Mapleton's Dairy - Fridays at the Farm!

There is so much fun stuff to do in and around this great city of ours! Can't think of what to do Friday night? Want to have fun with the whole family? Have I got the event for you!

Mapleton's Organic Dairy is once again presenting Fridays at the Farm.  It started on June 25th and will go on until Labour Day. I suggest giving them a shout to confirm though. I know they missed one Friday and I wouldn't want you to be disappointed.
It sounds like a blast! There is a ton of stuff to do! There is a demo barn with chickens, calves and piglets and donkeys too. There is a maze created out of a two-acre cedar hedge that encircles a Pirate Ship!  And of course Farmer's Golf! What is Farmer's golf, you ask? Clearly you are not Dutch!  Mapleton's is the first to open a course in Ontario, it sounds hilariously fun! On Fridays at the Farm, from 4-8pm there is free music, wagon rides, agricultural demos and kids events. They fire up the grill and serve Mapleton's own burgers and sausages. There is also seasonal salads and veggies prepared in their cafe.

Mapleton's Organic Dairy is outside of Moorefield, north of Fergus. Check out the link to get directions.

Into Jewellery

Another talented jewellery artisan to introduce you to is Mervi Haapakoski of Into Jewellery. 
Mervi Haapakoski is an Finnish artist currently living in Toronto. She received her MA from the University of Art and Design in Helsinki, Finland. Since 1994 she has worked as a hot glass artist.  In 2008 she expanded her life long passion of knitting and crocheting into designing and producing her own line of jewellery.
There is a feel of airiness and light in her designs, such as in this Champagne Green Fresh Water Multi String Choker, made from champagne green fresh water pearls.  The choker has a sterling silver clasp, and is crocheted with nylon coated metal wire.

We are so pleased to have Mervi with us. More products can be found at Into Jewellery.

Coy Clothes

Perhaps I enjoy Mad Men a little too much, or maybe it's because our cottage is straight out of 1962 that I have to say I enjoy that mid-century modern vibe in all things.
Coy Clothes - another fab 100 Mile Finds vendor creates that retro feel in the design and production of their fun T-shirts.
Lisa pairs silk-screened retro advertising art with cheeky text to create distinctly fun clothing. The images range from the sweet to the saucy and are geared to men, women, kids and babes.

A serious stash of old patches  like old uniform name tags, scout badges, beer patches and of course, law enforcement badges are used to create truly one-of-a-kind items.
The shirts are made in Toronto and they’re bamboo – good for the earth and crazy comfortable.

Check them out, you'll love them as much as my Mom and Dad did the first time around.

Tour of Niagara

Looking for something fun to do on Labour Day weekend? 

Have I got the tour for you! 

Check this out!

A girl can dream, right?!

Tour of Niagara Includes

Sailing to and from Niagara aboard a 40-46 foot Hunter Yacht

Two nights at the luxurious White Oaks Resort in Niagara-on-the-Lake

Private tastings at five prestigious Niagara wineries

Five gourmet meals with commentary by Chatto and Lawrason

Meet leading farmers and winemakers.

It is $1295 + HST per person and you must be 19 years of age to participate.
For more info go to our  Shows & Sales page

Fenwood Farms at 100 mile finds

Fenwood Farm is at 774 Sawmill Road in Ancaster. They carry Naturally Raised Chickens, Certified Organic Chickens, Venison, Natural Beef, Natural Pork, Wild Caught Seafood, Eggs (when available), Emu Oil AND Mapleton Organic Ice-cream and Frozen Yogurt AND Organic Chocolate AND Pet Food! They have fair trade, organic coffee too, 3 different kinds! It's practically one stop shopping!!!

You don't even have to go to the farm if you don't want to, or more likely just don't have the time! You can order by email or fax! LOVE IT!
Wait it gets better!  The Healthy Butcher, Butcher by Nature, Blossom Organics carry them in the GTA.

Skarce Handmade Designer Jewelry

We wanted to take a little time to introduce you to some of our amazing vendors at 100 Mile Finds.  The backbone of our site are the incredible artisans who make beautiful, original pieces that truly are unique.  One of these artisans is Rob Skarce of Skarce Handmade Designer Jewelry.  According to Rob,
"It all started one day a few years back…I had broken my favorite hemp necklace that I had worn for years and set out to replace it. After searching every store in the area without any luck, I decided that I would make a new one myself. I went to a local bead store, purchased some cool beads, a roll of hemp and a how-to book."
Rob's focus now is on working with copper, brass and silver, married in unexpected ways with beautiful semi-precious stones, leathers and fibres.

Upset at 100 mile finds

Heading up to someone's cottage this summer? Want to be the perfect guest? At the very least, the guest that gets invited back?
Here are some tips!
Offer to make at least one meal, from start to finish, more if you are staying more than a couple of days.
Don't leave your condiments behind! Seriously, nobody needs 4 jars of mustard at the end of the season, NOBODY!
Bring your own bath and beach towels! If you want to be the guest of all guests, bring your own bedding! It will be like you were never there! You just cover the existing bedding with yours a voila! you are guest extraordinaire!
A good hostess gift is important too! Here's an idea, what about "UPSET" it's a game by PS Play games. It is recommended for 12 years and up. It can be played with 2-6 players. It's about choice, strategy and chance.

Happy travels!

Mama Earth Organics at 100 mile finds!

I love buying local produce! It tastes amazing, who knew tomatoes or strawberries could taste sooo good?! As I've mentioned before, the hard part is finding it. Well Mama Earth Organics will bring it right to your door, how great is that?!
They have 4 sizes of weekly produce baskets, small for $27.50, Medium at $35.00, Large for $45 and Family size for $55. You can customize a basket for $2 more.

The produce is certified organic, and sourced from Ontario organic farms. They also work with like-minded, local, small businesses, non-profits, and artisans.
That's one of the things I LOVE about Mama Organics is that you can easily add items like freshly baked organic bread, hand-made organic cheeses and other local delicacies!
Just hit the link above and go from there to their website or you can call them at 416-850-8662.
Yummy!

Borden Communication and Design

We had an amazing conversation yesterday with Lisa Borden of Borden Communication and Design.  Lisa took the time out of her busy day to talk to us about 100 Mile Finds. As any small business owner knows, some second-guessing of your own vision is inevitable, so it was with great relief that Lisa opened with congratulations to us for taking on the role of champions for the small, local and cool folks we represent.
It was fabulous to hear a new perspective on the site from someone who was both objective and had a ton of knowledge about what we are trying to accomplish.  It seemed important to Lisa that her business, and the businesses she is helping to reach the next level, were meaningful and making positive contributions to the world.  Kudos to you Lisa for not losing sight of what energizes and excites you.  It is tempting to measure our business success just through the bottom line, so it was so nice to hear from someone with a broader vision.

http://www.bordencom.com/

We hope this is the 'beginning of a beautiful friendship' (Casablanca??), but thank Lisa again for taking the time, providing valuable insight, and for the vote of confidence.

Toronto Craft Alert is on hiatus!

What is the saying? When one door closes a window opens somewhere else? Something like that. Well in this case one door is closing, for a while, and a bunch of windows are opening up!
As some of you may know, Toronto Craft Alert is going on hiatus, with the plan of reopening in January 2011. In an effort to support their much deserved break, local and national websites are stepping up to the plate to remind vendors of other venues to list submission calls, vendor calls, and craft show listings.

The #1 site offering such a service is www.100milefinds.com We are now adding to our Shows & Sales page an opportunity for local crafters, artisans and craft show organizers a unique opportunity to list their information with us. Submission calls, vendor calls are welcome! Since we cater to the Southern Ontario
area, to both artisans and customers, we feel we provide a very broad audience .
If you have a submission or vendor call local to the Southern Ontario area, or want to let everyone know about an upcoming craft show, give us a shout at info@100milefinds.com and we will list it on our Shows & Sales page and probably blog about it too!



There are some other great sites to check out too. Canada Arts Connect is a great resource. Although it is "Canadian" it seems to feature a bevy of local events.

There is also the Toronto Etsy Street Team, they have a great blog, and although it is "Etsy", not so local at the top, they are doing a great job keeping their local following informed. 

There is a site called Akimbo It is a local site that promotes contemporary visual art, video, new media and film locally, nationally and internationally via the internet. They have a huge call for submission section.


Another site that TCA has mentioned as a resource is Instant Coffee.  It is an emailing service. You subcribe to an email list in your area and that gives you the opportunity to post events, submission and vendor calls and such like and also puts you on the receiving end. They call themselves a "service oriented artist collective" It sounds quite cool and I've just joined so we'll see how it goes.


TCA is also keeping their forums open too. They are also encouraging people to join their facebook page.


In an effort to get the ball rolling here is a great submission call we just received at 100 mile finds headquarters!


Brocante Lux:

A local monthly Fashion and Art Market in St.Catherines, beginning September 17. The remaining dates in 2010 are Oct. 29th and Nov. 26th.
Local artists and business women, Erin Snow and Julie Prescesky, have teamed together to provide a consistent outlet for themselves and other local artisans to showcase their work on a monthly basis.
The goal is to provide a central place where the arts can grow and flourish while helping support Niagara's artistic vibe and local economy. The early bird deadline for the September 17th show is August 15th.

We'll keep you posted!

Local Produce!

One of the big problems about buying local is, it ain't so easy to do! There are a plethora of reasons why, I don't really care for any of them. I just want to buy some local produce while I can, and I can't dedicate a whole bunch of time to it. This week I want to introduce you to a couple of amazing options.

The folks at Plan b Organic Farms  will deliver fresh, organic, local produce right to your door! Oh yes they will!!

Here's the skinny on it. If I was more organized, it's been a rough spring, I would have told you about the CSA sooner but not to worry, we can still get on this band wagon! Originally what they were doing was offering a CSA (Community Shared Agriculture) Essentially early each spring, local households, that's us, buy subscription "shares" of the year's harvest from a local organic farm. CSA holders pay for their produce at the beginning of the growing season, providing necessary start-up capital for the farmers. It means the farmers don't have to rely on expensive bank loans, helping to pay for the real cost of the food. This is important now and for our futures.

Because we are now in the middle of the growing season Plan b has gone to, you guessed it, plan b! They are prorating all the prices on a weekly basis to reflect the $22.50, $30, and $40 per week value in their different boxes. It's a great time of year to join because it's not just asparagus and strawberries anymore, there are a "cornucopia" of options!

Why Plan b Organic Farms?

• First they grow and source from 12 certified organic farms in Southern Ontario for your shares each week. This means a greater variety of foods in your share each week.
• You have the option of having a home delivery for a small extra cost or you can pick up your produce from one of a ton of different depots in Southern Ontario.
• There are a variety of "box" options to suit your families needs
• They've made it uber easy, you can order on-line!!!

Check out their 100 mile finds store, and link from there to their website to order your share.
Shirl

Local Fruit & Veggies and the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition!

Can it be true?! Strawberries are done, and we've moved onto raspberries and blueberries! I'm a raspberry lover, but it seems that the summer is whizzing by at an alarming rate! We're still pounding back asparagus at our house, although I'm not a huge cherry lover, I noticed them in the grocery store too!
Make sure you buy local while you can!

This weekend is the 49th annual Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition at Nathan Phillips Square. You can bet Susan and I will be there. It is a juried showcase featuring about 400 artisans exhibiting contemporary fine art and crafts. Check out their website for more details http://www.torontooutdoorart.org

Since it's so hard to buy local fruits and veggies at the supermarkets we've decided to get some delivered to the house. I'm gonna check www.100milefinds.com and see what there is!

Have a great day!