Yearn to Wander

Our first Saturday, and our second, we trooped off to the weekly farmers' market in Armstrong.

We like the local markets because they give us sense of some of the local culture, in addition to offering good local produce.

Armstrong's offers a lot of good fruits and vegetables, interesting local handicrafts, and engaging farmers and locals. Apples, pears and grapes are being harvested now, in addition to many vegetables. One farmer delighted us with corn-on-the-cob he'd just picked. He was happy to sell some of it to a couple Illinoisans, who might know good corn. He even gave us an extra ear. (It was some the best we'd had this season.) A Thai lady sold us wonderful Asian vegetables, but wanted to make sure we knew how to use ALL parts of the celery. A Punjabi lady was tickled to sell us a "boatload" of homemade pecora and samosas. Some of them didn't make it home! A local farm lady sold me a couple of her handmade potholders -- to replace those I bought from an Illinois farm lady in the 1970's; that really flattered her. We can say it was all a good experience, even after we'd consumed our purchases.

Then we tried the local grocery store, Askew's, where most items were less expensive than in Alberta or Ontario. Not sure if that's how the tax is applied or not. Each province applies the PST, GST, and HST differently and to different items. (That's Provincial Sales Tax, Goods & Services (national) Tax, and Harmonized Sales Tax (national.)

The liquor store was our last stop. Here they sell the whole menu. (In Montana, the ABC store sold only liquor and wine; beer had to be purchased in grocery stores and gas stations.) Prices here are significantly less than in Alberta, but that's again probably due to how and what taxes are applied, or perhaps local vineyards and micro-breweries help drive down prices. Each province here is different like each state is different in the US: different cultures, different products, different taxes.

We bought four bottles of local wine, and look forward to trying them. One is from a vineyard we passed near Kelowna; the others are blended from vineyards across Canada. They were: a Cabernet Sauvignon from Sonora Ranch Winery, another CS from Painted Turtle winery (the Painted Turtle is on the 'at risk' wildlife list in the Okanagan - http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/okanagan/esd/atlas/species/turtle.html), and Vincor Canada's Naked Grape CS. Another Vincor wine was Jackson Triggs' Chardonnay from the local Okanagan vineyards. Vincor was the supplier of wines for the recent Winter Olympics.

I bought a couple local beers, too. One was a hefeweizen because I've enjoyed them from the micro-breweries along the way; and one a lager because of the brewery's name: Dead Frog.

Just going to town, the first time, took a bit of navigating. We're about five miles out in the country past farms, whose looks change daily with the harvests in progress; past a couple feedlots; past several tree nurseries, which change colours daily; past an outdoor farm theatre; and past farmettes, all looking the same the first couple times. After several wrong turns, past mostly pretty scenery and several phesants, we finally made it to town, and back the first time.

Now Tom has all the roads nailed, so we keep trying new routes. Getting lost is something we've always had fun doing because it leads to new discoveries. One of the roads follows the Salmon River, which winds endlessly through the valleys; other roads are probably paved cow paths. So, going around the block usually proves impossible. We've learned which mountain is ours, so it's all old hat now!

PS The farmers' market became part of our regular Saturday schedule. Delicious local honey was added to our shopping list, too.

We also discovered the taxes are a bit confusing to everyone. Vendors know which of their products and services are taxed, but couldn't tell us why one service is taxed and another isn't. When it's a 13% add-on, I'd like to know.