how lazy daisy's café came to be

 In the late 1800's, Great Grandpa and Great Grandma Gill were some of  the first pioneers to settle Midhurst, Ontario and turn the land to farming.  They kept chickens, pigs, horses and cattle. They even grew a fruit orchard.  

Each week, my great-grandparents would head into Barrie to sell what they had grown, travelling by horse and buggy.  Years later, my Uncle Howard would travel the same route by tractor, the vegetables all fresh, naturally grown, the only fertilizer he ever used was manure from his Dairy cows.  Today, people might coin his produce 'organic', but to Uncle Howard his methods were just common sense.

Spending summers at the farm meant getting up early to help Uncle Howard muck the stalls and milk the cows. The gentlest, the biggest, the laziest and by far 'the best milker', according to Uncle Howard was Daisy. 

Daisy was a brown and white Guernsey who liked to lay around and chew the cud. I carried the sloshing pails of milk to the farmhouse where Gram would strain the warm, white liquid  through a cheese cloth and put it in the fridge to cool. When the work was done we'd enjoy a glass or two with one of her homemade raisin bran muffins, an oatmeal raisin cookie or a butter tart.

I spent a lot of hot summer afternoons nestled in the crook of an apple tree reading, while Daisy rested in the shade beneath me, swatting flies with her tail.

I wanted to bring the spirit of the farm to our community in the city: farm fresh vegetables, locally sourced and seasonal, the meats naturally raised, drug & hormone free, our pastries all handmade with only the finest ingredients.  

We hope when you visit Lazy Daisy's you feel as comfortable as you would in your own home and that on every visit you enjoy great food & great service for a reasonable price. 
See you soon!

Sincerely,

Dawn Chapman & Family

Hitching up the team 

Great Grandpa Gill, Grandma and mom (and Uncle Clarence photo bombing). 1966