Episode 99: Supporting Local Food Systems Through Farmers Markets

Step into the heart of sustainable living as we journey deep into the forested hills of Halliburton with Lexi, a passionate advocate for local food systems and manager of the Halliburton County Farmers Market. Practicing a homestead lifestyle where wild harvesting and permaculture principles reign supreme, Lexi offers a refreshing perspective on reconnecting with our food sources.

The conversation meanders through practical wisdom like using coffee grounds to deter garden-raiding skunks and the vital importance of proper tent weights at outdoor markets (a safety measure with dramatic consequences when ignored). We discover the surprising world of Ontario's 36 dragonfly species – natural mosquito warriors – and learn how stormwater retention ponds use fountains specifically to prevent mosquito breeding by disrupting their breathing process.

At its core, this episode tackles the growing disconnect between people and their food sources. Lexi articulately challenges our modern food system, questioning why we ship produce thousands of miles when local alternatives exist, and highlighting the hidden costs of convenience. The Halliburton County Farmers Market stands as a powerful example of community resilience, offering not just fresh food but direct connections with the people who grow it. With approximately 39 vendors across two locations serving 1,800 visitors during peak season, these markets demonstrate the viability of local food systems.

Whether you're a seasoned gardener, curious about farmers markets, or simply wanting to make more conscious food choices, this episode offers practical insights into creating a healthier relationship with food. Ready to reconnect with your food sources and support local producers? Visit the Halliburton County Farmers Market on Tuesdays in Halliburton or Saturdays in Minden until October 11th, and experience firsthand the vibrant community nourishing both body and soul through sustainable local food systems.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hi everybody.
I'm Angelo Viola and I'm PeteBowman.
Now you might know us as thehosts of Canada's Favorite
Fishing Show, but now we'rehosting a podcast.
That's right.
Every Thursday, Ang and I willbe right here in your ears
bringing you a brand new episodeof Outdoor Journal Radio.
Now, what are we going to talkabout for two hours every week?
Well, you know there's going tobe a lot of fishing.

Speaker 3 (00:22):
I knew exactly where those fish were going to be and
how to catch them, and they wereeasy to catch.

Speaker 1 (00:32):
Yeah, but it's not just a fishing show.

Speaker 3 (00:33):
We're going to be talking to people from all
facets of the outdoors, fromathletes, all the other guys
would go golfing Me and Garthand Turk and all the Russians
would go fishing To scientists.
But now that we're reforesting-and all that, it's the perfect
transmission environment forline to see.

Speaker 4 (00:47):
To chefs If any game isn't cooked properly, marinated
, you will taste it.

Speaker 1 (00:53):
And whoever else will pick up the phone Wherever you
are.
Outdoor Journal Radio seeks toanswer the questions and tell
the stories of all those whoenjoy being outside.
Find us on Spotify, applePodcasts or wherever you get
your podcasts.

Speaker 5 (01:15):
As the world gets louder and louder, the lessons
of our natural world becomeharder and harder to hear, but
they are still available tothose who know where to listen.
I'm Jerry Ouellette and I washonoured to serve as Ontario's
Minister of Natural Resources.
However, my journey into thewoods didn't come from politics.

(01:36):
Rather, it came from my time inthe bush and a mushroom.
In 2015, I was introduced tothe birch-hungry fungus known as
chaga, a tree conch withcenturies of medicinal
applications used by Indigenouspeoples all over the globe.
After nearly a decade ofharvest use, testimonials and

(01:59):
research, my skepticism hasfaded to obsession and I now
spend my life dedicated toimproving the lives of others
through natural means.
But that's not what the show isabout.
My pursuit of the strangemushroom and my passion for the
outdoors has brought me to theplaces and around the people
that are shaped by our naturalworld.

(02:20):
On Outdoor Journal Radio'sUnder the Canopy podcast, I'm
going to take you along with meto see the places, meet the
people that will help you findyour outdoor passion and help
you live a life close to natureand under the canopy.
So join me today for anothergreat episode, and hopefully we

(02:40):
can inspire a few more people tolive their lives under the
canopy.
Well, welcome everybody to thepodcast.
We always appreciate thelisteners and, as always, if
anybody has any questions orcomments or wants to hear any
specific shows, let us know andwe will do whatever we can to

(03:01):
see if we can put together apodcast for you.
That was a normal morning.
It's that time of the yearwe're into June now and I was
out with my chocolate lab,ensign Gunner, and Gunner was
out, and you know, lo and behold, out in the middle of the field
.
Now I don't have any problemwith him, but Cooper is his
favorite buddy, anotherchocolate lab, or Willie, a

(03:28):
German short-haired pointer thatdoes have problems rolling in
dead animals, and it looked likethere was a rabbit, that or
something that had been killedby a coyote or a fox and lion in
there.
No problems there, but itdoesn't appear that.
Uh, reishi.
I've heard of harvested somereishi mushroom and no more
growth.
Normally we get some second orthird cuts of reishi in this
area, but I'm not seeinganything there this year at all.

(03:49):
My wild mint patch is going well, along with the stinging nettle
which is slowly expanding, andI'm making sure that that
continues on.
But I got to tell you, my wifeDiane, that was it the mullein
in the yard, which was huge andit was going into the second
year, just, nope, gone.
It's a weed and we're nothaving any more of that in the

(04:10):
front yard.
So the mullein's gone.
But hey, that's the way it isand we've got to keep people
happy.
And you know, it's just thattime of year and apparently
they're calling for some raintoday, which will be not too bad
, but it looks like there mighteven be some tornado calls in
southwestern Ontario.
Now today we have a great guestand I want to welcome Lexi to

(04:31):
the podcast.
Welcome, lexi.

Speaker 6 (04:32):
Thank you so much for having me, Jerry.
I'm glad to be here.

Speaker 5 (04:35):
No, no problem.
It's always good to listen topeople, and people find it very
interesting, I think with a lotof things that we'll talk about.
So tell us a bit about yourself.
Where are you located, say,from Toronto?

Speaker 6 (04:46):
Sure, yeah, so I'm just north of Halliburton, it's
about, I'd say, two and a halfhours to the GTA.
I currently live in the bush,which is lovely, and we've been
here.
We just moved here fromKingston, actually We've been
here for a couple of years, mylittle family, we grow a lot of
wonderful food here and I likehearing your stories of nettle

(05:08):
and mullein and all the wildstuff you find, because we also
love to wild harvest, we makemedicines and we prepare a lot
of our foods from nature as well, as it comes up.
Yeah, so we've been enjoyingliving in the bush and all the
abundance that comes with thisbeautiful forested area.

Speaker 5 (05:24):
So what do you mean?
Living in the bush?
I mean, are you off grid or howdoes it work?
I?

Speaker 6 (05:29):
know, you know it's become a bit of a vocabulary,
you know to say out here, livingin the bush, but essentially
I'm pretty deep into the woodshere.
There's not a lot of peoplearound, which is great.
I do live partly on the grid,but we're a lot more conscious
of our energy consumption so wecook by cook stove, we are on
hydro but, yeah, we're on about600 acres here, so we enjoy

(05:52):
going for walks and just being alot more immersed in nature.
So we'll come out and seeturtles and frogs and snakes and
feeling a lot more connected tonature.
Living in the bush, as peopleout here like to call it.

Speaker 5 (06:05):
Yeah, I know, I was out.
My son, josh, took me outgolfing for Father's Day and
there was a snapping turtle thatwas guarding or sitting beside
one of the sand traps on the10th hole at Oak Ridge.
And yesterday, as a matter offact, I happened to see three
turtles on the road.
I stopped to help one across apainted and I didn't realize

(06:28):
until we actually had the turtlerehab center out of just
outside of Peterborough that ifyou're releasing a turtle,
release it in the direction it'sgoing.
So yesterday's painted it washeading across the road and it
was right in the middle and on ahill.
So a car coming over the top ofthe hill might not have seen it
in time.
But I helped it across and thenand released on the other side

(06:49):
and there was two snappingturtles.
Um, I also saw that looked likethey were probably laying eggs
on the side of the road, butthey were just stationary and no
problems there.
So it's that time of the yearwhen a lot of people are going
to see turtles on the roads youget.
What kind of turtles do you getout your way?

Speaker 6 (07:04):
Yeah, I love bringing up turtles because I'm also in
love with the turtle guardians.
They're out here in Halliburtontoo and they do so much amazing
goodness for the turtles outhere.
But we also see the paintedturtles often.
We thought we had one layingeggs for a while and she was
just enjoying a little hole forherself.
But we do see quite a fewsnappers.

(07:24):
I was going off to the marketthe other day and driving
through a swampy, swampy area,there were three snappers on the
side of the road having just anice sunbath before the people
go flying by.
They're nicely safe on the side, which is great.
They already made it across,but we saw all sorts of things
out here, so we're trying to getthem out of the garden.
That's the hard part we'refinding without disturbing them

(07:45):
too much oh really, so they comeinto the garden.

Speaker 5 (07:48):
Well, a lot of people don't realize that when you
drive along some of the 400highways, like if you're heading
north from toronto up tosudbury, sucee marie way, you'll
look along the side of theroads and you'll see all this
fencing and some of it's onlyabout three feet tall and it's
pretty heavy mesh.
That's turtle proof fencing, tobe honest, to keep them from
going on the highways and tryand keep them out of those harms

(08:11):
way in a lot of cases becausepeople aren't going to stop on
the highway to with turtles andthe speed that they go.
But yeah, turtle proof fencingis getting pretty evident in a
lot of locations now to makesure that turtles are a lot
safer yeah, well, well, justlike the bees, we need them.

Speaker 6 (08:26):
So I love the protection we're doing for them
and just the more consciousapproach we're having,
especially in this area.
Halliburton's a little obsessedwith turtles, so I really like
that.
I appreciate it a lot.

Speaker 5 (08:37):
So how are the bugs where you're at, when you're in
the bush, so to speak?

Speaker 6 (08:40):
Jerry, don't get me started.
The bugs are not good out here.
We're into deer fly or moosefly season.
We call them because they're sobig.
They're hard.
They're hard out here.
It's rough because we do livein a quite swampy area, which is
good for us in a sustainableaspect.
We dug a little pit forourselves in the back and we use

(09:01):
that murky algae filled waterfor the garden.
It's really great.
Minerals and food for thegarden, um.
But because of that we get somany mosquitoes.
Those black flies just arekilling us right now and the
noceums coming through thescreens they eat us while we
sleep.
So we're very, very involvedwith the bugs out here yeah,

(09:23):
there's.

Speaker 5 (09:24):
I I got um a couple things.
I got one of those propane ummosquito magnets and I I had a
couple.
I've had three now.
The first two work fantasticbecause we're off, our place is
off grid, where we are up inwilberforce, just outside of
wilberforce, um.
So it ran on d cell batteriesand it worked great.

(09:46):
What happens is you run a20-pound tank Actually, I'd hook
up a 30-pound tank, which wouldlast about a month and a half
and it gives off carbon dioxidethat attracts a lot of the bugs,
the biting bugs, whether it'smosquitoes or deer flies.
We don't get a lot of blackflies, or maybe we're just not

(10:06):
there in the black fly season,but not so much black flies,
although this year we had quitea hatch of black flies and it
targets them very specificallyand I got to tell you those ones
with the D cell workspectacular and you'd be
entering and emptying the net.
And it would just happen to bethat I was at a guy's place that
lived deep in the bush and wassurrounded by swamp and right at

(10:28):
the peak of mosquito season.
I was there and there's likenothing there.
So I said to him.
I said, hey, how come you don'thave any mosquitoes.
He said come here, I'll showyou.
So he showed me this thing andhe said I emptied this yesterday
.
He emptied his, I emptied thisyesterday, he emptied his, which
was another one, and it waslike a bag, probably one of

(10:50):
those old shopping bag, plasticshopping bags full the size that
you'd get at a grocery storefilled with mosquitoes again,
and he emptied right in front ofme.
He says, yeah, every other dayI just empty that many and it
was working unbelievable.
So I tried it.
It was spectacular.
But I got to tell you, the newones that run on only propane.
With the one I have they don'twork.
Worth a damn Total waste of mymoney Does not work.

(11:12):
I've tried everything I'vetried because you hang an
attractant there with it as well.
I've tried double attractantswith it.
Nothing seems to work.
With this propane one.
It only runs on propane and sowhat happens is the batteries
run a little fan, so theattractant and the propane
burning attracts the mosquitoesand black flies and deer flies

(11:34):
and then the fan blows them intothis, this net kind of thing
that eventually kills them off.
And it was working.
Spectacular, but yeah, and someof the other things is a lot of
people don't realize that whenyou're looking at in with new
subdivisions, particularly inOntario and I'm not sure the
other jurisdictions, because youknow we have listeners in
Switzerland and Ghana andTrinidad and Tobago states, of

(11:56):
course, and all around the world, but in Ontario when they build
a new subdivision they havethese what are called stormwater
retention ponds build a newsubdivision.
They have these where calledstormwater retention ponds
because essentially what happensit used to be, it used to be
fields and the rain would fall,seep into the ground and then
slowly migrate towards streamsand creeks and purify itself.
But all these new subdivisionscome in where you have rooftop

(12:17):
and blacktop and rooftopsobviously, but blacktops would
be driveways and roadways thatreduce the amount of seepage
that goes into the ground.
So they end up having thesestormwater retention ponds to
emulate some of the the way thatit would be natural courses.
And the reason they putfountains in them is not because
they look nice, it's becausethey stop mosquito production.

(12:41):
Mosquitoes can't reproduce inwaves because they breathe
through a proboscis that sticksits little breathing tube into
the air and breathes and thengoes down and wiggles around in
the water again.
And if there's waves on it theycan't reproduce because the
waves don't allow the proboscisto breathe the air.
So you end up stoppingmosquitoes from breeding in
those stormwater retention pots.

(13:01):
Just a little something that ifyou've got enough water there,
that could help produce some ofthe mosquitoes there.

Speaker 6 (13:06):
I love it Anything to help, because once you go out
in the evening you can't go outwith a bug suit.
So you know I got to try acouple of things.
But I also love, you know,along with that, I love seeing
the dragonflies.
It's like a perfect littlecycle we have here the
dragonflies come out.
Last night they were out inswarms and I was not getting bit
by anything, so I love that aswell.
So it's a little natural cyclethat happens here and we just

(13:29):
take a bit of a hit.
But I got to look into thosesystems.
That's a brilliant idea.

Speaker 5 (13:39):
Yeah, well, the dragonflies.
I tried to talk the ministryinto doing a dragonfly hatchery,
to do releases of dragonfliesin the areas that had found
where West Nile virus was,because it's transmitted through
mosquito bites.
And so I said, look, why don'twe try releasing dragonflies to
consume more of the mosquitoesin the area in order to reduce
the likelihood of West Nilevirus and, quite frankly, put

(14:01):
more strain on the healthcaresystem in Ontario?

Speaker 6 (14:04):
Okay.

Speaker 5 (14:05):
Can't be done because there's 36 strains of
dragonflies in Ontario.
I don't know if you knew that36 strains of dragonflies in
Ontario and the largest one iscalled a dragon slayer dragonfly
that'll actually migrate as farsouth as Florida.
Most people don't know that.
I had no idea.

Speaker 6 (14:26):
I know nothing about dragonflies, except that I love
them.
They help so much.
So there you go, this littlepiece of information.
I didn't know.

Speaker 5 (14:34):
Yeah, so anyway.
So I tried to bring a dragonflyhatchery to get them to release
them in Ontario, but no, ain'thappening.
Can't do it, Minister.
Too many strains and we don'tknow if it's the right strain to
release in an area that'llcause potential problems with
other strains and conflict withthem.
So we don't want to do that.
And then, lo and behold, a yearlater, when I was still
Minister, I had to call thedeputy in, because how come

(14:56):
Winnipeg is releasingdragonflies to deal with
mosquitoes and how come they'redoing it in England as well?
But we couldn't do it inOntario.
But that's another interestingstory.
So, Lexi, tell us about your.
You know you grow a lot of yourown food.
Tell us about the food thatyou're growing, and how big is
your garden that you've got tokeep the snapping turtles out?

Speaker 6 (15:14):
Yeah, we're on about I'd say, two acres yeah, we're
on about I'd say two acres andwhere my husband, josh, is one
of the most brilliant growersthat I've ever known and he's
not listening, so I can't growhis head any more than that, but
he's truly a brilliant,brilliant person.
He really has involved himselfin regenerative and permaculture

(15:37):
principles around growing food.
So you know, for example, he'lllook at the landscape that he
has and evaluate where,depending on what's already
there and growing, what weedsare there, what the landscape is
like, if there's a slope, isthere extra water, the sunlight,
and he'll select spots on ourpiece of land which where we
think the food will grow moreoptimally.

(15:59):
And we also do food pairing andwhat will keep the predators
and the bugs away.
You know, surrounding thingswith onions.
For instance, he grew abeautiful patch of watermelon.
We had maybe 35 watermelon, Ithink I lost count.
We ate them so fast, but theywould come down a bit of a
little, a little bit of a hill,into this more of a swampy area,

(16:20):
and they seem to really likethat because they need a lot of
water.
So we grow everything.
We're still experimenting withHalliburton soil because it has
a reputation for being a littlebit trifficult, as we like to
say.
We're sandy, acidic here.
Some are rocky, so we'refighting with the sand.
But we're building up some nicebeds and we grow everything
from garlic onions, we're doingradishes this year, all variety

(16:44):
of squashes, potatoes and thenwe have some herbs parsley and
cilantro Celery did really wellhere and then we have a
beautiful little patch ofstinging nettle.
We love that.
We harvest that as well forfood and we dry it out for our
teas.
So, you know, we triedsomething new every year to see
what's really happy here.
But so far the potato moundshave been really abundant.

(17:06):
The squash does quite well.
Um, and it's always a matter ofbeing in the bush is, you know,
living with the deer and thebunnies that come in and helping
them feel fed, but not feedingon our garden.
Uh, uh, every year it's a.
It's a bit of a lesson.
We came from Kingston where,you know, the saying I have is
you can throw seeds into thesoil and uh, and things will

(17:27):
grow.
So here it's.
It's a learning lesson, um,that we're really figuring out
as we go.
But, um, we love to think aboutour seasons and we're in the
warmest time of the year rightnow and we have to think of our
future selves.
What's going to grow well forourselves, to store, to
dehydrate, to freeze, to can.

(17:48):
And it's really a matter ofthinking about your future self
and thinking what's going towork.
And I'm still eating thingsfrom my freezer from last year,
so, yeah, there's a lesson to itevery year to see what works
well, especially if you're justgrowing from your family.
It's not as complicated and wealso like to.
We leave a lot of the wildplants as well.

(18:08):
So all the flowers that aregrowing, the weeds that are
growing and mother nature ispretty smart.
She says if you need it, I'mgoing to make sure you get a lot
of it.
So we like to harvest theplantains, we like to harvest
the goldenrod and all the redclovers and the helals and then
wild nettles.
We just harvested a bunch ofhorsetail and of course, it's

(18:28):
all sustainably.
We're very, very, veryconscious and especially in our
garden, with the bees that wejust pour our love into if we're
going to harvest some of thosedandelions for our smoothie, we
only do a couple here and therein the pocket, so they are also
really full in abundance, butthankfully we're in so much
beautiful nature here that theminimal harvest we're doing is

(18:51):
in support of our wellbeing, sowe can continue to support the
land we have here and what wehave access to.
So it's just, it's an endlesslearning lesson.
I keep saying learning lesson.
It's an endless lesson that wereally appreciate to see what's
going to grow well this year,what we can make the most of and
how we can prepare for ourfuture selves.

Speaker 5 (19:08):
Yeah, have you ever tried growing lavage, or do you
even know about?

Speaker 6 (19:11):
lavage.
I've never heard of that word.
What's lavage?

Speaker 5 (19:15):
Lavage is like a peppery celery and it is
spectacular, and I have lavageis like a peppery celery and it
is spectacular, and I havelavage growing in my place and
it works great in soups andstews and salads and a lot of
times when I'm out in the yardI'll just pick some leaves and
consume them.
It's kind of a peppery celeryand it works great as a celery
substitute or has a lot of veryEuropean or Slovak European,

(19:38):
where a lot of my familybackground is very good and I
may.
Next time I see you, if Iremember, I will bring you some
to try.

Speaker 6 (19:46):
I would love that.
Thank you.
As you're saying, I remembersomeone speaking of it last year
and I think it's on my mindthis year, so that sounds like a
wonderful addition.
Thank you.

Speaker 5 (19:56):
Yeah, and the other thing is garlic scapes.
It must be garlic scapes, itmust be a garlic scapes season.
Are you getting garlic scapesthat?

Speaker 6 (20:02):
just came up a.
So we actually like to fermentthem.
So I still have jars from lastyear because we had quite an
abundance of scapes.
So we harvest them, we cut theminto little bits and we we do a
lacto fermentation with theminto big, big jars and we keep
them in our fridge and we usethe ferment, the liquid as our

(20:22):
dressings and so you have thatgarlicky pinchy, you know
vinegary flavor that you'relooking for, but it's a
lacto-fermented garlic scape andwe love them.

Speaker 5 (20:31):
Yeah, I freeze some of them as well, because they
freeze well, and then use themthrough the year as well.
I cut them up in small I guessless than an inch chunks and
freeze them and then use themthrough the year as well, which
are really good.
Now something else that I'vehad some success with, because
we've had problems in the past.
The listeners know about mychocolate lab gunner and his

(20:55):
skunk experience experience.
But I gotta tell you um one ofthe things that I I just by
chance, old coffee grounds.
I started putting old coffeegrounds in and the skunks stay
away.
I don't have any problem, Ijust they don't like coffee.
I guess I don't know.
But so I just and we had Icould see that something was in

(21:16):
digging up grubs that lookedlike in the yard, and so I put
another couple of batches ofbecause some of the coffee shops
will give you their old groundsif you ask them.
And I put it out and have notseen any fresh dig ups at all
and sometimes they'll keepthings away like that.

Speaker 6 (21:31):
Oh, that's a good one .
We did save some.
We tried and unfortunately gotmoldy before we were ready to
use it, but we tried to do thatas well.
So that's something to reallylook into, because we haven't
seen too many skunks.
We had a big German Shepherdfor a while and I think that's
probably why, and it's amazingwhat a big dog would actually do

(21:52):
but we have all sorts ofcritters coming through, but
we've never seen a skunk knockon wood.

Speaker 5 (21:58):
Right.
So your husband, josh does.
He do nature walks and thingslike that that are available to
people, you know.

Speaker 6 (22:12):
I've been pushed, I've been pushed and I'm trying
to get him to do it.
He's so, absolutely so in tuneand his knowledge and the
landscape is so vast and sospiritual and so incredible that
he's been asked to do walks andhe just hasn't had the
opportunity.
We haven't found the openingyet.
So because he is, I call him amaster forager.
He's never done any sort ofcertification, but his

(22:33):
understanding of the life cyclesof mushrooms especially, is so
unique, um, and he takes them.
So he has this spidey senseright.
So when the mushrooms arecoming up as I'm sure you have
that as well and he'll say, oh,I have to go, I have to go, and
he'll leave for like half a dayand he'll come back with baskets
and baskets of baskets ofedible mushrooms.

(22:54):
Um, those chakas we watchreally closely because we are a
lot more sustainable with that,but just as you are.
But the edible ones, you know,they come, they drop their
spores and they go back, sowe're able to harvest those in a
really beautiful way.
So he needs to and I like to dothat.
So hopefully this will be aninspiration for us to say you

(23:15):
know, we want to have theopportunity to share his
knowledge.
I'm just his assistant.
I'm his assistant's assistantwhen it comes to he's my boss.
So I I do what he says in thegarden because he's so good, but
also the foraging walks.
So that's very good inspiration.
I'm going to see if he wants todo that and for anyone in the

(23:36):
area.
We would like to also have a bitof an open door for one
afternoon on a Sunday to comesee what we're doing here,
because it's not regular.
It's not common for people tobe growing a lot of food and to
be foraging around here, becausethe soil has a reputation for
not being great.

(23:56):
People often leave to growtheir food.
But if you can grow in yourraised beds and you take your
time to build up the soil, it'svery much manageable.
So I'd really like to have anopen door to see if people want
to come and experiment and seewhat we're doing.
And we always give bags of foodas well as we're going off.
But we're very connected tocommunity.

(24:17):
We're extroverts, we lovesharing, we love being with
people, we love you know.
I really feel that we're meantto be here on the planet to be
with each other and to sharewith each other, and we really
have been tapping into that.
We're trying to at least beingout here.

Speaker 5 (24:32):
It's such a wonderful community, so to have an
opportunity for someone to comeand to do walks with him and
listen to him, and uh it's, it'ssuch a gift to be out here, so
yeah, and I, I, when I domushroom talks as I have a lot
of uh mycologists come on thepodcast we always mention about

(24:53):
the reason that they usuallycarry a basket with them which
is kind of like a wicker basketwith.
That is because while they'rewalking through the woods, when
they're picking the, the sporeson the mushroom get spread to
the woods to allow the growth offurther mushrooms in the area
where, if it's a completelyclosed unit, all the spores are
contained and you don't allowthose bodies to be able to
expand their areas out there,which is good, absolutely,

(25:15):
absolutely.

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Speaker 5 (26:30):
And now it's time for another testimonial for Chaga
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Okay, we've got Rob fromHamilton here, who's had some
success with the Jagged Cream.
Rob, can you tell us about it?

Speaker 7 (26:42):
Yeah, I've used it on blemishes, cuts, just basically
all around healing Anythingkind of blemish.
It speeds it up really quick.
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Thanks, rob, appreciate that.
You're welcome.
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(27:24):
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around five or six cups of tea.
Hey, thanks for listening Backto the episode.
So now, lexi, let's talk aboutthe reason that I called you in

(28:11):
the first place.
All these other things are veryinteresting and I'm sure our
listeners are going to find that, but you're a farmer's market
manager.
Tell us about that.

Speaker 6 (28:19):
Yes, yes, so I am managing the Halliburton County
Farmer's Market.
We have two locations, one's inHalliburton on Tuesdays and
one's in Minden on Saturdays andwe really look to promote
community and supportagriculture and food production

(28:43):
prepared foods, artisans andanyone local in the area that
wants to have a business.
That is more farmer's marketvibe.
So we're regulated under thefarmer's market of Ontario and
so, yeah, it's a really great.
I've really enjoyed this rolebecause I've been able to open

(29:04):
our doors even a little bitwider to see how we can continue
to support people that aredoing really good things with
food, but also with theircreative skills as well.
So supporting our local vendors, our local businesses, who
maybe don't have a brick andmortar Some of them do, some of
them are large scale farms.
Some of them do have a brickand mortar, but for the most
part they're not.
They are looking for thisseasonal opportunity.

(29:25):
We only run in the warmerseason, so we're up between May
and October and then we stop forthe winter because we're
completely outdoor.

Speaker 5 (29:34):
So what's the difference between a farmer's
market, what makes?

Speaker 6 (29:42):
a farmer's market as opposed to, say, an artisan
market or a flea market.
So the farmer's markets we areregulated under the FMO, the
Farmers Market of Ontario.
So having that allows us to besupported by the FMO amongst
their regulations, theirmandates around food safety and
health, but also they have somemarketing opportunities and it

(30:04):
also gives a recognition that weare an actual farmer's market
where we do have to followcertain rules under the FMO
standards.
That allows us to have thosebenefits.
And there's some membershipopportunities that we haven't
really taken a part of.
There's you you pickopportunities we haven't taken a
part of, but they have reallygood support systems amongst the

(30:26):
organization that allows us tokeep doing what we're doing.
So we can do things like supportour food growers but also the
artisans, and we do have anartisan market in the area.
There's one in Minden, but theyare a standalone market.
They are only in support of theartisans.
They're a really great group aswell.
So yeah, so I think the benefitis really to have those support

(30:49):
systems and to feel thatclose-knit effort of supporting.
You know, it's a recognition ofsupporting our agriculture in
this area and allowing them tofeel supported and to continue
to thrive and support our foodsystem.
It's very important to havesome things, particularly to
support our food systems.

Speaker 5 (31:08):
So, and I believe that there needs to be a
percentage of agriculturalproducers in order to achieve
the farmer's market designation.

Speaker 6 (31:16):
Absolutely yeah.
So you know you can still beinsured and recognized by the
FMO and not be what we call anexempt farmer's market.
But essentially the standardsare different in the sense that
really generally you have to bemore than 50% of food related
vendors, so whether it's farmers, agricultural type people,

(31:40):
honey as well, or they have tobe preparing food where the bulk
of their ingredients comes fromtheir own farm.
So that has to be more than 50%to be called an exempt farmer's
market.
And essentially the differenceis A, the recognition that you
were an exempt farmer's marketand, and mostly what the you
know, the, the behind the scenessupport is around the food

(32:04):
regulations.
So there's the Ontario foodpremise regulation 493, and that
doesn't apply if you are anexempt farmer's market.
But we still have to followthings like the I think it's
called the Health Protection andPromotion Act and the Milk Act
and the Farm Products MarketingAct so it's a different level of

(32:25):
support and regulations aroundfood safety and handling.
So we work closely with ourhealth inspectors in the area to
ensure that we maintain aregulated safety around our
health.
So it's essentially a differenttype of regulation that we have
to follow and we really want toget to that 50%, so we can be
recognized farmer's market or anexempt farmer's market and have

(32:48):
the benefits of that supportsystem.

Speaker 5 (32:51):
Yeah, I know things like wine producers in Ontario.
Ontario wine producers so longas I believe it's 80% of Ontario
grapes are part of theagricultural community, so then
they're classified asagricultural.

Speaker 6 (33:03):
Is that correct?
That's correct, yep, so we dohave one winery that comes to
our market as well, so she doescount as one of our food vendors
.

Speaker 5 (33:10):
And what about craft beer breweries?

Speaker 6 (33:14):
That's a bit of a.
It's a bit of a gray area.
They wouldn't count becausethey don't utilize the local
plants.
So the reason that the winerydoes is because, just as you
said, they grow their grapes andthen turn them into wine.
These guys not as much.
So maybe there are, I'm surethere's that gray area and there

(33:35):
always is around um foodregulations that we're always
still trying to recognize andunderstand.
So I'm maybe there are, but forus it's not because they don't.
They're not a farm, they'rethey're simply a brewery yeah it
.

Speaker 5 (33:50):
I work with um I'm not sure if he's still the
president or past president jefffrom the ontario craft
breweries Association and one ofthe problems is that if they
use Ontario hops to make theirbeer, then it's agricultural.
However, ontario hops do notproduce a high-quality hop.

(34:11):
But there's a lot of research.
I know I sit on the board ofDurham College and the college.
There has research taking placeon hops to produce a quality
hop in Ontario and if they bringin their hops from the states
where most of them get I thinkit's California, but I'm not
positive of that, but I believethat's where it comes from then
they're not considered Ontarioagriculture and it's the same as

(34:33):
using Ontario wines.
So long as it's Ontario grapesthen it's okay, but if it's
external grapes then it's not.
And I think it's the same thingwith the hops for the craft
breweries.
But I keep working on it and Ikeep talking to the premier that
we need some changes becausethat'll certainly help a lot of
the markets achieve that 51% andto make sure to get that
classification.

Speaker 6 (34:54):
Absolutely.
And you know it sounds like alittle too regulated, like it
sounds strict and and rulebinding, so it has that.
It gives off that kind ofalmost obnoxious way of having
to follow rules.
But if you think about it, thereason that it's in play is so
we can continue to support our,our immediate community, and I

(35:15):
do think that that's reallyimportant.
That you know, supportinghealthy food in general is great
, but then you want to go closerto home and say, yes, but we
also.
It's this and that we also needto support people that are
living here so we can keep ourfood closer to ourselves.
So I do think we need to keepthat in mind and we need to have

(35:35):
more farmers markets and spreadthem out so they can continue
to have the support systems thatcomes with FMO standards and
regulations and that will allowus to continue to support our
local growers.
And if we keep spreading thatout further and further and
import, import, I mean we allknow what that's going to be
doing to the planet and to howyou know, our air quality and

(35:58):
everything can go on, you know,for days on that.
But it's really reallyimportant that these rules are
in place, really as a sense ofsupport so we can keep these
people employed, financiallysupported, but also keep our
food closer to home, maybehealthier, maybe cleaner, get
people healthier.
So it's it sounds rules soundfrustrating, but I do find that

(36:20):
this in particular we need toreally emphasize and make
changes as our needs and ourvalues and our ecosystems are
changing and the problem thatwe're finding right now is that
things are expensive, things areextremely expensive and farmers
are not able to fully supportthemselves in the way that they
need to.
I've done a lot of interviewswith our local growers here and

(36:42):
there's a lot of vernaculararound the financial feasibility
about being primarily an earnerthrough growing food and it's
hard to see how we can make thisbetter and improve as our
systems are changing andfluctuating, and see where you

(37:03):
know there are there's alwayscorruption in systems and to see
where there's those holes.
But you know people who thatare really immersed in our
systems and wearing many hatsand that's what I'm trying to do
as well in my own life is tohave many hats.
That allows me opportunities tohave many conversations and be
involved in many different areaswhere I can see the entire

(37:25):
picture and how we can make ourcommunity healthier, closer and
feeling more connected, and itall comes down to many different
areas.
Have to be talking to eachother, and sometimes that's
where our limitations are.

Speaker 5 (37:42):
Yeah, I know, I know at least least no considerable
amount of farmers.
I mean, there's lots out thereand, and a lot of the 100 acre,
200 acre farmers I knew they allhad other jobs because they
just couldn't make a living offthe farm itself.
And we need to change that, orthat's slowly coming about and
people are starting to realizethat.
But but, lexi, how does someoneparticipate or become a vendor
at your market?

Speaker 6 (38:02):
So you can go to our website, which is wwwhcfmacom or
sorry, it's ca and if you wereto just put into Google
Halliburton County Farmer'sMarket, that would also come up,
and all of our information ison there Our socials, our emails
, which is incredible, hcfma,which is Halliburton County

(38:24):
Farmers Market, at gmailcom, andyou can find me there, and I
can be reached on Facebook, onInstagram and in our emails.

Speaker 5 (38:33):
So when is the application period, time that
people need to apply?
And I think you have differentvendors.
You have what pop-up vendors orshort period vendors, or all
year long vendors and that sortof thing yeah, we have different
options and we we try toprovide different options for to
respond to different needs.

Speaker 6 (38:52):
You know, because we don't have strict um standards.
Like you know, if you have abrick and mortar, there's a a
lot of uh financialcomplications with that Um, but
with this we want to make itaccessible to people that are
growing food.
You know, for instance, um, wehave some homesteaders that are
popping up.
So the options really are wehave a pop-up opportunity.
If you want to come a couple oftimes throughout the season,

(39:13):
you pay a fee per day and um,and you come as the season needs
you.
So we have a few homesteadersthat are doing that.
So they'll come around once amonth throughout the whole
season and they've planned thatout to try to predict what their
food production is gonna belike.
You can also choose a one-timepop-up and see how that works

(39:33):
for you.
We have guest spots where youcan register for five weeks at a
time, so five consecutivemarket days in a row, and that
works also for people that arelooking for the peak of their
season, whether it's July as theleafy greens start to come out,
or the root vegetables come outin the fall.
So you can choose that.

(39:54):
We also have a full-time optionwhere you pay for the entire
season and then you come as youcan, and that works well for
people that are also maybethey're artisans or they're
creating some different foodproducts or ready to take home
sort of food products thatthey're not as reliant on the
growing and they can comethroughout the whole year.

(40:15):
So we try to make a fewdifferent options and one we
really haven't utilized enough,but we have an agricultural
community table.
So we try to offer an extralevel of support where we can
bring some of the more costlyresources, like the table and
the tent, and we have thatavailable and you come and bring

(40:35):
your produce so you can test itout and see how it works for
you.
So we try to provide differentoptions but, honestly, if you
send me an email, I can helpwork through it, but it's all
laid out on the website as well,so to see the prices and what's
available and what your optionsare, and our doors are still
open.
So we really like to supportpeople as they're growing as
coming up.

(40:55):
Unfortunately, we have to keepour numbers in check, so we have
to maintain that 51%, as Italked about, so we can't really
take much more of the artisansat this point, but we're still
open to taking food relatedpeople or you know, plants,
whether you're selling seedlingsor vegetables or produce, or

(41:15):
you're creating food products aswell, so we still have our open
door for that.

Speaker 5 (41:21):
Yeah, I know there are some, as you mentioned, a
little complicated and sometimesthe rules are tough.
I know one health departmentbecause there was a flower
producer that used to growflowers and sell them cut
flowers at the markets.
But this particular healthdepartment, even though it says
grown and consumed, they didn'tclassify the flowers as that, so

(41:45):
they were not classified asagricultural.
Yet other health departmentssay no, it's grown and consumed,
so it is classified asagriculture.
So you get a lot ofinterpretation, which is your
job to work and figure out whichis allowed and which is not
allowed, right?

Speaker 6 (41:59):
Yeah, and really you know, having working very
closely with our healthinspectors, which is your job to
work and figure out which isallowed and which is not allowed
.
Right, yeah, and really youknow, having working very
closely with our healthinspectors.
Unfortunately it's subjectiveand they'll tell you that right.
So you really need to work welland closely with them to say,
you know, especially for myself,I'm really trying to look out
for the If this is a foodproduct, if it is a consumable

(42:27):
food product and that's theintention behind it, not like
it's a flower, it's beautifulbut you can eat it.
I believe that it's important tosay that don't play with the
loopholes, play with what it is,and if you're coming to produce
, to sell a product, that is afood, you count.
So we really have to work wellin support of our health

(42:51):
inspectors that I do believehave the goodness behind them to
say that we just want to keepeveryone well.
So it's important to have areally positive and kind
relationship with everyonethat's involved in a very
complicated system like afarmer's market and I am the
only employee of the farmer'smarket here.
It's a not-for-profit.
We have a wonderful board ofdirectors that I work very

(43:12):
closely with and are my bosses,but at the same time I do a lot
of the hands on the ground typeof work and I want to ensure
that we're following our rules.
But also we have to understandour rules and if they're
subjective they're hard tofollow.
So you know, to have late, kindand transparent health
inspectors that are followingtheir own mandates, which is

(43:34):
education and support, thenwe're in a really good place.

Speaker 5 (43:40):
Yeah, so the full time applications usually come
out right in the wintertime, sopeople looking to for full time,
but there's still spotsavailable sometime in markets
and each market is different aswell, so they all have different
guidelines or vacancies andthings like that I say different
vacancies, we follow the same.

Speaker 6 (43:58):
the way I think of it is we have a halliburton county
farmers market with twolocations so you'll see the
similar or the same vendors thatwill come to halliburton and
Minden.
We have full-time that do both.
We also have some that onlycome to Halliburton or only come
to Minden.
That's really depending ontheir location availability.
So I still have spots on bothlocations and I'm still open to

(44:21):
applications.
We did open our doors around Ithink it was mid-January and we
wanted to slow them down beforeour season started so we can get
a good grasp on what ourfull-time numbers are, so we can
determine if we are in fact anexempt to farmer's market or not
, which will in fact change theway our health inspectors will
view us and work with ourvendors and do their assessments

(44:45):
and evaluations, and also theway that we need to participate
in the market from a healthstandard will be different.
So we did try to open and closeour doors for that reason, so we
can get an accurate number.
But because we have becomeexempt on both locations, we are
able to then say we can takesome more people that are food
related or agriculture relatedand our mandate is still.

(45:07):
The root of it is still let'ssupport our growers and
producers here and, of course,our artisans as well.
But being a farmer's market,our emphasis is a little bit
more towards the food because wehave to maintain those numbers,
that 51%.
So if you want to test out anew business you have a new food
product, you're growing toomuch of something this season

(45:29):
and you want to come in a newbusiness, you have a new food
product, you're growing too muchof something this season and
you want to come in and try itout you certainly still can um
send an application, allow us toreview, a chance to review it,
ask some more questions and thenyou know, with that approval we
can find you a spot so, roughlywhat kind of numbers do you
have for vendors, like, arethere a lot and every market is
different?

Speaker 5 (45:49):
So you speak about Halliburton and Minden, but I
know in Lindsay, for example,they have huge numbers like 40,
50 sort of vendors when it's allpeaked out.
Well, maybe not that many,maybe 30, 40.
But roughly how many vendorsare you talking to in your
markets?

Speaker 6 (46:02):
Yeah, so they are different.
Halliburton we do have morethan we do in Minden.
I think that's simply becauseit's a business day, but we
actually do see similar numbersin terms of our visitors.
So that's quite interesting.
But we have a total about 39vendors and they fluctuate
between full-time pop-up andguests.

(46:23):
But on average in Halliburtonyou can probably see something
around 25 to 28 vendors.
On average in Halliburton youcan probably see something
around 25 to 28 vendors, whichis more than our Minden.
But because I think it'sbecause it's Tuesday, and then
we have more guests coming up inMinden as well and a few pop
ups coming up as well.
So total we have registeredright now is 39.
And then we have a few not forprofits coming up throughout the

(46:45):
season as well, especiallythrough Halliburton.
We have a few coming up there,a few coming up in Minden that
we'd like to continue to supportour community.
So, yeah, so it's going to be avery busy season and I'm so
glad to say that we do have morevendors this year than we do
last year.
So I'm really glad to be ableto expand on our support systems
and to have more visitorscoming as well.

(47:08):
I think we're anticipating over1,800 visitors around our peak
season.
That was around our peak lastyear and I think we're going to
see more this year.

Speaker 5 (47:16):
Is that a day you mean?

Speaker 6 (47:18):
In a day.
Okay, yeah, our peak time isaround July yeah.

Speaker 5 (47:23):
Very good.
So what does a new vendor need?
Like somebody okay, they'relistening to the podcasting.
I'm interested in this becauseI got this and I got that.
What do they need as equipment?
Wise?
Now they go through theapplication process, but I'm
sure that they're going to needa lot of equipment in order to
become a vendor.

Speaker 6 (47:40):
Yeah, that's a good question.
So, equipment wise, you need atable, you need a tent,
especially if your food.
You absolutely need a tent.
You know, for health standardswe have to keep the sun away
from your food and your products.
It's about 10 by 10 is yourspot.
If you choose for a singletable, 10 feet by 10 feet, you
need a business sign, something,and it could be a something

(48:02):
small, if you know, if you'rebudget conscious, or it can be a
large sign that you have, likeyou have across the back of your
tent.
And then we do need to followalso some health standards
around keeping your space cleanand available and accessible.
If you're a food vendor, youneed a hand washing station
which can be as simple as likethose large jugs with the spout

(48:23):
at the bottom, something tocollect it underneath and
something to dry your hands, andthat's the most of it.
We really emphasize health andsafety as well.
So, to have a space that'sprotected, if there is that
fresh food, you want to have itcontained.

(48:43):
If you have something that'scold, you need to have it in a
proper cooler.
If you have meat, it has tohave a thermometer.
Have something that's cold, youneed to have it in a proper
cooler.
If you have meat it has to havea thermometer.
So all that's available online.
But I say, if you're looking toinvest right off the bat, we're
looking for a table, somethingto cover, something to make it a
little bit attractive would benice.
That tent especially if you'refood, the hand washing station

(49:04):
if you need it, and the businesssign just to emphasize what
your products are, what yourname is and what you have
available.

Speaker 5 (49:12):
And I think a lot of the farmer's markets need
something like tent weights.

Speaker 6 (49:18):
Oh, thank you so much , Gary.
I'm a little lunatic for theweights, aren't I?
You need tent weights, Thankyou so much.
You need 10 weights.
You need minimum 25 pounds oneach side, and I can hear the
chair of my board of directorsscreaming right now Lexi, you
didn't say the weights, 25pounds on each side, and I am a

(49:40):
stickler for that and I comearound and if you don't have
them, I give a very smilinggentle reminder please get your
tents on your weights.
For so many reasons.
One, if it blows away, you knowthat's so, so not safe.
And also it'll destroy yourtent if it blows away.
So we did have an incident inMinden where we had the most

(50:03):
extreme wind I've everexperienced in my life and those
who did not have big enoughweights.
It blew away and I saw FinalDestination movie happening in
slow motion, flying in the windand we are so lucky no one was
hurt, but they were alldestroyed.
So it is part of our rules.

(50:24):
We have a vendor handbook thatwe have created.
It's available on our websiteto really lay out these rules
that maybe we forget as theseason is going.
So we can keep going back tothat for referrals, um, but that
weights is so important.
I am a lunatic with the weightswell I.

Speaker 5 (50:42):
The reason it brought him up was I know I've had
master gardener Bev DeLonardo onthe podcast a number of times
and last year she runs a marketin Lindsay on Thursdays and last
year the wind was so strong attheir market that she was
helping another vendor take downtheir tent, knocked her over.

(51:04):
I had to call an ambulance,huge pool of of blood.
She was rushed to the hospitalbecause there wasn't enough
weights and the wind just caughtthe tent in it and, just like
you said, the final destinationkind of thing that came in and
surprise, surprise, yeah, so bigimportance to have those
weights.

Speaker 6 (51:21):
Wow, yes, yeah, there you go.
So I had the whole experiencewithout the blood, just seeing
it fly in the wind, but that'sintense and that's exactly why
it's so important and I yeah,I'm a stickler for it.
I just drove people nutsrunning around, reminding them
to please have them in place.

Speaker 5 (51:38):
Right.
So, lexi, tell us you knowwhat's your opinion on farmer's
market and food security andhelping those systems take place
.

Speaker 6 (51:47):
Oh, it's such a big passion of mine it really is,
and the fact that it's not a bigpassion of every person is just
it's bewildering to me.
It's become something that hasreally consumed me.
We have Harvest Halliburtonhere as well and they're all
wonderful volunteers that arereally taking part on creating a
more sustainable food systems.
And we're looking to update ourlocal policies as well to see

(52:09):
how we can create better supportsystems for people that are
involved around food security.
You know we've just acceptedthe Minden Food Bank to have a
few opportunities to come inMinden as well to promote
education, and they havemembership opportunities.
So it's really important to seewhat it means to truly have a

(52:33):
sustainable food system, and bythat I mean from those who are
growing it, those who aredistributing it, those who are
the waste production and thecomposting, how that's available
and how to make it accessibleand affordable composting how
that's available, but and how tomake it accessible and
affordable.
So the cost of our food rightnow is abysmal.

(52:53):
It is just so upsetting that itmakes people sick.
It makes them sick becausethey're chasing the almighty
dollar that they'll never billto just pay for their food.
And there is more of aconversation around organic food
, and we have generations stillin our community that are saying

(53:15):
it's silly, the idea of organicfood is silly, but what we mean
by organic food is food that isnot touched by synthetics.
So we have a lot of things atplay here.
One is the affordability, oneis the health of our food, and
that creates health of ourpeople, and if our people aren't
healthy, we can't do anything.

(53:37):
So you know, the cost of livingis extreme.
Our communities are reallyspreading out and not as much
working together.
I do feel we're shifting inthat.
Currently I feel we are workingto come back together, but we
are chasing the almighty dollarbecause we create our little

(53:58):
closed systems of our homes andour lands, we shut the door and
we have to pay for these bills.
That's no longer manageableanymore and it makes living hard
.
And the more that we look ateach other and say what are you
good at?
This is what I'm good at.
Let's work together.
And I don't mean in the hippiecommune idea, although I'm so
open to that.

(54:18):
I mean in the sense of you'refantastic at growing food, I'm
fantastic at managing thecompost, you're fantastic at
carpentry or building.
Having that sense of sharing orsupporting is important and it
sounds so idealistic and veryhippie, but it's really the root

(54:43):
of us.
So I can go on all day aboutthis.
But the reason I came to thiscommunity, in particular my
family we're both 36 with afour-year-old to say, to
genuinely say we need to dobetter with our foods and we
came onto our property where wefelt we were called to, in which
we could do that, and we triedhard to make that possible.

(55:06):
But we do have lots of peopleat play that are still saying
money is what matters and thisis not manageable.
And I'm here to say that it isso.
With the farmer's market, it'sreally about creating a place
that's financially supportive toour local growers and producers
and our artisans, of course,but for this conversation I'm

(55:29):
talking about our food peoplewhere they can afford to come
and sell their food andeverything from.
We do have meat as well, so youcan come and connect with your
farmers that are raising theiranimals in a really conscious
way and to have that connectionand to see where our food is
coming from and to keep ourfoods closer to home.

(55:51):
So having this shipping ofbutternut squash to Foodland and
I'm not trying to harp onFoodland, but that's just an
example.
Bring your squash in Februaryto Foodland from God knows where
and how long it took to gethere and what radiated onto our
food to keep it alive to comehere.
And then all the healthregulations that are involved in

(56:13):
keeping our food alive to shiplike cilantro.
Cilantro should never beshipped.
It needs to stay alive, itneeds to stay vibrant and we
have to keep our food closer toour soil.
We really need to shift ourconversation on what it means to
keep our community well andit's very complicated because
we're very disconnected.

(56:34):
So the more that we haveopportunities to get our feet
into the ground, to have calmconversations about what it
means to be well and to supportpeople that are doing that is
imperative.
It's so imperative for thewellness of our future and our
kids.
So I really appreciate whatHarvest Halliburton is doing.
They're really trying to reallymake some shifts to make

(56:58):
support systems better for ourcommunity and you can hear my
rooster screaming in thebackground right now so to
really keep our food and oursystems closer to home and, you
know, shift in the way that wesupport each other.
So I really am concerned abouthow we go into these mortgages
that are unattainable.

(57:18):
We have to all have full-timejobs and put our kids somewhere
else, and we can't grow ourfoods.
So the reason that we've alwayshad school or education where
the summers were off is not togive the kids a break.
Kids should never need breaksfrom anything.
They really need to slow downand how they're actually

(57:42):
interacting with what it meansto be educated.
But the summer was meant togrow food.
That was the root of summertime.
You all take time off.
The kids come home and help momand dad in the garden, and
that's what my daughter knows.
She said mommy, what the heck issummer, why am I not in forest
school anymore?
I said well, honey, the kidshave to come home and help in
the garden.
Okay, great, I'm so excited tohelp in the garden.

(58:03):
So we really need tore-evaluate.

(58:26):
And then, if you have to payfor employees, they have to have
a livable, a manageable earningas well to support themselves.
So we really have to take apause and see what's important
and reevaluate how we're makingthis work.

Speaker 5 (58:41):
Oh, absolutely, I know my baba, my mother's mother
, my grandmother on my mother'sside, and not only that, but my
in-laws as well, my wife'sparents.
The backyard at my mother'smother, my grandmother on my
mother's side, and not only that, but my in-laws as well, my
wife's parents the backyard atmy Baba's was all garden the
entire hardly any grass there atall, and it was all growing at
all her own plants and tomatoesand peppers and everything, and

(59:03):
of course there was apple treesand pear trees and plum trees,
and then would jar everythingand consume all that material
all year long.
Not don't see that happeninganymore to the extent that it
used to at all, and a lot ofpeople need to realize that food
security is something that weall take for granted.
I mean, they just go to thegrocery store and assume
everything's taken care of andfine, fine and I've talked about

(59:30):
this from a number ofperspectives, whether it was the
beekeepers I've had on that, ifyou want to support your local
beekeepers, keep bees out there,buy your local honey, and yes,
if you go to a place like afarmer's market, you're going to
pay more for it, but you'resupporting the individual that's
actually producing and making adifference, as opposed to going
to a large chain grocery storethat's buying it en masse and
you're not even sure the qualityand all the materials.

(59:51):
It's the same with farmersmarkets.
If you want to get something onsale or a special chances are
you're going to be paying more,but you're going to know where
it's coming from and you'redirectly supporting that food
source systems to make sure it'sthere for future generations as
well.

Speaker 6 (01:00:06):
And if you want to go to the simplicity of it, if
health is not a concern, how youfeel in your body is not a
concern which it isn't for a lotof people you have to think of
well, do you want your food tostay close or do you want to be
farther away?
And so if you want to also lookat our talk with how the health
of our planet is doing, ifthat's what's ringing your tune,

(01:00:29):
then you can think of well, ifI'm paying our farmer's market,
who probably maybe can't affordor can't manage a brick and
mortar, because think of thecost of that then at least I'm
supporting them so they can keepdoing what they're doing.
And if you don't come tofarmer's market and support
those people, then they can'tkeep doing what they're doing.
So the first few weeks there'sthe new vendors say oh no,

(01:00:53):
there's not a lot of peopleright now.
Are they going to be coming?
You know, am I going to besupported here?
And I always remind that wehave seasons, we have a slower
season than we peak, and then wekind of level off as the school
comes back in.
But it's so important and I'mworking hard at our marketing
and our emphasis aroundsupporting our farmers.

(01:01:13):
So you know, if finances aretight for you, then just buy
your honey from us.
Or just just support your localartisan who's working their
butt offs to produce somethingwonderful for you.
Um at the farmer's market whocan't have the brick and mortar
for whatever reason and there'sso many different reasons and
come by, just buy your celery orwe just had asparagus just come

(01:01:36):
, buy your asparagus and youbuying that asparagus is going
to continue to enable them to beable to come to the market and
therefore keep doing whatthey're doing, which is growing
food or making food products orbeing the artisan.
So it's so important to try todo your part as much as you can
with your local communities sowe don't have to rely on

(01:01:58):
shipping food in.
We can keep our trucks not onthe road, the planes, whatever.
However they ship South Americanfood, I don't know.
But to stop that from happeningand support the people that are
here and, honestly, just come,just coming and talking, have
conversations.
The beauty of the farmer'smarket is also you get to talk

(01:02:19):
to people.
If they're standing in theirbooth, it's likely because they
feel comfortable answeringquestions, and every single one
of them are wonderful people andthey'll answer your questions.
Where does the food come from?
Where are you located?
Can you tell me about your bees?
Can you tell me how you madeyour t-shirts?
And they'll talk to you andthey'll tell you all about it.

(01:02:40):
But if you go to Foodland, youhave no clue where it comes from
and what has happened to thatfood as it came here.
There's these ridiculousregulations around radiating and
spraying and just to maintainthe health and life cycle as
they're being shipped in fromacross the world.
It's ridiculous, I know.

Speaker 5 (01:02:58):
I I always thought and I threw it out there a few
times but I didn't get anybodysaid it would be great that it.
It's a bit of a culturalmindset change that needs to
take place with a lot of thesethings.
Whereas places like restaurants, for example, if they were to
have signs out front in theirwindows, just a small sign that
says local farmer's market orfarmer supporter, that they're

(01:03:25):
using the materials that they'recooking with or making in the
restaurant or selling in theirstores from the local farmers
markets or the local farms thatthey would be, you'd be able to
walk by and see that, oh, thisis locally grown, which would be
a go a long way, I think, ingetting that cultural mindset
change.

Speaker 6 (01:03:38):
Absolutely.
And you know Halliburton's sucha small county that you know
there's a bit of.
You know the ones that arereally involved in the community
.
There's a bit of a reputationas to who is supporting what,
and I that's a fantastic idea.
And you know the ones that arereally involved in the community
.
There's a bit of a reputationas to who is supporting what,
and I that's a fantastic idea.
And you know at least puttingit on their social platforms or
in their windows and just getthat conversation going, because
I know of restaurants that aredoing that, that they are

(01:04:01):
sourcing from local garlic andthey're sourcing the local
greens when it comes up and thelocal mushrooms.
So they're absolutely doingthat and it'd be really a great
idea to emphasize that.
Absolutely, yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:04:13):
So tell us, lexi, how can people, what are your
market days and maybe tell us abit about your vendors, or give
us some of the details on themarkets and the times.
And what do you do?
Is there rain days, is it goingon a rain day or not, or is it
still continuing?
And of give us some a breakdownof your markets and your times
and dates and locations sure.

Speaker 6 (01:04:32):
So tuesday we're in halliburton from 10 to 2 and
we're located in headlake park.
So just you know, just in themain strip behind that, the main
business area where that newgiant uh kids park is.
We're in headlake park thereand, uh, minden, we're um, just
behind the government buildings,behind the LCBO and all the
restaurants that are there, thestreets are we're in a bit of a

(01:04:54):
corner.
I think it's Prince and PilonStreet I've never been able to
pronounce that street but justbehind those government
buildings.
If you're going to the core ofthe Minden Center, we're just in
those parking lots there andwe're actually right beside the
Artisan Market as well, andwe're just in those parking lots
there and we're actually rightbeside the Artisan Market as
well, and we're also 10 to 2.
And this market is going tocontinue to run until October
11th and so rain or shine we'regoing.

(01:05:18):
If there's lightning involvedin our area I will stop.
But other than that, rain orshine, we are happening.
You know, july 1st we're stillgoing to be up and running.
We don't take holidays, we'realways there unless that
lightning is coming down.

Speaker 5 (01:05:36):
Great.
And so, Alexia, how do peopleget in touch with you and find
out more details about thefarmers markets and all the
great things we talked about?

Speaker 6 (01:05:43):
Yeah, so I mean, I manage all of our platforms
right now.
So we are at hcfmaca andeverything can be available
there as well.
So, to find our socialplatforms, we're on Facebook,
we're on Instagram and our emailis on there as well, which is
incredible hcfmagmailcom.

(01:06:06):
But if you go to our website,everything's available there.
If you are interested inbecoming a vendor, you can send
me an email.
I'd say at this point, send mean email first before you take
the time going through anapplication, just to ensure we
have a spot for what you want tobe offering.
But our platforms are there andyou can connect with me there
if you have any questions and,as you can hear, I love chatting

(01:06:26):
.
So if you have any questions,if you're interested in doing
any form of promotions orcommunity, we also have
performers coming.
We have a couple events comingup, we have buskers, so we have
some big things comingthroughout the season as well.
So, if there's something thatyou're interested in being
involved with the market, welove to find opportunities to
support our not-for-profits andany of our local businesses if

(01:06:50):
we can.
So you're welcome to send me anemail and see what you're
interested in and I'll see whatwe can do through there as well,
and we have a wonderful boardof directors.
We're so lucky to havelong-term board of directors
that are volunteering their time.
Many of them are vendors aswell and they really keep this
ship sailing and we're reallyglad to have them, so they're

(01:07:13):
involved as well.
You can see some of them at themarket and, yeah, I'd love to
connect with if you have anyquestions.
Interests, long-term plans,partnerships I love hearing what
you have going on.

Speaker 5 (01:07:24):
Well, thanks very much.
We really appreciate that.
Alexi is the manager of thehaliburton and the mid farmers
markets who's given us someinsight on all about farmers
markets and aboutself-sustaining food sources and
making sure that we we do thethings that are necessary for
future generations.
Thanks very much for being onon the program lexi thank you so
much for having me, jerry.

Speaker 6 (01:07:44):
I'm really glad to have been here yeah, no problem.

Speaker 5 (01:07:47):
It's just a little something different and a little
something more important thatpeople learning out there, out
there under the canopy.
Thanks again.

Speaker 6 (01:07:53):
Thank you.

Speaker 2 (01:08:12):
How did a small-town sheet metal mechanic come to
build one of Canada's mosticonic fishing lodges?
I'm your host, steve Nitzwicky,and you'll find out about that
and a whole lot more on theOutdoor Journal Radio Network's
newest podcast, diaries of aLodge Owner.
But this podcast will be morethan that.
Every week on Diaries of aLodge Owner, I'm going to

(01:08:35):
introduce you to a ton of greatpeople, share their stories of
our trials, tribulations andinspirations, learn and have
plenty of laughs along the way.

Speaker 1 (01:08:47):
Meanwhile we're sitting there bobbing along
trying to figure out how tocatch a bass and we both decided
one day we were going to be ontelevision doing a fishing show.

Speaker 2 (01:08:56):
My hands get sore a little bit when I'm reeling in
all those bass in the summertime, but that might be for more
fishing than it was punching.

Speaker 5 (01:09:03):
You so confidently you said hey.

Speaker 2 (01:09:06):
Pat, have you ever eaten a drum?
Find Diaries of a Lodge Ownernow on Spotify, apple Podcasts
or wherever you get your podcast.