Kawarthas Northumberland

Outside the Box: An Interview with Northumberland’s Cardboard Reality

Four felt puppets play in a jazz quartet, in a still from a Cardboard Reality video

What do permaculture farming and animation have in common? Plenty, if you ask bekky O’Neil and Keith Del Principe, co-owners of Northumberland’s Cardboard Reality Farm & Studio. As animators, they’ve created award-winning stop-motion and 2D animated short films on their farm outside Roseneath. On the same property they’ve grown flowers, raised ducks, and experimented with a range of sustainable agricultural practices, making them the rare business whose output is equally at home at film festivals and the Cobourg Farmers’ Market.

Meet the Makers: Mariposa Woolen Mill & Farm Market

View down a snowy trail at Ken Reid Conservation Area

Mill & Farm Market Ellen Edney, and farm manager Karyn Boyd, giving a comprehensive answer takes a little extra time. “There’s the Mariposa Woolen Mill and the Farm Market, so we have two different kinds of things happening on the same property,” Edney says. “The farm market is more the retail side of things, offering the location for different artisanal products, foods, local produce, that kind of thing, as well as incorporating agritourism into the farm life here.” The retail business and suite of events offered by Mariposa year-round, however, are in addition to the day-to-day operation of the woolen mill. “We produce all-Canadian product made with Canadian wool, so we do everything from washing other people’s fibres for custom work, to finishing yarns, rovings, that kind of thing… Yeah, we have a lot going on.”

Meet the Makers: Angela Roest of Centre & Main Chocolate Co.

Angela Roest of Centre & Main Chocolate Co. stands in front of a wall of her chocolate bars

Is there a connection between fine jewelry and artisanal chocolate? Angela Roest, award-winning chocolatier and owner of Warkworth’s Centre & Main Chocolate Co., thinks so: “It’s the creation of something that will be cherished by somebody else. Giving pleasure, aesthetic or gastronomic.” The connection is more than a metaphor for Roest, who left a career … Read more

Christmas Close to Home: 2021 Holiday Gifts and Events

Closeup of a Christmas ornament containing a glass angel

It’s Christmastime in Kawarthas Northumberland, and locals are ready to turn up the holiday cheer. With the ups and downs of 2021 highlighting the importance of supporting local, there’s never been a better time to do your holiday shopping close to home, or to connect with the community. Here are just a few of the … Read more

Meet the Makers: Eco-Conscious Textiles by Modelia

Christine Roberts of Modelia stands beside a tailor's dummy that is wearing a deep blue scarf

“Every time you think you’ve come up with a new way of doing something,” Christine Roberts says, “then I’ll do a little more research and think, ‘oh, well, that’s not really the case, that’s not new at all—they’ve been doing that for hundreds of years.’” Not that she’s complaining. Roberts’ slow fashion brand, Modelia, is … Read more

Restaurant Renaissance: New and Newly Renovated Eateries in Kawarthas Northumberland

A table covered in a barbecue feast

After a long and trying lockdown, Kawarthas Northumberland is feeling cautiously optimistic. While COVID-19 protection is still a priority, vaccination and other safety protocols have made it safer to step out and enjoy some of the in-person experiences so many of us have been missing. Better yet, local restauranteurs have braved the uncertainty to bring us new and exciting flavours. Read on to discover why we’re calling it the Restaurant Renaissance.

Meet the Makers: Sunday’s Company

A woman stands in front of a shelf of small bottles

“I grow all kinds of stuff—I grow rose, I grow yarrow, mint, lemon balm, camomile, calendula,” Melissa Condotta says. “And then of course I get cedar and pine and stuff from all over the property or around Northumberland… With roses it’s the care that goes into growing them and just seeing how versatile they are and … Read more

Meet the Makers: Peace of Earth Pottery

An older woman stnads in the corner of a pottery studio

“Korean and Japanese potters are very fine, detailed potters—very precise,” Sheila Brenchley says. “Now, the English potters are very geared towards functionality and everyday use… The English have showings and sales and things but they’re geared more to function, I believe.” Brenchley is in the midst of describing a globe-trotting tour she embarked on to … Read more