Heritage Bee Co.
How local is this honey? Made-in-your-backyard local, if you choose! Heritage Bee Co. helps you host bees at home, or away, so you can enjoy premium, raw, unpasteurized, hand processed honey directly from your beehive, along with the satisfaction of knowing that you are making a world of difference for the bees! The Mulmur, Ont., company takes care of all aspects of hive delivery, set-up, maintenance and honey extraction, so that you can enjoy the benefits, including super pollination for your gardens, while helping to improve your local environment and ecosystem and restoring local bee populations. The company practises 100% natural,
organic beekeeping, which means using a smaller, natural honeycomb cell size, which allows bees to return to their natural size, making them stronger against pests and disease. Their beekeeping practices also include not putting anything into the hive that the bees do not put there themselves; the company only removes true honey surplus. Urban foodies can also opt to have their hive hosted at one of the company’s Certified Naturally Grown apiaries. The only downside is that you have to sign up early; the 2019 season is already full. http://www.heritagebee.com
The Canadian Canoe Museum
The Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough, Ontario is getting a fancy new home. For the last 20 years, the museum has stewarded the world’s largest collection of canoes, kayaks and paddled watercraft from its location at the former Outboard Marine Corporation buildings, a 1960s-era factory site in a commercial area. The new facility will be found at a more fitting location—at the water’s edge, next to the Peterborough Lift Lock and the Trent-Severn Waterway, both National Historic Sites. It also promises to up its curatorial game, meeting the national standard of artifact care and preservation, and featuring immersive and dynamic exhibitions, as well as a Research and Knowledge Centre, classrooms, artisan skills workshops and a canoe-building studio.Expected to open its doors in 2022, the approximately 83,000 square-foot facility will have a green roof, and will honour the cultural histories and stories of First Peoples who designed, built and used the first canoes and kayaks, by inviting Indigenous Knowledge Holders and academics to share cultural traditions and encourage understanding. https://canoemuseum.ca/
Bold and Beautiful
Born and raised in the UK, and now living in Prince Edward County, Ontario, artist Kate Golding sees beauty where others may not. Capturing iconic Canadian moments and vistas in ink with brush and pen – turkey vultures riding an updraft, icebergs sliding past a Newfoundland coastline, garter snakes slithering through tufts of grass – Golding creates daring patterns that lend themselves surprisingly well to wallpaper. But this isn’t the sort of wallcovering for the faint of heart – a certain amount of boldness is required to appreciate and live with this particular brand of beauty. Her three collections – The Great Lakes, Newfoundland and Prince Edward County – are all printed to order in Montreal, and at $145 for each 26-inch by 9-foot strip, might not be in the budget for many of us. Still, you can also enjoy her designs in more affordable tea towels and wrapping paper, and you can spot them in all their glory at Balzac’s Coffee Roasters – multiple locations across Ontario – and the offices of Shopify, Angeline’s Inn in Bloomfield, Bella Market in Kingston, and Prairie Boy Bread, in Muskoka. Kate Golding wallpaper is available through www.kategolding.ca in collaboration with www.wynil.com — Signe Langford
Kindling Cracker & Hammer
Available through Waterloo, Ontario, retailer Northern Fireside, the Kindling Cracker & Hammer offers a simple way to turn felled trees into fireplace wood. Unlike using an axe or hatchet, the cast iron kindling cracker allows virtually anyone able to hit things with wood to create kindling that won’t fly all over the yard as you split it. Use a mallet, butt of an axe or even another log to safely split your firewood into perfect kindling size pieces. The 12 in. tall Cracker has bolt holes so you can attach it to a stump of wood, saving your back, while a 6.5 in. diameter ring ensures that nothing except that piece of wood will get split by the blade. It’s also maintenance-free, with no sharpening needed. The hammer itself is a 3 lb. drop-forged carbon steel mallet, with a clear-stained hickory wood handle, making for a handsome pair.
www.northernfireside.com
Keter Easy Grow Elevated Resin Garden Bed
Lacking outdoor garden space for that dream veggie garden? You can grow your own way with this goes-anywhere planter. Perfect for the backyard, terrace or balcony, this raised bed makes growing easy and comfortable. It features a full watering system for easy care, and a water gauge that indicates when plants need additional moisture for just-right watering. The raised bed height also prevents knee and back strain. Suitable for a wide range of vegetables, fruits, herbs and other plants, the 31-gal. soil capacity offers ample growing capacity. Made from polypropylene resin, the durable container promises to stand up to the elements, with fade-resistant properties that protect the container from the sun’s UV rays. Plus it looks good just about everywhere!
https://www.keter.com/en/easy-growing
St. Jean’s Cannery & Smokehouse
If you’re lucky enough to be fishing on the West Coast, give St. Jean’s Cannery a try. The Nanaimo, B.C., company takes your catch and preserves it for you to enjoy later. Just have the lodge send your catch over, or drop it off at one of the depots on the West Coast. Founded by Armand St. Jean, who combined his love of west coast seafood with smoking and preserving knowledge that he learned from his family in Quebec, the company has grown into the largest cannery serving the sport fishing industry in British Columbia and the largest salmon cannery in southern B.C. In 2012, the company acquired Raincoast Trading, known for its sustainable fishing practices and gourmet seafood. And in 2015, majority ownership transferred to a group of five West Coast Nations, who have a long, proud history of being stewards and participants in BC’s seafood economy. While the cannery has grown and today sells canned seafood, frozen seafood, sauces and spices, the canned oysters and seafood are still hand-packed—just like the early days, when Armand St. Jean was working out of his own kitchen and a smokehouse in a shed.
https://www.stjeans.com/sport-fishermen/getting-fish-st-jeans/
An editor with 15-plus years in the publishing business, Catalina Margulis’ byline spans travel, food, decor, parenting, fashion, beauty, health and business. When she’s not chasing after her three young children, she can be found painting her home, taming her garden and baking muffins.