about me&MG
Discover a deep connection to food, cultural vibrancy and ultimately ourselves. Through traditional Moon names we here at Market Gypsy cook through each season with more intuition and insight to what foods and energy feel right and why.
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Using traditional Moon names for each month keeps what we eat seasonal and helps us understand why it not only feels better but tastes better when we do.
I live in the Kootenays but from the NWT. I was based in Alberta for almost over 15 years where I was a local food and farming enthusiast, a freelance writer, often found hiking in forests, trudging around farmyards in my boots or fishing in the Northwest Territories. I will share the knowledge I learn from those who found harmony with food, life, self-worth, creativity and the power of the Moon.
Blended in with the topic of food are active practices of monthly themes that will have you feeling more grounded and powerful in many aspects of your life. Market Gypsy is a seasonal whole body guide.
Join us each month by signing up for our Newsletter: SIGN UP HERE
To work with me for recipe creation, food photography, sponsored posts, collaborations or writing, please send request with the email link at the bottom of the page.
01
GET TO
KNOW SHARLYN
5 FUN FACTS ABOUT THE PERSON BEHIND Market Gypsy
I am from a tiny community based along the Hay River and the mouth of the Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories. My hometown is the core of who I am. I now live in the heart of the Kootenays and at peace with the journey that brought me to finally writing, photographing, and creating recipes again. I lived in Alberta's Prairie, cooking, writing, and creating while co-owning a Butcher Shop & Deli specializing in locally grown or produced products with a Bison Farm that started it all. I've worked extensively with a number of multi-generational farms after that in Marketing. It is through those past years that helped me stay grounded and discover that what we are most looking for is often rooted in Nature and the connections it offers us. Cancer and addiction took the two most important people from me in 2022, so it is about time I get back into fully living.
When asked: farmers market, pub or food truck?
Always farmers market! I LOVE supporting local artisans and farmers, you will always find me leaving with arms full of produce, eggs, hummus and copious amounts of flowers. I'm a sucker for fresh cut flowers.
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I have always been fascinated with the Moon and the connection it brings when we are looking at it, we are all looking at the same thing, no matter where we are in the world. The Moon and Northern Lights illuminate the sky back home and it has always given me such comfort. I found that same feeling here in Creston, Lister, BC. The sky and Skimmerhorn are spectacular.
The wisdom my Ukrainian Grandfather shared with me as a child, such as when to plant seeds based on the Moon or to use it as a guide for what foods we should eat, is pure traditional knowledge and hold it dear to my heart. Most cultures around the world used the Moon as a guide for so much more than just an astrology reading.
It is a symbol in many cultures as the yin, (the female energy of creativity, nourishing, nurturing, instinct) to our now over stimulated society of male energy: to do, to achieve, to accomplish, goal oriented. It offers a balance to that energy and I feel we are needing more of it and therefore writing about each month based on the Moon with food, lifestyle, and creativity. The conversations will be about insights, folklore, equinox and recipes each month with the Market Gypsy Newsletter. Click here to sign up.
I make perogies and borscht every month, they are often the most requested item for me to make when hosting a party or going out. But then my salsa or cucumber martini recipes are pretty much a tie for popularity. They too are LOVED.
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04
Testimonial comment:
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My favorite saying, " You can't judge a book by its cover." It suits so many lessons in my life. But in a literal sense, I have four floor to ceiling book stands filled with books. Cookbooks. Biographies. Fiction. Political. Cultural. Not only do I read a lot but I write. I freelance for newspapers, magazines, social media, and printed marketing but this...this blog has been the one thing I have been most afraid to release out in the universe.
I've won Entrepreneur of the Year for the Northwest Territories, organized World River Jet Boat racers, wrote a bi-weekly lifestyle column for the Red Deer newspaper, marketed for one of the largest vegetable producers in Central Alberta, worked through debilitating grief, and founder of a few businesses, you would think that I would be confident in sharing this blog. But nope. Because it is personal as a blog should be, to hit publish takes a lot. Creativity heals grief, shame and unhealthy thinking. So here we go! Thank you for being part of it. I sit here thinking how grateful I am and yet how terrified I am to share my little bit of the world with you. Thank you for being here.
~xo Sharlyn
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