DECA – Page 75 – Danforth East Community Association

September 16, 2015

7 Reasons to Visit the Danforth East Community Arts Fair (#DECAF15)

7 Reasons to Visit #DECAF15 THIS Weekend

Caption: There are more reasons than ever to head to East Lynn Park on Sept. 19-20 for #DECAF15!

1. 7 Years, And We’re Bigger and Better Than Ever!
With more vendors, covering more artistic mediums than ever before, #DECAF15 is the best yet! Check out our new exhibitors and come by East Lynn Park from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sept. 19-20 and support some old favourites. More info here

2. Enjoy the Benefits of Shopping Local!
Did you know that almost 75 per cent of the money you spend shopping locally stays in your community? The majority of DECAF’s artisans and exhibitors have historically hailed from the east end of Toronto, so while you’re buying something you love, you’re also supporting your neighbours and community!

3. Check Out Unique Gifts!
Looking for that one-of-a-kind wedding gift? Scoping out a baby shower gift that will be a part of the family for years to come? DECAF is a wonderful opportunity to buy something unique and handmade that your friends and family will cherish (the holidays are just around the corner)!

4. Something For Everyone!
With dozens of artisans, working in many different mediums, from fine art to sculpture, to knit pieces and paint, DECAF15 truly has something for everyone to ooh and aww over! Come check out stained glass, custom portraits, photography, jewellery, children’s items, clothing, pottery and much, much more! Check out all the exhibitors here

5. Check Out One of Toronto’s Up-and-Coming Neighbourhoods!
Not from Danforth East? #DECAF15 is a fantastic opportunity to come check out an up-and-coming, lively part of Toronto that’s attracting tons of new residents and businesses every year! Make a morning or afternoon of it, and check out some of the local scenery in addition to the fair!

6. Community Supported!
#DECAF15 is completely planned and run by community volunteers, and supported by DECA. Come by our booth, say hello, and let us know how we can make the 2016 event even better!

7. More Than Art!
Come for the art, and stay for the entertainment! #DECAF15 has a great selection of food vendors, children’s activities, musical performers, hula hoopers, live theatre, dancing, and even a puppet show!

____

Have we convinced you? How about a chance for some money to spend in East Lynn Park on Sept. 19-20?

CONTEST ALERT: Keep a watch out for posters advertising #DECAF15. Take a photo of the poster and tag @deca_arts on Twitter or Instagram. You could win a gift certificate to spend at the fair! The posters are on public message boards and inside retailers in Leslieville, Beaches, Danforth East and Riverdale neighbourhoods. Two prizes worth $50 each (no cash value) will be drawn at 5 p.m. ET on Wed. Sept. 16.

Spot a #DECAF15 poster, take a photo and tag it on Twitter or Instagram for a chance of win a prize!

September 15, 2015

The market this week: APPLEMANIA

We’re celebrating the apple this week the market with our APPLEMANIA festival.

For your mouths, there will be a live cooking demo from Brad Long of Cafe Belong. Have you ever tried sautéed apples with honey smothered in Gelato Fresco vanilla ice cream? Me neither. Come to the market and try Brad’s delicious concoction or better yet, learn how to make it yourself!

For your ears, the Wolfgang Brothers will be strumming and singing. This week is definitely a picnic week and the weather forecast looks promising.

We’d also like to give a special shout out to Hand & Stone (1464 Danforth Ave) for sponsoring this week’s activity. Owner and local resident Wes is thrilled to be coming to the market this week to share more about their massage and waxing services and meet some of his neighbours. They’ll be offering 10-minute massages for $10.

The East Lynn Farmers’ Market runs every Thursday from 3-7:00 p.m. between June 4 – October 15 at East Lynn Park, located on the south side of Danforth Ave, just west of Woodbine Ave. Stay up to date by visiting the East Lynn Market Facebook page or by following us on Twitter.

September 9, 2015

Kickin’ it Old’s Cool!

A really, really cool new shop has opened up on our north-east boundary and you all need to know about it, and go and visit them. Old’s Cool General Store is on the north-west corner of Lumsden & Westlake and let me tell you, this is more than your average convenience store.

FullSizeRender_3 — n/w corner of Lumsden & Westlake | Open Mon-Sat, 9-9, Sun, 11-7

Step inside and you’ll feast your eyes first on a table full of candy. A quaint bistro set sits in the front window and coffee and cookies are available for purchase. Walk in even further in and you won’t find any dusty containers of expired shortening here – the food on the shelves is high quality and pretty much the opposite of what you’d expect. Lots of organic food (including baby cereal), fancy chips, soda and chocolates, and all sorts of unexpected gems. They even have a wall of their very own branded Sigg water bottles (thanks to a neighbour with connections!) on sale for only $14.99.

So now you’re hungry and loving the store and then comes the decor section, which is like a mini arts fair with a nice selection of locally produced artisan products as well as antiques and other surprises. It’s amazing.

Owners Mariko and Zahra have hopes of running community events in the back area (which they are slowly clearing as part of their phased reno of the shop) and you can see this sincerity in the invite below to their official grand opening, this Saturday, September 12 from 4-5pm.

Come and see for yourself, and let’s give this great new business a proper Danforth East welcome!

If you’re not already convinced, more pics are below (I couldn’t help myself – it felt like finding a secret treasure in there!)

FullSizeRender_1 — Old timey (and new timey) candy including, bobobats for 35 cents apiece

FullSizeRender — Cool selection of organic sodas and drinks

FullSizeRender_2 — Organic baby food? Check.

FullSizeRender_4 — Local artisans sell their creations in the back of the store

Mariko in action – these happy customers bought organic maple bacon flavoured chips (which are totally healthy because they’re organic, right?)

September 9, 2015

The market this week: Hamlin’s Honey

Thursday-in-the-life’ of the honey guy

Brain Hamlin (Photo source: http://blog.utsc.utoronto.ca/beeproject/about/ )

Meet Brian Hamlin. Brian has been a beekeeper for over 40 years. He knows his stuff and has a serious connection and passion for his work (although, he does not call it work). He does most of his extractions in the fall when it’s cool and the bees become dormant so his Thursdays don’t always include direct interactions with bees. There’s no set schedule to when Brian visits the five apiary sites that are strung across Toronto, including the Portlands, Toronto Island and UofT’s Scarborough. His visits depends on the weather, the environment and Brian’s instincts.

His Thursday includes things like trips to the hardware store for screws for his tents and the print shop for labels for his honey products. He also spends much of his time raising awareness about the importance of pollinators and threats from pesticide use and habitat. So when you’re picking up your honey this week be sure to also say ‘thank you’ to Brian for all he does to protect this renewable resource.

Some of Brian's products from around Toronto — Some of Brian’s products from around Toronto.

Toronto East General Hospital will also be at the market his week with information on their upcoming redevelopment plans and tips for keeping healthy.

September 5, 2015

Dirty talk on Tuesday

Soil is too important to be treated like dirt so join DECA Tree this Tuesday to learn how to protect and improve it!

Tuesday, September 8 | 7:00pm (program to start at 7:30) | 297 Wolverleigh Blvd

(This is someone’s house & there will be wine/beer on hand but feel free to BYOB)

All your burning questions about dirt will be answered:
• Why is dirt so important to gardens, trees and the planet’s survival?
• Why are microbes your friends?
• Why does your favourite perennial never makes it past annual?
• Why do the leaves on your tulip tree turn yellow?
• Why do your hipster west end friends have soil so different from your sand bank on the Danforth?

2015 is the United Nations year of soil. Come out an learn about this precious resource, its nutrients, ability to hold water and why it’s important for the trees we lovingly care for.

Come prepared to learn about and even play with soil, with educator Tina Scherz.

Click here to RSVP on the Facebook event. (If you don’t have Facebook or don’t want to RSVP, please just come anyway!)

September 2, 2015

The Market this week: Say hi to Bruce

It’s time for another Thursday-in-the-life of an East Lynn Park farmer.

Meet Bruce Wier of Black Tractor Farms. Bruce and Gillian Proudfood are quite busy managing an 11 acre property in Warkworth, Ontario growing peas, various salad greens, onions, beets, garlic and more. You can follow along on their farming adventures and bee keeping shenanigans on their website. Bruce spends his Thursdays preparing for the market, including washing lettuce and other salad greens and running to the bank to get change. He tends to spend Mondays sequentially planing so he always has fresh lettuce and salad mix each week. This process includes tilling, raking and seeding. And because he don’t use pesticides (or chemical fertilizers or herbicides), he has to cover his lettuce to protect it from flea beetles. Wednesdays are reserved for harvesting, meaning that spicy salad mix on your plate was just picked yesterday. Be sure to stop by the Black Tractor Farm tent and grab some greens for your dinner plate!

For the little ones:

This week the market hosts Anne Massicotte. Anne is an experienced music teacher and performer offering private recorder lessons from her home to students of any age or level. Discover the joy of playing the whole family of instruments! Come see and hear them at the market this week.