The Home Grow-In, part I

The Home Grow-In sits at 3010 Cambie Street and is a lovely new collaboration of 12 co-op vendors and owners bringing fresh seasonal produce, baked goods, gourmet chocolates, locally and sustainably raised meats and dairy and so much more to the Cambie Street corridor.  This co-operative store opened in December 2010 and brings with it a very welcoming and community based market experience.  Already over 300 personal community produce boxes are picked up weekly.

Weddings with many products sourced locally are the best way to be sustainable.  The Home Grow-In is a great location to find products produced in BC that can add a certain westcoast flavour to the celebration. 

Consumable wedding favours are the best wedding favours and jam, honey, soap and chocolates are great examples that guests will love.

Urban Sweet Honey is a Vancouver produced honey and the creation of Russel Godwin.  With beehives established from Kitsilano along the railway line out to Surrey they are a true reflection of the Lower Mainland’s community gardens and of course, local weeds.  The bees don’t care and Russell likes the idea of food produced from weeds. This honey  comes in 250 and 500 gram size at present.

Jolene’s Natural Handmade Soap.

And of course, a most delectable wedding favour is chocolate.  Wendy Boys of Cocolico is a pastry chef who creates award winning chocolates and is a part owner of The Home Grow-In.  More information on Cocolico will follow in Part II of this post.  Cocolico does create amazing wedding favours and will be on hand at The Grassroots Wedding Fair with samples and information on custom ordering.

These lovely chocolates were named by Vancouver Magazine in 2008, as one of the “101 Things to taste before you die”.

The Home Grow-In supports social enterprise groups such as Tradeworks and has a host of beautiful wood work on hand in the store.  The Book Nook brings sustainable gardening to the forefront and celebrates a local diet.

Wild Coast Edibles features Edible Landscapes, and treats from around the province from teas, cedar smudge sticks, skin care products and jewelry from the First Nations and other communities in the north. 

Cedar smudge sticks are not always easy to find.  The are a great tool to add an element of nature to a wedding ceremony or handfasting. 

The Home Grow-In will be a welcome spot to visit when the weather improves with a garden oasis out back.  With custom roasted coffee and yummy baked goods this new store will be the place to come, pick up your locally grown veggies, and relax.  It is a link to where our food comes from and a celebration of the bounty we can find in BC. 

The Market is open 7 days a week and offers a wide selection of food, books and gift products.  It is a completely different business model and I  highly recommend a visit to check it out.

written by Shona Dion

photos by sweet earth photographics

To Market to Market

With sustainability on the mind, farmers markets are a great place to find many vendors to green  your wedding.  Sourcing products from cakes, wedding favours to flowers can all be found at the markets.  The chance to meet the individual in person who will help bring your special day to life is a unique opportunity and fosters a sense of community. 

 The Vancouver Farmers Market is a staple in many Vancouver neighbourhoods and even in the dead of winter the market at Nat Bailey Stadium is bustling with vendors and customers alike. For going on 16 years the Farmers Markets have brought local farmers, bakers and crafters to our neighbourhoods.

Sweet Naturally Bakery is now a regular sight at the market.  With a focus on organic ingredients and simply amazing yumminess (wait until you try the maple oat scone), they are a welcome addition to the market fare. 

The delectable items they have on hand for those chilly Saturday mornings are only half of their business.  They are also amazing wedding cake creators and I have seen these lovely creations first hand. 

Frances and Dickson are committed to creating products that are not only beautiful in their presentation and taste, but that are sustainably made with locally sourced ingredients.  This past year has seen them at the Baker’s Market to The Grassroots Wedding Fair, EP!C and now to the Farmers Market.  We will also see them again in three weeks at The Grassroots Wedding Fair where Frances assures me they will have lots of samples on hand to taste!

One of my favourite tie-ins to weddings from the Farmers Market is the treats available for wedding favours.  Consumable wedding favours are the most eco-friendly and appreciated gifts to give guests.  Many couples make their own jams, bundle their own flower seeds, baked sweet treats, but not everyone is so talented or has the time.  This is when the market is ripe with ideas.  From preserves, honeys and handmade soaps, wedding favours can be found at the market that will make your guests appreciate taking a piece of the local community with them.

Sunshine Coast Natural Care Co. provides soaps for wedding favours and are expanding this year to include personalized lip balms.

Shona Dion

photos by sweet earth photographics

Green Donation Recipient – WC2

I was very excited to hear that Western Canada Wilderness Committee accepted our donation recipient request.  WC2 is a westcoast icon.  For many years they have been fighting the good fight and raising awareness of environmental issues for all of Western Canada. 

What is so great about Western Canada Wilderness Committee is that they actually have a wedding component that ties in nicely to our event.  We encourage those couples who have everything, or need nothing, to accept donations to a charitable organization in lieu of gifts.  Guests love to give gifts and what a great idea to direct those energies to something that has so much more substance.  Not only is it good for our community, it  allows friends and family of the couple to understand their passion and commitment to the environment.  

A wedding I recently photographed even had the couple donate monies to a charitable organization as wedding favours.  Each guest received a small card that advised what had been given on their behalf.  I was impressed with this progressive idea.

Western Canada Wilderness Committee can give you a display to put up at your wedding to give your guests more information on where their gift monies go. The donation can be granted to a specific cause or to the organization itself.

Sue Fox of Western Canada Wilderness Committee also told me that  the organization sells a lot of cards that are used as invitations and thank you cards.  All of the funds from the purchases go right back into the community and the photography is amazing.

I have been a member of WC2 for many years and was an eco-activist in my youth trying to save the Elaho Valley, a success story.  I volunteered with mail outs and calendars.  To give back more than just a membership now is very inspiring for me.  Western Canada Wilderness Committee will receive $2.50 from each paid entrant from The Grassroots Wedding Fair.  Money well raised, I believe.

Western Canada Wilderness Committee will be at The Grassroots Wedding Fair with cards on hand for sale and information regarding their donation program.

Shona Dion

Yummy wedding favours

 

 Wedding favours come in all shapes and styles, yet many lack any lasting or even immediate meaning.  Why not give a truly unique gift to your guests that allows them to sample local, organic, home grown goodness?

Preserved BC Sunshine, a company devoted to bringing local flavours to your table, is the perfect answer to a wedding favour dilemna.  Find them at your local Farmer’s Market and online.  They make wonderful gift sets or give one beautiful jar for each guest and tantalize their tastebuds.  You can choose from a great selection of flavours and even design your own labels.  Karin Brauch works with her bridal couples to make her products stand out at your wedding and can guarantee your guests will enjoy a little sampling of B.C.

Candle Wedding Favours

Wedding favours are an element of a wedding that are stressed over.  Many wedding favours can end up collecting dust or are simply lost in the clutter of our lives. 

Wedding favours that can be consumed are truly the best choice.  Think yummy farmer’s market jams, chocolates, cookies and ahah…even candles.

I have already written about the great benefits of beeswax candles.  What about handing them out as wedding favours?  Small and perfect little gifts that can be used for any occasion following your wedding that are clean burning and a lot healthier than parafin wax candles.

von Hardenberg Candles fit the bill nicely.  Made with the perfect gifting size in mind, these little wedding favour candles are a great addition to any wedding.

Look in the Sun this week for a special article on the benefits of beeswax candles with a special mention of our exhibitor von Hardenberg Candles.