This year Canada Day, July 1st, fell on a Saturday. It seems most of the farmers markets are open on Saturday mornings. This made Canada Day the perfect day for farmers market visits. So I packed my car up with shopping bags and water and headed out for a morning for farmers markets. The weather was perfect or at least it was a perfect day to be in an air-conditioned car! I initially intended to visit one market, the North Gower Farmers Market, but ended up visiting 4 markets!
The first was the North Gower Farmers Market, as planned. It wasn’t as far as I thought from the south end of Ottawa. The drive was just under 30 minutes from the south end of Ottawa. It was easy to find and indeed there was a red barn. It wasn’t a big market but it was well laid out. There was a performer singing at the entrance to the barn and a few vendors outside, one at the entrance and one at the exit of the barn. There were picnic tables outside which was perfect for resting, eating, and watching the performer. Once inside the barn, it was a little empty but what was there was varied. A bit of product, artisans, vendors selling homemade prepared foods, jams and preserves, and tea. I was so excited to see an independent tea blender selling their creations. The tea that was featured here was from the Tea Addic. I couldn’t resist and bought 3 tins of tea, two herbal and one black. Looking forward to trying them. I also bought an onion and fig jam that was very good! Very excited to visit again later in the season. Oh yes, there was plenty of parking.
North Gower Farmers Market
Location: 2397 Roger Stevens Drive (Big Red Barn)
Dates: Spring-Fall
Hours: Saturdays, 8:30 am – 1 pm
Website: https://northgowerfarmersmarket.wordpress.com/
My second farm visit wasn’t quite a farmers market but the Millers Farm Market & Garden Centre. How I found this farm was just by chance. I was Googling for the Manotick Farmers Market and this farm market showed up. It was quite a grand-looking entrance, with piles of earth, rows of cars parked, very impressive turnout, I thought. As I approached the barn I noticed that it was more than just food, it was also plants. This was great because I was considering buying a few more plants for the backyard, but that’s another post. As I reached the entrance, that’s when I noticed, it wasn’t a farmers market, but rather the store and garden centre for the one farm, Millers Farms. And it seems it was strawberry picking season which explained all the families and baskets of strawberries I saw. It was a lovely setting and store. Lots of baked goods, coffee and handmade goods. I didn’t have time to pick my own strawberries, otherwise, I would have. I did buy a basket of strawberries, and they were very tasty! Certainly worth the stop. I’m looking forward to seeing what else they have later in the season.
Millers Farm Market & Garden Centre
Location: 6158 Rideau Valley Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K4M 1B3
Dates: May 1 – October 31
Hours: Open daily
Website: https://www.millersfarmandmarket.ca/
After strawberries at Millers Farm and only minutes from Manotick, I had to drop by the Manotick Farmers Market. Now, I’ve been to Manotick many times usually to visit the Watson Mill and the river. Very picturesque little place. But this time was to visit the market. The farmers market is just across from Watson’s Mill. I was excited and expecting something impressive given my first two market visits. Unfortunately, Manotick’s little farmers market left quite a bit to be desired. It was just that, very little. Hopefully, it was because it was a holiday or early in the growing season, but I was a bit disappointed. I think there was a soap and skincare vendor, a plant vendor, a strawberry vendor, and a couple of crafts and artisans. I’ll have to check it out when it’s not a holiday and see if there is a bigger turnout. Parking could be found on side streets in the neighbourhood.
Manotick Farmers Market
Location: 5525 Dickinson St., Manotick, ON
Dates: June – October
Hours: Saturdays, 9 am – 3 pm
Website: https://www.facebook.com/ManotickFarmersMarket/
My final farmers market visit was to the Barrhaven Farmers Market or the Log Farm. This was a pleasant surprise as well. By the name and location, I was expecting it to be similar to the Millers Farm a couple of visits earlier. But it wasn’t. It was indeed a farmers market with vendors! There was even a gift shop and an entrance fee to a trail of some sort. I’ll have to explore that a bit more next time. Vendors were varied. They included a pasta guy, a girl who makes cork bags, craft beef, I think, baked goods, artisans, Indian food, and much more. The vendors wind around a path to a central location that leads to the entrance to the path and to the gift shop. There was plenty of parking. I’ll have to make this one of my first visits next time so can take a closer look and enjoy some of the food.
The Log Farm, Barrhaven Farmers Market
Location: 670 Cedarview Road, Nepean, ON (Between Hunt Club and Fallowfield)
Dates: May – October
Hours: Saturdays, 9 am – 2 pm
Website: https://barrhavenfarmersmarket.com/
Successful Canada Day morning. Three farmers markets, new loose-leaf tea to try, sweet, freshly picked strawberries, and a business card from someone who makes cork bags! And I got home before the rain!
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