St. Jacobs Market District

Canada’s Largest Farmers’ Market

Market News

To our valued customers: we are back!

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We are pleased to announce that the St.Jacobs Farmers Market will be re-opening June 4th, starting with the outdoor market area. The lower level of the Market building will re-open June 6th. Market Tent is now open, Peddlers Village and the Upper floor of the Market Building to open July 7th

Food, fast food and retail items are available, but Horse Drawn Trolley rides, pony rides, farmyard animals and the kids activities are all on hold right now.

Access to the Market will be through one central entrance located just off of the King St parking lot. There are directional arrows in the outdoor area and in all the buildings. Please pay attention to the flow of traffic and follow the arrows.

To help with a positive and safe Market experience for all, please do the following:

  • send 1 family member to shop at the Market if possible. Leave your kids at home,and leave your pets at home please
  • be purposeful and efficient with your shopping, have a look at the vendor attendance list on line before you come or pick up copy at the entrance
  • please don’t linger to chat with friends. We know its been hard to be stuck at home, but the Market is not a place to come right now if you are bored, its for shopping, not stopping.
  • everyone is encouraged to enjoy their food purchases at home- there is no seating available inside any buildings or within the outdoor fenced area.
  • follow all directional signage and do not cut across barriers or designated lineups at entrances
  • contactless payment is strongly encouraged, but try to bring small bills and change if you are intending to pay with cash
  • wash your hands frequently-there will be many hand sanitizer stations located around the indoor and outdoor market areas
  • reusable bags and containers not permitted at this time

Please do not come to the Market if you:

  • are feeling unwell or are experiencing any symptoms of COVID-19
  • have been in close contact with anyone who has is sick, is being tested, or has been diagnosed with COVID 19

Please be patient and respectful of all other customers, vendors, and employees. It may not be the same Market experience you have had in the past, but we all need to be willing to embrace a new “normal”. Some vendors have been temporarily moved to accommodate a different market layout, please ask a staff member for help or consult our online map on the website.

Thank you for your continued support.

Please feel free to contact our Market office if you have any questions 519-747-1830 or visit our website for information.

Meet the Community of Creators at St. Jacobs Farmers’ Market: Angus Burns, White Wolf & Friends

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**Part of a series of stories focusing on the producers and makers you’ll find at the St. Jacobs Farmers’ Market**

artist Angus Burns, owner of White Wolf and Friends, working on a piece of art created on wood in his booth at the St. Jacobs Farmers' Market

Owner Angus Burns, White Wolf & Friends

White Wolf & Friends: Original Wildlife Paintings on Wood and Moose Antler Carvings

For the past 51 years, wildlife artist Angus Burns has created intricate paintings and carvings using natural mediums such as wood and even moose antlers as his canvas. He enjoys working with the textures and grains of the woods, and says these natural mediums speak to his soul. “When I paint on a burl (a knotty tree growth), all the beautiful textures and grains in the wood just pop out, and that attracts people,” Angus explains. “And I don’t do much background painting, because the wood is good scenery in itself.”

animal and nature paintings done on wood by artist Angus Burns of White Wolf & Friends at the St. Jacobs Farmers' Market

Angus is a self-taught artist. He began painting when he was 17 and working in northern bush camps. Working in the camp kitchen meant he didn’t have much to do in the afternoons, so art provided him with something to do. One day he was approached by a gentleman who asked him if he could paint some ducks onto a tree burl for him, and Angus said yes (although he had never done anything like that before). That one project soon turned into more than 50 such paintings, and marked the beginning of Angus’ artistic career. Although he continued to work in bush camps, and later on the railway, Angus started to cut his own wood to paint. He also started carving after being approached by a train operator in Moose River (south of James Bay) who had found some moose antlers and wanted Angus to carve the rack for him. Although he had never carved before, Angus says he knew he could do it. “For me it’s like I look at something and imagine it finished: then I just take out all the parts that aren’t there (in my mind).”

Angus came to the St. Jacobs Farmers’ Market approximately 14 years ago, when his partner, Sarah Spencer, told him she thought the Market would be a good fit for him. “I had been going to a lot of shows in different places, including the One of a Kind show in Toronto,” he says. “I wasn’t sure about it at first, but she persuaded me to apply so I tried it.” Angus likes the comradery and community that happens at the Market, and he loves being able to interact with customers as he works on his art.

“White Wolf & Friends is like my studio, and I can talk to people as I’m working so they can see that I’m actually doing the work,” Angus explains. “It’s important for people to know these aren’t pieces that I just buy and hang on the walls in my booth – these pieces are all handmade by me and my partner, who helps me out.”

He has customers who have bought pieces from him for years, and has a large client list. He calls the Market a gathering place, where people come from all over. One man told him he stopped by his booth seeing a sign at an airport in Holland telling people to go see Angus at the St. Jacobs Farmers Market (the man showed Angus a picture of the sign). He enjoys hearing the comments from people about his art, and feels his pieces speak to people.

artist Angus Burns working on a commission piece of a dog at White Wolf & Friends at the St. Jacobs Farmers' Market

“I believe each piece should talk to you,” he says. “I’m working on a piece for a woman who recently lost her dog. I’ve got to make the dog look like he’s looking right at her, so that when she looks at the piece, she can see him looking back at her. I put a lot of love and care into what I do: it’s important to me to touch people’s hearts through my art work.”

If you’re curious as to why Angus chose the name White Wolf & Friends for his business, there’s a story there too. It’s a story that’s worth stopping by his booth in Peddler’s Village at the Market to hear directly from a man who is happy to share his stories in person, and through his art.

Meet the Community of Creators at St. Jacobs Farmers’ Market: Deidre Zervos, Botanical Propaganda Bath & Body

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**Part of a series of stories focusing on the producers and makers you’ll find at the St. Jacobs Farmers’ Market**

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Deidre Zervos, Owner, Botanical Propaganda

So how does someone with a background in restaurant management end up as a natural bath and body product entrepreneur? For Deidre Zervos, Owner of Botanical Propaganda at the St. Jacobs Farmers’ Market, it was personal.

“My daughter suffered from cystic acne, and her doctors wanted to prescribe a medication,” she explains. Deidre started researching the side effects of acne medications and topical ointments and was concerned by what she discovered. She decided to look down a more natural path to see if there were any alternatives for treating her daughter’s acne. “I eventually found an all-natural oil product and learned about oil cleansing; that was the discovery that started me on my new path.” In 2015 she left the restaurant business and started Botanical Propaganda at the Market (she also operates The Bath Market in the Village of St. Jacobs).

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Deidre began researching and experimenting with natural skin care ingredients. “I don’t have a chemistry background,” she says, “so I’m self-taught for the products I make. I’ve taken courses and classes, and I’ve done a lot of research. Just because something is natural doesn’t mean it’s good for us. Poison ivy is ‘natural’, and we wouldn’t want to rub it all over our bodies!”

Deidre has strict criteria for the bath, body and wellness products developed for Botanical Propaganda. All ingredients are sourced from Canadian suppliers, and are not tested on animals. Toxic ingredients, like phthalates and sulfates, are never used and all of her products are vegan. She also follows a ‘less is more’ philosophy, and is developing more products that are package-free. “Our saying is ‘Ditch the Bottle’,” Deidre says. “We make shampoo bars that are package and waste-free. We want people to have a quality, reasonably priced product that also helps the environment by reducing plastics.”

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While Botanical Propaganda is known for its bins of bath bombs at the Market, Deidre says her favourite product is the whipped sugar scrubs they make. “They are unique to us,” she says. “They are gentle, exfoliating scrubs that turn into a creamy, lathering body wash. They’re sulphate-free, scented, and they’re very aesthetically pleasing!” And with names like ‘Chubby Unicorn’ and ‘Be Flamazing’, they’re fun too.

Deidre loves being part of the Market culture and specifically choose the Market as the location to launch her business. “Here you meet the people who are making your product,” she explains. “It’s an opportunity for our customers to understand a little more about who we are, what our philosophy is and why we’re doing what we’re doing. We have fantastic conversations with our customers here!”

The relationships Deidre fosters with the community also go beyond sales. “We just partnered with Hope Springs Cancer Support Centre on a holiday fundraiser,” Deidre explains. “We met them through the Market, and were able to provide product for them. You don’t get that interaction if you’re just an online company. Here, you understand who your community is.”

Deidre also likes how the Market works with vendors on special promotions and events. For example, February is the Lots of Love campaign at the Market.

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“Our customers can expect heart-shaped bath bombs for sure!” Deidre smiles. “We’ve also come up with themed scents for our whipped scrubs; there’s ‘Stupid Cupid’ and ‘Wine is my Valentine’. And there’s a special promotion where if you spend $40 with us, you’ll get a free sugar lip scrub – which is nice for all of the kissing that will be going on around Valentine’s Day!” Market-goers can also stop by her booth in Peddler’s Village to fill out a ballot for a large gift basket of pamper products, no purchase necessary.

And gentlemen – Deidre wants you to know she has lots of products available for you too. “We’re finding men are becoming more involved in ‘self-care’, and are open to the idea of purchasing products that are more natural as well.”

Deidre loves that her customers are so loyal, and says people are realizing the importance of paying more attention to the ingredients in their body care products.

“Our biggest organ is our skin. People are taking time to eat healthier and live cleaner lifestyles. So if you’re working hard to put good things into your body, doesn’t it make sense to put good things on your body too?”

Deidre also feels it’s important to listen to the needs and wants of her customers.

“Natural ingredients might be a little more expensive to use, but at the end of the day if that’s what people want and that’s what’s better for us and for the environment, then that’s what we’re going to choose for our products.”

Botanical Propaganda is one of the many makers you’ll discover inside Peddler’s Village at the St. Jacobs Farmers’ Market

Meet the Community of Creators at St. Jacobs Farmers’ Market: Katrina Wood, Eco Refillary

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**The first in a series of stories focusing on the producers and makers you’ll find at the St. Jacobs Farmers’ Market**

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Katrina Wood, Owner of Eco Refillary

Katrina Wood started her business, Eco Refillary, as a way to give back and make an environmental lifestyle change. “I live in the country outside of Mount Forest, and for 7 years our water wasn’t being filtered properly so I relied on bottled water,” Katrina explains. “I didn’t realize plastics were such an issue. I recycled the water bottles and thought I was doing the right thing.” However, she discovered only 9% of plastics are actually recycled in Canada. She decided it was time to make a change, and looked at other areas in her life where plastics existed. Shampoos and conditioners, laundry soaps, dish soap – all were packaged in plastic containers. Her resolution to make a difference led to the development of her company – Eco Refillary.

The premise of her business is simple: people can purchase a refillable glass bottle which is weighed, and then filled with the product of their choice. The amount they pay is based on the amount of product they’ve chosen. Customers can also bring in their own clean, dry containers and fill them with the products too, all of which helps reduce the amount of plastics they consume. At present her product line includes shampoos, conditioners, body wash/lotions, deodorant and cleaners. She also stocks several reusable products such as metal and glass straws, dish cloths, produce bags and coffee filters, providing easy ways for people to make a positive change. “Change doesn’t have to be everything all at once,” Katrina says. “I usually suggest people start in one place at a time – say, the bathroom or kitchen – and make a few changes there. It all really adds up.”

Katrina follows strict criteria when choosing products for Eco Refillary. Every product must be biodegradable, vegan, gluten free (Katrina herself is celiac), and the products cannot be tested on animals. She supports small businesses that are taking initiatives to lessen their environmental impact. Dealing with local companies is important to her (her products come from Cambridge, Burlington, and Barrie to name a few). The ingredients in the products must be natural, so they’re good for your body as well as the environment. Most importantly, Katrina says the products she brings into Eco Refillary have to work really well, and she tests each one personally to make sure they do.

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Being able to help her customers put a face and a name to the makers behind her products is important to Katrina too. “Ashley runs her business, The Bare Home, out of Burlington,” Katrina says. “She’s such a sweet person: I always drive to go and pick up my products from her, so I know her. It’s so important to me to be able to help market other people’s products for them – it gives me so much joy.”

Katrina has been part of the St. Jacobs Farmers’Market family since August 2019, and is already seeing return customers at her vendor location inside the Market Tent – a bright, friendly place to explore. Even though she initially thought her products would appeal mainly to millennials, many Gen X and baby boomers have tried the products and find they love them.

“People come to the Market all the time and are on a mission to get what they need, and then head home!” she says. “While they’re rushing through they’ll discover my booth my accident, and then are excited to find us because they’ve been looking for this type of product.” And Katrina loves that she can fill that need for people.

Eco Refillary is one of the many makers you’ll discover inside The Market Tent at the St. Jacobs Farmers’ Market

Mikel’s Lavender Oasis: Inhale the Aromas – by Marshall Ward

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I love the soothing earthy scent of lavender. 

So do Mike and Kelly Binns, who six years ago combined their names and created their business, MiKel’s Lavender Oasis. 

I recently discovered MiKel’s Lavender Oasis at the St. Jacobs Farmers’ Market when I surprised my wife with a hand-made purple neck wrap filled with lavender and flax seed. 

Curious to learn about lavender farming, I took a tour of the their five- acre farm in Binbrook, a beautifully quiet community south east of Hamilton. 

Driving onto their property, the fresh floral fragrance of lavender filled the air as butterflies gracefully flew from one flower to another collecting pollen. 

“Welcome to our farm,” said Kelly, greeting me with a smile.

I told her I’ve heard that farming lavender takes a lot of patience.

“You have to wait for everything,” she said. “Mike came from a factory background where everything is done in the moment, but with farming you have to plant your plants, then wait for them to grow, and when they’re ready you harvest them and then hang them to dry before you can do something with them, so its all about waiting and relying heavily on mother nature.”  

Mike told me how this spring was an especially challenging one for growing lavender. 

“This spring was rough — we had too much rain and not enough sunshine,” he said. “We lost a lot of plants, we saved some but we had to cut them back to almost nothing and now they’re finally starting to come up. When you drastically prune them back, the way we had to, you cross your fingers and hope they grow again. Every year is a learning curve.”

I asked Kelly what got them started in the lavender business.

“It was Mike’s dream,” she said. “He was working a job that was unfulfilling to him and we had a property with enough space, as Mike was searching for something we could do that we would love and enjoy. He saw a show on television about lavender and how relaxing it is, so he met with other lavender farmers and thought, this is what I want to do.”

Kelly helps with farm work and the production of a wide range of handmade products they offer, liked dried lavender bunches, sachets, eye pillows, soy candles and melts, linen spray, lavender infused cleaner, and 18 varieties of soap. 

“We try to keep everything as natural as we can and our packaging we keep small,” she said, showing me their charming little store on the farm. “With our bars of soap, we just have a piece of paper wrapped around them so you’re not wasting a box or plastic.”

Kelly added, “At the market, the soap goes like crazy. That’s our main seller.” 

Mike and Kelly explained how they sell their lavender products primarily at the St. Jacobs Farmers’ Market, along with the odd craft show. 

“I’m sure Mike would love to go bigger and have our products in all sorts of different stores, but I kind of like that we’re small and we have our hands on everything that is made, and we don’t have somebody else making our products for us. It is just us,” said Kelly. 

Mike told me how he and Kelly are members of the Ontario Lavender Association, where they share information about growing lavender with other farmers. 

“And even though we all grow lavender, we’re all different,” said Mike, looking over a breathtaking field of lavender with its delicate purple hues. 

“For example, we currently grow two kinds of English lavender, Hidcote and Munstead. We had a French variety called Grosso, but we found that doesn’t do well in our winters. And we’re into health and fitness, so we have a woman who comes out and teaches yoga in the lavender fields.” 

Kelly figured they currently have over 800 lavender plants growing on their farm, which measures 115 feet wide and 2,000 feet deep.

“We started in 2013 with 125 plants, with a lot of heart, dedication and passion.” 

While taking in the serenity of their pond, listening to the bullfrogs and watching the bumble bees, dragonflies, and turtles, Mike shared a funny story with me. 

“We get our water trucked in, we have a cistern and we had a new driver one time and I always go out and talk to the driver while he’s filling the tank up because it takes a while,” he said. “I mentioned to him that we were lavender farmers and he said, ‘Oh, I’m glad you said something because I thought you were putting that old-lady perfume on a little too heavy.” 

Mike told me about the many benefits of lavender as he and Kelly showed me their workroom in the basement of their home, where they get their products ready for market. 

“Lavender is calming, helps you sleep, helps with anxiety, and you can also use it on cuts and burns,” he said. “It takes the sting out of mosquito bites, and I use it for my allergies. I’m allergic to grass pollen, so I’ll take a dab of lavender essential oil and put it under my nose and I don’t sneeze for the day. It’s amazing the number of benefits that come with lavender oil.” 

Mike is the one who runs their booth at the market, and I told Kelly how much I like his laid-back yet engaging approach to customer service.

“Mike is a super nice cool guy,” she said with a smile. “But before doing the lavender, and I don’t mean this in a bad way, he was not a people person.”

Soft-spoken, Mike chimed in: “I was more shy, I think. At the market, I like to let people come in and shop, I don’t like to bug them, but I let them know I’m there if they need help. There’s lots of things to look at and smell, and I love it when the kids come in and smell all the soaps.” 

Kelly added, “Mike was very quiet and he still is, but he’s a totally different person at the market, where his love for lavender and the market is obvious. Now, when we’re out and about somewhere, he’ll start a conversation with a total stranger, which is something that never happened before.” 

Mike talked at length about the visitors he has met at the market, from all over the world. 

“We have regular customers at the market and yearly visitors who always come back looking for us,” he said. “I was just talking to this guy from Ireland who was visiting the market. It’s just so cool and I’m so grateful for this experience.”

Mike’s gratitude for Kelly’s help with the farm is evident as well.

“Farming lavender is tricky, as we have to be on it with weeding all the time,” he said, as a flock of red-winged blackbirds landed at their backyard feeder. 

“We’ve been at the market for just over three years now, and having Kelly come on board and helping with the products, I couldn’t do it without her.”  

Perhaps, like me, you’ll first be drawn into MiKel’s Lavender Oasis by that soothing, earthy smell. 

What will keep you there, and keep you coming back, will be the hospitality of Mike and Kelly, and the quality and unique handmade feel of the products they offer. If you love lavender – or have yet to discover your love for it — the place is truly an oasis. 

Naturally Sweeten Your Day with Ackroyd’s Honey – by Marshall Ward

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Nancy Ackroyd’s enthusiasm for the St. Jacobs Market District is evident in her smile. 

“I live for the market, it’s a day off for me,” said Nancy, co-owner of Ackroyd’s Honey with her husband Glen. 

“We’ve been at the market since June 2016 and we’ve met a lot of amazing vendors and so many wonderful people from all over the world who, like us, just love honey.” 

My family loves honey too, and I told the Ackroyds so when I recently visited their honey house and bee farm in Tara, Ontario. 

I like to spread Ackroyd’s clover honey on a toasted bagel in the morning, while my wife and daughters use it to naturally sweeten their tea or drizzle it on goat cheese. 

It is clear from the hubbub around the Ackroyds’ counter at the market that many other families love their honey too. 

“And the nice thing about being at the market is, our customers ask how the bees are,” said Glen, who started beekeeping at the age of 16. 

“They’ve heard how challenging beekeeping can be, because its farming and the environment plays such a big role in every farmer’s life. It was a hobby in high school and I started with one beehive.”

Glen then inherited two more hives after the passing of his great uncle, who worked with bees. Over time, his hobby grew to 75 beehives. 

“I worked in the city for 20 years and, eventually, I traded my hobby for my career and bought this farm, and this operation had 300 hives. Right now, we’re running about 1,100 hives, so we’ve almost quadrupled the size of what we purchased.” 

Nancy chimed in, “We met 28 years ago and today is our wedding anniversary, we’ve been married 24 years and I knew when we first met there was a possibility we would one day be doing this full time. We met at work at Motorola, and we were so busy that our dates on the weekend consisted of going to the bee yard, so the city girl got exposed to farming and then we got married.” 

The art of beekeeping has always intrigued me, so I was thrilled when Glen and Nancy took me on a tour of their beautiful and serene 10-acre farm and apiary.

The sweet smell of honey and wax filled the rooms as they shared insight on everything from honeycombs to supers (short for superstructures) out in the fields that contain hives for the bees to store honey, to brood chambers where the queen lays her eggs.

“In the spring, the population of the beehive increases dramatically from 30,000 to 40,000 bees to almost 100,000 bees,” said Glen. “They start bringing in pollen as they recognize pollen as protein to feed the baby bees, as the queen starts ramping up her egg laying, where she can lay up to 2,000 eggs a day.” 

Glen also shed light on the complexity of queen rearing, the process by which beekeepers raise queen bees from young fertilized worker bee larvae, which I found fascinating. 

“We can manipulate a colony by making a colony believe it is queenless,” he said. “And last year we spent a lot of time splitting colonies and raising new queens in an effort to build our numbers up.”

I enjoyed learning about the warming room and how honey is extracted gently from the honeycombs at warm temperatures. 

“We warm it to almost 90 degrees Fahrenheit, so when we put the honey in the centrifuge to spin it out of the cones, it will run that much faster and more efficient,” said Glen. 

Honey bees are vital to life on Earth, but are often misunderstood, said Nancy. 

“They’re actually very calm, typically, and they are not aggressive by nature unless you start swatting at them,” she said. “Honeybees are more brown, orange and black compared to the yellow and black ones, and honeybees don’t go near your food or cans of pop in the summer, they’re not interested. They’re very beautiful to watch on a flower when you see them getting the nectar or pollinating, and they don’t mind you looking at them as long as they don’t feel threatened.”

Nancy added, “Wasps can actually sting you more than once whereas honey bees have a barbed stinger and once they sting you they perish, so wasps and honeybees are like comparing cats and dogs, they’re both insects with wings but they’re not even related.” 

Walking past the 650-pound barrels of honey, Glen said with a chuckle: “They say it takes 500 trips for a bee to make a tablespoon of honey, so how many trips does it take to fill a 45-gallon barrel?” 

Nancy replied, “A trillion?” 

Before heading out into the bee yard, Nancy showed me how she makes candles from blocks of beeswax, using over 45 different silicone-based molds.

“Beeswax candles purify the air because they’re not petroleum-based,” she said. “It actually burns the dust particles and a lot of massage therapists will burn them for 20 minutes for people who have severe allergies, they attract all the negative ions and burns them up. Beeswax candles also burn much slower, for example, a petroleum-based tea light might burn for an hour or two while a beeswax candle will burn for six hours.” 

Nancy also told me how raw honey can be used to treat infected wounds as it accelerates healing.

Bees are associated with hard work and diligence, and it was never more evident to me out in the bee yard where Glen proudly showed me some of his hives, after using his bee smoker, a devise used in beekeeping to calm honeybees. 

“A worker bee at this time of year – June, July and August – their lifespan is about 45 days,” said Glen. “They’re born, they clean, they feed the baby bees, then they’re guard bees and the last thing they do is work as a field bee, collecting honey and that wears them right out. A queen can, in a perfect world, productively lay eggs for two to three years.” 

Gentleness, prolific honey production, and disease resistance are characteristics the Ackroyds are looking for in the colonies they raise, said Glen.  

“We have 35 different locations, each location has about 32 hives and each hive right now has about 70,000 bees in each colony. Our hives are typically in Bruce County, and right here in Tara I have bees about a half hour away almost in any direction from our home base.” 

Ackroyd’s Honey is also eco-conscious when it comes to recycling containers, said Glen. 

“We can take an individual customer’s container and refill it for them if someone uses a lot of honey. Our customers at the market, they’ve really become an extension of our family as we see so many of them regularly. And although we have to work late nights and get up very early, the market is a nice place to spend a Saturday.”

Nancy added, “The St. Jacobs Farmers’ Market is a destination, and it has allowed our family to be able to support ourselves and survive on our business while teaching our children about good customer service and the importance of integrity and hard work.”

There’s a reason the term “busy bee” exists. The Ackroyds, fittingly, are busy beekeepers, and you can taste it in their honey.