Dec

Fest Community Gift Guide // NOURISH

It’s kind of bonkers how many amazing teachers, makers, producers and other creative people are involved in the festival. Why give your hard-earned dollars to mega corporations when you can show your gratitude for your local farmers and business owners and give some truly amazing gifts? We’re not encouraging buying when you normally wouldn’t. Rather… if you’re already going to head to the mall for gifts this season, pause for a moment and consider supporting these farmers, makers and small businesses who work tirelessly to demonstrate and grow alternative systems, take time to educate and share their skills, and are passionate about the work they do.

NOURISH, the 4th and last guide in the series, focuses on food – preparing it, preserving it, celebrating it’s goodness!

1.Loaf & Honey

Rachel Isaak & Dustin Peltier were fest superstars this year! They not only taught a cheesemaking workshop, but also rounded up a crew of amazing local chefs to provide nourishing meals to fest-goers. AND there’s more. This crew of chefs, Hachere, also catered the Summer Camp Supper, which was incredibly delicious and such a lovely way to end the day. Dustin and Rachel are also local cheesemakers, with an amazing story. Please take a few moments this week and read up on them and consider what you can do to help push for change in local raw-milk cheesemaking regulations. What a gift it would be to all of us Manitobans to see a shift in the level of autonomy we have with our food choices, and the ability of local producers to be able to make wonderful products with quality ingredients. You can purchase cheese and cool t-shirts from Loaf & Honey at various pop-ups and by contacting them directly through their website or their IG account: @loafandhoney.

2. My Quaint Traditions

Ashley Pharazyn brought fermented goodness to the fest this year, with her Intro to Fermentation workshop, and a Fermented Salsa & Kimchi workshop. Ashley is a Traditional Wisdom Modern Kitchen certified teacher, who offers workshops throughout the year, and also sells ferments and some fermentation kits. Give the gift of a workshop, kombucha, or a kit this year! Find her online here, and also on Instagram @ashley.pharazyn.hc

3. Dunrea Farming Company

Kara Burrell brought the magic of sourdough into the mix this year with her Sourdough Bread-making workshops. Sourdough is always a huge hit at the fest! While Kara’s bakery is closed up for the holiday season, you can get a gift certificate for 4 loaves of sourdough for $20, for use in 2020. To get in on this great gift idea, contact Kara via her website or you can also find her on Instagram @dunreafarmingcompany

4. Rocky Lake Birchworks

We met Al & Johanna at the very first fest in 2013. They had traveled in from The Pas to attend the event and were so warm and encouraging. We invited them to come back for 2015 as teachers, and they’ve been teaching about tapping trees for syrup at the fest since. You can give the sweet gift of birch syrup this season by heading to their online store and also looking for stockists nearby. Also find them on Facebook.

5. Adagio Acres

Amy & Donald have been a part of the fest community for years and do so much to support this event, from helping to build the A-frame ticket booth, to various fest-prep days, to running a grain-milling demo, to hosting an oatmeal breakfast for volunteers and campers! These two are seriously committed to affecting change in the Manitoba food landscape, through their own company, Adagio Acres, and through creating opportunities for other local, organic farmers to get their grains into the kitchens of consumers. You can order their oats and oat blends, or purchase a share for yourself or someone on your gift-giving list for their wonderful Winter Grain CSA over on their website, and also connect with them on Instagram @adagioacres.

6. Café Postal

Hot coffee! One of the most vital parts of a successful fest is excellent coffee, and we’ve worked hard to make it happen every year, often with some elbow grease in the form of custom outlets and cords that work with espresso machines. We’re thrilled to have had Café Postal providing delicious coffee to fest-goers since 2015, and look forward to many more years to come. They’ve got loads of great gifts that you can pick up in store, including gorgeous mugs, delicious local honey, gift cards, and of course, coffee – including a coffee subscription program! Follow Café Postal on Instagram @cafepostal.

7. Roughage Eatery

The Roughage team was part of the amazing food line-up at Fest Food Lane. They had several swoon-worthy menu items. Missed them at the fest? Don’t fret; you can enjoy their fresh, vegan goodness year round at their new restaurant in Winnipeg. And, you can spread the joy by gifting a Roughage Eatery gift card this season. Find gift cards via their website and also connect over on Instagram @roughage.eatery

8. New Society Publishers

One of our sponsors, New Society Publishers has a plethora of publications to help you along your urban or rural homesteading journey. For our Nourish Gift Guide, here are a selection of our favourites. Note that the festival receives a percentage of sales for books sold via these links. Thank you for supporting this grassroots event!

DIY Kombucha: Sparkling Home Brew Made Easy by Andrea Potter

Answering key questions including “where does all that sugar go?”, “do I need to get a sitter for it when I go on holiday?”, and “does this SCOBY look normal?”, and including a comprehensive troubleshooting guide to help you keep brewing confidently and consistently, DIY Kombucha is ideal for foodies, urban and rural homesteaders, and health-motivated people — it’s an essential addition to your DIY toolkit!

Mastering Basic Cheesemaking: The Fun and Fundamentals of Making Cheese at Home by Gianaclis Caldwell

Whether you are a budding cheesemaker, avid do-it-yourselfer, foodie, homesteader or cheese professional, this complete course in beginning cheesemaking from one of North America’s foremost instructors is packed with everything you need to create delicious, nourishing and beautiful classic cheeses and other dairy delights.

From No-Knead to Sourdough: A Simpler Approach to Handmade Bread by Victoria Redhed Miller

From No-Knead to Sourdough will inspire the beginner and the accomplished baker alike to find their own comfort zone and move on to new skills when they are ready. Pizza and bagels, flatbreads and loaf breads, even gluten-free breads — you become the artisan when you make your own bread.

12. DIY Homesteader Fest General Store

Support your favourite little fest on the prairies by gifting some goods from the fest shop this season! We’ve got cheery locally-sewn bandanas that were screen printed by Martha Street Studio, canvas prints of the fest design screen-printed right at the fest, buttons, blank notebooks, manifesto prints and more! Head to the general store to learn more.

13. Grassroots Grants

Something we have put a lot of thought and research into is how to find a balance between putting on a high quality event and making the event accessible to people with lower incomes. As we are still not a profitable event, it’s hard to find ways to do so! We’ve been working so hard on structuring some sliding scale ideas, and continue to work hard to make the fest work for as many people as possible. We want to extend an opportunity to you to work with us to help more people access this important experience and information. If you’d like to donate your coffee this week to our Grassroots Grants program, we’d be thrilled. As the fund grows, we’ll make regular posts on how it’s doing! It’s been slow growing and so far we are at $100. Thanks to those who have already contributed! It’s really one of those gifts that keeps on giving, as each person who attends the festival cultivates knowledge to share with their friends and family, and builds a network of supportive community!

Related Posts

DIY Homesteader Festival Postponed to 2021

2020 Ticket Prices

2020 Fest Sliding Scale Info