Be a “Locavore” or “Locke-a-Vore” - Locke Street South Welcomes Hamilton's Newest Farmers' Market!

Locke Street is buzzing with anticipation of Hamilton’s newest Farmers’ Market. Local farmers and producers will be selling their vegetables, fruits, meat and bread to the neighbourhoods around Locke Street.

WHAT: Grand Opening of the Locke Street Farmers’ Market

WHEN: Thursday June 17, 2010
from 3pm-7pm

WHERE: Located in the parking lot next to Fenian Films located at 211 Locke Street South.

WHY: Delivered from the farmer’s fields to the heart of Locke Street, families young and old will be able to access the freshest of locally grown products. The farms are local, sustainable and managed by families who care for their land and their animals.

The term “Locavore” was developed a few years ago to capture what it means to support local and sustainable food systems. While chatting with local farmers, Tom Ratcliffe of Melrose United Church was inspired to say, “Be a Locke-a-Vore”. And so it will be that the people of the Locke St. neighbourhoods will have a unique opportunity this summer to be a “Locke-a-Vore”.

The Locke Street Farmers’ Market will be every Thursdays from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. beginning June 17, 2010.
List of farmers and food producers include:
Black Walnut Lane - Ron and Adele Service, Millgrove, 905-689-0698 (lamb and beef)
Earth To Table Bakery : Bettina Schormann, Hamilton, 905-516-2362 (bread)
Hay Seed Organic Farm: Jessica Andrews, Bennet Deakin, Kalvis Auzins, Brantford,
519-758-0327 (vegetables)
ManoRun Organic Farm: Chris Krucker, Copetown, 905-648-9608 (vegetables)
Summer Hill Farm : Mark and Tania Veenstra, Waterdown, 905-689-2796 (wild Boar)

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For questions? Contact Adele Service from Black Walnut Lane at 905-689-0698
Chris Krucker from ManoRun Organic Farm at 905-648-9608

The Farm Map Launch - a GRAND success!

On Friday May 14th, 22 Wilson Street was the place to be! Hundreds came out to celebrate the release of the new Hamilton Farm Map at Environment Hamilton's new home. As part of the May James Street North Art Crawl, crawlers: sampled local VQA wines (and Puddicombe's fruit wine) presented by the fabulous Sommelier, Karen La Vigne; everyone checked out Eat Local's first ever photo exhibit of the local farms on our map and enjoyed the sounds of musicians Dan Medakovic and Willy Mudenge. The launch was a two-in-one event as Environment Hamilton flung open ithe doors to welcome Art Crawl participants to our new home. Local visual artist, Louisa Kratka was creating a hands-on display as part of the Good Neighbour Campaign. Thank you to everyone that came out to show their support.

Juby Lee, this year’s Farm Map Manager would like to thank the following for their support: our funders; City of Hamilton and Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation.
And the following for their support in the new map: Conserver's Society, designer Tor Lukasik-Foss, volunteer superstar - Sarah Kam, Caroline Merritt and Ottawa Street Farmers Market, Morden's Organic Farm Store for their tasty donation of butter and jams, Puddicombe's for donating some of their amazing wines, Sommelier Karen LaVigne , musicians Willy Mudenge and Dan Medakovic, artist Louisa Kratka, summer interns from the City of Hamilton - Megan and Dave, and last but not least, Environment Hamilton.

New Farm Map at two markets - and this is just the beginning!

Mountain Farmers' Market opens its doors for 2010!
The brand new farm maps were at the Mountain Farmers Market Grand Opening and talk about starting off with a bang! Local goodies such as apples, rhubarb, maple syrup and wine jellies were displayed and many eaters came out to buy from their farmers. Friends gathered over hot, fresh coffee and hot dogs to catch up on the latest news and many left happy with their re-usable bags foodstuff overflowing with locally produced foods. The market is open every Saturday from now to the first week of November from 7am-1:30pm and is located at 19 Viewpoint Avenue. Go early as seasonal highlights like asparagus are snapped up quickly.


Ottawa Street Farmers Market presents "Customer Appreciation Day"
To thank the loyal patrons of Ottawa Street Farmers' Market, everyone was treated to Customer Appreciation Event. Councillor Sam Merulla was on site to personally thank everyone (and hand out coffee!). The new farm map was also being distributed to an enthusiastic crowd. The market is open all year round, every Friday to Saturday from 7am-3pm and it located at 204 Ottawa Street North. For more info check out their website: www.ottawastreetfarmers.com