Tag Archives: maple ridge

sunshine = farm productivity

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This past weekend started out with a Saturday morning hike in UBC’s Research Forest in Maple Ridge. The hike was great, but it ended in rain and the rain kept coming – all day long. Rain is great for many things, but when you’re itching to get outdoor farm projects done, it gets old pretty fast. Luckily for us, the sun came out on sunday – in FULL FORCE. Yay – FINALLY!

The sun brought everyone outside – humans and animals. Julie brewed up some Sunday morning coffee and whipped up some homemade scones and then we all spilled outside. For the first time since bringing them home, we were able to move the rabbits out from under their shelter so they could enjoy the sunshine and nibble about in the grass. The chickens sunned themselves and scratched around for worms and the cats spent the whole day running, crouching, leaping, and climbing about in the grass and the trees.

And the humans got some work done.

The flower bed alongside the chicken coop got weeded, revealing tulips sprouting up out of the soil; finishing touches were put on the deep beds, and our blueberry project got started up. Chris picked up 50 blueberry bushes a week ago and decided that it would be cool (and we agreed with him :) to plant some of them alongside the driveway that wraps around behind the house, leading to the barn. A large, soggy hollow runs along the length of the driveway and we started filling it up, preparing to turn it into our pathway of blueberry bushes. I haven’t read it myself yet, but Chris read in his book, Gaia’s Garden, that you can build up a base for blueberries to grow out of by layering sticks and twigs, then upsidedown sod, followed by a sawdust/ manure mix. You create this layer, letting the manure mix sink down among everything for about 4 weeks and then you plant the blueberry bushes right into it. The height created will help us fill in that soggy moat that has been the bane of every car tire that has slipped into it while also helping our blueberries get the moisture they need without drowning in the water that gathers in that part of the property. That’s the plan anyways. We think it will look pretty nice when it’s done too :)

We quickly used up the piles of sticks I’d been building up and as a group, broke down and collected the rest of the fallen branches in the back of the property, using them to create the first layer. Not only did we manage to get our first (and part of our second layer – sod) completed, but while doing so, we tidied up the back part of the property – so satisfying!

I’m looking forward to seeing what it will look like when it’s ready for those blueberry bushes. The transformation of this 2.5 acres is coming along!

checking out the local nurseries

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The farm girls spent some time exploring local nurseries this weekend, looking for great deals on fruit trees, shrubs and seeds.  We LOVE nurseries – especially beautiful ones!  Farm girls in a nursery are like kids in a candy shop – oohing and aahing over everything and wishing we could buy up all the beautiful trees and flowering plants. 

We checked out two nurseries:  Triple Tree Nurseryland in Maple Ridge and Cedar Rim Nursery in Langley.  Triple Tree Nurseryland is BEAUTIFUL.  It’s very thoughtfully groomed with impressive displays of well-manicured plants and a pond that holds the biggest coy fish I’ve ever seen.  All of the photos above were taken at Triple Tree. 

Although we bought our kiwi vines, some bulbs and a few small plants from Triple Tree, we made most of our big purchases at Cedar Rim Nursery.  Cedar Rim Nursery is located in Langley and it is HUGE.  It’s a wholesale nursery which means that other nurseries go to Cedar Rim to buy their stock.  It’s pretty fun to explore Cedar Rim – you need to use a map to navigate yourself around and find what you’re looking for because the place is so big.  I think we spent 3 hours there picking out our fruit trees, herbs, garlic and shrubs.  They have some big sales on right now:  buy 2 fruit trees, get the 3rd free, a 50% off coupon that each customer can use on one item that costs up to $150, plus 5% off your entire bill if you sign up to be a member (free).  Needless to say, we took advantage of the deals and bought ourselves a nectarine tree, apple tree, fig tree, plum tree, as well as other small plants.  The nursery grampa (at least that’s what I think I heard him referred to as), a white haired British gentleman in khakis, helped us gather up all of our purchases.

The staff at both nurseries were really helpful and encouraging, giving us great advice and promoting other nurseries if we couldn’t find what we were looking for at theirs (always a nice touch).  It was nice to get out this weekend to do this kind of shopping and exploring.  Both nurseries are places that I’ll definitely return to – to both purchase things and to just wander around to get inspired and learn new plant information.  I recommend a visit to both if you’ve never been!