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It’s that time of the year again — when Almonte is normally crowded with fibre artists and fibre art enthusiasts. This year, however, due to the limits on social gatherings and with an eye towards public health recommendations, organizers have made the decision to cancel the in-person aspect of Fibrefest 2021, taking place from September 8–12. The market and shopping portion is postponed until September 2022, but there are new ways to participate in Fibrefest and support your favourite fibre artists and the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum (MVTM) at the same time. Workshops, lectures, and virtual demonstrations will continue to be available for everyone — now it is all happening online!
Workshops will be held virtually, so you can participate from the comfort of your own home. As provincial stay-at-home orders are lifted, organizers will also provide small, in-person workshops when possible.
Be sure to join in on September 11 for an exclusive online event featuring Donald Stuart and Murray Gibson, two master craftsmen who are currently exhibiting at the Textile Museum. They will discuss their inspiration and process, and also answer questions at the end of the lecture. Visit the MVTM in person or online to see the exhibit before the lecture!
Organizers hope that you will continue to support this great event by patronizing the many artists and craftspeople who make it possible through their websites and stores.
Please visit <almontefibrefest.ca> and the Fibrefest Facebook page for tickets to events, descriptions of workshops, and information about how you can sign up to participate. For more information or to learn how you can continue to support Fibrefest and the MVTM, please visit the website or call 256–3754.
To keep their dramatic brains busy during Covid, both Studio Theatre Perth and Kanata Theatre were recently offered opportunities to participate in 10-Minute Playwriting workshops facilitated by award-winning playwright Guy Newsham. The playwrights who took part learned how to quickly develop character, conflict and settings by getting creative and experimenting while cutting out extraneous details. Not an easy feat!
Under Guy’s tutelage, eight original plays came into being: four with Studio Theatre Perth and four with Kanata Theatre. Both theatres felt these plays deserved a live audience, so they came together to create A Weekend of Pop Up Theatre! For good measure, they included one of Guy’s award-winning 10-minute plays for a total of nine plays coming to the streets of Perth on the weekend of August 28 and 29.
The Weekend of Pop Up Theatre production team has been engaging with the Town and many Perth businesses to create an event that offers a more immersive community experience. Through creative collaboration, cross-promotion and forging new relationships, these efforts have resulted in a multi-venue event allowing all nine plays to be performed outdoors at different locations around the Town.
So, how does it work? Each play has been linked with a Perth business to create or support a space for the performance. The plays will be performed twice daily in the specified location, on both Saturday and Sunday. Actors in each play will “pop up” their set, announce the start of their play, perform, and then be available to provide information on the event or the theatre group performing. Anyone may happen across one of the plays throughout the weekend. They are welcome to stop and enjoy some free theatre as part of their day.
For the more adventurous, or for theatre buffs who want even more drama in their lives, Studio Theatre Perth has created a scavenger hunt opportunity — complete with prizes — to seek out all of the plays while you enjoy our lovely little theatre town. In order to play, you must purchase a Pop Up Theatre Passport. The Passport will give you the inside scoop on all of the plays: playwrights, directors, actors, crew, times, locations, and a map to find each play. The Passport also includes a Game Card to collect stickers/stamps from the actors at each Pop Up venue. Collect a sticker from all nine plays and enter to win the Grand Prize! Collect a sticker from 2–8 of the Pop Ups and enter to win additional prizes. Prizes are listed on the Studio Theatre Perth website. Prizes have been generously donated by the many venues and partners involved in supporting this event.
Pop Up Theatre Passports are available for purchase through Tickets Please (485–6434, ticketsplease.ca) as well as at Studio Theatre Perth box office every Saturday morning in August from 10am to noon. In order to keep the information secret until the Weekend of Pop Up Theatre starts, a QR code will be provided to those who purchase online and a gift card will be given to those who purchase in person leading up to the weekend.
Starting Saturday August 28 at 9am, Studio Theatre Perth will be open for you to trade in your QR code or Gift Certificate for your Pop Up Theatre Passport. Then you can start to plan your adventure! The nine plays are done in two cycles each day: the first round starts at 10am with the last play at 2pm, and the second round starts at 1:30pm with the last play at 5:30pm. All performances are within walking distance and there are many washrooms available for use throughout the town.
Pop Up Theatre Passports will also be available for sale during the event weekend for anyone who wishes to join into the fun!
For information about Studio Theatre Perth and the Weekend of Pop Up Theatre, including links to the local businesses that are supporting this venture, please visit <studiotheatreperth.com>. For information about Kanata Theatre, including information on seeing these 10-minute plays live on stage in September, please visit <kanatatheatre.ca>. For information about what else is going on in Perth that same weekend, visit <perthtourism.ca>.
Two creative business owners, who opened their doors in Perth just as the pandemic gripped the province, are collaborating in an exclusive one-night-only gallery event to mark the midsummer and to finally have their grand opening!
On Saturday, August 14, artist Katherine Muir Miller, in collaboration with Ranelle Larocque from Queen Bee Millinery, will roll out the red carpet for an exclusive event at the Katherine Muir Miller Gallery (22 Gore Street E.). Tickets are on sale now for admission to an elegant evening filled with art, hats, music, fashion and a delicious selection of local wines and sweet and savoury treats.
“I said to Ranelle at Queen Bee, ‘we need to have an event!,’” explains landscape artist Katherine Muir Miller. “Since we both opened during the middle of the pandemic, we never had the opportunity to have our grand openings”. With restrictions easing in Ontario, the timing is right for these entrepreneurs to present their art and designs in a grand fashion.
“I just love what Ranelle is doing — she gave me a sneak peak of some of the designs she has put together for the event, and I am just thrilled with how she has interpreted my art through her own creative medium.”
Ranelle Larocque is a milliner who has just recently burst onto the fashion scene. She designs and hand crafts bespoke fascinators, hats and headpieces that have been worn all over the world. Opening Queen Bee Millinery at the outset of the pandemic in the spring of 2020, she has taken the time in lockdown to hone her craft and serve her clientele with ready-to-wear and custom designs.
In Ranelle’s millinery, located at 16 Gore Street E., you can find a whole variety of hats: from high fashion fascinators you can wear at the Queen’s Plate or Kentucky Derby, to cloche style wool hats that will perfectly complete your winter outfit. “The range of ways you can express yourself through a piece of wearable art is limitless,” explains Ranelle, with the broad smile that welcomes everyone into her shop Wednesdays through Saturdays.
On collaborating with Katherine Muir Miller, Ranelle was “over the moon” at having the opportunity to work with such a skilled artist. “I am so inspired by Katherine’s art. The rich and complex colours, the inherent movement of the landscapes… when I look at her art, I find myself transported along the textures of each of the brush strokes. I was so excited when she asked me to collaborate with her that I immediately began to think of new designs for headpieces that would reflect the unique aesthetic of her art. I can’t wait to present these pieces during the event in her beautiful gallery!”
Katherine Muir Miller is a full-time artist who recently opened her gallery in Perth. Katherine’s fascination with colour is a driving force in her paintings. Her connection with nature and extraordinary sense of vibrant colour in her beloved Canadian landscapes are reflected in her bold, colourful, playful interpretations on canvas.
Katherine’s pieces capture memories of cross-Canada travel. Vintage elegance can be seen in her impressionistic realism pieces of recognizable landscapes. Katherine wants the viewer to feel movement, mood and simplicity in her work. “It’s all about the story behind the painting, that’s what inspires me.”
“We chose the name A Midsummers Night in Perth for the event because we wanted to pay homage to the peak of the colours in the Ontario landscapes and to be able to reflect on the summer that we have had so far, with a view to the hope for a future where we can put the pandemic behind us,” explain Katherine and Ranelle, who look forward to collaborating more in the future. If the night is a success, they aspire to it becoming an annual event.
Because of how challenging the pandemic has been, they also wanted to ensure that they involved other local businesses.
New to Perth in 2021, Gather <gatherinperth.com> is located just down the street at 40 Gore Street E., and will be providing delicious savoury and sweet canapés throughout the evening. On their website, owners James and Kerri talk about their values: “To spend meaningful time with each other alongside the simple pleasures of modern, wholesome comfort food”. Also collaborating in the event, Carp’s Kin Vineyards <kinvineyards.com> will be providing a wide selection of their award-winning wines that guests can sample with their included drink ticket.
For more information on A Midsummers Night in Perth, go to <katherinemuirmiller.com> or <queenbeemillinery.ca> or follow them on Facebook and Instagram. The event runs from 4–10pm, with staggered timeslots. Tickets are $25 per person and can be bought at their locations or from Tickets Please (ticketsplease.ca, 485–6434).
Back in 1974, Ian Paige and I met at Richard Gill’s summer pottery course in Burnstown. For me it was a graduation present to myself. I think for Ian it was an escape from working for Playtex in Arnprior and a desire for a career change. He became a potter! I had bought land near Pakenham the previous year and wanted to get to know the community. Ian’s response was: “If you want to know the people of Pakenham, cultivate ME!” I did and I did, and it worked. I felt welcomed and fell into a community of fine people.
The next year we decided that what the world needed was a craft gallery in a remote location, and so Ian and I bought the old stone building by the 5-span bridge in Pakenham that had been referred to in the Bathurst Chronicle circa 1880 as “Andrew Dickson’s Large and Splendid Two Storey Stone Dwelling”. So that plus “Craft Shop and Studio” became our lengthy shop name. We were two young guys and had a fabulous time turning the building into something functional (after its most recent life — as a seed cleaning plant, I think). The very first show we put on was by a potter named Wayne Cardinalli who showed up to mount his exhibition only to realize he first had to help us finish building the gallery!
That was then. But guess what — a couple of months ago (ok, 46 years later) Wayne reached out, wanting to show his work in Almonte again. Lucky Wayne is about to help us finish the restoration of Fran Kronstal’s building at 60 Mill Street in Almonte and become part of a show of friends and artists/craftspeople that we knew back then.
The show, which we are affectionately calling “A.D. Redux”, will open on Saturday, August 28 and run for a month. Participating artists include Wayne Cardinalli, Phil Craig, Doug Bamford, Richard Gill, David Ivens, Margot Miller, Stephen Brathwaite, Ian Paige, John Webster, Valerie Roos Webster, Neil Stewart, Chandler Swain, Jennifer Ryder Jones, Pattie Dolan, Ruby Ewen, Paddye Mann, Joanne Pratt, Stephen Haigh, and Leta and Don Cormier. The late Jim Affleck will be represented through the kind loans of artwork from his sons.
It’s a reunion of friends from the ‘70s who were part of an art/craft/back-to-the-land renaissance. It’s an opportunity for others to see bodies of work from lifetimes of love of beauty and making. It’s also an opportunity to “pass the torch”, because each of the old farts has been asked to invite a young artist they respect. So far we have confirmed that Matt Ficner, Claire Stewart, Gilliam Maradyn-Jowsey and Sevanah Eiken will be joining us, in a room at 60 Mill Street we are cheekily calling “Le salon des refus, eh?”
Other Almonte galleries, including Sivarulrasa Gallery, General Fine Craft, Carriageway Studios and Jean Morrow Gallery, will also host works on August 28, so you can crawl from one to the other. The Art Crawl will start at 11am that day and go until we get tired… Find up-to-date details at <adredux.ca>.
This event is meant to spark more creative input, so if there are other artists or galleries in Almonte that would like to participate in the August 28 Art Crawl, please email me at <sbrathwaite@storm.ca>.
The Almonte Potters Guild (APG), now a not-for-profit co-operative, is an innovative member-run facility that has been an active part of the Mississippi Mills community for close to twenty years. It provides a friendly and creative environment for potters, both new and experienced, to develop their technical and artistic skills.
Classes have always been the lifeblood of this facility, allowing the APG to grow and thrive throughout the years. Unfortunately, like so many small businesses in Ontario, the Guild took a financial hit when Covid restrictions forced the delay or cancellation of all classes and studio memberships.
In answer to this, APG’s members have pooled their inventory and planned a fundraiser, with all proceeds going to support the studio. It will take place on Saturday, September 4 from 8:30am to 4pm in the studio at 95 Bridge Street (across from the Legion) in Almonte.
Mark your calendars and come out to support this dynamic local organization. Get a jump on Christmas shopping, or treat yourself to some beautiful homegrown pottery!
By the way, their classes have now resumed, and they are accepting new members as well. You can contact the Almonte Potters Guild at 256–5556 or email them at <almontepottersguild@gmail.com>. Check out <almontepottersguild.com> for more information.
Art Works! Perth is delighted to announce that their 3rd annual Artist and Studio Tour will take place in and around the beautiful town of Perth from August 27–29. Come out and meet many local talented artists and see their newest works, in the places in which they create! Make a day — or two — of it by treating yourself to delicious meals and snacks in excellent local cafés and restaurants. Look in on the many delightful small businesses inside the downtown core.
For a map of the tour, a directed drive for those who like to be directed, samples of amazing artwork and detailed information on each artist, plus opening times, please visit <artworksperth.ca> or pick up advertising locally. Check the Art Works! Perth Facebook page for updates and suggestions. Tour organizers would like to thank Strévé Design Boutique & Gallery and Weatherhead Brew Co. for kindly hosting some outstanding guest artists this year.
So save the dates, and come on down and enjoy the many delights that Perth has to offer! Questions? You can call Caroline Evans at 647–963–8358, or email <artbyhlf@gmail.com>.
Heritage House Museum in Smiths Falls is excited to present a showcase of artist Colleen Gray’s work. Painting with ground mineral watercolours, Gray creates vivid and iridescent artworks that share Indigenous stories and experiences with the viewer. Rooted in Indigenous spirituality, learned and practiced over her lifetime and informed by her Cree Elders, Gray uses her art to teach about how to think Indigenously and how to understand the deep connection to the land that we all have, even when we don’t acknowledge it. This showcase of over forty works of art is planned to be on display during phase three of the province’s reopening, from July 28 until August 22, and all of Gray’s paintings are available for purchase.
To book a timeslot to see Colleen’s showcase or to tour the museum, please call 283–6311 or email <heritagehouse@smithsfalls.ca>.
The billboard photo above is from the Artists Against Racism, Honour Project campaign. Six artists have work being featured on Pattison billboards across Canada for the next month. The artwork is designed to highlight the recovery of the bodies of children who have died in residential and day schools throughout the country.
This piece is titled “The Homecoming”. The story for it is as follows: A boy meets his Grandfather for the first time as the great homecoming begins. He lifts the child up to the Creator with a full and joyful heart and far below a great rage blankets the nation. Our Mother the Earth holds our children’s bones and cradles their tender spirits as they begin the journey home.
There is a billboard on the south side of March Road in Kanata near the Nordion building that is featuring my work on a rotating screen. I was very proud and deeply honoured to be invited to participate in this campaign because I feel very strongly about what is happening to recover those tiny lost souls. We owe it to them and to future generations to learn the truth about Canada’s historically troubled relationship with the Indigenous people of this country.
Are you a writer? A would-be writer? Not sure where to begin? Come to the next Breakfast with Soul Zoom meeting on August 15 at 9am and hear from this month’s special guest, Peter Occhiogrosso <peterocchiogrosso.com>. A member of the Authors Guild, Peter is the author of five nonfiction books, and is a coauthor, collaborator, or ghostwriter of twenty more, all for major publishers like Simon & Schuster, Penguin, Doubleday and Hay House. In recent years his books have focused primarily on spirituality, the nature of consciousness and world religion, as well as health and medicine. He has also coauthored books by public figures as disparate as rock icon Frank Zappa, best-selling spiritual teacher Caroline Myss, yoga master Mark Whitwell, and sports medicine expert Vijay Vad, MD, of New York’s renowned Hospital for Special Surgery.
Call Lilly White at 292–3292 for more information about her free monthly Breakfast with Soul meetings and Fate/Destiny Classes. In service to nourish mind, body & spirit.
Art… and Soul
It’s both refreshing and disconcerting when you encounter evidence that causes you to question your preconceptions (i.e., biases). So I was a bit surprised that a guy who describes himself as a redneck, worked as a heavy equipment operator, builds muscle cars and worked as a logger, creates artworks with the emotional clout and beauty that Chris Lemaire does.
Skies rule in his paintings. Lemaire credits the five years he spent in Newfoundland with his emergence as an accomplished fine arts painter. He claims he can smell salt in the air when he starts work on an oil painting of a dramatic Maritime landscape. In many of his paintings the toss and roil of the waves in the sky compete with those in the sea below. In another life Lemaire would be an Arctic tern or a sooty shearwater, flying across vast oceans and revelling in every dramatic panorama.
Oil paints are his chosen medium for his powerful coastal landscapes. He is self-taught and has developed his own style through trial and error. If a work doesn’t meet his exacting standards, he doesn’t hesitate to “toss it in the burn barrel.” This artist is fearless with colour and texture. He frequently prepares his canvases with thick black gesso, and liberally applies the vivid, vibrant colours of quality oil paints. The results are beautiful, striking, and original.
Painting with fire is his other métier. It came about by accident when he was working on his motorcycles and muscle cars. Chris claims he was born “a gearhead.” I have to admit I knew nothing about painting show cars, but I was blown away by the finish on the red muscle car parked in his garage. I had no idea there were manuals with titles like How to Paint Muscle Cars & Show Cars Like a Pro.
While working on one of his motorcycles, he became mesmerized with the colours appearing in the metal under his blowtorch — blues, purples, golds — and thought, “I can work with this.” He was right. He cuts cold-rolled steel freehand with his plasma cutter and uses a MIG welder (you can watch How to MIG Weld for Beginners on YouTube) for layering. Then he paints with fire using his blow torch. His metal sculptures capture his love of the great Canadian outdoors. For years Lemaire did a lot of outdoor guiding for fishers and hunters, and hunted to put meat in his own freezer. Now he substitutes art for moose hunting, and paints and welds unique metal tributes to his former prey and their environs. He much prefers it this way.
A Multi-faceted Redneck
Some people use the term “Redneck” disparagingly, but Lemaire’s personification of it is impressive. Born in Westmount, QC, he quit school in grade nine at the age of 15 and started working with heavy equipment. He has driven “the Corridor” in big rigs (Highway 401 has the honour of being North America’s busiest highway by traffic volume), operated backhoes and other heavy equipment, run a farm, worked as a logger, done taxidermy, raised black and tan coonhounds as show dogs, performed as a musician (he has a Taylor 810 and a lot of other equipment in his music room), worked in a multitude of tough jobs, and basically wrecked his body so that he suffers from constant pain. Nevertheless, he is working on a gorgeous 740HP show car and has a motorcycle and backhoe parked next to his home in Portland at the southeast tip of Big Rideau Lake. And all through the cold, dreary ; fall and winter months, he is a dedicated artist.
About eight years ago he and his wife Nancy wanted a change of scenery; they pulled up stakes and moved to Newfoundland. For Chris it was a painting epiphany. Even back in high school he had loved sketching, and about twenty years ago he fortuitously inherited a friend’s stock of quality art supplies. A confirmed autodidact, he started to teach himself how to paint. But it was the coastal scenery in Newfoundland that turned him into a serious artist. His powerful paintings of the coast, the wharves, the wilderness, and Maritime rural life earned him representation at a gallery in St. John’s. Like any serious artist, he loves the recognition that comes from the sale of an artwork, but that is not why he paints with oils and sculpts with metal. He creates art “for the love of making something beautiful to share with other people.”
Three years ago the couple moved back to Ontario to be near Chris’s mother. They bought a lot in Portland across the street from her house at the southeast tip of Big Rideau Lake and built an eco-friendly house designed to accommodate his many interests. Along the way, Claire Jacobs of the Chandelier Tree Studio in Portland recognized his artistic talent and invited him to participate in the Portland Artists Connection Studio Tour. Then Covid cast its dark shadow over the arts landscape, and only now are we getting a chance to welcome this exciting newcomer to our roster of accomplished Valley artists and artisans.
Until August 25, Chris Lemaire’s oil paintings and metal artworks are beautifully displayed at Strévé Design Studio Boutique and Gallery at 64 Gore St. East in Perth. The boutique and gallery are open Monday through Saturday from 11am to 5pm, and you can check further details at <strevedesign.com>. Chris is in the process of finalizing his social media presence; check for Chris Lemaire Fine Art to enjoy his vibrant Maritime landscapes and Canadian wilderness sculpted metal art. Don’t wait too long; Lemaire confided that someday he might have to go back to Newfoundland. The lure of the scenery, the smell of salt in the air, and the fact that there are no ticks in the province may prove irresistible. His two energetic dogs are tick magnets!WHO Chris Lemaire
On Saturday, August 28, the Mississippi Madawaska Land Trust (MMLT) invites you and your school-aged children to The Festival of the Wild Child — Scavenger Hunts at High Lonesome Nature Reserve near Pakenham, Ontario.
This year’s themed scavenger hunts offer you the chance to share creative outdoor learning and play. It will be a day of woodland fun — a fantastic opportunity for families and “social bubbles” to enjoy the outdoors together while respecting Ontario Covid safety protocols.
Several unique hunts have been developed on different trails. Search for salamanders in quiet ponds and find the frogs and the fairies hidden along wooded trails. Listen to the birds and watch for beautiful butterflies. Learn, explore and engage with the natural world in a safe and intriguing environment.
“It’s been a long time in lockdown and we want this event to give families the chance to come outside and play, to build some fun memories together, to take the time to just enjoy nature, and maybe learn something new about the world around us,” explains Sherryl Smith, Festival Chair.
The Wild Child Scavenger Hunt event will take place at High Lonesome Nature Reserve in the Pakenham Hills (867 Carbine Road) from 10am to 4pm on August 28 (rain date is August 29). Pre-registration (required) begins on August 1 at <mmlt.ca/events>. Please check the website for the most up-to-date information including the call on the rain date.
This festival is free for children under 18 years of age. Wild Child adults are requested to pay $10 for admission, and donations will be welcome. Be sure to bring water and maybe a snack to carry with you on your adventure. But remember, as you explore, leave nothing behind and take nothing with you but great memories. Please leave your pets at home for this event.
MMLT is a local charity dedicated to preserving wild lands and committed to providing events like the Festival of the Wild Child Scavenger Hunt that engage the community with the wonders of nature in a wilderness-like setting.
Be a Wild Child. It’s in your Nature!
Over 800 million people in our world regularly go to bed with an empty stomach. One in five children under five years of age in our world is stunted due to chronic malnutrition. Every day over 25,000 people in our world die from starvation. We pride ourselves in Canada as one of the most advanced nations on earth, yet according to Food Banks Canada over 1 million Canadians rely on Food Banks — over one-third of these Canadians are children.
What is the focus of our media? Lately, I have heard way too much about the inane race between two billionaires to be first in space — billionaires whose ethos is paying employees less than a living wage so that they are able to accumulate obscene amounts of wealth. How do we treat our fellow citizens who have become disabled or who can no longer work? Disability pensions leave recipients facing a choice between paying rent or buying groceries.
It is all too easy to throw up our hands and say these issues are too hard to grapple with. I am not going to lead the charge and demand fundamental change to our economic system. However, I have tried to make some small change by creating gardens to grow food for Food Bank clients and encouraging gardeners to donate food to the Food Bank. There are some that say we need to go much further.
Recently, I have been hearing much more about Food Sovereignty as a truly transformative path to Food Security. Food security is concerned with the protection and distribution of existing food systems. Food sovereignty is a much more radical concept based on grassroots food movements that want a democratic food system that relies on inputs from citizens as well as producers.
Food Secure Canada
Food Secure Canada is a pan-Canadian alliance of organizations and individuals working together to advance food security and food sovereignty. They facilitate an information hub to foster democratic debate on food policy, they support networks to facilitate research and enhance learning and collaboration on food-related projects and campaigns, and they advocate for food policies at the federal level that reflect the priorities of Canada’s food movement.
Food Secure Canada is committed to:
Zero Hunger. All people at all times must be able to acquire, in a dignified manner, an adequate supply of culturally and personally acceptable food.
A Sustainable Food System. The production and consumption of food in Canada (harvesting, processing, distributing, including fishing and other wild food harvest), must maintain and enhance the quality of land, air and water for future generations, and provide for adequate livelihoods of people working in it.
Healthy and Safe Food. Safe and nourishing foods that are free of pathogens and industrial chemicals must be available. No novel food (genetically modified organisms, or GMOs) may enter the food system without independent testing and monitoring.
Food Secure Canada has incorporated an Indigenous Circle where Indigenous peoples and non-Indigenous allies can share, strategize and act to ensure food sovereignty for Indigenous Peoples, including culturally appropriate food.
What does this mean for us at the local level? I believe that it goes far beyond keeping the shelves of Food Banks stocked and encouraging gardeners to donate a few tomatoes and carrots.
This is where Food Sovereignty comes to the fore. It means having the power and ability to grow our own food, including access to seeds and seedlings and the knowledge and education of how to grow food. It focusses on giving people the ability to feed themselves. I believe that it also means going to Farmers’ Markets — getting to know and buy from local producers and letting them know what you are looking for. It means saving seeds and developing our own unique cultivars suited to our climate.
And how does the aspiring gardener develop the knowledge and experience to successfully grow food? While “book learnin’” is great and online workshops are helpful, I believe that they are a pale substitute for hands-on digging in the soil beside an experienced and knowledgeable gardener.
In Almonte, kids from the Mississippi Mills Youth Centre work alongside Master Gardeners in a community garden. With the Blakeney Project of the Lanark County Food Bank we have been able to engage some 30-odd volunteers (mostly inexperienced gardeners) who show up for a three-hour shift once a week under the tutelage of some very experienced vegetable gardeners.
Interested in giving back to the community and at the same time getting hands-on gardening experience? Several Food Banks in our area have large gardens or small farms and rely on dozens of volunteers for planting, weeding and harvesting. The Ottawa Food Bank has the Black Family Farm near Stittsville, the Lanark County Food Bank has the Blakeney Project, the Table in Perth has gardens in Last Duel Park, and Lanark Highlands Plan B has their Community Garden just south of Lanark Village. In each case, you can find information on volunteering by visiting their website or Facebook page.
Cornwall Comes to Burnstown
Bittersweet Gallery is gearing up to present the 49th Annual Show of Burnstown clay-relief sculptor Richard Gill.
The Coast of Cornwall in sculpted clay relief will open on August 21, outdoors on the grounds of the gallery. Richard and his wife Cheryl were captivated by Cornwall’s picturesque coast when they traveled there pre-Covid. A ceremonial county in the southwest peninsula of England, it is considered a Celtic nation and homeland of the Cornish people, who trace their roots to the ancient Britons who inhabited parts of Great Britain before the Roman conquest.
Its rugged coastline of precipitous cliffs sheltering hidden coves and misty moors has provided British-born Richard with plenty of inspiration for this show. Scenic Port Isaac (where the well-known series Doc Martin was filmed), the ports of Falmouth and St. Ives, the ruins of Tintagel Castle, St. Michael’s Mount and Land’s End are just a few of the places he has portrayed in clay. In addition to creating relief sculptures, every piece that he has sculpted for the past 49 years began with a drawing. Richard will be showing from 50 to 100 of these carefully chosen original drawings that he has enhanced with archival inks, as well as some new lamp designs.
Two special guest metal artists have also been invited to participate. This show will feature fine metal artist David Ivens of Springtown, and the garden sculpture of returning Renfrew artist Jack Stekelenburg. David Ivens works with the integrity of the metal to respect it as a commodity in limited supply. His interest in architecture, design, history and nature brings his own unique creative twist to his work. He primarily works with metal in the non-ferrous group, the precious metals of silver and gold, or copper and its alloys of bronze and brass, or aluminum. Jack Stekelenburg creates one-of-a-kind abstract metal sculptures. Following in the footsteps of his philosophical and artistic mentors, he creates art as an unconscious, unscripted, wordless act of emotional expression.
The show will continue daily from 11am to 5pm until August 29 on the grounds at Bittersweet Gallery and also indoors. The gallery is currently open daily from 11am to 5pm, and represents over fifty artists in a variety of media from across Canada and regionally.
Sue Adams: Transience
From August 4 to September 17, Sivarulrasa Gallery is pleased to present Sue Adams: Transience, a solo exhibition of new sculpture and works on paper by Almonte-based artist Sue Adams. The exhibition can be seen in-person during regular Gallery hours: Tuesdays to Sundays from 11am to 5pm.
In this new body of work, Sue Adams is inspired by the phases of life as it goes through its cycles of growth, harvest, death and renewal. “The only constant is change and letting go before moving on,” she notes. “There is a transience or fleeting quality to each stage as well as an underlying beauty which carries with it the sadness of decline.” The four works on paper echo the theme of cycles: the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic, the Second World War, and the present Covid-19 pandemic are all fodder for the artist’s creative impulses.
Working primarily with the human form, Sue Adams’ work explores the beauty and agony of the human experience. Her sculpture and mixed media works explore themes of passion, pain, frailty and grace. Sue Adams studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Nice, France in 1973 and completed her BFA at the University of Windsor in 1976. Over the past thirty years her work been exhibited in many group and solo exhibitions in Canada, including in Ottawa, Toronto, and Montreal, and in the United States and France.
Join Sue Adams for a Vernissage/Meet the Artist on Saturday, August 14 from 3–5pm. This will be the first in-person vernissage since the pandemic began! Please stay tuned as the gallery will provide further details for this event based on health guidelines. Sivarulrasa Gallery <sivarulrasa.com> is located at 34 Mill Street in Almonte.
It’s been about a year-and-a-half since we’ve been able to take in any live theatre, and although several local troupes have really stepped up their Zoom games, everyone seems pretty keen to get back to in-person productions. Fortunately for area acting aficionados, Summer Theatre Smiths Falls (STSF) is jumping back onto the boards — outdoors at the Heritage House Museum — with an intriguing and varied line-up. theHumm contacted STSF’s General Manager Roger Sands and Artistic Director Paul Griffin to find out more.
theHumm: How did Summer Theatre Smiths Falls come to be? Was it something you were contemplating pre-pandemic?
Roger and Paul: Summer Theatre Smiths Falls has actually been two years in the planning! Originally we were gearing up to open last summer and then the world shut down. Up until January of this year we thought we’d be able to mount our season with the same shows this year. However, there was so much uncertainty that we pivoted to create a season that would accommodate most twists and turns during Covid. It is very much a response to Covid’s toll. As we planned our season, we wanted to offer opportunities to a large cross-section of entertainers who haven’t been able to perform in a live environment for 16 months.
You’re kicking things off with two concurrent shows that our readers need to know about right away because they are running from July 29 to August 1. Can you tell us a bit about those two productions?
Certainly! Being Coloured/ful in a Black and White World is a one-woman show created and performed by Jacqui Du Toit about her life in South Africa before she moved to Canada. I originally saw it in the Undercurrents Festival in Ottawa and thought it would be a perfect fit for us. Jacqui is a magnetic performer and the play is incredibly engaging.
The second show is from Monica Bradford-Lea and Lauren Welchner, who make up the Ottawa-based theatre company Spicy Day. It’s called In Waking Life and it’s about two psychic sisters who fix all of your problems (and ignore their own). I originally saw it five years ago at the Ottawa Fringe and it most recently won Best of Fringe at the 2019 Toronto Fringe.
Your line-up gets even more varied with the events taking place on August 6, 7, and 20. Why did you decide to include stand-up comedy, live music and a drag show in your roster, and who will be performing on those dates?
We really saw this summer as an opportunity to see what audiences might be interested in seeing on a stage in Smiths Falls. Also, all areas of the performing arts were hit by the pandemic, so why not create a space for everyone? For the Comedy Night on August 6 we have two standups — Glenys Marshall and Christina Muehlberger — as well as The D.I.L.F Improv Duo made up of Sophie Hayes and Alice Howard.
On August 7 we are very excited to have renowned singer/songwriter Jim Bryson on our stage. I really believe this will sell out quickly as Jim is such a joy to see perform live. On August 20 we are delighted to have two drag shows, one at 7pm and the other at 9:30pm, and the performers are stellar! We will be welcoming Eve Anne Jellicle, Saltina Shaker, Aimee Yonce and Cyril Cinder, and we are excited to see what’s in store.
Last but not least, you’ve got a three-week run of Mindy Kaling and Brenda Withers’ play Matt and Ben opening on August 11. What can audiences expect from that production?
Matt and Ben will run from August 11 to August 29 with performances from Wednesday to Sunday each week. This play is a quick-paced comedy where Kaling and Withers use Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s writing of Good Will Hunting as a device to explore male fragility and jealousy. And by having women play the characters of Damon and Affleck we get to see the whole world of celebrity in a new light. It’s hilarious, chaotic, subversive fun!
If things go well this summer, do you hope to return and/or expand the Summer Theatre program in the future?
We certainly hope so! We firmly believe this is just the start of great things, so please visit <summertheatresmithsfalls.ca> for all details!
Find more information online, and also check out PICNIC Smiths Falls <smithsfalls.ca/experience> for some terrific outdoor dining ideas!
One of the best things about summer in Lanark County is the profusion of flowers that bloom — in gardens and in the wonderful wilderness. Almonte artist Linda Hamilton currently has a special celebration of local flora on display at the Mill of Kintail Museum, and the best part about her flowers is that they last forever! theHumm caught up with Linda to find out more.
theHumm: Your creations are so beautifully lifelike that it’s hard to believe they won’t just wilt and fall out of their frames. What first drew you to create flowers using paper, and how have you developed your technique over the years?
Linda Hamilton: I have been creating art for most of my life. I made a 4-foot-tall paper dandelion for my final project in Grade 11 art. It was displayed in the school library and I was so proud! I attended York University where I earned my BFA and I took a few sculpture courses that I really enjoyed. After my kids were born I started to create large-scale paper flowers. They were huge! There is something very magical about big flowers. Soon my house filled up with them, though, so I had to switch to a more realistic size.
At the same time, I was concentrating on making my flowers more and more realistic, more botanically accurate. I love to experiment with different materials and techniques to capture the true texture and feel of the plants themselves. I use all sorts of paper and paint along with glue and wire to achieve the effects I am after. Over the past few years paper flowers have become popular again as an art form, and there are some very talented artists that I turn to for inspiration and ideas. But the best way by far for me to learn is from direct observation of nature. I love to grow flowers in my garden and seek out wildflowers wherever I can. I press them and take notes so I can copy them later in paper. I like to mount my finished flowers in shadow boxes as this isolates them and presents them as a botanical sculpture.
What was the inspiration for this particular exhibit?
My inspiration for this project was my experience of learning to identify our local wildflowers. A few years ago we purchased a piece of land near Middleville. As we experienced that space through the seasons, I was astounded at how many wildflowers I found and at how many I could not name! I thought I knew my flowers! I started pressing flowers to identify them and keeping notes of where I found them growing and when. A large paper flower commission in the summer of 2019 meant I got to make 35 shadow boxes of flowers. Executing this number of flowers and seeing them displayed together gave me the boost I needed to attempt my own exhibit. Wildflowers were a natural fit!
One thing that really stood out to me as I was first learning to identify wildflowers was how many of the beloved favourites are not in fact native to our area (think ox eye daisy, buttercup, red clover). I decided to incorporate this into my exhibit by making a different coloured background for the native flowers (cream) and non-native flowers (grey). Learning about the impacts of non-native and invasive species on our environment is so important because they affect so many aspects of our surroundings from insect and animal life to drainage, land use and disease.
With this collection I am trying to encourage reflection on and connection to place: specifically, the amazing natural abundance that we have here in Lanark County.
The Mill of Kintail is a perfect location to showcase works like these. Do you have a personal connection to the area?
I live in Almonte and I absolutely love to hike and canoe as I explore around the area. We have such incredibly rich natural surroundings here. Getting to know our own piece of land, I feel that my connection to the nature around us is growing stronger every day! The Mill of Kintail is the ideal place for me to showcase these wildflowers because they literally grow in that spot. I have also created a special piece just for the Mill of Kintail: a pink Lily of the Valley. These rare flowers bloom there each spring.
It’s heartening to see that such lovely art was created during the pandemic. What has helped you keep your creativity flowing during these challenging times?
Staying focused on my creative goals has been so helpful in navigating this pandemic year. I have stuck with my original plan to make forty wildflowers, and then added another ten, as well as a few larger pieces that incorporate multiple species. Making paper flowers is an engrossing, meditative process for me that has helped keep me positive and calm during this time. I have taken lots of opportunities to experiment with new techniques and materials, which I find always leads to a new burst of creativity! I have also been lucky enough to have had a steady stream of commissions to keep me going as well as lots of support from friends and family.
If you can’t get out to the Mill of Kintail before August 31, you can view Linda’s wildflowers on her website <daydreamflowers.ca>. And although the pieces on display at the Museum will not be for sale, there will be printed cards with images of the flowers on them, as well as a few shadow boxes, available in the gift shop during the run of the show. Find directions and more information about the Mill of Kintail at <mvc.on.ca/museum>.
World-class magic show OUTERBRIDGE – Clockwork Mysteries is returning to The Station Theatre in Smiths Falls from August 6 through September 5, with shows on Fridays at 7:30pm, Saturdays at 2pm & 7:30pm, and Sundays at 2pm. Provincial guidelines will allow up to 70 people at each performance.
Critics across the globe have hailed Ted and Marion Outerbridge as “Champions of magic” (Bergedorfer Zeitung, Hamburg, Germany), described their performance as “A visual feast” (Jinhua Daily, China), “A master of Illusion” (CBC-Radio Canada), and exclaimed “An astonishing performance” (Ottawa Life Magazine).
It is the most successful illusion show in Canada, and it wouldn’t be an over-statement to say that OUTERBRIDGE is Canada’s reply to America’s Copperfield, having received both the 2011 Award of Excellence from Ontario Contact, the Touring Artist of the Year award from the B.C. Touring Council, and setting box office records, one of which generated a call to a Fire Marshall to get permission to expand seating!
After years of performing around the world, including Europe, China and the famous Magic Castle in Hollywood, the Outerbridges have recently relocated to Smiths Falls, and are delighted to be performing minutes from their new home in the Ottawa Valley. Ted Outerbridge explains that: “years ago, doing a theatrical show comparable to something in Las Vegas in a town of 9,000 would not have been possible, but TV shows like America’s Got Talent have created a renaissance in the magical arts.”
Just as magic is experiencing a renaissance, tourism in Smiths Falls has been growing, mostly due to the interest in cannabis tourism fueled by Tweed headquarters. OUTERBRIDGE – Clockwork Mysteries provides a rare opportunity for residents and visitors alike to see a performance in this economic and cultural hub.
Within seconds of taking the stage, the Outerbridges fuse their revolutionary illusions with split-second artistry to hold viewers spellbound. At this fantastical event that combines magic, dance, theatre and a dash of wonder, the audience is invited into a mysterious clock tower equipped with a variety of timekeeping devices. With the help of an elaborate Victorian time machine, the performers and spectators become part of a race against time. They experience time accelerating and slowing down and predict the contents of a time capsule. Keeping their audience enthralled from the first astonishing illusion to the spectacular finale, the Outerbridges create an experience that far exceeds expectations. Indeed, in one of Ted’s illusions he vanishes from the stage, appearing seconds later standing in the audience. One evening, he recalls, “I reappeared in the audience, but someone was upset with me because I was blocking their view of the show. So they hit me. They were yelling at me to get out of the way. Then they realized it was me.” Outerbridge wasn’t injured. “I was amused!”
Tickets are $20/$30 plus HST, available by calling 283–0300 or visiting <smithsfallstheatre.com>. For more information about the Outerbridges, visit <tedouterbridge.com>.
The first Merrickville Festival of the Arts will take place on Saturday, August 28 and Sunday August 29, when residents and visitors are invited to celebrate summer by enjoying diverse art activities in various village locations. With its heritage stone and red-brick buildings, not to mention the Rideau Canal — a UNESCO World Heritage site — Merrickville provides a relaxed ambiance for visitors of all ages to discover.
More than 25 Merrickville Artists Guild (MAG) artists will display their paintings, pottery, printmaking, mixed media, jewellery and other unique art in tents at two locations in the village. In the afternoons, Theatre Night in Merrickville will present Tales of the Rideau — vignettes about the people who built the Rideau Canal — at the Lions Pavilion in the Parks Canada Blockhouse Park. Local musicians will be on hand to perform, and organizers are also delighted to feature readings by Merrickville’s Rogue Poets.
Nick Previsich, MAG President, notes that “the Merrickville Artists’ Guild, the Merrickville Organization for Culture & the Arts and Theatre Night in Merrickville came together to organize this event. We have an abundance of diverse artistic talent in Merrickville, and we felt that residents and visitors needed this celebration of the arts given what we have all been through with Covid. So we put our heads together, and as an artistic community decided to launch what we hope will be the first annual Merrickville Festival of the Arts.”
MAG artist Larry Thompson states that “artists are energized by the positivity of the community’s enthusiasm for our Festival of the Arts. All of us look forward to welcoming the public to this outdoor series of activities, where families are welcome to stroll Blockhouse Park, enjoy the Canal views, and mix and mingle with our artists.”
Organizers gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Municipality of Merrickville-Wolford, and the Merrickville Lion’s Club.
Additional information and periodic updates on the event can be found at <mag-artists.ca>.
The fine folks at the Middleville and District Museum are so excited (and relieved) to announce that they are once again able to welcome you and all your friends and relatives. They are now open on Saturdays, Sundays and holiday Mondays from 12–4pm through to the Thanksgiving weekend, and also by appointment. All health regulations will be in place to keep visitors and museum volunteers safe, so please remember your mask and be prepared to provide contact information.
And, to welcome people back to the Museum, admission through August will be by donation! Everyone is invited to come and see the changes made to the museum grounds and to enjoy exhibits new and old.
As you drive up to the Museum, you’ll see the new circular driveway and enlarged parking area that will make access to the building so much easier for cars as well as tour buses. These changes were made possible by a gift of land from Lionel Easton to the museum, and by the energy and generosity of those who carried out the work: master fencer Ken Lalonde, Ian Bodnoff, Bob Groulx, Rodney Stead, Bob Mckay, Kevin Phillips, the Township’s yard and road gang, and Cavanaugh Construction.
In the meantime, collections and displays have also been updated, and a better setting is being developed for the Museum’s collection of local Indigenous artifacts. There are three new or expanded displays: a collection of hand-carved miniatures of day-to-day life created by local Master of Miniatures Ken Bowes; a focus on the Affleck family featuring three portraits, a family bible, a shawl and blanket from this original settler family; and a detailed model of St. Declan’s Roman Catholic Church (French Line) created by parishioner Ray Cole.
If you didn’t make it to the museum during last year’s short season, they now also have a washroom!
The Middleville Museum is located at 2130 Concession Rd 6D in Middleville. Visit <middlevillemuseum.org> or find them on Facebook for updates about special summer events. You can also reach them by phone Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, at 259–5462 or 256–4977; or email <middlevillemuseum@gmail.com>.
Some of the best art, the best music and greatest societal movements come during times of great struggle and strife. Is the middle of the pandemic the best time to open a new art gallery? The answer is most likely no, but Keith Busher seldom thinks “safe”. Keith saw the spike in the housing market, sudden lifestyle changes and a need amongst artists (with markets, comic cons and art shows on hold) as an opportunity to move to an art-rich community and open up a studio/gallery. His new Concave Gallery is located on the second floor of the beautiful Code’s Mill in historic downtown Perth.
Concave Gallery will be showcasing local artists as well as artists from across Canada, the US and beyond, ensuring fresh art is arriving frequently and there will be something new to see each time you return. Their objective is to become a Culture Hub in Perth, showcasing more abstract and unusual art, as well as a geek boutique. There are original works, prints, sculptures and merchandise like mugs, t-shifts and greeting cards all featuring art from up-and-comers, underground superstars and lifelong artists.
As well as being a gallery, Concave will be working towards bringing the community together with a creators’ workshop for those without workspaces. Event nights including Comic Jams, Painting Parties and even Dungeons & Dragons are in the works.
Currently Concave is showcasing the works of Bryce Bell in their main feature room. Bryce’s show Foundation is a stunning collection of work spanning his entire career as an artist, with the proceeds of his artwork going to the Perth & District Community Fund — a foundation Bryce helped start twenty years ago. PDCF has donated over $1.5 million in grants supporting children, youth, seniors and families, as well as $264,000 to support community projects in Lanark County since the beginning of the pandemic. Find out more about them at <pdcf.ca>, and follow Concave Gallery on Facebook for updates and details!
Big news! Camp Lau-Ren is planning an in-person Open House for September 4! No, this is not a dry, online virtual event with mute button or Wi-Fi connection issues. The only connection that matters is the connection between people and nature at the beautiful Camp Lau-Ren site.
Executive Directors Ron and Joanne Hartnett recently announced plans for the Open House to take place on Saturday, September 4 from 11am until 2pm. “Although we couldn’t open this summer, we are anxious to welcome back campers in 2022,” says Joanne. “We want families to think of Camp Lau-Ren when they are considering sending a child to a sleep-away camp next summer.”
The Camp had to close in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic. The Hartnetts believe that there will be a pent-up demand for the camp experience by next summer and want to introduce Camp Lau-Ren to potential new campers with an in-person experience. This event will be held on the Labour Day weekend and will feature tours of the site, which includes the beach on the Ottawa River, the dining hall, craft hall, a campers’ cabin, camp fire area and the famous Camp Lau-Ren Rock. It is not possible to have the usual free BBQ lunch. However, families are welcome to enjoy the beach at their own risk. The hope is that this Open House will help to kick off the joyous return of campers, counsellors, volunteers and summer staff to Camp Lau-Ren in 2022.
All children are welcome at Camp Lau-Ren, an Ontario Camps Association accredited camp of the United Church of Canada. One-week co-ed camps for 8- to 15-year-olds are offered, along with a Girls Camp, a Leader-In-Training Camp and a 3-day Tadpole Camp for 6- and 7-year-olds. The free Camp Lau-Ren Open House on September 4 is located at 210 Lau-Ren, Town of Laurentian Hills, just 11km west of Deep River. More information can be found at <camplau-ren.com>.
Walkers and runners of all ages and abilities are invited to participate in this year’s virtual Run for AGH, sponsored by Canadian Tire Corp., Carleton Place, and taking place from Saturday, September 11 at 6am to Sunday, September 12 at 6pm. In order to ensure everyone’s safety, participants can complete their run or walk anytime during the weekend, choosing either one of the mapped out routes or to walk or run their own route.
This annual fundraiser has raised over $200,000 for new and replacement equipment at the Hospital. Funds raised from this year’s event will again support the birthing unit and women’s health programs at the Almonte General Hospital.
“There are so many reasons to support our local hospital and manor this year,” says Julie Munro, Chair of this year’s organizing committee. “Families that have had their children at the Hospital are asked to come out and support the event as a show of gratitude that we have this great facility. Everyone who counts on quality health care close to home should also come out and show their gratitude too.”
Participants will choose from one of three distances: 3km Family Fun (walk or run, untimed); 3km Walk or Run (timed); 5km Walk or Run (timed); 10km Walk or Run (timed).
As well as registration, which only costs $40 in advance, individuals and teams are encouraged to collect pledges from family and friends in support of the Hospital. With every $25 collected, participants will receive ballots towards great prizes including Canadian Tire Gift certificates. Both individuals and teams are also eligible to win prizes for the most pledges collected.
Have fun while supporting the hospital, reach out to your family, friends and colleagues! The closing ceremonies will be broadcast live on Facebook @AGHFVM on September 12 beginning at 7pm. For details and to register, please visit<almontehospitalfoundation.com/our-events/runforwomenshealth/>.
Seeing our beautiful oaks and apple trees regrowing a second set of leaves after the devastation of the LDD moth invasion earlier this summer, it seems like regrowth and regeneration are possible just when we need it. This theme is truly alive in many local farms providing us with wonderful local organic food. This month, Climate Network Lanark will focus on the Food Security aspect of addressing the Climate Crisis.
To get more insight on this topic I talked to Alberto Suarez-Esteban about Nature’s Apprentice (his regenerative agriculture CSA farm near Pakenham) and his approach to the Climate Crisis relative to his business of growing food for his customers.
You have a PhD in Biology and here you are working on your small holding growing vegetables. Can you describe why eating locally grown food from regenerative farms such as yours has a beneficial impact on climate?
Alberto Suarez-Esteban: To address climate change, we need to do two things: stop sending carbon into the atmosphere, and capture atmospheric carbon. Local, regenerative food production helps with both.
When it comes to halting carbon emissions, when food is consumed where it is produced we save a lot of energy in terms of transportation and refrigeration. Local food is also fresher and has a much longer shelf life, which helps to reduce food waste. Project Drawdown <drawdown.org>, a scientific framework for climate change solutions, identifies reducing food waste as the most impactful thing we can do to reduce global carbon emissions. Because of that freshness, local food also tends to taste better and be more nutritious, which are nice side benefits. This is what really brings people to our farm.
When it comes to capturing atmospheric carbon, Nature invented the best technology to do it a long time ago: photosynthesis. Agriculture involves growing plants and therefore has the potential to help capture atmospheric carbon, but not all farming practices lead to such capture. In fact, industrial agriculture is a major contributor to carbon emissions. For example, tilling the soil exposes the soil organic matter (made mostly out of carbon) to oxygen so that it gets quickly degraded and released as CO2 (just like blowing oxygen on a fire). Applying chemical fertilizers also releases soil carbon into the atmosphere, as microbes use the applied nutrients to grow and consume soil carbon to fuel their metabolism. The manufacturing of chemical fertilizers also depends on vast amounts of natural gas and is incredibly energy-intensive, which leads to more carbon emissions. Similarly, pesticides are also petroleum-based and kill the very organisms that are trying to capture carbon (mostly plants and soil microbes).
The good news is that regenerative agriculture does exactly the opposite. By not disturbing the soil, keeping it covered with growing plants and mulches, composting, using cover crops and strategically introducing animals to accelerate nutrient cycling, regenerative organic agriculture has the potential to produce comparable yields while increasing the life and organic matter content in our soils. More life and carbon in our soils not only means less carbon in the atmosphere, but also more fertility and higher yields, more water infiltration and retention, less erosion and soil loss, and healthier, more robust plants that are also healthier for us to eat. Farms like Nature’s Apprentice and many others with similar practices in our county are the living proof of this.
Can you describe what measures you are taking to deal with climate disruption?
We try to manage our farm as an ecosystem, because it is one! Ecosystems are more resilient when they are diverse, and when they have redundancy built into them — so that if a part fails, another part can take up the slack and the system continues to function. The awesome thing about regenerative agriculture is that all those benefits I mentioned to combat climate change also increase our resilience to climate disruption. For example, we have integrated hedgerows in our gardens, which are strips of perennial flowers, bushes and small trees that create habitat for a diversity of wildlife.
One of our main concerns is water, for which increasing soil organic matter is crucial. In the two summers I have been farming, we have experienced periods of drought followed by torrential rains. Our soil was very poor in organic matter initially, but after several applications of compost and mulches, practicing no-till, having crops growing in it from April to November, and doing everything we can to support soil microbes (fungi in particular), it now has the structure of a sponge and is able to absorb those torrential rains without being washed away, and also retains that moisture for a longer period of time. We have also installed rainwater collection systems, and dug a pond and a well to again try to build in as much redundancy as possible, although our pond has become more of a wildlife sanctuary than a water reservoir. Like many other farmers, we are also using climate-control structures such as high tunnels, cold frames and row covers to mitigate sharp temperature changes. We are experimenting with a straw wall and a heat battery made of water barrels in our nursery to be able to start seedlings earlier in the spring with no energy inputs other than the sun. We dream of building a passive solar greenhouse in the future to be able to grow greens year-round, as many of our customers would love us to do. We are also hoping to install solar panels in the next few months, which will increase our energy resilience. Finally, we are in the process of designing an edible forest, which imitates the structure of our local forests but using edible species. We hope this edible forest will not only produce more quantity and diversity of food for our community but also create a favourable microclimate, continue to bring diversity to the farm, and capture more and more atmospheric carbon as it matures.
Imagine how lucky we are that farmers like Alberto are bringing this kind of local food production to our county at this critical time. This, along with the fresh little green leaves rebounding on our oak and apple trees are among the reasons I feel we have a chance with our climate crisis challenges. To learn more and get involved, check out the CNL Farms Working Group by visiting <climatenetworklanark.ca>. You may also want to watch Kiss the Earth (a documentary available on Netflix).
Always one of the most active live music venues in theHumm’s coverage area, The Cove in Westport is emerging from pandemic restrictions with a newly renovated patio and a full roster of outdoor music scheduled for August (and beyond!). We contacted manager Seamus Cowan to find out more about their plans.
theHumm: What kinds of renovations have you done to your patio in order to use it as a live music venue?
Semus Cowan: Due to Covid, we were able to extend all of our adjacent patio space to be licenced. This allowed our garden by the patio to be licensed, and so we added more socially distanced tables and that area became a cozy little haven surrounding our outdoor patio stage! This year we wanted to go the next step and improve the space with a clean concrete slab and a strong structure with elevated shade sails. The space feels very clean, yet still surrounded by lots of natural greenery, adding to a comfortable outdoor space surrounding the stage and existing patio for live music. We host live music nightly from 5–8pm, featuring incredible talent ranging from local to acts from surrounding cities.
How have the musicians been responding to the easing of restrictions and the resumption of gigs?
I can’t speak for other places, but I know that our musicians have enjoyed being back here on our stage playing for appreciative and attentive listeners! Live music is a cornerstone of our place. Without it, I can’t imagine it.
How does it feel to you and your staff to be “back in business”?
Our staff and business have never felt so grateful and busy in our entire existence. The call and email volume and information sharing is at an all-time high, but that’s a sign of the times! Our staff is so strong and resilient, and we are incredibly grateful to have them come back and be here to help us continue operating this business. We couldn’t do it without them. They are the face of The Cove!
Are you optimistic that you will be able to resume indoor live music in the fall?
This is a great question, and it has to be qualified. We are optimistic that we can operate with live music when we are limited to indoors-only, but our model may continue to be limited due to social distancing. That still leaves our larger act performance model up in the air… but it will come back. It will happen. The best anyone can do is continue to support live music!
In addition to your regular live music (which people can find on theHumm’s calendar), who can people expect to hear at The Pond Music Series?
On Friday, August 6 we’ve got the Country Pickin’ Mayhem Band with Wendell Ferguson, Steve Piticco, and Shawn McCullough & Band (Telecaster pickin’ mastery by three of Canada’s great country guitarists). Friday, August 13 brings 80s Enuff (Kingston’s 80s tribute fun factory featuring Pat Murphy). On Thursday, August 26 and Friday, August 27 you can catch Young Petty Stones (a nod to the music of Neil Young, Tom Petty and The Rolling Stones). Friday, September 3 sees the Steve Marriner Band bring their funky/soul/blues sound to the stage, featuring members of MonkeyJunk, The Sheepdogs and Blue Rodeo.
All of these are dinner + show events, with doors opening at 4pm, a 3-course served dinner at ?pm, and music starting at ?pm. They are by reservation only, with rain dates planned for Sundays following the events.
Don’t hesitate! Reserve your spots by calling The Cove at 273–3636, visiting <coveinn.com> or emailing <thecoveinnwestport@gmail.com>.
My garden is no stranger to weeds. You might recall that a few years ago I suggested we hold Weedfest here. Alas, no one showed up, and our celebration fell flat. Weeding my own garden is a complete drag, but someone else’s always looks like it would be more fun to do.
Imagine, then, my delight in being able to work at a friend’s market garden, digging out weeds and planting stuff to my heart’s content. The earthy scent in the greenhouse is intoxicating as we watch seedlings maturing into prolific plants in no time flat. And yes, the weeds come up as well, but for some reason, it’s a joy to pull those weeds while my own garden is inundated with junk I didn’t want there.
My first day on the end of the shovel was really satisfying: a 6’ by 50’ bed knee-high in flowering purple somethings. Dig, pull, dig, pull, and three hours later the bed was pristine and waiting for seed. I was in heaven! However, four days later, some sort of grass was making its presence known. And that’s when I got a look at true weed annihilation: a propane weed killer just the width of the bed that could be fired up and pulled across the soil slowly enough to destroy the intruders without disrupting the soil. Aha! The right tool in the right place. The bed was covered in landscape cloth with holes the right size for planting, and Bob’s your Uncle, we were away to the races with seedlings popped into the holes.
It’s good to do a task the hard way first. While I planted spinach a seed at a time, my farmer was using a mini-plough affair that automatically planted lettuce babies one at a time in a neat row in half the time it took me to do it by hand. While I hand planted one 12-foot row of specialty beans, she loaded up the seeder and planted four 50-foot rows of green and yellow beans. While I measured exact distance for planting the potatoes, she had cucumber seeds nestled in their little planting holes, and was on to the tomatoes and celery. Oh yes, I soon learned tools are important.
Now I’m using two tools I love. One is a furrow digger that is pulled over the bed in neat rows, the seed gets dropped in by hand — sometimes you have to get your knees dirty — and the reverse side of the furrow tool closes the row. The other is a roller with ridges that sets out perfect four-inch squares across the entire four-foot bed. It even has an offset handle so you don’t step on your newly raked soil. How easy is that? No more squiggly lines of stuff planted too close together or far apart.
While my own garden gets neglected, I’m learning every morsel we enjoy is the result of a great deal of work. Never was this more evident than when we harvested the garlic. A few thousand cloves were wisely planted in landscape cloth last fall, and by the time the scapes were ready, the plants were more than two feet tall with nary a weed in sight. This is one job that takes a heavy foot on the fork and a strong back. Dig, pull, clean; dig, pull, clean, about 150 bulbs per row, and more rows than we could tackle in a day. The bulbs were gathered and laid out in fragrant bouquets that left us dreaming of pizza and Italy. Not done yet, it was a family affair to string them in clusters and hang them to dry, after which they still need to be peeled and trimmed. So by the time that bulb is ready to be roasted, it has been handled at least seven times. It’s why I don’t even try to grow garlic. My miniscule offerings pale in comparison to these fist-sized juicy heads.
Twice a week, I escape to the farm to see what’s developed in only a few days. We planted three kinds of peppers that’ll be at the market very soon, along with those beans that look like they’re never going to stop, and onions, and radishes, and tomatoes, and no end of gorgeous produce. I’m thrilled that I’ve been given the opportunity to play in the dirt, and truly admire the tenacity and optimism of farmers who put in so much labour to feed the rest of us. Every waking hour is devoted to their gardens, while I walk around my own, deciding that any weed that develops a flower will be allowed to stay. I just have to readjust my mindset to appreciate their beauty.
In the meantime, I will revel in the gorgeous market garden I’m allowed to play in twice a week. On Saturdays, when people are buying fresh everything, I’ll allow myself a twinge of pride in having had a hand in producing it.
Ah yes, Let There Be Farms! That’s actually the name of Angie’s farm, and you can find her at the Almonte Farmers’ Market on Saturdays or reach her at <lettherebefarms@gmail.com>. Don’t pass up those fresh vegetables, and the Queen should have some honey for the parlour too. Ask Angie: her honey is fit for any Queen.
As pretty well everyone knows, small independent businesses have not had the easiest year-and-a-half of it. At the same time, tourism associations have had to balance public safety concerns with business interests. With the advent of Step 3 of the Roadmap to Reopen Ontario comes a loosening of restrictions and the opportunity to encourage folks to come on back — safely — and enjoy all that our charming small towns and rural areas have to offer. Perth Tourism is doing just that through their “Weekends in Perth” and “Picnic in Perth” initiatives, so we contacted Kathryn Jamieson, Heritage Tourism Manager of the Town of Perth, to find the fun details!
theHumm: What kinds of weekend activities do you have planned to welcome people back to Perth?
Kathryn Jamieson: Lucky for us, the businesses in Perth have really worked hard to not only promote themselves and the Town, but to be welcoming to their local clients and to visitors. To build on that, Perth Tourism is promoting the town across the province with a focus on day and weekend visitors from Toronto through to Ottawa. There are so many activities to do in Perth this summer! Perth Tourism coordinates #WeekendsInPerthON in partnership with the Perth BIA. This is a pop-up event series that started last year and took a hiatus during the lockdown but is up and running again now. These events bring entertainment to the streets and parks and can feature all sorts of entertainers, from musicians to stilt-walkers, and from caricature artists to costumed characters — even a nine-foot realistic-looking dinosaur! We want to make sure people have a great excuse to return to Perth each weekend, and we hope people will enjoy the entertainment and help promote the town by sharing their trip on social media.
We’ve recently updated the tourism website <perth.ca/en/visit/tourism.aspx> to make it easy for people to plan their trip. Details about events, activities, attractions, accommodations… it can all be found there.
Perth has many amazing restaurants, but not all of them are right in the main business area. How is the Picnic in Perth initiative addressing that?
The Picnic in Perth initiative is organized by the Perth BIA, so that is primarily focused on the downtown; however, Perth Tourism has recently added a page about picnic spots to the website detailing where to go across town. We recommend ordering takeout from your favourite Perth restaurant (or, trying something new!) and packing a blanket to head to a park. Stewart Park and Last Duel Park are popular spots, but there are other options too, such as Conlon Farm, the Darou Farm Trail, the lookout at the end of Tay River Pathway, and Perth Museum’s gardens.
This summer Perth Tourism reached out to local restaurants and food businesses to offer Terrace on the Tay (on Mill Street beside Stewart Park) as a low-cost option for an additional venue. Picnic Café + Catering has partnered with Weatherhead Brew Co. and been serving at Terrace on the Tay since early June. Later this month, Michelle’s Filipino Food will be there, and in mid-August Michael’s Table will be at Terrace on the Tay. It has been a great way to involve businesses that are not usually right downtown.
Another great way to explore Perth from end to end is the Great Taste of Ontario foodie passport. Order takeout from the restaurants on the passport and enjoy them picnic-style this summer. You simply download the free Perth passport to your phone like an app, check in to all 15 stops by the end of the year, and win prizes! you can find the information and link on our website.
As we start to take our first tentative steps back into activities like sightseeing and shopping, how are you balancing safety precautions with fun?
A staff member accompanies all entertainers to monitor visitor numbers and to assist with sanitizer, etc. when appropriate. When visiting restaurants and stores we ask that you take the time to read the signage on the door and look for capacity numbers or contact tracing requirements. And before your visit to Perth, please review the page on the website called Visit Perth Safely which includes information from the Province and the Leeds Grenville and Lanark Health Unit.
Have you found that residents have been supportive of their local restaurants and small businesses over the course of the pandemic? What are some other ways in which Perth Tourism has helped to connect customers with area businesses?
It has been a difficult year for many with lockdowns and changes, but I’m thankful to Perth residents who have supported the businesses here though lockdowns and changes. Perth Tourism has been running a campaign called Shop Here Dine Here and people have been quite receptive to it. It has been a combination of print and radio ads, as well as a series on social media promoting local businesses twice a week by theme. We’ve also been including more businesses in the Perth Proud blog, and we’ve been sharing their social posts to our Stories to help increase their reach.
What other initiatives (either ones that used to occur or new ones) are you looking forward to being able to resume in the near future?
We’re really looking forward to bringing back some of our previous events, and to try new events and activities too. The fall and winter holidays are coming quickly, we hope to have fireworks later this year, and we’re planning a new night market (as long as the case numbers and regulations permit it!).
Find details about all these initiatives — and many more — at <perth.ca/en/visit/tourism.aspx>!