“In order to survive in business in this area you have to do more than none thing,” said Don Yearwood, who opened the Bishop Lake Trailer Park in 1986 with his wife Helen. At the time their only employee was their son Bob, who had to take work outside the region in the wintertime. The business grew over the next ten years, with the addition of a motel and more services,

15 years ago this weekend, on the first day of Walleye season in 1999, BL Outdoor Centre opened. It was the biggest single change to the business and is being celebrated this weekend.

When interviewed about the store 5 years ago on the 10th anniversary, Bob Yearwood said that the business had been growing each year as new services were added and seasonal and permanent residents realized the prices were competitive and the service level was infinitely superior to what is on offered at box stored in urban centres.

That trend has continued.

BL Outdoor Centre carries a full range of hunting and fishing gear, as well as hiking and camping equipment in addition to operating a laundromat and supplying propane.

“The biggest growth in the last five years has been in the woman’s market,” Bob Yearwod said last week, “women have taken to hunting and fishing like never before and we stock more and more products that are geared toward women.”

BL Outdoor Centre is always expanding its product lines, including Browning Firearms and accessories, Hoyt bows, Danner and Lacrosse boots, and aline of moccasins from Quebec.

“But as I said, what separates is the service we offer. If you buy a rifle or a crossbow and there is a problem with it, we can wither adjust it here or we wil send it to the manufacturer and make sure our customers are satisfied. You can't get that elsewhere,” he said.

BL Outdoor is also involved in marketing and selling through Facebook, an new innovation this year.

“We need to keep looking at new products, new markets and new services,” said Yearwood.

BL Outdoors and Bishop Lake Campgrounds, which employed one part-time person in 1986, now keeps Don and Helen Yearwood, as well as Bob and Allison, and Dennis (last name) working year-round, in addition to seasonal employees in the summer.

And now, even though the campground, which has been fully subscribed for a number of years, is only open in the summer, the store is so well established for year-round outdoor sports that as much business comes in during the shoulder seasons from September 15 to June 15 as it does in the prime summer season.

While the tourists and seasonal population have come to rely on BL Outdoors, the support of local hunters and fishers has been crucial to the stores success, and as the store celebrates its anniversary this weekend, it is the local community that the Yearwoods are thinking of.

“When we had our ten year celebration, we offered propane at $10 for a 20 lb tank. As everyone knows the price of propane is not what it was 5 years ago, but this weekend we will be selling it at $15 for 20lb. We are also putting some special sales in place.

'Small-scale seed producer' is not listed as one of the top 10, or top 100 career choice options in the post-modern, post-manufacturing, post-agricultural economy, but don't tell that to Dawn Morden.

A passion for vegetable gardening led Dawn to an interest in saving seed, and one thing led to another. Five years ago she founded the Mountain Grove Seed Company, and while sales were small at the start they have increased steadily ever since.

Currently, she has three different garden plots on the go, all located within a short distance of the house her husband Rob recently built. The couple have two children, Sarah and Bayley.

The current property is pretty well surrounded by woods, which makes growing difficult, but although some day Dawn would like to consolidate everything on one sun-lit property, there are some advantages to having garden plots separated by some distance.

“Isolation distances are very important for plants to avoid cross-pollination. Before selling any seed, I need to be sure they will reproduce true to form,” she said.

Some vegetables, such as corn, need to be located at least three kilometres away from any other variety, whereas a separation of a few roads is sufficient for tomatoes.

“I grow seed for at least two years before selling it, to make sure it reproduces true to form, and to make sure the taste is what I expect,” she said.

The process involves a lot of gardening, a lot of care in selecting the best fruits from the most successful plants, and carefully drying the seeds out. Every vegetable and flower is different, so there is a lot of research and trial and error involved before seeds are added to the company's catalogue.

The seeds are mostly heirloom varieties, and only organic gardening techniques are used in the garden. The Mordens keep bees and chickens for pollination and fertilization.

Among the vegetables and flowers they have available are 28 varieties of tomatoes, 10 kinds of beans, and all the other common vegetables. The limited selection of flowers includes many of the flowers that would have been found in the gardens of the family farms that dotted the landscape around MacLean Road, Parham, and Mountain Grove 125 years ago: Hollyhocks and Cosmos, Sunflowers, Sweet William, Sweet Pea and others. A few of the varieties can be traced back to Dawn's great grandparents, Jean and Melvin Scott.

Much of the marketing that the Mountain Grove Seed Company does at this time of the year, which is coming up on high season for garden seed, is done through Seedy events in Eastern Ontario. They will be one of the seed vendors at the Seedy Saturday event, which will be held at the Oso Hall, 9 am to 1 pm in Sharbot Lake on March 22.

The event, which includes a farmers' market, seed exchange and vendor booths, is free. The morning will also include a workshop by Cate Henderson from the Heirloom Seed Sanctuary, for which the fee is $10. To register please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Dawn Morden has been travelling to Almonte, Perth, and beyond to Seedy Saturday and Seedy Sunday events over the years. Aside from being good markets for her heirloom seeds, they are great opportunities to talk about local growing conditions, the upcoming season, and to share seeds. “I always put seed into the exchange and I like to see what other people bring,” she said.

As far as battling for a share of the market with other small seed companies at the events, the relationship is more collegial than competitive. “We all love seeds and gardening, and the interesting thing is, we all seem to have different varieties for sale,” she said.

To reach the Mountain Grove Seed Company call 876-8383 or go to Mountaingroveseed.com. All seed packets sell for $2; corn & garlic $3.