I took Gal Smiley and Captain Jelly Belly with me to the Farm Boy on Sunday afternoon. We’ve been having a lot of trouble getting the stuff we need at the Superstore on the weekends — they are often out of stock on most meat products and produce products, and sometimes even staples like milk and cookies. Yesterday Sir Monkeypants had had enough of their crappy produce leftovers and declared, that’s it!, we’re going to Farm Boy.

I love the Farm Boy. (Non-Ottawa types: it’s a grocery store, but with an emphasis on fresh produce and other unusual food products). Unfortunately, having three small children means that it’s definitely easier for us to do all our grocery shopping in one place, once a week, so we don’t make it there very often. When the kids are a little older, though, I’d love to do all my produce shopping there, all the time. Everything is so incredibly beautiful and delicious looking. And the variety! Yucca root! Bitter melon! Yellow carrots! Wax beans (okay, not that exotic, but the Superstore NEVER has any)!

The kids love going there too, because there’s a stuffed monkey over the bananas area (Mikey, to his friends) who does somersaults. There’s also a cow in the yogurt area (Lulu, to her friends) who will make moo sounds when you press a little button, scaring the crap out of Gal Smiley, which only makes it that much more fun for Captain Jelly Belly. Sunday we learned about all kinds of unusual fruits and vegetables, and it didn’t even feel like learning. Next step: home schooling!

The other major reason to go to the Farm Boy is their fantastic selection of cheeses. Who doesn’t love cheese? In particular I adore this kind of cheese called St. Poulin, which I hear is available on every street corner in Quebec, but here can only be purchased at the Farm Boy, making it a rare and exotic treat. It’s a very mild cheese; maybe it would be ignored by more aggressive palettes, but it’s my all-time favourite.

I love the Farm Boy!