Eggs

I stopped by a house on North Victoria that occasionally has a sign out for eggs and various fruit and met some long time Summerland residents. It's before the hill on the left if you're heading North from town and you can confirm the identity by the chickens running in the orchard. In cool weather they have the eggs in crates outside their back door and there's a drop tin for the money - cost varies by size but I think large eggs were $3/dozen. When weather warms up they move the eggs into a fridge in a shop on the yard. Many of their eggs go to longstanding clients but there were extras the time I went.

I also purchased raspberry canes from the same yard a week ago and they're leafing out already!

Nunweiler's Flour Co.

This isn't exactly local, but it's the closest I've found so far. This company mills organic flours in Kelowna. I've purchased them at a health food store in Penticton and use it in any spelt baking I do. The buckwheat flour adds some heft to our "power" pancakes. I haven't tried the basic whole wheat and all-purpose flours yet but will likely do so in the near future.

The Cake Box

The Cake Box Bakery bakes fantastic Bush Bread, but only on Tuesdays and Thursdays. You might be out of luck if you wait until afternoon to pick it up. I believe that everything they sell has been made on site but I should check on that. I think it's fantastic that the bakery carries eggs from a farm in town. I'd prefer to eventually cut out that middle step and get them directly but for now I love getting good bread and fresh, free run eggs (from "happy chickens") in the same place. If you call ahead the bakery will put aside both your favorite loaf of bread and some eggs for you to pick up later in the day. That's another small town service that I love.



The Cake Box Bakery
10108 Main Street
Summerland, BC
494-4244
info@cakeboxbakery.ca

Yogopogo Dairy Products

Yogopogo Dairy Products are made just down the hill from where we live. We got excited about how close to home they are produced and have been buying the yogurt pretty regularly since then. I love it that they have an organic line (Jerseyland Organics) and it's competitively priced. I'm a fan of buying the plain yogurt and adding my own fruit or sweetener. It's easy to find - the local grocery stores both stock it.


Yogopogo Dairy Products
P.O. Box 937
6990 Switchback Rd
Summerland, BC V0H 1Z0

Phone:250.494.9366
Fax: 250.494.9342
info@yogopogo.ca

Stinging Bee Honey Farm

I've been driving past a house with a "local honey" sign on Biagioni Road (just right of the dead end of Rosedale on the East side of the highway) for a year now and never stopped by because...I have an unnatural terror of knocking on strangers' doors. Even when they have signs out inviting me to do so. This blog got me off my butt to finally give it a shot. I discovered a perfectly friendly woman selling her son's "Stinging Bee Honey". It's unpasteurized honey made from bee hives in an orchard on Giant's Head Road. I picked up a $7, 2lb container and tried it on some of my favorite home made bread this afternoon. The colour is darker and the flavour bolder than standard mass produced fare, which is a good thing from my point of view. For my tiny effort I was rewarded with a local source of something I use a lot and the price is certainly right. Try it!


Stinging Bee Honey Farm
Unpasteurized Okanagan Honey
Doug Johnson
Summerland, BC
250.490.1110

Update: The house that I bought this honey at has been sold...will update again when I call to find out where to buy the honey now.

The Apple Barn & Windmill Garden Centre

We are lucky enough to have The Apple Barn just a block away. It's run by Billy & Shauna Boerboom, who also own the Windmill Garden Centre down the street. I believe most of the business is wholesale but on Saturdays throughout the later fall and part of winter we can walk over and pick up our apples for the week. Here's my favorite part - payment on the HONOUR SYSTEM. I love this little town. Other fruits and vegetables show up on occasion and we often snap them up. I almost want to keep this a secret but Billy's got the best Ambrosia apples.


The Windmill Garden Centre opens in spring and closes by early July. They've got a great selection of annuals, particularly flowers. They do also grow vegetables though and I ended up getting most of what I wanted there. By the end of their season that honour system shows up again and they use it to clear out remaining stock, putting the proceeds towards Agur Lake Camp.


Community Garden Plots
If anyone wants to grow some of their own food but doesn't have the space, plots can be rented seasonally in the Windmill community garden. I don't know the cost right now but will post it when I do.



Billy& Shauna Boerboom
Windmill Garden Centre
9100 Jones Flat Road (Apple Barn & garden plots are a little East of this)
(250) 494-3178

Tom's Deli

I think the official name is "Tom's Deli and Seafood", I'll have to check next time I walk past. (eds. note - "Summerland Meat and Seafood was the offical sign title). Vegetarians can scoot on over to the tasty cheese display and bypass the meat counter. Or bypass this post altogether. I am aware that it's not hip to be a meat eater these days (yes, I know the arguments for being vegetarian/vegan), but a lot of people are still doing it so we might as well do it a better way. Why do organic meat & dairy seem to be slower to catch on than fruit and vegetables?

I'm a sucker for any place that's family run and/or employs very few people. I can walk in to the deli and know that any one of three people will be there and all of them can answer any question I might come up with. I think it's getting rather rare to be able to talk to the butcher and have him/her not only know how best to cook it but also where it came from and what the animal was fed. They make all of their own sausage and it's free of fillers and nasty stuff (I believe that means it is gluten free as well but double check if it's an issue).

I like the option to try different meats although I tend to stick to my favorites - the bison pork sausages for the bbq and the Summerland City Sausage for wine and cheese picnics. We have also ordered both pork tenderloin and turkey for special occasions with great results.

Yes, it costs a fair bit more than what you find in a grocery store. It's a choice I'm glad to have if I'm going to eat meat.


Tom's Deli
9917 Main St.
494-2296

update: The deli is moving to Trout Creek beside the gas station as of early March and they've changed the name to "Paradise Meats & Market".

Little Creek Dressing

This one isn't from Summerland but it's really, really good. Little Creek Dressings are made from produce grown either on the owner's organic farm near Kelowna or obtained from local farmers. The "Original" dressing is by far my favorite these days. Not that greens are easy to come by, I miss the fresh lettuce.

Green Hills Organic Farm

Green Hills is run by organic farmer Joe Bienz. We buy our vegetables from him whenever possible at both the Summerland and Penticton farmer's markets. When he has fruit available we take advantage of that too. The raspberries are fantastic. I appreciate his quiet manner and good advice. If we were a little more proactive I'm pretty sure we could contact him directly and avoid the crapshoot of the markets. We don't tend to get out early and miss a lot of good stuff.

Certified Organic products: Assorted ground crops, assorted tree fruit, berries, forage

The Certified Organic Association of BC has a site that you can search for organic farmers in your region.

GreenHills Organic Farm 15815 Denike St Summerland, BC V0H 1Z8
Phone: (250) 494-8496 Email: jbienz@img.net

Purpose

This is a place to record all of my favorite locally sourced food & drink items. I hope that other Summerlanders will find it, take advantage of it and contribute their favorite places through comments or emails.