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Fall Fairs have been a tradition in this region, and many others for a very long time. They give local farmers, gardeners and students a chance to showcase their prized livestock, vegetables and crafts, and visitors the chance to learn more about local farms and the diversity of local farmers and farm products available in our region. They are a time for rural and urban dwellers to come together and appreciate the farming culture in their communities.

This year, like so many other things, many of the fall fairs have been cancelled, but organizers are working hard to continue the spirit of the fairs despite all these changes. Find a list of local Agricultural Fairs, and any updates for 2020 here.

2020 would have been the 175th anniversary of the Peterborough Ex, to adjust to the times, the Ex is hosting an on-line fair this fall, entries are open to rural and urban residents alike and include such fun activities as ‘Best Front Yard’, “Longest Dog Tail’ and “Longest Zucchini”. Check out their site http://www.peterboroughex.ca/ and enter today! They will be sharing stories about their history, entries and winners from this season and more on their facebook page, so you can follow along in the fun!

The Norwood Fall Fair , a popular tradition in this area has been running every Thanksgiving weekend since 1868! Sadly, this year, it has been cancelled due to Covid-19, but do check out their website www.norwoodfair.com to see lots of highlights from past years, and start planning your entries for years to come!

The Toronto Garlic Festival, a popular event, where garlic farmers from all over Ontario and beyond get together with garlic lovers to celebrate this potent root, has also gone on-line this season. They will have music, speakers and cooking demos for garlic lovers to follow along with!

It’s the season of bounty here in the Kawarthas and it is time to preserve all that goodness for the colder seasons to come.

Learn more about what is in season when, so you can help get prepared!

If you are a gardener, you may have lots of home grown goodness coming out of your garden, but if you want to purchase some locally, visit local Farmers’ Markets and farm stands to stock up! Follow us on social media @localfoodptbo for constantly updated suggestions on where to source!

There are lots of great ways to preserve the abundance of harvest season. Most do not require much special equipment or extreme skills.

One of the simplest ways to preserve fresh food is to freeze it. This can be done with most fruits & vegetables quite easily. Here are some great resources from Peterborough Public Health to easily freeze your harvests and purchased local goods!

Another simple way to preserve fresh harvests is drying. This works great for herbs, and if you have a dehydrater (or oven on very low heat for 12 hours plus!) you can also dry fruit and vegetables for the winter! Here are some great tips from Earth Easy.

Another way to preserve fresh local foods is canning. This does require some basic skills and equipment, but well worth taking the time to learn, here are some basic steps and recipes from Nourish Project, they often offer canning classes during preserving season too!
Other great resources include Bernardin and Ball for both canning techniques and recipes!

What are your favourite ways to can & preserve? Currently as we write this, tomatoes are in abundance, learn some great ways to preserve tomatoes in many ways from our friends at Nourish project

Where do you source local produce for preserving?
Do you have any favourite recipes?

Farmers have always been adaptable and resilient. Facing fluctuating weather, markets and diets, they have always found a way to continue their important work, and keep our communities fed.

This season, has brought new challenges that many would’ve never expected, not only has there been a massive drought, but a global pandemic hit right at the beginning of the season, forcing farmers to adapt on the fly and pivot into new ways of distributing and selling their products. Here in the Kawartha region, we are lucky to have so many amazing farmers (learn more about some of them in these great videos!)

It is no surprise to anyone that knows these farmers that they were able to come up with creative solutions quickly, and continue to provide our region with fresh, healthy, amazing locally grown goods throughout it all.

Although most of our local Farmers’ Markets have been able to re-open safely, at the beginning of the season there were a lot of unknowns including whether many of the places where farmers sold their food would be available. Restaurants were shutting their doors, farmers markets scrambling to figure out ways to safely open, and many other avenues for sales seemingly drying up over night.

Many farms worked hard to come up with great solutions, they opened up or expanded hours of their farm stands and CSA’s (Community Shared Agriculture), they partnered with stores that were doing curb side pick up (e.g Peterborough Food Shop) and like they always do, farmers got creative.

Some amazing local examples include:
Three Forks Farms expanded their on-line order & delivery services
Riel Acres built a beautiful farm stand and opened up shop Wednesdays and Saturdays
McLeans Berry Farm set-up an on-line ordering shop to customers could pre-order to pick up at market & adapted their U-pick protocols often to keep the public safe.
These are just a few of many amazing examples!

Now more than ever, it is important to support these farms. Not only are you helping farmers weather this storm, but you are contributing to our local economy and getting incredible fresh, local food in return!

Be sure to explore this website and our social media to find ways to support these farmers locally, learn where to purchase their great food direct, or from those that are helping distribute products.

Tell us about how you accessed local food during Covid-19, what farmers went above and beyond, are you having trouble finding local food? Check us out on social media @localfoodptbo and use #localfoodptbo to showcase your story, farmers & customers, we want to hear from you.

It’s harvest time, now is the time to stock up, preserve and enjoy all the bounty that our region has to offer!