Strawberries are for lovers

This summer, my fiancée and I are tying the knot. And what better place to have our celebration than in Ontario's Greenbelt! We're very happy with our chosen location, for the beauty and bounty of this amazing land mass is making it easy. Many of our guests will be visiting Canada for the first time from Germany and we are excited to show off all that Southern Ontario has to offer -- wide open spaces, rolling hills, a killer lake view and food that is sure to put their knödel to shame.

A good friend of mine is a very talented chef, and will be dishing up some incredibly delicious and incredibly local fare for our guests to enjoy. It's also incredibly simple -- goat cheddar cherry tomato kebabs, marinated mushrooms, wild rice salad, lavendar lemon cupcakes and of course, corn on the cob.

We have teamed up with a Greenbelt CSA-grower to supply the majority of the fresh veg needed. This has many perks: the convenience of getting most of our supplies from one farm, the cost benefit of buying in bulk, and the many heirloom varieties available when you buy from small producers. We will also be having a whole pig roast for our meat-eating brethren.

For our favours, we wanted it give our guests something that showcased local flavours and that we were sure wasn't going to become landfill at the end of the night. After some himming and hawing, my fiancée thought the best and tastiest treat would be making fresh Ontario strawberry rhubarb jam. We are making them ourselves, and decorating them with homemade labels.

So while others are camping or swimming this July long weekend, we will be knee-deep in the strawberry fields of Whittamore Farms. I can't think of a better way to connect with my future husband than by picking (and eating) baskets of fresh sweet berries, and getting our feet deep into rich Greenbelt soil.