Day 21 – Getting the Word Out

Posted on November 21, 2013 | Leave a comment

Vancouver Island Direct Farm Market Association AGM is being held at the Saanich Fairgrounds, tonight (November 21) at 7pm: doors open at 6:30, cookies and coffee will be served. If you have a farm in the area, consider coming to the meeting and becoming a member. You’ll get to connect with a great group of farmers, hear about current issues affecting all of us, and learn about how effective it is to band together to let consumers know where to find local farm products. 

Small farms use all kinds of strategies to get their produce into the hands of consumers - farmers' markets, box programs, and farm gate sales... What works best for you?

Small farms use all kinds of strategies to get their produce into the hands of consumers – farmers’ markets, box programs, and farm gate sales… What works best for you?

The DFMA has certainly been a fantastic marketing tool for us – we are listed in the annual Farm Fresh Guide as the Alderley Grange (the name of our farm stand) and that one listing alone has sent all sorts of customers our way. We do not have the benefit of a lot of drive by traffic, so it’s not that easy for people to find us. But, find us they do – either online (check out the Farm Fresh website if you are looking for any kind of local produce, eggs, meat… ), through the Farm Fresh Facebook page, or at the annual Farmer’s Market Area at the Saanich Fair. We also attend local farmers’ markets and have been very happy with the success of our subscription box program (more on how that will look for the 2014 season in a future post).

Local marketing groups are not only invaluable in terms of bringing farmers and customers together, they also help bring farmers together - no small feat given that getting farmers together is a bit like herding cats.

Local marketing groups are not only invaluable in terms of bringing farmers and customers together, they also help bring farmers together – no small feat given that getting farmers together is a bit like herding cats.

If you farm elsewhere, would you mind posting a link to your local/regional marketing resources? (add the link in the comments section…) Do you have a regional co-op? Something similar to the DFMA? A fantastic farmers’ market that does a great job of promoting local products? And, if you like to shop local, how do you connect with farmers in your area? I’m always interested to see how other farmers are connecting with their customers and how customers find their farmers…

Interested in learning who else is participating in the 30 days blog-a-thon or the five things Holly Spangler will be talking about all month long? Head over to Prairie Farmer to find out!

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Day 20 – A Gleaning We Will Go

Posted on November 20, 2013 | 4 comments

Apparently, gleaning (being the act of scrounging for leftovers after farmers are done harvesting their fields and orchards) was encouraged way back in the Bible. Back then the beneficiaries were meant to be tragic and unfortunate souls like widows and orphans, but I tell you, this contemporary farmer is very happy the practice has not died out entirely.

Michell’s Farm Market on the Saanich Peninsula – several generations of the family farm the land and run a successful farm market.

I am neither widowed nor an orphan, but I do have a lot of mouths and beaks to feed. As it turns out, the generous Michell clan down the road (of Michell’s Farm Market fame) has a lot of slightly squidgy squash, pumpkin, and gourds left over now that the big Halloween/Thanksgiving festivities are done. Add to that some ever-so-slightly yellowing broccoli and you have a FEAST for hogs, chickens, ducks, and turkeys. 

You can imagine my delight when I had a call asking if I wanted to come pick up some goodies for the critters. Oh, yes please! Thinking there might be a box or two or three I didn’t bother changing back into farm clothes as I was heading into town on another errand right after picking up the veggies. Mistake!

The box or two I was expecting turned out to be a veritable mountain of squash!

The box or two I was expecting turned out to be a veritable mountain of squash!

There were also a number of good-sized pumpkins and some broccoli heads that had just started to turn a little bit yellow.

There were also a number of good-sized pumpkins and some broccoli heads that had just started to turn a little bit yellow.

Of course, it was bucketing down with rain when I started to load and by the time I had transferred the bounty from the bins to my truck, I was soaked.

The pickup was FULL! There was an avalanche of gourds when I opened the tailgate and I had to dance out of the way to avoid being squashed by tumbling pumpkins.

The pickup was FULL! There was an avalanche of gourds when I opened the tailgate and I had to dance out of the way to avoid being squashed by tumbling pumpkins.

I stacked everything in a corner of the hay shelter and have been doling out the treats to everyone ever since. I have to hack open the harder-shelled gourds for the birds (they love the seeds and innards), but the hogs manage to crunch through whatever I toss in their direction.

Buckets of treats heading for the turkey field.

Buckets of treats heading for the turkey field.

Thanks, Michell farmers for keeping a glorious tradition alive! And, in case you are wondering what happened to my in-town errands, I was running so late by the time I had loaded and hauled away the booty I didn’t have time to go up to the house to change and had to make an appearance in not one, but two different offices wearing soaking wet, filthy clothes. Ah well, my embarrassment was a small price to pay for the sake of hearing those happy snuffling grunty noises of deeply satisfied hogs.

 

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Day 19 – An African Women’s Farm

Posted on November 19, 2013 | 5 comments

Last night Dad and I attended a talk about a women’s collective farm in the north eastern part of South Africa. It’s hard to know where to start as the talk touched on so many vital issues facing agriculture today. The speaker, Dr. Elizabeth Vibert, was excellent – her talk both inspiring and horrifying.

Dr. Elizabeth Vibert, University of Victoria

Dr. Elizabeth Vibert, University of Victoria

In the aftermath of the apartheid and drought, a group of women in Joppie Village started a small farm so they could grow vegetables for their families and community. 20 years later the farm is a vibrant hub in the community serving many roles beyond simply growing vegetables. It was inspiring to hear how these women have managed to get the farm off the ground, how it sustains them today, and fuels their hopes for the future.

Issues like the fact they must use hybrid seed (and, therefore, are beholden to the seed companies each year), have very little capital to invest in infrastructure, endure long periods of heat and little rainfall followed by short periods of deluge, and the ongoing struggles they face to protect the equipment they do own (pumps to provide essential irrigation to keep crops alive during those dry periods) against theft make my farming challenges insignificant hiccups. Despite the obstacles, through their perseverance they have created an amazing hub that sustains many people in many ways.

I found myself wondering if we shouldn’t be looking more seriously at other land-ownership models here on the peninsula that would make it easier for young farmers to have access to farmland (the Women’s Farm is owned collectively by the community) and at the same time move us along the road toward securing our own local food supply. Not so very long ago, Vancouver Island produced 80+ percent of our food. Today, that figure has plummeted to somewhere between 3% and 8% (depending who you ask). If we do not provide markets, infrastructure, and access to land for our farmers, AND we proceed with making changes to the ALR as is being discussed by our dear government, then why would we expect to see any farmland left at all? As a farmer said at a recent Peninsula Agricultural Commission Meeting, if we were to make farming a viable profession, there would be no need to protect farmland because young farmers would be lining up to get into the profession and they would be financially able to do so because farming would be a job that would pay a living wage.

There are so many cans of worms in that last paragraph I would be blogging until Christmas if I started opening them all. My point is, really, whether we are in South Africa or south Asia, Australia or Hawaii, the Fraser Valley or right here on our island, we ALL need to pay attention. We need to worry about seed saving, about who owns the genetic rights to living things. We need to think about smart ways to use infill development, to preserve the farmland we have left and make it accessible to a new generation of farmers. And, we need to provide useful ongoing support to farmers willing to use that farm to grow food. We need to look at the logic of using chemicals on food crops and how smart it is to ship lettuce from California when we can grow lots of it right here in our back yards.

Supporting local farmers is an essential part of the equation when it comes to deciding how we are going to plan for our collective food growing future. The decisions you make - organic vs conventional, local vs hauled in from a gazillion miles away affect you, yes - but they also have an impact on the bigger picture. Voting with your food dollars does matter.

Supporting local farmers is an essential part of the equation when it comes to deciding how we are going to plan for our collective food growing future. The decisions you make – organic vs conventional, local vs hauled in from a gazillion miles away affect you, yes – but they also have an impact on the bigger picture. Voting with your food dollars does matter.

A vibrant community farm is far more than just a place to grow vegetables. The way we feed ourselves, our children, our neighbours, our elders, our friends, and our communities tells us a lot about how healthy [not just physically] our families and communities are likely to be for the long haul. 

Soapbox moment finished – for now. Stay tuned. And consider coming to the ALR Town Hall Meeting in Sidney (Mary Winspear Centre) 7pm on November 27th. Unless, of course, you don’t eat. In which case, farmland really is of no concern.

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Day 18 – The Moon Coffined in Clouds

Posted on November 18, 2013 | 3 comments
“We love the night and its quiet; and there is no night that we love so well as that on which the moon is coffined in clouds.” ― Fitz-James O'Brien

“We love the night and its quiet; and there is no night that we love so well as that on which the moon is coffined in clouds.”
― Fitz-James O’Brien

When we first moved the horses here a dozen or so years ago it was a very strange sensation to make my way down to the barn in the pitch darkness. There were dips in the land I had never noticed in daylight and the short trip seemed to take three times as long after the lights were out. Strange crackles and sighs came from the trees and, particularlywhen the weather was awful, I thought of farmers in prairie blizzards who had to tie a rope from the house to the barn so they wouldn’t get blown off course and disappear forever.

Deer, who had not yet figured out that their regular highway was about to be interrupted by fences and horses and outbuildings and dogs and strange activities at all hours of the day and night would occasionally crash away through the brush, panicked by the sudden appearance of a human. I rushed, nervous at being out there in the dark all alone. I remembered childhood stories of wolves and bears and shapeless creatures who sucked souls and left young girls for dead and thought more than once of the statistic that Vancouver Island boasts the greatest number of cougar attacks in the world.

I always carried a flashlight, which morphed into a headlamp (much better to have one’s hands free while dealing with hay and gates and feeding the cat) and was happy to reach the barn where I could turn on the light.

These days, the tree spirits feel more like they are protecting me, rather than trying to eat me.

These days, the tree spirits feel more like they are protecting me, rather than trying to eat me.

Gradually, things changed. Over time the batteries in the headlamp faded and I forgot to replace them. I found myself in the dark, strolling down the hill as if I could see. Which, it turned out I could do perfectly well when the moon was high and the skies clear. I found I knew where we were in the moon phase without referring to a calendar. And somewhere along the way the nervousness completely disappeared.

Instead, the nightly walk down the hill became one of highlights of my daily routine. One night I reached up to stroke the cat on the gatepost only to discover it was a cat-sized barn owl. His heart-shaped face looked into mine as if to ask, “Were you seriously just about to touch me?” We stood like that for several long seconds before he lifted off and floated up to the roof of the goat barn, where he resumed his silent observation of my comings and goings.

I have sat in the orchard at midnight and sunk my teeth into a ripe pear sending a sticky sweet dribble of juice down my chin. With my back against a hay bale, I have listened to the patter of rain on the roof while the cat hopped into my lap for a snuggle. To my amazement, I discovered I could identify which of my three bay horses was which, even on a moonless night when I could barely make out my hand as it reached for the chain on the gate. I have paused to listen to the owls calling back and forth, the first frogs in spring, the goats munching their hay. The night is a different place for me now, one of calm and quiet where I don’t see all the many jobs that need to be done but instead savour a few moments of simple satisfaction as I find myself still here at the end of another day.

Interested in learning who else is participating in the 30 days agriculture blog-a-thon or the five things Holly Spangler will be talking about this month? Head over to Prairie Farmer to find out!

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Day 17 – Makeup? How did THAT happen?

Posted on November 17, 2013 | 5 comments

Yesterday was a truly oddball day. Started out earlier than usual because I had to get my morning feed/water/turnout jobs done so I could zip back to the house and be showered and changed before – get ready for it – the makeup artist arrived! Yeah. I know. Lifetime, this has never happened to me.

Circumstances? I blame my daughter who, as co-author for the new book, took it upon herself to deal with the author photos. My last one was taken… err, a very long time ago. And, we needed one together for the new/co-authored book. And unlike my earlier efforts which involved a friend or family member snapping a few shots, she was determined to do this one properly. Hence, a makeup artist! Gads. Dani was almost done when I rushed upstairs, hair still dripping wet and quite out of breath so I could be dealt with. I am not someone who believes in makeup. Period. Except perhaps on the occasion of my daughter’s wedding in which case, I know it is her day and I wouldn’t spoil it for the sake of my philosophical position on the cosmetics industry, artificial standards of women’s beauty, blah blah blah. The joint author photo fell into a bit of a grey area – she was going all out and, really, did I have to be the grumpy frump beside her?

I guess I’m not that grumpy yet (give me another few years – I sense some serious crotchety-ness in my future) because I agreed to take part – as long as I could take along the rooster.

This was a first, apparently – the photographer was – um, intrigued. And, there was a logical reason for this move on my part. I can’t imagine getting organized enough to actually get a set of photos done myself (see above note re. friends and family members and last minute efforts approximately once a quarter century), so I figured if I was going to have clean clothes on, was freshly showered, AND was wearing, you know – that stuff on my face, then I might as well get a few extra shots taken that I could use for my school presentation materials, the website, etc. So, we took some shots of the two authors together, a couple of me alone (I might write another book or two before crotchety takes over completely and I hang up my keyboard), and then a series with Wimpy the Magnificent. I tell you, that rooster is worth his weight in fluffy feathers! He was, as he always is, so calm and mellow – we took a few shots, no problem.

Dani snapped this while Wimpy and I were making eyes at the official photographer.

Dani snapped this while Wimpy and I were making eyes at the official photographer.

This photo shoot, mind you, was shoe-horned into a somewhat over-busy day. After the makeup, Dani and I rushed out to grab a load of hay, go to the bank, zoom back to the house to first capture the rooster and then get changed into our photo duds… Zipped to the venue – completed the entire shoot in record time, jumped back in the car, released the rooster at home – I pulled on farm clothes, did an early afternoon feed and scrubbed my rubber boots in the laundry sink. Because, this afternoon was the sheep nutrition seminar out at Parry Bay Sheep Farm in Metchosin – to which I wound up being terribly late due to a mistaken pin on the virtual map in my phone, a lack of service on the back roads I was tearing up and down – and my terrible bad luck in asking exactly the wrong people where the farm was [four out of four were out-of-towners… ]

Parry Bay Sheep Farm

I only managed to catch a bit about the relative protein percentages of different types of forage, some stuff about alternating grazing and haying, and how the nutritional value of the grass changes over the course of the year before there was a short break followed by a field trip (literally) to check out the electric fencing system on the farm. So frustrating that I had to leave before the tour! Did manage to become a member of the Inter Island Sheep Breeders Association, connect with a few other farm friends, and pick up a couple of sheep magazines before I had to drive back to my farm to beat the dusk and put the birds in. I was a bit surprised that the people I knew recognized me (note there was no time in there to remove all that makeup…)

All of this was followed by a marathon session of dog treat production. In the interests of using every part of our hogs I have been experimenting with making all natural dried pork dog treats.

Dried but not yet packaged... many more batches to come.

Dried but not yet packaged… many more batches to come.

Crispy, crunchy, and yummilicious! (at least, that’s what the dogs tell me). So far, the feedback has been great. We sold them at the farm stand and the markets this summer and are getting another batch ready for the North Doug Craft Fair next weekend. Stop by, if you happen to be in the neighbourhood.

Interested in learning who else is participating in the 30 days agriculture blog-a-thon or the five things Holly Spangler will be talking about this month? Head over to Prairie Farmer to find out!

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