Got flour! And cheese! And oil!

Libby from next door joined us yesterday morning at 8 o'clock and we were off to Gallagher’s Farm Market on Route 20 in Pelham to pick up the little pickles that I had ordered to make cornichons. Alas, the pickles were too big. It seems that the heat has made them grow too fast so some are just too big while others have exploded in the fields…maybe later in the season. I am also hoping that the wild mustard will ripen before I make my pickles so that I can use mustard seed harvested in our own woods. We did buy some corn at Gallaghers and Libby found the sour cherries that she had been seeking. We were off to the St Catharines farmers' market. On the way, Walter wanted to show Libby some of the local gems. We traveled a windy seasonal road to the Bow Ridge Herb Farm on Orchard Hill Road just south of Short Hills Provincial Park. We bought three French tarragon plants and the herbalist’s husband dug up some horseradish and some comfrey and gave it to me, reminding me that both plants would spread wildly. We learned that they would have various varieties of apples ripening by late September. We will keep that on our list of places to revisit. We drove by the power plants on the Niagara Escarpment at Power Glen, southwest of the city of St Catherines. I was surprised to find this power generation plant, as I had thought that the only power generation was from Niagara Falls. Water is sent down sluiceways from the top of the escarpment to the bottom to drive turbines and the resulting electricity is captured. We were on our way to see an early 19th century mill: Morningstar Mill Museum. We had been there before, but Libby had not. It is a beautiful spot. On past trips it had always been closed and locked. I was so surprised when I discovered that it was manned by volunteers and that they were running the mill. I was able to buy stone ground whole wheat flour ground by their own stones and made from flour grown in Ontario! We did go to the market and test some more local fare.
Later in the day Walter and I went out again on our quest for local foods. We made a huge find: Upper Canada Cheese Company in Jordan Station. They make 2 primary cheeses from milk of a local herd of Guernsey cows. Their cheeses are wonderful. We bought their Comfort Cream cheese which is similar to a perfectly ripe brie, their Niagara Gold which is a washed rind cheese, and their ricotta.

We also found local grapeseed oil and local wine vinegars, including maple vinegar. It was a home run! Jen Gammon, the buyer was more than helpful. We will continue to be customers and will be interested to see how this fledgling business grows. Their phone number is 905.562.9730.