Tag Archives: farm life

New Bounty

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I’ve been in Ontario for the last week and was excited to get back to the farm to see how things were doing and to dive into some more projects on our to-do list. One of the really magical things about living here is how quickly things grow and change. Every day that I’m here, I discover or experience something new which brings a sense of wonderment that is, without trying to sound too cheesy, truly delightful. Whether it’s quirky chicken behavior, new lavender-coloured blossoms on our bean plants, or hummingbirds pausing long enough on fence posts for us to get a good look at them, life here on the farm is constantly buzzing and it makes me really happy.

It wasn’t too much of a surprise, then, that I arrived home to new things. Yesterday I pulled up some of the biggest turnips I’ve ever seen (I’ll have to get Chantalle to post the turnip recipe she tried last night – delicious!), filled a bowl full of fresh raspberries (went into my fruit smoothie this morning), checked on the status of our first Jonagold apples, collected three eggs from the chicken coop (also part of my breakfast this morning) and managed to get a peek at three new little chicks before they hid underneath their brooding mom’s feathers.

I can’t wait to see what these chicks look like as they get bigger. Our rooster is a Chinese silkie of punk rocker proportions and our hens are a mix of Chinese silkies, Russian orloffs, and crazy-feathered Poles. These little Eurasian chicks are gonna be fun. I’ll post photos as soon as they stay out in the open long enough to let me. 

It’s good to be home!

farm = community

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Something I knew about myself before I moved to the farm – but that has become so much clearer since being here – is how much I thrive in an environment where I am part of a community.  Although I value personal alone time to read, write and think, being an active member of a community that I love truly plays into my happiness, sense of self, belonging and value.  The biggest challenge to getting work done here at the farm is the fact that the group of people who live here spend so much (mostly spontaneous) time together visiting, talking, drinking, eating, laughing, planning…and it’s awesome!  Although it may mean we aren’t doing as much developing on the land as we plan to, what’s better than developing strong, healthy, supportive relationships within a community?


The fact that it was my birthday this past weekend probably didn’t make much difference in how much of the weekend we all spent together. I’m pretty sure that we would have ended up spending that much time together regardless of the birthday festivities.  The photo above is of our sunday morning brunch.  Group brunches are a (very) regular occurance at the farm and definitely not confined to weekends!  In addition to members of the farm crew, we had Matt over all weekend (Julie’s brother) and the unexpected (but always welcome!) addition of farm family friend Bob who popped by just in time for pancakes. 

Another really cool ‘community’ moment that I loved this weekend was the saturday night birthday gathering in my trailer.  We didn’t end up taking any photos while we were there, but the images from that evening will definitely linger in my memory.  The best image was looking around the table at the people I love and then beyond the table towards the softly lit front end of the trailer where the cats, Fergus and Lola, were curled up on the bed, and the farm dog, Jackson, and visiting dogs, Camden and Bentley, lay dozing on the floor.  People and animals together within the warm walls of a laughter-filled tin can on wheels.  Pretty special :)

I could go on and on about community here at the farm – and I’m sure there will be future blog posts on the topic – but for now I need to sign off and get ready for our weekly farm family dinner (because daily spontaneous communal gatherings aren’t enough :).

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:  I really love it here.

PS – speaking of farm family members, I’m trying to convince them all to contribute to this blog so that you’re reading more than just my thoughts and perspectives on farm life.  Stay tuned for new bloggers!

 

michael visits the farm

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Now that I’ve been out on the farm for a few weeks, I’m starting to get visitors.  Last weekend, I had a VERY special visitor – my dear friend Michael.  Mike and I have been friends since studying Russian language together in 2002.  We were also flatmates together in Glasgow from 2005-2006.  We have a special history of sharing many meals together as friends and roomates, so it was FANTASTIC to have him come out and have a meal with me on the farm, especially since we haven’t seen each other in years (he lives in Europe most of the time, and spends the rest of his time traipsing around the world to exotic locales).


Also exciting is that Mike and his girlfriend recently spent a few weeks living and working on a permaculture farm in Portugal, so they’re both going to come back out to this farm while they’re still in the Canada to give us some tips and pointers that they picked up during their short but intensive farming experience.

Photos of Mike at the farm as well as a few circa 2005/06 in Glasgow thrown in for memory’s sake.

Love you, miss you, come back again soon!