My daughter just brought me to the Orleans Farmers' Market. I can't believe I've lived in Orleans…read morefor over 8 years and I had never been before. It's pretty small but had a good variety of vendors. It's in the Ray Friel Centre parking lot. They had vendors selling fruits and vegetables, meats, baked goods, and hot foods. They had Indian food, Thai food and Korean food. I got a walnut pancake at Mother's Meals, the Korean food vendor and a taro sticky rice roll wrapped in banana leaves at Thai Kitchen Catering Service and Restaurant. Both were things I never had before, so I enjoyed the experience. I'm glad to have a Farmers' Market in Orleans, although it would be nicer if it was a bit bigger.

This is not the best Farmers' Market out there, and it's on par with the one in Kanata. It's super…read moredinky and is in a parking lot, just like the Kanata one. I think it used to be at a different location, maybe on Centrum Boulevard (?), but it's now in the parking lot at Fallingbrook Centre, near the Ray Friel Complex. It runs May-October on Thursdays from noon until 6pm. Most of the vendors sell fruits and vegetables, but there are a few baked goods vendors too. I think it's nice that Orleans has a Farmers' Market, and it's good for people who live out there, but I live near the Westboro Farmers' Market and regularly go to the Farmers' Market at Lansdowne Park and these 2 are much bigger and have more variety. For what it is, I guess it's not bad, but compared to other Farmers' Markets around it's a bit small.

My friend and I did a quick tour of Parkdale Market. It's a small, outdoor market that I got to…read morecheck out during my first visit to Hintonburg. Granted, I feel that this review doesn't fully express how great or horrible this market is. It wasn't really open when we were there. There were a handful of vendors there setting up, so I didn't get the full experience. They were preparing for the night market. We were there in the afternoon. We did see a few cool vendor stalls. There was one with healthy plants. It is deadly travelling and not being able to buy all plants that I want. There was a West Indian food stall. The thought that it could potentially sell oxtail and jerk everything made me happy. I'm drooling already! We did manage to see some fresh, local produce. Again, it's a pain not being able to buy green beans and ripe strawberries when I have a tiny little fridge in my hotel room with no kitchenette. Ugh! My friend pointed out that the park next door is always busy. She was right. It was packed on a super hot July afternoon, with kids having a grand time. The parking situation is that you find street parking. I didn't bother checking whether there's a parking lot close by. If you are a local, you have it made by walking over here. I hope to return and see the market in full swing, be it day or night. It was nice to know that there's a market in this neighbourhood. (316)

Never disappoints. Produce is of better quality and much less expensive than shopping at the…read moresupermarket.

A few years ago, I decided to live a healthier life by eating more vegetables (which I actually…read morehate) and lifting weights (which I also hate, but I like the results). So my husband and I decided to get some home delivered vegetables (and I found a personal trainer, but that's a different review). Over the years, we've tried a few different farms/delivery services and Rochon Garden has been one of them. We got a CSA (Community Shared Agriculture) Box from them once every 2 weeks for 1 season (which starts around May and runs for 23 weeks). Overall, we liked that the vegetables were local and we were helping local farmers, but my main complaint is that the vegetables were really dirty (i.e. full of dirt) and contained more bugs than I'd like. Their vegetables are not certified organic, as they explained to me that certification is expensive, but they assured me that they engage in "organic farming practices." Now I understand that organic farming usually results in more bugs, but our vegetables had comparatively more bugs than organic vegetables from other farms. Also, their vegetables looked like they were literally harvested and then given to us, with little or no preliminary washing or rinsing. Now I realize that some people like this, it may make you feel "closer to the earth" and I can understand this, but I personally do not like this. I do not like getting dirt and mud on my hands. These issues aside (which are really just personal preferences), the vegetables were tasty. They never missed a delivery and their customer service was very good. They answered my many questions and were always very nice. When you sign up for a home delivered CSA box, you commit to the entire season. If you are going to be away during one of the scheduled delivery times, you have to make arrangements for someone to bring in the box for you, or you forfeit the box (you can't change the schedule). The farm that we ended up sticking with allows us to cancel boxes when we're on vacation (and not get charged for them) and we can stop and start at any time (no long term commitment). At the start of the season Rochon Garden will lend you a big Styrofoam box and you will have to put it out at your doorstep on your scheduled delivery day. They deliver the vegetables in a plastic box and put it in the Styrofoam box. The following week, you put the empty plastic box into the Styrofoam box and they will replace your empty plastic box with one full of vegetables. At the end of the season, they will take away all outstanding boxes. If they are damaged or missing, they charge you $20 for the Styrofoam one and $4 for the plastic one. The Styrofoam box is huge! It took up a lot of storage space in between deliveries! For weekly delivery for a season is about $800 (23 boxes), and $420 (12 boxes) if you want every other week delivery. A box will feed about 4 people for a week. You have to pay in full or in 4 monthly payments. So after one season with Rochon Garden, we decided to go with another farm (actually, we were doing the Rochon Garden CSA simultaneously with another farm on alternating weeks). All in all we weren't unhappy with Rochon Garden, but we found that another farm met our needs better (e.g. ability to cancel during vacations (without penalty), to stop and start at any given time (without penalty), be available year round, less bugs and less dirt). However, I must admit that Rochon Gardens is significantly cheaper than other farms. They also have the option of picking up your CSA box at a designated location instead of having it delivered to your house. This option is cheaper (by a few dollars per box). I would recommend Rochon Garden for people who want affordable farm-to-home local vegetables and are not afraid of bugs and dirt. Oh and in case you are curious, it's been 5 years since I started my healthier life journey and I'm still eating my vegetables and pumping iron. I still hate it but if I didn't tell you, you would think I love it! Lol.

Nothing not to love. Shop and buy local. !!!…read moreMost vendors are very friendly. Dog friendly other than inside the barn. Great selection of all things. Especially for a hot sauce lover like me. Free. Lots of parking. Live music. Sun and smiles on opening day this year. You can have lunch here or head over to the diner across the road. Love spending time here. Sat 8am til 1pm.

You never ever know where you are going to find your knitting supplies! I've been going to the Carp…read moreFarmer's Market for years now, as we live close by. A few years ago, I met the owner of the Cheff Fields Farm. They are from Renfrew, and they raise alpacas (they have over 30 animals), and the Cheffs sell yarn produced from the alpaca fur. If you have never touched alpaca fur, you need do do so! It is really, really soft - certainly softer than sheep's wool! And the surprising thing is that alpaca fur is 5% warmer than sheep's wool! I visited the market on the last day of operation for 2017, as I needed yarn for a cowl I am making. The Cheffs had this beautiful red yarn in a 600 meter hank; that's plenty long enough! I will be busy for the next few weeks. While at the market, I also acquired a few seedlings to plant in our yard. It was a beautiful day for a visit to the farmer's market.

This is a sweet little market, recently relocated to the Museum of Nature. It was on the St. Paul…read morecampus for years, and they're having a bit of a tough time regaining the traffic, though I'm totally unsure why! I loved this place. It's not crowded like some of the bigger markets, and it's located on the property of one of my favourite buildings in the city. I can't think of a better way to spend the afternoon than to visit the museum, pick up some fresh produce, and then have a picnic lunch on the grass. A group of us went on a tour with nutritionist Amy Longard who brought us to different booths so we could find out about the farmers and their products. Each vendor had a lot to tell us about their farming practices and the specific produce they sell. It was so interesting to hear about all the love, care, and effort they put into their work. As mentioned in Spike's review, the products must be local (which means they need to come from a 100 mile radius or 164km), and they must only sell their own products (i.e. they can't sell their friend's jam or honey, it must come from their farm). There were quite a few farmers from Perth, which I thought was interesting. We saw some great products here including fresh produce (kale, carrots, berries, tons of leafy greens, cabbage, potatoes, apples, and more), vegan food (I had a delicious wrap from one of the vegetarian booths who made dips), jams and canned fruits and veggies, beautiful baked breads and sweets, herbs and salts, meats, eggs and more. Hall's Apple Farm was there with baskets of apples, but also a ton of their other products, like apple cider vinegar, apple butter, and more! One of my favourite booths was a gentleman selling sunflower oil, which was delicious. Many of the booths offer samples, which is awesome! If you're looking to support local, you need to check this place out. There's been talk of it having to close down due to a lack of attendance, so come out and show your support for our local farmers!

The Main Farmers' Market in Old Ottawa East is on the campus of St. Paul University. It's like a…read moremini version of Sunday's Landsdowne Park market. Many of the same vendors and the same "gotta be local" rule. Although there are fewer vendors than LP, the upside is that it runs on Saturdays and there are almost always free parking spaces nearby. It is not quite as good in the meats and 'meals-ready-to-eat' department and it does not have the wonderful Art-Is-In Bakery stand. Otherwise, you can go a day early to visit Hall's apples, the Jamaican veggie guy, the Niagara soft fruit folks and berry boy at Avonmore farms. Don't forget to buy a bag of Avonmore's homemade tea biscuits a.k.a. the base for a perfect shortcake. Also, I like the funky cookies at B'Goods (I don't think they are at Landsdowne). Their chocolate chile cookie will perk you right up.

Ferme Lève-Tôt is a CSA - Community-Supported Agriculture - farm in the Outaouiais. They provide…read moregreat armfuls of certified organic vegetables weekly or every second week from June to October. They are also vendors at the Westboro and Wakefield farmer's markets. CSAs are a partnership between farmers (in this case, a small family farm) and the people who eat their delicious home-grown food. CSA partners (that's you and me) purchase a share at the beginning of the growing season, helping the farmers to cover expenses when they occur. Then, as vegetables ripen, CSA partners receive a share of the harvest. My neighbours and I (3 adults) shared a weekly basket last season. We were very satisfied with the quality, quantity, and variety of the produce (though the baskets were smaller at the beginning of the growing season). We are all big veggie-eaters so the new "family size" basket might have been more appropriate for us. The value of each week's basket was far in excess of the ~$30 per week price ... we would have paid more for non-organic non-local non-fresh produce at Loblaws. In addition to being "100-mile diet"-friendly, I would recommend CSAs as a great way to make connections in the community.

My friend met up with me at Ottawa Farmers' Market a few Sundays ago, to show me around this market…read moreand the Glebe. It was gracious and a lot of fun! I was last at Aberdeen Pavilion four years ago. We were at 613flea on a Saturday. On Sundays, it switches to being the Ottawa Farmers' Market here. It's cool that if you love farmers' markets, you can get your fix the entire weekend here. We walked around, browsing and thinking about what we wanted to get for lunch. We sampled homemade kimchi that was pretty good. Free samples are always terrific. I always find inspiration being a tourist and witnessing products that I have never seen. Vodcow was one of them. It's a lactose-free chocolate cream liqueur. Cool! Che Malambo caught my attention. Whenever I see an empanada, I want it. It's exactly what happened at this stand. I got a beef empanada that had so much filling that it wanted to burst. It was my first time having egg sharing the same filling stage as the beef. The egg was excellent. The filling was seasoned nicely. The outer part of the empanada was yummy. There was live music happening as we browsed. There was also a strawberry social inside Aberdeen Pavilion, but we didn't see much. It was a bit of a disappointment, as it was strawberry season. No demos. No samples. Nothing. Oh, well! We both stopped at the Thai Kitchen Catering Service stand. I ended up getting more finger food. I ordered a pork wonton and a shrimp spring roll. The man at the stand was so nice that he gave me a pork wonton on the house. I also got a Thai iced tea. Drinks were self-serve once you got a cup from him. I made the mistake of pouring sala cider instead. Oops! He was great getting me another cup and I made sure that I got Thai iced tea, which was cold and excellent on a hot day. We sat down and ate. I loved my pork wontons. They were crispy on the outside. The filling was nicely seasoned. I could taste basil, which made them heavenly. There was decent shrimp filling in the spring roll, which had a nice crunch to it. My friend got the chicken pad khee mao. She loved it. She said that it had bean sprouts, which she wasn't fond of. There weren't a lot of them and ate them all. I didn't have a chance to swoop in and eat them for her! It was fun watching a couple across from us with tackle eating a jerk chicken meal. We may have missed that stand, but we were practically doing play-by-play commentary about the jerk chicken going down. People-watching is a fun activity here. The produce and fruit that vendors had this day looked so fresh and vibrant. Although I didn't see much going on at the strawberry social, I will remember smelling ripe strawberries as we passed by various vendors and how happy I was. (259)

I love the Farmer's Market at Lansdowne. They are open year-round! In the winter they are in the…read moreAberdeen Pavilion, other times of the year they are outside. They are open every Sunday. Everything at the market is locally grown or made. They have lots of vegetables and some fruits, products like honey, maple syrup, jams and spreads. I have to admit that my favourite vendors are the ones that sell baked goods or ready to eat foods (like arepas, and samosas). There are also artisans that make jewelry, soaps, wooden cutting boards, and other items. Some vendors are there all the time, and some only occasionally. If you like Farmers' Markets, why not head down to Lansdowne and check this one out and support our local entrepreneurs?

I visited Miller's Farm with my friend and we actually had such a good time, even though it was a…read morebit windy that day. The farm has a huge variety of pumpkins -big, small, perfect round ones, all the shapes , so it's easy to find a nice one. They also have a cute little store that sells fresh fruits, veggies, pies, and even pickled goodies. All of that was really reasonably priced. Now... the pumpkins themselves? Kinda pricey in my opinion. Some were around $20, and don't get me wrong, they're beautiful pumpkins, but still on the expensive side. We ended up spending way more than expected ,definitely not dropping $60 on pumpkins again next year . Aside from that, the hotdogs and hot coffee were perfect for the weather, and the tractor ride + corn maze were honestly the highlight. So much fun. I'll definitely go back next year but maybe be a bit more pumpkin-budget smart!

When here for the pumpkin patch, it was such a fun experience. They had so many places set up for a…read moregreat photo opportunities. Y'all had a great time and the wholefarm was well organized and even had hay rides and a gift shop

I brought a group of international students here as part of a school activity. We visited the Acres…read moreof Terror. Picture this- a group of about 25, 18 to 19 year old students, many of whom have never celebrated Halloween before our visit. Tickets range from $15 to $25, the latter being the standard, $20 being the group rate, and the low rate of $15 coming as part of a one day flash sale they had pre-haunting season. With your ticket, you get a one-time admission to each of their 4 fright sites which include: The Spooky Wagon Ride, House of Terror, Spooky Village, and Fog Maze. They are open from 7 until 10 pm. Before arriving, I wasn't sure if it was enough time, but if you plan accordingly and hit the wagon ride (which has the longest wait line) first and then check out the rest of the attractions, you're pretty well set. Admittedly, I only personally experienced the Spooky Wagon Ride and the Spooky Village. I don't do well with things that go bump in the night, and chickened out of the other two sites. The Spooky Wagon Ride is pretty neat, it's interactive and definitely has its freaky moments. I personally found that the Spooky Village is a bit more on the goofy side than scary side- a break I was happy to encounter. There certainly are some jump factors there, but nothing overwhelming and it was a lot less nerve rattling. It's a bit of a drive to get there, but in my opinion, for the season, it's worth it. Alot of the great Halloween attractions seem to be just on the outskirts, but it makes sense since it's at an orchard. There is food available for purchase, but keep in mind if you are looking for some freshly made fries, the canteen only accepts cash. Oh! And this is a big one for some people- the only bathrooms I found were porta-potties, but they were spacious and clean. I would definitely recommend this as a family fun activity or a night out with friends!

Amazing hay ride. This place is smaller than other attractions like it in the area but still loads…read moreof fun.