Green is the New Pretty
By Chelsea Falconer
July 11th, 2010
Women of Victoria raise your make-up brushes! I am so impressed by how many women are searching for more natural options to cosmetics and bath products. After learning that my favorite go-to drug store cosmetic line includes mercury (horrors!) in their mascara, I too, am on the hunt for better, greener, more natural products.
Rocky Mountain Soap Company has an amazing selection of bath and body products from foot butter to a complete skin care line. Their company is based in Canmore, AB and is a completely Canadian company. Their products are all handmade and natural and, as such, contain no parabens, pthalates, petrochemicals or sulfates. Rocky Mountain Soap Factory provided free lemon grass hand soap for use at the festival. The lemon grass hand and body wash (called “Alpine Air”) has a very fresh, clean scent, perfect for both men and women. (Mayfair Mall also uses this line of soap for their public washrooms, so next time you are there, head to the loo and try it out!). The friendly staff at the booth let me try out some of their fabulous Foot Butter which is their number one seller this summer. If you have dry heels, I definitely suggest picking some up! You can find Rocky Mountain Soap Company in Mayfair Mall, or at the Sidney Market on Thursday nights if you like your shopping to be outdoors.
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What can I do with ‘quince’?
By Eric Leong
July 10th, 2010
When you Google “quince”, one of the first few search engine suggestions is “quince how to eat“. A fruit that resembles a fuzzy pear, the quince tree is grown widely on the Island; unfortunately, not many people know what to do with it, since it tastes bitter when eaten raw. Luckily, for me (and all others who find themselves searching “quince how to eat”), there are a couple who know how to prepare it, one of whom is the Valhalla Farm Herbs N’ Things, an exhibitor at the Organic Islands Festival.
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A ‘drunken woman’ in your salad?
By Eric Leong
July 10th, 2010
If you fancy ‘ears of the devil’ too, you can certainly have it. Believe it or not, these are the names of the greens used in a salad mix prepared by Echo Valley Farm, all grown locally on the Island and 100% certified organic.
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20 Vibrant Colours And Every One Is ‘Green’!
By Lorraine Browne
July 4th, 2010

Before Breezesta Poly Outdoor Furniture, the great outdoors wasn’t so great on outdoor furniture. Metal rusted. Wood splintered. Paint faded and chipped. Webbing tore. Aluminum frames bent. In the end, the whole lot went out with the trash and off to the landfill. There had to be a better, more durable and environmentally friendly way and you’ll see it at the festival… Click below to read more.
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Vote for Apples to Oranges Consulting
By Ingrid Sorensen
June 13th, 2010

Following Deb Morse winning the CRD EcoStar Award (congrats again, Deb!), I’d like to take the opportunity to call attention to one of our exhibitors. Apples to Oranges Consulting is a local endeavor that helps families who have a child with autism, ADHD, asperger’s, or a sensory processing disorders by adapting diets that mitigate the symptoms of these conditions. Lori Brienesse-Frank of Apples to Oranges Consulting is nominated for the
Tags: children, ecofriendly
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Your Cup of Tea?
By Ingrid Sorensen
May 30th, 2010
After visiting Silk Road and Special Teas in downtown Victoria yesterday and doing a bit of research on the history of tea, I began to realize that my tiny teacup has been silently harboring an ocean of tradition and knowledge. I’ve always thought tea was a great example of a “slow food” – a quality food that works to preserve cultural and biological diversity, while emphasizing pleasure and responsible eating – but until yesterday, I had no idea just how accurate that description was. The story goes that tea was first discovered over 5000 years ago when the Chinese emperor, Shen Nung, was drinking boiled water and several tea leaves from a nearby bush blew into his pot. The emperor enjoyed the new concoction and thus tea drinking was born. Tea was originally popularized in Buddhist temples, where
Tags: Food, Slow Food, sustainability
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Make it big in US to get ‘cred’ in Canada
By Debra Morse
April 20th, 2010

I started my day today with a disappointing phone call to Don Snow the creator and owner of TO Bevy’s aka Totally Organic Beverages. (website) His delicious certified organic fruit juice coolers – blackcurrent, mango with a hint of orange, cranberry and pomegranate with blueberry notes — delighted festival goers in the Green Drinkery last year. His new product is Totally Organic Premium 4 Column Distilled Vodka.
Don told me this morning, “We’ve given up on Canada. There’s no support for the small guy so we’re going to the US where we have a better chance of making it work.”
I knew Don had been struggling to … click Read this Post below for entire article.
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