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economist suntribune opinion thursday may 9 2002 vending my way to the farmers market trilliums muskoka and parry sound rocks and colorado blue spruce arent going to make me rich but they are keeping me busy before i explain youre invited to the markham farmers market opening day on saturday put on your track pants and runners and head to the comer of robinson and main street hwy 48 in markham village its a wonderful expres sion of community spirit come early theres nothing like the smell of baked bread at 8 am the event is a traditional farmers market as the world becomes more complex we need the simple touch very often i buy veggies at the stouffville country market which is open weekends on 10th line north of main street i might pay less in the gro cery stores but i prefer to buy direct from farmers theyre nice people the markham farmers market is diversified and fun on saturday it offers the york university jazz band and the michael cado trio while town histori an lome smith demonstrates old- fashioned farm implements of course the market also has ontarios very best vegetables fruits jams and jellies there will be no end of garden nursery products including bedding plants baskets trees and garden rocks too plenty of activities are slat ed for market days always saturdays throughout the summer a martha stewart day a hot dog day a baking contest tiny talent time a chili contest and a 4h day while its the third year for the market its first year ive been part of the action i am a vendor my walk into vendorland started when i decided to get rich my life has ranged from poor to notsopoor to sbrt- ofpoor to i dont know what this vendor thing started when i realized my bath room needed fixing i checked my bank balance it cant even fund a birdhouse renovation i looked at the big picture cash in on your talents somebody commanded i answered i can garden i played q and a what do i have that they might want answer rocks trilliums and baby trees providing i can find them over the past decade or so ive collected rocks from the i rockhunted in thunderstorms snow squalls and heat waves joan ransberry muskoka and parry sound area they are beautiful they cover my gardens and the gardens of family and friends those rocks matter to me i risked life and limb to retrieve them from the darkest places i wore out at least a car and a half hauling them over side roads and many many miles of highway i rock- hunted in thunderstorms snow squalls and heat waves i hunted rocks so much my children wondered if id be happier spending my remaining years on a nice rock pile in a nice prison now the trilliums last year i priced ontarios flower at a number of nurseries the average cost was 6 each i asked my father how many were in the hard wood bush at our family farm about six million he said if i dug up half and sold them for 4 each id be able to redo the bathroom and have 11998000 left two weeks ago i ventured to the bush spent five hours and found eight healthy trilli- um plants yes i could dig up six million providing i had 593 years of life left i returned a few times spent 32 in gas and dug for 16 hours now i have enough for the market it took one sister a broth er inlaw and a neighbour calling all over ontario trying to find colorado blue spruce seedlings theyre like hens teeth however i scored enough to add seedlings to my little booth if youve just been bom and youre reading this give your mother a spruce tree for mothers day when youre 17 years old itll stand about 20 feet high on saturday at the crack of dawn me and my jour nalism colleague and friend hannelore volpe will get up at the crack of dawn load her pickup truck with rocks trees and potted trilliums then head to markham and turn me into a vendor trust me when you visit my booth i will be glad to see you teritaki salmon we used farmed atlantic salmon exclusively at our store but not just any type it must be from jail island farm in new brunswick it costs more than the chilean salmon or heritage brand but its the very best available this week were featuring our teriyaki salmon fillets which are totally boneless perfect to barbque but wait theres more one of our busy bees from the kitchen mary krawchuk has been hard at work and come up with a new flavour to thrill you and it is 0sk wse fl gingerorange and for those of g m you who are less adventurous and want b psk to make your own as well jj mm reg 1295 lb gfflm j week sage onion sausages this week otjr peameal bacon we sell a lot of this bacon because a we use centre- cuts only no ends b we use a lowsalt cure c we trim it lean so that theres next to no fat d we dont pump it with brine to the extent that it becomes watery a common practice with peameal and e we dont extend the product as i see that many others do when you see on the package label 12 protein added what that means is that the weight ends up being 12 more than when they started this is accomplished by using tumbling machines which increase product yield read more profit at the expense of product quality its what we dont do that makes our bacon so good so if peameal is on your menu this week get your knives out sharpen them up and come and see us cause your peameal deal is back by the piece reg 499 lb ps if your knife is really dull bring it too well sharpen it our weekly sausage feature is our venerable sage onion sausage we make them with fresh pork salt pepper and sage as well as you guessed it sauteed onions this is one of the i fhf q few sausages we j make without ff w h off garlic jlgi reg 399 lb 1 roasted red pepper make your cracker happy buy some of our roasted red pepper dip veggies will be happy too and once you a el a taste it you g f ya will be as w m q well ju reg 199 100 g this week kates ucks curried squash andappie soxji this is a great soup when its under construction in the kitchen in the long slowsimmering phase it drives me crazy the exotic flavour of the curry apples and squash combo is the perfect marriage of seasonings i think and all the guys who are working in ourchiilinj cooler think jk mm qi that its the best reg 549 ea serves 3 4 mangoes there are 4 main types of mangoes and hadens are the best weve got them this week in a 9 size which is really large theyve got jf j good colour and s bra jc theyre ready enjoy from mexico whats happe1 for mother s like many things in life spontaneity is overrated the anticipation of a planneaout event adds excitement more often than not it would be true in the case of our bakery for next week but with one difference if you plan ahead youll actually be able to get the cake of your choice and they are raspberry mousse bombes made with raspberry mousse covered with slices of raspberry jelly roll apricot glazed and decorated with fresh flowers strawberry shortcake made with velvety white cake fresh california berries whipped cream topped with fresh berries black white mousse cake with dark white chocolate mousses layered with white dark chocolate cakes decorated with as you might guess white dark chocolate shavings lemon mousse cakes lemon and white chocolate mousse between two layers of white cake with strawberries on the sides cheesecakes in a variety of flavours and styles our great chocolate or white cakes l mothers day mom i love you dylan nicely decorated for the occasion with fresh flowers chocolatedipped stem berries really big and beautiful i love you mom sugar gingerbread cookies kiwi fruit these are large size 23 s iffsm to ea vtdalia onions are back the sweetest onions bar none and what great timing there is nothing like them on one of our burgers flowers flowers flowers not only do we have really good bouquets of cut flowers our whole sidewalk is in bloom outside youll be able to get custom plantings nice garden baskets in the colours of your choice and nice hostess or mothers gifts its a real jungle in full bloom everyone heard of kates garden this lovely i garden store is located in the plaza on the southwest corner of hwy 7 and mccowan rd and its owned and run by you guessed it kate since were i friends and customers of one another we decided to collaborate during this years i garden and plant season the deal is that every time you buy a plant from us well give you a kates buck worth a dollar off any item you wish from her store you can save them up till you have a few go and see kate and her staff and shop one condition applies kate explained that since her margins are on the smaller side the maximum discount per item is 20 its a good deal on both sides you get great plants and youll find great planters arbours trellis work and garden accessories at kates place village g roger quality foods v youll be able to get a hot sandwich every day except sunday at our hot counter in every case theyll be 14 lb size and they are monday- 14 lb sliced prime rib on a kaiser 399 tuesday 14 lb sliced homemade corned beef and mustard on caraway rye or a kaiser 399 wednesday 14 lb maple sugar ham with swiss cheese on a kaiser 399 thursday prime ribagain friday 14 lb stuffed pork loin on a raiser 399 saturday 14 lb peameal on a kaiser 299 sandwiches are available from 1130 am till 200 pm except saturday when they will be available from 800 am till 400 pm specials in effect until closing sunday may 12 hours mon 1100700 tuesthurs 900700 fri 900800 sat 900600 sun 1000500 548 carlton road unionville 9401770