and the stained glass windows from different churches on display as art. In our kiosk, you will find all our maple and apple products along with other refreshments, for you to enjoy on picnic tables set up for your convenience. For those who want to stay for the weekend, it will be our pleasure to greet you in our Domain Bed & Breakfast. – Domaine Cléroux website
I visited Domaine Cléroux a couple months ago, and it was gorgeous. The store is really something to see with all its recycled church components. The B&B is still under construction, but you can see the staircase leading up to it, including an absolutely beautiful gold Italian chandelier. Read the rest of this entry »
December 5th, 2010
Thomas Tree Farm plantation
December 4th, 2010
Wagon ride over covered bridge
December 3rd, 2010
3 Types of Wine
Back in September, my husband Gary and I visited Green Gables Winery in Oxford Station, just south of Ottawa. When I found out the property was for sale, I started dreaming aloud about how fun it would be to own a winery. To which Gary replied, “Yeah, but what you really want is a winery where someone else does all the work, and your job is to on a chair at the edge of the vineyard accepting glasses of wine from the staff.”
I laughed, because it’s totally true. I now know that running a vineyard is HARD work. It’s even harder when your vineyard is organic, like Domaine des Météores in Ripon, Quebec.
Domaine des Météores is owned by André Cellard (a professor at the University of Ottawa) and Chantal Ippersiel (a former government employee who now works at the winery full-time). André and Chantal have planted 10,000 vines, with another 2,500 planned for next year. The grapes are a mix of Frontenac, Frontenac Gris, Marquette, Sabrevois, Louise Swenson, and Radisson. The Frontenac and Marquette grapes are from the University of Minnesota, which has a grape breeding program for cold hardy, disease resistant grape cultivars. Read the rest of this entry »