Well quite a few more new items at the store this week. Finding items that fit into the criteria and philosophy of the store is difficult and challenging.

Almost a year ago someone mentioned a product they saw in the USA called Cuppow and suggested I carry it in the store. I got hold of the manufacturer in the USA and got the product information and pricing. The store started to slow done and and decided to hold off on adding this to the store’s offering.

A former staff person returned to fill in while another staff went home to Cuba for a winter vacation and she had one. I was inspired to look into this product again and I am pleased to say that Earth’s General Store now carries Cuppow lids.

What are Cuppows? Well they are a smart little device that allows you to turn your mason jar into a drinking jar with a lid! Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words so check out this video.

UPDATE, January 15th, 2013 - so CFIA and the Federal Labelling people came into the store to tell me to pull all the Go Max Go candy bars off the shelf. As mentioned I had dithered about whether to send them back or to change the label to remove the “Dairy-Free” and “vegan” items on the wrapper.

Anyway – last week I decided to keep them and to adjust the wrapper. We put them back out for sale and I posted a blog about it (following).

Unfortunately I did something wrong. I overlooked that there was a recall for these products and kind of overlooked that it was not my supplier’s position to tell me what to do without first complying with the rules per CFIA and recalls. It wasn’t just what was written on the wrappers but what was missing. Since the candy bars were contaminated with milk (and therefore in essence contains milk) they needed to have an allergy alert on the wrapper – along with the soy and nut alert they presently contain.

Composting is recognized as one of the top ten actions people can take in their daily lives.

Michael Kalmanovitch has been composting since 1971. In 1991 he facilitated workshops at the Muttart Conservatory, Canadian Tire, through the Environmental Resource Centre, and the Edmonton Public Library. In 1992 he graduated from the City of Edmonton Master Composter & Recycler program. He continues to add to his knowledge about composting (bin, worm/vermicomposting, sheet, and trench).

Michael has put together a comprehensive PowerPoint presentation and would like to share this with as wide an audience as possible but first he must test it out to see how it all goes - ergo this free composting workshop.

So if you are interested in learning composting from an expert and attend a free workshop please consider attending. You will be asked to fill in a short workshop evaluation at the end of the workshop so that it can evolve and improve.

Location & Sponsor: Earth’s General Store, 9605 - 82 Avenue

Presenter: Michael Kalmanovitch

When: Monday, January 21st, 2013 at 7:00 p.m. – 9:00pm

Cost: Free BUT please, if you are going to register to have a seat at this workshop show up or cancel a week in advance.

Sad news for fresh produce buyers. Edmonton is going to be hit with a severe shortage of many items over the next few days and will last a couple of weeks (possibly 3 weeks).

The states on both sides of the USA and Mexican borders were hit recently by a major cold snap (-1C this morning). This froze many of the products and slowed down growth for many other plants.

Prices are going to spike over the next week and it is expected that prices will be quite volatile for the next three weeks or so.

This will not only be for the organic retailers in Edmonton but for regular retailers since their produce is also grown in the same areas.

A good time to check out seasonal vegetables at our local Farmer's Markets.

Check out Discovery Organics' blog posting on this.

- Posted January 9th, 2013

2013 is starting off with a lot of energy at Earth’s General Store. January is packed with several workshops, documentary screenings and an author speaking engagement.

I have resurrected the Thoughtful Tuesday Documentary screening series and these will likely run until April or May (depending on the effect that the later sunset will have on the ambient light in the space). All screenings start at 7pm (prompt) and are Free.

A local maker (Rob Cooper) of kombucha and I have arranged to make available kits that he has assembled  at Earth’s General Store so that people can start growing their own kombucha in their home.

Rob has been making kombucha for Noorish Cafe.  Earlier this month Rob facilitated a sold out kombucha workshop at our store.

The kits come with a culture (Scoby) in a mason jar and an accompanying paper bag that contains three tea samples for flavourings, link to his online instructions  for care, maintenance and use, and a reusable cotton tea bag for brewing.

Of course we also offer lots of flavouring ingredients for you to choose from – a wide selection of Fair Trade and/or Organic teas like: Berry Berry, Rooibos Maple, Rooibos Peach, Blueberry, Raspberry and more.

We also carry some popular prepared and flavoured kombuchas – FT Synergy, Wonder, and Tonica (recently featured on the Dragon’s Den).

- Posted December 28th, 2012

After a few years hiatus Thoughtful Tuesday will once again return to the Edmonton Activist Community.

Presently we have the documentaries for January worked out and people can book a seat through the Event Brite website (search under Thoughtful Tuesday). The series will be hosted at Earth’s General Store (9605 – 82nd Avenue) and will begin at 7pm each Tuesday evening.

Here we are closing into the holiday that even I will take a day off. Plant based meals are good for our bodies and our common environment.

This year we have many of the seasonal centre piece for a plant based meal on sale.

We are running out of Tofurky roasts (two left and on 25% off sale priced at $11.21) but we have PLENTY of the Tofurky Feast Roasts and Gravy (both on 30% off sale priced at $22.40 and $4.19 respectively). Also we have plenty of the new Holiday Roasts from Gardein and they are on sale for 25% off - priced at $10.87.

Even if you don’t use these roasts for this holiday they keep very well in the freezer until the time you want to have a special meal with close friends.

Happy Holidays!

- Posted December 23rd, 2012

Earth’s General Store is not your ‘normal'’ organic food store. Yes we carry the usual suspects – organic foods (fresh produce, bulk food, packaged food, frozen foods, chilled foods), personal care products (many in bulk), household cleaners (many in bulk) – but we also specialize in some not so usual items: