Well Preserved

We often get asked about eating locally through the winter; we are not 100% local eaters though we do try to stay seasonal and when it makes sense for us to buy local we do so.  I know there is very little scientific proof to support my rationale that food grown by people you know tastes better than that made by those you can’t trace but I chose to suspend logic and simply believe that’s true.

Large retailers do a better job than ever with Canadian produce but finding truly local can be difficult finding local food in our city.  We learned last year that by mid-winter things like squash, onions, carrots and even potatoes are difficult to come by.  If only we had a cold cellar…

The Stop has a great winter market at Wychwood Barns which is open every Saturday morning (year round) and features the food of farmers from around the GTA.  The difficulty for us is the distance that Wychwood is from home – it’s a lovely place that’s nearly full across the city.  We still make it out there every 4-6 weeks and I truly adore it when I can – weekly grocery trips are out of the Question for us.

Appletree Market (Yonge and Eglington) also has a bi-weekly Winter Market and Dufferin Grove goes through the winter as well.  These are also further treks for us.

The Brickworks has announced a new winter market for this year that’s much closer and I’ll be excited to check out as well.

I’m thrilled to share that Kawartha Ecological Growers is continuing it’s winter CSA program from last year.  We’ve been members through the summer and been supporters/ friends for the last few years.

The program is straightforward:

• Each share is picked up once every two weeks.
• The program runs from the start of January through mid-may (20 weeks)
• Each pickup includes $35 of chosen product and $25 of credit that you can choose to your liking.
• Selections include 14 different types of potatoes, different types of squash, parsnips, carrots, beets, onions, celeriac, and a tonne of veggies including late and early season kale, baby greens, sprouts, dried beans, preserves, flour, maple syrup, and meats (including duck, goat, pork, lamb and more) that are from the CoOperative.

There are 3 pick-up locations (Univeristy of Toronto, Ceili Cottage in the East and the AppleTree Market (Yonge and Eglington) in the winter.  There’s more detail here(scroll down for  or email Shannon for more info (she’s super friendly).  We’ve had an amazing growing season in Southern Ontario this year and I’m hoping the cellars of KEG will help augment our eating through the winter.

There’s only 150 shares, so let them know soon if you are planning on joining (we’ve jumped on ours).  If you’re picking up at Leslieville, let us know; would be fun to have a mid-winter pint with a few ‘digital friends.’

If you have a winter market or CSA that you wish to bring awareness to, feel free to add to the discussion in the comments below (no matter where your “local” is).