As a Person:

  Here’s me             and here are my four wonderful children!    

        (yes, the floors of my house do normally look this way at some point during the day!)

The Technical Stuff:

First off I want to say that I am not a technical person.  It is at this point that I salute Nova-Tec Innovations for their patience, understanding and good humour.  Much to their horror, I was one of those people that owned a cell phone only for the purpose of backup in case I hit a ditch or had some sort of emergency.  It wasn’t until 5 months ago that I attempted the world of texting and much to my dismay also joined Facebook :)

So now you’re thinking why?  Why would someone with limited knowledge run a website and furthermore attempt to convince others to join?  Because it’s a great idea and all things can be learned!  No matter how I look at this it’s a win-win situation for everyone.  No one loses because the sole intent of this website is to increase the exposure of local Saskatchewan entrepreneurs and all those that support them.  The website is intended to supplement the efforts of existing farmer’s markets, tradeshows, organizations or associations.

The benefit of learning from the ground up (though I’m not sure my website guy can fully appreciate!) is that any questions you have I have probably already asked!  If I’ve failed to explain something or things appear confusing then please do not hesitate to question me.

Why on-line?

As a mother of four I have truly come to appreciate the value of time and have come to realize whether it is children, work, daily duties or heaven forbid time to yourself, we all seem to be having the same problem...not enough hours in a day!  As a result, I have also come to appreciate the on-line world.  If my infant child is running a fever and I have forgotten the danger zone I Google it.  Is it just rain or is it hail coming this way – thank you Environment Canada.  Banking, nope don’t want to unbuckle 4 car seats and stand in-line for 20 minutes – what I will do is go on-line and spend 10 minutes day or night and pay the bills.  And yes, you guessed it – same goes for research and shopping.

Why local?

I’m taking that same logic and applying it – just for us.  Why not create something solely dedicated to the people within Saskatchewan that are spending their time producing products and offering services for us.  We are lucky to have choices where we live.   We have the luxury of worrying about whether our food is organic or if the toys our children play with contain lead or the lotions we rub on our skin contains toxins.  Others are worrying about radiation poisoning or if they even have any food to eat at all.  So if we have these choices why not also choose local?

As I’m sure you may have heard before when you choose local you get all sorts of warm fuzzy feelings :)

-   Reducing your carbon footprint (the world thanks you)

-   Support your local economy (SK people spend money to make the product, SK people buy the products – we win)

-   Community well-being (you buy quality products within your community, school’s stay open and elevators stay standing)

-   Product Diversity (fiddleheads, quinoa, camelina oil, bronze sculptures, yep – all here in SK)

-   ANSWERS – yes, for me this is the deciding factor.  If I have questions (is the whole wheat flour I have just purchased from you pesticide free?  How about antibiotic’s in the meat?  What was used as a preservative in my creams and lotions? I can get answers directly from the people who are creating the products – or else someone standing really close to them

*also, typically when you buy local you do not have to worry that your items have been fumigated.  Fumigated is a big, nasty word that means products have been treated with chemicals that will kill anything that may be living in, on or around them.  There are many different chemicals used – none that you’d want to feed to your children or your pets...maybe your husband depending on the day LOL!

Myself, personally:

I was born, raised and reside in Saskatchewan.  Personal interests include: reading, gardening and canning, knitting, crocheting, cross-stitching, baking bread, buns and snacks.   I do the usual laundry, cooking, cleaning, yard work, car pooling and childrearing. I have a wonderful husband that works full-time and also farms on the side. We are busy, hectic and sometimes a loud household...who am I kidding, always a loud household!

To the ones that are creating:

I appreciate the dedication and pride that you are putting into your products.  I understand that the margins are narrow, time is short and sometimes things are frustrating.  Please use this website to its full extent – promote yourself, promote others that you support and I wish you the best.

To the ones that are searching:

This is it, a simplified way to find local Saskatchewan products, regardless as to the industry it falls in; in one centralized place.  Explore it, support it and enjoy it – please tell your friends!