KIM BURTON-SCHRAM
LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER
The second annual Glengarry Honey and Pollinator Festival was held at Island Park in 2025, offering a free event for everyone to gather and learn about the importance of bees, pollinators and sustainable growing. The late August weather is the perfect time for honey to be flowing after the bees’ busy time visiting all the summer blossoms.
Vendors lined the pathways at Island Park offering jars of honey, lavender products, organically grown vegetables and beautiful blossoms to name a few of the popup displays. Bridgette Berube, organizer of the Festival and organic practices farmer at Hazelwood Gardens in Dalkeith, said moving the Glengarry Honey and Pollinator Festival to the beautiful facilities at Island Park in Alexandria was a step to improving the connection between vendors and attendees. Bridgette said North Glengarry Township was very helpful in providing an affordable venue that allowed organizers to offer access to the event without an entrance fee. This, in turn, afforded more families the chance to learn about bees, pollinators and organic growing practices, and to spend their dollars directly with the vendors at the event.
Maggie Winchester and Mattson Griffiths from Parachute Farm in Vankleek Hill had an abundance of freshly grown vegetables available for sale. Despite water worries with such a dry summer, they have been able to produce a variety of crops, all farmed by hand. The team at Parachute Farm is committed to practicing organic growing principles and bio-intensive farming, using a small space for intensive growing, while maintaining the natural balance between plants and nutrients, improving the soil fertility.
JD Van Allen from Eden’s Refuge, is a designer whose focus in on creating a sustainable ecosystem. As a landscape designer, JD Van Allen first tries to learn what the core values of his clients are to create a garden that reflects their interests. In his designs, JD includes options for rainwater harvesting, edible landscaping, where traditional shrubs are replaced with options that produce nuts or fruits, along with the combination of plants & trees that complement each other, making full use of all available land for growing. For instance, in a small apple orchard, lower growing plants such as rhubarb and black currant can be planted and grown beneath the apple trees.
In addition, JD Van Allen is spearheading an initiative to grow one million pounds of food each year in Eastern Ontario, by repurposing unused parking lots and extra spaces at churches, schools and even private homes. His team is removing old pavement, digging gardens, planting trees, shrubs and perennial plants to work with nature and create productive community gardens. In partnership with local churches, JD Van Allen hopes people will be able to learn about growing, canning and preserving their own food through workshops and educational seminars.
The Glengarry Honey and Pollinator Festival buzzed with activity through live music & face-to-face connections and offered a family outing where learning about the importance of pollinators, organic growing practices and sustainable ecosystems was lots of fun.
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