CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Moushumi Shultana can’t think of anything else when she’s sewing.
“This is the thing I enjoy most in my life.”
She was one of over 160 vendors set up at Farm Day in the City in Charlottetown on Oct. 6. The annual event shuts down lower Queen Street – and some streets branching off – so the public can peruse the many different kinds of local foods, artisan crafts, and more.
For some, the market has helped their businesses grow. Shultana doesn’t have a shop for her sewing business, Mou’s, so she sells her products from home, online and at markets like this one, she said.
She sells things like clothing, handbags, and quilts. She decided to start her sewing business following health problems, which forced her to be at home more.
“I used to sew just for myself,” she said. “(But) some of my friends would say, ‘Why don’t you go to the market? Because people would love those.’”
She’s been running her business for three years and her future goal is to set up a boutique shop someday, she said.
Lucus MacDonald, owner of Lucus Craft, hopes to grow both his business and his products. With a background in art and music, he’s been creating wooden wall hangings and coasters for five years.
“I just start with a piece of wood and carve it,” he said. “Just seeing the kinds of patterns I can make.”
He hand carves his wooden creations with various woods, including firewood or wood from old furniture. Like Shultana, he sells them online and at markets.
Most of his work is hand sized, but after seeing some larger displays at local art galleries, he wants to start making bigger art pieces.
“The bigger ones are just so impressive.”
Chris van Ouwerkerk, owner of Jercules: Beef Jerky, said his business has been growing every year. For him, Farm Day in the City certainly plays a role.
“This is always the best event of the year for us.”
Over the past five years, he’s sold his locally-made and sourced beef jerky out of other Island businesses. He has a butcher shop on St. Peter’s Road in Charlottetown, which doubles as a sandwich shop called Saint Pete’s.
Beef jerky was his snack of choice when he was a kid. When starting the business, he didn’t expect it to be as trendy as it’s become.
His five flavours of jerky, such as root beer and maple syrup or red wine and rosemary, were a hit during Farm Day.
“(The jerky is) definitely a hot seller.”
