Brianna Forget-Graham will tell you that you can take the girl out of the farm but you can't take the farm out of the girl.
Forget-Graham is launching the Forget-Me-Knots farmstand in Minnow Late this Thursday afternoon, complete with butter tarts, cinnamon buns, scones, sourdough bread and her divine toffee squares.
The farmstand, located on Bancroft Drive, just east of the Rexall Pharmacy and Waypoint gas station, offers something unique to the area.
Forget-Graham, who’s originally from Midland, moved to Sudbury in 2021 with her family on the hunt for a cheaper starter home after working on family farms during the pandemic.
“After moving, I was pregnant with my second child and couldn’t work as I was very ill,” she said. “My mom and I would pass the time baking the recipes in our Ultimate Family Cookbook and crafting to keep my mind at bay.”
The friend, family and neighbourly taste testers believed Brianna was onto something. They wanted her to share her baking with others. That’s when her health unit certified Knot Your Average Baking came alive.
“Growing up on Georgian Bay, the knot theme is strong from boats, to my love of crocheting so it made sense to create a farm stand called Forget Me Knots which also includes my last name Forget,” she said.
The farm stand will make its debut Thursday and it will be stocked full of other goodies including homemade crocheted items, hair and hand soap bars and tallow scrubs and salves. Tallow is rendered beef fat boiled down that Brianna created to deal with her chronic eczema.
As a child, Brianna participated in 4-H Canada, an organization providing agricultural and other hands-on education for children from building gardens, partaking in cooking classes to tending to animals on the farm.
With that, Brianna hopes to add produce in the coming weeks, including potatoes, tomatoes, raspberries and beans from the homestead.
“I am really trying to bring some country to the city life. Growing up, I never had store bought cookies and sweet treats. I want that here,” she laughs.
It’s why a sign that says happiness is homemade lines the kitchen cupboards.
Brianna also admits that the baking helps turn off her brain after giving all she’s got working as a nurse with fragile stroke patients at Health Sciences North.
And she’s not alone in this new farm stand venture. Her sister and brother, two kids, mom and husband all have a hand in some aspect of the business ownership which means the farm stand will be staffed on opening days for the first little while.
“I can’t do this alone. As a nurse on the stroke unit, I work long shifts so I need the family to help build Forget-Me-Knots,” she said.
The stand is also equipped with cameras and a door bell and people have the option to pay by cash or e-transfer.
Opening day for the Forget-Me-Knots Farm Stand will be August 7 from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.
The farmstand is located at 2104 Bancroft Drive, east of the Rexall and Waypoint gas station.
Anastasia Rioux is a writer in Greater Sudbury. Let’s Eat! is made possible by our Community Leaders Program.