Crafty Events for Great Holiday Gifts

Craft fairs are great places to pick up gifts that score low on environmental impact and high on supporting local business. Most of the fairs run through November and early December. Here are a few to keep in mind. As well, the Montreal Gazette has a pretty complete list for 2009 here.

Saturday November 28th

• Fair trade sale and pancake breakfast at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, 496 Birch St., St. Lambert, 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sponsored by Dix Mille Villages. Breakfast is $6.

Friday December 4th to Sunday December 6th

• TMR Craft Fair at Schofield Hall, 90 Roosevelt Ave., T.M.R. from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Artisans and tea shop.
• Dorval Potters Guild Pottery sale at Sarto Des Noyers Centre, 1335 Lakeshore Rd., Room S014A, Dorval. , 10 a.m. to 9 p.m

Saturday December 5th and Sunday December 6th

• Public Yule Fair At Le Mélange Magique, 1928 St-Catherine W, from 10am to 5pm. Artisans, workshops and storytelling. Free admission.

Saturday December 4th to Tuesday December 22nd

• Salon des Metiers d'Art at Place Bonaventure. The biggest craft fair in Montreal, this with over 400 professional artisans under one roof.

Sunday December 5th

• Holiday craft fair at Evergreen Elementary School, 2625 rue du Bordelais, St. Lazare. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thirty artisans and refreshments.

Friday December 11th to Sunday December 13th

• http://souk.sat.qc.ca/english.php at Société des arts technologiques (SAT), 1195 boul. Saint-Laurent . Over 60 local artists.

Saturday December 12th and Sunday December 13th

• Quinn Farm Old-Fashioned Christmas Fair at Quinn Farm, 2495 Perrot Blvd., Île Perrot from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Crafts, wagon rides, Christmas trees, refreshments.

If I hear of any other events, I'll update this list.

Fête Bio-Paysanne This Weekend

Did you know that Montreal is home to the largest organic-environmental fair in Canada? La Fête Bio-Paysanne is held at the public square of La TOHU in the St-Michel Environmental Complex in Montreal every August. Now in its sixth edition, the festival attracts over 20 000 people and brings together almost 100 exhibitors displaying organic foods and products, as well as booths with tricks and products to help you reduce your environmental foot print. The event also has workshops, tastings, live performances, and family activities.

The event kicks off this weekend on Friday at noon and continues until Sunday at 5pm. Admission is free. A quick ride on bus 193E from Jarry metro station, or bus 94N from Jean Talon metro station, will get you to the festival. By car, take exit 74 or 75 from Hwy 40.

Seasonal Community Markets in the Southwest

I recently discovered that Montreal's SouthWest and Verdun districts will soon be getting small seasonal community markets. The project aims to bring fresh, affordable and local produce to this region of Montreal which has been criticised as not having affordable access to nutritious food. Most residents in the area live below the poverty line. The markets are supported by the Groupe Sud-Ouest en sécurité alimentaire (SOSA) and the Conférence regionale des elus (CRE).

The markets kick off this weekend in Cote-St-Paul and Verdun. The market in Little Burgundy will start in August and the one in Saint Henri gets underway in September.

Cote-St-Paul
Eglise St-Paul, 1690 de L'Eglise
Saturdays, 9h-14h
July 25, August 1, 22, September 5, 19, October 3

Verdun
Parc du souvenir (metro Verdun)
Sundays 9h-14h
July 26, August 2, 3, 16, 23, 30, September 6

Little Burgundy
Yolande Breton Community Centre, 1845 St-Jacque
Saturdays 9h-13h
August 1, 15, 19, September 19, October 3, 17

Saint Henri
Ecole St-Zotique, 4841 Av Palm
Fridays 5h-19h
September 4, 11, 18, 25, October 2, 9

Decay Glorious Decay

First there was recycling. Now there is composting. We know we should be doing it, but for many of us, owning our own composting system is just not feasible. Either we don't have the yard, the space, or sometimes, even the lifestyle.

Don't despair, curbside composting is here!

If you don't have a composter, Compost Montreal will happily pick up your kitchen waste for $5 per week and deliver it to one of Montreal's composting sites. They supply you with a compost bucket lined with a compostable bag. On the specified evening, simply leave it on your front porch and they'll take care of the rest. In the spring, if you want to receive finished compost for your own garden, let them know and they'll deliver it to you.

The service is available to businesses and residents in the NDG, Plateau Mont Royal, Mile End, Outremont, St-Henri and Rosemont neighbourhoods.

Just about any vegetable and garden waste can be composted, as well as shredded newspaper, paper towels, pet fur, bread, coffee filters, coffee grounds, tea bags and more. For a more complete list on the Compost Montreal site, click here.

Alternatively, if you want to try your hand at composting yourself, you can order a variety of composters from your local eco-quartier and some major home improvement centres.