For the Love of the Soil

Pulling off the fracking tape.

2012-01-22T11:19:00.001-04:00

So, here's the thing with fracking and all the other potentially environmentally hazardous methods of fueling our fuel-obsessed lives; I hate it.
I just finished reading a book called "Half Broke Horses" (by J. Walls) which was an amazing based-on-true-life account of a woman growing up in Texas and then Arizona back in the early 1900s. She was a feisty character who got into all sorts of adventures but had this hard working attitude that did her well through the rougher times. I was reading it at the blood donors clinic the other night and the chatty nurse who was 'hooking me up' commented that it was a good book but 'terribly sad'. I had only just started it, so was disappointed to hear that and as I was reading, turned the pages nearly reluctantly waiting for the grand downfall.
It never came. There was no sad part, I thought. It was all part of this great life of hard work and new beginnings and successes and failures. One of the themes in the book though was that the main character embraced the future rather than shunning it like many other characters in the story. She saw those who sneered at the first cars as backward and she relished the idea of flying a plane or getting electricity when most others saw all those things as wasteful and foolish passing fads. Even as she grew older, she continued to see the future as a welcoming thing, rather than an intimidating wasteland of unknowns.
I wish I could say the same.
I don't love cell phones and excessive e-interaction (says the blogger), and I don't love thinking about where we are headed if we continue in this global economized world. I don't love that we continue to dive headfirst into what seem like great ideas without really taking the time to look at it from all angles (ie. GMOs). I don't love that our first world depends so heavily on the third world to do our dirty work and still remain the third world. I really don't love that our governments haven't figured out that the economy DOESN'T matter if the environment is shot.

But the thing about fracking is that this may be the best time to do it. It seems pretty much inevitable to me that oil exploration, natural gas, uranium and all other alternative fuel sources are going to be exhausted before we're forced to figure out whether we really need asparagus in January or if we need to go to Dubai for a meeting or if we can actually survive on our own, using a local economy. Once gas runs out (and I understand we've hit peak oil...so it's all downhill from here), we all know that between the corporations and the governments, all options will be explored, extracted, exploited and exhausted. And what a frenzy that will be eh? Gas is gone, so what's next. Well, at that point it will just be a wild cowboy race to dig up the next best thing, no matter the cost, environmental or otherwise.
SO, while I may really really despise the idea of fracking and all it entails, I have to admit that right now, while we have some sharp minds in the environment keeping an eye on it and a few 'laws' and some science trying to keep up, it might be the only time to do it.
Once a race has started, there's no time to look back, restart with new rules and stop if necessary. It just doesn't happen.

That said, I'm not convinced the sharp minds and the science is really quite ready yet and for damn sure, the laws need a little bolstering. Due to a loophole in some policy somewhere, the drilling companies are not required to provide a list of all the 150 chemicals it takes to create those cracks deep down in the earth. (You can't use a hand soap in a bakery without a WHIMS sheet but you can contaminate multiple water tables with 150 unaccounted for chemicals!?) 150. Mixed with water, that they admit, can never TRULY be all removed, cleaned out, etc. And those chemicals that are able to be removed from the water go to...? A tailing pond somewhere for the next generation to deal with? 150 chemicals mixed into billions, BILLIONS of liters of what will soon become our most precious resource, all to extract what may provide us a few more years of bright lights, cool homes in the summer, fast cars, big planes, tropical produce and vacations.

I don't have solutions, and I'm no environmental martyr, I'll be the first to admit, but I think I can see where this is headed, and if things were a little more transparent, and the accountability was written in stone, with real consequences, I might be better able to 'grin and bear it'. Ok, probably not grin, but at least bear it.
If we're going to do this thing (and I'm sure we are), let's do it now while we're not desperate and we're actually paying attention to what is going on.

-Sally

Intended Audience

2012-01-16T21:25:00.001-04:00

When I was in elementary and middle school and we had to do writing projects (which were a favorite part of school for me) one of the rules which was always repeated was, "decide who your intended audience is first". When I started this blog, the audience was my family back in West Branch, who is still primarily who I write this for (particularly the political posts-haha), but a few times lately, I've had some vivid reminders that just because that might be my INTENDED audience, it by no means IS my audience.

The first time I ran into the problem of unexpected readership was when I entered a radio contest with a poem to win lobster or something and then when I lost (undeservedly so!! haha) I complained about it on here and one of the judges of the contest left a comment. I had never suspected that one of our local radio broadcasters was a reader of my blog.
Then, over Christmas, some of the cards we received included comments that mentioned following the blog. And not people that I would have expected to follow it.
Since then, two incidences in particular have made the anti-anonymity of the blog a little too real. One, was when the son of the owner of Bio-Ag (who we are now dealers for) came for a visit from Ontario and in his email before arriving wrote something along the lines of, "..and I've been reading up on the blog, so have some idea what I'm getting into", or "what to expect" or something.
Second was when I got called for an interview for the Maritime Noon radio show and the journalist mentioned reading up on the blog and that they would not be mentioning my Peter McKay comments.

So, with all these things in mind, suddenly my stream-of-consciousness, ranting and op-eds are not quite as easy to channel.
That said, I'm not one to censor myself very well and there is nothing on here that I wished I hadn't written (especially the Harper and McKay comments!), so I'll probably just continue to embarrass myself and remember that despite reading the blog and 'having ideas of what to expect', both the Bio Ag rep and the journalist continued thier initial missions of dealing with us/me and I think both rather enjoyed my...er...spirited self. ?

Actually we had a great visit with Parry, from Bio-Ag and although there's a lot to learn, Mark and I are looking forward to learning even more about the products and seeing where this venture takes us. We're hoping to get to Ont. sometime to check it all out and meet the crew. It is really nice to know we're supporting a 'small' company rather than a huge, faceless, corporation.
But our visit to Ontario will have to wait because Mark and I are off to Nfld. for a little getaway in Feb. Yes, I realize the Rock is not exactly a vacation hotspot in Feb. but according the agricultural calendar that is the only time we can reliably get away with the least amount of responsibility left behind. It's two weeks before Rosie's due to calf, the lambs have all arrived and there's no chickens on pasture. The kids of course are a large load of responsibility, but my tireless mother is a bugger for punishment and has graciously accepted that load.
We have friends in St.Johns who we're really looking forward to seeing, but I think we'll probably mostly just enjoy eating at our pace, using the washroom without interruption or an audience, sleeping past 6am, reading a real live book, and going to some pubs. If anyone has some suggestions for St. John's attractions, please let me know! We're flying and only there for a few days, so given the time of year, will probably not get very far out of the city. In preparation for the trip (and to lessen the monotony of reading the same damn books of the kids') I've started reciting the favorites with a strong Nfld. accent. They get a great kick out of it, although I think my accent is probably pretty terrible.
Check out this hilarious YouTube video I saw the other day, speaking of Nfld (although it could be Cape Breton too). The video is pretty funny, but the commentary near the end is FAR funnier. Make sure you have the volume up to hear both voices near the end. (warning-a little explicit for the kiddies if they're watching).

Feb. may be the best time farm-wise to leave, but it still leaves our snowblowing customers a bit up a snowy creek. Thankfully we have a neighbour who can fill in, but here's hoping for a dry spell while we're gone- for everyone's sake-including ours while we're in the air!

Well, this entry has been pretty tame, so I'll be sure to pep it up it a bit next time. Heavens, I wouldn't want to be considered one them green 'radicals' that our dear friend Joe Oliver is all worked up about. argh.
barf.

Hope this finds you cozied up on these frigid days! Makes for some mighty rosy cheeks and really makes ya question the effort in getting the 400 piece snowsuit on three kids for a grand total of 5 minutes of fresh air.

-Sally

Quick Photo Catch Up

2012-01-06T15:16:00.000-04:00

These are by no means chronological since this is Thayne in his new hat on Christmas morning. I like how you can see the excitement of Christmas morning in his eyes, despite him not really understanding any of it and woke up after most of the chaos had passed (although in our house it never really passes).

One of my favorite parts of the Christmas decorating when I was growing up was this little group of plastic houses called The Alpine Village (which for a while I thought was a bit illicit since Mom hated when my brother had beer labels on his stuff) and I got the privilege of setting it up, deciding its placement, the amount of snow (cotton batting), etc. My first Christmas away from home, Mom sent it over to PEI and again, I found the perfect little home for it, set it up lovingly and was so proud. This year, I finally decided/realized that nothing is sacred with children around and that I would surrender the aging village (with a severe speech in 'being careful with this village-it means a lot to me!') to Lucy who I was happy to see enjoyed rearranging and setting it up as much as I did. Everyday the village would get fixed up and the few little snowmen characters would get put in their place.
It wasn't until I brought out the little manger scene characters that we had made last year from salt dough that things really got interesting. The snowmen dissappeared (to be found underfoot in July most likely)and were replaced with the shepherds and Mary, each watching their respective house. You can see the shepherd and his sheep looking in on the red house.

You can see in this shot that one wise man is particularly worn out and is taking a nap in the manger. The wingless angel is guarding the church and Jesus is missing, to be found later wrapped in what might be called swaddling clothes on the doll bunk beds in Lucy's room. He is about the size of Lucy's thumb, so surprised that he was found at all.

In some of the time passing we did in the month coming up to Christmas, we discovered the wonders of cornstarch. And just when you thought that dry cornstarch couldn't get any more fun, you add water and discover another 45 minutes of adventure. My tidy boy wasn't interested in getting into the slime, but did enjoy the show he sister put on for him.

Here he is on Christmas morning having found a quiet corner behind the mound of garbage and stashed his chocolate in his new toolbox and was having a moment to himself.

Another pass time for the month of December was every manner of homemade decoration. Here's our front window and as the month went on, more window sticker (thanks Mom) characters were invited to the Christmas excitement. We had Valentines and Easter covered there as well.

Turns out Christmas trees are tricky to photograph but I wanted to try to get the 'natural candles' that was all over ours this year. I don't think they're very common on commercial trees and they make a 'wild' tree that much more special, to me at least. There's two big ones in the foggy foreground, but there's more at the top you can almost sort of see in this shot.

And here's what consumed much of my Christmas, or so it felt. Had late nights, early mornings and midnight treks to the barn, which I seem to be still catching up on.

In other news, Mark and I are heading to Nfld. soon for a little getaway. Turns out that a getaway from the farm pretty much has to happen during the coldest, worst travelling months because the rest of the year is pretty well booked up with life consuming chickens to be moved, sheep to be moved, cows to be milked, crops to be planted, tended and harvested. Even in Feb. there's snow to be blown, but alas, it will have to blow itself since we're headed for the Rock. (and if there's anywhere that sounds inviting in Feb. isn't it something called The Rock!?) haha.

-Sally

Too opinionated?

2012-01-04T20:48:00.004-04:00

aghk. Getting pictures from my camera to my computer lately has loomed large in front of me like a task beyond my abilities. And then posting without pictures just seems like a rip-off to my readers who I'm pretty sure often come for the pictures more than the rants. So, there's my latest excuse.
I've also been in recovery mode from the frantic lambing we had during Christmas and have not yet quite caught up on the sleep.
Lastly, I'm torn as to what I want to tackle. The whole supply management discussion going on right now has me a bit on edge, but it's not exactly my department, so I'm not quite feeling educated enough to tackle it at this point. Give me time though and I'm certain I'll come up with some mind altering idea that will fix the world's problems. I've also been quietly building a stronger argument against fracking that is nearly ready for blog reveal (prepare thyselves brothers), but am waiting to better articulate it. (Have you heard the latest?-Fracking has been tied to earthquakes now. Am still looking into that one.)
I couldn't go without posting tonight though to congratulate my dearest old friend Peter McKay on his recent marriage to an ex-beauty queen. How fitting since he is an ex-politician who is now just a robot in the Harper machine we used to call Canada.

The sheep are doing well. Mark has the barn all puttered out and I think a snow dump might actually do him good to get out in the tractor for a while. The kids are coming down from Christmas and the house is almost back together (whatever that means).

Hope this finds you settling back into routine and looking forward to a new year of good friends, family and great food.

-Sally

Lambcrazy

2011-12-28T22:21:00.000-04:00

If the farm depended on my blog entries to exist we'd be in hard times wouldn't we? Thankfully that's not the case. December has been a month of busy busy kids which makes for a tired tired Mom which makes for a very quiet blog. I've got some dandys simmering away though, so expect some new reading in the coming year.
I've hit a bit of a wall when it comes to my sheep since it has been lamb-city here in the past week. I had that one lamb a couple weeks ago and then nothing...until a few days ago when they started coming like wildfire. I've got 12 now with a couple more ewes to go, I think. And it's that "I think" which is driving me crazy. After dealing with a lamb who died because it's mother was old and had no colostrum, etc etc I was forced to face the reality of not devoting enough time to my flock and having to decide whether this was going to continue to be a volunteer 'project' of mine (marginally successful) or a real part of the farm business. I had another lamb I was bottle feeding because his legs mysteriously didn't work (I think I was late in coming along and she laboured too long and he suffered because of it) and so couldn't drink. He didn't make it and I think partly because nature took it's course but I also couldn't get over to the barn as often as I should have to feed it. Mark says I just beat myself up over this kind of thing, and he's partly right, but there's more to it than that. After all, after three sets of beautiful healthy twins, it's easy to erase the failures from memory.
It's that I hate the selling part of the business. I don't mind shipping the lambs, it's not a sentimental thing, it's the action of selling something, my own product. I just want to raise them, not worry about sending them off, getting them cut up, wrapped, dropped off, picked up, whatever. I'm a farmer not a marketer/distributor/retailer. And the only way I get to avoid that is to sell wholesale to someone, and that doesn't exist for organic lamb. Mark suggested we could just sell to the conventional stream, but when I've done our cost of production in the past, because of the time we have to dedicate to moving the fence each week, we'd be pushing it. If we didn't have to pay ourselves we'd be A-Ok, but life doesn't work like that.
And don't even start on my non-existant management this past year. Hence, the Christmas lambing schedule...what is THAT!? and the not culling ewes I KNOW are terrible. Ugh.
I'll have to do a cost of production again soon, since that one is pretty out of date now and I have an on-site shearer at my disposal. And we've refined the fencing much better. So who knows. Lambing is a stressful, sleep deprived time, so maybe once my head is cleared of Christmas sugar and my body spends more time in bed than in the barn at night, I'll have more to bring the shepherding table.

Speaking of salespeople, we're excited to announce that we're expanding the farm operation a little bit by being a distributor for Bio-Ag, a company out of Ontario that sells all non-GMO agricultural products like minerals, salts, cleaners, etc. I know, I know, I just talked about not being a salesperson, but this isn't 'our' product, it's just one we believe in. We have used their minerals since we've been organic and now use their diotomaceous earth, salt and a probiotic as well. We have a barrel of their peroxide as well which we use mostly in the summer in the various water tanks around, but is a popular product for livestock farmers to keep waterlines clean and dairy operations up to spec. Anyway, Mark's next project is getting a corner of the barn ready for storage. I'm really looking forward to being the Island distributor and although it's a small company I think it will be fun to promote it and see where it takes us. The previous distributor here is retiring and the owner is coming in the next couple weeks, to meet us and facilitate the transfer so hopefully we'll be up and running very soon.

I had a really great Christmas, as they always are. The kids are at SUCH a good, magical age and I'm sooo grateful that I got to be around for December and be a part of thier excitement. One of my favorite parts was Christmas morning when I went in to wake Lucy and said, "Lucy, I think Santa came last night, wanna come see your stocking?" and rather than running to see what she got, she instead, went to the kitchen, crawled up on the stool and exclaimed, "He ate his cookies and drank his milk!" The rest was just a bonus.

Although I was in the thro of lambing on Boxing Day, my stubborn father-in-law all but shoved me in the car and we went to NB. I was really glad we did because we stayed the night and I enjoyed some great laughs and drinks and food and stories while Wendell dealt with a dopy lamb in a set of twins. The lamb has come around now and I'm convinced is only alive because of Wendell's early intervention.

Well, with only two ewes left to lamb, I think I'll sleep through tonight and stay in bed until at least 6. Then again, something will probably wake me up at 3 am and I'll lay there thinking of the worst case scenarios that could be happening in the barn until I struggle over there in wind/rain/snow/sleepcoma to find them all chewing cuds, blinking at me stupidly as if to say, "Go back to bed dummy, we're sleeping."

Hope this finds you enjoying every minute of the season and looking forward to a new year of great goals and plans!

-Sally

The Attack of the....cookie dough?

2011-12-16T16:38:00.001-04:00

So the latest food scare is...ready for it? raw cookie dough. Yeah, apparently a big e.coli outbreak across the states has been traced back to pre-made, store-bought cookie dough, eaten raw. And the chicken farmers are safe this time, it wasn't the eggs; it was the flour. The FLOUR! Somewhere along the line in the production, the flour became contaminated with e.coli which would have been killed if the consumers had cooked it, but they, like any good child, ate it raw.
There is so much wrong with this. Firstly, why are people buying cookie dough? Even a college student can surely throw together the 3+ ingredients it takes to bake a batch of cookies. There is no way that there is enough time savings in buying cookie dough, bringing it home, figuring out how to open the can/tube, greasing a pan, preheating the oven, throwing out the empty tube/can and cooling them, compared to mixing up ingredients in a bowl to make it worthwhile consuming whatever preservatives and not-pronouncable words are in that tube/can. Cookies are so EASY and (mostly) FUN!
But the thing that really bothers me about this is that the take home message we're being served as a result of the outbreak is that its our fault for eating raw cookie dough, not the fault of the giant factory making bad product. "Don't eat raw cookie dough, period" is the headline from one paper. So that's it childhood, see ya later. My kids are doomed. In fact, over the last two weeks of Christmas baking, the three of us should be put in a museum as miracles of survival under the harshest conditions of nearly DAILY raw cookie dough consumption. The horrors!
Before cookie dough goes the way of dinosaurs and real eggnog (made with real, raw(!) eggs) here's the simple truth; make food you trust with ingredients you trust and ENJOY IT! I splurged on my last bulk order from Speerville Mills (in New Brunswick) and ordered a special pastry flour to see if my Christmas baking would be any different from when I use the regular Speerville white and whole wheat. It is a really nice flour and has that distinct flour taste that I've come to expect from baking now and as I was scooping out another cup for (yet another) batch of cookies (a favorite time consumer these heady days of waiting) I noticed that it had the farmer's name right on the label. Because it's a specialty flour, made in small batches I guess that Speerville has the one farmer growing that particular wheat, so they have his name right there; Murray Bunnet.   He also happens to be the farmer we bought our soybean roaster from in NB and as I sprinkling the flour on the counter (or 'making it snow' as we call it here these days), and thinking about the raw cookie cookie dough debacle, once again I was so thankful to have the access to quality food that I can trust, because I KNOW the farmers who GREW it! Short of grinding my own flour (which is not likely something I'm going to take up as long as Speerville can do it better), this is about as 'secure' as my food can get.
I guess that is the kind of marketing freedom that brought about the eradication of the wheat board, but I'm afraid that without the wheat board we're even farther from any chance of real food 'security'. Once Cargill (for one large example) has free reign to set prices because they are the new monopoly, farmers will surely feel the crunch of corporate greed. Oh my, this is a whole other entry. Where was I?
Ah yes, the cookie dough.
Well, I hope that after reading this, you will gather up the ingredients for your favorite cookie recipe, use some good quality eggs from a farm you trust, add the special touches that make you happy and eat all the dough you want. May you have a mildly sore belly from too much butter and sugar and sticky fingers and a smiley face. May you NOT fight to the death (or at least until bleeding) with your sibling over the last scraps of dough left in the bowl on on the spoon- or maybe that's just at our house.

Anyway, I keep intending to post an inventory of the millions of Christmas projects that have been undertaken around here this year, but those 'projects' tend to be fairly patience-consuming and by the time the activity/recipe/craft/decoration/story/card/gift is done, nobody feels like remembering that it happened, let alone recording it for eternity. :)

That first lamb is doing really well. She's a fast growing little beauty but is strangely a bit lonely. Yes, it would seem that she is a bit of an oddity since no one else is showing signs of lambing anytime soon. Well some of the girls are 'bagged up' as we say, but it's been that way for a month now. There goes my super stellar records. Yes, I AM a record keeping consultant, but it's the sheep! They don't always (or ever) do what they're supposed to, when they're supposed to do it.

Other news from the farm is pretty quiet. Mark is 'puttering' when he's not hauling mussel shells and devising ways to unload them in soft fields.

Ah, computer time is up, or so says the baby tugging at my pantleg.

I hope this finds you looking forward to a relaxed and joyful Christmas full of all your favorite traditions! Consider your local farmer when preparing for all those big meals!

-Sally

Don't Hedge Your Bets

2011-11-27T20:44:00.001-04:00

Young trees for a new hedgerow - a rare sight in potato country these days.

I won't assume to know what the snow situation is wherever you might be, but here on PEI, the first snow is melting and is for the most part, gone. As we went for a short Sunday drive today, I noticed the mostly bare fields with a swath of snow sticking around the edges where the hedgerows are. Like spring, when the long anticipated exposure of the soil peeks up through the snow and farmers get the itch to 'get on the land', there is something about the snow that won't leave around the edges that reminds us that we're not really the ones in charge, no matter how ready WE are.
Also, on today's Sunday drive, Mark pointed out, over and over, how many hedgerows have been taken out lately. There is one neighbouring farmer of ours in particular has taken an especially strong aversion to those pesky trees and 'opened up' field after field after field, creating huge prairies of landscape, all bleeding one into the other.
As we drove we critically discussed the reasoning for so much hedgerow removal with cycism and disgust, but I really wanted to know why. We know the farmers and know that they are not unreasonable people so I was convinced that there had to be a really good reason to invest the time and money into removing well established hedgerows. Some of my best speculations added up to:

-bigger fields=efficiency?

no trees=no interference with big equipment (ie. spray booms, etc.)?
no trees=no snow retention in the spring, so quicker to get on the land?
no hedgerows make for that much more land to farm? Trees don't make money year after year.
hedgerows can harbour pests through the winter?

I realize I'm looking at this through my stubborn, self-righteous lens, but I'm shocked that modern, educated farmers would seriously be able to weigh those reasons against the benefits of hedgerows and have the removal of trees come out on top.

snow retention=poor man's fertilizer. snow is great for soil.
wildlife habitat
safer wildlife corridor to forested areas
windbreaks against erosion
windbreaks against crop damage
pollinator habitat
water erosion prevention by trapping soil particles and creating breaks in sloping land.
organic matter from leaf drop, soil break down
buffer zone from neighbouring spray drift, dust, smells
retain more water in the summer against drying winds, reducing irrigation needs
trees= good. We all learn, as children, the benefits of trees to our own existence. I now know as well, the importance of mycorhizae fungi which sequester a LOT of carbon from the air, but only exist in low tillage, no spray soil. Taking out trees means that land will now be put into 'normal' production and we can say goodbye to those helpful little critters.

So once again, I'm faced with questioning this whole dichotomy of agriCULTURE versus agriBUSINESS and the fact that they are getting farther and farther apart. For the past three years I thought we were so lucky to be able to get trees from the Dept. of Forestry here for new hedgerows and to maintain existing ones, since I assumed that they would be a hot commodity but then I'm faced with the reality that big corporations (in this case processors like Cavendish) are demanding their farmers to get bigger and more 'efficient' (ie. build big warehouses and/or take out trees) or lose their contract. I'm not a potato farmer so I can only assume that last statement, but I can't come up with another reasonable explanation that makes enough sense to me.
SURELY THE VALUE OF THE SNOW IN THE SPRING MAKES IT WORTHWHILE KEEPING THE HEDGEROW!?!?!?!

A few summers ago I worked on a pilot project called the Ecological Goods and Services (EG&S)Program, designed to pay farmers to go above and beyond environmental regulations. It became the basis for PEI's Alternative Land Use Services (ALUS) which is a really pared down version of the program, but has some of the same bones of the EG&S. Anyway, under the EG&S there was a nice payment for hedgerows which met certain criteria (certain width, height and mixture of species, etc.) and now I can really appreciate the value of that program. I hated the program when I started working with it because I didn't understand why the public should be expected to pay the farmer to do things that ultimately benefit themselves in the end, but are considered 'inconveniences' in the scheme of production. If Cavendish truly is the driving force behind the removal of those trees this may be the perfect illustration of why a program like EG&S is so important. It gives the farmer the opportunity to weigh the options and consider the real benefits against the pressures and 'suggestions' of their 'customer'.

Yes, it's a Sunday in winter and I'm making up for lost blog/rant time. Enjoy!

-Sally

Eating my words, and other tasty things

2011-11-27T10:13:00.001-04:00

So I've been all preachy about appreciating our food and eating less meat, but BETTER meat and only eating free range, etc. etc. and a part of that whole mindset is learning to cook the lesser appreciated parts of the animal; to use the whole thing; nose to tail if you will.
Well, I am NOT an adventurous eater. When I was in Africa I survived on hard boiled eggs and bread. The one time we did get to a grocery store I spent nearly our whole budget on a bag of chicken breasts from who knows where. Looking back I realize how silly that is to me now, but it's just one example of my reluctance to branch out. I've grown considerably in my willingness to try new things, but it's marginal. In any case, when we butchered Poppy, we had all intentions of keeping the cheeks since we had had an amazing beef cheek dish at DB Brickhouse in Ch'town and in talking to the chef, it seemed simple enough. Anyway, we forgot to tell the butcher and the cheeks got tossed with the head :(, but Mark was kind enough to remember to ask for the tongue and the heart (which is GIGANTIC!). Mark, who I don't think is particularly brave when it comes to food, just not discriminatory, is always ready to try whatever I've come up with. I'm not sure I've found anything that man will not eat-which is maybe one of my favorite things about him. :)

So everytime I open the freezer here's this seemingly HUGE cow tongue staring back at me, its reminder like a sandpapery lick on my conscience. I realize that tongue is NOT that big of a deal in most circles. It's even common in some circles, but not for this girl. I've never even tried a chicken giblet for heaven's sake! I can't even fathom the heart at this point so I've set my sights on the tongue. The point is, I'm working up to the tongue. I'm taking baby steps. Maybe liver will be the next stop on the road to tonguetown.
But yesterday's stop was ham hocks. Well, I insist on calling them pork hocks, because ham suggests to me that they were smoked or cured, and a lot of recipes call for smoked ham hocks. But mine were the regular variety. I had accumulated a little collection from the various sides of pork we've bought over the last couple years, so I had a slow cooker full of them. I basically just threw them in some broth with the usual vegetables (carrot, onion, celery) and cooked the bejeezus out of them on low, all day. Seems like that method is pretty much foolproof for anything, except the really good roasts which just get tougher. Anyway, they turned out fine, if not a little tasteless, so I made up a quick bbq sauce and tossed the meat bits (as opposed to the small bones and fat bits) in and we had pork hock a la pulled pork sandwiches. Delish! It's no tongue, but it's a small step towards it.

So, one victory down! I was glad that I had accumulated a few hocks though because the meat from all those hocks did not add up to a whole lot and one meal of the Bernard bambinos took care of it. I don't know why I continue to be amazed at the lack of leftovers in this house.

In other farm related news, Rosie is slowly drying up (have I talked about this before?). She's not due until mid Feb. but I think partly because we only milk her once a day and partly because it's winter and she's pregnant, but we're only getting a little under 2 L a day. That's a shocker to a family who used to drink milk recreationally and use 3 times that much in a day. It's strange how my brain went from "What can I make that uses lots of milk?" to "what can I make that doesn't need milk?". Thayne still has a full bottle at night too, so he gets priority and that takes a good chunk. Did I forget to mention that more than half of that 2L is pure cream as well? I am curious to see if there's any weight change in the adults in this house when she dries up until the calf comes. ;)

And of course, with winter and reduced egg customer traffic comes an onslaught of egg production from the hens. All the young girls are laying and it's in full swing in the coop these days. So now we're on a egg-heavy diet. What we lack in milk, we make up for with eggs. Our new favorite is egg quesadillas. I've tried getting my kids to eat quiche of every kind, since they love scrambled eggs, but there is some sort of mental block when it comes to eggs in pie form, so the quesadillas seem to disguise whatever the resistance is.

I guess the point of this email is that we're pretty blessed in the food department around here and I'm excited to try my next culinary adventure.
Tips for cooking liver?

Hope this finds you trying something new in the kitchen!

-Sally

Let er come!

2011-11-24T11:25:00.001-04:00

Yep, first snowfall and it`s a dandy! Well, I guess we had a little skiff of snow a week or so ago, but this one is `fo real`! Mark is trying to prove me to how useful plowing can be versus blowing (since he wants to buy a plow for the truck) so he made this `snow mountain` for the kids to play on this morning with the little tractor. It WAS a good time until all the fingers got too cold. Well, I`ll speak for me, since I know that Thayne probably wouldn`t say it was a `good time`. What a terrible age he is for snow. Can`t get around in it, it`s just a cold, wet hinderance. For a boy who seems to always have a smile, this is as happy as I could get him today.

When he and I did chores last night in the thick of the snowfall, he seemed really fascinated with it and gave me extra time to feed the sheep and even give Rosie a little brushing, but it was clear today that fascination has turned to frustration and disgust. Even the sled was NOT fun.

I however, was really enjoying the snow in my old `maternity` snowsuit, sans belly. I could really play and climb and slide this time, which is a nice change for me! And of course, I know it`s really flattering, so that helps. (note: the sarcasm-this IS the snowsuit that Mark lovingly calls the ``Pea Green Boat``.)

Here`s Thayne finally having found a vantage point from which he CAN enjoy the white stuff.

Since I last posted we celebrated a birthday here, with a request for a Rainbow cake from the birthday girl. You have to use your imagination a little bit, since I was short on time and long on cheap candy, but here`s the rainbow with some gold on either end.

Lucy got 12 little buckets of brightly coloured playdough for her birthday, which I was skeptical about since we already have lots of the homemade salt stuff around, but there is something to be said for not having to wash your hands every 3 minutes due to the dehydration factor that comes with playing with salt. And it shows in how much play that dough gets from these two kids. Lucy insisted I take this picture of her drawing and then a sculpture of her drawing of me. So for those of you who claim I don`t post enough pictures of myself, here ya go! :) Also, note the colour of the sculpture, 24 hours after having opened 12 different colours. haha.

In farm news, there`s not much. Mark is done field work. Well, actually he expects to get back out when the snow goes (which it inevitably will with some mild temps on their way this weekend) and `get across some land` with the discs. He`s on a couchgrass killing mission these days, convinced that the frost will kill it if it`s exposed. Here`s hoping! But really, if winter settled in tomorrow, I think Mark would be satisfied with how much he`s gotten done for this year, so that`s always nice.

The animals have been scrounging the pastures until today when they gave up and laid around the barn, blatting whenever they heard or saw someone nearby, waiting for feed. The grass outside probably hasn`t had much nutritional value since some of the harder frosts, but they were getting enough to not have to cut into the hay inventory. I`ve got lambs coming at Christmas (yeah, my great timing at work again) so I`ve started to introduce a touch of grain and probiotic to my `girls`. We also threw Duncan (the ram) back in to breed any girls that hadn`t caught the first time around. I wasn`t going to, but the last module of a sheep course I`m taking was very production oriented and I started to question my shepherding management. I was hoping to get the whole flock onto a once a year, late Nov-early Dec. lambing, but since no sheep naturally breeds at their best at that time of year, I`m always worried that some of them haven`t `caught` and I`m feeding a `freeloader`. Then I remember that I have an old girl whose had mastitis, who I purposely try to prevent getting pregnant just because I like her; she is one the first ones Mom gave me and she`s the leader of the pack, and all logic goes out the window. So take that, optimum production percentages. bah.

Well, it`s been a long day of snow-wrangling, snot-wiping and sock-changing, so I`m off to get some sleep. Maybe one more bowl of snow before I do though. Mmmm. The one food that you can still only get at a certain time of year!

Bon Appetit!

Who's for Supper?

2011-11-10T10:24:00.000-04:00

It was over Thanksgiving when I was telling Mark's aunt about our calf Poppy and how everytime we have meat for supper we have to discuss whether it's Poppy or someone else. Lucy has figured out the difference between chicken and beef, but Wilson likes to call everything chicken, or bacon (and mostly those two sound pretty similar, so who knows). Once we determine the species, the forks still just sticks up in the air until Wilson is satisfied as to the source of whatever is on it.
I wasn't really thinking much about it as I was sharing this with Mark's shocked (and I think disgusted) aunt, but later it occured to me just how fortunate we are to be able to have that connection with our food.  Lucy met the farmer from whose farm gate stand we buy most of our veggies, so we often have 'Raymond' for supper, with our broccolli or cucumbers or potatoes. The chickens don't have names, but they always have to mention how they 'used to be in the pasture with Rosie'. Our pork comes from "Ranald with the stamp at the market" because he always makes a point of stamping the kids' hands with a pig stamp, and he's got a fun little video of his pigs rolling around in the mud and tromping through the apple orchard.
Anyway, I just felt so lucky to have such a direct knowledge of our main raw food products and was really excited that the kids are so sticky about giving everything a name before eating.  If that doesn't make you appreciate the food and what goes into eating, I don't know what does.
So, it was a bit contradictory that I found myself at our newly renovated Superstore, excited to be going through the self serve check out. I've been through them before, at other big box stores, but it was while I was joyously tossing my items into the bags without having to talk to ANYbody that it occured to me that this sort of technology that pushes us just that much further from making any connection with our food.  It's like a system of robots, who mix up a concoction of fake ingredients, package em up, send it off to a distributor who sends it off to a store where it's picked up, beeped through, taken home, heated and eaten. I know this sounds a bit reaching to some of you, but the thing is, I recognize that these self serve check outs eventually take somebody's job and that interaction with other humans is what keeps us sane, even if it's only as small as chit chat at the cash, and more importantly takes that last, tangible human part of food away. Now you can buy a jug of milk or an onion or a chicken without ever ONCE having to talk to a person. I know, I know, that cashier has nothing to do with that onion or milk, but there is just something there, or rather, something missing when buying food becomes an automated chore between you and a machine.

That said,I couldn't help but enjoying myself, zipping my items through at a good clip, packaging them how I like and getting out of there as soon as possible, so what does that say about me?

I am currently having a little internal crisis over the ACORN conference since I am supposed to 'do my talk' tomorrow morning and the weather is sounding less than cooperative for getting over the bridge and sometimes more dangerous, through the Cobequid Pass. Mark has suggested I go over tonight, which is probably wise, but I'll be away for two night as it is, one more will only make it that much harder to stay at my sheep course in Truro on Sunday, instead of zipping home at noon, like the bad student I can be when it comes to my babies.

My sister, April has been on my case about Halloween pics of the kids and I'm finally going to get them up.

This was at 5:50 as we were gearing up to go out the door. For two weeks previous to this, the kids have been going through the trunk of costumes and each time Lucy would come back to the 'kitty' costume which was too big last year and say that THIS year she would get to go as the kitty. Despite having worn it around the house for two weeks, it was only at 5:50 on Halloween night, with face painted that she decided it wouldn't "stay out of my bum", and was a little on the short side (gee, wish I had've suggested that throughout the two weeks of dress rehearsal...ahem) so in a frantic search, we managed to pick out another, if not exactly ideal, more comfortable option.

6:00- departure time.

Even Lucy wasn't sure what to say when people asked what she was, but she was comfortable and got just as many treats as before so it didn't really matter. Something between a crocodile and a lizard perhaps?
And as you can see, the cowboy was quite satisfied with his choice. The gun soon lost it's shine in favour of a treat bag, but he was pretty good at his 'ye haw' before the night was over.
This year we carved pumpkins togther for the first time (usually it's just Mark and I) and the kids had a great time.

Wilson's lazy-eyed pumpkin.

I had to post this picture of Lucy drawing her jack o lantern face, because although I've noticed it before, this was the first time I caught a picture of her working with her tongue out. Anytime she concentrates hard on a task, out it comes and I can't help but think of her Uncle Doug and how maybe that is somehow connected to a short temper as well? ;)

Last picture is of our late apple tree. I don't know the variety but they are hard, crispy and so sweet. After a few couple frosts they're even sweeter and I've been trying to get some apple-related treats made for the freezer, but they're delicious just as 'eaters'. Anyway, I took the picture because the yield this year is amazing. I've never seen it so full since I moved here. Every year Mark and I say we need to get out and prune the orchard (which consists of 5 trees), but it never gets done and every year I think the yield is going to drop off as the trees get more and more out of control. Mother Nature proved me wrong this year though and we're enjoying it.

We had a small hiccup with the combine last week, with just a few wet acres of beans left, but they're all but finished now and Mark has high hopes to get it all finished today, which is always cause for celebration. Putting that combine away is a truly satisfying mark that winter is for certain on its way.

Well, I hope this finds you eating well, naming your food and cozy on the cool nights. Batten down the hatches for the storm(s) tonight! And if you're in Halifax, be sure to check out some of the ACORN conference!

-Sally

Hallow's Eve

2011-10-31T10:28:00.000-03:00

I just cannot believe that we are already at the end of October. I feel like this year has gone by faster than any other. I keep forgetting what season we're in and sometimes feel like maybe it's spring and we're headed for summer, rather than the snowy clime of winter. Had a stark reminder last night though as strong winds blew in some rain mixed with snow, and lots of cold temperatures. We didn't get any accumulation like New Brunswick, but I think our winds are always stronger, so we made up for it in naked trees and Halloween decorations in the ditches.

My evenings have been eaten up by my trying to organize a presentation that I'm making at the ACORN conference as part of the opening keynote and I've really been struggling. I enjoy public speaking, and I know once I get going, it'll be fine, but I've had a hard time articulating what it is exactly that I want to say. Due in part, I think, to the varied audience. I've speculated that because it's in Halifax and has been well advertised in the young-concerned-eaters circles, there will be a number of new-to-farming or even just thinking-about-one-day-having-a-nice-garden-farmers who may or may not know the ins and outs of organics, but also some of the pioneers of organics in the region. So it's a mixed bag, and I don't really feel like I have a lot of offer either of those demographics. Anyway, I'm plugging away and Mark assures me that so far, so good. Any advice is welcome.

Mark spent a couple days in the combine, working away at the beans, and thankfully was able to make a joke or two about the sad state of the yields this year. The weeds really won the battle this year and at this point, I think we just want to be done harvesting and start thinking about next year, and how we're going to source enough beans to fill the market we have. (If you have organic soy beans, we want them!)
I haven't had a chance to post anything about the new dryer than we purchased, for the big tank. It's pretty cool and despite my initial concerns, seems to do what it claims it would. I'll get some pictures up soon. I wish I had taken pictures of it being installed since, although not quite as smooth as shown on the manufacturer's website, was still pretty slick; especially since it was put in after the tank was built.

Ran my second 5k race on Saturday morning. I wasn't totally prepared in regards to training, but I thought it would be good practice and it was fun. Everyone was dressed up in costumes and it was a real laid back affair. I've been training with Thayne in the stroller this time and it's an added challenge for sure, so I wasn't too surprised that my time was down from the last race, but a little disappointed. Also disappointed that I didn't win the costume prize, what with these..err...voluptuous legs decked out in flames!

Well, the kids have had enough of me being on the computer and we have a costume party to get to if we can get ourselves pulled together this morning.

Looking forward to the slower days of winter. Those are coming right? How long do I have to talk about them for them to actually arrive?

Sally

camera clean out

2011-10-22T22:20:00.000-03:00

I cleaned out my 'other' camera tonight and found a few treasures from the summer, and from recently, so here they are!

Firstly, a picture of our latest addition. Well, actually we've had him for a few months. Mark's sister kept a few chickens at her house up the road, in the woods and they promptly became a fox lunch, except for one hanger on, a young chick who came to Barnyard Organics as a safe haven. The poor thing wasn't here a week until it somehow managed to survive yet another fox episode at our place that fateful night. Anyway, it stuck around and was always too 'boney' to bother sending with the meat kings to the abbattoir, so we kept it in with layers. It became evident throughout the summer that this wasn't just any regular old chicken. We had ourselves a Delaware rooster.

I'm not overly excited about having a rooster around, but Mark is keen on it, with varying reasons, but mostly I think he just feels outnumbered on the farm with all my 'ladies' in the pasture and in the coop, and Rosie. So for now, the rooster stays. He is consistent with his crowing if nothing else. 6 am every morning whether you like it or not, he wakes up the farmyard. So far he's only living with the young hens (who have finally started to lay! yay!), but one of these days we'll let him out with the old girls and see what happens. Probably just a lot of strutting around, if I know men.

This is one of those pictures you forgot you took, but find on your camera as a special surprise. All summer, as the field beside the house went through clover, cutting, baling, plowing, harrowing, a ditching project, planting, harrowing again, the kids revelled in every stage, but especially the one that involved scaring the seagulls only to watch them land and scare them again. I love this picture of Lucy so carefree, stirring up seagulls as she balances on a furrow.

Something that was a topic of conversation in the farmyard this summer was the pending doom of a HUGE elm tree next to the farmhouse that had contracted dutch elm disease and was showing evident signs of imminent death. Many of the larger branches were already dead and the discussions of which way it would eventually fall were not optimistic, so it was decided to bring it down before it fell down.

Apparently Mark fancied himself an arbourist one weekend while I was gone and decided to borrow a boom truck to take down the monster. Wendell maintains enough caution for everyone, so I should have know it would go fine, but coming home to find a camera full of pictures of a novice woodsman, chain saw running over his head, 50 ft in the air, was somewhat unnerving. Anyway, the thing came down without a hitch and the giant stump that's left tells a tale of a tree at least 150 years old.

And apparently during lunch that day, when Mark looked out, there was a woodpecker working away on what remained of the tree (at that point, the main trunk was still there). I am convinced he was cleaning up the beetle that carries dutch elm, and lets hope so for the sake of the even bigger, beautiful tree in the backyard.

The kids and I cleaned up the garden today and I finally gave in and admitted that my huge, unintentional squash yield had ripened all it could ripen. Here's the kids picking out their favorites. Taking all squash recipes/suggestions.

Well, I have been completely exhausted for the past couple weeks and when I mentioned to Mark tonight the possibility that I might need my thyroid tested again he replied, "Yeah, can you get a transplant?" so I think I need some sleep, as it doesn't take a rocket scientist to read into that response.

This last picture is from today on a slide at the local elementary school playground. What a glorious day it was! I LOVE this time of year and the surprise warm, sunshiny days that always feel like 'the last one' before winter hits. Like a present you would be foolish to waste.

Hope this finds you enjoying the leaves and breeze and taking time to have some slide and swing time while you still can.

-Sally

bizzy bizzy

2011-10-18T22:35:00.000-03:00

There is something about this time of year, and the air that seems to carry a real sense of anticipation for the slow-down that is coming. And I think that anticipation is what carries us through this crazy time to the winter slow-down. Because while fall is beautiful and crisp and the perfect ending to summer, it is also such a busy time and the cool nights make for much needed deep sleeps for tired people.

Too bad those sleeps weren't just a little longer.

Anyway, Mark and I are both really busy with our church community these days as we all get moved into our beautiful new building and get routine started up again. Sunday School is back in full swing, but we are also in the process of looking for a new minister, so there is a small air of chaos around everything. And of course, there's Christmas around the corner already, to get concerts ready for, etc.

The ACORN Conference is coming up in November and is looking really good, but as a board member that's another plate to balance.

We're also each in the process of a couple personal items which eat up our evening time so by the time our heads hit the pillow we're torn between catching a wink of sleep and hashing out our day since we haven't really seen each other, besides passing one another in the hall to get a kid to the bathroom, or a meal on the table, or...the things that we dream of as parents and a couple.

So, life is just as it should be right now isn't it I guess?

Unfortunately for the blog though, it's taking the beating. I've got SOOO much I want to say, it's driving me crazy, but I guess that'll just make for more interesting winter reading. Speaking of interesting reading, the Rodale institute just completed compiling and publishing their 30 (yes THIRTY!) study of Farming Systems, comparing organic and conventional and the results are...well...undeniably astounding.

Here's just one tiny quotation for you to sleep on-if you can sleep after this:

"GM crops have led to an explosion in herbicide-use as resistant crops continue to emerge. In particular, the EPA approved a 20-fold increase in how much glyphosate (Roundup®) residue is allowed in our food in response to escalating concentrations."

One of the favorite claims of GMO proponents is that because one spray does it all, it means using LESS, but this has been disproven so often, it's not even news anymore. What gets me is the second sentence which indicates firstly, just what a hold the chemical companies have over our public system, but also the glaring fact that we are consuming 20 times more Roundup in our FOOD than before. And how much was allowed BEFORE!? Ugh.

So on THAT note, I'll leave you with some shots the kids and I took around the farm the other day.

The first is my fat sheep. They did so well on pasture this year, I am increasingly concerned over them being too fat to lamb easily, but that's really a good problem to have, if you have to have a problem, I guess.

This the farm from the back field. I love this angle with all the shiny grain tanks and equipment nestled in what looks like a bunch of empty fields.

This one of the leaves was taken by Lucy because it looked like a 'rainbow' and I thought my Dad would enjoy seeing that PEI has a few pretty leaves, even if NB doesn't. wink wink.

And here's my big man, crawling around full bore, doing his best to keep up with his older counterparts. He's pretty happy for the most part, but these last few days is honing the skill of getting attention by whining, fussing, crying and hanging off Mommy's legs. I'm pretty sure it's due to teeth and maybe a growth spurt, but time will tell. Here's hoping.

Yawn. Sleep calls. If only I would answer more often and earlier.

I hope this finds you sleeping deeply in these cool nights and not giving up on my blog. More to come, I promise!

-Sally

Internet-Dependant

2011-10-11T20:47:00.000-03:00

Internet is the new electricity. I had NO idea how dependant I was on it until I didn't have any. That ridiculous storm knocked the main tower sideways or something and couldn't be fixed until today. It really couldn't have been worse timing as we missed a couple fresh chicken sales due to not being able to check our farm email account, but by today I was sort of almost getting used to it. I suspect it would be something like if I had a cell phone and then suddenly didn't. For the first couple days it seemed like EVERYthing I wanted to do required an internet connection but by today I had remembered how to use the telephone, turn real pages in my own cook books, write a cheque, listen to the radio for the weather and news, etc. Amazing.

Anyway, of course while not having internet, I had what seemed like constant blog entries floating around in my head and now that I'm sitting here, nothing seems worthwhile posting. So here's one I wrote the first morning after the two day storm. Please keep in mind that the weather was insane. Winds of 100km, rain, sleet, ice, hail, SNOW, more rain, more ice pellets. Also keep in mind that we were planning on shipping these chickens TWO days after the storm.
But the chickens actually were fine. I literally crawled in with them and they were actually cozy and completely wind and wet free. How could I know that at 2am!?

The title of the blog would have been " Those %$&*@ Chickens!"

"I wrote this mentally last night and had our house been a bit warmer (yes, that’s right I haven’t started the furnace yet) I would have snuck downstairs to type it up. I hadn’t slept for a couple hours and knew that getting out of bed would be easier on a slumbering husband than the tossing, turning and sighing that I was currently perfecting, but it was just too damn cold (and we find out this morning that the furnace won’t start for some reason). Here’s the sleep-interrupting conversation that was going on in my head, pretty much verbatim.

“Those *%#k*&$ chickens. There are literally ice pellets hitting my window in sheets right now and those damn chickens are still out on pasture. This can’t fall under the organic ‘humane conditions’ can it? I know we turned the pens so that they’re sheltered and when we left them at 7 they were cuddled together looking fine, cozied up on the soft, dry pile of straw that I lovingly shook in amongst them, but it wasn’t ice pelleting then! And the wind is stronger now than it’s EVER been! Ugh! Chickens. Eff. Here we are, going to ship them on Friday, I guess that’s tomorrow now, and there’s still another full day of this weather. Great.
I keep trying to wake up Mark without him knowing I’m waking him. I need some reassurance. I know exactly what he’s going to say. He’ll say, “Oh gawd, they’re fine. The chickens are fine. They’re not frozen, they’re not dead. And if they are, too late. Go to sleep.”
But what if it’s like that scene on Titanic where everyone huddles around the smallest chicken to save it from the cold and the ones on the outside die first?! What if all that’s left is the smallest chickens!? We’ve got people lining up on Friday afternoon in a parking lot in Charlottetown waiting for their prime Thanksgiving chicken and all we’ll have to offer is Tiny Tim of the meat kings. Or not so meat king in this case...
Oh Lord, Sally, just go to bed. Obviously Mark is not going to do anything tonight and you can’t do much on your own, so just go to sleep.

....

BUT LISTEN TO THAT ICE, RAIN and WIND!!!!! It’s horrible! It’s a nightmare!
‘Mark! I can’t sleep. I’m stressed about those chickens.’
‘Snort, stir, sigh. The chickens are fine. ‘
‘But you’ve been sleeping through the weather! It’s a horrible night out there!’
Yawn. ‘The wind is blowing against the back of their pen.’
‘But if I’m cold here in my bed, in my house, on a sheltered lot, just think.....!!!’

The steady breath of a sleeping person is his response.

Oh man, 4:26...Thayne is going to be up soon. Ugh. I hate these chickens for stealing my sleep. And tomorrow morning I’ll have to be up at another ungodly hour to load them in the crates to take to the abattoir. Won’t that be fun. Let’s just hope Mother Nature gets the worst of it out of her system by 5 a.m. tomorrow morning or she’ll have one ugly chicken catcher on her hands.
Well, I guess at this point it’s true. They’re either dead or fine.

So this morning at breakfast I said to Mark,

“When you get out there to do chores this morning, take a good look at the chickens and if they seem cold, I’ll help you move them inside and we’ll get a heat lamp on them.”

A look of loss-of-my-credibility washes across his face, but only for a second.

“They’re going to seem cold Sally. If you want to move them, we can move them inside.”

Translation: “Enough. Let’s both pretend that I’m going to do that, because we know I’m not.”

As I write this, only a short time after this conversation I realize, now that THAT is a response rooted in caring patience, because it COULD have been an outright dismissal, rightly deserved.

Or just a really high tolerance.
Either way, I suspect that somewhere on Mark’s mental ‘ToDo’ list today is “Get the furnace going.” And “Avoid the house and have confident reassurances at the ready.” "

Hope this finds you enjoying the fact that our seasons are JUST the right length, at least if you're in Atlantic Canada. For the rest of you, our seasons are JUST the right length. NA na na NA na. :)

-Sally

Election Time on the Island

2011-09-30T08:59:00.000-03:00

Well, fall is in the air (although not as cruely as it can be) and while we still have soybeans to harvest, the farm is winding down a bit and I feel some rants building up. Lucky for my brother Mark who seems to have missed them so much, he called me on the day that the local radio call-in show was talking about spanking kids just to see if I was as riled up as he hoped. Fortunately for all Maritime listeners, I had turned off the radio when I heard the topic, knowing that I would be annoyed. See Mom? I've come a long way!

Anyway, since it's election time and we all know how I love politics, I can't miss out on an opportunity to squeeze in a quick one before Monday's voting day.
Firstly, elections on PEI (or at least since I've moved here) are fairly uneventful and mostly because the parties are all pretty much the same, with VERY similar platforms. There's no ominpotent leader coming up with crazy crime bills and staring down the enemy. There's no exciting left wing party who sneaks up from behind and makes a great showing. There's no real engagement at all actually, as far as I can tell, this time around at least.
The one thing the Island DOES have, is an eccentric, without-credibility leader who has genuine good ideas, but simply cannot and NEVER WILL reach the people who would ever want to support her. I am talking of course about Sharon Labchuck, our Green party leader. And it's no secret that I love the Greens, so it's not a party-bias thing. She's an old hippy with passionate ideas who is will informed about the serious consequences of monocropping and large scale potato production and chemicals and the general evils of industrial anything. The party platform is actually fairly sound. It's based on a lot of long term solutions, so not something that any short sighted voter is interested in, but has really good ideas about preventing the problems before they start (reminscent of organic production perhaps?) Elizabeth May came to PEI during the election and showed her support, and using the exact same platform as Sharon, sold a very believable, conceivable and desirable future based on voting Green. Unfortunately for Elizabeth May, Sharon Labchuck continues to undo all her good work like the lose hem on a homemade broomstick skirt of many colours.
For those who aren't familiar with Labchuck, she's the one who some years ago caused a stir when she posed in a potato field with nothing on but a gasmask. And I mean NOTHING. In all the debates she answers virtually all of her questions with references to pesticides and poisons. She came out yesterday saying that we should ban hunting completely.
As Mark and I heard that on the radio we shared a wincing eye roll and Mark began to tell me a story he was told by a friend who heard it from his uncle about how Sharon had attended a local community meeting called to discuss recent coyote kills of livestock. As the story progressed I quickly recognized it as an old sheep joke, frequently told in appropriate (or inappropriate as it may be) circles by old farmers. In that moment it occured to me that since the story was being told locally as gospel, but was actually a fictional internet joke of yore, Labchuck had truly lost every credibility as a legitimate candidate. When a ridiculous joke seems plausible because your character is so out there, how can you expect people to follow and support you?
So, the Greens are out.
The NDP on the Island are run by a bit of a buffoon who's been in the news over his own financial problems so not exactly instilling the highest level of economic confidence.
There's a real, tangible rural/urban divide in the Liberal party and platform with the rural not the side coming out on top. To top that off, my own Liberal candidate lied to my face when he came canvassing at my door and he's generally a bit of a fool. I have a personal rule that people shouldn't be politicians if my 2 year old could beat them at a 4-H public speaking competition and poor Georgie falls into that category the minute he opens his mouth. And he was the Minister of Ag last time around for heaven's sake! So, he's out (although will be back in I'm sure-since he's a potato farmer, in potato country).
That leaves me with the Tories. Can you believe it. This has come down to the lesser of the evils which is always a sad day for politics anywhere. I actually really like the Conservative leader and not just because she's a feisty woman throwing her leadership in the face of all those old white haired big-and-small-C-conservative men who are still raw over her winning the convention. I actually believe her convictions which is more than I can say for Ghiz. When my local candidate showed up, I thought he was here to buy chicken until he finally introduced himself at the end of the conversation, but he seemed very sincere as well. (My dad would say that it's easy to be sincere if you don't stand a chance of winning.)
So what is a green-blooded, Tory-bred, political-loving girl to do!?
Ruin my ballot? Surely not!

But alas, what will Monday bring? More of the same. More of the same. More of the same.

Since you made it to the end of this rant, here's a funny bit from the Rick Mercer Report for your enjoyment. So apt, in true Mercer style.

Hope this finds you enjoying these cool nights and finding it tricky to crawl out of the warm bed with the fresh morning breeze blowing in the window. Here's hoping the frost hasn't found your garden yet, although we had a dandy a couple mornings ago. So thick the grass crunched under our feet. Winter is indeed en route.

-Sally

My Summer Vacation

2011-09-22T22:13:00.000-03:00

Well, it's definately a bad sign for a blog when the author has to check in to see when they last wrote, to make a new post. I think about the blog often, so if the old adage that "it's the thought that counts", than I've been counting. Unfortunately that doesn't count for much in Blog Land. But, I'm back! And hopefully more frequently. Thayne is on a regular sleeping schedule (knock on wood) and the evenings are getting quieter as the days get shorter, so it will be much easier to find time to share some tales from the Barnyard clan.

Here's a few shots from the last couple months:

Thayne enjoying some top quality NB river mud on a trip home to West Branch.

It was one of the rare really hot weekends at home and I thought seeing the milk cow out in the pond was hilarious. I've never seen a cow willingly walk into the pond before and thought it was a good indicator of "it was so hot that...."

I love this shot from the back of the combine while Mark was harvesting our best wheat field-a real matter of pride in this 'year of the wet and the weeds'.

My little Massey Ferguson model

For our anniversary this year (5 years already!), Mark and I took the kids and ventured all the way down to the Annapolis Valley for a great visit with some NSAC friends. I spent a lot of time before we went stressing about taking the kids, but it turned out to be really fun and we made some great, simple memories.

Thayne is growing like the baddest weed around. I feel like the blender has become another appendage as he's not quite up to the chewing stage yet, but is up to the adult serving size stage already.

We shipped Poppy earlier this month and today I spent some time at the butcher's learning how to cut and help wrap. It was a fantastic little family business and I had a great time. They don't often see a carcass quite as...er...well-marbled as that one. Mark and I had a couple fresh steaks for supper and we're pretty sure it's the same as Kobe beef; the kind from Japan where they massage the cattle and feed them wine and crazy stuff like that. After this last month when, after we shipped Poppy, we had to milk the cow out completely rather than leave it for the calf, I can see how much cream that creature was actually getting, and it makes my heart stop in fear.  But damn, it was a some GOOD beef.

Anyway, harvest is going very well.  The barley and wheat this year was incredible and what we lacked in yield (which was actually really good) we made up for with the size of the kernels. It's always a good sign when you have to change the sieves on the cleaner because the kernels are so big. Mark just finished the oats today and that yield was 'unbelievable' apparently. Not having enough space to put them is a good problem to have. Anyone need oats?   The field peas had a good showing too. Here's hoping the soybeans come off better than expected (although that isn't saying much, since expectations are pretty low this year).
Our trial with some fish fertilizer really seemed to pay off so that will probably a new input that we take a closer look at. And now that we're getting organic hog manure from our main customer, soil nutrition is not the urgent concern it once was around here, although it's always a priority.

Currently, we're getting the fall cereals in the ground and getting the harvest tidied up and put away. And by 'we', I mean Mark and Wendell. I'm a contented bystander these days for the most part.
If you happen to be on PEI Sunday, October 2nd there is an event happening in Charlottetown that is a fantastic time and WELL-Worth the $35 ticket (which you can buy online HERE or at Sobey's across the Island). Great entertainment, kids activities, an interesting guest speaker and most importantly, a varied and delicious array of 100% PEI organic grub prepared by a couple of the Island's best chefs. We will be there with bells on. The kids had a great time last year and so did we. Come on out and support the Certified Organic Producers Coop!

Looking forward to more posts coming soon!

Hope this finds you looking forward to the prospect of autumn and the calmer days of a long cold winter. I am.

-Sally

Why you should go to county fairs/exhibition

2011-08-29T22:28:00.000-03:00

Mark can attest to the fact that there are many things that make me nostalgic for my Kent County home, but there is little that makes me crave to be home more than Expo-Kent, or "St.Mary's fair", as I will always know it to be. It is one of the few 'real' fairs left in the region and a true treat to those who remember how it apparently 'used to be'. The original and true point of a fair was to compete against your neighbours, celebrate a (good) growing season, discuss the weather, crops, livestock, markets, kids, grandkids, family, milestones, remember those lost, take home some prize money, a lot of pride and a bit of celebratory relaxing after a busy summer and somehow, St. Marie's hasn't lost that.
Being a pseudo only-child, to older parents, I was given the glorious opportunity to attend a lot of fairs each summer and while I loved each of them, I was sad to watch many of them descend into nothing much more than a midway and some display cases. Some exhibitions still bring in a few animals but there is no 'show' to speak of and very little in the way of the public's interaction with the farmers or agriculture in general.
But it's obvious that since I grew up loving fairs and spending my favorite part of my summer at one, that I would have lots of reasons to want to be there. So here's just a few reasons YOU should go, followed by the real reason we should ALL go.

-find the quilt display. Stand back and admire the colours, the patterns and the variety. Now get close and look at each of those tiny little stitches. Which quilt has the tiniest ones? Can you tell the machine quilted ones from the hand quilted ones? Can you picture the woman who sat around that big quilt, putting each stitch in and out and in and out and maybe the song she was humming, or the curse she made when she pricked her thimble-less finger, or the sense of accomplishment that came with binding it all up and displaying it at the fair for a red, first place ribbon?

-stop by the vegetable/fruit/flower displays.  Try to figure out what makes a group of five green beans place first over another group of five green beans. Admire that anyone has a pepper that big so early! Check out the names on the tags so that the next time you're plunked down at a community supper, a baby shower, benefit dance or some such event you can turn to old Auntie (whose not even your auntie) Ethel and make her day by saying, "Ethel, I noticed your gladiolas took first at the fair, do you plant a lot? Those are a lot of work, digging up and replanting every year!" or to Winnie and say, "I saw the red ribbon on your pretty felted wall hanging, I had no idea you were so crafty!" or to Mark, "Your soybeans took first place, good for you. First in a class of one, is still first! harhar."

-walk politely through the commercial booths. They pay to be there and deserve a little of your attention. Besides they always have ballots to fill out for some free draw to win soap or a prize pack of a windbreaker, a mug, a frisbee and some coupons for their product/service.

-of course, there's the midway and even if, like me, just looking at the rides make you queasy, we all know that the best people-watching happens at the carnival. The carnies themselves are a fascinating crew, let alone the vast array of ride-goers. And who doesn't love a little harassment as you pass through the game alley? "Come on big shot! Win the lady a puppy! All ya gotta do is hit the bottles! EASY! Watch, I'll show ya! SEE? Just like that! No problem! Ya CAN'T lose!" Or my favorite "Hey princess, try this one, a Prize EVERYTIME". Where else can you go, drop a few twoonies (ok more than a few) and come home with a crappy stuffed snake, cotton candy in your hair, a tacky cowboy hat, a lighter, a goldfish, and cow manure on your shoe?

-since you're in the midway, go for a trip on the ferris wheel and while you're stopped at the top (which you will be, especially if you're not a real ride/height lover), look down and think about the organization and cooperation it takes to pull together multiple days of such a successful event. It takes a committee of some of the most dedicated people from around the region, a whole year to even begin to prepare for a week of entertainment for you, and I.

-stand by the tractor display until a little boy comes along (don't worry, it won't be long) and just watch his face as he scrambles up in the cab, onto the seat, and grabs hold of the steering wheel.

-walk through the horse barns and blink at the shiny tack in every spare corner. Listen for the tinkle of bells and the creak of leather. Breath deep. Mmmmm.

-make sure you go at a time that a livestock show is scheduled. Find a good seat and spend some time figuring it out. Track down a showbook if you want. Put the animals in order of how you would place them, in your mind and see how close you are the judge. After a couple classes of watching him, try to put them in the order you think HE will put them in, based on his previous placings and reasons. Why is that one so much bigger than that one, but the small one is winning? Are any of the show-people more skilled than others? What's with the combs in the pockets?

-find a farmer sitting around (you shouldn't have to look too far). They will be more than happy to answer ANY question you have (and believe me, there's nothing they haven't heard). Or if you just want to pass by and tell them what a nice group of animals they have, it would be much appreciated. Think for just a minute about what it took to bring 12, freshly washed and fluffed sheep, or five cows, a calf and big bull. And you thought that stroller and backpack was a pain in the behind.

The real reason that everybody should go to a fair/exhibition is because, at it's root, the fair is a symbol of our food system. I don't mean french fries and candy apples. I mean, farmers bringing their very best to compete against the very best of someone else. That cow and calf in the ring is representing the best of what we are eating everyday. They will go on to produce more calves who will end up a plate somewhere, due to the careful breeding and selection done by that farmer standing there in the buttoned down shirt and grubby ball cap. If we can't support the best of what our farmers are doing, by paying an admission fee to admire the years of hard work they've put into their craft, then we probably aren't supporting them when it comes to the grocery store either.  It does not bode well for the long-term of our food system, if we can't support the best of what we have for a day and spend the rest of the year complaining about the price of our groceries.

So next year, plan to spend at least the day. Take it all in and go home knowing you just contributed to a collection of the best of what agri-food has to offer.

Hope this finds you cleaning the manure off your footwear after a misstep from being temporarily distracted by the steady pounding of giant, black, shining draft horse hooves on hard packed ground.

-Sally

Veggie Death Notice

2011-08-26T21:01:00.000-03:00

SALLY'S NIGHTSHADES "Tomatoes and Potatoes"- May 2011-August 2011
Sally's Tomatoes, of Freetown, PE were found, Sunday afternoon, in a mass of black and grey leaves caused by late blight. Born in Brookvale, lovingly raised by Jen Campbell, the tomatoes grew up with a strength reserved for the best that organic can offer and had an impressive showing in growth and production. It was the unfortunate and damp weather of this summer, combined with their placement in the buckle of the potato belt which made their continued existence, nearly impossible. The Bernard family was able to enjoy one ripe tomato prior to the wipeout and was able to recover a collection of small potatoes, but the pain of the loss was exacerbated by the large box of beautiful green tomatoes which promptly turned to grey slop. The tomatoes were survived by their sisters, the potatoes until they all crumpled at the thought of existing without each other. (or from late blight.) Both families are survived by some very sad looking corn, overgrown beans, non-producing peppers and leafy cucumber-turned-squash plants. The onions were too busy drying successfully in the sun to notice.
A private ceremony was held with close family members and internment occured at the hottest compost pile. Donations to a seed bank of the donors choice would be greatly appreciated by the family.

Hope this finds you making big plans for preserving and canning, with your own veggies or otherwise! :)

-Sally

A (Life) Lesson in Fun

2011-08-16T14:32:00.001-03:00

While there is little more in life as alienating as an inside joke, this blog began as an update to my family as to my life here on PEI, so I'm going back to my roots on this one. If you aren't familiar with my family you won't get this video, and it's completely unrelated to the farm. But you might enjoy it anyway.
It's a year since my sister passed away, leaving us all in a cloud of confusion and sadness. Thankfully, she devoted a huge part of herself to making everyone else laugh so we have the memories that far outshine the sorrow. My sister, April recently asked for some clips of the two of them in their 'alter ego' characters. Unfortunately, I think I was always laughing too hard to hold the camera straight long enough for a video, but I did manage to snap a few still shots of the fun, now and then. This is a little collection of just a few. (Make sure you have your sound turned on and up.)

Enjoy!
And to my brother Mark, sorry for the short joke, it's all relative.

Love,

Sal

The Summer of Stupids. And Earwigs

2011-08-14T21:25:00.000-03:00

This is just a quick post on a sleepy Sunday evening, but one I've been meaning to make for a while.

So, a few months ago when my last lambs were born, as I always do, I commissioned a neat little creep feeder for them to get in and enjoy some grain without having to compete with their bigger, more experienced mothers. This has never been a problem before. Once the lambs figure out that it's easier and more readily available, in the feeder, free from overbearing mothers, they sneak in and snack. Well, three creep feeder designs and nearly five months later and my lambs cannot figure it out. I even went to the extreme of shutting them in the feeder for a few days, making the grain available and showing them that it comes twice a day, at the same place. Just be there.
Apparently, these lambs prefer the head butting that they endure when they dare to stick their heads in a place where their mothers and aunts may think for a minute that there might be a rare kernel of grain left. They are the strangest lambs I've ever dealt with, and I have to admit that I will be glad to be rid of these ones. They're jumpy and scared and make the whole flock nervous. They tear around like small wooly jumping beans, never really relaxing and always ready for flight. Here's hoping them make delicious chops! Fresh lamb will be available soon, and it's limited, so get your orders in now!

The second stupids on the farm and the pasture chickens. It usually only take a day or so in the pens to figure out that when the pen is moving, you should run the front to a)get the fresh grass and b)avoid the oncoming back wall of the pen. Nope, not this year. There is one pen in particular who seems to have an extra bad case of the stupids and has yet to figure out how it all works, twice a day.

And I'm sure, if you live in an earwigged area, that you've noticed that this summer in particular is devastatingly bad for the disgusting (and hearty) little insects. The farm is simply crawling with them and anything left on the ground is guaranteed to be an earwig condo within hours. I am increasingly amazed at their resilience and determination, even though I truly hate them. I wondered aloud the other day to Mark about how they know where to go to find good hiding spots and he responded, "I'm pretty sure they just keep going up. They're at the top of the 40 tonne tank and I don't think they knew it was that high when they started."

And speaking of bugs, I don't know whether to be ecstatic or disgusted, but I have found a new, bizarre joy of Lucy is to squish potato bugs (the fat, red, soft bodied larvae) with her bare fingers. She likes the pop and explosion of guts. She's a welcome weapon in my garden!

Well, if I don't go to bed soon, I'm going to add myself to this list of summer stupids for 2011.

Hope this finds you warm and dry, free from earwigs and pleasantly exhausted.

-Sally

Summer= Little Blogging

2011-08-04T22:07:00.000-03:00

Many a blog reader has been asking me for an update on the fox situation. I have been saying that I keep waiting for an update to post, but alas I can wait no longer. Tonight while moving the chicken pens, Mark stumbled (literally) upon a fox carcass in the grass. We celebrated momentarily over the possibility that maybe he had actually injured one bad enough one night that it up and died right in the pasture. I hate to be a buzzkill, but I also noted the the grass was greener and lusher around it, and it was more mummified than rotted, suggesting that perhaps it was not exactly..er...recent. Anyway, let's all pretend that it was the very one who wore herself out carrying 81 chickens away and simply could not escape the eagle eye skills of the great Bernard hunter himself. Yes. That must be it.

I also haven't been writing because the summer somehow seems busier than any other time of the year. And despite the weather, it is in fact summer. Old Home Week is next week and is always the Islander marker of the end of summer, so I guess we missed the hot part somewhere along the way.

Anyway, if I had to itemize what I've been doing in all the 'busy time', I'm not exactly sure what that list would look like, but I suspect that a blender would play a role somewhere along the way. And I only wish that included exciting, tasty blender drinks. Instead I've been making soooo much baby food for Thayne, the 6 month eating wonder, that I feel like 'puree' is my middle name. I don't remember feeling this overwhelmed with baby food with the other two, but I just can't keep up this time around.

So in the moments where I might otherwise be blogging on a quiet evening, I'm tearing up Freetown with blended carrots, squash, peas, sweet potatoes, beets, chicken, beans.

Here's the culprit. The newest Speerville convert.

I've also been doing a fair bit of summer 'relaxing', by which I mean, spending time with family. I think I've been 'across' more this summer than most and it's been great. I grabbed this shot of a sleepy Wilson on the way home from West Branch on one of our recent trips. As you can see, he was too tired to even eat his last mini oreo, care of Poohie. Not letting it out of his sleepy grasp though. Funny, we all sort of feel that way after a good weekend away. :)

And, just hosted another good Wilson Weekend here and am starting to get caught up on sleep. I love seeing my nieces and nephews carrying it on. And the food. Man, it seems like we never stop eating.

Speaking of which, Mark and I have started running together this week. I have to admit that I actually really enjoy running with someone else, although taking a long break is NOT as easy to recover from as one might think. I have big ideas for some upcoming races, but we'll see how those play out. (wink wink Mark!)

Anyway, the farm moves along. Sheep have been sheared, wool has been bagged, first (few) chickens will be ready to eat/freeze next week (Aug. 10th), lambs are ready to ship (finally!), ewes have been bred, organic inspection completed, compost has been turned, hay put in, winter wheat being closely watched, plough is getting ready to go and garden soldiers on.

OH! Please check out the website for the Meet Your Farmer Bike Tours being organized by (who else!) ACORN. There is one in each Maritime Province this summer and it is a brilliant idea. Turns out, Barnyard Organics just HAPPENS to be a stop on the PEI tour and we're so excited. September 4th will see 25 bikes roll into the farm for a tour, snacks, etc. The NS one is full and the NB one is coming right up (Aug 13th) and sounds super good. Worth checking out.

Hope this finds you enjoying every bit of sun that makes its way to you.

-Sally

The Hunted

2011-07-14T22:40:00.000-03:00

I took this picture at about 9:30 tonight. Can you spot the hunter? Our chickens are in the pasture, just in front of that round bale you can see in the right hand corner. From having tried it out myself, I can tell you that the top of the grain bin is a fantastic vantage point, but you would never know that it's July 14 for the weather out there tonight. Or last night either, when I was in charge of bringing more, heavier clothes to the chilled hunter. We've never had to worry about our third batch of day old chicks getting a chill since they arrive in July, but we replaced the window in the brooder house tonight because the south wind is a bitter one.

Anyway, back to the fox. Mark spent most of last night (late and then again early) in his perch and fired twice, at what he is convinced was two different foxes (within 20 mins of each other). He swears he 'must have taken the fur off one of them', but they both managed to run away, so we have been foiled once again. We know however, that the chickens are in the foxs' sights and they know they're on the the wanted list. I hear Mark coming in now, probably too damn cold. Let me just confirm for you that too much sleep is not a problem around this house lately.

In non-farm related news, because I know you haven't heard enough about Will and Kate, here's a couple shots from Lucy and I on our royal watching adventure.

Turns out, you have to be willing to spend a whole lot of your day waiting around if you want to get anywhere close. Evidently, Lucy and I had better things to do, but we still got wrapped up in the excitement of the crowd. I'm glad we went. Sadly, this is probably the best shot of them. If you look hard, you can see Kate reaching into the crowd and Will in his dapper blue shirt. I tell ya, I wasn't convinced he was the hearthrob he was being made out to be until I saw the pictures of him in his cowboy gear at the Stampede. Whew, hello cowboy. Yes Mark, Kate looks that good in everything she wears. I know, and I agree.

Anyway, the biggest excitement for Lucy was being there when their helicopter arrived at Summerside wharf and we were watching from the boardwalk and it "made rain all over! Even on my glasses!" It did certainly kick up some water and it was funny to watch people trying to shelter giant zoom lenses on expensive cameras from salt water spray while trying to get a shot. Hats and flags flying all over the place.

OH! I almost forgot the mention, my brush with some other less-royal royalty that was with Will and Kate. You can see here how close I was to one of my dearest enemies, Peter McKay. I couldn't believe that of all the hangers on that accompanied the couple, THIS is the DeadSharkEyes robot I had to get a perfect picture of. Barf.

In better news, we got a good chunk of hay in. Yes, it got washed a couple times and yes, it's perhaps not the highest quality hay in the world, but it actually turned out pretty good, given how bad it could have been. I am worried that it may be heating and molding, but time will tell on that front. We still have some hay to make to fill Rosie's barn, but the loft in the sheep barn is all but full. What a relief to have some done at least. This is a shot of my little reporters, letting me know if the hay is dry or not. Lucy has Jimmy, her favorite doll in hand and she concluded that it's still green, but smells good.

Given the less-than stellar weather we've been having, some 'projects' that would otherwise be left on the list this time of year are getting some surprise attention. The rotten barn that has been slowly decaying in our backyard finally met its final resting place this week when the wonderful new lawn tractor earned her keep and hauled it back to the woods. So now, I not only have a much better breeze in my backyard, I have a larger viewing window to see foxes passing through the field on their way to Barnyard Organics KFC outlet.

I'll finish off with a shot of a bright looking day lily, which is proof that we are in the midst of summer, despite all evidence to the contrary. Hang in there Maritime readers, this weekend is promised to be a dandy.

I should be in bed, since I think I actually slept with one eye open last night. When we were growing up, when people in my family party hard/stay up too late the night before, they are made to work extra hard the next day, as penance, as a reminder that life goes on and force you to reconsider the wisdom of those extra beverages next time. Having kids is kind of like that. It's almost as if they can tell when you're extra tired. Anyway, thanks to my upbringing, I can handle it. No, chasing three kids is not the equivalent of forking out a well packed sheep barn by hand, but in some ways, on some days, it's very similar. :)

-Sally

Fox on the Run

2011-07-09T14:31:00.002-03:00

Yes, the fox is still on the run. The chickens are still in the barn, and the third and final batch arrives this week, so the first batch has GOT to get back out on pasture within the next couple days. Their pen has been fixed and reinforced and the electric fence has been perked up and adjusted. Mark and I are yawning a bit more than usual these days as we find ourselves standing at the edge of the field at all hours of the night surrounded by biting insects and complete silence, panning a weak flashlight for any sign of reflective eyes shining back, gun cocked at the ready.
The dog will bark and we'll tiredly roll out of bed, half-knowing that there won't be anything to shoot at by the time we get out there. Then, once we're there, adrenaline holding our eyes open, it's just a perfectly nice night/morning to be out and about.
SO, we're not sure our next move, since we know that no matter how reinforced the fence and pen are, the fox is capable of digging underneath as well. As I said, "That first night after we put the birds back out will be a rather sleepless one." Mark has left the cattle trailer in the field for the week for the fox to get used to it, with the intention of using it as a blind, but she's a wily little thing. Here's hoping her appetite is stronger than her sense of smell and she'll walk right by the blind with the man inside. Now if only the aim on the rifle.....

As I sit here writing this I can hear two distinct sounds. The first is steadily falling rain. It's making for some beautiful green grass and happy crops. We haven't had much rain lately and it will be welcome by anyone who doesn't have hay laying on the ground. Unfortunately we're not one of those people and our forecast which looked clear through to Tuesday, two days ago, is now rather gray looking. It's also sounding like more than the 1mm they were calling for, so we'll see how much rain hay can withstand. It's a really beautiful crop of hay too, so will be a shame if we lose it.
The other sound I hear is of a man finally admitting defeat to nature, after worrying over the hay for too long as the forecast slowly changed over from good to bad to worse. He's finally dug his car out from storage and is testing the loudness, I think. I don't much about the car except that it's noisy and fairly useless. But apparently a lot of fun, So between that and rain, it's another Saturday on the farm.

Any tips for dealing with foxes would be appreciated. Also, any experience with rained-on hay would also be appreciated.

My sister, April, plays a big role in keeping the kids knee deep in great books and a recent favorite is a book called simply, "Farm" by Elisha Cooper, who HAD to have grown up on a farm, if not still live on one as it has all sorts of insights that could only come from farm progeny. Anyway, there's a little section that rings especially true these days.
"At the edge of the fields, butterflies bounce. In the garden, bees zoom from bud to bud.
The girl steps on a bee. The boy gets bit by mosquitos. The cats swallow grasshoppers and hack them up.
At night, everyone itches."

Hope this finds you being able to enjoy the bright side of the rain?

-Sally

Thornton Burgess warned me there'd be days this this...

2011-07-01T09:50:00.002-03:00

Well, it finally happened. After...four?five? successful years of raising chickens on pasture, this morning we were faced with the realities of nature versus man (and chicken). There is a fox and her family with very sore bellies this morning as they enjoyed a feast of more than 60 four week old chickens last night.

Just yesterday, I was out and took this picture of the birds enjoying their outdoor pens, since they were only moved out at the beginning of this week, but I could use this for a Missing poster now. One pen is completely empty, without a sign of anything anywhere and the other pen has a hole in it with a few birds missing, but we couldn't tell how many. I figured this meant that the fox wasn't done and would be back for the rest this morning.

As Mark, Lucy and Wilson and I headed out on the four-wheeler this morning, gun tucked away in Thayne usual spot(not loaded, don't stress), I spotted the little critter on the other side of the field, heading back for more. We gave chase and found a well worn trail heading across the road to our neighbour's place. Come to find out, the fox and four pups have been living in the barn behind her house for a while now (ugh) and she's worried about her little dog, but doesn't have a gun. Mark blows the snow for her driveway and now he's going to very gladly blow the fox from her barn.

At least, that's the plan. He found the entrance to the den at the side of the barn (a little ring of chicken feathers around the entrance), but the big fox was still hiding out in the field somewhere and he's going to wait till tonight when they come out to 'play', which apparently they do every night. Unless we spot the fox coming back to the pen today, which I maintain she will. I predict she will not rest until BOTH pens are totally empty.

Speaking of weapons, here's the latest tool Mark has rounded up to use on the farm. With so much couch grass coming off using the finger weeder, it could lead to a lot of broken soybean plants, so Mark borrowed this rotary hoe from an organic neighbour.

In other exciting news, the compost turner FINALLY made her maiden voyage! It turned a lot faster than I expected, but otherwise, ran as intended. Wendell just made a small pile of a smelly cocktail of items (dairy and hog manure and mussel shells) to run through, as our current piles are two wide for it, but it made short work of that.

Here's the smelly result. I had four kids on the four wheeler with me for the exciting moment and as we stopped to take a picture of the final result, cousin Molly said, "Hey look at those flies! It's just like the time Hank (her brother) pooped in a cardboard box and all the flies came! It smells a lot worse though."

And here's some proof that things are indeed growing (especially after this week of SUN!!!) Our winter wheat is flowering! It looks so good this time of year with the plump kernels and vivid greens/blues. A nice distraction from any weeds/problems that might be happening in the spring crops, although for the most part, those are looking pretty good too.

In a final note, we FINALLY made it to the beach!! Here's a shot of Thayne enjoying a 'SANDwich'. hehehe.

Hope this finds you celebrating the Red and White somewhere, somehow today. As I said on our Facebook page, Barnyard Organics will be enjoying our own private fireworks show tonight at the fox den. Mmwahaha.

-Sally

ps. In a final death toll count, after we moved the remaining survivors inside, the fox managed to partake in 81 birds. And he wasn't picky, that includes meat birds, but also half of our layer flock as well. Ah well, once again, "if you're gonna have livestock, you're gonna have deadstock."

Weekend Project

2011-06-26T21:16:00.000-03:00

Anyone who has visited, since we moved in has commented or at least noticed the flower beds on this property. When we moved in here, we had a neighbour tell us how much they always enjoy driving by and checking out the immaculate flower beds- the best in Freetown they said. Well, I'm afraid that from that day on, their anticipation probably very quickly turned to dissapointment and now currently sits somewhere between disgust and despair. I believe I posted some pictures from last summer when I took on the ones out front and they DID look good, for the summer. One has gone rogue again this year, although I will take small pride in the other one maintaining, with a little bit of my help.

It was the big bed in the back that has been my undoing ever since I moved in. Each year, I'd tackle a little piece with such intensity that I'd only get that little bit done and nothing else, or another year I'd do a general, light clean up of the whole thing, but miss the thorough job needed to rid the bed of the cursed cough grass and devil weed (whatever it's actually called, I've decided it truly is the spawn of the devil). So this year, I waged war and once I had a weekend of my husband's time to myself (between hauling mussel shells), I enlisted him to tear the whole damn thing completely out.

view from the house-the bed is the mat of bushes and grass you can see in the forefront.

So there's my "Before" shots. If you can't tell, there's a dense, dark carpet of grass that is slowly choking out the beautiful perennials that should be taking center stage.

So it started last week when we (mostly Mark) moved all these giant rocks which were the border to the old bed. My plan was to cut the bed down to a 1/4 of the size so it was more manageable so I knew we wouldn't need all the rocks. Turns out they're a hot commodity as we've had a couple requests for them. Anyway, on Saturday morning, the Kubota earned her keep as I desperately tried to save a few of the best plants and Mark took a very full dump truck of old flower bed, back to the woods. Admittedly, when it was all gone, I had a brief moment of imagining it all in grass without any flower bed to think about, but quickly changed my mind.

With the 'help' of Lucy and Wilson, we managed to build a herb bed around the border of the deck and lay the rocks for the new beds. So here's what it looks like now.

It still needs a few herbs I haven't transplanted yet and I'd like to add a hunk of bleeding heart from my other front bed, but I'm much less overwhelmed with this one than before.

The hope is that I can maintain this reasonably and not let it get out of my control. The topsoil came from our field, so not without couch grass, but certainly with less. And no devil weed, unless I let it crawl in from somewhere else (which it inevitably will-but I'll be waiting for it).

Mark is off to a stag party tonight, but I'm sure his back and body wishes he was in bed. The Kubota wasn't the only one earning her keep. :)
Yawn, I'm off to bed myself. The blackflies just about carried us away tonight and I need my sleep to prepare for battle against them tomorrow. Even the kids noticed tonight, which never happens. I don't know if I've ever seen them so bad, although I probably say that every year.

-Sally

June is....? DAIRY MONTH!

2011-06-24T15:30:00.001-03:00

Remember how last year for dairy month (June), we finally got our first milk cow? Well, she's still kickin and doing wonderfully, and since I recognized that I could probably not top last year's dairy month contribution, I decided to at long last, try making some cheese. Thankfully Mark's cousin Vanessa and her chef friend Gill were enthusiastic cheese-making virgins too, so we made a date for cheese night and became dairy queens together.
It all started when I arrived in BEAUTIFUL Bonshaw, PEI with a trunk full of milk and cream, rennet and a book of cheese recipes. Seeing as it was our first time and I personally couldn't stand the anticipation of waiting four months through the aging period for a nice hard cheddar or something similar, I picked the "30 minute mozzarella" recipe out. I had also read about it in "Animal Vegetable Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver and it sounded like a good, fool-proof way to spend an evening (or as suggested, 30 minutes).

First of all, let me just say that the 30 minute part probably refers to the microwave section of the recipe and as would be expected, without a microwave, it took much longer. I was also considering later that because of the nature of microwave heat, I can see now how different the stretching and kneading part would be. Anyway, it was certainly a fun adventure and although it did not turn out like we expected, we still called the night a grand success.
Since I was a little...er...unsure of the cheese process, I brought along some cream to make butter, since I knew that was fairly fool proof. And it was, sort of.

Something about the first batch was a bit odd, although it tasted fine. The second batch of butter turned out more normally and when that was done, I knew at least we would all have some nice yellow butter to take home, if nothing else. :)

Do ya think Dairy Farmers of Canada might use this in a campaign? Probably not if they knew it came from illegal and raw milk. :)

So we started out by canvassing the neighbourhood for a big enough pot to do a double batch (yes, confident). When we finally got everything ready to go, milk ripened and thoroughly mixed with the citric acid and rennet, the moment of truth- would there be a curd? And the yelps of celebration when the knife sliced cleanly through the semi-solid milk could be heard ringing through the Bonshaw hills I'm sure.

Then we stirred the curds for the recommended length of time, watching the temperature like we were dealing with an armed bomb rather than a batch of cheese. Admittedly, my curd cutting skills could use some work. Consistency was not my forte.

Here's Gill draining the whey from the curd. For perspective's sake, this started out as 8 litres of milk. We agreed that it was the most expensive cheese on the planet, 30 minutes or not. Evidently we got a bit wrapped up in the process and missed a few steps in the photography recap, but after much kneading, stretching, discussing, comparing, heating, stretching and comparing some more, here were are making small balls (we were aiming for the bococcini (sp?) we see in the grocery store-albeit a bit prematurely).

The recipe said that the cheese is best eaten warm, which we did a little bit of, but it said to otherwise, put it it in ice water to chill it evenly all the way through. The formerly soft, smooth, shiny, perfectly pearl-like balls of warm, stretchy cheese immediately turned to rock hard, less than perfect balls of er...well, chewy off-white ...cheese?. Anyway, it is certainly gooey and it has a VERY mild, cheese-like flavour, but it needs some work.
I think there's a couple factors at play here. First of all, the recipe does not call for any 'starter' so it is not REALLY a cheese, as such. There's no 'live cultures' so, it's more of a solidified milk than a cheese. Secondly, it's 30 minutes, so designed for a microwave and thus, not likely to have the consistency of a real, cultured, cheese. All that said, it was really exciting and a great introduction to cheese making, and maybe just the right amount of challenges to make us want to keep going and perfect our dairy queen-dom.

In other farm news, the season rolls on, despite the cool temps and lack of sun. Today for example had been hailed all week as the sunny day we've been dreaming of, but it is fairly cold and dreary out there right now. BUT breezy, so few bugs! The dairy farmer we often get manure from has been in the field next to the house cutting the clover for first-cut silage (don't get any illusions that this means it is either a)warm or b)dry). The kids had a great time running the length of the field a few times after the bulky clover was down. I included this next picture because the sense of freedom on their faces when they came in was just perfect. So far from the house and so happy! You can hardly see them at all, and I'm sure there are some moms in a bit of dismay at a 2 and 3 year old 'out on their own', but I don't think there could be a much healthier or safer place to play on earth.

My sister had asked for a picture of my garden, after sending a few nice shots to me of hers (which looks lush, dark and weed-free) and I'd been waiting until something came up. I've given up waiting and here's what it looks like so far. Finally my first beans are up, and obviously, the onion sets are established. My pepper plants are behind the windows and there are tomato plants up there by those black boxes. I got my transplants from my friend Jen Campbell and they are so healthy! She shared a bit of crabmeal with me as well, on the advice to put it in the hole with the transplant. It is a very fine powder, which I was not expecting, but it smells like I expected. Anyway, the plants seem pretty darn happy, so success on that front! Since this pic is a little old, my yellow beans, beets and a couple cucumbers are through the ground now too. Oh! And my corn. A bit spotty, but there.

Lastly, I celebrated my 29th birthday this week and as I sat at the table, being drooled on by a baby, poked by the grubby, chubby finger by a 2 year old and giggled at by a bespectacled 3 year old, sitting across from my smiling, patient, callused-hand husband, eating home made pizza and organic chocolate cake, I decided that, I done good.

To top it off, Mark's sister Martha had gotten us tickets to go see The Full Monty at the confederation center and although I don't go the theatre often, it was one of the best shows I've ever seen on stage. Hilarious! If you're coming to the Island this summer, I highly recommend it.

Hope this finds you enjoying the scent of fresh cut silage/haylage/hay. There's nothing quite like it.

-Sally

Germinating despite the cold

2011-06-15T21:52:00.000-03:00

The blog has been quiet lately, but no so with the farm. Mark has been busy, despite having everything in the ground. On a good note, everything is germinating and I think I'm right in saying it has all poked out of the ground, some more than others. That is also true for the weeds though, so finger weeding has been on the priority list according to plant stage. On a family drive-through-the-fields tour a few nights ago, five on the four wheeler, I noticed our usual sow thistle area was filling up pretty well, so this is the year we've officially declared war. It's planted in oats this year and we have acres of oats to spare, so as soon as the thistles are big enough to have hollow stems, the plan is to cut them just prior to a big rain and let nature drown them out. We've heard from more than one farmer that this should work. We'll let you know.

Weed management in organic production is always a trial and error game and is sometimes the result of an entirely different activity. Couch grass (aka quack grass and many other names) is always our worst weed enemy and last year while Mark was fingerweeding, he noticed that when he reached the end of the field, there was a clump of couch grass rhizomes gathered up in the tines of the weeder. After leaving a few of the clumps at the end of the field, it was only a matter of gathering them together in a windrow and then haul the whole kit and kaboodle off into the woods. Well, this year it has been taken to a whole new level. The giant piles of couch grass laying around Freetown must be GREAT fodder for the old farmers who drive around keeping an eye on those crazy hippy organic farmers. My camera hasn't made its way to the piles yet, but Mark reports one taller than 6ft in one field. He joked that he was going to spread it out, bale it up and sell it as a 'great cover crop'. There's also been an ongoing joke with a friend from OACC about making couch grass baskets with the tough rhizomes. If either of those were legitimate markets, we'd be making a killing this year!

In other farm news, Mark has begun hauling ORGANIC manure from the hog farmer we sell our grain to. This is a BIG deal. Really. Organic manure is literally NOT available, anywhere. We are so happy to be able to access some. Admittedly, it's not the cheapest input, or the closest, but Mark figures he's got the economics of it worked out and with the help of a couple of extra trucks, hopefully efficiency will be a at a max. We're just so excited to see the fruits of our labour (grain) come back to us (manure). It's funny how the value of a 'waste product' changes pretty quickly when it becomes a 'by-product'.

My garden has been a bit of a...er...issue of contention this year. I've always had it very linear and 'just so', just the way I like it, in proper beds, but with the fantastic wonderful tiller that goes on Wendell's new giant lawn tractor, everything that doesn't move, gets tilled up. Needless to say, my garden doesn't feel like MY garden this year. But it's planted, so we'll see what happens.

A lot of people are unhappy with the June chill thus far, but I have to say, I am thoroughly enjoying the mosquito-banishing breezes and the sweater-inducing mornings. I know the heat is on its way, so I'll enjoy this while it lasts. Lucy told me today that I can't put the mittens away yet because she needs those when she eats a freezee. Surely by August, I am confident that the mittens will not be necessary, even for freezees.

I have been working on getting to bed earlier and tonight I've already failed. Good thing there's always tomorrow.

Hope this finds you enjoying every minute of what spring has to offer, and the prospect of what summer will bring.

-Sally

Spring Farm Tour

2011-06-04T21:59:00.001-03:00

Time for a little farm tour via pictures. Enjoy!

We'll start in the chicken coop where the brooding area is in full tilt. I love the little brown laying hens in amongst the yellow fuzzballs. They are so much more lively and busy than the meat birds, already. And it seems that Mark and I were having a bad time as egg farmers/sellers at the time we ordered the layers since we only ordered 15 and now realize that we've missed the deadline to order any more for this year, unless we look elsewhere. SO, that will be a decision to make at some point, although we need to recognize that we made the decision of 15 for a reason at one point.

Next stop: a robin's nest that can actually be easily seen.

Here's the babies up close (don't worry all your birders, I kept a good distance, used my magnify setting). I think there's four, but sometimes it looks like there might be five. Have watched the mom feed them and they are growing as fast as the weeds in my garden, so not likely long until first flight. A great little bit of science for the kids.

And of course, here's the sheep out on their new pasture, enjoying alfalfa in the mix for the first time in their lives. So far, so good says the vigilant shepherdess.

You may recall the failed experiment using the cattle trailer as a temporary shelter for the sheep on a rotating basis in the pasture. It seems to be working MUCH better this time around. Sampson needed to be out and about, but not with the ladies, so, thus far, this is working great. He's next to the house and barns, but we still shut him in at night so that I can sleep without dreaming of howling coyotes.

Over to the soybean barn where roasting was in full tilt today. I like this picture of the steam rolling up to the roof and out the vents. It smells so good.

I don't think you can see it very well in this picture, but there are little white puffs of popcorn in amongst the roasted beans. Evidently, that's what buckwheat does when heated just right. Niche market possibility? Popbuckwheat? Not sure about that, although Mark says it tastes fine, like popcorn. It's also a bit of a firehazard, so not overly welcome in the roasting barn.

Then there's good ol' Rosie munching away on a pasture far too large and lush for one cow. As the A.I. guy remarked, she seems pretty stressed. Har har.

Now back to the house for some fresh bread. Here's my wee bakers at work. One, very intent, and quite a competent little kneader if I do say so myself, the other, more of the quality control school of ability.

The Barenaked Baker.

Hope this finds you sleeping deep at nights with the windows open to the cool spring air.

-Sally

The Spring Rush.

2011-05-31T23:09:00.000-03:00

People always say, "Bet you guys are really busy this time of year!" and I think to myself, "Yeah, Mark is really busy, but my life sort of goes along at its usual pace." BUT then, even though I'm not the one on the tractor, I'm somehow busier too. The garden is partially in (planting corn for the first time-low expectations) and I dug a screen door out of a 'big garbage' pile on my way home from West Branch last week, so am ready to put that on the front door. I've been writing, organizing, rehearsing and directing our Sunday School closing that is coming up and trying to put together a wee reunion for the girls from Mount Allison at some point during the summer. Probably the most blog-affecting project I've undertaken is training for my first 5k race coming up this Saturday. I started running at the end of April, for the first time in my life and have been really excited about the progress I've made from wheezing home after a long walk, to only needing to stop for a quick walk a couple times during the 5k. But with Mark in the fields many nights, it's been tricky getting away in the evenings, and then by the time I do, and shower, there's not much left for blogging.
Anyway, that's just a bunch of excuses. Here's what you really come for; farm updates.
We had lots of spring rain, as did rest of the Maritimes, but the ol' red sandbar dries out pretty quick and Mark disced, harrowed and sowed over 150 acres in about 2.5 days last week. All the grain (barley, wheat and oats) is in the ground now and the wheat has come up and is looking fantastic. We drove back to check out the winter wheat and it is looking like one of the best crops we've grown to date. We're really starting to see the benefits of taking the time to develop and maintain a well-rounded, healthy soil. So, he's just waiting on soybean planting now, taking the opportunity to fingerweed the grain as it comes up. As usual this time of year, optimism is running high.

Our first batch of chicks arrived today and the sheep are finally out on their new pasture. They were just like kids when we let them out. Even the old girls were kicking up their heels. There is something about spring, wearing short sleeves for the first time, that first reminder of sunburn, the tracking of sandbox sand through the house, the smell of the grass (which is growing at an astronomical rate) and the long evenings (although not long enough to get everything done! haha).

Batteries are out, in the camera right now, but will be sure to include some pictures soon. Things are so green and lush right now.

Yawn, bedtime comes too quickly these days. Hope this finds you contentedly exhausted too.

-Sally

First Summer Day 2011!

2011-05-19T20:45:00.000-03:00

The happiest trio in Freetown. Two kids in a tractor and a happy farmer getting the first seeds in the ground.

This is me following the grain drill back to the field this evening so that Mark could 'sow a quick 10 acres' to find out how his latest gadget is going to work

Here it is. This is the squeeze pump for applying liquid fertilizer with the drill. In this case it's smelly fish fertlizer. It's always been something we wanted to explore, but this year Mark learned a bit more about it and made the leap to buying the pump, tank, etc. I have to admit, it is pretty cool. And according to a fellow grain farmer who applied it last year, they saw a three day jump on plants out of the ground. I'm not completley convinced that it's worth it's weight (or cost) in gold, but we'll find out with some of our own amateur field trials this year.

It was SUCH a beautiful day here today. Ya know that first real day of summer after a long winter and spring? Well today was that day and it was glorious. The kids never put on shoes and the bathwater was brown, so it was a great day. After chores tonight I looked at us all and decided that we have taken enough posed and pretty family pictures that it was time we had a real one. So I propped the camera up on the truck and self-timered this one into existence.

Even smelly ol' Rinnie made it into the shot. He's a great farm dog and I'm thankful for him everyday, but I'm having a hard time finding that love in my heart every night as he barks and barks at the coyotes. And really I shouldn't blame him since I think it's the sound of the coyote howls that wake me and keep me up, but either way, it's really wearing me out. That sound, the yips and wails of the pups and adult coyotes; it sounds like there's hundreds of them, right outside my window. I swear they are in the farm yard. So brazen.

Hope this finds you hydrating after a warm day in the sun.

-Sally

Head in the Trough

2011-05-18T22:52:00.001-03:00

Backyard and small scale livestock is a growing area of interest and if the number of emails we get every week asking about mixed feed are any indication, providing feed for these animals is a void that is not being filled.
Wait a minute, aren't there feed mills doing that already? Yep. But the people contacting us don't want GMO's in the feed and that simply is not possible unless you purchase organic feed. If they're not raising the livestock with the intention of selling their products for an organic premium (and in many cases even when they are), organic feed is simply too expensive.
Coming from farmers who sell the grain to the feed mill to make the feed, the mark up is a bit silly. I'm no business expert, but it seems like maybe there is some wisdom in creating a customer base with lower profit margins and establishing loyalty and dependence on a quality product. As people can afford more feed, they can afford more livestock, which will eat more feed and make for money coming in for the mill. Unfortunately that is now how it's being done and it is without a doubt the number one obstacle standing in the way of organic livestock expansion in this region (and likely across Canada).
SO, my recommendation for those asking for non-GMO feed who don't need organic feed is this:
-figure out what it is you need. The internet is a great source of information for creating a complete feed. Mark, thankfully, paid attention in his animal nutrition class at NSAC, but with the use of the Pearson Square anyone can figure out what they need. Although you may not have the capability to mix it, it is really important to know what you need. You can make a much more informed purchasing decision then. My lambs do really well on a mix of 2 things; crushed soybean and whole oats. A commercial lamb grower probably has 6 ingredients. I don't have a clue what's in a typical dairy cow ration, but I'm fairly certain it's probably more than the soybean, rolled oats and barley mix that Rosie sees everyday. So, if you know what you need, you won't buy what you don't.
-talk to your local grain farmer. Inform yourself as to your options for proteins. You can buy oats, barley, wheat, etc. fairly easily and they not yet available in GMO form (thank the Lord). So it's really the corn and soybeans you need to look for. Consider field peas. Don't tell our soybean customers, but peas are a fantastic source of protein in complete feed mixes.
You might be surprised to find out what a farmer will grow if he is given the market, no matter how small. Maybe he's already growing it for a larger market and is willing to sell a few bags. Maybe he's already mixing his own feed and would share some. Maybe he has an old mixer or roller you can borrow. It might depend how much you need. In our case, we are not certified nutritionists and although our rations are based on specific calculations for our needs, we don't want to assume any risk that might come with selling mixed feed. Mixing feed is also not the number one job on the never ending list around here although it gets done when it needs to and it's not unusual for us to mix some extra- wink, nudge.

So, it's too bad that the current infrastructure (ahemCoOpcoughcough) is missing out on the opportunity to play a major role in expanding the small scale and organic livestock industry and in turn grow their own business. Next time you go to buy that bag of conventional feed just ask if they have a non-GMO product. I'm sure they don't, but if enough people ask, they might source it. Or try. And that's how it gets going. Really. So ask. Everytime. Heck, even if you don't care about GMO's, ask, for the sake of those who do care and want a choice.

Hope this finds you rejoicing at the glimpses of sun amongst the rain clouds. Things are soggy but Mark and Wendell were out in the tractor this warm, sunny afternoon, discing up some ground, so it's not ark time yet.

-Sally

Picture time

2011-05-15T20:44:00.000-03:00

Well, if April showers bring May flowers, I guess May flowers bring...anxious farmers. It's been a wet week and the next one isn't looking much drier. Turns out this is actually just what spring is all about and later in the hot summer, we'll be happy that we had this rain, but right now Mark is pacing, 'puttering' at wet weather jobs. On the good side, it means lots of the jobs on my list are getting done. My garden is prepped, the sandbox is getting revamped, the pasture is at the top of this week's list, etc. We may even go on a date this week if the rain keeps up!

So, to distract all you soggy Maritimers from the grey skies, I got out with the camera today and took some spring-like shots for the blog. Even with no sun, the azaleas never fail to be the first big sign of colour for the season. We were lucky to have two big beautiful bushes already well established when we bought this house. I take a picture of the kids in front of it every spring. You'll see this year's first attempt. It's missing Thayne and it's a pretty wet looking picture, but I wanted to get Wilson's outfit on record. We had just had ice cream and it was all over his face and for some reason he was insisting on wearing that hilarious winter balaclava which reminded us of the chain mail that knights wore under their armour. We called him Sir Licks-A-Lot.

Here's the kid's section of the garden where I left some parsnips from last year (boy, those carrots grew fast! You guys must have taken GREAT care of those!) and we threw some spinach seeds in, which have miraculously sprouted up out of the ground, but it's looking a bit soggy tonight.

The garlic is looking good and I'm excited for my first crop this fall! We go through a lot of garlic here, so we'll see how my test plot of 12 plants goes this year. As I was taking this picture I noticed the kids lapping up some rain water from the lawn chair in the background. Hard up for moisture I guess.

My mother's day present to myself was an ice cream maker. Ever since we got the cow I've wanted one, so here's my sous-chefs keeping a close eye on the first batch. It was marginally successful, but I don't think it was the machine's fault. I have another bottle of cream saved up so we'll try again tomorrow. Any tips from ice cream connoisseurs out there?

Hope this finds you keeping an eye on the Manitoba and Mississippi floodings and keeping things in perspective.

-Sally

Belated Mothers Day post

2011-05-13T23:10:00.001-03:00

We hosted two grade one classes at the farm this morning. It went well and I think the kids really enjoyed themselves. One class was more receptive than the other, but it was nice to see kids (and their chaperoning parents) enjoying some time on the farm and asking good (and sometimes funny) questions. My favorite of the day was a response when I asked what they thought the difference between is between white eggs and brown eggs and one little guy said, "Aren't brown eggs just old white eggs?"

Anyway, one of the moms that was along for the trip was asking about our kids and Thayne's age, etc. and along with the other moms agreed that they "wouldn't be out and about hosting a pile of grade 1 kids with a three kids under three." That, along with a lovely email from a friend a few days ago, got me thinking tonight about the expectations that mom's live with these days, and how we always think we're never doing as much or as good a job as the next one.

Like my friend Jen, for example, who somehow works all winter at a ski hill and then grows a GIANT, beautiful market garden all summer and has a super successful CSA, with two of the cutest little nearly-2yr-old twin boys trundling along behind her.

Or Melanie, the email writer who thinks that I'm doing so much more than her, yet there she is raising a variety of animals to provide her family with food she trusts, baking and cooking her way through some of the healthiest foods known to Canadians. There she is pregnant with her third baby and managing to make it to various playgroups and church every week. And she makes meal plans for a MONTH ahead of time!

Or how about my sister April who spends every spare moment of her busy, full-time teaching life dedicated to creating an incredibly well rounded life for her three kids. How about the close relationship she manages to have with each of them and how her infinite patience and compassion draws out the best in everyone. And how she goes WAY over and above the requirements of her job to share her love of math (ugh!) with kids around the region. She makes my tired days look like a vacation.

Then there's the mom I look up to, Lisa, who has raised four of the smartest, brightest and most of all, nicest kids I know. Her eldest is graduating from UNB this week and will be receiving the Governor General's award, with no debt to her name and best of all, the most grounded head on her shoulders that she has the wisdom to not just jump into what seems like the obvious next step. That sort of confidence is exactly what every mother wants to instill in their children.

My own mother is a legend to legions of people who have ever imagined having four kids under the age of four (due to twins), let alone 8 kids and 10 years. That gives me a headache just typing it and yet every one of us turned out to be strong willed, successful in our own right, confident and most telling, good parents, raising good kids. Let's not even talk about the fact that she did it all with cloth diapers only.

So, if you're a mom, revel in the thought that even on your worst day, you are an inspiration for someone who you probably look up to yourself.

Now, I'm off to wash some old brown eggs for the morning. :)

-Sally

Things My Mama Taught Me

2011-05-11T14:01:00.002-03:00

One of the most valuable lessons I received early on in my life is restraint when it comes to conflict. With a quick temper and a sharp tongue like mine, it pays to take time before responding to something that bothers me. Such is the case with a blog entry I posted yesterday and have since decided to remove. I have never done that before (I have written posts but never posted them), but I felt in this case that although I still agree with everything I wrote, I missed making/focusing on the point I really wanted to make. For you avid blog watchers, you have the inside scoop on my rant, but this is the one I really want read.

SO, one of the headlines in yesterday's noon time newscast referenced a study done in Nova Scotia regarding the high cost of food for low income families. In particular the headline, and the study, looked at the cost of NUTRITOUS food, stating that low income families canNOT afford nutritious food. This sent me into a bit of a rage and I found myself spouting off all varieties of wisdom and critism regarding cell phones and satellite TV, etc. I was struggling with the priorities of many people claiming to have financial problems. However, after a night's sleep and more consideration, I realized that what was really bothering me was the fact that NUTRITIOUS food has been targeted as the problem. And while I know that our food system has been designed, in the last few decades, to make bad food cheaper, it simply is NOT true that nutritious food is more expensive. It is true that people have less time (or at least percieve that they have less time) and that people have lost the desire or ability to cook 'from scratch' and people don't grow gardens like they used to, but that has nothing to do with nutritious food being 'more expensive'.
A couple years ago I used to go grocery shopping on a regular basis with a good friend who did not hold organic food in the same high esteem that I do. She worked full time and preferred the ease of pre-prepared food to the effort of spending time cooking meals from scratch.  When we went to the grocery store we would always compare our carts and see who had the lower bill at the end. Her cart was always fuller and almost always cheaper. BUT, my bag of potatoes went a LOT further than her bag of french fries. And my flour, yeast and salt went a lot further than her frozen pizza.  I paid more off the top, but she would be back for another full cart of groceries before I was even half through mine. That didn't bother either one of us, since a)she enjoyed the convenience and b)she wasn't claiming that one way was better/cheaper than the other.

Just a couple examples from this week's flyers (summerside sobey's and superstore):
1) supper
$1.29 for 1 Michilina's frozen entrees (ie. tiny boxes of microwavable food-like substances for one person for one meal)
OR
$1.29  for pound of dried pasta
$.99 for can of tomatoes (add a pinch of spices/herbs and it's at least 4x the meal the microwave can make)

2)packed lunch
$4.99 deli meat pack
OR
$.88 can tuna
OR
$2.49lb pork shoulder blade roast

I could spend all day flipping through flyers, but I'm probably going to discover that processed, unhealthy foods are advertised and on sale far more frequently than healthy, natural foods, so it would only help to serve that perception of nutrition being expensive. I'm currently reading Michael Pollan's book "In Defense of Food" and if you haven't read it, I HIGHLY recommend it. Three simple rules: Eat food, not too much, mostly plants. And by eat food, he means real food, not something that resembles food or smells like food. Real food that you can recognize and more importantly that your great grandmother could recognize if she were here. Buying bulk means having the freezer or cupboard space, but if we're really talking about saving money, that is probably the easiest way to do so. Cooking is the next best way. Of course we'd all like to veg out in front of the TV for the night, but if our bills are so tight that we can't afford the next grocery bill, maybe missing an episode of Survivor to make chili for tomorrow's lunch isn't such a crazy idea after all. So ya can't afford meat? Then don't. There are so many healthy meat alternatives now that are often much cheaper than meat. Or buy a cheap cut and make it last. It only takes a tiny bit of innovation and creativity to make it work.

I just feel like somebody is taking the easy way out when it comes to this study regarding the price of nutritional food. What it doesn't take into consideration are the added costs that bad food adds to our lives. The environmental degradation and necessary clean up that comes with monocropping and heavy input crops like corn that make up a HUGE chunk of processed foods isn't in that price tag. Health problems, like obesity, diabetes, heart disease, that lead to missed work and stress and a shorter life expectancy aren't in that price tag either.  So let's all go on, complaining about the price of food and making excuses to put garbage in our bodies and see where we are a few years down the road. How cheap will the 'nutritious food' look then?

Anyway, that's my re-worked rant. Too bad real life isn't like a blog where I can just erase the more volatile rants and re-write 'em. That would probably go a long way in my future political career. hehe.

-Sally

Springtime/Swingtime

2011-05-09T14:07:00.001-03:00

Ah, finally, warmer weather! Short sleeves, no pants and swings=bliss. Life is good these days in the Bernard household. The next shot is a great example of what we do when it's not warm enough to be outside.

I'm usually cooking, Lucy is puzzling, with Jimmy in arms and Wilson is getting bored and fussy, while Thayne watches.

In un=family related news, I was directed to this article by a blog that I regularly read by a retired journalist here on the Island on his blog Food Matters. It is about the farm subsidies in the US that have created artificially low food prices, environmental degradation and monocropping. Since the farm bill was signed, farmers have been receiving $5 BILLION annually to grow corn and soybeans and that's just a portion of the larger amount ($16 billion annually) for other various programs. BILLION. US farmers have admitted that this is not an ideal situation and various politicians have suggested removing or limiting the subsidies, but it's political suicide to remove reliable and long-term funding like that for a whole industry. Well, as this article suggests, FINALLY there is real talk to cutting the subsidies. Almost completely. Why would a farmer want to see farm subsidies removed? There are so many reasons, but you just have to consider how those American subsidies affect Canadian commodity prices and it is a real step forward for a more sustainable food system. Back to my latest favorite book, "The Organic Manifesto" by Maria Rodale, she talks a lot about the farm bill and how it inherently promotes growing GMO's and inhibits development of organic farms and operations. Corn requires a LOT of fertilizer, which in itself can be a real problem,

but the main markets for corn are other serious problems (high fructose corn syrup and cattle feed). I could go on for a while, but check out the article and keep and eye on these developments. I really believe this could be a big step forward for agriculture both in the US and here. Hooray!!

Back to family bits, here's a few recent shots for anyone interested.

The bathing beauty. LOVES his bathtime.

Here's a picture from being home in NB this weekend. The kids were trying out some football gear with some help from their older cousin Ewan. This must be Mark's dream come true. :)

And here's my little swing-lovers. Wilson like playing it pantless mostly these days (potty training). You can see that Thayne is not all that excited by it all, but in true form he tolerates it for the benefit of everyone else. My easy-going guy.

Hope this finds you enjoying the greenness of the grass these days. Reminds me of a song by Sarah Harmer
"Look at that green, out through the screen
After a quick rain came.
So fast, that there wasn't time to roll up the windows
And pull the clothes down off the line.
I don't care it was so dry
The grass is happy and I think so am I."

Our land is very dry and we could really use all the rain they've been calling for that has been going around us. No seeds in the soil here yet, but we're ready and Mark, is eager to try out his new fish fertlizer applicator that goes on the seeder. Will try to include some pictures for those interested sometime soon.

-Sally

Blue Skies

2011-05-03T08:15:00.000-03:00

Well, the government might be in the crapper, but on the upside, Thayne slept from 8pm to 6 am this morning. Who can blame him for not wanting to wake up to this cruel, blue world?

A Greener World

2011-05-02T21:01:00.000-03:00

Well, cast my vote and felt like it mattered this time more than ever. I can't pin point exactly what it was about this election, but it was fun to watch/listen to, if nothing else.
Didn't go with what I said I would in the end. Decided that my $1.95 vote subsidy mattered more than a strategic vote against the blue dictator.

Hope you're enjoying partipating in the process! Although, I'm trying to watch the CBC results and the font is REALLY tiny!

-Sally

Alarmist or Realist?

2011-05-01T22:08:00.000-03:00

disclaimer: this is another GMO post.

2 things spawing this post:
-recently sharing a car with a gov't extension specialist talking about how difficult it is to convince conventional grain farmers to consider non-GMO soybeans, let alone organic.
-a new grain operation setting up and recieving some pressure from various sides to plant GMO's.

I've written about GMO's before and you all know where I stand, but I've never felt so strongly about them as I do after having read "The Organic Manifesto" by Maria Rodale. It is a straight forward book that I believe presents some very effective and truthful arguments as to the necessity of organics in todays world. Now, I really hate conspiracy theorists and hyperbole, so I hope that you can read this and not roll your eyes or shake your head and wonder as to my sanity. When Mark talks about GMO's he presents a very practical argument and looks and sounds the part of a typical farmer, organic or otherwise. He is the face that convinces conventional farmers to at least consider planting non-GMOs. Therefore, I get to vent the less quantifiable reasons on here instead of to those making the decisions on the ground, because if there's anything farmers hate, it's pie in the sky ideas with little evidence.
With that, here's a few reasons to re-consider the value of genetically modified organisms in our food system.

GMO proponents continually come back to the 'higher yields' argument, which we've seen here on the Island is simply not true. It all comes back to the soil, and if the soil isn't healthy it doesn't matter whether it's GMO or not, the yields will be down.
Another argument commonly issued is that GMO's require fewer pesticides, but studies have proven that pesticide use has actually increased since GMO's were introduced. It turns out that since farmers know that the plant cannot be harmed by the Round Up, they apply even more, in an attempt to truly eradicate all weeds. On another note, many weeds have begun to develop resistance to Round Up, so producers are having to use even stronger pesticides, more often.
Farmers really need more expenses, so it's convenient that GMO seeds are proprietary so that seeds cannot be saved from year to year. It also helps that the same companies who own the right to the seeds also own the chemicals needed to spray them. Dependency anyone?
Don't even start on exporting markets, because outside of China, there are few. The EU wants nothing to do with GMOs, so there's one good, pratical reason right there, not to grow it. Should we not also perhaps consider the reasons those countries don't want them?

Monsanto is an easy company to pick on, so I will, but keep in mind, it's only one of many. We all know they have profits that give them the ability to buy lobbying power like no one else (in 2008 they spent well over $8million on lobbying alone). They can afford to put a lot of resources into research funding for universities who study the benefits of GMO's. They can afford to fund lawyers who draft bills and laws that open the door to more questionale biotechnology in agriculture. Former high-level employees 'somehow' have found themselves in the corner offices of the Food and Drug Administration as well as the Environmental Protection Agency in the US, the agency responsible for researching the impact of things like GMO's on our food system. The reach of Monsanto is infinite and strong. Money talks and they have no shortage.

Because the science world is flush with pro-GMO studies (funded by the GMO companies) and short on funding for legitimate research into GMO's, studies are hard come by, but they do exist. It comes up again and again that GMO's are being linked to fertility problems, increased abortions and miscarriages. One study referencing dairy cows is one practical example, but studies of lab mice fed a diet heavy in GMO's found that by the third generation of mice, they were unable to conceive. Ok, ok this feels alarmist, but if we consider the fact that GMO's have been in our own food system for only 30 years and a generation is equivalent to 20-25 years, we are only entering the second generation in a GMO friendly world.

This is where most people will turn this blog off because it's getting too out there and conspiracy oriented. And this is why Mark is the face of reason to those for whom it will really matter, but if I don't share my concerns I would failing myself.
Finally, it doesn't matter whether you side with Monsanto or me on this one, but there is no denying that once GMOs have been introduced, they are not going away. You can farm without GMO's for eternity, but once you plant them, that pristine soil you've spent your life building up will always have them. You can't go back. The genes can spread by a variety of means and the effects of that are as of yet, unknown. Benign or not, the farmer is left to deal with the consequences.

Enough doom and gloom. It's another beautiful Sunday and I am excited by all the new beginnings that come with spring.

-Sally

Freetown's Annie Oakley

2011-04-30T20:24:00.000-03:00

Shot my first gun today. I won't tell you what it was, so that I can maintain some credibility with you gun aficionados out there, but it was still exciting. I am now not so critical of the number of guns in my husband's possession, although really, you can only shoot one at a time right? Please note however, that my newfound appreciation of long guns in NO WAY affects my political position. (That's for you, Dad.)

-Sally

Conquering Culinary Conundrums

2011-04-27T13:57:00.000-03:00

So pretty much anytime that I brag to our customers about our lamb, I'm lying through my teeth. Not that our lamb isn't amazing, but as I've admitted here before it's not my favorite food. Until now. I roasted my first leg of lamb for Easter supper and it was some of the best meat I've eaten. My parents surprised me with a great visit for the day and as Mom watched me prepping it, I think she was more than skeptical as to my methods. I was following a recipe that used the classic garlic and rosemary combo and Mom couldn't resist questioning the use of 'all those trees'. It did look rather green in the end, but roasted down nicely and flavored the lamb just right. And best of all, all those 'trees' scented the air so that I couldn't smell the lamb cooking, which is the key to really enjoying it I think (but don't tell my customers that).
Anyway, a year late, I made my 2010 New Year's resolution come true (Learn to Love Lamb). Better late than never!

Speaking of lamb, I dropped off my biggest lamb to a new restaurant in Charlottetown (so new in fact that it doesn't even have a website yet). It's going to be called Daniel B Brickhouse with Chef Ilona Daniel at the helm. She's a gorgeous and vibrant chef who creates food that makes you melt. Anyway, we can't wait to see the new place and taste some of her newest creations. It was such a great treat to ship an ENTIRE lamb to a customer and not have to worry about cuts and details. She even took the head, which is a first time for me. We are so fortunate to have some great chefs on the Island who source local, organic product and create a real culinary experience for everyone and anyone. Thanks Ilona!!!!

When I went to pick up the lamb from our local butcher, the other two that he was cutting were not ready, so I finally got my chance to watch them being cut up and learn a bit more about what it is that I'm offering. Since I had my inquisitive little girl with me I decided this was a perfect opportunity to make sure she was really making the connection between livestock and food. I am so concerned about the disconnect that just seems to be growing between people and food, let alone kids and food. A neighbour who keeps free-range pigs tells her kids that they simply TRADE their pigs for bacon. It makes me wince to hear some of the questions I get from people that I'm more than happy to answer, but disappointed that I have to. Anyway, I had nothing to fear as she watched them bring the whole carcass from the cooler and kept a close and rapt eye on the different parts as they went through the band saw. As he was cutting the shank from the leg, she said, "Is that the lamb heel?" I was a very proud mother at that moment. The men milling around the shop didn't quite know what to think, but I was so glad to be able to give her such an important education. As I believe, the most important and perhaps best part of living on a farm is the appreciation of life and death.

Lastly, I have been perfecting my pizza skills for the past few years and it's now a staple in this house. It seems that we have it once a week, although somehow it's always a treat. It's definitely one of my best dishes and this week it got even better. I start with a homemade, 20 minute dough (you can get away with 10 minutes if you're in a rush) made with 100% Speerville organic flour (probably from PEI wheat). Then I have pizza-sized servings of my home made sauce in the freezer, ready to go. On top of that I throw whatever I have on hand in a frying pan. Mostly it's Nova Scotia onions, Freetown mushrooms, frozen green peppers from my garden, (and occasionally some organic baby spinach if the kids have been low on greens that day). This week I got pepperoni from our local free-range pig guy and some PEI organic 3 yr old cheddar at the Summerside Farmer's Market. Once all the veggies and meat sizzle for a few minutes to soften them up just a touch, they go on the pie, are topped with the cheese, dashed with dried oregano and hit the oven. 20 minutes later, we're hoeing in and the way the kids are eating lately, there's none left for breakfast the next morning anymore.

So there's my culinary connections for the week. From lamb heads to organic cheddar, it's been a great past week. With the sun that was here yesterday, there's only more great food to come! My garlic is poking out of its straw and the weeds are spreading nicely, so it must soon be garden time!

One last culinary adventure was this birthday cake for Wilson's big #2. I LOVE the Bulk Barn. They have great little chocolate candies that look like pebbles, and black sugar that looks like asphalt. Secretly this cake is also making a statement about urban sprawl. haha.

And just like our chubby Islander Senator, Mike Duffy (under dead shark eye's command of course), here's a wink for the end, for Mama.

Hope you're spending some of these glorious evenings sitting on the front porch listening to the spring peepers. Did you know they're only as big as a thumbnail? Quite a racket for such a wee thing. Enjoy!

-Sally

Chicken and Cow questions.

2011-04-19T10:37:00.000-03:00

Question of the day: Why did the chicken make the funny noise when it breathed? No really. Why? One of our hens seems to have gotten into something that caught in its throat so now everytime it breathes, it wheezes, or rather, clucks...It's hard to explain but it is certainly strange. I've felt up and down the windpipe and hung it upside down, but the poor lady just keeps wheeze-clucking away. And the other mean old hens apparently have no tolerance for it. Even the internet, full of overzealous, crazy chicken owners doesn't have anything to offer me. Advice?

Everytime I go out to see the cow I say, "I'm worried about Rosie." And Mark everytime says, "Well, get the vet or your brother or somebody if you're so worried." And she's still producing milk and eating and seemingly happy, but I don't feel like she looks so good. She's a jersey so she's supposed to be a bag of bones, but she's not shiny like she used to be. And I know it's spring and cows shed their winter coat, but she's REALLY shedding, in big clumps. I think the culprit is probably that big calf, Poppy beside her that is really too big to still be in with her since we're milking her. Thoughts from the cattle owners out there?

Brown gold: the compost pile waiting to be spread this week.

Apparently the extra fun part of spreading the compost- the adventure of getting back the lane each time.

Here are my soy lovers enjoying some chocolate tofu mousse. And you can cut out the mental gagging right now because I made it for Mark, hid the evidence and he had NO idea it was anything other than regular chocolate mousse. It really is delicious and the fastest dessert you will EVER make. A new Bernard family favorite around here.

Here's one of my second batch lambs, happily lazing in the hay in the feeder/walkway. A good indicator that it's spring is the bedding getting so thick that the sheep have to bend down to eat. haha. The lambs spend most of the day up in the feeder, which they shouldn't even be able to reach if the barn wasn't full of four months of bedding and uneaten hay.

Thayne is finally big enough to enjoy his jolly jumper and excersaucer and his older siblings are enjoying being able to 'play' with him now. This last shot shows the fruits of their labour and was quickly followed by a scattering of kids yelling, "Thayne PUKED!!!" It never gets old apparently.

It didn't bother my happy-go-lucky guy any though. Growing up so fast.

In an effort to create a more...er...harmonious marriage, I got a laptop so Mark could use the computer all he wanted. I'm still figuring it all out and it's taking up preciousposting time, so bear with me!

Hope this finds you ordering a few seeds for a garden, maybe even watering some starter plants. (I've finally admitted defeat with this sunless house and have given up trying to start plants and am looking forward to buying my tomatoes and peppers from Jen Campbell this year. Ah, but with the promise of snow tomorrow, spring is not REALLY here yet is it? You can always be sure that the day after Mark drops off his snowblowing bills for the year, some snow comes along for a laugh.)

-Sally

My True Colours Shining Through.

2011-04-15T14:39:00.002-03:00

Please note: The opinions reflected in this post do not represent the opinions of Barnyard Organics
or its employees. Just me.

I love politics. I don't shy away from the fact that someday, maybe, in a far away land, I wouldn't mind throwing in my hat in some capacity. I grew up in a family that loved to discuss/argue/promote politics and never shied away from showing thier respective political colours. In our house, it was the Tory blue that generally ruled the roost. I know a couple of my brothers, if not most, still hold onto to that political heritage with white knuckles. I think I have voted for every available party at some point in my voting life, but, like most adults have started to align with one, specifically based on party values. What I've come to realize in the last couple of elections and in this one in particular, it has unfortunately become less about the party I support, and more about the party I do not. I don't love the idea of strategic voting, but for this election I will be casting a vote for the candidate that stands the best chance of beating a Conservative candidate.
Besides following my intuition (that my mother always said counted for more than anything else) that causes me to shiver at Stephen Harper's dead shark eyes (ok...that's a bit petty, but not untrue!) and besides all the recent parliamentary gaffs that the Conservatives have headed up and besides all of the other issues that make me cringe, here are a mere two reasons to consider casting a vote against a Harper gov't.

1) Bill 474 would have supported Canadian farmers by requiring that “an analysis of potential harm to export markets be conducted before the sale of any new genetically engineered seed is permitted.” This isn't about conventional farmers or organic farmers. This isn't about yields or efficiencies. This is simply about due diligence and science. A child could tell you that before trying something for the first time, it's a good idea to check it out a little further. What can be achieved by foregoing the step that sees the potential for harm investigated prior to permitting a highly controversial product? The fact that this is such a basic concept makes me very concerned that the big-ag lobbying groups have a strong hold over the Conservative policy makers. The bill isn't even asking the gov't to stop GMO's or reconsider their existence in the Canadian market. The bill is simply saying that export markets (read: Europe, Asia where GMOs are a no-no) should be considered before GMO's are permitted. And the vote on the bill was over a year AFTER the GMO fiasco in the flax markets. So we already have one perfect example of the repercussions of ignoring export markets and the harm for Canadian agriculture in general. The Conservatives held a united front in voting this bill down. On behalf of Canadian farmers, thank you so much for such carefully considered insight into what is best for agriculture and our food system. (choke, cough, barf.)

2) Citing budgets and lack of benefits, the Harper Gov't (as he likes it to be called) made the infinitely unwise decision to close the prison farms across Canada. The only further explanation that was given, was Vic Toews (public safety minister at the time) citing that less than 1% of prisoners find work in agriculture after release. (Apparently this isn't enough, despite the fact that anyone being able to find work in agriculture these days is a miracle given the state of it.) But that's hardly the point. What Mr. Toews failed to report was how many prisoners landed jobs using skills gained from their farm experience- such as mechanical repair, operating large machinery, inventory tracking, teamwork, punctuality and a basic work ethic — that they picked up on the prison farms. Not to mention the numerous psychological studies have proven the rehabilitation capabilities of livestock  for convicted criminals who learn patience and compassion, (ignore the previous post regarding hockey sticks and beef cows..haha) not to mention obligations and necessity when it comes to timely chores like milking and feeding. The economics behind the decision are far from transparent and according to numerous sources don't actually work due to the fact that the cost of losing the production of food at the prisons will cost far more than maintaining the farms in the long run.

These are just two reasons to reconsider the leadership and decision making behind the current Conservative administration. Nevermind all the other things that make me crazy, like the general lack of respect for Parliament, the proroguing, resisting proportional representation, the spending at the G20, the women's funding cuts, the environmental degradation and continued decline as they ignore the implications of climate change, the 'regional complexes'/super prisons, and my least favorite move to eliminate funding for political parties, Stephen Harper is not the answer to the problems of agriculture, let alone, the rest of the country. A degree in economics does not a leader make.

The dead shark eyes don't help either. hehehe.

I hope this finds you anticipating an exciting night on May 2. Despite missing many things about home, there is something to be said for unsure ridings and the anticipation of a good race. Wayne Easter may have held this one for 18 years, but he is being given a run this time. Or at least that's what we're being made to think. Oh well, he can count on my strategic vote and if PEI's general resistance to change can be counted on, he's safe.  Here's hoping! As a point of interest however, the Green candidate here last time around, received the second highest amount of votes of any Green candidate across the country.   Is this riding possibly tired of drinking nitrate-contaminated water or watching asthma rates climb in a pesticide ridden environment? Is there a message being sent about chemical and fertilizer use in the potato belt?   Too bad it's not being received by anyone in power. The time will come. And soon, I predict.

Now, I'm off to sit back and see what sort of comments I get from 'back home'. If this isn't enough to bring out a comment from my Dad, I don't know what is. haha.

-Sally

Sprung

2011-04-07T22:10:00.000-03:00

Although there's still lots of snow around the edges and todays sun was very deceiving, spring is undoubtably on its way. I finally managed to get the camera over to the barn for this shot of the latest crop of lambs, only to have my batteries calve out immediately after.
Everything else is pretty quiet around here. We finished up our certification application paperwork so that is away, which is always a nice job to have taken care of. Mark and Wendell dug out the grain drill today while the frost is still in the ground to start tinkering with it. We're looking at some new nutrient sources this year and are considering some fish fertlizer as one option. I've always considered it a nutrient source for market gardeners or small scale operations but we've recently discovered some ways and products that seem like a good option for us to add some unique micronutrients and a good crop boost.
Thayne has given us a couple long nights this week and my foggy, dry contact lenses are telling me that I need some sleep, so I'll keep this short.
I'm concluding this one with some shots of our church being torn down. Summerside Presbyterian is building a new church and a big crowd came out to see the old being torn down. I have to admit it was pretty cool and I was really glad that we bundled up the kids to go in and see it. Wilson was pretty amazed by the big machines and Lucy loved the crash of the roof coming in.

-Sally

Lessons in Organics

2011-04-02T14:06:00.001-03:00

Here's my presentation that I did at the Local M.E.A.L. Please keep in mind that it followed the Pecha Kucha format of 20 slides for 20 seconds each. For some reason the editor chose to show more of me speaking rather than all my slides, but the message is still pretty clear. Basically I was trying to encourage people to see that there exists some serious differences between so-called 'natural' and 'organic'. This has been a real bee in my bonnet as of lately when it seems that everyone is on the 'natural' bandwagon, which means absolutely nothing. There are no natural regulations. Conventional agri-food realizes that and sees a huge opportunity to take a regular product, slap a green label on it and put it beside organics at a cheaper price.
On a more local level, my main competition in marketing my meat is our 'natural' neighbours and fellow farmers who for the most part are giving their livestock a very natural way of life. I just wanted to show some of the differences that sets organics apart from natural. That said, I have every respect for farmers who are raising ethical, natural products and getting a fair dollar for them. Just don't say they are the same as mine. Harumph. So there.
:)

A Local M.E.A.L. - Sally Bernard from nick battist on Vimeo.

If you feel like watching- enjoy! My mother will enjoy seeing how my french 'heritage' shows through as I'm speaking with my hands.
Erm....forgot to mention that everyone in my family is actually featured in the first slide. Forgot to get their permission I guess. haha.

-Sally

Digesting a M.E.A.L. and General Updates

2011-03-29T22:23:00.002-03:00

Anyone need an extra chin? (He'll hate me for this one someday.)

I did a quick review of my latest posts and realized that I haven't given a very indepth update of things going on. Upon further reflection however, I feel like I have little to report. Not only because I'm more of a house resident than a farm participant, but because winter hasn't really left yet in the sense that the farm is still enjoying some down time before the spring rush hits.

Mark was down with a couple bouts of the flu or 'the diabolicals' as we call a certain symptom thanks to the colourful vocabulary of my brother. At one point I made a comparison of Mark's ailments to Old Man Winter's case of the...er...dumps. Then Mark went into a few days of the sweats as his body rid itself of the bug, the same point at which Old Man Winter happened to be warming things a little too quickly- hence the water in the basement. (OMW has since gone on the warming strike however and we're back in frigid temperatures again.)

I kept wondering why Mark was taking so long to recover and didn't seem to get completely over it the first time before it hit again. Then I found this picture of him during a day of 'recovery' here at the house.

We're pretty much done lambing with two old girls holding tough and who may or may not be just fat rather than pregnant. This is my first batch of lambs from my new ram and I had hoped to be able to sell some registered polled dorset breeding stock since quality breeding stock is in high demand around here these days. Of course of the five lambs I've had up to now, only one is a girl. I have my eye on one of the rams as potential breeding stock, but since I had wanted to keep a ewe or two for myself, this looks like a bit of a 'growing year' as they say. Thankfully I've had a number of requests for lamb lately, so when I ship these ones that were born at Christmas, I shouldn't have much trouble selling them.

As for that Local M.E.A.L that I attended, I am still shocked at how much fun it was. I don't usually get very stressed about public speaking, but the format for this was really wearing me out. I got there a bit early in order to get my bearings. I was under the impression early on that it would likely be a small group of concerned young people so when I settled near the front with my friend and fellow presenter, Jen Campbell, we grew increasingly concerned as we kept turning around to a room getting fuller and fuller. The organizers kept digging out chairs from all over the building and the noise level grew. As the room filled up, we kept catching glimpses of pioneers in our respective agricultural fields who we felt had far more to contribute than either of us. When I stood up to speak I would estimate that more than 200 sets of eyes were watching my pictures and trying to keep up with my quick words (I did warn them that I would be speaking fast so they better be ready to listen fast). I was aiming for an overall message about the importance of organics using our farm as a reference and although I was obviously preaching to a choir of concerned eaters, the energy in the room was invigorating and impressive. Apparently the presentations will be available online sometime in the future.

The precision timing required meant that I could not get off on a tangent or cut myself off prematurely. And given the topic (organics) it was difficult for me to stay reigned in. I actually made three different presentations before I settled on the one I went with. I am happy with what I ended up choosing and got a great response from the crowd. I had sort of asked to go early on and I'm glad that I did, because I was able to relax and enjoy the rest of the presentations (8 in all). And as a listener, the Pecha Kucha format is really ideal. Six and a half minutes is just the right amount of time because if you don't like the speaker or the topic, it's only 6 minutes and if you do enjoy it, you're intrigued and wanting more. There are no questions from the floor at the time of presentation, so it means the discussions afterward and very one on one and personal. It was really an excellent night. The organizers did an amazing job and I can't help but think that this event was more successful, attendance wise, than if it had been organized by farmers. That's a whole other post though.

Despite the temperatures not really climbing, apparently the maple sap is running a bit at home and that always makes me wish I was in West Branch this time of year, sipping warm syrup from a bottle with a whittled wooden stopper and re-learning the rules for 45's, again. I hope for a trip home soon, but with various church activities tying up our weekends and the weekdays starting to ramp up it's never a sure thing. For the sake of family here's a few pictures of the kids.

Climbing trees is much easier in the winter! Hard to believe this was only taken a few weeks ago.

I had asked Wilson to go entertain Thayne one day as I was trying to do something in the kitchen. This is the sweet scene I found when I peeked around the corner.

Some smiles from my boys.

Hope this finds you eating some locally produced, free range eggs purchased from your favorite farmer.

-Sally

Hockey sticks as a farm implement

2011-03-22T21:56:00.000-03:00

This is a disclaimer to any of you animal activists out there who've never dealt with cattle- you won't like this post.

When I first came to Mark's farm, maybe even for a visit before we were married, I remember seeing a broken hockey stick being thrown out. I promptly said, "Don't throw that out if you really plan on having cattle someday! You'll need it!"

Growing up, when we moved the cattle way up the back road to the summer pastures, we were all equipped with various sticks and shovel handles and placed strategically to prevent cattle, by whatever means necessary, from going where they weren't supposed to (into to the graveyard, or Grammy's house, or the wrong drive way, or down the big hill, etc.) Probably when we were smaller, the hockey sticks were meant more as a security tool for our peace of minds rather than an implement of cattle discipline. But as we got older, it became apparent that something about the shaft of an old hockey stick is a very effective means of moving a large beast.

When I showed my dismay at the tossing of the old stick at the Bernard farm, I was met with a face of utter dismay and the statement, "We'll NEVER use hockey sticks on cows here."

Now let me be clear, it's not like I grew up beating cows and calves for fun. We weren't put through any sort of cattle beating training and we didn't use them unless we had to. But until you've tried moving a big Charolais steer into a shute, or separating a Hereford from her calf or teaching a stubborn Angus calf to lead, you cannot possibly understand the strength and stubbornness that comes with 1200lbs of refusing muscle.

Anyway, the point of this story is that Poppy escaped yesterday afternoon while Mark was mucking out the barn before feeding. Up at the front barn I heard him whistling to the dog and looking a bit disgusted standing at the barn door while Poppy ran at high speed through the muck and the mud going everywhere but near the barn and near her bawling mother. While trying to keep Rosie in and coral the wild beast, the dog was being of NO assistance (read:being a royal pain). But between the two of us we somehow got her close enough to the door to grab her; with me behind twisting her tail and Mark holding onto her collar, trying to drag her in. Mark is not used to not being able to move something with sheer strength.

I'm pretty certain that if I could have seen into his eyes they would have been saying loud and clear, "Dammit, I could really use a broken hockey stick right now."

The moral of the story is to watch those things you say you'll 'NEVER say'.

Hope this finds you looking for signs of spring around every corner- it's coming!!!

-Sally

Alive and Dry

2011-03-19T09:20:00.000-03:00

I have been itching to get a post done for what feels like weeks now. Between a couple rounds with the flu, some water in the basement, a trip to the ACORN conference, a night owl baby and the daily rigors of life, leisure computer time has fallen pretty far down the list, if not off the list completely.

But I just wanted to let you know that Barnyard Organics is alive and well. The aforementioned ACORN conference was really great, again, and it was a special treat to have a two night stay in a hotel room with only one kid in tow! A big thanks to Poohie and Grampy for that vacation!

I am working on a project right now for a night called A Local M.E.A.L. (Meet, Eat And Learn) involving chefs, farmers, sellers and eaters where I will be presenting a talk called, "Why Organic Matters", using examples from our farm. This is a particular challenge for me in that there is a very specific format for the talk called, Pecha Kucha, which is new to me. It means that each speaker provides 20 photos/slides with each timed for 20 seconds so that the entire presentation cannot be longer than 6 mins 40 seconds. It has been a real challenge for me to reign in my words and make each one really count, since 20 seconds is NOT VERY LONG! Especially when it's something that I'm so passionate about. So that has been eating up any spare computer time, but I think I've started to get it wrapped up.

Well, according to the kids, time is up, so that's all you get from me for now.

Our website and email is back up and running so life goes on. I hope to post more soon.
Lambs have started to arrive and spring feels like it's on its way after all. Whew. Life goes on.

-Sally

Notice

2011-03-08T23:02:00.000-04:00

Please note that our email (info@barnyardorganics.ca) and website (barnyardorganics.ca) is currently down. Our alternative email contact is sallywb@gmail.com.

Looking forward to figuring out our technical problems and getting back on track.

Sally

The White Stuff

2011-02-25T22:52:00.001-04:00

These are good shots to start with because they show perfectly just how fed up Wilson is with all the snow. He's sort of marooned in the front yard, unwilling to go any further. I think we're all a overwhelmed with the snow this year, but most of us don't have to wear big bulky snowsuits and mittens that we can't get our thumbs in just right, or have 1.5 foot long legs.
As I write this I can see the freezing rain hitting the windows and having gone over for chores tonight, I'm doubtful it will make much of a dent in the snow we got today. Whew. It really came down from about 2 o'clock until it turned to freezing rain this evening at about 7:30. We will see what tonight and tomorrow brings, but they're calling for 'another weather system' on Monday and Tuesday. No rest for the wicked. Here are some shots of our back yard today.

This one is taken from our back basement door, looking out at the swing set (which you can barely see on the left hand side). I took both of these pictures holding the camera way above my head and shooting randomly, since the drifts are too high for me to see over.

This one shows the roof of our little shed and shows how close the drift is to my clothesline, which is on a rolling lock so it can lowered and raised. It's at it's highest setting in this picture. And again, with the camera held up over my head, this is all I can see.

Lucy, showing a little nature-made snow cave around the back corner. Also, conveniently right where the furnace oil guy needs to get to, so minimal shoveling to make him a path back there.

Here's a shot of a favorite moment of mine from my mom's latest visit when she made one of her stellar batches of bread with the kids. Wilson's face says it all. Pure happiness. Lucy is a little too important in her role as 'ball roller', to entertain photographers.

Here's a recent shot of the wee three Barnyards. Although as I type wee, I notice how big Thayne looks in this picture. He's grown out of his first round of sleepers and is into the 6-12 month ones already. Happy ONE month little guy!

This is the toothless grin of the compost turner. That's the forklift tines in the front right corner, so you're not confused. It did come with teeth, but they were worn and bent and most of them were useless so after much research and deliberation, Mark has ordered new teeth for the beast, but otherwise, it's living up to all expectations.

I don't know if you can see in this picture of a proud owner with his new toy, but the brand name is Wildcat and there's a cat face on the logo. When Lucy was getting the details on this new rig, we told her it's for turning poop. She looked carefully at the logo and said, "Is it for turning cat poop?" We had to admit that yes, it could be for turning cat poop, but that's not quite what we go it for.

On a final note, apparently in my last post, I perhaps made it sound like things on the farm were more lax than they seem. Or rather maybe I made it sound like because the farm was at a slow time of year, the farmer is also enjoying a slow time of year. I would like to take this moment to make a correction in that, while the farm may be tucked in quietly under a blanket of snow, the farmer is a busy little bee on the home front. Apparently I've been remiss to mention the endless 'honey do list' that he's been chipping away at. It's true that I have a very rugged, very useful platform for my washer and dryer. And it's true that my closet doors have got a new lease on life. It's true that the multiple small holes in my living room wall have been filled and painted. It's true that I very much appreciate all these things and am grateful to have a time of year in which my thoughtful husband sees fit to take advantage of 'projects' that otherwise get shifted down the list in warmer weather (understandably).

It's also true that I wish I could post more often than I do. I apologize if anyone who has been reading, is sorely disappointed that these days you're getting more pictures from home and less ag-related commentary. Don't despair! I'm keeping up to the ag-related stuff (like a crazy article I read today about a new bacterial pathogen related to GMO soybeans that is starting to show increased abortions in dairy cattle- yikes!), it's just tough to find/make the time to post it. I've been meaning to include this link to a Farmers Tribute that has been circulating my Facebook lately. It might be the residual hormones of post-pregnancy, but it pulls at my heart strings and makes me pretty proud of where I came from and what I'm working on for the next generation. Evidently, some of the pictures are for a specific farmer, but the content is for all farmers. (Bruce, I think you may especially enjoy it.)

I'll leave on a high note of two kids actually enjoying the snow. It's only February so we might as well settle in and enjoy the snowy ride.

Miss you!

-Sally

UnFarm Related

2011-02-16T14:03:00.000-04:00

Due to sub zero temperatures, many feet of snow and wee ones, pictures and stories of goings on from the farm are nil. I do well to make it to the farm more than once a day, so remembering to bring a camera and take mental notes is nearly more than I can handle at this point. SO, instead of inundating you with made up stories of what I THINK might be going on over there, I'll instead just inundate you with a selection of pictures of what I KNOW has been going on here. I call this collection "On the homefront- Winter 2011".

I love this picture for the look in their eyes. Don't you wonder what each is thinking?

I think this one is hilarious, because when I took it I didn't realize how prominent the hanging toys are in the foreground. The hippo looks like it's terrified and trying to warn me of impending doom (or rather Thayne, more accurately), while the butterfly and looking away, averting its eyes from whatever is going on behind it. Probably a good idea since this one of the many moments that Lucy is asserting herself as boss and hushing up Thayne by stogging the 'soozer' in his mouth.

Bath time. Fascinating for everyone.

My favorite!

This is actually a shot from our trip to West Branch. This is my Dad showing Lucy how to snowshoe.

Here's an example of two fine Canadian winter past-times.1) a man shoveling snow off a roof (in this case, it's the arbor out back, outside the bathroom window) and 2) watching a man shovelling snow. Better than TV!

And speaking of TV, here's the older two teaching Thayne early, to enjoy the moments of TV, since they are a treat. Note the silencer (soother) in place so as not to ruin the time of indulgence.

The book box, apparently more comfortable than the couch and chair?

Isn't this a wise creature.

-Sally

Auctioning off Computer Time

2011-01-31T13:38:00.002-04:00

If you assumed that my lack of posting was due to having a new baby in the already crazy house, you would be partially correct. You would be even more correct however, if you guessed that my lack of posting is due to a lack of computer access because the farm manager has been completely consumed with an online auction. Finally, this morning, his anxiety was laid to rest as Barnyard Organics became the proud owners of a second hand compost turner. And if you assumed that computer time would only be taken up by an online auction in which the bidders could see each other's bids, you would be wrong. This was closed bidding, but that apparently doesn't stop a bidder from checking the site obessively, brooding over the bid, hoping (in vain) that some computer glitch might magically reveal other bidders offers, etc. Anyway, as I said, thankfully, life in the office can return to normal, now that the auction is over and the compost turner has found it's long lost owner.

The next thing on the agenda is to organize it's trip home from Dartmouth and then the subsequent evenings spent in the barn, tinkering and fixing and taking apart and puttering about. There is nothing like a new toy on the farm, and to be honest, one won through an auction seems to feel even more gratifying.

Life with the new baby is going well. Thayne is very easy going (so far) and seems to have settled right in amongst the chaos, calmly watching the world (and it's toddlers) rush past (stopping for the occasional head pat, soft-spot-poke).
There's been a few storms since I last posted and the snow is starting to accumulate, although according to my family members in NB, we've got NOTHING on them. Word on the noon radio show today is of a couple more storms on the way. Let 'er come, as they say. And admittedly, the weather between the storms is actually quite lovely. Crisp and wintery, but not burn-your-face-off cold or anything. The evenings have been particularly nice lately. Thayne doesn't even notice that we're outside as he's bundled up in his carseat in the wagon to go to chores.

The sheep are doing well. The mothers are starting to look a little wore down as their lambs are getting bigger and greedier. I need to get some more probiotic to get them back into shape (and not skimp on the creep feed). The next batch due to lamb in March/April are starting to fill out, which is good, since they were looking not so great back in December.

And of course, after committing 20 dozen eggs to the ACORN conference, the chickens decided that this cold weather was not their cup of tea and have implemented a boycott, by stopping laying. We were slow/late getting the heat lamp in there during the cold snap and I correctly worried that a couple days later they would quit. Let's hope we can kick start them back up again soon. Warm porridge some morning maybe? Suggestions welcome.

Well, 2 of three kids are napping. I'm off to get the third (the eldest and most difficult) off to the same fate in the magical hopes that I may myself get to nap too!!! weeeehoo!

Hope this finds you well rested.

-Sally

The new Arrival..... Thayne Frederick Bernard

2011-01-21T09:51:00.000-04:00

Hi All faithful followers it has finally happened this morning at 7:30 am Sally gave birth to our third child.
A healthy and well fed little (somewhat little )boy.
I am writing this shortly after the picture of Thayne and I and I think I feel as tired as I look.

post again soon
mark

Tick tock tick tock

2011-01-20T10:11:00.001-04:00

Just waiting...Today is the 'official' due date, although that apparently means nothing to my babies, who prefer to make a fashionably late entrance, usually a week late. Nothing like anticipation I guess? Anyway, much more so with this one than the previous two, I am more than ready and anxious to be 'done being pregnant'. Sleep and comfort elude me and the usual anxiety that accompanies giving birth hasn't even crossed this radar. Just get it done!!! Every little twinge makes my wishful thinking brain think that maybe the show is getting on the road, but nope...nothing yet. Stay tuned. I haven't posted anything in a while for a couple reasons; mostly because there isn't much going on at the farm these days. This is slow, quiet time for Barnyard Organics and I have to say I'm really enjoying it. Besides being meeting season, the farm itself has settled into a nice routine of regular chores and puttering jobs, but there isn't that spring/summer/fall sense of urgency.

The other reason I haven't written much is because I keep hoping that the next post will be a birth announcement. SURELY, after this one...?

So, not much farm news, besides the fact that this batch of lambs is growing as fast as I've ever seen lambs grow. There are two ram lambs who are over 35lbs already and looking REALLY good. I am very pleased. Atta boy Duncan!

Mark's parents received a gift certificate for Christmas for a sleigh ride with a local company and took the opportunity last weekend to take us all out for a ride. It was a beautiful day and the freshly fallen snow was just like a postcard. Here's Lucy enjoying herself and reveling in being 'right by the horsies!"

All else is pretty quiet. We've had some pretty cold days and with my energy level being at a low, getting outdoors, let alone staying outdoors, seems like a more daunting task than I'm willing to tackle, so we've been a bit housebound. The favorite dress up game since Christmas is "Shepherds" which involves some pretty simple costumes (see below) and some plush sheep. You'd have to be a pretty wily coyote to get past this vigilant duo.

Looking forward to the next post, which will surely carry something more exciting than this one!!

Hope this finds you fending off the January blues (I find that discounted Christmas chocolate helps!) and maybe enjoying looking through the bright colours of seed catalogues for the spring!

-Sally

A Play in Four Acts

2011-01-05T20:42:00.000-04:00

Farmers have proven to be one of the most philanthropic members of society, volunteering to sit on numerous boards, committees and organizations. For a group of people whose jobs don't really have set hours or regular schedules, this can be challenging, and inevitably means a shuffling of the usual routine from time to time. Certain times of the year, there are more meetings than usual because it may considered a 'slow time' in the farming world (ie. right now) and easier to get a bunch of farmers together at once. This play is one example of what can happen on the occasional meeting night for one farmer. It would be well-performed by daydreamers who are saving up all of their pennies to someday live on the farm of their dreams and want to experience what 'it's really like'.(That said, in retrospect, I wouldn't trade it for the world)

Chores, When Dad's Away.

Act 1, Scene 1
The father of the house is rushing to get out for his evening meeting and is already running late. Three individuals, the mother and two children, sit on the stairs, trying to get themselves bundled up for chores.
Father: Ok, I'm outta here.
Daughter: I can't find my boot!!!!!!
Mother: Just look around Lucy, it's here somewhere. Mark, you'd better go, you're going to be late.
Father:Yeah, I know, ok, I'm gone.
Daughter (having a fit):MY BOOT IS GONE!!!!! wannnnhghhhhhh!!!!
Son (having a fit-seemingly wanting to go with Father): wannnnhhhh!
Mother: Lucy, enough! We'll wear your rubber boots, we'll find your boot tomorrow. Oh MARK! Don't forget to take eggs! Maybe someone at the meeting will want some! WILSON, SIT STILL!!!! Lucy, get a kleenex,wipe your face and stop whining.

Scene 2
It is a snowy, blowy night with not a star to be seen in the sky. Dark, cold and miserable, even the farm dog is hiding out in the barn, rather than waiting for his usual after-supper bone on the doorstep.

Mother: Ok, let's go. Lucy you lead the way, Wilson you hold my hand.
Daughter: Wahhnnnn...the snow is DEEP! The wind is COLD! It's DARK!
Son: wannhhhhhhhh
Mother: Ok, I know it's cold, but the faster we go, the sooner we'll be done. Let's go.
Son (a screaming dead-weight lump on a log): wannhhhhhhh
Mother gears up a sled which the dead-weight son immediately rolls off of and refuses to move, with the exception of the odd foot kick or arm throw in tantrum mode. Daughter continues to fuss and whine in the foreground.
Mother tries to open the door on the old half ton in the yard in desperation, but the doors are both frozen solidly shut. Van is gone to meeting with Father. Legs are the only mode of transportation to the farm-not usually a problem, until tonight.
In a fit herself, Mother throws son over her shoulder and grabs daughter by wrist, hauling both of them through growing snow drifts with a strength that can only be found deep within an impatient, tired, 8 and a half month pregnant woman.
Son: WANNNHHHHHH!!!
Daughter: You're hurting me! My toes are COLD! Wannhhhhh
Mother-silent but deadly.

Act 2
The scene is the chicken coop; first stop on the chore menu. On this night of nights, all three waterers are completely empty and have apparently been this way for at least an hour or two as the hens all scramble to get outside for a feed of snow as soon as the door is open. Mother is clearly impressed. Son is continuing his tantrum outside the coop while the daughter has smartly taken cover in the main barn, 'sorting' sockets, wrenches and other tools, all while still whining. Mother enacts the icy walk from the hen house to the main barn and back again, referenced in the previous blog entry, twice. She also gathers 42 eggs, all the while thinking of the 15 dozen that are currently taking up space back at her house. No dialogue in this scene with the exception of Son's screams, Daughter's whines and Mother's muttering curses. At the end of the scene there is a scurry of chickens and fluttering of feathers as they are not-so-gently herded back into the hen house for the night.

Act 3
The scene is the sheep barn. Son is continuing his fit like a real trooper, this time inside the main barn, throwing himself around in a slushy puddle near the door. Daughter decides to break the whining for a brief moment to 'help mommy' with the sheep.
Mother (perusing her flock as she feeds the grain, mutters to herself): Yep, the tiny one is still tiny and the fat old ewe is still just fat, not pregnant at all. (Insert expletive)
Daughter: Black sheep? Where is the black sheep Mommy? Do we have a black sheep?
Mother: No Lucy, FAT sheep. I thought she was going to be a mommy, but she's just fat.
Daughter: Like you Mommy, with your fat belly with your baby?
Mother sighs: Yes. Yes, just like me.
During this dialogue the mother is trying to squeeze around the large round bale in the alleyway that was designed without a pregnant girth in mind. It is also a new bale, so is really much too heavy for her to unroll to feed. Again, in a fit of strength that only a tired mother of 2.5 children can summon, she rolls the new bale onward and feeds the bleating crew. Son in the background continues to cry. Daughter is reluctant to leave the sheep barn and resumes whining when she realizes that the trio must now trudge out to the cow barn.
Daughter: My toes are cold MOMMY!! I have to PEE MOMMY!
Mother: You'll have to wait.
Daughter: I CAN'T! I have to PEE!
Mother looks out the window and sees that grandparents who live on the farm, are not home.
Mother: Well, if you can't wait, you'll have to just pee in your snowpants, we can wash them.
Daughter, realizing her quest for a grandparent visit has been foiled, ups the ante on the whining.
Son assists by raising his own volume, and pitch.

Act 4
After a desperate struggle to get out to the cow barn, amidst newly forming drifts, blowing ice pellets, two crying children and a armload of grain, mother and two children make it to the side door to discover that it will open just wide enough for them to get in, but not really wide enough for numerous forkloads of manure to successfully exit the building, as per usual practice.
Mother:(insert muttering expletives here)
Daughter: ROSIE'S POOPING AGAIN! DON'T FORGET THAT POOP! LOTS OF POOP TONIGHT!
Son: wannhhhhh
Daughter: wannhhh!!! I wanted to do the water!!!!
Mother: Rosie's not on her chain Lucy, she's too cranky for you to be in here on your own. Tonight I'm going to do the water.
Daughter: WANNNHHHHHHH!!
Mother continues to fork manure, unsuccessfully away from the doorway outside the barn while Rosie patiently waits for her grain. Poppy has decided that tonight is not chore time at all, but rather play time/rodeo and is chasing the Mother around and around, kicking and jumping. For the first time, both kids stop whining and begin to giggle.
Mother attempts to herd Poppy into her nighttime pen, but the rodeo continues for several minutes. While frustrated, the mother takes a moment to enjoy the fact that both kids are not screaming for once this evening. That wears off quickly and anger sets in. The fork ceases to be simply a vehicle for manure and becomes a weapon. Poppy gets into her pen, Rosie gets her grain and the trio head homeward.
The trek home is as 'fun' as the trek over and can either be re-enacted or simply remembered fondly. The scene ends with all three slumped in the front hall in a pile of wet, cold clothes, tears and snot.

There is something to be said for solidarity.

-Sally

Retrospect = 20/20

2010-12-31T13:57:00.001-04:00

It seems appropriate that I'm suddenly full of hindsight on the dawn of a new year, but it really has more to do with the sudden onset of a cold winter and circumstances colliding to make a clearer view of certain choices.

Firstly, it's funny how short a memory can be when things are going well and buying twice as many laying hens as previous years seems like a good idea and a brilliant business decision. Hens, after all, are the lowest maintenance animal there is, aren't they? I mean, they don't eat much, they peck around all summer and stay inside all winter, giving fresh eggs everyday. That whole, giving eggs everyday however, can be a problem, when customers take Christmas vacation from eating eggs and the farmers (who happen to be the main egg consumers) go off to NB for three days. What results is a ridiculous amount of eggs upon return.

So, when we decided to get twice as many hens, we apparently also made the decision to keep our year-old ladies on over the winter (which we've never done before). It seems silly to kill off year old birds who are still producing an egg every few days. That is until you find yourself laid on your back on the icy precipice that is the walk from the coop the main barn (where the water source is), having just dumped the entire water feeder all over yourself when you slipped (and having just filled it that morning). That is until you have a child who refuses to walk and sits on the same icy path, screaming his face off until you respond, two buckets of eggs, and a bucket full of milk in hand, ready for the long trek home. That is until you begin to hate even thinking about opening the door of the coop which houses those dreaded birds that you so enjoyed watching throughout the summer, happily picking through your leaves and lawn.

My vote, having now seen the light of retrospect, is to kill off the old ladies (I don't CARE how productive they continue to be in their maturity) and NEVER ever again order twice as many as we currently have customers for, not matter 'how easy it is to sell eggs' at the time.

And speaking of a kid who won't walk, hindsight tells me that although it may have been always easier to just pick him up and truck him along wherever we wanted to go, it taught him nothing and now makes for a miserable EVERYBODY, as the prospect of a baby sibling who actually REQUIRES carrying, looms near. A battle of who-is-more-stubborn, in the parking lot of every store in Summerside, does not make for a happy mother, thus an unhappy household. It also makes for a cold wet bum of the boy having the tantrum in the slush and a cold, impatient sister. Good times.

Hindsight has also taught me to pick very different marker colours for the rams when I do two different breeding groups. Blue and green turn out to be VERY similar when it comes to separating the ewes and depriving a ewe of any grain prior to lambing seems to make a big difference in the lamb itself. The morning we were scheduled to leave for NB, I went out to the barn, checked over the two ewes I had left to lamb, fed everyone and happened to notice a strange, tiny little white lump curled up on the WRONG side of the barn (the side of the barn where the ewes not due until March are housed). It's mother was at the manger eating away and the little cat-sized thing was pathetically trying to make itself comfortable in the straw. We DID eventually get to NB (for a great visit I might mention) and the lamb continues to do fine, but after letting it out with the rest of the flock for a day, I could see that it was too far behind the rest of the rambunctious lambs to really strive. So, her and her mother have their own deluxe pen in the corner of the barn and she seems to be much happier (she at least isn't getting plowed over and looking so pathetic as the rest of the lambs romp and play). Result? Dramatically different coloured markers and watching the calendar to ensure that the ram is taken out at least a couple weeks before Christmas lambs would be due to arrive. On the upside, I've never seen growth in lambs like I am in these ones. They are all singles, which is really ideal as far as I'm concerned, and there were two rams who were big to begin with, but they seem to have quadrupled their weight in only a couple weeks. Must be that Cheviot blood. Thanks Duncan!

In other news, my Christmas present was the kitchen island I've been nagging for ever since we moved into this house and retrospect asks me why we didn't do it sooner. It's perfect.

Here's before:

And here's after!

Here's a few pics from our Christmas;

At 5am, Wilson was more interested in stogging his stocking chocolate in before someone told him otherwise, than the presents.

Wilson and his Dad inspecting/fighting over the new Massey tractor from Poohie and Grampy. "It even has a manure scoop on it!"

Lucy and I trying out my new pasta machine. It works like a dream and is a great 'helper' sort of job!

Lucy and her Grampy in West Branch having a feed of nuts.

My sister April getting an accordion lesson from Dad, with an audience looking on in excitement and I'm sure, adoration!

It was a beautiful, family filled Christmas and I feel so blessed. The weather outside is chilly, but as it should be this time of year. As I read in a poem a few weeks ago an old man was asked if he didn't hate the Maritime winters after all these years and he replied something to the tune of,

"The pantry's full of food, the shed is full of wood, the loft is full of hay, let 'er come."

I feel the very same.

Have a fun and cozy New Years and a healthy, happy 2011!

-Sally

Christmas Wish

2010-12-22T21:36:00.000-04:00

Despite being the youngest of nine kids, due to a significant age gap, I grew up more like an only child, but in a busier house than normal. Maybe that's why I remember so clearly the day in the car that I asked my dad if the big guy in red was real...at the age of 12. And his always infinitely patient but ever-so-slightly exasperated answer of, "What do YOU think?" to a child whose peers had known the truth for half their lifetime already.
Maybe that naivete is what makes me so sentimental about Christmas and all the traditions. Maybe it's the pregnancy hormones too, or the veil of 'tired' that has become part of my wardrobe lately, but it doesn't take much for me to get happy and nostalgic to the point of tears these days.

My mom began a tradition a couple decades ago (can't be decades!!) of each year making a Christmas tree ornament for each of her grandchildren so that when they grew up and moved away, they would have their own set of ornaments to take with them to their respective Christmas trees. Back to being a pseudo only-child, and perhaps because she had a grand daughter older than me, I managed to get onto the list of ornament recipients each year as well. So now, when I dig out the shoebox full of ornaments each year, I get to walk through a bit of a time warp as each ornament finds its place on the tree (now out of reach of stretched out hands), and although each one doesn't necessarily carry a specific memory of that year or something significant, together, the set of those ornaments takes me right back to West Branch and where I came from. My sister, April, did much the same with me, creating (yes, always handmade-despite being a mom of three wee ones) unique and pertinent decorations for my Christmas collection and those ornaments tell each of their own stories as well.

So, in the spirit of nostalgia and that genuine heartstring-pulling feeling that comes only at Christmas, I send you a very sincere Barnyard Organics Merry Christmas.

I hope you ~~get~~ make time for those you love, especially over the holidays which are actually designed for just that.
I hope you make time for yourself, to sit back and reflect on all the blessings, all the good things that you are so fortunate to enjoy. I hope you also sit back and reflect on the harder times and what those have done to you and for you.
May you remember those no longer with you and celebrate the joy that they specifically brought to the season.
May you look excitedly upon a whole new year, a whole new set of opportunities waiting to be found out and promise yourself to tackle at least one thing that makes you nervous/scared/apprehensive.
I hope that you eat until you are full and content and take a moment to think about the source of that food, where it came from, who might have raised/grown it.
I hope that you are able to give a gift that you really want to give.

No matter your background, may you make time to reflect on the origins of this holiday for you and the importance of religion in an increasingly secular, and world.

Enjoy the simple things within your traditions, whatever they may be.
Like, the way a Christmas tree lights up a room in the early morning hours.
Or how neighbors suddenly stop in, just for a visit, unlike any other time of year.
The tell-tale evidence of powdered sugar on grinning faces.
The smells of the greenery and tree, the baking, the turkey, snow (we hope), the orange in the toe of your stocking.
The sharp crack of a hazelnut, walnut or almond being broken into and promptly gobbled up.
The laughter, stories, music and games that come with family.

The overwhelming warmth of being 'home' and full and completely content.

Lambing continues here and the wind and rain are unrelenting, but the spirit of Christmas is filling us up, none-the-less. Lucy continues to fill the house with caroling at all times and Wilson seems to have a sense of excitement, combined with complete obliviousness. No one seems sure what will happen after 'three more sleeps', but the sense seems to be that it's going to be good!

So, from our wee shepherds, to you, have yourself a merry little Christmas and enjoy every moment.

-Sally

Rumens and Humans

2010-12-12T09:53:00.001-04:00

The Christmas tree salespeople have been on the news lately complaining of low sales as apparently the sale of artificial trees is growing each year. They said that the lack of snow is one of the main reasons that people haven't bought their trees yet, so they should be happy today. We've gotten a pretty, nice little dusting over the last couple days and there is just enough to make things sparkly without needing a shovel. It's supposed to turn mild tomorrow, so we might take advantage of the frost in the ground today to go find ours, even though we won't put it up for at least another week. The spot on the farm that seems to have the most fir trees borders a plowed field this year, so it's going to be a bumpy ride back (and we hope the tree survives with only one busted up side after being hauled behind whatever implement we choose to go back with), but adventurous as usual.

I haven't posted in a while, for no real significant reason. I'm starting to slow down (rather reluctantly) and am getting more tired everyday, so when I would usually be writing a blog entry, I am instead laid out somewhere, 'vegging' as they say. Lambs have started to arrive (a couple days late for the Sunday School concert photos) and so far so good. The first guy was big and had to be pulled and he looks like he's three weeks old already. He's got the cute North Country Cheviot face and proves his heritage by being an excellent jumper (Cheviots are notoriously 'crazy' and jumpy).

In other sheep news, we have finally purchased our own ram. After trading with my mom and trying out the renting thing, it only made sense that as we're trying to be a fairly closed flock and we're organic, we have our own man about town, if you will. He's young yet, but turning out to be a handsome fellow. We'll see how his progeny turns out when my second batch of ladies start to lamb in March. Although I like having the Cheviot blood in my flock, there seems to be a bit of a market developing for purebred breeding stock right now, so it will be nice to have some pure dorsets around again.

Sticking with the ruminants, milking has fallen into a nice little routine of milking as much as we need/want in the morning, letting the calf out for the day, then shutting her in at night when we feed Rosie so that there will be lots of milk in the morning again. We seem to have rid Rosie of most of her annoying mannerisms while milking, although my patience wears thinner much quicker than Mark's on most days (no surprise there I'm sure). I'm including a rare picture of me (or rather, mostly just my ample nose) milking the cow in my "beautiful pea green boat' as Mark so affectionately calls my self-made maternity one-piece snow suit. It's only self made in that nearly all the seams in the back have been completely ripped out to make room in the front for a growing belly. And since I washed it a couple weeks ago, most of the seams on the inside have let go as well, so the pockets no longer hold anything and half the time I shove my hand or feet into the stuffing rather than into a sleeve. But it does the job, so no complaints here. Only from Mark who seems mortified everytime I put it on (even though we're only going to the barn!).

Here's a growing Poppy.

On our first milk product adventure we made butter, which actually turned out far better than I expected. It was really easy (ok ok, Mark did the hardest part-shaking the cream) and is pretty much exactly the same as 'boughten'. Cream seems to carry more of a 'homemade' milk flavour than the milk itself, and my 'delicate palate' (har har) can pick it up in the butter, but overall, I was pretty impressed.

Here's some fresh homemade bread, half eaten, made with Speerville flour (NB), spread with Barnyard Organics butter.

Here's my little snow bunny, after my own heart, gathering up as much of a handful of the white stuff as she can to have a little snack first thing this beautiful morning.
The Sunday School concert is next week, which means today is our last practice, so I'd better go get my Nativity Scene director's hat on (and maybe tie on a few extra patience to boot). I hear Mark battling over church clothes with our increasingly independent duo upstairs, I'd better go begin my own battle with the closet of muumuus.

Hope this finds your squinting at the snow in the sunlight, or at least enjoying the view of whatever is out your window today.

-Sally

Organic Christmas!

2010-12-04T09:49:00.000-04:00

Have an Organic Christmas!

Barnyard Organics is excited to be offering, for the first time, a Christmas promotion that is sure to please all you health and environmentally conscious eaters out there!

For the low price of only $75 you will receive a hamper that includes **

Two organic chickens (5 lbs.each avg.) (value of $35)

Three packs of organic lamb chops (1 lb./pk) or One organic lamb roast (value of $30)

Two dozen organic brown eggs (value of $8)

One package of ground lamb or lamb sausage (value of $8)

A coupon for a 2 for 1 discount on fresh chickens or lamb in 2011.

A jar of mint jelly to accompany the lamb

Booklet with directions for cooking organic meats and recipe ideas for the holidays!

**substitutions/additions can be arranged

This is a great chance for anyone new to lamb, to try it out and experience the flavour you’ve been missing out on. The new smell of Christmas at your house will be a lamb roast with rosemary and mint, wafting through the halls. And with the recipe ideas, you won’t be left wondering the best way to serve all your organic meat!

We also have individual chickens available for sale, as well as lamb, so if the above deal doesn’t suit your needs, I’m sure we can accommodate your Christmas wishes.

As you know, all of our animals are raised on pasture and fed only the highest quality organic hay and grains, grown right here on the farm. Our laying hens are still out and about, picking through the snow and running through the mud. Our new lambs are arriving as this goes out and while we wait for our own new baby (#3) to arrive in January, life on the farm in 2011 is already looking busy and bright! Read our blog (www.barnyardorganics.blogspot.com) to keep up to date with the farm and the family.

This is a limited time offer until Christmas and once the meat is gone, so is the deal, so don’t wait! We will deliver to Charlottetown and Summerside for your convenience.

Mark, Sally, Lucy and Wilson Bernard

Barnyard Organics

Freetown, PE C0B1L0

887-3188

info@barnyardorganics.ca

www.barnyardorganics.ca

Bolt or Armstrong?

2010-12-02T11:26:00.000-04:00

I realize you are all tired of hearing about milking a cow, but I have one last comment to make. Rosie seems to have settled in nicely to our routine and we have a LOT of milk, which is great. We keep Poppy in her own pen overnight, so morning milkings are the most successful and the evening ones are really just to empty her out for the long, calf-less night ahead. Despite my repeated moans, "My hands aren't getting any stronger! I can't go any longer now than I could two weeks ago!", I think I am getting more milk than ever in the small burst of speedy milking that I do. If I am Usain Bolt however, Mark is Lance Armstrong (I realize they are completely different sports- but the Armstrong pun was too good to resist). By that I mean, he is slower, but manages to last much longer and get more milk than I do, and also a frothier foam on the top, which according my books is the true indicator of a successful milker. In any case, both Bolt and Armstrong get their chance to shine and Rosie doesn't protest when we move from one to other, so things are good on that front.

In other livestock news, each morning when I go to the sheep barn I say a quiet, quick little wish into the grain bin that when I open the door, there will be baby lambs waiting to greet me. According to my calendar they should be here by now, or any minute and although I'm always eager to have the first lambs this year there is added urgency. Firstly, the Sunday school group from our church is coming out on Sunday to take photographs of a living nativity scene to be shown at the Christmas concert and baby lambs are sort of a key cast member in charge of the cuteness factor of the photographs. Secondly, I don't particularly want to be checking the barn come Christmas. I am looking forward to getting home to West Branch for a couple days after Christmas and leaving a lactating cow is chore enough, baby lambs yet to arrive would probably push my favour-asking over the limit of my accommodating in-laws. But with only eight ewes bred (or so I think) for this early lambing, once they start, surely they will team up and get it done at once.

I am continuing to expand and each day regular activities get just a little trickier. I am starting to get to the point where I'm getting excited to meet this little critter, although I am really glad that Christmas will be over first. January is usually a quiet sort of month (relative to the previous one at least) and although I always said November (Lucy) was a worse time to have a baby than April (Wilson), I think January will be just fine.

Mark is busy roasting beans and although the markets were looking a bit worrisome at first, they seem to have come around and kicked it into gear, for now. At least the roaster is getting some action. It puts out such a delicious smell!

We have a great Christmas promotion on our products right now, keep your eyes peeled for its blog debut very soon!

-Sally

Milking tips welcome!

2010-11-21T19:58:00.000-04:00

So the learning continues here at Barnyard Organics where our latest and largest challenge is Rosie's preference for...er...eliminating during milking. I think we're slowly breaking the habit with some good jabs and...um...stern talking to's. We've also refined things a bit with a sturdy floor for milking, versus the bedpack and found that even though we're sharing the milk with Mark's sister, we simply can't use it all fast enough, so are trying letting the calf out with her most of the time. We milk her out twice a day and still have lots, so until there seems to be a problem, I think this will work best for everyone.

This is another case of Mark doing something that is usually not done, or even frowned upon by most farmers and me playing the role of doubting Thomas, giving all the reasons it shouldn't work. Why don't more one-cow milkers leave the calf with the cow? Why don't any of the hippie family cow books that I have, discuss that as a real option? Is it because more people use more milk than we do? Is it bad for the cow? I'm watching diligently for signs of mastitis, but it seems to reason that as long as we are milking her out dry twice a day, it should be fine, right?

Anyway, I guess we'll see. Here's a rather bug-eye picture of Miss Poppy who is much cuter in person. She's got a very 'beefy' build to her, but a cute little face. We're not sure of her future yet, but for now she makes for good giggles as she bounds around the barn.

Not much else new here. Got a nice dose of snow last night and Lucy and I have been having some delicious white mitt-fulls for snacks (although not enough for a full bowl yet). Cracking the layer of ice on the water troughs has been added to the chore list, but other than that, life is trucking along quite nicely.

I had a nice, quick visit to my home in NB and came back with a dish of maple butter, which along with the Jersey cream and a guilty conscience that left with the warm weather, has been making for a rounder me.

Since I've been a bit lacking on the rants lately, I'll just leave you with this.

I see where fast-food giant, Wendy's, is advertising "Natural Fries" because they have sea salt, rather than regular salt. I think this is a perfect example of just how fluent and useless the word "natural" is when it comes to our food. There are no standards, no requisites, NOTHING that makes something natural other than the label. So, when you're looking at a product that says it's natural, remember that it could mean that the farmer just doesn't want to certify organic for some reason, or it could mean that they're using sea salt rather than table salt, or...it could mean nothing at all. If you really want to be sure, go with a standard that has a set of strict rules, is enforced and monitored; like organic certification. Just sayin'.

Here are my sous-chefs at work, testing the durability of my kitchen drawers.

Hope this finds you cuddled up cozy enjoying the first true signs of winter!

-Sally

A New Frontier

2010-11-15T13:26:00.000-04:00

I don't know whether it's because my expectations were exceedingly low or whether it's because Mark seems to have a natural skill for milking a cow, but the whole milking thing has been going much better than anticipated, on my end at least.

This morning marks the 5th milking and most of what we've heard suggests that within a day or two the milk will take the turn from thick, sticky, yellow colostrum to drinkable, creamy Jersey milk.

I'm blaming my large belly on my lack of natural aptitude for milking, but I think I just need to suck it up and spend some more time trying, because mostly it's just my hands that tire out. We also haven't found the right size bucket or box for either one of us, so in these early days of time consuming milkings, it's not the most comfortable situation. Also, we have a nice stainless steel bucket, but it's too slippery to hold between our knees, so it ends up just sitting on the straw beneath the cow, which isn't ideal by any means. She doesn't move much, but some movement is inevitable and having the bucket in prime stepping range is tricky business.

The other challenge has been our previously friendly cow Rosie turning into a child-hating demon. We don't let the kids in the barn with her, but she will charge the door and gate if they are on the other side and paw at the straw like a bull in a movie. She seems to be threatened by Lucy even more than our dog. And Lucy has actually been really good about being calm and quiet around the barn for now. So, just another little challenge with wee ones around.

NOTE: Was interrupted at this point while writing this for a phone call from a man unloading grain over at the farm to tell me that Mark broke his hand and needs a drive to the hospital. Thankfully, the x-rays showed no breaks, just severe bruising. It was from a crank that raises and lowers the augers that snapped back around, caught Mark's hand and stopped when it hit his elbow. He got a stitch or two on his elbow since the crank hit hard enough to break the skin through 3 layers of heavy clothing, but there was ZERO wait at the hospital and things went smoothly. So as per expected, Mark is out and about on the farm, with a wrapped hand and bandaged elbow and full of painkillers, waiting for the frost to finally dry off so he can get the last 20 acres of soybeans off the field. We'll see how THAT goes.

Anyway, sadly enough, my first thought when I got that phone call was, "OH NO! I'm going to have to milk that cow all by myself!!!!" Hahaha. You can see that the sympathy runs pretty deep around here.

In other news, while I was waiting at the pharmacy to pick up Mark's prescription, I got a chance to (finally) pick up a copy of the latest Saltscapes magazine (a beautiful glossy paged magazine featuring unique and interesting articles about the Atlantic Provinces) and had a few minutes to browse through a great feature on organic and no-spray farming by Jodi DeLong. Jodi had contacted us a few months ago about the article and a photographer had come by to take some pictures a few weeks ago, so we were looking forward to seeing it and as with everytime we're in some kind of publication, you can never really prepare yourself with how it will look in the final version. There are three photos of the farm, including one of us near the grain tanks, Mark holding some grain and a hen, posing coquettishly. The article includes a profile of two other young organic and/or no-spray farms as well as an overview of new/young farmers and opportunities in the Maritimes. I recommend you pick it up, if for no other reason that check out the pics of Barnyard Organics of course!! And to tell me that I DO look pregnant, not just fat. hahahahahaha!!

Well, I'd best be off to do some hand strengthening exercises in preparation for tonight's milking. We'll see if the next milking update blog post is nearly as optimistic as this one started out! Bah. :)

Hope this finds you healthy and able-bodied.

-Sally

Poppy Arrives!

2010-11-12T09:11:00.000-04:00

As predicted by our dairy-expert friend, Rosie gave birth to a big heifer calf this morning. We figured it was close enough to Remembrance Day to call her Poppy (that will also help in the future when we can't remember how old she is).
So that's the news from Freetown this morning! Now comes the many adventures of learning how to milk a cow, what to do with the calf, etc. I feel a learning curve (and new forearm muscles) coming up!!!!

I hope your day is as beautiful as our weather is here! Blue skies, sun shine and the crispness that only November can offer.

-Sally

Quick Farm Updates

2010-11-09T22:54:00.000-04:00

As per the original plans, we tried out the big round bale in the 'new' sheep barn yesterday. And I will have to admit that it worked pretty well. So far, anyway. Mark did the rolling, after the tractor tipped it in the doorway, but it rolled a lot easier than I thought- especially for having a square side after a few months outside. If you haven't guessed, we moved the girls in, out of the rain. We probably could have gotten a little bit more out of the pasture, but this rain just isn't giving up and I could see visions of footrot and moisture-loving parasites breeding in the bazillions with every raindrop. So, we moved them into a pretty cozy, dry and breezy barn where they can laze around and eat to their hearts content. About half of them are due to lamb in a month or so, so I wanted to start giving them a little bit of grain to get their condition up after a long summer on pasture. I also like to give some probiotic at this stage, and it's easiest to give with the grain, so we'll be starting that up soon too. Ah yes, back to winter chores.

Speaking of winter chores, if there is one thing I can say about Mark, it is that he does not 'arse around' when it comes to getting things done. I hadn't even mentioned trimming sheep feet, and in fact had suggested that it probably wasn't a big priority right now, but when the kids and I went over the barn this afternoon, there he was in the tell tale postion; bent over, red-faced, cursing and struggling with ewes who refuse to take a good pedicure like a lady. You can see Wilson playing the role of apprentice, preparing for the day he can take over this favorite chore of a shepherd (or a shepherdess' husband in this case!).

In other news, our new hens have FINALLY started to lay!! We got them about a month later than other years and it feels like eternity since they first stepped onto the farm back in June to last week when we rejoiced over the first tiny egg. Since we have 28 of the new girls and still have 20 of the oldies, we didn't want to put them all together in the oldies pen. The oldies are sooo bossy and territorial that they don't let the young'uns eat or roost or anything, and numbers this year just didn't leave us enough room to put them all together. So Mark (again, not wasting any time!) put together a pretty cozy sorority house for the young ones.

I'm not sure what the establishment of such a lush coop means for the future of all the old girls (since we usually...er...dispose of them when the new ones start laying, but everyone is still laying pretty well, and with the extra house...who knows! It could make for a LOT of eggs around, but I'll worry about that great kind of problem when it happens.

I had to include this picture that I found while going through some photos and it stopped me in my tracks. I always say how much Wilson looks like his Dad, but this pic really proves it. There is no denying the genes in this pool!

Hope this finds you high and dry!

-Sally

A Not- So Fine Line

2010-11-09T15:00:00.000-04:00

I stated a while ago that I was going to branch out and do some reviews of the various food/agriculture events that we go, but then after the Roving Feast, fell a bit flat on that promise. Not from lack of thought or neglect however. I have been purposely contemplating how to write my review of "Nigwek: Festival for an Organic PEI" and the "Organic Harvest Festival" because some good friends of ours (and readers of this blog) played key organizational roles in both and I don't want to seem ungrateful, but I (as usual?) have some complaints. Well, just one complaint really.

Both of the events were geared for the general public, not the farmers. And I can appreciate that both are trying to ease the public into the idea that organic can be an everyday commitment, not a rare treat. Nigwek had a small mix of farm vendors, but was really about the speakers and the music and promoting the idea that an organic PEI is something that we can actually strive for. Admittedly, Nigwek never claimed to showcase the organic farmers, so I guess I can't fault them for that.
Overall, I suppose that it was a pretty big success by most benchmarks. It was a very windy, but very sunny Sunday afternoon and there were thousands of people who passed through Victoria Row, browsing through the vendors, listening to the music and taking it all in. As promised, there was a diverse and good mix of music for all tastes, good speakers and it was essentially, a street party for the masses, aimed at promoting organics.
We had some problems with our plans to cook our edamame on site, due to some Coleman stove issues (and the wind) and the organizers were quick to step up and find an alternative. We had the kids with us for the day, which always adds an extra element of chaos, and my nerves may have been a bit stretched to start with, but overall, we sold out and got a lot of names added to our list of interested customers from Charlottetown (something we had been hoping for). Looking back, although by the end of the day I remember being exhausted and saying I wouldn't do it again, maybe like child birth, time heals all wounds (and bad memories).

photo by Amanda Jackson

Onto the Organic Harvest Festival, which I promoted heavily on here and on our farm Facebook site, and the true issue of contention for me, on this grey wet morning. I was going to just avoid commenting or reviewing this event all together, because overall it really was a raging success, but after reading the latest ACORN newsletter in which there was a thank you to (nearly) everyone involved, I've taken up my usual stance on the soapbox, with a purpose.
This festival is exactly what the Certified Organic Producers Coop needed to do. It was a beautiful day; the activities for the kids were perfect; the chefs and their food was amazing; the venue was perfect; the music was just right; the organization was outstanding, for the most part; and I think it's safe to say that everyone had a really good time. The food was all from PEI and nearly entirely organic, which is an organizational feat in itself. But where did that food come from?

Had I not been one of the farmers who provided some of that food (lamb and eggs), I would not have known. I realize that in organizing a big event like this, particularly for the first time, that some things are going to fall through the cracks, but I'm disappointed that once again, it was the farmers who got left behind. The run up to the event promised farmer profiles and admittedly I didn't manage to cover the entire grounds of the event (between trying to eat and chasing toddlers with candy apple weapons through straw piles) and the profiles may have been inside the building on-site, so I will blame myself for not seeing them. However, there were signs beside each menu item explaining what food item was what, with no mention of where that food came from. It seems like an oversight to have not simply added, "made with beef from ABCD farms" or something to that effect, below each dish, when printing those sheets. (Note, I don't even know whose beef it was and I think there's only two organic beef farmers to choose from on the island)

So let me repeat that overall, it was a great event and I hope to see a repeat of it in the future. I wasn't going to mention it at all until, as I said, the ACORN newsletter came out with a review of the event, and once again, there was no mention of the farmers. The thank you included the musicians and the chefs, who undoubtedly deserve the thanks, but yet again, no mention of the people who raised and grew the food that everyone so enjoyed. It's a small thing for me to give a discount and drive my lamb to Brackley and despite what it seems like on here, it's not something I expect an individual thank you for, but a simple recognition of the farmers in general, who dedicate their lives to producing this food that we are trying so hard to promote, might go a long way to some.

As a side-note, I would estimate that 75% of the people I try to sell lamb to say, "I've never tried it, I don't think I'd like it". At the Festival, Chef Emily, from The Dunes in Brackley did an amazing lamb kofta with our organic lamb and I like to think I might have been able to capitalize on a sale or two if the eaters had known where they could get some lamb of their own. But that's just my personal problem.

I love this picture (taken by Amanda Jackson) of some friends of ours because you can see what a threat those amazing candy apples were to all the parents. Lucy and Wilson's became little straw balls on sticks, but they weren't letting them go.

So overall, I'm glad I live on PEI where these events get a lot of support and attention, and I'm soooo grateful that there are people out there willing to invest so much time and effort into promoting organic agriculture. (I know I shouldn't complain if I'm not willing to step up myself) I wouldn't change anything about the Harvest Festival except to throw in a bit about the farmers (and I feel pretty sure that it was just one thing that had to be let go as time got close and details gained perspective)- and I'm sure that will be a priority another year. So, thank you Roy and Amanda, please don't think me ungrateful, but it wouldn't be me, if I didn't say my piece!

-Sally

Homebody

2010-11-04T19:52:00.001-03:00

Sort of like when I went to Africa and realized too late that I'm simply not a worldly, traveling kind of girl, being officially unemployed this week has really proven to me just how much I value being home. I am an entirely new person and I notice a big difference in the kids as well (probably due mostly to the lack of stress vibes being sent out around the house, by me). Give me a hot oven and diapers over an office and deadlines anyday.

It's 7:30 pm and if I look out the front window, I can see the twinkle of the combine lights as Mark scurries to finish up as much of the soybean harvest as he can before the predicted week of heavy rain hits. Frustratingly enough, I don't think he'll be able to finish what's left tonight and there will still be probably 10-20 acres left for yet another day. While this isn't really late for soybeans, it sure feels like the harvest has been drug out this year. It's early to tell yet, but I think the soybean crop is looking fairly good, especially relative to our grain yields for this year. They certainly are coming off clean, which is a nice testament to Mark's weed management skills.

My family likes to give me the gears about my so-called 'rants' on this blog, but I would like to take a moment to point out that in the latest ACORN newsletter (which is circulated to all the ACORN members in the Maritimes, my entry on GMO's (inspired by the super(?!) salmon) is featured on the front page as a 'guest editorial'. So there...hmph. :)

And speaking of rants, I've got a couple saved up that I'm just waiting for a quiet nap time to write about. Stay tuned for that.

In farm news, everything (except the ram) is still out on pasture, but the grass is starting to get a bit thin (especially with frost like we had this morning), so the barns have all been cleaned out and re-bedded, ready for move-in day. Rosie has been nice enough to wait until harvest is done to calve, so she's still on the watch list. The last of the lambs have been shipped and are in the freezer. Island Taylor Meats cut and wrapped this time and although their price is more, they do such a nice job (plus they can make sausage for us). Each cut is labeled and the sides have a great mix of cuts to suit anyone. I still have a few sides left, so if you're interested, let me know.

I had a request for a Halloween shot of the other spook from this house, so here ya go sis. Buzz buzz. How long do Halloween treats last anyway!??!! We only went to 4 houses! It doesn't help that we only had three spooks here this year, so there's a plethora of left-over treats to tempt the tastebuds...ugh. It doesn't help that I get weighed every two weeks now! Yikes.

Anyway, I hope this finds you recovering from a sugar and chocolate induced coma, starting to feel the pull of hibernation in the air.

-Sally

What is it about the air!?

2010-10-29T09:25:00.000-03:00

Ok ok, this picture is from last year's soybean harvest, but I just haven't had the time to be farm photographer this fall. After today however...!!!!

Is there not something completely intoxicating about the air on these autumn mornings? I have always loved winter far more than summer, and there is most definitely a whiff of winter to the air these days. I've been out the door at 6:30 am for work the past month and I didn't even mind chipping the frost off the windows of the truck most mornings.
On a side note, today is my last day of work!!! I shouldn't sound quite so enthusiastic about that, since a paycheque is always a fine addition to any household, but I cannot wait to be home with the kids and the farm and not have to think about other obligations. And just in time for my favorite season!!!

We've gotten a lot of rain over the last week and while our first run at the soybean harvest went really well, we're just waiting for a dry spell to get the last of it off. Mark experimented with a couple new varieties (something we always aim to do to ensure we're maximizing our yield capability) and we had really good success with both of them. Laurent was a variety we got from Co-Op in the spring and we nearly sent the seed back due to it looking so terrible. It was full of splits, was dirty (we thought maybe moldy) and small. But we threw it in the ground anyway, and it turned off the best yield we've seen in a really long time. It also fought the weeds better than other varieties we've tried due to the wide canopy it spread, shading out any competition. The plants were tall and the lowest pods didn't seem as close to the ground as some others, so combining went faster than it mostly does. Overall, it was hugely successful and as I type this I can hear the cleaner running, cleaning it for seed for next year.

A new market that we've recently gotten into, that we thought was only temporary, looks to be heading in a more permanent, or at least frequent direction. SoyHardy is a company based here on PEI that produces organic tofu and have branched out into soy nuts (a great roasted soybean snack-they make it with various seasonings, like peanuts) and now into soy ice cream. I never had tofu as a child and to be honest, avoided it at university, but somewhere along the line decided to give it a fair go. We now eat a pound of tofu every week. Hard-core vegetarians would tell me that I'm missing the point by soaking it in chicken stock the day before I use it, but they would probably also admit that it doesn't have much flavour in itself. I stopped buying pieces of chicken a long time ago (like those watery boneless, skinless 'chicken breasts' that are so popular) and started substituting tofu instead. I use it in pastas and stir-fry's and even a big manly man like Mark will admit that he really enjoys it. Lucy is yet to be converted, but Wilson gobbles it up like it's going out of style (which it's not!).
Anyway, the usual supplier for the SoyHardy tofu ran out of beans and we were asked to supply some for the time being. It turns out that they really liked our soybeans and have been buying them for the past 6 months or so. When we started farming organically, we focused on the livestock feed market because the grading standards weren't there and we wanted to focus on markets we knew we could fill, but we always wanted to move towards the human consumption market if it was there and if we could produce the quality required. So naturally we're really excited to be working with SoyHardy and look forward to continued success with them. So I urge you to go to your local supermarket (Sobeys and Superstores across the Maritimes carry it) and find Soy Hardy tofu. It comes in plain, herb and garlic (and I think maybe chili pepper now too). You can mash it up into unintelligible bits that look like feta cheese, or slice it like chicken, or cube it, or anything your heart desires. I would advise you to soak it in a flavour of some kind (stock, soy sauce, etc.) for an hour or so before cooking (although many people don't and it's fine) and then drain. The back of the packages have some recipes to try, or just try substituting it where you might otherwise use chicken, or add it to a veggie stir-fry. After you get comfortable with it, the options are endless. I don't think it's my favorite protein or anything, but I will admit that physically, I feel..well...better after eating it, compared to meat. There's no heavy sort of 'full' feeling, if that makes any sense.
Anyway, I'm sure many of you out there have tofu regularly and are wondering why I'm writing about it like it's a new product, but if you grew up in West Branch, NB or on just about any farm where meat and potatoes was the daily menu, you might appreciate this post a bit more.

In other news, we're watching and waiting on Rosie, our jersey cow. Mark's expert eye is estimating that 'she's getting real close' and I would have to agree. Since the vet estimated her to be due in September and we're pushing November, surely she can't go much longer. Then comes the challenge(s) for a couple of first-time, naive-but-eager milkers.
Lucy thought that "Cletus" would be a good name for the 'baby in my belly', but I think I've got her convinced that that might be a better name for Rosie's baby instead (no offence to all the Cletus' out there), so we're all holding out breath, waiting on Cletus.

I've got five pumpkins on my front step that I've been itching to get at all week to make Jack-O-Lanterns, but having learned my lesson over the past three years, I know better than to carve them more than 2 days before Halloween. The chickens seem to just sit and wait until I make a dent (or an intricately carved eyeball) in the pumpkins and then pounce, picking the faces right to pieces, so by the time the trick-or-treaters arrive, all that's left is a floppy, one-eyed lop-sided smile on what used to be a perfect rendering of a angry cat face. Sometimes they've picked all of the features out so that all there is, is a big hole where the face used to be. So I think if I wait until tonight, with Halloween on Sunday, they won't have time to pick it apart to the point of unrecognizable, I hope! Then after Halloween, the sheep get their annual detox/cleansing by cleaning up what's left of the pumpkins. And when I say clean, do I ever mean clean! There's nothing left but a thin shard of skin and a handle. So everybody gets a Halloween treat on the farm!

Not to scare you, but isn't this just the most ferocious lion you've ever seen? He's making his best 'roar' here and it's about as scary as he looks. :)

Hope this finds you breathing deep, crunching leaves and making a sloppy mess of pumpkin guts all over the floor.

-Sally

To market, to market to buy a fat....lamb.....

2010-10-23T22:53:00.000-03:00

...home again, home again...lickety damn!

If there's one question that we get all the time, that gives me a pang of ...well, I'm not sure what it gives me, but I think it's a mix between guilt, resentment and jealousy, it's "Can I buy your stuff at the farmer's market?"

Guilt because I know that I can't complain about sales problems when I'm not at the main spot for sales.
Resentment because everyone assumes that it's so easy to spend one day a week at the friendly, neighbourhood farmer's market, selling our wares and chatting it up with customers.
And jealousy because one tiny part of me would really enjoy that interaction (not to mention to plumper pockets) with the customers and jealousy because those who sell at the market seem to have a real camaraderie that comes with the territory that I'm not a part of, despite being a small, eager farmer.

So today, after having struggled with the sheep side of Barnyard Organics all summer (the sales, not the management), I walked into the market to be greeted with a cooler full of the most beautiful, FRESH lamb available by the cut for $6/lb. It's not organic, but to be honest, 99% of lamb eaters/buyers really don't care. That is what I was charging two years ago and what I'm going back to to try and boost my sales a bit. So as I sat dejectedly on the steps watching the kids play in the play area with the toy dump trucks, moving bushels of barley around the room, I couldn't help but feel little pieces of my drive to provide, chip away with each open and closing of the lamb cooler.
It seems a bit dramatic, I realize, to let one producer shatter my dreams, but it was sort of like the culmination of everything I'd been refusing to admit all summer and the reality that if I had REALLY, honestly been wanting to be THE lamb producer for the region, I would have been the one in there, with fresh lamb every week, a pretty display of wool products and smile for the public. As it is, I'm the one on the steps, looking pathetic and tired.

So, it was a bit ironic that tonight, Mark and I had tickets to attend the 21st Annual Lamb Dinner put on by the PEI Sheep Breeders Association. It was at the Culinary Institute which is always a nice venue and the atmosphere was very casual and light, but with very fine food. There were three lamb appetizers served throughout the reception and then a wide array of lamb dishes in the main buffet. I will admit that it wasn't my favorite meal, but I certainly didn't come away feeling hungry, so if that is a marker of success, I guess it was a winner. Mark really enjoyed everything and there was certainly an air of contentment in the room with the food, so kudos to the Culinary for pulling off another great event. (Our only negative comment was that, as per EVERYtime we've gone to something there, the buffet line takes FAR too long and the first eaters are finished dessert and looking bored before the last eaters have even gotten up to get their first plate-and then the speeches are still held up until everyone is done. But if that's the only complaint, then evidently, it was a great night.)

For being what most would consider, a fairly shy guy, Mark is really much better than I am at the small talk at those sort of events, so while he was chatting it up with the fellow table mates, I was working out in my wee brain, how I could justify keeping sheep around for basically no reason whatsoever. The realities, as far as I could see it were this: a) I don't like lamb and I can't seem to teach myself to like it. b)the 'local' market is pretty much filled and the 'organic' market doesn't exist. c) I like sheep and I want sheep around, but they are expensive to keep as lawn ornaments.
How creative could I get with marketing? Nobody wants to make the assumption between the baby lamb and the plate, so I've got to keep those explicit separate, but baby lambs are an easy sell in terms of cuteness. Too bad cute doesn't pay the bills.
So I came down to two options:
1) sell out completely. The market for ewes right now is great and I could make some money if I just liquidated and moved on. That makes me tear up to even think about, so obviously, not my favorite option.
2) switch to conventional production, increase my flock size and hope to be able to access off-Island markets, like Northumberlamb, MV Meats, etc. I'm not fundamentally against conventional production by any means, since I think that I could essentially do exactly what I'm doing now with a lot less labour if I used a de-wormer every now and then, but my biggest criticism of farmers getting into sheep is that they don't know their markets. And crossing my fingers on a wing and prayer that I can ship 20 lambs every so often 'over across' doesn't sound like a sure fire plan to me.

So what to do? Have a good bawl, sell my girls and be done with it or increase over time and hope to God that I can sell lambs on a larger market than being limited to individual customers????

I have a good friend in the market garden business who feels a bit threatened by the seemingly continuous increase of new farmers coming along to settle into the vegetable production business and everytime she mentions it, I empathize but always think, "Oh but you're such a pro at it, you've been at it longer than them, you have your customers, your reputation, you know what you're doing, you'll outlast them everytime, 10 to 1." I would hate to ever see her even have to consider doing something else due to the market being filled and yet here I am, in that exact position.

And the most frustrating part is that, there is no one to blame but myself, because it could have been me in that market this morning with a cooler of fresh lamb, cut to specifications, selling out at $6/lb.

Instead, however, I spent the morning with my kids, playing at knee-high table full of barley and dump trucks. Then we went home and made cookies and built block towers. We read books and coloured on scrap paper, on tables and ourselves. I got my hair done at Chez Lucy while Wilson played with the cat. I had lunch made for Mark and even snuck in a nap when the kids slept.

I guess, when things are put into perspective, in the long run, are there even options to weigh?

-Sally